'The Triple Stream'

‘Triveni’ is devoted to Art, Literature and History. Its main function is to interpret the Indian Renaissance in its manifold aspects.

‘Triveni’ seeks to draw together cultured men and women in all lands and establish a fellowship of the elect. All movements that make for Idealism in India as well as elsewhere, receive particular attention in these columns. We count upon the willing and joyous co-operation of all lovers of the Beautiful and the True.

May this votive offering prove acceptable to Him who is the source of the ‘Triveni’–the Triple Stream of Love, Wisdom and power!

...he that laboureth right for love of Me
Shall finally attain! But, if in this
Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure!

–The Song Celestial.

BY K. RAMAKOTISWARA RAU ^l

THE CONTEST

The election of the President of the forthcoming session of the National Congress at Tripuri marks a new stage in the history of such presidential elections. For the first time, there has been a regular, keenly contested, all-India election by the delegates from each Province. Though programmes and policies were not formally announced, and no clear-cut issues framed for the guidance of the electors, it may be roughly stated that this election at a week’s short notice was fought out between the Right wing and the Left–between the ‘reformists’ and the ‘revolutionaries’, between the old and the young. What lay behind the election was a difference in temperaments, in mental attitudes, rather than any difference of opinion over the immediate programme before the nation. On the question of Federation there was no cleavage, despite Mr. Bose’s vehement and oft-repeated claim that he was the arch-enemy of Federation and the spear-head of the nation’s resistance to it. Such a claim was unwarranted, and it naturally evoked the protest of the elder statesmen of the Congress. But in making that protest the dominant group in the Congress Cabinet overshot the mark, and, without intending it, rendered a disservice to Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya. They went out of their way to plead the cause of a particular candidate; they laid down an untenable dictum about the constitutional position of the Congress President, bringing in the analogy of a limited monarchy; and finally Sardar Patel committed an indiscretion when he mentioned in the course of a telegram that Mr. Bose’s re-election would be harmful to the country’s cause. All this was bound to stir up counter-currents of thought and feeling, and large numbers of delegates, who might normally have voted for Dr. Pattabhi, thought it their duty to stand by Mr. Bose, if only to spite the Sardar and outwit him. Even provincial considerations were not altogether absent, as the figures from Andhra and Bengal will show. In fact, it was the overwhelming majority for Mr. Bose in Bengal that finally turned the scales.

Except in special emergencies, it is really unnecessary to re-elect the same President. In the present case, no such emergency exists. As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru pointed out, whoever had won, Federation would have lost. Nor was Mr. Bose’s tenure of office marked by any note-worthy achievements apart from the parliamentary programme, for the initiation of which he was not responsible. Mr. Bose just ‘carried on,’ and even if he was not a mere ‘figure head’ or a ‘tool’ in the hands of the Working Committee–the phrases are of Mr. Bose’s own coining–his position was not much better than that of Ramsay Mac-Donald in the National Government of Britain. During the Congress session at Haripura, he was unable even to protect his Socialist comrades from the insults hurled at them by the none-too-courteous Sardar.

It is wrong for Mr. Bose to declare that his re-election is a victory for the anti-Federationists, or for Mr. Sahajananda Saraswati to contend that, as a result of the present contest, "Federation has been buried fathoms deep." This is mere propaganda calculated to cloud the issue. Dr. Pattabhi has been an uncompromising opponent of the Federal scheme outlined in the Government of India Act, in addition to his being a resolute champion of the States’ people’s rights. By a strange combination of circumstances, including the over-zealous advocacy of his colleagues on the Working Committee, the nation has been deprived of the chance of being led by one of the most self-less of Indian patriots who is also one of the tallest amongst the intellectuals of India within the last few decades.

SOME CONVENTIONS

With the experience of the recent election to guide us, it ought to be possible to evolve certain conventions for the future:

(1) Every President should hold office for only one year and retire automatically without contesting the election for the succeeding three years.

(2) When candidates have been nominated by groups of delegates, all those names should go before the electors without any frantic efforts being made to secure a unanimous election. We may take it that the era of unanimous elections is over; in the coming years, divergences over policies and programmes will become acute, notwithstanding general unanimity on the fundamental issue of national freedom. In no case should pressure be brought to bear upon candidates to induce them to withdraw. Such attempts will place the individual candidate in a position of extreme delicacy.

(3) When once the names of the candidates are before the country, no appeals should be issued by members of the Working Committee or other members of the Congress organisation urging the claims of various candidates. This need not, however, preclude the candidates themselves from issuing brief statements to the Press outlining their attitude to the main problems of the day.

Such conventions will make for peace and friendliness even as between rival schools of thought within the Congress. It was hoped that all this could be allowed to lie over till after the achievement of freedom, but it has become clear that conventions must be evolved even from now.

UDAY SHANKAR’S ART CENTRE

"The spring breeze coaxes the spirit of the woodlands into multifarious forms of exuberant expression. Let your dancing, too, wake up that spirit of spring in this cheerless land of ours: let her latent power of true enjoyment manifest itself in exultant language of hope and beauty." In these words, addressed to Uday Shankar by Rabindranath Tagore, may be summed up the hope and the yearning of all who look forward to renewed achievement in the sphere of Indian Dance and Music. Uday Shankar, Vallathol. Rukmini Devi, Menaka, are the most prominent names associated with the Dance revival in modern India. Each of them is trying to re-discover the soul of India as expressed through the great art of Dance, and to build up art centres in different parts of India where it may be taught and practised in its perfection, Uday Shankar has resolved to settle down in India for a number of years to train students from all over India who will eventually tour India and the West. The Government of the United Provinces have granted him a beautiful piece of land in Almora. During his recent visit to the West, Uday Shankar secured the necessary financial help for the initial expenses of his art centre, and he is now touring India in search of teachers of Music and Dance representing the rich traditions of different Provinces. His art centre is designed for research as well as teaching; an effort will be made to correlate and interpret the traditional art and to record in film and on gramophone the art of outlying and inaccessible regions. Students of Dance will be required to learn painting, music, and the classical legends of India enshrined in literature. Altogether it is an ambitious scheme well worth the money and the painstaking care sought to be lavished on it. All lovers of Indian art will wish godspeed to Uday Shankar in his noble endeavour.

POETRY AND MATRIMONY

In the course of after-dinner speeches congratulating a newly-wed poet and his bride, the young poet was repeatedly exhorted not to forsake the Muse. But a confirmed bachelor stood up and contended that such appeals were ill-conceived. According to him, most of the verse now being written in Andhra was devoted to a single theme–Love. A disappointed lover might wear out his heart in verse. But here was a poet whose love was fulfilled: where then was the need to dabble any longer in verse? It was much better to devote all his time to his bride, and waste none of it on futilities like verse and song. The guests were expecting the poet to make a spirited reply declaring his allegiance to Poetry as well as to Matrimony. But the dinner, the speeches, and the lateness of the hour created a slight confusion in his mind, and no adequate reply was forthcoming. On the other hand, he made a reference to the marriage of the host which had been celebrated with great pomp some months earlier, and said: "Look here! I dedicated a book of verse to our host of tonight on the occasion of his marriage. I was hoping that, in his turn, he would similarly dedicate some new poems of his to me on this festive night. Obviously, Matrimony has dried up the springs of poetry in him, and not a single poem has he written since his marriage!"He thus gave away the case for Poetry and admitted that Matrimony spelt the ruin of Poetry. He did not even express the hope that, in his own case, it might be different. Very likely he was intending to say it, but his courage failed him. He was not sure of himself, and would not risk a prophecy about his continued devotion to Poetry. Or was it that he was afraid to incur the bride’s wrath by vowing divided allegiance?

Here is an interesting problem for other young poets who are just married or on the brink of marriage: "Can you marry and yet be a poet?"

l 31st January, 1939.