Reviews

Indo-Anglian Literature by K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar, pp. ix–70 (International Book House, Ltd., Bombay Rs. 1/8.)

The Indian Centre of the P. E. N. Association has done well to include in its series of monographs on Indian literatures a survey of Indo-Anglican Literature, that is work in English by Indian writers; for English too is among the languages which India has been employing for the impression of her mind and character through the media of the literary art. In the little book before us, Prof. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar of Belgaum, a well-known literary critic and essayist, presents to us in concise and active phrases the modest pageant of India’s English authors, from Toru Dutt and Tagore to Gokak and “K. S.” –poets, play-wrights, story-tellers, novelists, biographers, essayists, critics, belletrists and exponents of social and cultural philosophies. Mr. Srinivasa Iyengar does not pretend to have produced an exhaustive record. That would indeed have been impossible. He has selected for notice only the typical or the more noted authors; and it is no uninteresting or negligible show that we see. The outstanding figures are of course just a few–Toru Dutt, R. C. Dutt, Sarojini, Tagore. Some would perhaps add Gandhiji, Pandit Nehru, Aurobindo and probably Mr. Srinivasa Sastri and Sir Radhakrishnan. It is a point to be decided whether publicists, journalists and jurists may be assigned places amidst the stars in the firmament of pure literature. Anand Mohan Bose, Lalmohan Ghose, Rash Behari, Telang, Ranade, Chandavarkar, Subrahmanya Aiyar, Tej Bahadur Sapru, K. Natarajan–these (mentioned at random) are names that must be included in any list of masters of a lucid, supple and nervous style of English in India. Not that, with additions so made, the number of first-rate names will grow to be much more than could be counted on one’s figures. But let us not forget that it is not the peaks only, but the unparticularized rocks and boulders also that contribute to the impressiveness of a hill view. Dr. Srinivasa Iyengar has not attempted critical judgements on individual authors; and we must agree that that is not so very necessary for his immediate purpose which is to make us see that the stream is both copious and continuous and that it has perennial leaders in innumerable springs and freshets.

But one reflection cannot be escaped. For the output of some 70 years, by a country so large as India and one so rich too in literary tradition, the proportion that may be adjudged as of top grade looks rather thin. Toru Dutt began (1876) same ten years earlier than Rudyard Kipling and one is apt to set India’s production by the side of England’s since that date and compare both bulk and quality. Even after being reminded that English is not India’s natural tongue, and that during these 70 years her best minds have been pre-occupied with political, social and other in mediate problems, and further that the greater part of our writing in English has been in journalism and in political, professional and technical literature, one may still not be able to suppress the question–“Is it all worth while?” In the reading lists suggested by Dr. Srinivasa Iyengar, we have some 38 entries under poetry, 35 under Fiction and Drama, 25 under miscellaneous prose and 17 under criticism. How many of these 140 writers have any survival value, and how much each of them? Is an Indian’s excursion into the field of English letters anything more than vanity if not waste of effort?

There are however two ways of considering the matter. One is to ask whether Indians writing in English choose that vehicle in the hope of winning for themselves a place in the Poets corner in Westminister Abbey. If that were so, one could not be quite sure of their prospects. Will English literary judges agree to place a volume of Tagore or Sarojini or Aurobindo in the same book-case as they would reserve for the works Shakespeare or Shelley or Wordsworth? Will they count our best as among their best? It is hardly likely the answer will be unanimous. As contributions to the library of England’s own cherished literature, India’s English masterpieces may not command their highest price.

But there is the other way of looking at the matter, and it is not a less pertinent or less resultful way. English is an instrument to the Indian not exactly for the insular purpose for which it is to an Englishman. To us English is the medium for communication with the world at large and with England only. None of the world’s languages is the whole world’s; and it happens that English among them all has today the widest international reach. It is easier for Europe and America to get a foreign intellectual commodity through the ports of English than through any other work done by Indian writers in. English is therefore a contribution, may or may not to England’s stock of literature, but certainly to the World’s treasury of literature. Whether India’s command of the English idiom is adequate or not, India has certainly a vision of life and a way of living which may be of interest and even of inspiration to the international World; and those Indian authors that adopt English as their medium address themselves to that vaster world. Mr. Srinivasa Iyengar’s little book proves that as interpreters of India’s social ethos, her moral sensibilities and her genius for glimpsing the eternal amidst the evanescent, her English authors have put forth such work as should justify perseverance and encourage hope.
D. V. G.

War and prices–by L. Nemenyi. Gulab Singh and Sons, Lahore 1943. Price, Rs. 1/8.

The government of India has not blinked the fact of inflation–see the EPT Ordinance or the latest speech of the Viceroy to the Joint Session of the Central Legislature. So there is no need for any apology for its policy–If one can call a series of makeshifts and expedients policy, which Dr. Nemenyi’s pamphlet tries to be.

The vicious spiral has been set in motion in India. Its admitted cause is the exceptional Allied expenditure in the country, which has mostly been offset by sterling payment. This ad hoc sterling is money in both ways: unit of account in Britain and cover for notes in India. Very little of that sterling payment is covered by domestic taxation and borrowing. There has been no corresponding mopping up of purchasing power thus released. The excess of purchasing power has not been converted into increased imports because of the War. Much of it has been used away in repatriating India’s sterling debt and not in each case in the most beneficent way. Today India has become a creditor country with a vengeance. The inevitable–through rising prices–has happened.

According to Prof. Vakil the situation is analogous to that of the palmy days of the great German inflation. The cause is the ‘existence of an increase in the money supply of the country more than justified by the level of production. So he is accused of emphasising (should it not be over-emphasised on p. 15?) the monetary factors, neglecting real factors and not taking into account the psychological factor. To the surprise of Dr. Nemenyi, even Mr. Birla explains the rise of prices entirely by the scarcity of goods and ‘attaches no influence (importance?) to the expansion of currency and to speculation and hoarding of commodities.’ (pp. 27, 35). By the way, if there is any criticism of Mr. Birla’s analysis it is the doubt whether his ‘scarcity of goods’ includes their maldistribution among consumers. In fact, Dr. Nemenyi over-emphasises the psychological factor which affects the real factors via the monetary factor.

After a rather elaborate, not too clear or convincing discussion of these and other minor opinions, Dr. Nemenyi splashes some conclusions: that there has been no excessive expansion of purchasing power–at least till March 1943; that the Government of India’s sterling finance is quite sound: that ‘the notes issued against sterling balances, not utilised for payment of external debts, were genuinely required for the currency needs of an expanded war-time economy,’ (p. 35. Italics mine;) and that the increased note issue has had no inflationary effect because of the fall in the velocity of notes and bank deposits and hoarding.

Dr. Nemenyi’s discovery is that the financial position of March 1943 is the desideratum of Indian monetary policy. He suggests taxation almost to a degree of ruthlessness (p. 41); compulsory saving schemes (pp. 40 ff.) payment of bonuses and dividends above a certain minimum (and  ‘abnormal’ is a word missing from the author’s vocabulary) after the War (p. 40); eradication of speculation and hoarding by powerful regulations of forward markets (p. 40); and expansion of production (p. 41).

But the benefits of self-deception are limited. The Government of India has implemented the substance of Dr. Nemenyi’s proposals? Why have not prices made good weather of it? Does this indicate the drastic demonetisations of sterling by creating a Sterling Sterilisation Fund either by amending the Reserve Bank of India Act or by issuing one more ordinance? Or the gradual withdrawal of rural purchasing power by tempting the lately enriched agriculturist (and thus wiping out the newly won rural market for manufactured goods) with large-scale sales of gold and silver imported under the Lend-Lease Program?

Monetary policy is inseparable from the social context. India is neither U. S. where policing the price-level is done by seven-point programs and General Maxes (Maximum Price Regulations) nor U. K., where Labour plays politics with the cost of living and dying. That India is the country of villages whose bone is the agriculturist is, no doubt, a cliche. But that part of the increased purchasing power which does not deserve to be frozen is with the agriculturist is a truth which disarms Dr. Nemenyi’s proposals.

Taxation and forced savings had had their day. Why not greater control of production, rationing (and with it the abolition of racketeering) of necessaries and constructive planning of the Indian economy get their innings?
A.N. SUBRAHMANYAM.

‘The night is heavy–By Krishan Shungloo.’ Free India Publications, Lahore. Price Rs. 3/-.

In order to give every bit of sincerity and forcefulness possible to their utterance, Western poets, during the last fifty years, have had to ignore certain conventional forms. The more coherent, the more inspired, and the more inspiring such utterance is, the more we are ourselves ready to overlook metrical technique and the conventional graces of form. It is at the same time natural that in such a state of flux the impostor and the mere imitator should demand the same attention as the genuine poet.

It is fortunate that in India, where literary criticism is not too strict, we do not have a plethora of “poets”; fortunate also that when a new poet like Krishan Shungloo, comes into our ken he is one whose poetry commands our willing attention.

These poems are very personal, as some of the best poetry is, and one cannot complain on that score. The Spanish war (in which evidently some of his close friends lost their lives and in which his sympathies were, rightly, on the Republican side) has evoked some of the poems. Others are meditations on the “ugly realities” of life, as the author himself terms them, in different places such as Paris, Berlin and Istanbul. In some of these pieces harlotry lies a bit too heavily for my liking. Not all the exploits of undergraduates on holiday are worthy of song. Of course, if the experience can be distilled and presented to the world as poetry, one would not ask under what circumstances the poet realised his profundities. This is about my one quarrel with Mr. Shungloo–that his frauleins and mademoiselles are dragged in quite unnecessarily and to the disadvantage of the train of thought the reader is trying to follow. But this is a small point.

Poets like Stephen Spender bring words like telephone freely into their verse; and even a master-singer like Yeats in his latter pieces rhymed “fix” with “politics.” So why grudge Mr. Shungloo a harmless and not unpoetical a word like “news-reel”? All the same, I wish he had not used it in the following context (because the reader has just been lifted to rather solemn plane of thought):

“what if my body be a news-reel
that tells the whole truth……”

No poet who feels can escape from the ugly realities of life at the present day, nor must he try to: but Mr. Shungloo’s phrasing and cadence seem to me at their happiest in lines like:

falls falls
the gentle rain
singing on my skin
and the wood is wet
bathed in liquid green
the broken branches glisten
in the hissing wind
and the field’s a pond
with a million ripples ridden
the birds are hurrying home
in the pregnant calm
of sunset ecstasies

how trivial now appear
comforts of a heated room
and the precious things of my existence

Therefore, I hope, that in his second book of poems we shall have more poems like the one quoted with its vivid descriptions. “the night is heavy” is full of promise which makes one look forward to Mr. Shungloo’s further efforts.
J.VIJAYA TUNGA.

Gandhi against Fascism: Edited by Jag Parvesh Chunder: Free India Publications, Lahore. Price Rs. 2/. Pages IX–102.

This is a compilation from Gandhiji’s writings from 1937-42 of articles and notes in Harijan, statements issued by him and letters written, which contain what might be called the “foreign policy” of the great leader and his reactions to the conflicts going on in Europe. That he is a great believer in non-violence has not blunted the edge of his keenness to oppose Fascism–as represented by Germany or Japan. The book is a valuable compilation which is sure to convince all those who are open-minded that Gandhiji and the other Congress leaders (whose opinions are also reproduced in the Appendix) have been avowed opponents of Nazism and Fascism all along–even when statesmen belonging to the Allied Countries appeared to be wobbling in their foreign policy five years ago.

K

The Graphic Art of U. S. S. R. by Sheik Ahmed: Free India publications, Lahore, Price As. 4. Pages 16.

In this interesting pamphlet the author describes how since the October Revolution, “art has been used as a great factor in socialist construction and in organising the education of the masses.” The Soviet masses have been more art-minded; exhibitions of art are largely attended; and art more widely practised than ever before, for, as Lenin said: “You become communists only then, when you will enrich your mind with the knowledge of all those treasures which humanity has provided.”

K

Kesava Pandita’s Dandaniti (Criminal Jurisprudence) – by V. S. Bendrey: –No. 59 in the Sviya Granthamala Series published by the Bharata Itihasa Samsodhaka Mandala, Poona: – (Price Rs. 3.)

The book under review is a Sanskrit work and is said to be a part of Kesava Pandita’s Nitimanjari which was, in its turn, intended to be a part of his still greater compilation Dharmakalpalata. Manuscripts of Nitimanjari and Dharmakalpalata have yet to be discovered. But two manuscripts of the present work, which the author, Kesava Pandita, called Dandanitiprakaranam, were discovered in the Tanjore Palace Library. Mr. Bendrey has edited and published the work under the title Dandaniti. The author, Kesava Pandita, or Kesava Bhatta as he was also called, lived during the days of Sivaji Maharaja and Sambhaji Maharaja. Mr. Bendrey thinks that the work was written between 1680 and 1683 A. D. and that it is likely that the work was presented to Sambhaji Raja on the occasion of his coronation in 1681 A. D.

In the present book the Sanskrit text is preceded by discussions relating to three subjects, viz., (l) a scholarly and documented account in English of Kesava Bhatta’s life and work; (2) a sketch in English of the national upheaval during the Sivasahi or pre-Peshwa period; and (3) an account, also in English, of Raghunathapandita Panditrao who introduced Kesava Bhatta to Sivaji Maharaja and enabled the former to gain the favour of the latter.

The Sanskrit text is divided into six chapters. Beyond practically rendering into English the headings of the various chapters, the Editor has not in his Introduction enlightened the reader much in regard to the contents of the chapters. But this is because the Editor wants to publish separately a long and detailed essay on “Indian Criminal Jurisprudence in Ancient and Historic Times,” as soon as the present period of scarcity of paper is over.

Dandaniti is practically a digest of the rules laid down in the ancient Indian text-books relating to criminal law and its administration, with notes and explanations by Kesava Bhatta. The punishments prescribed may seem to modern minds often barbarous; and in many cases the importance given to certain kinds of so-called offences does not seem to accord with modern views. But, as the Editor remarks, books like the present one indicate “the contemporary conditions of the social, Political and religious structure of the country.” But they are also important for another reason. There is great truth in the statement of Clarenge Darrow in his “Crime–Its Cause and Treatment,” that in its essence a crime is a violation of the more important amongst the habits and customs of life and the “folk-ways” of the community. But habits and customs change; so do the ideas of right and wrong, and along with them the views regarding crime and its punishment. Books like the present one are, therefore important as showing the changing values of customs and institutions with the progress of time. The publication of the learned editor’s contemplated treatise on Indian Criminal Jurisprudence may be therefore eagerly awaited, as it should be a contribution not merely to Indian Penology but to Indian Sociology.
T. BHUJANGA RAO.

Iraq by Seton Lloyd –Oxford pamphlets on Indian Affairs, No. 13. (Price annas six).

Iraq had its genesis in the political exigencies of the Allies after the last War and, therefore, its boundaries were not related to any historical traditions. Iraq has been independent, we are told; for thirteen years and is a rich country which is potentially richer still. But it is unprogressive; its agriculture is ward and its grain-market unstable. Moreover, the presence of an Allied army in the country coupled with the “war effort” for which the country is bending its resources have affected the economic life of the country adversely for the present; but we are assured that Iraq is becoming a creditor nation, a fact from which that country is expected to hope for much after the War. Mr. Seton Lloyd is convinced that it is either too early, or unnecessary, for the Iraqi to worry about his political condition and is relieved to find that the Iraqi mind is now “less obsessed with unfulfilled nationalist ambitions” and can adapt itself “more readily to economic and social reflection,” whatever that may be.
R. K. S.

The Aboriginals–by Verrier Elwin (Oxford Pamphlets on Indian Affairs No. 14 Price annas six).

The extent of the ‘Aboriginal’ problem in India is surveyed and means of improving the lot of these ‘real swadeshi products’ considered. Of the 25 millions aboriginals, divided into several endogamous tribes and subdivided into numerous exogamous clans, very few have survived the clash with culture unscathed. The Gond Raja who reads Aldous Huxley, the Khasi woman who was a Cabinet Minister and the Pardhan who became a Station Master are rare instances. Four-fifths of the aboriginal population suffered a loss of nerve as a result of the baneful contact with puritan reformers, government officials, Christian missionaries and shrewd businessmen from the plains. The aboriginal is losing his grip over his heritage of language, music, tribal ritual and with it, losing the beauty and naturalness of his simple life. Mr. Elwin’s solution of the problem indicates his disagreement with those who would “uplift” the “ward classes.” He advocates a policy of temporary isolation and protection for the aboriginals, and for their civilized neighbours, the lawyer, the doctor, the merchant and the official, a policy of immediate reform. Until “civilization itself is civilized,” he wants the aboriginal left alone.
R. K. S.

The Way of the Guru–Dr. P. Natarajan, M.A., D.Litt (Paris), L.T., M.R.S.T. The Gurukul Publishing House, Nilgiris, Re. 1/8. Pages 102.

The book provides glimpses into the life of Sri Narayana Guru, the great saint and reformer of Kerala, who passed away in September 1928 of the age of 72. The Guru’s simplicity of life and manner, his deep spirituality which exercised a strong and pervasive influence on all those who came into contact with him, his passion to inculcate pure modes of
worship of the one God, and his broad tolerance of spirit are all finely brought out in these sketches, which are written with deep devotion and inmate knowledge. One wishes, however, that more biographical details of the Guru’s life had been provided. The book is well written and transports the reader to the region of thought which Sri Narayana Guru radiated.
C.R.S.

KANNADA

TenaliRamakrishna:–A play in Kannada. By Mr. C. K. Venkataramaiya, M.A., LL.B., Published by Manohara Grantha Pustaka Samithi, Dharwar, Crown 8 Vo. 4 plus 95, Price Re. 1.

‘Tenali Ramakrishna’ is a pleasant play dealing with the character of the hero of that name, who is placed against a historical ground. It is obvious from the play that the chief interest of the author is to vindicate the character of the hero. It is perhaps owing to this reason that he dispensed with some of the requirements of plot construction in vogue. A series of delightful pictures have been connected by the striking presence of the hero. In the preface the author says: “Tenali Ramakrishna’s genius and learning, his poetic capability, the flow of his humour, were extraordinary……I was grieved at the notoriety spread concern him by the many improbable incidents and unfounded stories that have cropped up around him.”

Ramakrishna is not a clown meant to amuse the King in moment of lassitude. He is not a humbug eager to taste pleasure on the sly. He is a profound scholar and a poet of rare genius. He is a patriot of ardent mettle. He is the chief means of saving the Karnataka Empire from disruption and ruin. He unearths conspiracies and exposes traitors. He saves the King’s life.

The other dramatis personae, many of whom are historical per are imagined and delineatad in a manner suitable to the circumstances of the play. The minor characters are skilfully handled.

There is a succession of scenes which call before the mind’s eye a vivid picture of those days of strict piety and unswerving loyalty, of incessant intrigue, unceasing warfare, and splendid enjoyment.
B. C.

Modagalu or “Clouds”by–Sri Swami.–Publishers: Manohara Grantha Pustaka Samithi, Dharwar. Price: Re. 1. Pages 158 Cr. 8 Vo.

This book is a collection of seven short stories in Kannada. Six of them were written in 1942; so they are the author’s latest. In the Preface the writer compares them to the clouds of Kartika which, for all their ­variety of form, do not contain any beneficent rains and are perhaps thin and have no weight. The comparison is not very close, however. Obviously, the author is yet learning to write and has a way of narration. He has observed details of dress and ornament; pose of body and move­ment of limbs in the world of girls and women. The description of such details is perhaps a little too much in the book.

Principal Gokak has rightly observed in the Introduction that though there is variety the characters chosen there is neither depth nor strength in characterisation. Some of the endings are not convincing and do not seem inevitable. The author has collected most of the materials needful to a writer; if he can bestow more forethought on plot and pay attention to the analysis of the mental processes of the characters and give us a peep into their souls we should love his stories all the more.­

The_present collection is only a second harvest. The stories are readable and will be welcomed by the Kannada reading public.

S. M.

Hoovina Hasige –(Bed of Flowers) by Hoysala–Published by the Manohara Granthamala, Dharwar. (Price Re. 1/-.)

This is a collection of short stories, and includes, besides stories from English literature and Islamic sources, the author’s own stories taken from real life or presenting local legends. “Hoysala” shows a keen insight into child imagination, and has made the narration quite interesting though now and then it suffers from verbosity. The book is a welcome addition to children’s literature in Kannada, which the author has already done much to enrich.
A. K. P.

Samskrita Natakakathegalu–Part I, by M. S. Subrahmanya Sastry, Bangalore City. Price Re. 1/4. Pages 144.

The book contains stories in Kannada of five Sanskrit dramas; Bhasa’s Pratima; Kalidasa’s Shakuntala and Malavikagnimitra; Sri Harsha’s Nagananda; Bhattanarayana’s Venisamhara, after the manner of Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare. The author is a Sanskrit scholar wielding a prose style in Kannada that is dignified and polished. The book is a valuable introduction to the great Sanskrit dramas. We trust the author will give us more of such stories in further volumes.
K.

TELUGU

Mana India:–Original: Minoo Masani’s “Our India” Translated Chinta Dikshitulu; Illustrations by C. H. G. Moorhouse. Publishers “The Oxford University Press.” Price Re. 1/8.

“Mana India” is the Telugu translation of Masani’s “Our India.” The translation is faithful to the original and in fine Telugu idiom. Chinta Dikshitulu by adopting the spoken dialect, has made his work easily accessible to young students as well as women folk. The style is as simple it can be. The get up is good. The only complaint that may be made is the use of small types for the book.
K.S.J.

TAMIL

Kumari Malar 5 and 6–Sri A. K. Chettiar, Cathedral Road, P.O., Madras.

The fifth and sixth issues of this new periodical (monthly) in Tamil edited and published by A. K. Chettiar on the model of the “Penguin New Writing” series will be welcomed by the Tamil public. They are got up in book form and consist of articles contributed by Tamil writers of standing. The fare offered is varied: sketches, stories, poems, essays etc. The get-up, binding and printing are elegant and attractive.
V.G.