Reviews

The Red River and the Blue Hill by Hem Barua. (Lawyer’s Book Stall, Gauhati, Assam. Price not stated. Pages 172)

It is the story of the people of Assam, their history, religions, culture, language, literature and mode of life, put compactly in a simple and readable style by the author who is himself an Assamese. The title is most appropriate, as the history revolves around the Brahmaputra Valley (Red River) and Nilachala (Blue Hill). Hem Barua gives a panoramic view of Assam, “a landscape of deep ravines, of hills and impenetrable forests, and of steppes and slopes,” all of which “weave a picture of health and plenty.” Its history tells of mighty tribes as the Ahoms, Koches, Kacharies and Chutiyas, who in the past held sway here and successfully resisted Moghul intrusions. The main races that infiltrated Assam in ancient times were Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian’s, Tibeto-Burmans, Mongoloids and Aryans, the dynamic synthesis of whose cultures may be seen today in every sphere of life of the people. Hem Barua then makes a survey of the economy of the region, where agriculture is the main occupation, and only 14 per cent of the population live other than by agriculture. The few oil wells and rice mills dotted in the remote countryside are the only signs of industrial activity. Tea constitutes ‘the crown and glory’ of Assam’s economy, accounting for a third of the world’s total output, earning for India Rs. 60 crores in foreign exchange.

The author gives a vivid picture of the pattern of life, based on matriarchy in which women occupy a high pedestal in both family and social life. Females not only run the home but also are good at cultivation and small business. They are born weavers, who evolve ‘fairy tales in cloth’. The people of Assam are nature’s own offspring and love to contemplate nature, symbolized in their dances, folk-tales and songs, e. g., “I cannot fix my mind in my home, O my love; I cannot fix my mind in the paddy land; my mind wants to fly as is the roving cotton.”

The Assamese language and the other tongues in vogue in this region are Indo-Chinese, Tibeto-Burman and Mon-Khmer in origin, and, due to their flexibility, have absorbed words of languages prevalent in adjacent regions. Outside the State, little is known about Assamese literature, which had its origins before the advent of “Sankardev, the father of Assamese literature,” and includes the sayings of Dak-mahapurusha, the Bauddha-Doha and Bihu songs, Bongits (woodman’s ballads) and the songs of the boatmen, many of which have marriage and cradle grounds. Hem Barua gives credit to the untiring Christian Missionaries, who were pioneers in the field of collation and translation of Assamese literature and gave the region the Roman script in vogue to this day.

As a finishing touch, Hem Barua reviews the recent events in Assam during the last war and after, and aptly sums it up thus: The problem facing Assam today is ‘one of urgent reconstruction and recuperation’; economic life needs planning on a popular basis; the vast mineral wealth requires an all-round development, preceded by a thorough geological survey; education and social services have to be reorganised.

Although the author admits modestly that ‘what I have tried to do in this book is to collect cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums from different gardens and stick them in a pot’, he is indeed a versatile writer and has made a fine job of the subject. The book has already passed its second edition, and deserves to be recommended to all who have the welfare of Assam at heart.

H. I. S. KANWAR

The Street of Ink by K. Iswara Dutt (Triveni Publishers, Masulipatam. Price Rs. 7)

If smartness, brightness, epigram, pun, analysis of character and sizing of situation, ready wit and readier flair for breezy yet arresting sketches of men and events, were at all called for in an author venturing on his own reminiscences of a life of a journalist in India, Iswara Dutt possesses them in a degree beyond all normal expectations. Indeed one has only to take up The Street of Ink not to place it down till actually there are no more pages to read. At any rate few in the realm of journalism could vouch, in a narration of autobiographical matter, for so much about the conditions prevailing in the field, as well as so many personalities who have done signal service in the cause of journalism. The panoramic view provided by the author of the past and present is noteworthy. It is an engaging gallery of men who have had something to do in raising the standard of the Press in this country.

No doubt while recording the numerous phases of Indian journalism in its vicissitudes of fortune, we have certain landmarks emerging, concerning the career of the author himself. Starting in 1928 for Madras, Iswara Dutt made his debut as a young underdog in the Swarajya office under Sri T. Prakasam of untiring energies in the fight for the freedom of this country. He then entered the ‘Golden Threshold’ of The Hindu under the fostering care of the late A. Rangaswami Iyengar. Next he worked under the late C. Y. Chintamani, who and The leader of Allahabad, were inseparable in the impressions of a past generation. Subsequently The Twentieth Century, a monthly, was inaugurated by him with the help and guidance of no less a person than the late Rt. Hon. Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. Then, again, without prejudice to his connection with The Twentieth Century, he became the Editor of the People’s Voice started by the Maharaja of Pithapuram. Thereafter he was taken in service as a Publicity Officer by Sir Mirza Ismail, both in Jaipur and Hyderabad. After these two diversions for a period, not totally insignificant for a journalist, he emerged again as an entity in the office of the Hindustan Times of Delhi. Finally, as Chief Editor of The Leader of Allahabad, he served for nearly a year and a half, only to find the way Press Barons conduct themselves and journals, not to the satisfaction of working journalists.

In between the many interludes, Iswara Dutt has not failed to give us lively pictures of important leaders of thought as well as significant reflections on contemporary journalists. Perhaps it is germane to the readers of Triveni to know how highly IswaraDutt has valued Sri K. Rarnakotiswara Rau and his selfless efforts in maintaining very high standards in both the contents and execution of his pet ‘child’. ‘M. C.’ (M. Chalapathi Rau) comes in for a lot of endearing references as well as illuminating episodes in the crusade carried on by the Working Journalists’ Federation. There is plenty of material also for animated discussion of the way he has described friends in the field of journalism like Khasa Subba Rau, Krupanidhi, N. Raghunathan, K. M. panikkar, Pothan Joseph, Frank Moraes, K. C. Roy and K. Rama Rao. Memories of an older generation of giants have also been cherished in the most enjoyable manner of telling them, with a pervading sense of humour, and not too often as well, of sadness over the changes come upon us in the wake of a steady concentration of more Dailies and chains of them in a single hand.

A smart reviewer would certainly be tempted to characterise this attempt more as a self-adulatory chronicle than as a balanced and unbiased recording of the main currents in Journalism. But to a literary mind, which feeds chiefly on intimate pictures of personalities and the way of saying it, nothing could be healthier and richer than what can be obtained here. No doubt, some of the estimates are generous and even make the reader feel a sense of satiety, but they are more than amply compensated for by some of the frank criticisms of men on high seats in public life. There is no doubt a nip in his style which accounts for so much of
avidity the reader experiences in taking him up.

The author of Sparks and Fumes and And All that needs very little from others by way of commendation regarding his ability in the art of sketch-writing. A seasoned writer with a widening experience of life is bound to get, in the process, mellowed. To one who has watched Iswara Dutt from the beginning, he appears here much better equipped than ever. Indeed more such portraits from his brush are eagerly looked forward to.

K. CHANDRASEKHARAN

Living Biographies of Great Religious Leaders by Thomas & Thomas (Published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay. Price Re. 1-12-0).

This is indeed a jewel among books which it is impossible to lay down without a feeling of deep obligation to the noble couple, the Thomases, for having provided within 250 pages such wholesome fare for the lay reader. The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has made an excellent addition to their series of books, which seek not only to serve higher education but to spread spiritual enlightenment.

“God is the father of love; love is wisdom; wisdom is power; power is life; life is beauty; beauty is harmony; and harmony is love. And this love in all things, and all things in love, is God.” This is the essence of all religions, and around this motif are woven, in patterns of exquisite beauty, the life-stories of twenty ‘immortals’ that trod the earth at different times and made it richer by their presence. From Moses in ancient times to Mahatma Gandhi in the modern–including, of course, the founders of the great religions, Zoroaster, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, Mahomed–all are presented in a manner that brings them out in their true glory and greatness. Their individual philosophies and distinctive characters are dealt with such insight, sympathy and warmth that the great figures become once again instinct with life. To help the reader, the important events of each life are given at the end. The book abounds in apt quotations which enhance its value and indicate what vast reading and patient effort have gone into the task. The style is simple and refined, and not infrequently does one come across lines of striking beauty. Who would not, for instance, be captivated by observations like these? “The Quaker leader (George Fox) was in many respects another Cromwell, but he was a Cromwell ‘guiltless of his country’s blood.’ ” “Gandhi is a religious leader upon whose unwilling shoulders Destiny has imposed the burden of politics.”

To those inclined to religion, the book will be enchanting reading, while even those most disinclined to it cannot easily resist its spell.

The Heart of Bhagavatam by Susarla Sreenivasa Rao, B.A. (Published by the Author, Kakinada. Price Rs. 2)

This is a pious work of it deeply religious man and a devotee of Lord Krishna, to whom it is dedicated. To every worshipper of Vishnu, the Bhagavad-Gita is a most sacred text which inspires the purest devotion and love for the Lord. There can be nothing more ecstatic for such a one than the contemplation of the Divine Lord which is achieved by Sadhana, which in turn consists in the performance of Bhagavata dharmas. The Bhagavata prescribes thirty duties for the attainment of this object as being those prescribed by the Lord himself to be followed by his devotees.

To enable lay men to clearly grasp these Bhagavata dharmas and carry out the injunctions, the great devotee, Vishnu Tirth, who was born in the 18th century, selected 365 slokas (excluding the two verses of introduction and valediction), equal in number to the days in the calendar, so that the recitation of at least one sloka a day might put the devotee on the path to salvation. These verses are arranged in the form of thirty chapters, each chapter dealing with one topic.

The author deserves praise for the able manner in which he has rendered textual translation into English of the slokas which are in the Nagari script, as well as for his own luminous commentaries which reflect both his bhakti and his Jnana.

K. K. PRASAD

The March of Civilisation by Nolini Kanta Gupta. (pp. 115. Cr. 8-Vo Size pp. 115. Price Rs. 1-8-0) The Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo by Rishabb Chand (Cr. 8-Vo Size pp. 278. Price Rs. 4.) (Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry.)

In the first of these volumes, the well-known author attempts with success to trace the direction, progress and evolution of the great civilisations of the East and the West. What is more significant is that this evolution, on the whole, is towards an inscrutable, ultimate destiny of a higher spiritual life, and a definite advance towards it in the near future, for the entire human race.

The thesis of the author is based on the philosophy of the ‘Life Divine’ of Sri Aurobindo and the interpretation of history familiar to those acquainted with the writings of the Master. But the analysis here attempted will be interesting and valuable also to the lay public of modern times, especially the educated youth, confused by the apparent conflicts and inconsistencies between the civilisations of the East and the West, of ancient and modern times, and the materialistic and idealistic philosophies and interpretations of history, which distract their attention now-a-days.

The second volume, by another equally well-known writer, is the second part of his exposition of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo, the original contribution of the great soul to the science of Yoga or realisation of the goal of human life, comprehending within it, as the very name indicates, all the Yogas or systems of practical philosophy and religion, favoured by the different schools of thought at different times and places. The Master’s great work on the subject, ‘The Synthesis of Yoga,’ also published in one volume recently by the Ashram at Pondicherry, presents in a form and language intelligible to the modern mind, all the different systems of Yoga in the proper perspective and in their proper places in the Integral Yoga sponsored by the Master for the guidance of earnest seekers of the path of realisation. But to those who are not able to undertake a systematic study of the original writings of the Master, formidable alike in volume as well as matter and style, here is a handy volume by a competent disciple of his, to introduce the thesis in outline and thus encourage and qualify one for the direct approach to the source later. Even to the regular students of Sri Aurobindo’s system, the present publication provides a useful analysis and commentary.

East and West: A Quarterly of Literature. Edited by Rayaprol. (44, Nehrunagar, Secunderabad. Vol. I. No. I. Spring 1956. Pages 72. Price Rs. 2/– or 50 cents.)

East and West is a cultural quarterly magazine devoted exclusively to Literature. Its aim is to introduce modern English poetry to the Indian readers, and modern Indian poetry to the foreign readers through translations in English. The first number offers about 30 pages of English poetry by a number of American English and Indian writers, some of them already well-known in the field, and about 20 pages of modern Telugu poetry in translation, very efficiently performed. 30 pages of prose of considerable literary quality, comprising correspondence with the Editor, fragments from a Journal, a letter from William Carlos Williams, and a Punjab pastoral are included. The journal is likely to attract the English educated youth of this country with a flair for modernity. This venture by talented youngmen deserves a long and useful career, for it represents a laudable endeavour to bring together the East and the West in a literary fellowship.

M. SIVAKAMAYYA

TELUGU

Ratnavali by Sri G. S. N. Acharya and M. Seshasayi (1/8 crown 96 pages. Publishers: Addepalli & Co., Rajamahendravaram. Price Re. 1-8-0.)

This a Telugu translation of Ratnavali, in Sanskrit, the famous play by that poet-Emperor, Sri Harsha, who lived in the early years of the 7th century. Harsha’s play provides the lakshyas for many of the lakshanas defined in Sanskrit poetics and rhetoric and is extremely popular for that quality, apart from its innate poetic excellence.

There have been several Telugu translations of this famous work. We must give a fairly high place to this book among these translations. The original has been well studied with a scholar’s eye, and correct readings have been chosen; and it need not be felt as a demerit when we say that this translation would please more the scholar than the student. The authors reveal their mastery over Telugu prosody by neat verses excellently composed and in chaste Telugu.

KOUNDINYA