C P Brown: Politicalising Literature

18. Politicalising Literature

The role of a language as the foundation of the culture of a people had been dealt with. In order to emphasise how inseparable a language and culture are, Indians have gone to great depths of the Rasa Siddhanta and all the peripheral subjects. A philosophy of life, based on an eternal Pramana was made to seep into the whole society, through the Puranas, Itihasas, Temples, Rituals, etc through languages, verbal, nonverbal, arts and crafts. Even in the west ARISTOTLE and Plato or in modern times Mathew Arnold and T S Eliot have gone into the subject of culture versus language, though in an elementary, juvenile manner.

In Ancient India there was a hoary tradition, that a writer should subject his work to a Vidvat Sabha a sort of social scrutiny. The tradition died. Unfortunately Indians have NOT gone into how literature can be twisted and Poets influenced to turn the gift of the Gods, to political use. Thus they were ignorant of the British motives in studying our shastras (In a way we are still not fully aware of the international conspiracy to ‘downsize’ our cultural treasures of Vedas & Upanishads by pseudo western scholars like Michael WIZTEL of BOSTON UNIVERSITY]. This started with the British, and their divide and rule policy. It did not take long for them to spot the poor, starving, Brahmins, buy them and convert them to write Christavam books. Slowly but steadily they started injecting the poison of religious divides, caste divides etc through regulated articles, books. The tragedy is that Indians did not suspect them before it was too late. Let us recapitulate from Chapter 15.

Dr. Duff the historian recapitulates that the policy of the ancient Romans who invariably suppressed the language and the literature of the people conquered by them. He adds: “…1 venture to hazard the opinion, that Lord William Bentinck’s double act for the encouragement and diffusion of the English language and suppressing the native languages… is the grandest master-stroke of sound policy”

I am sure neither Vemana nor the Jangams nor Basaveswara wrote for political purposes!! Their aim was clear. Reform…. Re-form.
But let us see how all Europeans brought in the caste and religious factors into Vemana:

William Campbell –1854-1910 – “Some people born here resisted the authority of the Brahmins. Their writings are very popular and they are all non-Brahmins! Vemana is one of them.”
Maj. R.M. Macdonald:) “Vemana fought against his own religion”.
Lionel David Barnet: 1871 – 1960
Hardly any one can equal this Telengana peasant – poet. His poems are not born in the “Four walls of Mathas”.
Henry Bowers Inspector of schools in 1874
“The type of poems of reformation by Vemana cannot be liked by the superstitious, conservative “Hindus”! {In one stroke he castigates all Hindus as superstitious}

J D B Gravel 1858
A Kapu called Vemana was not recognised by Brahmins and was excommunicated! (Look at that dastardly lie!) But people had great respect.

CPB started the game of politicalising literature by hunting for Vemana poems; Jangam literature, the Dwipadas; and the Chatuvulu. His sole aim was to slowly inject the political poison, to divide people on the caste, religion and even using anonymous poems. Who knows if some were written by his cronies??

We have seen how the British made a master plan to demolish our Past and links with the past through language and literature. As one of the steps they saw to it that the village schools were starved of patronage, which resulted in their closure. The other step was to be critical of Sanskritisation; Brahmin hold; conservatism, uselessness to the people. This is one view Bangorey repeats calling that the people’s poetry was not allowed to come up. Imagine Bangorey calls CPB democratic! A CPB who gloats over his ladies parties!

Vemana was definitely liked by the entire Telugu people for all his excellent similes; ideas; philosophy. There is NO possibility of suppression as it was not a central Government!! All the Palaigars were Reddys or Kapus, owning all the land, soldiery, and power. Tradition says Vemana was also one of them. So where does the Brahmin, ex communication come in? But for the British, and Bangorey Truth has no value.

Another heinous part played by CPB is to collect poems and spread rumours.

Poems written, in a light vein as a repartee become a tirade if collected printed and propagated. The fun and humour behind them gets lost and only the venom shows out which was not the original poets’ intention. Even if it is an intention, it is better forgotten than enshrined for generations. One instance of this type is the one highly derogative of the REDDYS, who were actually the protectors of those days and I am sure no sane person will write such a poem for perpetuating their image. But that is exactly what CPB does. His aim was simple, make the Reddys hate the Brahmin, and write a similar poem against the Brahmin and slowly increase the poison in the societal blood stream. Let us recollect that this vicious person, CPB was writing letters anonymously. It was not a new game to get a few poems written by some starving poet and say they were collected!

As we see the society today, there is nothing but Political writing. They are not even leaving millennia old literature without a political analysis. The pure enjoyments, up lifting emotions have gone forever. Can’t we see how their Shakespeare was the forerunner of this prostitution of his Muse for a few crumbs, with his Historical Plays? Naturally the Western Mind can’t think even of an Amukta Malyada as anything but a Vaishnvaite propaganda poem.

It is time we get out of this unfortunate psychology and keep literature and politics; the poet and the ruler separate from each other. Let each do his work sincerely as in days gone by.