nAlO nEnu (Is literature the ultimate?#5)

Prabhakar Vissavajjhala (vissa@cortex.neuro.mssm.edu)
Fri, 13 Jun 1997 21:05:18 -0500 

                                                     nAlO  nEnu
             [Is literature (poetry) the ultimate regarding practical
reality?#5)

[This is put in the form of a dialogue between 'manassu' (mind) abbreviated
as 'M' and 'buddhi' (conscience) abbreviated as 'B' of the same
individuval.]

M:  Then who are those 4th category people you talk about?  You said
'gAndhi', who else? What did they do in action?

B:   Did you remeber a person called 'David Livingstone'?  You studied
about him in your 8th class English lessons.  He was a medical doctor from
England.  He served the people in Africa suffering from leprosy sometime
ago. After coming to know this, reacting practically, he set himself off to
Africa and started a camp to serve the people there with leprosy. Quite
sadly, while serving the diseased, he died of the same disease after a
while. You must have also heard of 'mother teressa', who relentlessly
serves the mankind.

You must have remembered 'AcArya  vinO  bhAvE', who took up 'bhUdAna
yaj`nam'. He went around literally on foot and could make people donate him
thousands of acres of land and distributed it for the poor. You must have
heard of 'rAjA  rAmamOhana rAy', the founder of 'brahma  samAja' and worked
for the abandonment of 'satee  sahagamanam'.  Similarly,  veerESa  lingam,
raghupati  venkata  ratnam  naiDu' in Andhra Pradesh worked for the welfare
of especially, the women, propagating 'stree vidya' and 'stree
punarvivAham'.  For the very identity of ourselves under a separate state,
Sree poTTi  SreerAmulu (1901-1952)  went on hunger strike for 56 continuous
days and sacrificed himself.

Obviously, my knowledge is quite limited. There must have been many more
people all around the world. We hear of the so many missions and
institutions serving the poor and the orphan  children for their welfare.

 So,  for a human, who perceives the situation through any kind of
information, which demands an 'action', there is no necessity of
poetry/literature only. Majority of the people reacted to 'gAndhi' or
various other leaders during struggle for independence, not because they
were poets. It is mostly because the people were either 'aware of the
situation' or 'made aware of the situation' first. More and all important
than that is their 'willingness' to apply themselves to the task.  We do
not have a record of how many people turned deaf ears like the 1st category
of the story at that time to the inspiring patriotic poetry or the leaders
appeals.  So, .................

M:  O.K.  buddy! I agree and honor the effort of the people you mentioned,
who served practically the people at the times of necessity. Though I think
there might have been the influence of poetry/literature either directly or
indirectly on at least some of these people you mentioned for sure, I agree
to give credit to the person, who practically took part to meet the
situation in an action-oriented manner.

However, even if people have to accept that only the 4th category is the
ultimate regarding 'practical reality', what is the purpose and value of
literature/poetry for contemporary purposes?

It sounds as if, when there is nothing that can be implemented in action,
there is no need of poetry/literature addressing the contemporary times or
problems while dealing with the practical reality.  Do you mean to say that
the people struggling and suffering should be left at the whims and fancies
of the big guys till they conveniently decide to solve (no idea when, if
they wish to) and keep waiting till then praying God rAma, kRshNa or
venkaTESa in the age old archiac forms of literature that is existing? And
the rest of the people, who don't have or who don't perceive the poor
people's problems should keep reading how a SreenAdha or a peddana
described the female anatomy or a vasanta kAla varNana or how a cEmakUra
venkaTa  kavi produced literary gimmicks in the outdated cahndO  poetry? As
there is nothing these people can do for the 'practical reality', which
either they fail to recognize or pay a deaf ear, even if they happen to
hear; as it is not described in their favourite chandO style with the age
old sanskrit studded mega phrases with all the alankArAs possible in the
literature?

Is there any value in your view for the 3rd category of people
reading/discussing the literature/poetry that addresses the common man
problems of the present times, even if they can't react or meet the
'practical reality' in action, like the 4th category of your story? What
are these people supposed to do in your view, as they can't practically  do
something, and again don't like the archiac literary classics and their
chandO styles?

B:  As usually, so many questions at a time in an emotional way. O.K.  Have
you heard of M. S. subba lakshmi?  Have you heard of 'aUranga jeeb'?  Are
you a biochemist? Are you a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian?

M:  What kind of funny questions these are?
(to be continued)

With regards,
Prabhakar Vissavajjhala