RE: Who's a Poet?
Sitaramayya Ari (ari@Oakland.edu)
Fri, 30 May 1997 13:06:00 -0400 (EDT)
On Fri, 30 May 1997, Bachoti Rao wrote:
>
> Ramakrishna garu said:
>
> IF "grammatical correctness also was ridiculed by some modern poets",
> then
> it is best to terminate any and all discussion. It is as if a cook is
> saying "why follow the 'rules' of a recipe, or 'good taste'? I'll put
> red
> chillies in jilEbee, and call it 'chilEbee'. If you can't stand the
> heat,
> get out of the restaurant".
>
> I like your 'chilEbee' example very much.
Permit me to differ. I think it is an inappropriate example.
Modern poets don't come in categories of "don't like grammar", "don't like
chandas" etc. Every poet is different. I don't think any poet worth
his/her salt decides to write non-chando or chando poetry. They just
write what they are inspired to write. If you look at most poetry of
today, it is free verse. That's reality. If you wish to force chandas on
it, yes, you will make chilEbee.
> but If an average TG/G thinks vAyuvu is too much but gAli will do (or
> accheruvu is too much AScharyam will do), are you going to dump the
> words
> vAyuvu and accheruvu and make them extinct or tell them that they may
> know
> these words too? What do you do if you are passing through an age of
> literary decadence? Uplift the unknowing or part with all the
> treasures of
> knowledge?
>
Word usgae evolves over time. Some words go into disuse and others come
into use. In general softer, easier words survive. Others go into disuse.
When accheruvu is unused and ascharyam becomes common, it doesn't indicate
decadence. It indicates evolution in the language.
> diverse as diversity can be. There are many styles of writing and many
> subject matters. We can enjoy anything we like but we have no reason
> to suppress what we don't like. Actually a lot of us like both forms.
I agree.
> But
> if you say you like chando poetry but keep on ridiculing it and
> insisting
> that no one should write it, I am at a loss.
>
As I see it, the question is not whether you can write chando poetry or
not. I think any one who wants to, should do so.
Ramakrishna garu addressed a bizarre note to "chando-challenged" the other
day. That is where the problem lies. People who like today's poetry are
not chando-challenged. Just because someone has the meter correct doesn't
necessarily produce poetry. Those who like Potana don't have to write
chando poetry today. If I like my grand father, I don't have to dress like
him. If I don't, it doesn't indicate decadence.
I think this debate is unnecessary. Most folks in this debate are not
talking to each othet; they are talking past each other.
regards,
Sitaramayya Ari.