It is said that India is a singular country with plural expression. As we go through the four volumes of Knit India Through Literature we realise how the multiplicity of literary experiences has merged into one. In this whole project, Sivasankari has covered eighteen languages, the various regions where the languages are spoken and nearly a hundred writers. The range of writers and their works is as extensive as their geographical distances, their background of histories, and their social diversities. She has studied the language situations and travelled through the respective regions before presenting the eminent writers and their writings.
I have known Sivasankari much
before she embarked on this ambitious project. I knew her as an eminent fiction writer. But these four volumes have
revealed to me the other facets of her creativity. In his Foreword to the first volume, Khushwant Singh has already labeled her as a seasoned traveller.
A special mention needs to be made of her brilliant analyses of the landscapes that are highly absorbing. She does not stop at telling us about the marvel of the 1500-year-old iron pillar near Kutub Minar that hasn’t yet rusted. But she goes on to bring to our notice how the present state of Kutub area wears the look of a grazing place for cattle and goats. Why? There is a belief that it is because of the curse of the Saint Nizam-ud-din who was stopped by Emperor Tughlak from constructing a mosque in that area. The sensitive writer is distressed by the ugly appearance of the houses of Patna left half finished to avoid taxes. Equally disturbing to her is the appalling state of the holy city of Gaya. And the plight of 2000 odd widows dumped in Brindavan Ashram stings her creative mind, prompting her to make a decision to write on this subject at a later date.
As she writes the hauntingly beautiful stories in our rich folklore, she redefines the relationships between antiquity and modernity, between folklore and literature. The anecdote behind the formation of the valley of Kashmir or the tragic story of Mummal and Mahendra as told in Rajasthan make us think
beyond mere tales. Sivasankari’s thorough homework and probing questions have prompted the featured writers to give expression to their innermost thoughts. Some of the remarks passed by them while narrating their experiences are enlightening and thought-provoking.
Ashok Vajpeyi says, “… a word is not merely a word, it is also a resonance, that has a history… and that history somehow should be made use of.”
Krishna Sobti firmly believes in the concept of Ardha-Nari Nateshwar. “Bisexuality is not only a fantasy of a complex being, it is also a reality in the Creative Arts,” she says. And Gurdial Singh attributes the superiority of literature to its medium that is language which is the most useful and powerful creation of man to communicate his knowledge, ideas and emotions with his fellowmen. Mridula Garg categorises women’s writing into three: The Feminist, the Feminine and the Female.
As a short story writer myself, I instantly identified with Nirmal Verma’s articulation that a short story is born out of a desire to expand on a poem and
express it in the narrative prose of the novel. “Literature is the voice of the soul of humanity. It is the interface of culture which also serves as guardian of human values,” says famous Urdu critic, Prof Gopi Chand Narang. The noted Urdu poet and lyricist Gulzar is a voracious reader. He believes that in order to understand your language you need to read the literature of other languages as well. “The more you read and internalise, the more your literary horizon expands.”
Sivasankari’s interviews with Rahman Rahi, Joginder Paul, Kartar Singh Duggal and many more are excellent
explorations of ingenious minds. The literary masterpieces of the featured writers too help us further delve into the knowledge of each other’s literary heritage.
She has also brilliantly brought out prevailing regional sensibilities, not sparing women or dalit susceptibilities. The life of the dalits of India is full of deprivation and segregation, of rejection and rebuff. It has been a life that has no signposts. As I read Mohandass
Nemishray’s outburst I felt guilty for the wrong doings of our forefathers. I am glad that the dalit voice of dissent and protest against injustice, is finding an expression in literature today and more importantly, that it is taken very seriously. Women’s plight in India is not very different. But it is heartening that writers like Krishna Sobti have asserted women’s rights to be treated as equals and have successfully created their own social and intellectual space.
In the course of my reading this volume, many unexpected facts have been revealed to me for the first time. That, for example, the fourth century sage, Bharat Muni, the author of Natyashastra, lived in Kashmir or that the first woman in India to obtain a pilot’s license was a Muslim or that the Sikhs, known to be more progressive than many, still observe caste discriminations to the
extent that they have separate Gurudwaras for the so-called low caste Sikhs. And that the Benaras Hindu University begins its convocation by facing towards Kashmir and bowing to it respectfully in recognition of Kashmir’s contribution to Sanskrit. This is incredible.
The fourth volume covers five languages: Hindi, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Sanskrit and Urdu. Each language has
issues that trouble the creative writers. Sivasankari’s holistic approach brings these issues to the fore as she digs into the economics of literature, the script imbroglio, the politicization of languages or the under-indulgence of the youth in literature.
Knit India Through Literature is simply a revelation. It is the most authentic map of literary India drawn so far. The project that has sprawled over the four voluminous books with a thousand and seven hundred pages is an embodiment of Sivasankari’s vision of knitting India through literature.
—Damodar Mauzo is a
Konkani short story writer.