NIRMALA SHAMNUR forwards a Gopalakrishna Adiga poem that Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar used in America America. A poem that reopens an old but evergreen query: is the Nobel Prize in Literature poorer without such a man decorating its roster?
NIRMALA SHAMNUR forwards a Gopalakrishna Adiga poem that Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar used in America America. A poem that reopens an old but evergreen query: is the Nobel Prize in Literature poorer without such a man decorating its roster?
Will DVG get ‘Jnanapeeth’ award posthumously ?
If Dr.D V Gundappa , popularly called as ‘DVG’ well known for his ‘Manku Thimmana Kagga’ were to be alive today , he would have completed 117 years on March 17 this year.
A walking encyclopaedia, DVG was a rare personality of authentic gretness who devoted all his energies towards the betterment of public life throgh his hundreds of writings.
D.V. Gundappa, was a matriculate who started journalistic career as a teenager at 16. He was so intelligent and hard working that two years later, he was publishing his own newspaper. He went on to become a titan of Kannada literature, writing on subjects that covered philosophy and literature, sociology and history.
Many of those who have taken up citizens’ initiative as their social service, should know that DVG was a passionate activist, ever ready to give his time for a worthy cause. He was the prime mover of the Popular Education League and the Social Service League. In 1945, he set up the Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), a forum at Narasimharaja Colony in Basavanagudi extension of the city intended to awaken national consciousness among people. He was also the Founder-Editor of the Institute’s journal, Public Affairs. Gundappa’s vision of the “GIPA is an independent, non-party and non-communal organisation endeavouring to serve as a centre for the education of the public for democratic citizenship.”
A close associate of Centenarian Engineer-Statesman Sir M Visvesvaraya, who was the Dewan of Mysore between 1912-1918, DVG met Sir MV often and would have long, intense discussions on matters relating to the state and its development—subjects which were close to their hearts.
Though DVG contributed generously of himself to the community, on a personal level, he lived in near-penury. Sir MV who wanted to help him told DVG that their discussions were invaluable to him in the discharge of his professional duties as Dewan. and liked to appoint DVG as Consultant to the Mysore State. However, DVG refused the offer as , being a Journalist and writer he refused to take money for conversations with a friend. Having virtually failed in persuading DVG, Sir MV reportedly told the former that he would continue his discussions with him on condition that they discussed only personal matters.
DVG could not take this ‘punishment’ for long and reluctantly agreed to be a Consultant. The Mysore Treasury issued him generous cheques at regular intervals. Sir MV felt pleased that his friend was enjoying a few justly earned rewards.
When DVG died in 1975, about fifty years after the incident amongst his few possessions was a steel trunk. When family members opened it, they were shocked to see a stack of cheques of the face value of Rs 1200, Rs 900, Rs 1400 amounts that would have added up to the equivalent of several lakhs in 1975.The cheques were issued by the Mysore Treasury, paid to DVG for his services as Consultant. Not a single cheque had been cashed. Despite the fact that they came at periods when he had suffered dire monetary difficulties. The greatness of a man can be some time measured not so much by what he does, as by what he doesn’t do.
C.Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), the First Govenror General of India writing on DVG has said, “Sri Gundappa is a remarkable person entirely self-made and totally independent of any assistance from University of College, yet far superior in attainments to anyone who has had the brightest university career. His untiring efforts to produce a well informed elite for political and social work have had their reward. After the success of the non-cooperation campaign a special efforts was indeed to make people see that good politics called for a great deal of information and correct thinking over and above jail going. Sri Gundappa had helped greatly in that direction”.
DVG was another genius who wrote magnificent poetry and philosophy. He was a man of enormous wisdom and clarity of thought wrote expansively illuminating many facets of life and thought He won the Sahitya Academy award for his philosophical poem “Mankuthimmana Kagga” a great work. Some of his other works include “Samskruthi”, “Gadaayuddha”, “Omarana Osage” ( a translation of Omar Khayyaam’s “Rubaiyat”… amazing work ).
Jnanapeeth awardee Dr. U.R .Ananthamurthy says, DVG tread a different path than his contemporaries and his works were mainly based on scepticism and experience .He was one of the front-line thinkers of the nation and one of the rare intellectuals who seriously intended on the well being of the society.
Literary doyen Dr.V.Seetharamaiah (Vee See) writing on DVG’s works had said, “Gundappa is a massive intellect in our literary scene”.
Another eminent writer K Sampadgiri Rao, a close friend of DVG has described him as this “DVG is a walking dictionary with interesting information about men and women who made any mark in old mysore during the last 60 to 70 years in public life, in learned profession or in arts and letters.
DVG’s famous ‘Manku Thimmana Kagga’ (The Tedious Twiddle of Thimma, the Muff), a philosophical poem in Kannada has become a household name in Karnataka for over alf a century, is almost the essence of the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharatha, The Vedas, Upanishads and is a thesaurus- encyclopaedia in Kannada. It is the Science and Philosophy of living s it provides answers to many questions that questing man for ages. It provides the gide posts on the road to worth life, illuminates dark corners, warns abot slippery patches and fills the pilgrim with solace hope and joys while unburdening him of doubt and despair.
Many litterateurs who have born 50 years after him, have been conferred with the country’s highest literary award – “Jnanapith” . It is high time the country respects the literary doyen DVG by conferring on him the ‘Jnanapeeth’ award atleast posthumously. If the powers that be responsible for choosing the persons for the award go through his innumerable works , particularly ‘Manku thimmana Kagga’,(English version available) I am sure they will feel guilty for not having conferred the ‘Jnanapeeth Award’ on him so for.
A literary band of the Kannadigas who have been conferred with the prestigious ‘Jnanapeeth Award’ so for included Dr. K.V.Puttappa, Dr. Da Raa Bendre, Dr Shivarama Karantha, Dr Masti Venkatesh Iyengar, Dr V.K.Gokak, Prof. U.R.Anantha Murthy and Dr. Girish Karnad.
Will the ‘Jnanpeeth Award’ committee, open its eyes, consider DVG’s name for the award atleast this year is a million dollar question.By conferring him the award posthomously, the committee would be recognising a doyen of Kannada literary person whose achievement in the field is fit enough to conferr him a Nobel prize for literature.
It should be remembered that Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature becauase of the support of the poet W.B Yeats. That kind of support is necessary for the award which has often overlooked many deserving candidates.
It is doubtful whether an award such as ‘Jnanapeeth’ is conferred without an element of strong political pressure at the centre ( as is the case with any recognition in India). Given the weak influence of the politicians in power in Karanataka outside the state, it is a futile exercise even to think about this kind of pressure.
Further, DVG and Adiga were born in the wrong caste. The barriers then ( and now)were so strong that DVG was just able to overcome it because of his sheer intellect and exemplary personality. I had the honour of meeting and conversing with Prof Adiga who was influential in kindling interest in ‘Navya Kavya’ that the above poem so superbly quantifies while we were in engineering college in 1950s. As I had said in other blogs that he had the kind of poetic imagination that Keats had , and that his poetry had the kind of gripping power that was able to penetrate the narrow exclusively specialist corridors of many a medical and engineering colleges in the then Mysore State. people like us remember these two giants of literature who had no caste and political power behind them even today is testament to their genius and personality. To us who were inspired by their works in 1950s, there cannot be a greater recognition.
I endorse most of Guru’s comments. Even the great Tolstoy did not get a Noble Prize! There may be some political machinations in Jnanpeeth awards as well. We can take pride in the fact that it is to Kannada’s advantage that the highest creativity has been lavished on its literary output. I don’t think caste had anything to do with it–I would find it hard to believe that Kannada folk even in the 1950s would read and appreciate literature based on the caste of the littérateur.
I was told, please correct me if I am wrong here, other South Indian languages do not have ‘Bhavagheethe’ kind of poems. This is one of the many indicators as to the quality of poets Kannada has like Adiga, Bendre, DVG, Kuvempu, and more.
On a jarring note, I have learned that DVG was surprisingly against the formation of Karnataka after the reorganization of Indian states during the 1950s. People of his ilk actually feared that they would lose power and prestige in the new dispensation. By no means I am pointing fingers here–but records do exist about DVG’s lack of enthusiasm for Karnataka as a state.
No doubt caste has a strong bearing on many of our ills today–but we mus t also be even handed in our approach and indeed take it on the chin and move on. You cannot correct a social structure which obviously worked to the advantage of a few by taking extreme course corrections like reservations and other schemes.
No plan or remedy is perfect for social ills. IMHO, although I belong to the upper caste myself, the man who deserves a Noble Prize for social work would be our late CM Devaraj Urs. It was he who implemented the land ceiling act, and empowered millions of lesser advantaged folk in Karnataka, through Havanur commission. Naturally, this has kept the so-called upper castes on their toes with many of us fleeing the State to greener pastures abroad.
Let us enjoy all Kannada literature without bitterness or rancor.
This is a nice write-up about the Great DVG. I had the opportunity of printing 10 out of 11 volumes of complete works of DVG published by the Kannada and Culture Department of karnataka Govt. I am surprised that your write-up is silent about Jeevanadharmayoga written by DVG. For an ordinary person, Manku Thimmana Kagga is not easily understandable. That is why a spate of books have come out claiming to give Artha and Tatparya for Kagga. But, I have never come across a more lucid and simpler commentary on the Bhagavadgeetha than this book. I am sure one who reads this book will become a better person, no matter which caste or sex or religion he might belong to.
Another book worthy of mention is Rajyashastra. I feel any budding politician should read this book. Published in 1920s, when the Russian Revolution was just 3-4 years old, DVG had the foresight then itself to doubt whether it will stand the test of time. This is a wonderful book which can transform an ordinary politician into a Statesman.
Don’t we all know how much Kuvempu hated Brahmins. He always made it a point to poke fun at them. Such a great literary figure but he had his pet peeves too. Some readers may try to argue out with some examples, but erveybody knew that he could not stand Brahmins.
Once upon a time Brahmins had lofty ideals in life. In their pursuit of spiritual knowledge, they did not care for power or material comforts and had contempt even for death. Hence they were respected from the kings to the laymen. But now everything has changed. Let alone ideals or principles, the youth of this community has one aim, to get technical qualifications so that he/she could migrate to USA, which for him is the Vaikunta or Kailasa (depending upon his/her sect). Even their parents encourage them in this endeavour on the pretext of lack of opportunity for the members of their community in India. In their blind pursuit for money, they care less about their country, countrymen or culture. No doubt their status have fallen down in the eyes of other communities in India.
Bidi P.Tumkur..Yaake Jaathi vishya thartheera
I would like to answer if I may the following comments from my fellow bloggers.
“I don’t think caste had anything to do with it–I would find it hard to believe that Kannada folk even in the 1950s would read and appreciate literature based on the caste of the littérateur”.
i think I was misunderstood. I am not taking about merely reading and appreciating Kannada literature in 1950s. Sure Kailasam, Masti ,DVG and Rajaratnam were appreciated and eulogised. But appreciation and eulogising was one thing and recognising them with awards was another. This did not happen. Caste was an important factor even in 1950s. We should remeber that that period was dominated by Kengal Hanumanthiah’ brand of caste politics. Again in Adiga’s case, appreciation was rightly showered on his genius – an English professor who unleashed the revolution of ‘navya kavya’ in the post-‘navodaya’ period. Knowing him well as I did through my own contacts and chatting with friends, he got very little in return in terms of awards. his caste came in the way. He could have atleast been recognised as a Professor of English and Kannada in Maharaja’s College or towards 1960s in Manansagangothri. Think of what it would have done to the reputation of these institutions? Yet he retired from a private St Philomena’s College. If caste was not an
issue ( then Kuvempu was VC of Mysore University), tell me what was the problem?
“On a jarring note, I have learned that DVG was surprisingly against the formation of Karnataka after the reorganization of Indian states during the 1950s. People of his ilk actually feared that they would lose power and prestige in the new dispensation”
I agreed with DVG then and now. Greater Karnataka was a mistake. The reorganisation of states during 1950s left the then Mysore under the rule of a ‘Rajapramukh’ – J.Wodeyar. It should have been continued as such. I know DVG’s reasons for this which I appreciate, value and respect. he was a man of foresight. just like Sir MV.
“Don’t we all know how much Kuvempu hated Brahmins. He always made it a point to poke fun at them. Such a great literary figure but he had his pet peeves too. Some readers may try to argue out with some examples, but everybody knew that he could not stand Brahmins”
I quite agree and that was the truth. Very surprising he held a visceral anti-brahminic
views despite his close association with D.L.na and Thi .Nam Sri. etc.. I have heard him say in vocal terms – don’t ask me when and where. When Manasagangothri was created and departments were established there ( when Kuvempu was VC), the primary qualification for selecting as a professor in those departments was to be a non-brahmin. It gave many in Kuvempu administration a free hand to indulge in caste politics in academia then ( and his successor now) any aspect associated with burgeoning Manasagangothri then. I can give examples.
“Even their parents encourage them in this endeavour on the pretext of lack of opportunity for the members of their community in India”.
All I can say is there was indeed lack of opportunity then for a specific community and now. But I would agree that this specific community lost its moral values in post-independent India.
Lotus Eater,
In their blind pursuit for money, they care less about their country, countrymen or culture
This is plain wrong. Check out the number of Kannada kootas in the US, the invitations to singer, poets, priests/mathadipathis, etc in the US and you will know that people have not forgotten. Also, a lot of my Kannadiga friends give sweat and blood for non-profits. In fact, one of my friends is running a 100-mile rac right now in aid of charity.
If you’ve got a chip on your shoulder about NRK’s, for some other reasons, fine. But for God’s sake, don’t sling mud without knowing facts.
What’s great about inviting priests or building temples in an alien land? Better to follow the adage ‘be like a Roman in Rome’. Instead of sweating out in the land of the greatest oppressor of the Mankind ( which has the history of exterminating the native Red Indians to exploiting the Negroes who were uprooted from their habitation, from bombing Hiroshima and Vietnam to supporting India’s number one tormentor, Pakistan, the den of Islamic terrorism, imposing sanctions against India after she exploded her Nuclear device, the list goes on and on) why not make use of their talent in improving the status of their brethren in India.
We call them as ‘kallara Koota’ and the reason is very evident. The first thing a Kannada guy ( same with any Indian guy) meets another one who is unfamiliar in these Kootas is to ask his name and follow it with a query whether he is a US citizen. If the answer is negative for the latter, I bet there will be no more conversation and the poor unfamiliar guy unless his name is a family name of a prominent political figure or an NRK/NRI tycoon will find himself left alone talking to himself! Hundred others will castigate me for saying this but this is true. In those days in late 1950s and early 60s when an Indian has to take effort to locate another in small Midwest cities like Drayton or Cincinnati, and the un iversities there had very very few Indian students ( Now, these cities are crawling with Indians and a sizeable number of them are from Karnataka. A few of them are my old students in my Indian academic days who I thought were utterly useless!) whenever ‘Kallara Koota’ met, the introduction of a name was followed by a ‘green card’ status query. Again, the poor Kannada student with a student visa hankering to meet fellow Kannadigas was left high and dry in the ‘Koota’ premises. Funny when the Vietnam war was raging, when even the ‘greencard’ holders were entered in a lottery to conscript ‘bodies’ to fight the war in swamps in SE Asia, quite a few of those proud possessors of ‘greencards’ from India were swiftly making their journeys to their forgotten ancestral village saying to their American colleagues that their families hit bad patch and their presence was immediately required! I can narrative a few interesting stories about my fellow Kannadigas who did it ( Clinton escaped this by going to Oxford university in Britain!) One of them holed up in a village near Pavagada was even chased by the conscription wing of American Army! This sounds fantastic now but is true.
Lotus Eater,
You missed my point. A large number of them work for Indian based non-profits. i.e. funds that go to improving the lives of impoverished people. See for example, this.
Sitting on your katte with a by-2 kaafi and chakli and lecturing others on how terrible they are and how “the good old days of Mysore” is gone due to “bloody youngsters” is too common a trend amongst Kannadiga chikkapas and mamas.
Your socialistic generation ruined India. We are trying to put it back together! Yes, we did go to the US for job opportunities, to get away from the perils of reservation whose victims we were, to help our parents -build houses/get medical aid – all of which, they could not afford due to their middle-class salaries in central govt institutions. We have no guilt about that. I find that the more nostalgic a person is about the “good old days” and “matrubhoomi”, the more privileged he must have been.
Lotus Eater,
..I know this is off-topic, but your assertions need to be countered. I know you followed the typical marxist rant about “greatest oppressor”, but get your facts straight. India was friends with the Soviets, and Stalin by all accounts is said to have murdered 30 million of his own people. India shouted slogans of Hindi-Chini bhai bhai knowing fully well, Mao’s atrocities against his own people.
Also, with all its faults, you forget that the Americans themselves fought for values – they had a civil war to stop slavery, the Vietnam war was stopped by anti-war protests at home, every corporation that has abused its power has had to face censure/strict laws at home (e.g. Nike’s issue in Vietnam, Shell in Nigeria). You also conveinently forget that the US supplied India with aid during the China war, but soon thereafter, Nehru in his infinite capacity (along with the Soviet stooge Menon) to commit blunder after blunder, aligned himself with the Soviets. Later, Nixon is known to have hated Indira, since she had a habit of lecturing the US. She completely aligned with Brezhnev.
If only your generation had elected Rajaji, Masani and Mody instead of that cursed dynasty.
Quizman:
I am not sure how long you are in the States. I am not a socialist. I went to States in 1960s when I was only a handful to do so from Mysore. I followed the Vietnam war, saw my Amercan colleague drafted, sent to Vietnam swamp, and returned with a hand and a leg missing. I saw killing of students by troops in Kent State university, followed the Watergate scandal from beginning to the end. They are not edifying sights. Please do not tell us about values.
I guess that you were not born or young in 1950s and early 1960s when india’s foreign policy was formed. John Foster Dulles the secretary of State in Eisenhower administration hated India. He used Pakistan as a counterweight to india. Read about the formation of CENTO then. It was Dulles ‘s doctrine that ruined the relationship between India and USA. Nehru had no other option but to align with Soviet Union. If he had not done it, Indian part of Kashmir would have gone to Pakistan as Pakistan used Dulles to bring up a vote in the UN to discuss Pakistan’s right to get the half of Kashmir. It was Soviet Union’s Veto in the UN that saved India. i know those Indians and Americans who live in the USA know very little about international politics as the news over there is about USA. When Arab countries launched an embargo on oil export in 1973 following Arab-Israel conflict, Gasoline prices in USA doubled. Every one including my colleagues asked me where Saudi Arabia was and who Arabs were! Some Americans wanted USA to raid the oil fields of Saudis to get hold of the oil wells.
Henry Kissinger the Secretary of State in Nixon administration made similar noises. But when Breznev threatened retaliation, he backed away. Otherwise, a third world war was looming.
I am not a socialist but can say that soviet Union saved India many times against Dulles doctrine. Soviet Union proved a reliable friend unlike USA which for supported and built up Saddam and later blamed him for all the ills . For India USA always remained an unreliable friend even nin Kennedy administration. I can give many examples to demonstrate this.
By the way,Central government salaries were pretty good as compared to school teachers whose sons were my friends when I went to the States.
Lotus Eater:
You are mistaken as Indians do in America as Romans did in Rome when it comes to wholeheartedly embracing things food, drink and women. I have seen brahmins from conservative families eating beef within months of arrival (they do even in these days when vegetarian food is available, unlike in 1960s when we ate ice creams and Mac’s apple pies for our lunch in my university days!), take to booze and start dating local girls. The sons of my relatives have become such ferocious beef eaters that when I visited one of them who was married recently, his refrigerator had no vegetarian stuff at all. The newly wed wife later confessed to me that she had to cook the meat stuff (getting sick many times when the meal was being cooked). She said with tears in her eyes that she had learned to taste alcohol as her husband a newly promoted software manager often took her with him to attend the parties thrown by the company, and insisted her to be no different than the spouses of his American colleagues. Don’t worry about those temples. They are there to cleanse the souls of our above friends!
A couple of years ago, the nephew of my Indian friend in America who arrived in the fall semester fell for an American beauty at the end of his first semester and started going with her. At the end of a few weeks, he took this beauty to his apartment in the afternoon ( when his apartment mate was still at the university). When the activities of the two developed further within minutes, the nephew was shocked to discover that the American beauty was really a man –a transvestite!
Guru,
I never said Vietnam was a correct war. I was debating Lotus Eater’s contention by stating that Americans themselves were responsible for stopping it by protesting against their government’s policies.
Regarding CENTO, yes, our generation does know about it. We’re not as ignorant as you seem to imply. :-) Foster Dulles and his brother Allan did not hate India as much as mistrust Nehru and the communist Menon. And btw, Nehru was the one who referred the matter to the UN and called for a ceasefire inspite of Cariappa’s insistence that he win the war through military power.
I agree that the average American knows very little about geopolitics. The average Indian knows little too, but we in the middle class interact with like minded folks and get an incorrect impression about India.
Your observation that Kissinger wanted to interefere militarily during the 1973 Yom Kippur war is incorrect. From all accounts that I’ve read and seen, Kissinger was the one who delayed the shipment of materiel’ to Israel since he preferred detente. Kissinger was terrible – I don’t dispute that.
Btw, as I’ve stated, if you went to the US in the 1960’s you were privileged. Most middle-class Indians could not afford flight tickets to go between cities in India until the mid 1990s. I recall that Santa Cruz airport in Bombay used to be a tourist destination for visiting relatives. :-)
Regarding your other anecdotes about personal friends, I don’t see how you can make value judgements on the entire 2 million or so Indians based on your friends’ children. That is a simple statistical (and logical) fallacy. :-) [Your belief that the very same folks do not indulge in a hedonistic lifestyle in India is mere glossing over the truth. Every campus in India, even during the 1960s had its share of ‘colourful’ characters.
“Even their parents encourage them in this endeavour on the pretext of lack of opportunity for the members of their community in India”.
All I can say is there was indeed lack of opportunity then for a specific community and now. But I would agree that this specific community lost its moral values in post-independent India. ”
I am not sure which community was this and what are we talking about .
1.Who were the people who always thought that ‘GOD’ belongs to them and every other Jananga was kept out of temples and even streets.
2.Who were the people who one/always/will believe that ‘KNOWLEDGE’ only belongs to them .
3.Who were the people who neve allowed any other Jananga to come up in any fields like Education,Music and enjoyed all other privileges.
4.Who were the same people who ‘Mane anGala manassu’ chennagilla andhroonu ‘Madi Mailge’ hesarnalli ..dourjanya yesagidhu????
5.For centuries the same community has oppressed others , kept out of power,temples and places of learning . Started the Jaathi politics . never imparted lessons of Music and Dance . Always maintained they are Shreshta and seen others as ‘Kanista’
Played all guLLe nari politics while others payed the price for fighting .
Only in the last two decades they have been made ‘MOOLE GUMPU’
and also the infighting among members of the same community has led them down.
Americadhalli yenu kamminae …yillu adhe jaathivaadhi ..Kannada kootana
badhlu jaathi sangha maadkondidhare ..
Adhikke swamy ‘MaadidhuNNo Maharaya’…….
Vidyaranya,
Thank you for the very good article on Dr.DVG, who was with out doubt one of the great personalities. It is sad that DVG and Adiga were not conferred the Jnanapeeta award. Every time I pass by Bull temple road, I look upon the GIPA and think about the noble person behind it, A great human being indeed.
Guru,
You are bang on target when you recount Kuvempu’s anti brahmin tirade. My grandfather, who is 97 now, retired as History professor and worked with Kuvempu. He also recollects the bad caste politicis which was instigated and institutionalised by Kuvempu!
Kiran , Brahmins also must have done something Bad since they were majority in mysore university and elsewhere during those days.
Anyway yaaru saacha alla
DG sariyagi helidhri!
Yellara maney dosenu thoothu ashtey! Kuvempu hage madiidru antha Brahmanaru mundhe barlillway!?
Brahmanaralle thagolli, yestondhu pangadagaliwey!
“Awanu yedagai awanu, yewanu balagai awanu.”
“Naanu Madhwa, thumba shresta Brahmana.”
“Naanu Babbur Kamme.”
“Naanu Iyengari.” “Mandyam, Hebbar, Thenkalai, Vadagalai..”
“Naanu Sankethi.” “Bettadapurano, yilla Kaushikano?”
“Nanu Iyeri.”
“Nanu Shivalli.”
“Nanu Howyaka.”
“Nanu muluknadu.”
Among so called lesser castes…
“Nanu Lingayatha” “Renukano, Jangamano, illa nonabano, sadano, medhano?..”
“Nanu Gowda.”
“Nanu Kuruhini Shetty.”
“Nanu Bewarsee.”
Anna, Prakasha, kila kilaa, ayyayyappa!!! enappa, you seem to be a Kuvempuist?? Agreed, Kuvempu penned a lot of wonderful poems, (I am not sure how many he got it written by someone else…. just kidding :-) ).
Coming to the fact that the fields of music and education was very much limited to only the upper castes, I strongly disagree with you. If you observe the lineage of music atleast in Mysore province, you will see that musical stalwarts like Veene Sheshanna, Bidaram Krishnappa, Dwaram Venkatswamy Naidu, T Chowdaiah, MS Subbulakshmi etc in music, Venkatalakshamma in Dance were all from anything other than Bramhins. It is not that it was monopolised by Bramhins. It is only because of few people who wanted to have easy life (remember the ant and the grasshopper story on Churumuri?) who have brought in this kind of a divide. I just would like to bring an anecdote from the autobiography of Mysore Vasudevacharya – who himself was a vaggeyakaara and was trained under the tutelage of Veene Sheshanna. He went on to become the Aasthana vidwan of Mysore palace and ended up teaching the Mysore Maharaja himself in Carnatic Music.
Vasudevacharya (disciple) went to Sheshanna asking for tutelage when they both had been to Coimbatore. Sheshanna said that Vasudevacharya was fit only for having meals in a tithi and challenged that enroute to Mysore from Coimbatore by train, Sheshanna would teach Vasudevacharya a composition and if he could learn it by the time train reached Mysore, Sheshanna would accept him as his disciple. Mind you, Sheshanna was travelling by First class and Vasudevacharya was travelling by Thirdclass. At every station when the train stopped, Vasudevacharya ran to the first class compartment to listen to the teaching, come back to his compartment and practice until the next stop. By the time the train reached Mysore, Vasudevacharya recited the complete composition to Veene Sheshanna who was thrilled and accepted him as his disciple and we all know the level where Vasudevacharya reached. So, the ant had to work overtime in order to gain the recognition. It is pure hardwork and determination.
Lets not bother about the caste today. Lets all look at how we can bring our country forward rather than fighting amongst ourselves.
A last word to DG. Sitting in the US and commenting on our country without making any contribution doesn’t do anything good. I guess, we need to bring in some kind of cognisible work / contribution before we can talk of communities and castes. My 2 cents….
NS raaya ..naanu maadirodhu bittirodhu ningeeenla gwothu?namma Shinima rangakke kwadge kwottillva…adirli yisyakke barana.
naanu yeeldihu…maathu yeth yethlo oythadhalla antha .Amela
yillorovru ..adheno ‘Desa suthii ..kosa odhbeku antha’..anthavrella
yinnu jaathi matha pangada antha paalsthare .
naanu yillyirovru bagge maathad thidheeni japthi yirli
Mane iyklu ( Children) guLalla yaaryaarno katkyendu yaar yaar jotheno malagkyondidhrunu….yee nanna makkaleLLa nu yinnu
naanu brahmana..neenu linga kattidhya..neenu gowda….ankothirthare..adru bagge yeldhe aste KANLAAAAA……
Quizman:
I do not think you have read enough to know the machinations of John Foster Dulles and his doctrine. He was just like average Americans who look everything as black and white.
It is correct to say Dulles was a bosom pal as far as India was concerned. Eisenhower administration long wanted to fly spy planes to Soviet Union and hence Pakistan, a dictator-ruled country was chosen. They were supplied with Sabre jets, the advanced jets at that time for allowing Americans to establish a spybase there. The reason why Nehru went to UN against what Cariappa must have wanted was ( friends of Cariappa attribute`all kinds of qualities to him in Dayan style) he having found no condemnation from Western friends mainly the American Admin wanted to stop the bloodshed. That does not give carte blanche reason for Dulles to raise the Kashmir issue as a punishment. Soviet Veto was necessary. If the cold war is still running, the IRAQ fiasco would not have happened. Because of the American ways of looking everything as black and white with no shades of yellow, they keep on electing presidents like Nixon, Clinton, Bush – the first and the third are disasters. Now comes Obama about whom no body knows very little. Think pf these guys with their hands on Ballistic missiles switches- mind boggles.
About airfare in 1960s. the AIRINDIA coming of age then gave us concessions and long time to pay the fares. In most cases, installments were accepted. About 2 million Indians in America, I have no doubt that majority of them eat beef and booze. I am not saying that my time was better. I can say that those who are no good in India-adjudged so turn up in America- thanks to relatives’ dollars. Think of meritocracy in America- no way.
Correction It should say “it is NOT correct to say —
The late Vasudevachar was a friend of my father. He was trained under Patnam Subramania Iyer in Tiruvayyar. Patnam’s guru’s guru was sri Thyagaraja himself. I have no problems about musicians-the caste there does not matter as a musician stands or falls on his/her versatility unlike an academic in manasagangothri where caste played/plays its substantial part in machinations. Yes, Brahmins did many things bad so are others. But the difference is that Brahmins are condemned for a milinnium, and are discriminated viciously. DVG and Adiga are examples of this.
Prakash:
I may even agree with many of your observations. But look at what has happened to Mysore university when opportunities were opened up for so called backward classes Mysore university degree these days is not worth anything. Amazing is it not that only in India and in Karnataka people want themselves to be classified as ‘backward classes’. How much more degeneration one could expect? What is serious is that these ‘backwardness’ is carried through in ‘Kallara Koota’ in Newzealand , Australia and in a few places in USA.
he reason why Nehru went to UN against what Cariappa must have wanted was ( friends of Cariappa attribute`all kinds of qualities to him in Dayan style) he having found no condemnation from Western friends mainly the American Admin wanted to stop the bloodshed.
This in fact, is untrue. Dulles’ angst and frustration at India was primarily driven by Menon and that came later. This man had stood up in the UN and had given a long raving speech in which he castigated the Brits, French and incredulously, the Americans over the Suez crisis. (Fair enough). But he did not do the same when the Soviets invaded Hungary and committed inumerable atrocities there in the same year (1956). This aroused the suspicion that India was not as non-aligned as the govt made it look.
You contention that the Iraq War would not have happened with the Soviet Union being present can be disputed. The Soviets invaded Hungary, Afghanistan, (practically Mongolia), controlled all the Eastern bloc countries while the cold war was ongoing. It seems like there are different standards to judge the Soviets and the US.
That said, the way the aftermath of the war in Iraq has been conducted is disgraceful.
About 2 million Indians in America, I have no doubt that majority of them eat beef and booze.
Yes, I’m certain that the entire 2 million of us daityas send you complete details of our dietary habits. :-)
I think you both need to carry on your offline discussion elsewhere which is more irrelevant to the present topic
Desa suthii ..kosa odhidhre yen banthu baagya..yinnu jaathi antheera
janwaara bicchittu maadbaradhannu maadtheera .
karmasya brahmanaha anthaare…neevu adikke kaLanka .
adikke yaaro thiLidhirovu helodhu ‘Janavaara haakidhavnella Brahmananalla’..
you guys suck !
Quizman:
I can understand your predicament when the ‘Patriat Act’ is hanging over your head there now like the Sword of Democles’.
I think you got your chronology wrong. When Dulles started his attitude towards India, Menon was not in India at all in any capacity. He was in London.
You do not need to give me the addresses of your fellow ‘vratyas’, I know enough of them already. Remeber I was there before you were born!
Just to explain what the ‘Patriot Act’ is-in the aftermath of 9/11, the act introduced in USA gives carte blanche power for the federal authorities to hold just about anyone indefinitely in jail -no heabus corpus here , anyone, aliens ( funny description as this term commonly refers to non-earthly beings!), citizens with the mere whiff of suspicion. Even before this, in USA you cannot move a writ of haebus corpus while you could do in India. Many of my friends , young American students called for conscription in Vietnam and who refused were simply thrown in jail. Bush of course had his daddy who managed to get him a uniform to stay in Texas! Strange when quizzman is castigating communists who normally do just this, in his own backyard in the land of opportunity and freedom this was happening. But for Woodward and Bernstein ( washington Post) who risked their lives and careers the Watergate would not have been revealed. When Nixon’s impeachment hearings took place under Senator Rodino’s Chaimanship, every republican senator who knew that Nixon was guilty put his hand up to defend him. This is what Soviet commissars do and perhaps Menon would have done. What is the difference? The neoconservatives ruling in Washington DC now are today as bad as communists. Dulles one might call was one in those days eventhough the term’neoconservatism’ was not invented then. About Hungary, it was a small prize that India paid in not criticising in return for continuous Soviets’ support. You had then Dulles drawing his daggers out with the Pakistanis in fezz caps hiding behind him! American administration always felt comfortable in dealing with dictators-no wonder Dulles did just that. I sign off with this.
Hi
I am disgusted to read the silly comments, mudslinging and non-sense written by bloggers for the write up “The Kannadiga who should have got a Nobel”.
Instead of voicing their opinion on the issue, all of them have detracted from it and wen on commenting on brahmin-anti brahmin issues.
If you have not read DVG, Kuvemp[, Adiga and do not know how to react, pl do not waste your time and energy. Out of 33 comments so for not more than five are apt comments. All others are shit.
The shit started from the comment by Lotuseater. Instead of eating lotus let him eat
…………..so that he will gain knowledge about the great kannada writers.
The persons manning the blog should use their discretion and delete such comments which divide the gap between various sections of the community.
Please see that irrelevant comments are not posted and only healthy comments are entertained.
I am surprised to see so many comments on the message posted.
As I am a new user to this, I am enjoying the site.
keep commenting..
Why the likes of DVG and Adiga were not recignised with awards that they richly deserved? One reason for this is that they were independent thinkers (the term mavericks was used to undermine them) and did not belong to that large group who were promoting ‘navodaya’ genre. DVG transcended this with his superb down to earth portrayal life and sorts and exquisite reasoning without being shackled by this genre. His critical works predated Kuvempu’s. Adiga set fireworks by creating a post-navodaya genre called ‘navaya kavya’. He was influenced by the Romantic period of English literature ( Wordsworth, Keats, Coleridge). After all he was an English professor.
I would like to see any evidence of Kuvempu wholeheartedly praising the contributions of these two giants.
Those days Maharaja’s College was the focal point of literary studies. Prof Rollo was a formidable figure in English department then. Kuvempu the clever person that he was knew this and took up the academic career in this famous College, and moved up the academic ladder quickly. DVG was a self-educated person and had no opportunity to move into this academic club. He was a journalist and remained so. Adiga did, but his position as a professor in a private college- a Christian College at that had its constraints. Despite this, his achievements were extraordinary.
Let us not forget the unique contributions of Masti, Gorur, Kailasam, KV Iyer, Rajaratnam and Narasimhaswamy.
DG,
I agree, the fault lies with brahmins too. On the majority thing, I dont think so because there used to be good representation by other communities as well.
A blog does spin many threads. The blog posting began with that superb poem of Adiga
written by him in 1950 and is a part of the compendium Kattuvevu Navu. The question was asked early on why the geniuses like DVG and Adiga were not recognised by Jnanapeetha awards or even Nobel prize for literature. My personal opinion is that these two stalwarts deserve the Noble for their different contributions -DVG for his incisive philosophical contribution that ‘mankuthimmana kagga’ exemplifies and Adiga for his seminal creation of the ‘navya kavya’ genre. The arguments then turned towards their caste which even those scholars who did not like the independent thinking of these two poets agree was an issue. I was one of those students in engineering and medical colleges in 1950s who was inspired by DVG ‘s ( who then for us was a great sage) thoughts and was swayed by Adiga’s powerful ‘navya kavya’ revolution in kannada literature. I like others, some of whom were great scholars in those days was of the opinion that these two giants were not recognised enough for their immense contributions because of their caste. Even ‘Tarasu’ the great novelist and a Mysorean to the core who was broadminded did mention to me once that his caste was a curse for him. No one can run away from this fact or sweep this fact under the carpet.
I dont understand how caste would play politics ? there were also the Brahmin people ruling the state ..at center in very important places.
Please leave these people as they are ..They are all great and noble people. Lets shut our mouths and enjoy what they have written
Kuvempu,Masthi,bendre….avarnella bittu bekadre banni Shinima rangadavra bagge mathadona.
yeega mathe shuru maadbedi ..Vishnuvardhan Brahmana avarige Dadasaheb yaak kodlilla …Rajkumarge yaak sikkithu antha….sic
Guru Awarey
Hogli bidi saar…haleydhanella neniskondu yaake dukkha padthira
Jnanapitha, Noble barde yiddrinda DVG hagu Adiga awarigey yenu kundagalilla!
Eega nodi, Tagoregey Noble kodle bardhitthu. Aaw kachada Rabindro Sangeeth antha eeglu nuvuvey Bengaligalu arachkolltha yiddharey
Adhar badlu olley olley kavithegalanna neevey bardhu nammanna uddhhara madi shiva
Next Gnanapeetha definite aagey nam MM Singha prakara obba musulmanarigey koduvudu–Nissar Ahmedgey Kanditha sigutthey
Tarasu namma Walter Scott Iddha haagey—papa avaru duddu mado adhrusta madi irlilla
Adhey namma RK Narayan nodi,
Yenu jasthi abilities illdey idrunuvey duddu madidru…Yaake andrey obba bili manushya Graham Hasiru annono awarigey thumba upakara mawdha! RKN onthara “Nara Sattha” sahitya krishi madidhrunuvey thumba famous aagbittru. Awarigey “Sahithi” antha hesaru banthu. Awara yogyathe awarigey gothidh wrinda awaru haagey therey mareyalley idh bittru astey!
Yeega awaru sathmeley Indra Chandra antha thumba jana amayakaru awara hesaru helkondu odadtha yiddarey… nadeeli bidi santhosha
I have read what a few souls have written her as blog replies. Reading what they have written in unprintable language I have to say’ God help India’!
Sir Guru,
Could you please elaborate your below statement .
‘All I can say is there was indeed lack of opportunity then for a specific community and now. But I would agree that this specific community lost its moral values in post-independent India.’
I strongly support “Almond eater” .
Why people are moving away from the topic.i just can’t understand!!
Doddi Buddi avare ,
Sumne yeno baribeku anta bariyodu alla
vishayakke sambandh iro haage ,odidavaru asahya patkoldiro haage irabeku.
Yaru hege duddu madidaru annodu mukhya alla
yaradadaru tale odedu duddu galisabahudu
nalku jane mechho haage nimma matugalirabeku
kila kilaa… ayyayappa!! enappa, dheerendraa? ashtondu kopanaa….??
I am upset the way the comments are written on this blog. I only said that lets not discuss caste and creed and see the achievement for this country. If in case DG was upset with my comment, I take back my words on him and seek his apologies. Yes, may be, I crossed the line. Sorry, DG. No hard feelings… Come to our usual place and lets discuss offline over a couple of “sura” :-)… Remember, we are in HEAVEN!! not on EARTH!!
Otherwise, the taste of words used by some of them here is unprintable. Like Nirmala mentions in her blog, anybody can make money in this world and this includes the oldest profession the earth has seen. It is only the quality of money that matters than the quantity earned. Similarly some of these responses too…. they lack quality.
But the fact still remains that any person irrespective of his / her caste or creed can come up in life only there is hard work with intelligence and nothing substitutes it (caveat – you should be CM’s son / ex-PM’s grandson if you really want to enjoy life – that’s a different issue altogether).
Let anybody comment anything on this subject or my views, I am NOT going to write anything on this subject anymore. It only reflects their immaturity if they are using inappropriate language.
Guru Sir, Vapas banni swamy. Nimma antha hiriyovar hathira thlkollokke bari vishya yiruthe. Namgu Officenalli swalpa sadila …time sikkaga OdhoNa
Many greats, but clearly DVG sticks out- just the broad spectrum of his thoughts from the Upanishads to Jeevana dharma yoga to original master pieces to raaja, raajya neethi and economic reforms.
Only BIG NEGATIVE is he insisted that only a brahmin should learn the Vedas and also seemed to subscribe to the notion that caste is hereditary. It is amazing how such a wise person also subscribed to such illogical concepts. Although he rightly understood that caste is purely expression of aptitudes, but somehow bungled it up with the notion that it is hereditary.
He even seem to have forgotten the popular saying: Pundit’s son idiot.
This only shows, how deep and screwed up the Indian psyche (because it transcends religion in India) is when it comes to caste.
Nevertheless, I believe DVG, of all Indians, not just Kannadigas, deserved Nobel Prize.
M.S.SUBBULAKSHMI, The Mastero, is a KANNADIGA BY BIRTH. HER MOTHER WAS A KANNADIGA. SHE KNEW THE LANGUAGE WELL AND USE TO SING IN KANNADA.
M.S.S. also deserves it.
@ R. S. Mohan Murthy
ನಿಮಗೆ ಡಿ.ವಿ.ಜಿ. ಅವರ “ರಾಜ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ” ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಗುತ್ತೆ ಎಂದು ಗೊತ್ತಿದಿಯ ? ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಈ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ಇದಿಯ ?
people become great just by their knowledge and hard work, all other things are secondary!
Unnecessary things shouldn’t be brought up in public forums.
Whatever u say is your personal interpretation, why force others to believe it?