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Chapter 2 Indian Poetry in English: a Brief Introduction

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Chapter 2 Indian Poetry in English: a Brief Introduction Chapter 2 Indian Poetry in English: A Brief Introduction Preliminaries Indian English poetry carries the message o f Indian sensibility, culture and heritage. It is meaningful in attitude and perception. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to regard Indian English Poetry as a limb o f the larger body o f Indian poetry. Indian poets in English display comfortable control on universal themes. Most o f the Indian poets in English have been bilinguals or translators. The list o f these poets starts from Toru Dutt, Manmohan Ghose, Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore, Puran Singh, Sri Ananda Acharya, and Nissim Ezekiel up to Dilip Chitre. Regarding Indo English poetry, Amritjit Singh rightly says, “There are many critical issues regarding Indo- English writing but most of them are centered on these writers’ choice of English for creative expression.” (Singh 1) Indian English poetry, in fact all Indian English writings, is written in language other than mother tongue o f the writers or at least that o f a majority o f them. It is argued that if these writers are Indians, their natural medium for expression should be Indian languages. Then questions arise. Does the Indo English writer choose to write in English in search of a wider reader? Or does he consciously or sub-consciously allow him self to become an external explainer o f the East to the West? Or does he run after international fame and name? Or does he consider writing in English as a symbol of prestige? All these 11 questions have been endlessly raised but the answers to such questions remained unanswered or unsatisfactory at least. It has been said that Indians cannot practise spontaneity dealing with Indian themes. English language is neither the mother tongue nor the road language for Indians so as to use it as natives do. The language, which neither resides in the poets’ psyche nor runs through their blood, cannot express them properly. It means that Indian English poets never give vent to poetic experiences with the best overflow of feelings. Of course, their poetry in the regional languages may abound in sincerity and truthfialness o f human feelings. However, the choice of language by the Indian writers is much more reasoned. It is an attempt o f reaching the world outside. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar remarks, “Indians have written- are writing -in English for communicating with one another and with outside world, for achieving self-expression too artistically, using English, if necessary, or necessarily, in an Indian way.” (Iyengar 4) Iyengar has clarified that the Indians use English language in an Indian way and do not charmelize their thinking so as to fit English but use it in such a way that the process o f cognition remains as it is. Indian poets used English as creative medium with their intention of introducing English in Indian scenario. In the process, the Indian English has achieved its distinctive identity. In this regard, Braj kachru in his essay, ‘The Indianness in Indian English,’ observes, “I believe it is the English language that has been indianized if not the Britishers” (Kachru 408). A large number of aspirants and claimants (Indian English Poets) are waiting for recognition and acceptance in the main stream and there are at least twenty poets who have won both national and international recognition. It means that the objectives Indians keep their eyes on, while writing poetry, are fame and recognition. On the other hand natives use their mother tongue viz. - English and pour their heart and mind without any reserve because English is their life experience, ways of doing 12 things and the whole stuff o f life right from the birth till the end. Besides, Indians face strange problem in the form o f cleavage between the cultural grading and verbalization. Indians try to verbalize Indian action in English but sometimes cannot find suitable words and that causes the divorce between feelings and words and may not beget good literature. Indian Poetry in English: The Notion, Birth and Origin The notion and the origin o f Indian English poetry are wrapped in the prehistory of Jhe Indo-Westem encounter, long before the birth of Henry Derozio. Makarand Paranjape in his introduction to Indian Poetry in English puts two related preconditions for writing poetry in English, “First, the English language had to be sufficiently Indianized to be able to express the reality of the Indian situation; secondly, Indians had to be sufficiently Anglicized/ westernized to use English language to express themselves. The first of the two conditions, the Indianization of English language began much before the second, the Anglicization of the Indians” (Paranjape 1). Indian English Poetry has begun in the presence of the British as a political entity in our country for about one hundred and fifty years. The British had an extended empire during the nineteenth century and this empire has a strong impact on its territories. These territories were o f two kinds -those like Canada, New Zealand and Australia where English people colonized and established their culture and those like India and Nigeria where they where rulers by force imposed their rules and regulations, their culture, their fashion and even their language. In 1947, India gained freedom at the same time Sri Lanka was granted freedom. The breakup of the British Empire with resulting development of new independent nations and the assertion of an Independent cultural and political identity led to the growth of common wealth literature. The current trend in post-colonial poetry is to assert one’s national identity and glorify the landscape of his/her country. 13 Historical documents suggest that the discovery of sea-route to India in Kerala by Vasco- Da-Gama in 1498 enhanced the commercial link between India and Europe. Then Portuguese, Dutch and English slowly but steadily and surely gained monopoly of the land. Trade, Economics and monetary gains were the prime reasons for the control of the land. Then came political and administrative monopoly with English language, and it gradually became the language of privileged. English got paramount importance and regional languages were being marginalized. The Indian elite, so-called sophisticated, felt the need to enjoy this monopoly and they promoted English as a medium of education. The people like Raja Ram Mohan Roy played a significant role in this move. According to K. R. S. Iyengar, the renaissance in modem Indian literature began with Raja Ram Mohan Roy (Iyengar 30). This, together with modem Indian Macaulay’s minutes on education on 2"^* February 1935, enabled English to become official language of the country. Macaulay’s minutes state, “to make the natives of these country scholars and to this end all our efforts to be directed” (Macaulay’s minutes). Even the then\jovernor General Lord Bentinck also said that the main purpose of the British Govemment ought to be the promotion of English literature and science among the natives o f India. Then the first English universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay came into existence in 1857. These universities became the centers of literary talent in the country in English language. With introduction o f English education in different parts o f a country, several English educated Indians started English as the medium to express their feelings, ideas and emotions. Indian English was the good result of this excitement. Many scholars considered Ram Mohan Roy’s essay A Defense of Hindu Theism (1817) as the first original publication o f significance in the history o f Indian English literature. Besides English education, Christian missionaries played a significant role in promoting creative writing. The Christian missionaries set up printing presses all over 14 the country. The socio- religious organization like Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj and Prarthana Samaj also helped to review cultural past o f Indians. With so much encouragement given to English, it was inevitable that some would pursue poetry writing in English. A number of Indian words had been regularized into English; at the same time some English words began to become common to the Indians towards the end of the 17*'’ century. Throughout the last twenty years or so, during which Indo-English literature has received the attention of scholars and critics. There is always confusion over the nomenclature o f this literature and it continues even today. Scholars and critics gave different labels to this literature ‘Indo-English’, ‘Indian English’, ‘Indo-Anglian’ etc. Iyengar used Indo-Anglian perhaps as an invasion of Anglo-Indian to suggest that it was a part o f Indian literature rather than British literature. The terms ‘Indian English Poetry’, ‘Indian poetry in English’ and ‘Indo-Anglican poetry’ are equally accepted. Indian Poetry in English: Growth and Development A number of young people, having had dynamic education in the new school fired with the ambition to put India once more on the cultural map o f the world . They knew very well that they ought to write in English so that they could easily attract the attention of their English masters and also reach their countrymen with different language. Indian English literature was born out this excitement and Indian English poetry took birth in this exciting atmosphere o f growing craze for English education and English literature. Kashiprasad Ghose brought the flavour o f local tradition through his ‘The Shair and Other Poems Henry Derozio and Michael Madhusudan Datta were his contemporaries. Along with his contemporary socio-religious situation, the forceful writing of Ram Mohan Roy also contributed to Indian English poetry. H. M. Williams observes, “his (Roy’s) influence extends through the Dutts, Tagore and Sarojini Naidu and on Sir Aurobindo Ghose” (Williams 1).
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