What is the Status of Telugu Short Story Today?

A Review of Katha Tarangalu

V. V. S. Sarma

Indian Institute of Science

Bangalore 560012

Katha Tarngalu (Editors: Nidamarthy Uma Rajeswara Rao and Vivina Murthy): This collection of short stories in Telugu is published by ARASAM, Bangalore and is available at Visalandhra Publishing House and all its branches and ARASAM, 810, Chitrapur Math Apartments, 8^th Main, Prof. M. P. L. Sastry Road (15^th Cross Road), Malleswaram West, Bangalore 5600055. Price Rs 150)

In my essay in Supatha of Aug-Sept 2002, I discussed the degree to which social and political reality was reflected in the Telugu fictional literature I read during 1955-75. My learned friend Kavana Sarma said on reading my essay that the scope and the canvass of Telugu fiction has expanded considerably in the last two decades with writers venturing into new terrain from several directions - touching the viewpoints of women, dalits and adopting several new techniques and symbolism. He also invited me to an evening with several Telugu fiction writers of Bangalore affiliated to the Bangalore chapter of ARASAM. I also obtained a copy of their May 2002 publication of "Katha Tarangalu" featuring 37 stories by 17 women and 5 male writers with a preface by Vivina Murthy and edited by Nidamarthy Uma Rajeswara Rao, a veteran of Visalandhra and a versatile Telugu writer. This review of this latest collection of stories, I hope, would give a reasonable completeness to my original essay. (A condensed version of the original essay is to appear in Thulika, the sister publication of e-patrika.)

The preface provided by Vivina Murthy is interesting in its own way. It is a projection from a particular angle exposing some issues while masking some others. He rightly emphasizes the fact that story telling is an ancient tradition in human civilizations. (He characteristically does not talk about Indian tradition such as Mahabharatha, Ramayana, Yoga Vasishta, Panchatantra, Puranas, Gatha saptasathi, Jataka tales, and other literary efforts spanning more than three millennia.) He talks of humanism - compassion to other's problems, learning from one's experiences, sharing the difficulties and pleasures of others etc. - and says that it is the foundation of science, history, philosophy and literature. He observes that before the human being learnt how to write, he drew pictures of animals and sung the glory of natural forces. To safeguard his group against enemies, the human being learnt both self-sacrifice and selfishness (to protect the friend, and to kill the enemy). Only later according to him, the idea of I originated, distinct from WE and THEY. To tie the I-ness to WE, labels and concepts such as family, gothra, gana, jati (race), and desa (country) have emerged. For satisfying the daily needs, the concept of family emerged while the "religion" has emerged with the belief that the doubts are cleared. In the process, only ritual and superstition (unsubstantiated beliefs) grew and Murthy claims that the institutions of family and religion are strong and setting goals for human life even today.

This is definitely an alien viewpoint. One strikingly missing point is the curiosity of the human (jijnasa) and his search for truth. Another interesting fact he misses is the evolution of human intelligence with time. The question of creation "When all of this began?" is a mystery then and is a mystery now. Can science understand the beginnings of creation? Is there a pattern? If there is a pattern, then only a scientist can speculate, model it and in due course partly explain a phenomenon or discover a law. The incomprehensible question is why and how there are partially recognizable patterns in creation. What is the intellect underlying this rhythm and what is its objective? We can count numbers using our ten fingers - we may add, subtract, multiply and divide them. Trouble comes with zero and infinity. Another name for the former is sunya and the latter, anantha. A third set of names is Buddhism and Sanathan Dharma, which incorporate in them scientific pursuits - intimately related to each other for understanding zero and infinity. Some operations with zero and all aspects of infinity are not needed in the day to day life, nor are they needed in computers, The machines built with finite human intellect cannot handle both of them adequately. They cannot represent "anoraneeyan mahatomaheeyan". Vedic Rishis discovered - no! have seen and heard - these basic truths, through their tapas. The darsanas and vedangas were developed later to understand, to explain, to validate, and to logically establish these universal truths.

The second point, which Vivina Murthy emphasizes, is that religions are prescribing conflicting goals of human life and the human being is finding it difficult to deal with these. Here again I differ with him. I consider three issues as fundamental - self (atma) - God (Iswara) - and the world (jagat) for a theist and the self, the group (or class) and the world for the atheist. The goals for the human are pretty clear in all cultures - kama and artha (worldly desires and money to fulfil most of them). Moksha through dharma is the additional and ultimate goal of Sanathana dharma. Every religion and system provided some DOs and DONTs. The ones in our tradition are basically two concepts: dharma and karma. These are equally applicable either to the theist or to the atheist. The problem with twentieth century life is only the complexity of environment brought about by science and technology with human issues taking back seat. Humans became nuts and bolts in a state-or large corporation operated-machine or at the most treated as livestock. (The modern rat race ultimately converts all people into rats!) Kubusam by Kuppili Padma in this collection precisely describes this in the life of a yuppy (young upwardly mobile) software engineer and his sensitive wife and the problem of emotions vs. economic reality. The widening gap between ever-increasing desires and ambitions and the mentality of satisfaction and contentment of two conflicting philosophies of life is portrayed elegantly.

A very important concept, that of God, finds no mention by Murthy. Probably he clubs God with the category religion. Murthy also claims that religions have long history. I do not agree. God is an ancient concept. Who discovered, inferred or even invented the concept nobody knows. Religions - particularly the most troublesome and quarrelsome ones - are comparatively recent, which exploited the concept of God. Humans, who claim to be prophets or incarnations, found all organized religions. Some also claim special relationships - sons (with even mythical stories such as mother human, human father not real father, real father not real human etc.) or specially chosen messengers and have one book, which contains their version of God's word believed to be the only, ultimate and all-time truth. Some believe that there will be no more new prophets, while others claim that they are the latest in a sequence. In addition, God, according to some only loves the believers of his supposed word and punishes the non-believers (may be even with retrospective effect). The same is even true of -isms. People such as Ravana, Kamsa, Alexander, Lenin, Mao, Hitler, Jinnah, Pervez Musharraf, Ramaswamy Nayakar and Bin laden played or have been playing similar leadership roles in their short and finite lifetimes. But God and gods (including Devil and devils in some religions) from times immemorial have played an enormous role in the lives of human beings. The fiction writer simply cannot ignore this factor. God is a human-imagined concept certainly and the concept has partly a component of avidya in it. But it is also the result of his highest possible rationality. Is God a concept, a man, a woman, an animal, a fish, an idol, or a symbol Aum (the pranava)? Has It (He or She) form and name? It is everything, it is in everything, and it is the light of jnana. In darkness (tamas), there is absence of light. This is atheism or ajnana (agnosticism). There is no logical basis for atheism. Our devas knew it. Even our rakshasas knew it. Even our so-called atheists - Jains and Buddhists knew it - they built a separate dual model - concentrating on zero rather than infinity. This instant in this very life is more important than speculation about future. Theirs is a more difficult path to survive because they concentrated on the ascetic path in this very life as an arhat or a mendicant. Progressive thinker Sankaracharya who wrote thousand stotras on gods was labeled "Prachchanna Bauddha".

Religions do not seem to have that strong influence anymore in twentieth century barring the exception of Islam. Christianity's success, survival and expansion lie in the organizational and marketing skills of churches and evangelists. (No wonder Jesuits started XLRI, LIBA and other top notch B-schools in India!) An important group label, which Murthy omitted, is -ism. Every ism-product of twentieth century: communism, socialism, humanism, feminism, secularism etc. has some market-share. In Hinduism, cults centred about individuals are currently more popular and hero-worship is the norm in religion, politics, movies and even media. These new fads have confused people rather than clearing their doubts and providing solutions to problems. The process of synthesis, which characterized Sanathana dharma, is absent today. The same is reflected in modern fiction. The writer sees the complexity, documents the situation realistically, but offers no clue for solving the problem. In a way, many stories of this volume present the same scenario. I, of course, endorse Murthy's conclusion that the stories in this collection represent diverse viewpoints elegantly portrayed but many fall short of suggesting a solution. What is their ultimate goal towards engineering a better and progressive society? Luckily these stories do not fit a single set-mould. Most of them are provocative, each interesting in its own way and allowing you to think. Some touch on the fringes of a possible solution.

Comments on some individual stories

Nischitartham by Dr Jayaprada: The central theme is what a citizen should do with respect to a road accident victim. Daily an accident happens in every city and town, badly injuring humans and the motorists driving on the road face this problem regularly. Our police, human rights lawyers, courts and legislatures have never addressed this problem and people attempting to do some help, on the spot, to the victim continue to have bitter experiences and harassment from law enforcers. Our civil liberties and human rights activists are busy protecting the human rights of naxalites, terrorists and corrupt political leaders. It is these conditions that make India an under-developed country. An interesting part of the story is the situation being used as a final test for a bridegroom by a sensitive bride.

Hakku by Kondepudi Nirmala is a realistic portrayal of the happenings in a court. The indifferent and inhuman attitude of lawyers, judges, court staff towards the helpless people seeking justice, particularly the indecent behaviour towards women, shows the reality of modern urban Indian society. What even an educated person witnesses today is a generally irresponsible and sometimes outright disgusting behaviour in any government office, police station or court. Again, the solution lies in the development of collective consciousness and cultivation of values. Money and materialistic development provide no solution as the recent history of post-independence India shows.

Gangamma Jatara by V. Pratima: The main theme is election of a panchayat sarpanch in a village. The candidate is wife of a powerful ex-president. Should a woman always get elected or selected by virtue her marriage like the real life cases of Rabri Devi and Sonia Gandhi and several others in the country is the issue. For nomination, election and even subsequent day-to-day activities, should she be the rubber stamp of her husband or of some others if it is after the husband's death. A running simile to the election fever is Gangamma Jatara in the village. The lady who wins in the election wants to run the show independently after winning the election and this thought is a good beginning.

Mukti by V. Ramalakshmi is about a man who is called incompetent by even his wife and kids. He goes into a state of depression and wants to commit suicide. The growing mental sickness in an increasingly materialistic world is a point worth pondering over.

Geetopadesam by Haima Bhargava is also about the depression of a middle-aged housewife and her encounter with a psychologist. Both stories are very realistic. The worrisome issue is the increasing incidence of mental and physical health problems in modern times. What is causing them? How far is the environment responsible? Patanjali defines Yoga as "chitta-vritti nirodha". Can this help to know oneself better and keep one's mental balance? Incidentally both the titles of the stories and the next one are from Indian philosophy. If the philosophy is put in practice as abhyasa and vairagya, there will certainly be greater all-round happiness and peace in society. Krishna of Geetha is Yogeswara. What advise does He offer? Liberation from bondage is mukti, is achievable through yoga (and not via suicide, as a more undesirable next birth is waiting after this death.)

Karmayogi by Rohini Satya is the story of an old brahmin (an unrecognized dalit) reduced to keeping foot-wear safe near a temple. While his old age deprived him of his avocation of priesthood, it is a temple, which still kept him alive. Unfortunately, trade unions do not yet bother about archakas to see a temple declare a strike and a follow-up lockout declared by the government department running it. Thank God, there are as yet no reservations and quotas for these avocations in unorganized sector.

Dr. Rajeswari Divakarla's "Srama Gowravam" should be an eye opener for people pursuing degrees for sake of degrees and do not acquire skills while looking for white-collar jobs. Recently in a tutorial college, the head told me that they give 500 rupees per month for a fresh M. Sc. in Mathematics for teaching Mathematics, while they are prepared to give 1500 rupees for a good cook in the hostel. They are getting many for the first post at that salary, while they have to offer other perks for the latter post. An employer today wants the skill of the person and not a worthless piece of paper called a degree certificate. The recent recession in software industry taught the same lesson to many youngsters. This story, in addition, also shows the more responsible behaviour of a daughter towards old parents than that of a son. Boys from Andhra seem to think more about property-inheritance from parents than service to them. It is the girls, deprived of their genuine share, who often come to their rescue. Many boys these days seem to want B. E. girls as brides to get the best of both the worlds!

Vayasu Manasu by A. Hymavathi is about the intense and sweet relationship of grand parents in a village as seen and described by the sensitive grand daughter from Madras. Editor Murthy only recollects a tradition that old couples should be far from pleasures of family life and refers to Indian tradition in this context. India is a country, which produced books such as Vatsyayana's Kama-sutra and had erotic works of art in its temples and the literature abounds in erotic imagery. Indian sages only suggested muni-vritti in the old age after a life fulfilling all the desires in the youth. In addition, we have stories like that of Yayathi and Puru, where the father requests the youth of his son. I do not know which Indian tradition Murthy is talking about. Only in the modern age, the youth, particularly, software engineers slogging sixteen hours a day for dollars, have forgotten romance in their lives by becoming workaholics. They confuse casual sex with love and romance.

Devullara Meetheeremiti? - This is the story of Ch. Kamala, wherre she displays the intimate relationships of a Telugu housewife with gods and mythological stories. Domestic problems of Srinivasa, Sridevi and Bhudevi, (and also Beebi Nanchary), Ganesha, and Anindya, the rat (his carrier), those of the trinity - Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara and their spouses, Sita, Rama and Anjaneya are all well known and have often been repeated as jokes in every festival issue of magazines. But unfortunately, today many do not know the real significance of worship of these deities, their names and forms, proper procedures for pooja and the benefits accruing from the worship of each one of them. The need for stories to do this is more important than providing humour, as this type of satire is irrelevant now and can be misinterpreted. Even M. F. Hussain, the painter and Abu Abraham, the cartoonist are trying to play with Hindu Gods - having no guts to get intimate with the leelas of their own prophets and gods leading to conflicts. The fate of Salman Rushdy is well known. Most people remember the after-effects of the short story entitled "Mohammed, the idiot" published in "Deccan Herald" newspaper, where the name of a jutka-wallah was Mohammed. In the same story, a prostitute's name was Sita. Another remark is about the cleverness of Babas, who are accused to be attracting devotees through magical tricks. While it is safe and easy to criticize Hindu Babas, no one looks at the multi-million dollar empires built by Christian nuns in the name of charity and the lucrative business of their NGO run orphanages and other charities. More dangerous than so-called magical tricks of Babas are mass cheating by faith healing evangelists, songs of revolutionaries and movies glorifying naxalites and terrorism, soft-porn TV serials, bandhs and destructive practices of political parties, drug abuse and advertisements on TV. The comments on forty feet statue of Hanuman apply equally to the statues of Lenin, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, Gomatheswara, Ambedkar, Rajeev Gandhi, NTR, and Vangaveeti Ranga as well as structures such as Statue of Liberty, Eiffel tower, Taj Mahal and Cyber towers and fly-overs built by Chandra Babu. The story starts with invoking the names of the holy rivers such as Ganga and Sindhu and liberally including smaller rivers like Penna and Pampa. Bhishma in Mahabharatha instructs Dharmaraja about a mahajapam where one remembers the rivers, mountains such as Kailasa, Siddhas such as Valakhilya, Rishis such as Vyasa and Valmiki, and a little thought would give the meaning of such a prayer. It is not a mere ritualistic chant. The viewpoint of the author of the story is innocent confusion triggered by bad influences and misinformation circulating in society. The story crosses the line of humour and satire. It reflects dangerous "negationism". May be it is unintended. But it is worth pondering over.

Ambika Ananth's "Kodigattarani Chirudeepalu" precisely pictures impact of TV leading to juvenile delinquency. In fact, a proper attitude toward God and religious teachers is a solution to these societal evils. We always pray God for personal welfare, health and material prosperity. Are we doing the same for our society and country? Ambika Ananth has another story "Sentiment! Nee Viluva Entha?" The story is about the role, sentiments play in our lives but the hero's final reaction "Damn these sentiments!" brings out the pressures of modern life where all the attention is to the physical body and the mind is ignored. The impact and inadequacy of modern education with emphasis on physical sciences and total neglect of humanities and literature is responsible for this cynical reaction. The story "Bob" by N. Malikarjunarao, depicts the kindling of emotions in an old man by the death of his pet dog, when he discovers his own attachment to his own son. The story "Vichikitsa" by the same author, shows the life complicated by modern science like DNA test results. The father of a boy triggered by the remarks that his son bears no resemblance to himself discovers that he is not the biological father through a genetic test. He suspects the wife's fidelity first and through some detective work discovers that children were interchanged at the time of birth in the maternity home. But the attachment to the child they so far brought up leads to the happy ending. Chetlu Navvuthunna Drusyam" by A. Kamala Kumari presents sentimental attachments with trees and other elements in the nature around. "Akasamlo Cherisagam" is a fantasy about the joy a female birth should bring if the sex ratio drops enormously. A totally incorrect perception that is still there among many in our society is that a male child is associated with benefit and while the female child represents cost. We also have seen children being discriminated on the basis of sex and the male child receiving a preferential treatment. My own observation is that today's average girl is far well prepared to meet the society with courage than an average mamma's boy. Parents in old age are surer of the love and care of a daughter than that of a son.

"Cha! Cha! Lanchama?" and "Mantrigaritho Videsa Yatra" by Vedula Chayanulu are realistic short stories about the phenomenon of tenders for government contracts and foreign trips of VIPs. The deep-rooted corruption in the system is portrayed elegantly. Again no individual can do much about this at this stage. Properly educating a generation might help.

"Srinugadi Mimamsa" by Namburi Paripurna is an extremely nice story about an inquisitive child's inquiries to mother about inequalities in society. Why his family is poor, while the neighbourhood has rich and powerful people? Why they are still poor, while their ancestors were great devotees of Lord Sri Rama and never deviated from the path of dharma? Why should you offer the food prepared in the house God as naivedyam before you eat? What is the need for aspiring about liberation and release from bondage, when the world is so full of attractions and desirable things? Why should desires be curbed? What is destiny and what is karma? - The entire literature of Indian philosophy and Sanathana dharma including the epics and purunas are efforts to answer these common questions of mankind. For an average modern grand mother, it may be difficult to explain but an appropriate atmosphere created at the house certainly goes along way. If the parents are in the path of dharma, the children will follow automatically. Stories are an excellent means of communicating profound truths. Logic should be taught and the questioning ability of children should be encouraged. Grand parents have a great role to play in the upbringing of children, which the urbanization has deprived to the present generation of children.

Brathakanervanivadu by Dasari Amarendra is the story of a typical Hindu's understanding and glorification of Secularism in Nehru-style practised and preached in India. It is a story often repeated in Indian history and its one-sidedness is not appreciated. Emperor, Akbar took Rajasthani Hindu women as wives and begot Muslim children. The descendent of prince Salim, Aurangazeb, turned out to be an Islamic fundamentalist. On the other hand, we do not see Rajputs taking Muslim wives bringing up the children as Hindus. Nehru family became Christian in the same tradition. The author places himself in the shoes of a traditionalist associating tradition with dowry, donation degrees, and craze of immigration to USA etc. He associates progress with braking of traditions, inter-caste, inter-state and inter-religion marriages (luckily he omits gay and lesbianism) and compares the evolution of his progressive friend as Vamana becoming Trivikrama quoting the imagery of Pothana's Bhagavatham.

"Adam Tease" by V. Pratima and "Magavadi Swargam" by Dr. Bhargavi Rao reflect natural resentment in a male dominated society by sensitive women. The former is a fantasy but which can probably be realized with concerted effort. The latter is a more negative reaction towards the concept of pativrata as personified the characters of Ahalya, Draupadi, Tara, Sita and Mandodari of the famous sloka and the story of Sumathi thrown in as a supporting example. (Baruah calling Indira as India and politicians leaders glorifying political leaders of dynasties particularly as in the congress and TDP parties are the modern version of pativratya in politics). The author also fantasizes the concept of heaven for these symbols of Indian womanhood. The reasons behind these strong negative feelings are also understandable. But this is not a true appreciation of the concept of womanhood as presented in our tradition. The exploitation of women over centuries in all cultures and countries is a fact. Clinton-Monika episode shows the unsafe environment for working woman existing even in the White House, while the American justice system provides faster compensation, at least in money terms, for the victim. In a country like India where basic human rights are not respected, the situation with respect to women is much worse. But if you debunk tradition and encourage freedom, "Salabhanjika" model may be the resulting alternative. The status of women in the west with no tradition is much worse! Tradition is not responsible for the state of affairs. The role of women in issues such as dowry and pomp in marriages is well known.

"Salabhanjika" by Kuppili Padma is a peep into the realities of flesh trade in the background of tourism industry and five star hotels. (We don't seem to learn from Thailand, which was destroyed by tourism.) In this context, I remember the autobiography of Kandukuri Veeresalingam. He referred in it to the prevalence of the practice of the prostitution by a community, its wide spread influence and his efforts to educate the public of Rajahmundry about its evils and eradicate the practice. The modern version pervading into all sections of the society makes one feel that the availability of a smart, trained-in-the-trade, "Madhuravani" in the world's oldest profession will save hundreds of innocent girls into the whirlpool of flesh trade.

"Phalinchina anveshana" by K. Suryamukhi describes a success story of a woman lawyer in searching for a suitable bridegroom with matching ideals and attitudes. The story also shows the bright side of legal profession and the fairness and sense of justice shown by some members of the profession. Issues such as providing for wife in a person's will are educative. "Kargil bandham" depicts idealism of a family of a soldier who lost his hand in the war accepting the widow of another soldier with a child as wife. The number of stories depicting army life in Telugu is small and this brings out the character of a soldier and the attitudes of the families in a nice way. General public rarely thinks about the personal tragedies of the war heroes and their post-war lives. There is need for similar human-interest stories about the families of policemen and ordinary people killed in anti-insurgency operations and in the routine crimes of naxalites and other criminals of the underworld.

The other stories I have not discussed are Erra Lachuppa by Namburi Paripurna, Koodu Thine Balla by Dr. Bhargavi Rao, Sarve Janah by Chandu Ravi Sankar, Bhale Paapale by Veldurti Harshavardhan, Bhavana Bandham by Dr. Jayaprada, Aggi by K. Suryamukhi, Bharyatvam by T. Srivalli Radhika, Mudda Bangaram by Achanta Hymavathi and Lekkala Mastaru by Ch. Kamala provide some more variety in a sumptuous Andhra Vindu Bhojanam without naramamsam reminding one of the memorable songs from Mayabazar. The stories indicate the tradition bound mental make up of most of the authors based on the imagery they present, but they do not seem to have the correct and in depth understanding of the cultural background. The criticism is thus shallow and unconvincing at places. But all the authors have a concern for erosion of values and crumbling of institutions. The diagnosis, the prognosis and the treatment for societal sicknesses are not easy and diverse prescriptions are possible. The results are uncertain. The collection of stories represents a vast arena of modern society with realistic portrayals of situations and the collection is certainly a treat to lovers of serious fiction.