The Lord of the Rings - my take on the book

This book has been the reason for my not interacting with most of the world for the past few days. Anyway, I finished reading the book - more like speed-read it - and it prompted quite a few reflections. I'd like to share these with others who might have read LotR. Of course, this post is on the book and not on the movie, as expressly mentioned in the title.

I first came across this book in the late 80s - when I used to regularly frequent KQA quizzes as a high school student. More than a few quizzers (studying in college mostly) carried the book around with the elan of a fashion model wearing a precious piece of jewellery. And I saw "The Hobbit" with them too. At that time, I was just mildly curious to know more about this book and that was it. Fast forward to 2001 and New Line Cinema's extravagant and profitable interpretation of this "trilogy". This led to quite a few people getting hooked on to the book, including yours truly. I suppose the Tolkien Society's membership must have gone up because of this. But my ignorance in this matter was considerably exposed. Just before seeing this movie, I bought the book and as is my wont, did not get around to read it. My wife, however, read it (she was another Tolkien newbie) and was spellbound. I was content with the trio of movies. My wife pestered me for a while to read it (quite a while, actually) as she felt the book was much superior to the movie - but gave up in the face of pretty stubborn (and stupid?) resistance from my side.

They say in Kannada that for something to happen, the time has to be ripe for it ("kAla kUDi barabEku"). And surely, the time last week was quite ripe for my reading of the book. I took the book in my hands unsuspectingly, much similar to Bilbo Baggins when he laid his hands for the first time upon the ring. I had no idea that I would be sucked into Tolkien's Middle Earth with such force. And for a week or so, I did little other than reading the book.

Tolkien was professor of Anglo-Saxon and the language used in his book is a curious mix of various tongues - invented, old and new. I don't know much about Finnish or Icelandic to even comment on his construction of Elvish (and its multiple dialects). His English was a refreshing and relaxing change from the modern version that we Indians have come to now associate with business and technology. The literary style is somewhat like champU (a mixture of prose and poetry seen in Indian literature) with a greater bias towards prose.

The story is epic-like with multiple types of characters across the "goodness" spectrum ranging all the way from Elrond, Galadriel and the Elves to the dwarves and Men and hobbits and finally the orcs, ringwraiths and the Dark Lord, Sauron himself. In Indian literature of this type, there is a tendency to always look at existing stories such as the rAmAyaNa, the mahAbhArata and the purANAs for any interesting story which could then be interpreted or improvised by a poet. But Tolkien has created this world - Middle-Earth, completely in his mind. Of course, he tells us in the introduction as well as in other places that Beowulf and the Finnish Kalevala were the chief inspiration in this matter. But inventing a completely new world with a new set of languages and a new history is simply amazing. His motivations might have been purely linguistic but the depth and scope of the story and its background do not convey that at all. I was amazed to discover later that Tolkien was a staunch Roman Catholic. Yet, I did not find any evidence of any of that in that book. It could be pretty subtle. But his creation idea of Middle Earth (detailed in his Silmarillion) is similar to the Christian tradition and yet close to Indian and other "pagan" religious traditions.

As everybody knows, the story is mainly of the evil Ring and the long, laborious attempt to destroy it. I will not go to the story in detail as you can find a better synopsis here.

As to what the title itself means - it could mean the Ring itself - which is of course "the One Ring to rule them all". It could also mean Sauron, the dark spirit, never seen in person who had actually made the Ring in the first place. It could also mean the humble Frodo, who finally succeeded in his attempt (with a lot of help, of course) to destroy the Ring. It could also mean Providence (or the Invisible Supreme Spirit) whose gentle nudges are seen throughout the story. For instance, Gollum's presence was completely necessary for the ring to be destroyed and several hints are dropped in the story. But his presence seems to be a hindrance too. Another instance is when Merry gets his sword from the Barrow-Wights in the Old Forest and only such swords had the ability to wound the Nazgul, which Merry does in the Battle for Gondor. The fact that every small thing, small event has some purpose is one of the central themes of the LotR.

Any movie made from a book is usually no match for the book itself and it is quite true here. The movie skips several parts and interesting conversation and even intriguing characters like Tom Bombadil. The overall story-line is what the movie barely manages to hold. To be fair to the movie version, a movie capturing an entire book with all its suggested variations, is very difficult and what we have now is close to the best movie version of LotR we could have.

The work is quite literary in nature and there is no comparison between this and the Harry Potter series. The latter comes across as quite juvenile compared to the scale of the LotR. In fact, I am sorry that I brought up the Harry Potter series at all. Both of them are not even in the same graph, so to speak.

I couldn't help but compare our epics with LotR. I should say that Tolkien, as a single person - though standing on the shoulders of giants, has managed to create something worth comparison, which is saying a lot. Our epics are multi-dimensional in that they are partly history, partly literature, partly spiritual, partly religious and even educational and fantasy-like. Tolkien's epic is more uni-dimensional or at the most bi or even tri-dimensional - it cannot have the same dimensions as works of a living tradition such as our epics. If Elves and Dwarves were real people, I would assume that LotR would be as revered as our epics are. Our rAmAyaNa and mahAbhArata are more rooted in reality than LotR. Our epics, IMHO, show more of exhortation for puruSha prayatna or individual effort than LotR. In more than one place, I saw characters in LotR being nostalgic of eras gone by and some times even being fatalistic in outlook. While I saw the Indian epics giving out "positive" messages in several parts, LotR seems quite bleak in comparison. Mordor's description as a bleak, desert like landscape with grey all around and Frodo's almost hopeless struggle is a point in this matter. This "armageddon" type of confrontation is seen in many places in Semitic as well as European myths and it is no different in the LotR. Though the rAmAyaNa and the mahAbhArata also have major conflicts at their climaxes, a feeling of "the-world-will-continue-in-spite-of-any-result" permeates them and it is not "armageddon". Whereas in the LotR, Frodo's success or failure would change the world completely. In this, LotR is influenced by Semitic ideas. I did not see any Eastern or Oriental sources acknowledged by Tolkien and I would carry on with that assumption. But there are enough situations which would have seemed quite at home in an Indian work. These probably show the common-ness of all human ethos.

It was tough not to see the Lord of the Rings as an allegory, in spite of Tolkien's explicit statements to the contrary. Impressions of a life-changing war permeate the LotR. WWI and WWII, during which Tolkien was directly and indirectly involved, respectively, seem to have influenced him quite a bit. I also saw Tolkien's clear opposition to vulgar industrialization and stretching it by a bit - to even Communism in his post-war depiction of the Shire. The Ring stood for absolute power. Frodo, in my perspecive, stood for that small but enduring "human" spirit that leads to great accomplishments.

Now for some miscellaneous observations. The classification of characters into Wizards, Elves, Men, Dwarves, Hobbits, Orcs, Ents, Uruk-hai and other interesting classes is quite similar to what we see in Indian traditions (Rushi, rAkShasa, martya, deva,yakSha, gandharva, kinnara, kimpuruSha, vAnara and several others). Also, Tolkien seems to like benevolent monarchy over other forms of government. A feudal spirit, exemplified by Sam's serving of Frodo, shows where Tolkien's preferences lie. This kind of echoes the spirit behind the Indian varNa system - which is still practiced implicitly across the world - but lies coded explicitly only in old Indian "casteist" works.

There are too many observations to be brought out in a blog-sized piece. But I would like to summarize my take finally. The Lord of the Rings deserves all its popularity and more. In fact, I was surprised to see that the LotR was quite famous in the "Flower-Power" generation. It can be safely classified as literature, which means that it is something that can be read and re-read and enjoyed many times over in spite of knowing the story line and the eventual outcome. There are several maxims and subhAShita like quotes coming out of several characters and these are worth mining for in the gem-mine that the LotR is.

So, gentle reader, if you have read till this sentence and have not read the LotR, I urge you to go to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy for years of refined literary pleasure.

AvaraNa by SL Bhyrappa: an eye-opener?

AvaraNa is a term used in Vedantic and Buddhist literature to denote that aspect of nescience (avidyA) that obscures all things. This word has been used with the same intention by SL Bhyrappa as the title of his latest novel.

AvaraNa - the novel has created history in the Kannada publishing industry. No other recent book has been sold out as soon as this book. Even before this book was formally released, eager readers awaiting Bhyrappa's latest novel bought all copies from book stores leaving people like me without the latest book. However, I was able to procure a copy directly from the publisher - Sahitya Bhandara. Needless to say, I then devoured the book in less than two days, in spite of hectic work. After all, isn't this the latest book written by the knowledgeable philosopher-novelist Bhyrappa?

The Kannada publishing industry is much bewailed these days. But Bhyrappa's books buck the trend and most of them have gone on to multiple editions.

This book is probably the most controversial that Bhyrappa has written. It deals with the relationship between Hinduism and Islam which, as everybody knows, can be termed tenuous at best.

Most of Bhyrappa's novels are based in and around a few districts of Karnataka or have characters that are from that region. He feels that this is essential in order for him to get into the mind of the character and maintain realism at the same time. Another feature of his novels is the strong female character. Both of these can be found in AvaraNa as well.

I will try not to give too many spoilers in this post - but AvaraNa is a book that can be read even if one knows its full gist. This is because it is not a regular novel. Anyway, for those who haven't read AvaraNa yet and want to do so, this is the point to decide if you want to continue reading this post or not.

Before I start delving into the book, I will try to explain why I have written this post about a Kannada book in English. I saw some reviews of AvaraNa in English on the Net. One review, especially, has compared AvaraNa to the Da Vinci Code. Let me just say that the effort is like comparing apples to oranges. But, as a result of that review, this book has become famous in non-Kannada circles as well. I wish to give a different perspective to the interested non-Kannadiga as well and that is why I am typing this post up in English.

The book begins with the protagonist, Razia, contemplating the ruins of Hampi. She, a screenplay writer, and her husband Amir, commissioned by the government, are in Hampi to make a documentary. The ruins of Hampi move Razia, who by birth is a Hindu - Lakshmi, so much that she continues to study more about it. Significantly, Lakshmi's introspection is also prodded by the destruction of the controversial masjid at Ayodhya - which she comes to hear about.

The story moves through a recollection by Razia on the circumstances of her marriage and simultaneous conversion to Islam. Lakshmi, clouded by love and a heady socialist euphoria that prevailed in that age, does not pay much importance to her symbolic conversion to Islam. Her inter-religious marriage makes her an icon in society for feminism as well as freedom from religious dogma. Her father, a staunch Gandhian, does not like his daughter getting married to a Muslim and disowns her and several years pass. Her father passes away and she visits her village in a long time. Razia/Lakshmi sees a library full of books on history that were read by her father and digs deep into them.

The matter that she discovers in the books causes an epiphany in her. She begins to read those even more and realizes that there has been a systematic pulling the wool over the eyes of society. She writes a very interesting novel - which forms the parallel track of AvaraNa also - to express her understanding. She opposes the system that is creating an AvaraNa to prevent society's understanding of the truth.

The story-within-a-story technique is not new to Indian literature. The Panchatantra is full of these, for example. But a parallel track is interesting and it is probably Bhyrappa's first attempt at this. It comes off very well, I should say. The story that Lakshmi writes in AvaraNa is simultaneously metaphorical and historical. Set in the mid-Mughal period, several historical aspects like the destruction of the Vishvanatha temple at Kashi by Aurangzeb are described in the parallel track. The characters in the parallel story mirror Lakshmi's story to a certain extent and also current Indian/Hindu society. This story is the best part of AvaraNa and I won't add any spoilers to that here.

This parallel track seems to be a continuation in the voice of "sArtha" - Bhyrappa's earlier historical novel. The only change is that the voice, in the case of "AvaraNa", has been emasculated - literally. That voice can be taken to be the voice of Hindu Dharma declining because of the assaults it endured. The description of several events in the parallel track is chilling.

Razia/Lakshmi faces lot of opposition from her in-laws who are staunch Muslims when she does not follow several Islamic customs - Hijab, for instance. Her son, who is raised by her in-laws, has a complete Islamic upbringing. She finds out that the religion of her in-laws does not confer freedom and peace upon its adherents. There are several parts of the novel that describe Islamic customs in detail and in that aspect, this book is more of a documentary than a novel.

An interesting aspect is that whenever the Prophet (PBUH) is mentioned in the book, it is suffixed by a ("sa") (which is the original Arabic for the PBUH acronym that is seen whenever that name is mentioned - such as earlier in this sentence).

The "AvaraNa" that Lakshmi/Razia faces is brought out well. For instance, she attends a conference on text book writing that is quite reminiscent of the "detoxification" effort of our honorable government. None of the professors in that meeting is able to answer Lakshmi in argument and yet, her points never go well with the establishment. It is as if they are unable to see the evident truth that is in front of their eyes - which is what AvaraNa really is.

A piece about AvaraNa can never be complete without mention of Prof. Shastri's character. This is a character that has tasted the wonderful benefits of being a celebrity Socialist in India. This smooth talking educationist has shades of several real well-known personalities in him. I won't mention who it is - but it will be pretty evident for anyone who reads the book. Shastri is the one who persuades Lakshmi to take up Islam as an act of rebellion against "oppressive Hinduism". Prof. Shastri has the wonderful ability of reinterpreting any event of history in that communistic light - in terms of oppressors and the oppressed, much similar to that of several of our comrades. For instance, he interprets Hampi's ruins as due to Shaiva-VaishNava clashes instead of Islamic Iconoclasm. He epitomizes the class of left leaning intellectuals that have sold their conscience to the establishment in return for the favors it bestows upon them. Of course, he is not an honest man as well.

The novel ends with Lakshmi/Razia trying to publish her novel, to find it banned by the government. A consoling part of the novel is that Amir, Razia's husband realizes what his wife has been fighting for and gets ready to help her. A list of books read by Razia/Lakshmi can be found at the end of the book and it also serves as a bibliography - something that is unheard of for a novel. Bhyrappa has resorted to this to defend the book from possible bans. His logic is the same as his character's. If his book is banned, then each and every book in the list at the end of the book might also need to be banned.

The book is wonderfully informative and is cause for deep introspection. Bhyrappa has forever argued for relationships between communities to be based on a strong foundation of truth rather than systemic misinformation. It is no different in this book. Though Islam has come in for rough treatment, to put it mildly, there are some parts that cause a person to pause and think for a while. For instance, a Hindu character is told that his gods are not as powerful as Allah for they could not protect their own abodes from destruction at the hands of Allah's men. Having seen temples at Somnath, Varanasi and Mathura destroyed, won't any Hindu feel demoralized? That argument about the relative power of gods, though childish, can provoke some serious thought.

Amir, though born and brought up a Muslim, sees his wife's plight and sides with her at the end of the book. In my mind, this also shows that Bhyrappa is still an optimist. People may deride Bhyrappa for being an anti-Islamic person after they read this book. But they can never say that he is anti-human. Bhyrappa seems to believe that this fundamental human quality will triumph over any religious dogma.

Bhyrappa, in my opinion, has been a bit simplistic in several parts in the novel. For instance, Shastri's wife is a staunch British Catholic and wants her daughter to grow up as one. But, just think of it. A British woman who can marry an Indian against her parent's wishes doesn't look like she can be as rigid as portrayed in the book. Certain situations in the novel look artificially set up, as if they were there just for a theological discussion waiting to happen. And finally, I don't know if any writer can escape this - but a few characters and situations in AvaraNa seemed like callbacks to older works of Bhyrappa.

Though most of the facts related in the book were already known by me and some of the books in the bibliography had already been read by me, this book's worth, IMO, is in the literary presentation. The parallel track, the imagery - for instance, that of a cow whose calf has been tied up elsewhere (there are several other examples if one cares to read deeply) , the language, the situations and the character development are all outstanding.

However, superficial readers of the book might feel a strong feeling against Islam, which is certainly NOT Bhyrappa's intent. But he definitely wants to discuss "minority-ism" in India. This is similar to the spirit in which he wrote against Girish Karnad's glorification of Tipu Sultan as a national hero. But because of all this, it may not go down too well with the government.

My only hope is that this does not lead to some more mindless violence and yet another idiotic book ban.

If you haven't read it yet, please do. Sahitya Bhandara's Bangalore number is 2287-7618.

ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಪರಿಚಯ - ರುದ್ರಮ ದೇವಿ

ಶ್ರೀಯುತರಾದ ನೋರಿ ನರಸಿಂಹ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿಗಳು ತೆಲುಗು ಭಾಷೆಯ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಕಾರರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬರು. ಐತಿಹಾಸಿಕ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಇವರದ್ದು ಎತ್ತಿದ ಕೈ. ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದಲ್ಲೂ ನುರಿತ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿಗಳು ವೃತ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ವಕೀಲರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ಆಂಧ್ರದೇಶದ ಚರಿತ್ರೆಯ ನಿರೂಪಣೆ ಇವರಿಂದ ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಆಗಿದೆ. ವಿಶೇಷವಾಗಿ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣಕ್ಕೂ ಚರಿತ್ರೆಗೂ ಇರುವ ಸಂಬಂಧವನ್ನು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ತೋರಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ನಾನು ಬರೆದ ಈ ಮಾತು ಅವರ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮೂಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಿದವರಿಂದ. ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿಯಲ್ಲದೆ ನಾರಾಯಣ ಭಟ್ಟು, ಮಲ್ಲಾರೆಡ್ಡಿ, ಧೂರ್ಜಟಿ ಮೊದಲಾದವುಗಳು ಇವರ ಇತರ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳು.

ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿ ನಾನು ಪರಿಚಯಿಸಲಿಚ್ಛಿಸುವ ಕಾದಂಬರಿ. ತೆಲುಗು ಮೂಲವನ್ನು ಸಮರ್ಥವಾಗಿ ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಗಿ ಅನುವಾದ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಆನುವಾದಕರು ಕನ್ನಡಾಂಧ್ರ-ಉಭಯಭಾಷಾ-ಪಂಡಿತರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ವೆಂಕಟರಾಮಪ್ಪನವರು. ಅನುವಾದಕರು ತೆಲುಗು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವನ್ನು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ಮೂಲದ ತೆಲುಗು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಸೊಬಗು ಕನ್ನಡದ ಅನುವಾದದಲ್ಲೂ ಉಳಿದಿದೆ.

ಝಾಂಸಿಯ ರಾಣಿ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮೀಬಾಯಿ, ಕಿತ್ತೂರು ರಾಣಿ ಚೆನ್ನಮ್ಮ, ರಾಣಿ ಅಬ್ಬಕ್ಕ ಹೇಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಲ್ಲಿ ವೀರನಾರಿಯರಾಗಿ ಕಂಡುಬರುವರೋ, ಅವರಿಗಿಂತಲೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ವೀರಭಾವನೆಯನ್ನು ಅಂಧ್ರರಲ್ಲಿ ತರಿಸುವ ಹೆಸರು ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿಯದು. ಆಂಧ್ರದ ಓರಂಗಲ್ಲು ಪ್ರಾಂತ ಕಾಕತೀಯ ವಂಶಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಸರಾದದು. ಇದೇ ವಂಶದವರು ಗಜಪತಿಗಳೆಂದೂ ಖ್ಯಾತಿ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದರು.

ಕಥಾವಸ್ತುವಿನ ಸ್ಥೂಲನಿರೂಪಣೆ ಹೀಗಿದೆ - ಓರಂಗಲ್ಲಿನ ಗಣಪತಿದೇವ ಮಹಾರಾಜನು ವಾರ್ಧಕ್ಯದಿಂದ ಅನಾರೋಗ್ಯದಿಂದ ಬಳಲುತ್ತಿರುವಾಗ ನೆರೆರಾಜ್ಯದವರು ಅವಕಾಶವನ್ನುಪಯೋಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ದಂಡೆತ್ತಿಬರುವಂಥ ಸಂದರ್ಭದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಯ ಆರಂಭ. ಇದರ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಸಿಂಹಾಸದ ಉತ್ತರಾಧಿಕಾರಿ ಯಾರೆಂಬುದನ್ನೂ ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಸಮಯ. ಗಣಪತಿದೇವರಿಗೆ ಗಂಡು ಸಂತಾನವಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಇದ್ದುದರಿಂದ ಮುಂದಿನ ಮಹಾರಾಜರಾರು ಎಂಬುದು ಕುತೂಹಲಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಮಹಾರಾಜರ ಮಗಳಾಗಿದ್ದವಳು ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿ. ನವರಾತ್ರಿಯ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಆರಂಭವಾಗುವ ಈ ಕಥೆಯ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭದ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿಯಾಗಲೇ ವಿವಾಹಿತೆ. ವಿರೂಪಾಕ್ಷದೇವನೆಂಬ ರಾಜ ಈಕೆಯ ಪತಿ. ಈಕೆಗೆ ಮೊಮ್ಮಗನಾದ ಪ್ರತಾಪರುದ್ರನೂ ಹುಟ್ಟಿರುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಹೀಗಾಗಿ ಸಿಂಹಾಸನಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ರುದ್ರಮಳೇ ಮೊದಲಾಗಿ ತನ್ನ ಮೊಮ್ಮಗ, ಅಳಿಯ ಮತ್ತು ಪತಿ ಕೂಡ ಪೈಪೋಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಆಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಹಾರಾಜರು ಮತ್ತವರ ಸಭಿಕರು ಹೇಗೆ ನಡೆದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಿರಬಹುದು, ಗಂಭೀರ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಸುಲಭಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು ಎಂದು ತೋರಿಸುವ ಕಥೆಯ ಮುಂದಿನ ಭಾಗ ಬಹು ರೋಚಕವಾದುದು. ಸಿಂಹಾಸನವನ್ನೇರುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ರುದ್ರಮಳೇ ಸರಿಯೆಂದು ಸಭೆ ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದರಿಂದ ತನ್ನ ಪತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಅಳಿಯರು ತನ್ನಿಂದ ದೂರವಾಗುತ್ತಾದೆ. ಹಾಗಾದರೂ ಧೃತಿಗೆಡದೆ ರುದ್ರದೇವ ಮಹಾರಾಜನೆಂದೇ ಕರೆಸಿಕೊಂಡು ರಾಜ್ಯವನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ನೆರೆರಾಜ್ಯದವರಾದ ಚೋಳ, ಚಾಲುಕ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಯಾದವರಿಂದ ರುದ್ರಮ ದೇವಿ ಹೇಗೆ ಕಾಪಾಡುತ್ತಾಳೆಂಬುದು ಕಥೆಯ ಮುಖ್ಯ ವಸ್ತು.

ಸೆಣಸಾಟವೊಂದು ಕಡೆಯಿದ್ದರೆ ಆಂಧ್ರ ಮಹಾಭಾರತದ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣ ತಿಕ್ಕನ ಕವಿಗಳಿಂದ ಹೇಗೆ ರಚಿತವಾಯ್ತು ಎಂಬುದು ಸಹ ಕಥೆಯ ಉಪನದಿಯಾಗಿ ಉದ್ದಕ್ಕೂ ಹರಿದು ಬರುತ್ತದೆ.ಈ ಭಾಗ ನರಸಿಂಹ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿಗಳ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯರಸಜ್ಞತೆಗೆ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿಯಾಗಿದೆ. ಮಹಾಭಾರತದ ರಚನಾಕ್ರಮವನ್ನು ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿ ನಿರೂಪಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ತಿಕ್ಕನಾಮಾತ್ಯರು ತಮ್ಮ ಶಿಷ್ಯರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಓರಂಗಲ್ಲಿನ ಶಿವ-ಕೇಶವದೇವಾಲಯದೆದುರಿನ ಮಂಟಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊದಲು ವ್ಯಾಸಭಾರತದ ಕೆಲ ಶ್ಲೋಕಗಳನ್ನು ಓದುವರು. ಆ ಭಾಗದ ರಸವನ್ನು ಗ್ರಹಿಸಿದ ಬಳಿಕ ಅದೇ ರಸವನ್ನು ತೆಲುಗು ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿಳಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು.

ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಕೊಂಡಿ - ಕಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿನ ಪಾತ್ರಗಳಾಗಿ ಬರುವ ಬದ್ದೆನಾಮಾತ್ಯ (ಸುಮತಿ ಶತಕದ ರಚಯಿತಾ) ಮತ್ತು ಜಾಯಪನಾಯಕ (ನೃತ್ತರತ್ನಾವಳಿಯ ಕರ್ತಾ) ಇವರುಗಳು ಹೇಗೆ ಕಥೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯರಸವನ್ನು ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸುವರು ಎಂಬುದು ಕಾಣುತ್ತದೆ. ವಾಸ್ತವವಾಗಿ ಇವರು ಮತ್ತು ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿ ಸಮಕಾಲೀನರೂ, ಅದೇ ಪ್ರದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದವರು ಆಗದೇ ಇರಬಹುದು. ಆದರೆ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿಗಳ ಕಲ್ಪನಾಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯ ಇವರೆಲ್ಲರನ್ನು ಒಂದೇ ಕಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿನ ಪಾತ್ರಗಳನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡುತ್ತದೆ.

ಕೊಪ್ಪೆರುಂಜಿಂಗ (ಪೆರುಂ ಜಿಂಗ - ಮಹಾ ಸಿಂಹ) ಎಂಬ ಚೋಳ ರಾಜನ ಕಲಾಪಿಪಾಸೆಯೂ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣುತ್ತದೆ. ಯುದ್ಧದ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲೂ ತನ್ನ ಅತಿಯಾದ ಆತ್ಮವಿಶ್ವಾಸದಿಂದ ನಾಟಕಗಳನ್ನು ಆಡಿಸಿ ನೋಡುವ ಚಪಲ ಮತ್ತು ಕಲಾನಿಷ್ಠೆ ರಾಜರದು. ಒಂದು ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶವನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಅವಶ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಸ್ಮರಿಸಬೇಕು. ಚೋಳರಾಜನಿಗೆ ಭಾಸನ ಊರುಭಂಗ ನಾಟಕವನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿಸಿ ಸಹೃದಯರೊಂದಿಗೆ ನೋಡುವ ಆಸೆ ಮೂಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಭಾಸನ ನಾಟಕಗಳು ಭರತಮುನಿಯ ನಿಯಮಗಳಿಗಿಂತ ಮುಂಚೆ ರಚಿತವಾದವುಗಳು. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ರಂಗಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಗ್ನಿಯನ್ನಾಗಲಿ, ನೀರನ್ನಾಗಲಿ, ನಿರ್ಯಾಣ (ಸಾವು)ವನ್ನಾಗಲಿ ತೋರಿಸದೇ ಇರುವುದು ಸಾಧುವೆಂದು ಆಗಿನ ನಾಟಕಕಾರರಿಂದ ಅಂಗೀಕೃತವಾದ ಭರತಮುನಿಯ ಮತ. ಇದೇ ಮತದವರು ಆಂಧ್ರದ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣವಿದ್ವಾಂಸರು. ದುರದೃಷ್ಟವಶಾತ್ ರಾಜನು ಇವರನ್ನೇ ನಾಟಕಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಆಹ್ವಾನಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಇಂಥ ಛಾಂದಸರಾದ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರೆದುರು ಊರುಭಂಗದ ಕೊನೆಯ ಘಟನೆಯಾದ ದುರ್ಯೋಧನ ಪಾತ್ರದ ಸ್ವರ್ಗಾರೋಹಣವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದನ್ನು ಕಂಡ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರು ತಮಗೆ ಮೈಲಿಗೆಯಾಯ್ತೆಂದು ಮೃತಾಶೌಚ ತಗುಲಿತೆಂದು ಬಳಿಯಿದ್ದ ಗೋದಾವರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ನಾನ ಮಾಡಲು ಏಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ನಾಟಕ ಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗುವ ಮುಂಚೆ ಎದ್ದಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ರಾಜನಿಗೆ ವಿಪ್ರರಿಂದ ಮಂಗಲಾಶಾಸನವಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಇದರಿಂದ ರಾಜ ಕ್ರುದ್ಧನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಆದರೆ ವಿಪ್ರರನ್ನು ಬಂಧಿಸುವಷ್ಟು ಸಾಹಸ ರಾಜನಿಂದ ಮಾಡಲಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ (ಆಗಿನ ಕಾಲದ ವಿಪ್ರರ ಸ್ಥಾನ ಹಾಗಿತ್ತು). ಇದು ಅಪಶಕುನವೆಂದು ಬಗೆದ ಅವನು ಯುದ್ಧದಲ್ಲಿ ಸೋತು ಹಿಂದಿರುಗುತ್ತಾನೆ.

ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಸಂಗತಿ - ಜೈನ ಕಾರಕೂನರದು. ಜೈನರೇ ಲೆಕ್ಕಪತ್ರಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಆ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಜೈನರ ಗುರುಗಳಿಗೆ ಆಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಅವಮರ್ಯಾದೆಯುಂಟಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದರಿಂದ ಜೈನ ಮತಕ್ಕೇ ಅವಮಾನವೆಂದು ಬಗೆದು ಜೈನ ಕರಣಿಕರೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಹಾಜರಾಗದೆ ಮುಷ್ಕರ ಹೂಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಈ ಮುಷ್ಕರವನ್ನು ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ ಕರಣಿಕರ ಮೂಲಕ ಹೇಗೆ ಬಗೆಹರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ ಎಂಬುದು ಸುಂದರವಾಗಿ ನಿರೂಪಿತವಾಗಿದೆ. ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರದ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಗೌರವವಿಲ್ಲದವರನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ನಡೆಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕೆಂಬುದು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ವಿವರಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ.

ಹಿಂದಿನ ಕಾಲದವರು "enjoy" ಮಾಡಲು ತಿಳಿಯದವರು ಎಂದು ಅಂದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಹೇಗೆ ಆಗಿನ ಕಾಲದ ಉತ್ಸವಗಳು (ಧಾರ್ಮಿಕವಲ್ಲದ ಕೇವಲ ಲೌಕಿಕ ಉತ್ಸವಗಳು) ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು ಎಂಬುದನ್ನೂ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿಗಳು ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿ ಬಣ್ಣಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ವಸಂತೋತ್ಸವಗಳು, ಕೌಮುದೀಜಾಗರ (ಬೆಳದಿಂಗಳಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಜಾಗರಣೆ) ಸುಂದರವಾಗಿ ವರ್ಣಿತವಾಗಿವೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯುವ ಸಹೃದಯ-ಸಮಾಗಮ ಪುನಃ ಪುನಃ ಸ್ಮರಣಯೋಗ್ಯ.

ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಪಿತೂರಿ ಹೇಗೆ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿತ್ತು, ಒಂದು ಮತದ ಜನರ ಮೇಲೆ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಮತದ ಜನರನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿಕಟ್ಟುವುದು ಹೇಗೆ ಎಂಬ ಮೊದಲಾದ ಅಂಶಗಳು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಕಟ್ಟುವಂತೆ ಚಿತ್ರಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿಯು, ಅಲ್ಲ, ರುದ್ರದೇವಮಹಾರಾಜನು ವಿಜೃಂಭಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ.

ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿಯ ಪಾತ್ರವಂತೂ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮೂಡಿದ್ದಿರಲೇಬೇಕು. ತನ್ನ ಪತ್ನೀಧರ್ಮವನ್ನು ಪಾಲಿಸಲೆಳಸುತ್ತಾ, ರಾಜಧರ್ಮವನ್ನೂ, ಮಾತೃಧರ್ಮವನ್ನೂ ಹೇಗೆ ಪಾಲಿಸುತ್ತಳೆಂಬುದನ್ನು ಓದಿಯೇ ಕಾಣಬೇಕು. ಅಂತಃಪುರದಲ್ಲಿ ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿಯಾಗಿ, ಬಾಹ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ರುದ್ರದೇವಮಹಾರಾಜನಾಗುವುದು ಹೇಗೆ ಒಬ್ಬ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಸಾಧ್ಯವೆಂಬುದನ್ನು ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿಗಳು ಸಾಧಿಸಿ ತೋರಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ಗೃಹಬಂಧನಕ್ಕೊಳಗಾದರೂ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಕಳಕಳಿಯನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ-ಮಂತ್ರಿ ಅನ್ನಯ, ರುದ್ರಮದೇವಿಯ ಸಾಕುಮಗಳಾದ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣಕನ್ಯೆ - ರುಯ್ಯಮ್ಮ, ಆಂಧ್ರಮಹಾಭಾರತದ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣಮಾಡಿದ ತಿಕ್ಕನಾಮಾತ್ಯ, ಬಲಿಷ್ಠರಾದ ಪರಸ್ಪರ ಶತ್ರುಗಳಾಗಿ ನಂತರ ಪುನಃ ಮಿತ್ರರಾಗುವ ಬೊಲ್ಲ-ಗೊಂಡರು, ವಿಲಕ್ಷಣವಾದ ಯತಿಯ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಗೂಢಚಾರಿ - ಇವರೇ ಮೊದಲಾದವರು ಸ್ಮರಣೀಯ ಪಾತ್ರಗಳು.

ಭಾರತೀಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯು ಕಾದಂಬರಿಯಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ಹಾಸುಹೊಕ್ಕಾಗಿದೆ. ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಪ್ರೇಮಿಗಳಿಗೆ, ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯಪ್ರೇಮಿಗಳಿಗೆ, ಕಲೋಪಾಸಕರಿಗೆ, ಇತಿಹಾಸಪ್ರಿಯರಿಗೆ ಈ ನವರಸಭರಿತ-ಗದ್ಯಕಾವ್ಯ ಮಹೋತ್ಸವಪ್ರಾಯವಾಗಿರುವಂತಹುದು. ಆಂಧ್ರರಾಜವೈಭೋಗ ಹೇಗಿತ್ತೆಂಬುದು ತಿಳಿಯಲಿಚ್ಛಿಸುವರು ಈ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಯನ್ನು ಓದಲೇಬೇಕು. ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಾಗಲಿ, ಆಂಧ್ರರಾಗಲಿ, ಮೂಲತಃ ಭಾರತೀಯರು; ಸನಾತನ ಧರ್ಮ ಭಾರತದ ಜೀವಾಳವೆಂಬುದನ್ನು ಮರೆಯಬಾರದು. ಅದು ಹೇಗೆ ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗಿತ್ತೆಂದು ತಿಳಿಯಲು ಈ ಗ್ರಂಥವನ್ನೋದಬೇಕು.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವು ಐತಿಹಾಸಿಕ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಓದಿದ್ದೇನೆ - ದುರ್ಗಾಸ್ತಮಾನವನ್ನೂ ಸಹ. ಆದರೆ ದುರ್ಗಾಸ್ತಮಾನ ಮೊದಲಾದ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ವೀರರಸಪ್ರಾಧಾನ್ಯವಿರುವುದು. ಆದರೆ ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಯುದ್ಧ-ರಾಜ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ-ಕಲಾ-ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ-ನೃತ್ಯ-ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಗಳೆಲ್ಲದರ ಮೇಲನ, ನವರಸಭರಿತವಾದಂತಹ ಗದ್ಯಕಾವ್ಯವನ್ನು ಇದೇ ಮೊದಲು ಓದಿದ್ದು.

ಈ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಯು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಅಕಾಡೆಮಿಯಿಂದ ಪ್ರಕಾಶಿತವಾಗಿದೆ. ಇದು ಎಲ್ಲಿ ದೊರೆಯುವುದೋ ತಿಳಿಯದು - ಆದರೆ ಯಾರಾದರೂ ಕೇಳಿದರೆ ಹುಡುಕಿ ತಿಳಿಸಬಲ್ಲೆ.

|| ಇತಿ ಶಮ್ ||

ತಮಿಳು ತಲೆಗಳ ನಡುವೆ

ಮೊನ್ನೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಸಪ್ನಾ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಭಂಡಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗಿದ್ದೆ. ನನಗೆ (ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಸಹ) ಯಾವುದೇ ಸಮಾರಂಭವಾಗಲಿ, ಆದಷ್ಟು ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನೇ ಕೊಡಬೇಕೆನ್ನುವ ಪರಿಪಾಟ (ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ - "ಪರಿಪಾಠ" ತಪ್ಪು ಪ್ರಯೋಗ). ಸರಿ, ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಹೊಸ "book mall" ಉದ್ಘಾಟನೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ವಾರ್ತಾಪತಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಮಾಚಾರ ಮೂಡಿತ್ತು. ಸರಿಯೇ ನೋಡಿಬಿಡೋಣವೆಂದು ಹೋದೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡನೆ ಅಂತಸ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳ ವಿಭಾಗವನ್ನು ಇಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಅಂಗಡಿಯ ವೈಶಿಷ್ಟ್ಯವೆಂದರೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳು. ಆಂಗ್ಲಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳ ಅಂಗಡಿಗಳು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇರೆಯವೂ ಇವೆ. ಆದರೆ ಬಹಳಕಡೆಗಳಿಂದ ಕನ್ನಡಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನು ಒಂದೆಡೆ ಸೇರಿಸಿರುವುದು ಸಪ್ನಾ ದಲ್ಲಿ. ಇದರ ಜೊತೆ ಶೇಖಡಾ ಹತ್ತರ ರಿಯಾಯ್ತಿ. ಕೊಳ್ಳದಿರಲು ಹೇಗೆ ಸಾಧ್ಯ? ಅಂದ ಹಾಗೆ ಗಾಂಧಿಬಜಾರಿನ ಅಂಕಿತ ಪುಸ್ತಕಾಲಯವೂ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದೆ.

ಅದಿರಲಿ. ಬೇರೆಯವರಿಗೆ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಹೋದ ನನಗೆ ಒಂದೆರಡು ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳು ಬೇಡವೇ? ಸರಿ ಹುಡುಕುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಬಹಳ ದಿನಗಳಿಂದ ಓದಬೇಕೆಂದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳು ಡಾ|| ಬಿ.ಜಿ.ಎಲ್ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರವು. ಅವರ "ಹಸುರು ಹೊನ್ನು" ಮತ್ತು "ತಮಿಳು ತಲೆಗಳ ನಡುವೆ" ಕೊಂಡೆ. "ಪಂಚಕಲಶಗೋಪುರ"ವೆಂಬ ಅವರ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಎರವಲು ಪಡೆದು ಒಂದೆರಡು ಭಾಗ ಓದಿದ್ದೆ. ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರ ಶೈಲಿ ತಿಳಿಹಾಸ್ಯದಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದೆ. ತಿಳಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಅಲ್ಲ - ಹಾಸ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಹಿ, ಕಹಿ, ಖಾರ, ಹುಳಿ ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ರಸಗಳನ್ನು ಇವರು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಸೇರಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಇವರ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಓದಲು ಇಷ್ಟ. ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಡಿವಿಜಿಯವರ ಮಗ ಬೇರೆ. ತಂದೆ ಮಕ್ಕಳು ಒಂದೇ ಅಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ ಅವರ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಇರುವ ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸವನ್ನಾದರೂ ನೋಡಬೇಕಲ್ಲಾ ಎಂಬ ಕುತೂಹಲ. ಇನ್ನೂ ಒಂದು ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯಕರ ಸಂಗತಿಯೆಂದರೆ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಪಡೆದ ಮೊದಲನೆಯ ತಂದೆ-ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಜೋಡಿಯೆಂದರೆ ಡಿವಿಜಿ-ಬಿಜಿಎಲ್ ಅವರದು. ಹಸುರು-ಹೊನ್ನು ಎಂಬ ಇವರ ಪುಸ್ತಕಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂದ ಗೌರವ. ಅದನ್ನು ಮನಗೆ ಹೋದ ತಕ್ಷಣ ನನ್ನ ಪತ್ನಿ ನನ್ನಿಂದ ಕಿತ್ತುಕೊಂಡಳು. ಸರಿ ನನಗಿದ್ದದ್ದು "ತಮಿಳು ತಲೆಗಳ ನಡುವೆ" ಎಂಬುದು.

ಬಿ.ಜಿ.ಎಲ್ ಅವರು (ಇನ್ನು ಮುಂದೆ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರು ಅಥವಾ ಬಿಜಿಎಲ್ ಅನ್ನುತ್ತೇನೆ) ಮದರಾಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರೆಸಿಡೆನ್ಸಿ ಮಹಾವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಾಟನಿಯ ಪ್ರಾಧ್ಯಾಪಕರಾಗಿ ಕೆಲವು ದಶಕಗಳ ಸೇವೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಅವರ ತಮಿಳಿಗರೊಡನೆಯ ತಮಿಳಿನ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯಾದ ಅನುಭವದ ಸಂಗ್ರಹವೇ "ತಮಿಳು ತಲೆಗಳ ನಡುವೆ". ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರ ಮನೆ ಮಾತು ತಮಿಳು. ಆದರೂ ತಮ್ಮನ್ನು ತಾವು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರೆಂದು ಕಂಡುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಇದರೊಡನೆ ಅಪ್ಪಟ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ಮನೋಭಾವನೆ ಇವರದು. ಜೊತೆಗೆ ತಮಿಳಿನ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಸಹಜವಾಗಿ ಮೂಡಿದ ಕುತೂಹಲ.

ಸರಿ ಪುಸ್ತಕಕ್ಕೆ ಬರೋಣ. ತಮಿಳು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವನ್ನು ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಅಭ್ಯಾಸ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರೆಂದು ತೋರುತ್ತದೆ. ಮೊದಲಿಗೆ ತಮಿಳಿನ "ಚಂಗ" (ಸಂಘ) ಕಾವ್ಯಗಳ ಕಾಲದ ಹಾಸ್ಯಲೇಪಿತ ಪರಿಚಯವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.

"ತಮಿಳು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಕ್ಕಿಂತಲೂ ಹಳೆಯದು. ಬೇರೆ ದ್ರಾವಿಡ ಭಾಷೆಗಳಾದ ಕನ್ನಡ, ಮಲೆಯಾಳ, ತೆಲುಗುಗಳ ತಾಯಿಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಲ್ಲಲು ತಕ್ಕದ್ದು. ಈ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಕ್ರಿ.ಪೂ. ೨ ನೆಯ ಶತಮಾನಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹಳೆಯದು. ವಾಸ್ತವವಾಗಿ ಇನ್ನೂ ಹಳೆಯದು - ಆದರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಭಾಷೆಯವರು ನಾಚಿಕೆಯಿಂದ ತಲೆತಗ್ಗಿಸಬಾರದೆಂಬ ಒಂದೇ ಕಾರಣದಿಂದ ಎರಡನೆಯ ಶತಮಾನಕ್ಕೇ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ."

ಇದು ತಮಿಳರ ತಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ವಿಚಾರದ ಒಂದು ಸ್ಥೂಲ ನಿರೂಪಣೆ. ತಮಿಳರ ಅತಿರೇಕಗಳನ್ನು ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಸುಮಾರು ಇನ್ನೂರು ಪುಟಗಳವರೆಗೂ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರು ವರ್ಣಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಎಷ್ಟು ಹಾಸ್ಯ ತುಂಬಿದೆಯೆಂದರೆ ನನಗಂತೂ ನಕ್ಕು ನಕ್ಕು ಹೊಟ್ಟೆ ನೋವು ಬಂದಿತು (ಇದು ತೀರಾ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯದ ಕ್ಲೀಷೆಯಾದರೂ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕಕ್ಕೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಹೊಂದುತ್ತದೆ). ಪಾಪ, ಅವರು ಅನುಭವಿಸಿದ ಅನನುಕೂಲಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಯಾತನೆಗಳನ್ನು ನೆನೆಸಿಕೊಂಡರೆ ಅಯ್ಯೋ ಎನ್ನಿಸದೇ ಇರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ.

ಹಾಸ್ಯದ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ತಮಿಳು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಅದರ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಸಂಶೋಧನೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಒಂದು ಸ್ಥೂಲ ಪರಿಚಯ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕದಿಂದ ದೊರೆಯುತ್ತದೆ. ಚಂಗ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ವಿಂಗಡಣೆಯ ಬಗೆ. ಶಿಲಪ್ಪದಿಕಾರಂ ನ ಸ್ಥಾನ. ತಮಿಳರ ಲೆಮ್ಯೂರಿಯಾ ಅಥವಾ ಕುಮಾರಿಖಂಡದ ದಂತಕಥೆಯ ನಿರೂಪಣೆ. ತಮಿಳರಿಗೆ ತಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇರುವ ಅತಿಯಾದ ಪ್ರೇಮ. "ತಮಿಳ್ ಇಸೈ" (ತಮಿಳು ಸಂಗೀತ)ನ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಒಂದಷ್ಟು ಮಾಹಿತಿ. ತಮಿಳನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಬೇರೇನೂ ಬೇಡ ಅನ್ನುವ ವೀರತಮಿಳರ ಹಠ. ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ತಮಿಳಿನ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತೋರುವ ಒಲವು - ಗ್ರಂಥಗಳನ್ನು ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ ಸಂಶೋಧನೆಯ ದಿಕ್ಕನ್ನು ತಿರುಗಿಸುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ. ತಿರುಕ್ಕುರಲಿನ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯ ಸಂಶೋಧನೆ. ತಮಿಳು ಹೇಗೆ ಬೇರೆ ದ್ರಾವಿಡ ಭಾಷೆಗಳ ಸಮವೇ ಆಗಿದೆ (ತಮಿಳೇತರ ಸಂಶೋಧಕರ ಪ್ರಕಾರ) ಎಂಬ ವಿಚಾರ. ಶೈಕ್ಷಣಿಕ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಗೆ ತಮಿಳನ್ನು ಕ್ರಮವಾಗಿ ತಂದು "ಆರ್ಯ" ಮತ್ತು "ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ" ಧರ್ಮಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಪ್ಪು ವಿಚಾರವನ್ನು ಹರಡುತಿದ್ದಾರೆಂಬುದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ. ತಮಿಳೇತರ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ತಮಿಳು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಬಿಡಬಾರದೆಂಬುದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಕಟ್ಟಾಜ್ಞೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ. ಹೇಗೆ ಚರ್ವಿತಚರ್ವಣವಾಗಿರುವ ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನೇ ಆಧರಿಸಿ ಇಂದಿಗೂ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು ಪಿ.ಎಚ್.ಡಿಯನ್ನು ಪಡೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆಂಬುದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ. ಇವೆಲ್ಲದರ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಸರಿಯಾದ ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಶೋಧನೆ ನಡೆದಿಲ್ಲವಲ್ಲಾ ಎಂಬ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯರ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಖೇದ. ಇವೇ ಮೊದಲಾದ ಸಂಗತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ.

ಹೀಗೆ ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ಮೊದಲು ನನಗನ್ನಿಸಿದ್ದು - ನಾನು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗನಾಗಿ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು ನನ್ನ ಪುಣ್ಯವೆಂದು. ನಮಗೆ ಕಣ್ಣು ಕಾಣುವುದೇ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪವಾಗಿದ್ದಾಗ ಅದರ ಮೇಲೆ ಮತಾಂಧತೆ, ಭಾಷಾಂಧತೆ ಮುಂತಾದ ಅಂಧತೆಗಳೂ ಸೇರಿದರೆ ಲೋಕವೇ ಕಾಣದೆ ಹೋಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲವೇ? ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರು ನಿರಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳು ಎಂದು ಹಿಂದೆ ಈ ಬ್ಲಾಗಿನಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಆದರೆ ತಮಿಳರ ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಸತ್ಯದ ತಲೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೊಡೆದ ಹಾಗಿರುವ ಬರೇ ಸುಳ್ಳಿನ ಅಡಿಪಾಯದ ಮೇಲೆ ನಿಂತಿರುವ ದುರಭಿಮಾನ ನಮಗೆಂದಿಗೂ ಬರುವುದಿಲ್ಲವೆಂದು ಹೆಮ್ಮ ಕೂಡ ಆಯ್ತು. ಇದ್ದದ್ದನ್ನು ಇದ್ದ ಹಾಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದರೂ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರ ಸಮಯಪ್ರಜ್ಞೆ ಮತ್ತು ಮನೋವೈಶಾಲ್ಯ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಕಾಪಾಡುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂದು ಅನ್ನಿಸಿತು. ಇದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಒಂದು ಸಂಗತಿಯನ್ನು ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ನಿರೂಪಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಬೀ.ಎಂ.ಶ್ರೀಕಂಠಯ್ಯನವರು ತಮಿಳಿನ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಭಾವೋದ್ವೇಗಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಗಾಗಿ "ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲೇನಿದೆ ಮಣ್ಣು" ಅನ್ನುವ ಹಾಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದರು. ಇದನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿದ್ದ ಸಭಿಕರೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರೇ. ಆದರೆ ಯಾವ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೀಕಂಠಯ್ಯನವರು ಹೀಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡಿದರು ಎಂದು ತಿಳಿದಿದ್ದರು. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಅಚಾತುರ್ಯವೆಂದರೆ ಶ್ರೀಯವರ ಆರ್ಭಟ ಮಾತ್ರ. ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರದು ನಿರಭಿಮಾನವೆಂದು ಹೇಳಬಹುದು. ಆದರೆ ತಮಿಳರ ದುರಭಿಮಾನವನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಯಲು ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನೋದಿ. ನಿಮಗೇ ಅನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ - ನಮ್ಮದು ಹಾಗಾಗುವುದೇ ಬೇಡಪ್ಪಾ ಎಂದು!

ತಮಿಳಿನ ಪ್ರಚಾರದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಿದಾಗ ನನಗೆ ಕಮ್ಯೂನಿಸ್ಟ್ ರಷ್ಯಾ, ಚೈನಾ ಮತ್ತು ತಾಲಿಬಾನ್ ಗಳ ನೆನಪಾಯ್ತು. ಕಮ್ಯೂನಿಷ್ಟರು ತಮ್ಮ ಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತಕ್ಕೆ ಎಂದೂ ಕುಂದು ಬರಬಾರದೆಂದು ಹಾರಾಡಿದ್ದವರು. ಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತಕ್ಕೆ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಬರೆದವರನ್ನು ಸೆರೆಮನೆಗೆ ತಳ್ಳಿದವರು. ತಮ್ಮದು ಎಷ್ಟೇ ತಪ್ಪಿದ್ದರೂ ಒಪ್ಪದಿರುವ ಭಂಡರು. ಕಟ್ಟಾ ಇಸ್ಲಾಮಿಗಳ ಕಥೆಯೂ ಅದೆ. ಮೊನ್ನೆ ಆದ ಪ್ರವಾದಿ ಮಹಮ್ಮದರ ಕಾರ್ಟೂನಿನ ರಾದ್ಧಾಂತ ನಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯದೇ? ಇದಕ್ಕೇನೂ ಕಡಿಮೆಯಿಲ್ಲದ್ದು ತಮಿಳರ ಭಾಷಾಪ್ರೇಮ.

ವೀರತಮಿಳರ ವಿಚಾರಲಹರಿಯನ್ನವಲಂಬಿಸದೆ ಬೇರೆಯ ವಿಚಾರವನ್ನು ಬರೆದ ಗೋವಿಂದನ್ ಎಂಬವರ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಕೊಳ್ಳಬಾರದೆಂಬ ಆಗ್ರಹ ಮಾಡಿದರು ತಮಿಳು ವಾದ್ಯಾರರು. ಒಬ್ಬಿಬ್ಬರು "ತಮಿಳುನಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಲಿಟ್ಟೀಯೆ ಜೋಕೆ" ಎಂದು ಪತ್ರಗಳನ್ನೂ ಬರೆದರು. ತಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ (ಅದು ಭಾಷೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯೂ ಅಲ್ಲ - ಅದರ ಕಾಲದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ) ಐನೂರು ವರ್ಷ ಈಚಿನದು ಎಂದು ಬರೆದವರನ್ನು ಖಂಡಿಸಲು - ಚಿಂಬೋಚಿಯಮ್ (symposium) ಗಳನ್ನು ಏರ್ಪಡಿಸಿ ಖಂಡನೆಯ ಠರಾವುಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊರಡಿಸುವ ರೀತಿ ಇವರದು - ಅದೂ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಅಥವಾ ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು ಓದದೆಯೇ!! ಹಳೆಯದ್ದಾದಷ್ಟೂ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯದು ಎಂಬುದು ಇವರ ನಂಬಿಕೆ. ಕಾಲಿದಾಸನ "ಪುರಾಣಮಿತ್ಯೇವ ನ ಸಾಧು ಸರ್ವಮ್" ಎಂಬ ಕಿವಿಮಾತು ಬೇರೆ ಭಾಷೆಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹತ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿಕೊಂಡ ಕಿವಿಗಳನ್ನುಳ್ಳ ಈ ತಮಿಳರ ಕಿವಿಯನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ತಾನೆ ಸೇರೀತು? ಋಗ್ವೇದವನ್ನು ಓದುವಷ್ಟು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ತಿಳಿಯದ "ವಿದ್ವಾ(ಧ್ವ?)೦ಸ"ನ ಅಂಬೋಣ ಏನು ಗೊತ್ತೇ ? ಋಗ್ವೇದವು ತಮಿಳರು ರಚಿಸಿದ ಪಂಚಾಂಗವಂತೆ!! ಇದನ್ನು ನಂಬುವ ಜನರೂ ಇದ್ದಾರಲ್ಲ!

ಈಗಿನ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದಾಗ ತಮಿಳಿಗೆ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ಸ್ಥಾನದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಡೆದ ತಕರಾರು ನೆನಪಿಗೆ ಬರಬಹುದು. ಅವೆಲ್ಲಕ್ಕೂ ಸ್ಫೂರ್ತಿ ಇವರಿಗೆ ಎಲ್ಲಿಂದ ದೊರೆಯಿತು ಎಂದು ನೋಡಲು ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಓದಿಯೇ ಓದಬೇಕು.

ಭಾಷೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯ ಈ ದುರಭಿಮಾನ ಅತಿರೇಕಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಅಪಾಯಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣವಾಗಬಹುದು. "ತಮಿಳರು ಭಾರತದಾದ್ಯಂತ ಇದ್ದ ಆದಿವಾಸಿಗಳು. ಇವರನ್ನು ದಕ್ಷಿಣಕ್ಕೆ ಓಡಿಸಿದ್ದು ಬೇರೆಯ ಕಡೆಯಿಂದ ಬಂದ ಆರ್ಯರು" ಎಂಬ ಕಟ್ಟುಕತೆಯನ್ನು ಪರಮಸತ್ಯವೆಂದು ತಮಿಳುನಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇಂದಿಗೂ ಪಾಠಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರಂತೆ. ಕಲಪ್ಪಿರರು (ಕಳಭ್ರರು) ಎಂಬ ಆರ್ಯ ರಾಜರು ಹೇಗೆ ತಮಿಳನ್ನು ತುಳಿದು ಹಾಳುಗೆಡವಿದರು ಎಂದೆಲ್ಲ ಇಲ್ಲಸಲ್ಲದ್ದು ಹೇಳಿ ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇರೆ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ವಿಷದ ಬೀಜ ಬಿತ್ತುವ ಇವರ ದುರ್ಬುದ್ಧಿಗೂ, ಮದರಸಾಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯುವ ಕ್ರಮವಾದ brainwashಗೂ ಏನು ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ? ಎರಡೂ ಕಡೆ ಹಗೆಯೇ! ಎರಡು ಕಡೆ "ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬರು ಹಾಳು ಮಾಡಿದರು. ನಮ್ಮ ಈ ದುಃಸ್ಥಿತಿಗೆ ಕಾರಣರು ಬೇರೆಯವರು" ಎಂಬ ಮಹಾ ಅಪಾಯಕಾರಿ ವಿಷ ತುಂಬುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಎರಡೂ ಕಡೆ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಕುಮ್ಮಕ್ಕು ಕೊಟ್ಟಿದೆ. ಇದು ರಾಜಕೀಯವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಸುಗ್ಗಿಯ ಹಾಗೆ. ತಮಗೆ ತೋಚಿದಾಗ ತಮಗೆ ತೋಚಿದ ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಷಯವನ್ನು ಅಡ್ಡಾದಿಡ್ದಿ ಎಳೆದು ಲಾಭಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಸ್ಸೀಮರಲ್ಲವೇ ಇವರು?
ಒಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕದಿಂದ ಮನೋರಂಜನೆಯ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ನನಗೆ ದೊರೆತ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಪಾಠವೆಂದರೆ - ಮನಸ್ಸು-ಬುದ್ಧಿಗಳನ್ನು ಆದಷ್ಟೂ ಮುಕ್ತವಾಗಿ (open) ಇಡಬೇಕೆಂಬುದು. ಅದಿಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೆ ಏನಾಗುವುದೆಂದು ತಿಳಿಯಲು ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನೋದಿ.

|| ಇತಿ ಶಮ್ ||

Song of Kali - A Novel of Horror

Song of Kali - Google Search

I came across this book when I was reading something about Dan Simmons, an author I had just come across. I read a piece by Dan Simmons on how the world would be if Islam took over - a scary but well written piece. Then I saw that his first big novel was titled "Song of Kali" and that this book had apparently won a Fantasy award when it was published in 1985-86.

Upon reading the gist, I found the idea of the story to be revolting. Apparently Dan Simmons had stayed for two days in Calcutta when he got so "enamoured" of the place that he got the idea for this novel. A synopsis of the novel from Amazon is as follows

The story concerns an American poet who travels with his Indian wife and their baby to Calcutta to pick up an epic poem cycle about the goddess Kali. The Bengali poet who wrote the poem cycle has disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

The synopsis doesn't say it but I gathered from other sites that Goddess Kali had been portrayed as the Goddess of Death in the book. Further, Kali is likened to an evil spirit (much like Imhotep in the movie "the Mummy" and Voldemort in Harry Potter) that desires to be brought back from the dead so that the world could be ruled. Not just that, but Calcutta is shown to be hell on earth - the worst possible place that exists.

Upon reading this set of synopses and ignorant reviews, I, as a Hindu, was appalled at the way Kali and Calcutta had been shown in the book. In fact, this book might have caused several Western readers to have a revulsion towards India, sanAtana dharma and Kali in particular. I also felt a lot of anger and pity at the sheer stupidity of the author for not having gauged Kali (of course, Kali is not a concept that can be easily understood by adherents of simple minded good-bad religions) correctly. Since the book was published in the mid 80s, when there was no world wide web and as much communication as we have now, it must have created this barrier against India and her religions in the minds of the readers. To be fair, I have not read the book but Kali is definitely not the goddess of death. One must be a fool to say this.

Kali is Prakriti and She dances on Shiva who is Purusha. One can say that Kali is Brahman in action (very crude way of explaining things). She is beyond the mundane. One has to study the shAkta purANas, the tantras or at least the durgA saptashatI to see what Kali even feels like. Of course, knowing Kali would be Realization itself. The concept of kAlI is great but some of the methods in which She is worshipped can bring fear into the hearts of even the most ardent of devotees. She is worshipped in Right and Left paths (samayAchAra and vAmAchara). The Right (as in Left and Right and not as in Right and Wrong) path involves worship with flowers, fruits and such sAttvika elements. The Left path is the more horrifying one involving the pancha ma (the five mas including mAmsa (flesh), madya(liquor) and other things) in the milder cases and can possibly go to even human sacrifice. Though the Left mode of worship is followed mostly while worshipping kAlI, it is mostly restricted to animal sacrifice and possibly some liquor - but nowadays human sacrifice is unheard of (I do see a rare case once every few years- but that is hardly how kAlI is worshipped by most people). The English reader could study Arthur Avalon's (John Woodroffe's) works on Shakti to get a good idea. I don't know if this Simmons person went through these books at all. But even the best books do not illumine those who don't want to be illumined. And you have so many forms of kAlI - bhadrakAlI, soumyakAlI, dakShiNakAlI etc., Only a person bent upon propagating ignorance would call kAlI the goddess of Death. Even in the semitic religions, God strikes down the "infidels". Now, can He be called the God of Death and Jealousy by other religionists? That is exactly what Simmons has done.

And about Calcutta, it is in its present state owing mainly to the British and now the Communists. In spite of my not having been there, I don't think Calcutta becomes hell on earth. What would you call quite a few places in the Middle East then? What would you call North Korea?

It is a tragedy that such a work got the World Fantasy award and is being reprinted as a twentieth anniversary edition. We now know where the West is getting its biases from.

Tipu Sultan again

I am almost done reading a well researched book on Tipu. It is by Prof HD Sharma - the original being in English. I read a Kannada translation - which was good but the translation of the letters written by Tipu are difficult to read. There is a translation touch to it - you can feel that it is a translation. The author has done some extensive research and has a good reference list at the end of the book. He has referred to the India Office archives in London where most of Tipu's correspondence and effects lie.

The book is not big at all. It is close to 200 pages. A simple gist of the book is as follows.

Tipu was a bigot on the same level as Mahmud Ghazni, Aurangzeb, Mohammed bin Tughlaq and Alla-ud-din Khilji. So, if we already know what the others have done, Tipu has matching deeds.

According to the book, Haider Ali, Tipu's father surprisingly comes out as a good leader and a king, in spite of some of his bad deeds. I was surprised as a lot of people from Chitradurga (where Haider Ali defeated Madakarinayaka, the local chieftain) loath Haider while being indifferent about Tipu.

Tipu's political life is in two phases one from 1767-1792 and the second one from 1792-1799. The phase break came because of Tipu's defeat in the Third Mysore war after which he became neurotic.

In the first phase of his life/rule, Tipu comes across as a ruthless, tyrannical despot with a level of bigotry that would make even Osama bin Laden look to Tipu with awe. Haider Ali for all his faults had a few merits. He hired the local Hindu people to look after his army and administration. Diwan Purnaiah was the most important of the lot. Haider was clever enough to recognize talent and use it and not be clouded by affiliation to religion. He kept religion and politics separate and in that aspect he was truly a secular ruler.

There are claims to Tipu's having many Hindu officials. They were the ones who remained after Haider's death and Tipu's ascent to the 'throne'. Tipu actually removed several Hindu officials and replaced them with Muslim ones, even though they were illiterate.

Tipu perpetrated horrors in the Malabar region and in the state of Travancore where he forcibly converted thousands of Hindus and Christians to Islam. The rest were killed. In fact, a note written by Tipu orders one of his commanders to kill 5000 people to instill fear in the people. It is estimated that Tipu destroyed at least 8000 Hindu temples. He was a very religious Muslim and read from the Quran every day and followed its edicts quite literally.

Haider Ali had at least bothered to put on the mask of a regent while pretending to serve the Wodeyar King of Mysore. With Tipu, even the mask was lost. Tipu imprisoned the Royal Family of Mysore and ill treated them. He even took a few Hindu women associated with his administrative officials and other royal families forcibly into his harem. In fact, he had Diwan Purnaiah's niece in his harem. This is to show the 'good' feeling Tipu had for his ministers.

He had a lot of people killed in Srirangapatna and Melkote also because they seemed to support the Wodeyar family. It is believed that he had the supporters of the royal family hanged (at least 800 families including women and children) from the trees in a tamarind grove close to the Sri Ranganatha temple. To give an idea of the horrible punishments Tipu meted out, he had a commander very close to Haider Ali, Krishna Rao, killed by dropping him alive in a pan of boiling oil. Tipu then took the wife of Krishna Rao forcibly into his harem. To compound it, the execution of Krishna Rao was based on flimsy reasons. The royal family of Travancore was subjected to similar ignominies when the bodies of the royal family members were subject to humiliating treatments.

However, there are records to show his devotion towards Hindu Temples. This happened because of the change in mind after his defeats to the British - which was more out of fear than any wisdom. He consulted astrologers and sought their advice more readily than from his maulvis and imams. Even then, Tipu did not stop to solicit help from several Muslim rulers around the world. These messages had a common refrain - "Let's make India a Muslim country and let's kill the "atheists"". Atheists referred to non-Muslims and Muslims like the Nizam of Hyderabad. In fact, the inscription on his famous sword expresses similar emotions.

There were a few positive qualities of Tipu also. 5'8" in height (not a positive quality, just mentioned it), he was a simple dresser and loved his wives and children a lot. He was a brave warrior and very energetic and enthusiastic. He actually banned the sale of intoxicants in his kingdom. He was well trained in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Kannada and the other local languages and loved to engage in letter writing very frequently. He even kept a journal of his dreams. He was supposed to be an excellent horse rider. He respected his mother a lot and made at least a show of listening to her.

Towards his end, we see Tipu becoming a nervous wreck requesting for many pujas and yajnas to be performed to ward off evil. He continued to write letters to France, Egypt, Turkey and Afghanistan requesting for help - but none arrived. He died on May 4 1799 when he was trying to retreat to his palace from the Srirangapatna fort. He did not die fighting as expressed by many historians. He was buried next to his father and mother. The British, the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad proved to be real enemies to Tipu.

To sum up, Tipu was not a freedom fighter and neither was he secular because he did not have such ideas at all. He was quite a selfish ruler who could stoop down to any level if permitted by the political conditions. He was a bigot heavily influenced by Islamic theological training at a young age (In fact, Haider Ali deplored this teaching). Also, Tipu was never trained in any religion other than Islam contrary to what is reported in TV serials and popular books. His tyrannical rule adversely affected tens of thousands of families in Kerala and the Malabar region and even in his own kingdom. His death gave a lot of relief to families across South India. That probably is the reason why the British were welcomed in Karnataka.

One of these days, I will go to Srirangapatna and spend the entire day there looking at the different places associated with Tipu's life.