Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) The quest for a brand Indian literature and a new national link language sparked a thoughtful discourse at the inaugural session of ‘Samanvay - the IHC Indian Languages’ Festival’ - a three-day extravaganza of contemporary Indian language writing in the capital.

The vernacular campaign also received a boost with Raj Liberhan, the director of India Habitat Centre, Friday evening announcing a Samanvay Bhasha Samman of Rs.100,000 every year to younger writers for the promotion of Indian languages and interlinking of Indian languages in contemporary vernacular literature from 2012.

The logistics of the award will be announced next year, he said.

The Indian Languages Newspaper Association (ILNA) chief Paresh Nath also announced an ILNA Bhashai Patrakarita Samanavay Samman of Rs.50,000 every year to journalists promoting Indian languages in the media.

A panel of eminent writers and scholars lent their weight to the call for an “Indian literature” as they argued in favour and against the possibility of scripting a new Indian link language that could be understood by all — while stressing the need for easier and wider accessibility to vernacular Indian literature across linguistic divides.

Renowned Marathi Dalit writer and one-time social worker Lakshman Gaikwad advocated that “India must have one language” putting forth an argument that “if bhasha (language) oppresses man, then bhasha (language) cannot prosper”.

“We don’t have anything in Indian literature, but we have everything in English despite the fact that almost 80 percent Indians do not understand English,” Gaikwad said addressing a session on ‘Is There An Indian Literature’ which opened the festival Friday evening. The session was chaired by poet K. Satchidanandan. The festival ends Sunday.

“We must make one different language which can be understood by all…” he said.

Gaikwad called upon the country’s indigenous literary fraternity to promote Dalit literature more vigorously so that it could emerge as a powerful mainstream literary genre.

Noted Gujarati poet and winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award Sitanshu Yashaschandra said India wanted more indigenous literature, but the point is “how does it happen?”

“I am an Indian writing in Gujarati, a Gujarati writing in Gujarati,” the poet said highlighting the inherent duality present in the debate over a common Indian literature. The poet recommended a strong link language to bridge the divide.

“This hierarchical version of literature (taking roots in India) is dangerous,” he said, taking leaves out of medieval Indian vernacular literature to illustrate how 12 and 13th century poets used to weave several languages together into a script of its own that could be identified by many linguistic groups.

“Don’t be afraid of diversity… nobody has said you have to love someone because your parents have told you so…,” Yashaschandra said.

Former professor of English at the Delhi University, Alok Rai - the grandson of Hindi literary icon Munshi Premchand - said: “There was something that was demanding to be understood in this Indianness which was problematic.”

“One of the ways in thinking about it (Indian literature) was that India was a civilisational idea or a civilisational horizon…To my mind, this civilisational idea of India is a work in progress,” Rai said.

“‘Tarah tarah se ban raha hain, isko jaanana hamara kaam hain’ (India is building itself in many ways and our duty is to know it),” he said, expounding on his views about a generic “Indian literature”. “It also includes literature and literary works.”

Veteran Hindi poet and Lalit Kala Akademi chairman Ashok Vajpeyi said: “India was imagined in its literature and Indian literature had power to fill the linguistic divides.”

Advising against one language being accorded precedence as an Indian link language, he said, “We are many so we are one”.