Namdeo Dhasal introspects pain, nirvana
At a poetry reading evening, the Dalit poet well-known for bringing
out the voice of the 'scum of the Earth' will take the audience
through his journey of poetry from over three decades
Priyanka Borpujari
Posted On Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 03:55:17 PM
I've made myself tired and unhappy here on this seashore of pain;
Sculpting with a chisel an image of many-faceted wounds.
Indeed, with an uncensored vocabulary which imparts a beautiful stain
in his notebook, Namdeo Dhasal has shaken society's conventional
notion of poetry. Like in these lines from his poem titled
'Autobiography' which appeared in his 1995 book 'Ya Sattet Jeev Ramat
Nahi' (The Soul Doesn't Find Peace In This Regime), Dhasal has prodded
the classes and castes persistently to acknowledge the oppression
against Dalits and the underdog. Common sense conveys that such
evocative words cannot flow from the pen of one who has not been a
witness and, often, victim, to the caste-based politics and ostracism
himself.
File photo of a Dalit protest meeting (Pic: BCCL)
Dhasal will himself let audiences travel with him into a time and
space of his work, at a poetry reading session to be held on September
29, at Jnanapravaha, where he will read poetry from his earliest
collection 'Golpitha' of 1972, to 'Nirvana-agodarachi Pida' (The Pain
Before Nirvana) of 2010. English translations of his poetry would be
done by Shanta Gokhale.
Born in 1949 in a former 'untouchable' community in Pur-Kanersar
village near Pune, a teenage Dhasal worked as a taxi driver and lived
among pimps, prostitutes, petty criminals, drug peddlers, gangsters
and illicit traders in Mumbai's underworld. In 1972, he founded Dalit
Panther, the militant organisation modelled on Black Panther. The same
year he published his collection of poems 'Golpitha', and has since
published several collections of his evolving poetry. In 2004, Sahitya
Akademi honoured Dhasal with the only Lifetime Achievement Award it
gave during its golden jubilee celebrations.
Neera Adarkar, who has compiled a book of essays 'Galleries Of Life:
Chawls Of Mumbai', explains why Dhasal's work is relevant in every
realm of the city's life. "Any great piece of literature is always
relevant to the society. Dhasal's poetry gives one a glimpse into the
man's rise in the city. And with that, one is able to see the changing
face of the city's socio-economic-political fabric," she says. The
multi-disciplinary book is an assortment of essays, examining how
chawls are linked to identities in Mumbai. It attempts to throw light
on the fact that several political movements were born and nurtured in
the chawls. In a section on personal memoirs, Dhasal paints a picture
of the various chawls where he spent parts of his colourful life as a
poet and founder of Dalit Panther.
Talking more on the essay penned by Dhasal, Adarkar says, "Dhasal's
words give the reader a true picture of the chawls in Mumbai. He has
written about the way in which Ambedkar had consulted the people
residing in Pila House Foras Road - which has been populated by poor
Muslims and Hindus, and is part of the city's red-light area – before
he converted to Buddhism. Dhasal has the text of that speech too, and
we have included a part of it in our book. Like he does it with his
poetry, he has exposed the city's many facets and its developing
sensibilities. But he does it in a interesting way, without lamenting.
His history and understanding of the city through its chawls and the
people living there is written the way he has seen and experienced it
all."
Dhasal's experiences comprise the camaraderie among other Dalit
activists, all of whom look up to Dr Ambedkar as the fountainhead of
inspiration. No wonder then 'Golpitha' includes an elaborate ode to
the man who drafted the Constitution of the country. Referring to the
aftermath of Dr Ambedkar's death when his followers mourned his death
and several Dalit leaders found themselves handicapped, Dhasal wrote,
among other thoughts:
They—who never make the error of going
One step forward or backward from the pioneer—
Don't posses the fuel and the velocity with which are born
The ones who have the spunk to lift their foot as high as their leader did
Or to move it differently.
In his own lifetime, Dhasal has surely displayed the spunk he was born
with, and has large foot has traversed quite a distance in literature,
and thus, in effecting a pattern of thinking.
'The Pain Before Nirvana' will be held on September 29 at 6 pm, at
Jnanapravaha, Queens Mansion, next to Cathedral Middle School, G.
Talwalkar Marg, Fort.
------------------------------------
----
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/
PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com
TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/
Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
