I find it interesting that Kalki Krishnamurthy
was born on 9-9-99. (The year is 1899, of course). In addition to its numerical
uniformity, the date is symbolically significant – it is a threshold to a new
century. Kalki was a bridge between centuries and generations. He was to later inherit
literary and journalistic treasures from people from one generation, add his
vital contributions, and pass them on to the younger generations. He was Thiru.
Vi Kalyanasundaram’s disciple in journalism and Rajaji’s protégé in politics.
Kalki did for Tamil prose what
Subramanya Bharati did for poetry. Tamil prose used to be too complex for
common people to understand. The use of words from other languages was common;
and the language allowing such mixed use was called manipravalam. Kalki pioneered
his own rich, but simple style that eliminated the need for manipravalam.
He gave a simplified Tamil prose for others to emulate. Thus, he was a change agent that we should
thank for the accessible language that emerged later.
He had strong ties to S.S Vasan, who was the owner of Ananda Vikatan and a luminary in movies and journalism. Kalki started the Kalki magazine after he had a disagreement with S.S. Vasan. Parthiban Kanavu was written and published in the Kalki magazine soon after that change. I have always wondered whether Vasan had regrets over losing the opportunity of publishing Parthiban Kanvu as a series in Vikatan! I will be grateful to any reader who can confirm or refute this statement. Or perhaps I just need to re-read Ponniyin Pudhalvar, Kalki’s biography to see if I can discover the answer myself!
Edit 1: Please see the answer from an authoritative source in the comments section below.
Edit 2: Also see my article Kalki and Vasan.
Allegories
Many parts of Parthiban
Kanavu assume a new significance when you consider the political and social
environment at the time it was written (1941-43). It was the final few years of
British rule in India. The Second World War was in progress. The British
offered a form of limited self-governance to India in return for India’s full
support in the war. There was widespread skepticism as to the true intentions
of the British. Indian National Congress had made a demand for total
self-governance in 1941. The Quit India movement was announced in 1942. Many
political leaders including Gandhi, and young leaders such as Kalki
Krishnamurthy himself had been jailed for civil disobedience around that time.
Keep in mind that Parthiban Kanavu ran as a serialized novel between 1941-43.
There was a powerful lobby in
India that advocated working with the British. Some of the lobbyists may have genuinely
thought of it as a winning strategy for independence, but many did that for
short term personal gains and laurels. Could Marappa Bhupathi’s strategic
supplication to Narasima Varman be an allegory pertaining to such loyalists?
Could Kalki’s use of spies and guises in his stories be a product of its time,
inspired by the use of agents by the British police? It is hard to be sure, but
I find Parthiban Kanavu to be more interesting when I read it with such
theories in mind.
At various points, the characters
talk about independence being more important than life. In Senbaga
Island, Vikraman asks for an assurance from the Prime Minister that the
subjects will not surrender in a conflict, regardless of whether the enemy is
good or bad. Ponnan
tells the sage that he feels duty-bound to oppose the Emperor, despite the
possibility that he, the Emperor, may have divine attributes. What is the need
to bring up the goodness in the enemy in these conversations? I believe these
were allegories as well. Kalki may have conceded that there is good in the
British, but independence is more important than any good that could come out
of continued British governance. His thought process might have been like
Subhramanya Bharati’s, who thought that a poem celebrating King George’s
coronation was not in contradiction with asking the British to leave India.
All references to Valli’s
intelligence could have been nods to the women empowerment movement of that era. In a
similar vein, the choice of Sivagami, a dancer as the central character in
Sivagamiyin Sabatham might have been deliberate too. In those days, most people associated dancing
with courtesans. The thought of women from good families dancing in public was
frowned upon. Choosing dancing as a career was out of question for women of
most social segments. Kalki ran a very successful social campaign to remove the
stigma around dancing, specifically Bharatanatyam as an art form. I have
wondered if Kalki picked Sivagami as the title character in one of his novels
to support that point of view.
History
We saw in the prelude that
Emperor Harshavardhana and Pulakesin II were the contemporaries of Narasimha
Varma Pallava. There does not appear to be much record of a Chozha king of
that era, as Chozhas were minor vassals.
History is written by victors. This history of the era of Parthiban Kanavu was recorded by
- Bana, who was patronized by Harsha,
- Ravikirti, who was patronized by Pulakesin II,
- Chinese traveler Xuanzang (Hsuan Tsang), who was presumably hosted by many kings of that era, and
- Various stone carvings, both in Pallava and Chalukya regions.
Actually, a correction - History is written by generous victors, or at least victors who had the resources and foresight to support and reward poets who would sing their praises; or had the foresight to spend to have their deeds captured in carvings.
Hence, we should provide some
allowance for bias when we read historical fiction. For example, Bana is
unlikely to have recorded any dubious deeds of Harsha. John Keay talks about
many battles of that era in which both sides claim victory. Kalki provides an
excellent (perhaps conscious) example for the bias himself. The way he
describes Mahendra Varma Pallava’s defeat at the hands of Pulakesin II in Parthiban
Kanavu is very different from how he describes the same battle through the
Pallava eyes in Sivagamiyin Sabatham.
There is strong evidence that
Jainism and Buddhism were dominant at that time, although such dominance has
faded in recorded history. Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen School of
Mahayana Buddhism, is said to have been a Pallava prince who went to China on a
Buddhist evangelical mission. Jains had success in converting Mahendra Varma
Pallava to Jainism for a while. Thirunavukkarasar (Appar) himself is said to
have practiced Jainism in his early days.
Shaivism, which had the support of Narasimha Varma and several
contemporary kings figures eminently in the recorded history of that era. It is
interesting the speculate on the missing parts of the history. That speculation
could be rich material for several more works of historical fiction set at the
same era.
All that said, the story Kalki
has spun is riveting, so let me limit my ramblings and let you get back to the
story!
Click here for the audiobook version
Parthban Kanavu: The Tamil version of the novel is in the public domain. Copyright for the translation is reserved by the translator..
Art by Sujatha, unless otherwise credited.
I really appreciate your translation that makes me able to quickly read and recount the original novel. It's a clean and clear translation. At this point, I wanted to answer a question you were musing about with regard to SS Vasan and Kalki. They were steadfast friends till the very end and the families still treat each other as extended family. The only thing that happened was that Kalki as editor and Sadasivam joined the Quit India Movement, the Gandhian freedom struggle and were jailed. This meant that he could not continue to be Editor of Vikatan else the magazine's publication was threatened itself under British rule. So it meant their professional journey together ended. However, this did not stop them from supporting each other and their dreams. After jail, Kalki and Sadasivam established Kalki. Kalki's vision was to infuse pride and educate our tamils of our history through his novels, to prove and revive knowledge of our glorious past (all which had been taught as lesser to Colonial and western sophistication at the time). In this pursuit, he wanted to establish a platform himself. I happen to be SS Vasan's great grandson and know that regardless of where it was published my family has always been proud, appreciative and supporters of his work as if it were an own family member's accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Krishna Ramkumar, thank you for your kind words. I also appreciate you writing to clarify my questions which was really just loud thinking. I'm honoured that you took the time to write here and clarify the background behind the two veterans "falling out" as I had unwisely phrased it! It is precisely this kind of exchange that I was hoping to generate by enabling comments. Thanks again!
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