ecology malayalam literature Department of Cultural Affairs Govt of Kerala Kerala Sahitya Akademi ISSN June Kerala Sahitya Akademi

Transcription

1 Department of Cultural Affairs Govt of Kerala Kerala Sahitya Akademi ISSN Kerala Sahitya Akademi 2014 June 2014 June & Printed and published by R. Gopalakrishnan on behalf of Kerala Sahitya Akademi,Thrissur and printed at Simple Printers, West Fort, Thrissur , Kerala and published at Thrissur, Thrissur Dist., Kerala State. Editor: R. Gopalakrishnan. ecology malayalam literature

2 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY JUNE 2014 Special Issue on Ecology and Malayalam Literature KERALA SAHITYA AKADEMI Thrissur , Kerala

3 Malayalam Literary Survey A Quarterly Publication of Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Thrissur Vol. 34 No Single Issue : Rs. 25/- This Issue - Rs. 50/- Annual Subscription : Rs. 100/- Editorial Board Perumbadavam Sreedharan - President R. Gopalakrishnan - Secretary & Editor Chandramati - Convenor Members John Samuel R. Lopa V.N. Asokan - Sub editor Cover Design : Vinaylal Type setting : Macworld, Thrissur Printed and Published by R. Gopalakrishnan on behalf of Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Thrissur and Printed at Santhi Bhavan, Kannamkulangara, Thrissur for Simple Printers, Westfort, Thrissur , Kerala and published at Thrissur, Thrissur Dist., Kerala State. Editor : R. Gopalakrishnan Proof : Prof. E.D. John Reg. No /77 Phone : keralasahityaakademi@gmail.com Articles published in this journal do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi. The Editorial Board cannot be held responsible for the views expressed by the writers

4 Editor s note We are happy to publish this special edition of Malayalam Literary Survey which focuses on Ecology, Environment and Malayalam literature. As a branch of discipline, environmental studies may appear to be modern, but it is as ancient as human culture itself. Kerala, the green land, had ecological vision right from the old times, as our folk-songs prove. Here humans lived in close and peaceful communion with nature till the advent of technological progress and consumerist culture which resulted in alienation from nature and exploitation of it. We seem to have forgotten the ancient proverb that we have not inherited the earth from our ancestors, but we have borrowed it from our children. Kerala is not an agrarian society now. It is therefore, necessary to reorder the relationship with nature on a new basis. New efforts of this kind may serve as catalysts in this process. The poems, stories and essays included in this issue deal with the different facets of the environmental problem. We have tried to show how the healthy web of life in nature is upset by human intervention and how we can attempt to save it. Current day s hipper human interaction with environment affects the whole ecosystem that includes quality of human life itself. The technology is of course the key to human progress, but it has now become a strong tool for increased environmental degradation. The narcissistic, mechanized human beings cut themselves off from nature and thereby from life itself. Ecocriticism has now emerged as a branch of Malayalam criticism; this may invite our new writers attention towards contemporary environmental situation. We hope the readers will get the message that it is up to us to turn over a new leaf. R. Gopalakrishnan Secretary & Editor

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6 Contents The Inheritors of The Earth Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer 9 A Voice in the Wilderness Vishnu Narayanan Nambudiri 15 The Artistic as the Scientific-Ecological: Malayalam Literature and the Silent Valley Movement Dr. P. Rohith 18 The Jungle D. Vinayachandran 25 Neeraliyan Ambikasutan Mangad 29 The River as Lifeline : The Human-Environmental Tie in Roy s The God of Small Things and Jose s By The River Pampa I Stood S. Devika 35 The Seeds of Memory P. Surendran 42 The Book of Job V.M. Girija 48 Enmakaje a Literary Voice of Environmental Crisis G. Sangeetha 51 The Amphibian Santhosh Aechikkanam 55

7 Ungu K.R. Tony 61 Ecological Imperialism and P. Surendran Sreekanth. C 62 Deadline E.P. Sreekumar 65 The Green Within Vinod Vellayani 71 An Eco-Feminist Reading of Selected Stories of Sara Joseph Radhika. R. 73 The Dance of the Peacocks E.Santhosh Kumar 78 The Elephant S.Joseph 82 The Album of Green Dhanya Raj 83 The Dumb M.R.Renukumar 88 An Ecocritical Reading of C. Radhakrishnan s Thee Kadal Kadanju Thirumadhuram Meena J. Panikkar 90 6 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY

8 Short Story The Inheritors of The Earth Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer When the sole ownership of a small plot of land, two acres of coconut-orchard, was established, I thought that my future was safe. The old house can be repaired. The family expenses can be met by selling coconuts. There are jacks and mangoes. Woods supply enough fuel. An old well, full of good water. Will life be ever fear-free? A huge amount of money has been spent on stamp paper duty and registration expenses of the land purchase. As the government promises all protection for the landowner, this is not unfair. Land and house taxes are promptly remitted. Encumbrances regarding the property have been cleared. All the three title deeds are safely kept in the chest under lock and key. Nobody in the whole wide world can make any claim on this property, the government has given firm assurance. Here, there are mango and jack trees. Also guava, cashew, supporta and custard apple trees. Moreover, trees like teaks and pines too. The front-yard is outlined by flower plants like the champaka. The plot is fully fenced by iron wire. The front gate is made of strong steel. Two sides of the gate are guarded by blossomed bougainvillea. From the gate to the front door all over the courtyard, there is bright white sand. A fiery dog guards the house and the plot. Domestic dependents goats, cows, fowls and cats, are here. I have a wife and children. All depend upon the coconuts for living. Coconut plants are watered punctually and properly. Water and good manure make them give good yields. The sight of luxuriant, tender coco-palm fruits brings brightness to our faces. May the prices increase, let the coconuts ripen. Days MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY 7

9 and nights of hopes and happiness. Yet, am I the only claimant of this small piece of global soil? Are there other claimants who do not respect the government and well-stamped title deeds? How do they assert their claims upon this two-acre plot? Birds and butterflies are the first to enter. innumerable birds and flies! Birds chirp from the branches of trees and plants. Butterflies of various colours brighten the courtyard. They had inherited this universe, centuries and centuries before mankind. Anyway, I do not try to drive them away. But, the crows! They do steal food from the kitchen! They have built nests on two coconut palms! Laid eggs too! Cries of crows are unbearable. Crows lift the chicks. Kites also come to pick chicks. They wait in the coconut trees. There is a bird that squats on the branches of the mango-tree targeting the chicks. Mongooses are in plenty hiding in bamboo woods for gulping down the poultry. Jackals dwell in the woods adjacent to the bamboo to catch the fowls. Apart from these winged and poly-legged claimants of my two-acre plot, a terrible creature suddenly appears! It has no legs, no wings! It is noon and there is good sunlight. The dog barks and house fowls bawl. All birds howl. Ho, what carelessness! I step right into the front of a horrible cobra! With dignity, the cobra raises its head, spreading its hood. What can I do? How shall I handle the toxic snake? No tools, only bare hands. Man, what a weak creature! Shall I consult my wife? Let her bring a stick. I can kill and bury this snake. But is it right? Entire lives, things, in fact, all diverse worlds are God s creation. Snake s creation was not different from man s. Snake is one of the inheritors of this earth. This worldly life demands co-living. Should I follow this principle? But, co-habitation with a snake is impossible. Poison! A poisonous bite kills! Hallo Snake, go away from this plot of land! You have no right here! Where shall the snake go? Neighbouring plots have their own owners. They will harm the snake. The entire globe, piece by piece, has been possessed by humans. Let the snake live wherever it can, I don t mind. But, it s deadly poisonous. Be alert! Walk carefully! Keep a torch if it is dark. A bit later, the snake withdraws its hood and retreats. The dog pursues, barking. Through a hole in the fence, the snake disappears. Coming from the smoky kitchen with reddened eyes, my wife asks: The dog has barked and the birds have let out frantic chirps. Was there any snake? Yeah, Comrade Cobra! Beaten it to death? Nothing doing.it is one of god s creations. Let it live. It is also an heir to this globe. Devil or deity mind our children, they run about and play here. If the snake comes to our plot, it should be beaten to death. It is easy to destroy a life: but, impossible to re-create. Ask the Almighty why He had created the poisonous creatures. there are billions of creatures like elephants, tigers, lions, boars, bears, bison, hippos, crocodiles, camels, horses and chimpanzees.. For what purpose are they created? Who knows it? We must try to live without killing others. She remarks, I don t know whether with regret or ridicule, What a new idea! Spiders, lizards, chameleons, and scorpions are everywhere inside the house. Termites eat away the fences. Books and cloths are eaten by them. Rats trouble us in their own ways. The electric wire to the radio is snapped by the rats. Crickets and ants fill this house. This is the proper time to worship animals! No, I do not worship animals. A section of humans worship serpents. Snakes are deified and adored. A super-god lies upon a serpent. Around the neck of 8 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY

10 another great god, a serpent coils. Mouse is the vehicle of yet another god. Certain human beings adore certain other animals. There are yet some others who believe the earth to be the mother goddess. They view the sun and the moon as gods. Earth is flat to some. Beliefs are diverse. There are monotheistic and polytheistic believers. Atheists are also there. There are quarrels over such beliefs murders multiply. Earth is a globe and it rotates without an anchor or axis. Days and nights occur according to the exposure, proximity and remoteness of the sunlight. One day the sun may become dark and the earth may die. Planets may collide and perish. Then, it may be infinite and eternal darkness. The first to be created might be darkness. Then, light. Light and heat, all living The dog has barked and the birds beings are the have let out frantic chirps. Was descendants of light and there any snake? heat termites, spiders, Yeah, Comrade Cobra! trees, ants, snakes and humans. Beaten it to death? My wife comes. Squirrels Nothing doing.it is one of god s and crows take away the creations. Let it live. It is also an ripe jack fruits. Birds and heir to this globe. bats eat fruits guava, supporta and the custard apples. It is the right thing. Without an anchor and axis, god has maintained crores of planets and that same god has created everything for the earthly beings! Fruits, tubers, corns, grasses, flowers, water, wind, then, heat and light. All animals and birds have claims upon the earth s produces. She asks: Do you mind if I say something? Certainly not. People like you may better remain bachelors. A man without wife and children can live in caves and meditate in silence. I am ready to be in a cave if somebody like you is with me to provide food and drinks. If so, this cave, our home, is better than any other cave. But, snakes, centipedes and lizards should not be allowed to encroach. They have to be beaten to death. Every day we see the deeds of those who agree with you. Within a span of five centuries, men will kill and wipe out animals, birds and all living beings upon this earth. Only humans will remain. Let it be so. Now you take the ladder and go to that jack tree. Climb and pick the ripe fruit. My children and I can have that. Pardon me birds, pardon me squirrels! Chanting so, I climbed the jack tree and brought down the ripe fruit. Wife, children and I consumed the honey-sweet jack fruit. Praise to the glory of god! She says: Don t sit in idle thought. Look after our landed property. The welfare of the birds and animals will be looked after by the Creator. Listen! When I tried to burn the red ants which started to dig holes near the walls, you stopped me. Now, they have entered our house. Wooden beams of this roof are eaten by termites. We have to kill the termites and ants. I won t kill anything Those who trouble us should be wiped out. No. Treat them with love. I feel like embracing this universe with love. If so, reckon that the wife and children are also part of this cosmos. It s too narrow a thought. She replies offended: Ok, then, be broadminded! Something happens that night a trespassing into my home. After a good supper, we have all gone to bed. It is summer. I start reading. Cosmos broadens MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY 9

11 before me. Flies, beetles, cockroaches, crickets, fire-flies do all these reside in my home? May be they enter through the windows. Mosquitoes and bed-bugs are permanent settlers. A mosquito squats on my hand and siphons blood. They are created to draw and drink the blood of animals. It s a bit painful and distressing. If one strikes a mosquito, it will die. No, let it drink. It may destroy men, destroy this house also. But then who built this house? How many must have died here! The mosquito, red with blood, flies away. The mosquito-pricked-part of my hand starts itching. We are lying on a raised platform near the entrance. This kind of verandah was once built for the purpose of praying. May I pray O, Creator, save me! My wife and children are sweating. They need the breeze of the fan. A dusty coir mat is taken and my bed and the mat are placed below the platform on the veranda. I change the position of the table fan so that my wife and children can have enough breeze. There is complete silence, except the noise of the rotating fan. Are jackals coming to capture fowls? All are sleeping. Sleep is death in miniature. Life is spent in eating, drinking and merry-making. My mind goes to the outer surface of the moon. Pits and hills, lifeless land, no trees, no birds and animals. Mere emptiness, filled with silence. Dark sky everywhere. Millions of stars shine and brighten. Why did god make the moon? Or, for that matter, why did he make this universe? A fly abruptly settles on the page of the book I am reading. A fly with blue wings. What a beautiful design! All the individual creations are perfect pieces of art. Fan, man s artistic creation, is a great blessing. Electric lights are also like that. Radio and the amplifier are not always boons. Silence has its own music. Lights are now switched off. There is primordial darkness. Gradually I drift off to sleep. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain. A needle ignited in fire penetrates into my flesh. Excruciating, burning sensation. My eyes open. Light is switched on. I call my wife and she comes. My hand hurts Sting marks, like the pricks of a needle! Two red marks. Come on, get up. She picks up and shakes the pillow, bed and the coir-mat. A big centipede appears! Open the door and throw it out. But she squeezes the pest with a shoe and throws the corpse out. She says: It is very poisonous. The wound may burn for long. There is one remedy for bites from scorpions and centipedes, chew vasica leaves with a crystal of common salt. Take a torch and come out. Let us pick vasica leaves and tender shoots. Leaves of vasica are taken in with a piece of salt. I also take some water. Next day, the pain disappears. But, another disaster! She shows me thirty tender coconuts fallen, with big holes on one side. She diagnoses: It is the rats. Bring some rat poison. We can trap rats and kill them also. Is it right? Rats are also god s own creations. Rats, like other beings, have claims on earth s produce. But we have lost tender coconut-fruits. Next day also they fall down. Reminding to bring rat-poison, she complaints: Two hundred spiders, fifty cockroaches, thirty crickets, five centipedes, seven beetles, two thousand ants, five hundred termites She had been sweeping the home, in toto. What did you do with them? I am curious to find out. Killed them all. Inheritors of this earth? Have you forgotten the sting of centipede 10 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY

12 and the sharp pain? No -I remember. Then, bring rat-poison. Conspire for genocide, or cooperate-no, she has no such demands. If the rats take thirty coconuts per day, how many will they take in one month? Around nine hundred. Rats destroy so many coconuts. Termites have eaten away the roof girders almost completely. Now we need new wooden girders for the roof. We have planned that by selling coconuts every need can be met. If half-eaten coconuts fall down every day, we cannot sell them. How can we have our daily food? Rats or our familyonly one of them can survive. Just think, am I right? For the survival of humans, rats have to be destroyed. Can man thrive without destroying any other living thing? God has created billions of microbes. killing others? Medicines kill them. Is it justice? A new ideology is needed. Is life possible without killing others? Snakes kill and devour frogs. Snakes eat rats. Big fishes swallow small ones. Jackals catch and gulp down the fowls. Men eat fish, fowl and flesh. Bugs drink animal blood: worms proliferate in bowels and bodyrecesses. One lives by ruining another. Pretty and pet roses are munched by pests. So, life on earth is an enigma. Not a dependable theosophy. Oh, God! Iam ignorant. Reveal to me what is right! Come here. What, Why? I am going to the market, with a friend. I shall collect the rat-poison, if you will give me the money. No money. From the coconut vender For the survival of humans, rats have to be destroyed. Can man thrive without destroying any other living thing? God has created billions of microbes. Medicines kill them. Is it justice? A new ideology is needed. Is life possible without hasn t Ok, I ll avail a loan. Problem is solved. Forgive us, rats! God, the Creator of all, pardon us. We are going to trap and kill rats. Nine hundred coconuts a month, not a negligible loss, my family depend upon the coconuts. Forgive us! She came back after two hours, with a big bottle of rat poison. The price of coconut has increased. It may raise more, the vendor gave me a good amount as loan. She is overjoyed. Why the laugh? Is it for the hike in the coconut-price? No. with my friend I went to many shops: but, rat-poison is not available. Those at the shops laughed at us. The government has banned the selling of rat-poison as many use it for easy suicide. To buy poison, special sanction is necessary. `Idiotic government there are ropes and raillines! Yet, how did you get it? Enough for one hundred thousand suicides! I Got it through a friend. She got it for me from her husband s office. Very good, then, you can kill. Don t say killing like that. Mutton, chicken, and the like we fetch in the name of god, for feeding us. God will certainly approve of it if we root out rats for saving our food. Let god approve of it! Rat s delicacies were mixed with poison, in many bowls and she placed them at different sensitive corners. Within four or five days, five fowls, twelve squirrels, about two hundred rats, and one cat died. At the various corners in our house roof, dead rats started decaying. The whole household was filled with a nasty smell. MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY 11

13 But tender coconuts kept on falling. The coconut pickers commented that owls might be the culprits. It was just an old hearsay, handed down to the new generation of coconut pickers! No, the beaks of bats are short and curved; moreover owls are carnivorous. After two months, the real thieves were found out. Bats! At nights bats come in battalions. Clinching the tender fruits, they make long inroads and drink the juice. And they go back gratified. Several ways are tried to solve the bat problem. Coconuts are covered with prickly and stinging creepers. Plosives and crackers are used during late evenings. Palm trees are beaten with reeds, stones and broken iron bottles for sound-effects that drive off bats. Scarecrows with full-sleeved shirts have begun to appear on palm-tops. But all this and even howling, wild roaring and throwing stones fail to ward off the bats. When people sleep, bats come and drink coconut water. My wife and children pick the fallen fruits and arrange them in the form of a shapely hillock. A literal tower of so many spoiled coconuts. If this goes on, my family will be led to poverty. Finally it is decided that pistols and bullets are more reliable. My wife commands : Buy a pistol, bats will be frightened with the shots. Pistol is the symbol of sin, its invention a crime. I won t shoot. She says then I shall learn shooting. My maternal cousin has a big gun. I will bring him with his gun. Bullets will come out of his gun like the unfolding of an umbrella. Forgive me bats, forgive me! I have no share in the spilling of your blood, I am innocent. Fly away bats, fly away! The cousin comes with a huge costly gun. Assessing the gravity of the situation, he declares; The bats have to be shot, but not here. About three thousand bats hang at the two pipals of a nearby temple. We can shoot down all of them. We need two or three days for this operation. Within the perimeter of ten miles, two to three thousand tender palm fruits are blighted. That means, two to three thousand coconuts are destroyed. Anybody who is interested in watching the sight of butchering three thousand bats can accompany me. My wife and her friend escorted the gunman. All the three had high tea and went for slaughtering the bats. Fly away, fly away, bats! No wonder, the bats have escaped!my wife, her friend and the gunman return, disappointed. She says: We just managed to save our lives. The residents in the temple premises, about three hundred of them, encircled us. They said that if we attempted to kill the bats, they would tear us to pieces. It seems bats are the souls of the departed forefathers hanging on pipal trees. Shooting them is sacrilege. Bats, the souls of the departed forefathers! I have to sum up: Bats are not the souls of anybody s predecessors. From birth itself, they fly around. Let the coconuts tender or ripe beclaimed by them. We can take the remaining ones. Let the bats claim the tender fruits of coconut trees. They are also the inheritors of this earth! Translated by Dr. Vyrassery Vamanan Nampoothiri 12 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY

14 A Voice in the Wilderness Vishnu Narayanan Nambudiri A forest has its own ways; what We praise, as its ethics is its vitals; A terrible misfortune is to see it as alien, Be frightened by it and act recklessly. Let us learn from people of the forest, An alternate lesson, some crude wisdom; The harmony observed among worms Grass and tiger is the ultimate universal truth. Whatever is visible to the eyes are Thirty times a billion shapes of great god. Beyond this truth, what spiritual Knowledge is there for them to gain? Their rites with man, woman, child, village And guardian are likewise the same; We who went against what we know, Are brainless breeds, observing false rites! Let us not set out to reform Those who lead an honest life. All we possess is the hypocritical False trappings of the city. Giving them strange diseases, absurd Education and madness of religion, Washing their brain, crushing it, Do not torment them with delusions! We cleared cool rain forests and MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY 13

15 Scattered gold coins for rubber latex; This is what we conceived as agriculture..! (1) It maybe - victory to Kali the age of strife! (2) A mother gives her children enough food But, sensing the opportunity, they cut open Her belly and sell its contents - how long Will she forgive that arrogance? Realizing this work is mercenary Son of the forest stayed away; He learned to die from hunger Rather than eat up the seed grain! Encroachers into the forest Advanced step by step everywhere; Governments sheltering and aiding them, Vied to foster their friendship. Forest after forest disappeared Burned in the fire of greed, Thickets of lush reed grass died out Large beehives stayed dry in tree holes. There is nowhere to sow rice Which would yield golden spike. Forest dwellers should not starve - (3) That noble warning was forgotten! Those who give drops of their blood (4) To break the fast of root laced red soil Those who remember that we are food To the forest while we extract food from it, What harm is there if we entrust The forest to those who stand Cornered by forces driving them out? Let them farm for food, energizing the soil. Have no fear, these people in truth, Know by their instinct what is good and bad, What steps to dance, what beat is good For earth, what is bad and displeasing. Were billions not siphoned by those Experts in administering the forests? In managing the affairs of the forest Who can match the native son of forest? The son of forest is the right one to guard it; 14 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY

16 Let us bestow the burden in his hands! One thing though - admit not there The wild ways engulfing the cities! Live, modeled in the love of things moving And un-moving. Let forests be our ideal again. How else can we extricate the world s wheel Mired in the gutter of poisonous mud? Notes (1) It was the sages of the forest who taught what agriculture was; it was a means to produce food, not for commercial purposes. (2) Kali kaalam - the age of Kali is the fourth and last yuga. It is associated with the apocalyptic demon Kali. (3) The livelihood of forest dwellers - weaving baskets and hampers using reed and fiber; harvesting honey; agriculture. All the three have dried up. The implication here is that the alarm Sugathakumari gave about their hardships was ignored. (4) Give blood drops as breakfast - provide food. Translated by Variath Madhavan Kutty MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY 15

17 The Artistic as the Scientific-Ecological: Malayalam Literature and the Silent Valley Movement Dr. P. Rohith 16 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY No one can really deny that we are living through an era of immense social, cultural, ideological and political change. The changing outlook of our society and how the society in transition interrogates and interacts with new/emerging ideas and trends have always inspired academic interest. However, one of the areas that has so far escaped the radar of academic analysis in Kerala is the crucial role played by Malayalam literature in resisting the Silent Valley Hydroelectric Project (SVHP) and spreading the message of ecological conservation during the 1970s and the 1980s. The cultural and literary traditions of Malayalam have always recognized and nurtured the relationship between human and natural lives. This paper examines some of the poems written, recited and published during the Save Silent Valley campaign and analyse how, through such writings, their writers dexterously merged scientific and environmental concepts with creative as well as cultural and literary traditions. The threat to the Silent Valley shocked a major portion of Malayalam writers and galvanized them. Never before in the socio-political history of Kerala had writers displayed such unity and resolve in opposing the policies of the government. Towards the close of the 1970s, the pioneers of the environmental movement in Kerala were joined by a team of

18 writers who understood the value of preserving the physical environment. These writers were initiated into environmentalism by those in the natural and physical sciences, through their writings in the print media. By the time literary figures entered the arena, the fight against the hydroelectric project had reached a critical stage. The contribution of the writers to the Silent Valley movement were not confined to creative writings but the writers, regardless of their ideological and political differences, formed an eco-social organisation, Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi (Association for the Protection of Nature). Besides poets, who were evidently the mainstay of literary environmentalism in the state during this period, writers like Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, S. K. Pottekkat, O. V. Vijayan, K. Bhaskaran Nair and Sukumar Azhikode too inspired and contributed to the campaign. The literary effort to oppose the SVHP began in supplication in January 1980 with the publication of an article by the poet Sugathakumari in the Malayalam daily, Kerala Kaumudi. Unlike the informative reports and features that were published in newspapers and magazines, Sugathakumari presented her fears in an extremely passionate tone. Time is running out; the axes are already falling; the forest fires have been ignited, she writes, the forest stretches out its arms in supplication (trans. Parthasarathy and Rangamony 33). From the moment I read the article on the Silent Valley, she recalls, [ ] some deep emotion swelled within me and I felt that it was my life s mission to fight for this unknown bit of forest. I feel proud I could be a soldier in this battle and could call out to my fellow writers of Kerala also to join Unlike the informative reports and features that were published in newspapers and magazines, Sugathakumari presented her fears in an extremely passionate tone. Time is running out; the axes are already falling; the forest fires have been ignited, she writes, the forest stretches out its arms ( Silent Valley: A Case Study 19). It was my firm conviction she emphasises, that creative writers could communicate better with the public [ ] than the scientists. With this conviction, some of the writers, she continues, met at the residence of N. V. Krishnavarier [ ] and formed Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi with a view to creating a new awareness regarding nature conservation (Silent Valley 14-15). Prakritiyude Samrakshanathinuvendi, Jeevante Nilanilppinuvendi ( The Protection of Nature, for the Sustenance of Life ) was the motto of the Samithi. The motto suggests, in no dubious terms, that the endeavours of the Samithi would be to ensure not just the preservation of humanity, but the sustenance of the nature/ecosystem. The logo of the Samithi was a pair of hands protecting the globe with the words Namah Prathyu marked on top. This Sanskrit phrase evokes the picture of earth as a Goddess who has to be propitiated. On 6 June 1980, the Samithi organised its first convention in the VJT Hall, Thiruvananthapuram. The convention facilitated a conference of poets whose theme was the inevitability of preserving nature. Besides Krishnavarier, Sugathakumari, O. N. V. Kurup, K. Ayyappa Paniker and Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri, the conference brought together K. V. Ramakrishnan, Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan, N. K. Desam, and D. Vinayachandran who recited their poems. Their poems exerted immense influence on the youth of the period and they thronged to hear the poets. Figures who dominated the cultural field of Kerala like M. P. Manmathan, Sukumar Azhikode and A. P. Udayabhanu addressed a public gathering in which scientific papers MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY 17

19 were also presented. Till then, the anti-svhp campaign more-orless had been a purely elitist discourse that enlisted little support or sympathy from common people. The appearance of the writers, mostly poets of high acclaim and mass appeal on the scene, changed the whole scenario with people now gathering in large numbers to attend the conference of poets in which nature poems were recited or sung. The conference of poets and ecological mission made possible by the Samithi in different parts of the state drew large crowds. Such activities initiated by the Samithi were enthusiastically received and the themes of poems recited communicated easily with the people and convinced them of the grave situation the earth would be in if man s highhanded activities in nature are not curtailed. Most recitals foregrounded images and symbols suggesting barrenness, deprivation and exploitation. In 1983, within a couple of years of its inception, the Samithi published an anthology of thirty-four poems on the deepening environmental crisis in Kerala. This anthology, Vanaparvam, brought together poems that were recited at the conferences of poets organized by the Samithi. Besides relating human exploitation of nature, poems collected in Vanaparvam concentrated on the scientific aspects of human and non-human relation, nostalgic and romantic yearning for a supposedly ecobenign, feudal and rural past, the struggle for an eco-social future, significance of historical and political events with ecological impact and mythicising the contemporary ecological concerns in both religious and cultural terms. While science is considered * value free, universal and objective, *literature is imaginative and culture specific. Despite the prevalence of such a belief during the anti- SVHP campaign, Malayalam writers blend the scientific and the literary. To them, poetry, politics and bioethics and general science were not separate but means of combining imagination with verifiable facts. In the poem, Marathinu Stuti (Hymn to the Tree), Sugathakumari* describes the tree as Lord Shiva who consumed poison to save the life on earth: I pray to him / Who offers breathing air / By consuming the poison / Like Lord Neelakanda (5-8). The allusion reveals itself rather lucidly to the readers as photosynthesis, the process by which trees synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide, water and light releasing oxygen. The invocational tone of Marathinu Stuti, however, does not prevent Sugathakumari from highlighting ecological/scientific knowledge. The poem presents a tree s ecological significance and its benevolence to man. It alludes to the tree s role in preventing soil erosion and in regulating and sustaining the distribution of rain and water supply: You save our Mother from floods And rejuvenate The soil. You Store the ambrosia Streaming down the heavens In her Simmering heart. (33-40) * The image of the earth as a forgiving mother is vehemently contested in Kunhe, Mulappal Kudikkarutu (Child, Do not Drink Breast Milk), for Kadamanitta* writes, Is earth a playing ball or a playful doll? / Her patience too has limits (43-44). The reference here to Her patience, by means of representing the Nature as a self-regulatory planetary-size ecosystem which, unlike the notion of the benevolent mother, links the poem to the burgeoning ecological discourse. Nature is our mother. Approach her with reverence and love. If our ways are destructive, she will also be equally furious in her response (Jayachandran Nair 10), says in one of the Samithi s pamphlets. 18 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY

20 Similarly, ONV Kurup s* Bhoomikkoru Charamageetham (A Requiem to Earth [henceforth A Requiem ]), one of the most artistically and critically appreciated poems among the so-called tree poems*, vividly presents the effects of human interference on the climatic stability of ecosystems. A Requiem is predominantly apocalyptic in tone. This mode of articulation, no Aroused is the wrath doubt, seemed eminently suited for the writings that concern themselves drop of water to drink; with the dire environmental conditions. The climatic instability For a tiny flower; and its consequence on the nature is verbally painted in A Requiem : Aroused is the wrath That emits fire from the burning Sun; And the clouds of monsoon desperately seek a drop of water to drink; Autumnal eves long for a pleasant chill; And the King of Seasons searches in vain For a tiny flower; Stilled are the rivers longing for a ripple; The wheels of life get stuck in their tracks! (trans. Kurup 30-37) Such insights in A Requiem correspond to the apocalyptic forecast of future in Rachel Carson s influential 1962 book on the environmental crisis, Silent Spring. Here, she projects a bleak, monotonous future for the earth where the springs would no longer reverberate with the songs of birds, if human exploitation of nature goes unabated. The evolution of the imagination of Kurup from that of the lover of beauty, in Bhoomi (The Earth) where the unfading, youthful beauty of the mother is extolled, to that of a seer who anticipates the imminent catastrophe in That emits fire from the burning Sun; And the clouds of monsoon desperately seek a Autumnal eves long for a pleasant chill; And the King of Seasons searches in vain Stilled are the rivers longing for a ripple; The wheels of life get stuck in their tracks! A Requiem also parallels the progression of the environmental thought in Malayalam literature. To confine the significance of writings such as A Requiem just to their immediate purpose of opposing the SVHP would be to miss their essence. For instance, consider the prophetic tone of the lines quoted above: the verbal picture of our planet stricken by human induced climate change drawn during the heydays of the anti- SVHP campaign is staring us in the face. The global relevance of the concerns voiced by these lines is evident from the reports of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and it being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for As ecologists have generally agreed, ecology defines and explores the interdependence of organisms and the relationship between organisms and their environment. One can find this mutuality among various species and their environment as inspiring the imagination of writers. For instance, D. Vinayachandran observes that environmentalism is not to be mistaken for a blind worship of nature. Nor does he see it as a thesis on gardening. Vinayachandran notes that the popular notion reduces nature to trees, rivers, birds and forests. However, he holds that this notion unconsciously separates human life from nature and distances people from it. Vinayachandran suggests that literary environmentalism should challenge such perceptions so as to create and promote a sense of interdependence between nature and all aspects of human life ( ). In Udayaasthamanam (The Sunrise and the Sunset), Ayyappa Paniker deals with the MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY 19

21 interdependence of different organisms. The poem unfolds this interconnectedness through the Sun s Westward journey: The arrows of fire hurled from the horizon Keep awake the earth; Its rooted old trees; The buds, flowers and the fresh leaves On the tree branch; The worms that crawl forward To eat the fresh leaves; The flock of singing birds For swallowing those worms; The hunter who kills the birds for his food; The wild animal that follows The hunter to feed on him; The fire that devours the beast and the forests; Then the horizon regains it. (22-35) This verbal diagram of the food chain is, in my view, potent enough to induce in readers a sense of coexistence with the non-human world. Paniker s description of the interdependence among various living and non-living organisms is significant also as it points to the organic relation that exist among them. Similarly, Krishnavarier* in the first stanza of Marangalum Vallikalum (Trees and Creepers) describes the interrelatedness of different organisms. Krishnavarier s poems foreground the need for fostering a conception of life based on mutuality and friendliness. He projects through his writings the right to life as a universal one, something which is not exclusive to human beings. Only when you consider grass and Birds as yourself, Will you gain knowledge and bliss ( Oru Pazhankatha [An Old Tale]). His writings on other forms of life are evidence of this belief. He was deeply attracted towards the diversity of life-forms on the planet. His concern for the diversity of living things is clear from his willingness to study flies, tortoises, reptiles, butterflies, stray dogs, elephants, trees and mangroves. He was extremely conscious of developing a sensibility that protects the biosphere that includes humans. In spite of the romantic/ nostalgic vein in some of his poems, Krishnavarier s concern towards nature is not an infatuation; on the contrary, it is the result of deep and intense thinking. His acquaintance with different branches of scientific knowledge inspired him to cherish and value all forms of life. Though these poems are cautionary, they are exquisite and charming and inspire emotions of warmth and reverence in our attitude towards nature. For instance, Marathinu Stuti accomplishes in seventytwo lines what those scientifically and statistically loaded elaborate articles on preserving forests and trees do in so many pages. The poem excites the reader, for it accurately re-imagines and presents the entire scientific discourse on deforestation that was flooding the pages of contemporary periodicals. The disturbing image of the majestic tree wearing on its broad chest, the stains caused by our axe (15-16) was able to elicit massive emotional identification with the ideals of the anti-svhp movement. Likewise, A Requiem powerfully presents the climatic variability in Kerala. The picture of cloudless monsoons, flowerless spring, stagnant rivers and the leafless trees (31-37) has more potential to invite readers interest in such matters than the factual, statistical descriptions of the same. Similarly, Paniker s suggestions of the food chain, unlike the popular science literature, communicate with our emotions rather than to our intellect, and thereby personalise the universal. While pure science universalises and objectifies the various aspects of environmental crisis, literary efforts individualise and thus evoke in their readers a sense of shock as they emotionally identify with writers. The poets use their scientific knowledge of different aspects of nature all through such poems. As cited by Adams in his discussion on Joseph Beuys contribution to conservation, 20 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY

22 the scientific is contained within these writers artistic world view (28).* Like that of Beuys, these writers understanding of ecological responsibility moves from scientific interest to public protest. But unlike Beuys, their efforts do not overtly aim at creating an alternative political organization though they were conscious of the need to restructure their society. However, science in their treatment, instead of a dull discourse becomes loaded with emotion. Trees, for the authors are not just natural elements, but most often spirits and life-preservers.* The animistic tone of these writings makes us aware of the traditional cultures and believes that regarded all natural objects as endowed with spirit. The belief is that one who harms the natural world is potentially harming a human. Reference Abrams, M. H. Glossary of Literary Terms.New Delhi : Harcourt India, Adams, David. Joseph Beuys: Pioneer of a Radical Ecology. Art Journal Summer (1992): Kerala Sahitya Akademi. Vanaparvam. Thrissur: Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Krishnavarier, N. V. Marangalum Vallikalum. Vanaparvam. Thrissur: Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Kurup, O. N. V. A Requiem to Earth. Creativity and Environment. Ed. Vidya Niwas Misra. New Delhi : Sahitya Akademi, Bhoomikkoru Charamageetam. Vanaparvam. Thrissur: Kerala Sahitya Akademi, O.N.Vyude Kavithakal. Kottayam: DCB, Manoharan, T. M., et al, eds. The Silent Valley : Whispers of Reason. Trivandrum : Kerala Forest Department, Mies, Maria and Vandana Shiva. Ecofeminism. New Delhi : Kali for Women, Nair, S. Jayachandran. Nammude Ezhuthukar Ethra Nalla Vrukshasnehikal. Kalakaumudi 255 (1981):10+(?). Nandy, Ashis. Science, Hegemony and Violence. New Delhi : Oxford UP, Paniker, K. Ayyappa. Udayaasthamanam. Vanaparvam. Thrissur: Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Parthasarathy, Anand and S. Rangamony. The Media s Role in Forest Conservation: A Case Study of the Campaign to Save the Silent Valley. Manoharan, et al Ramakrishnan, Kadamanitta. Kunhe Mulappal Kudikkarut. Vanaparvam. Thrissur: Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Sugathakumari. Marathinu Stuti. Vanaparvam. Thrissur: Kerala Sahitya Akademi, N. V.yum Prakrithi Samrakshana Prasthaanavum. Enviyum Vijnanasaahithyavum. Ed. A. N. P. Ummerkutty. Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Bhasha Institute, Silent Valley : A Case Study. Manoharan, et al Sukumaran, T. P. Nallavanaya Kaattaalan.. Kozhikode: Poorna Publications, Vinayachandran, D. Paristhithi Lavanyasastram: Oru Dishaasoochi. Haritha Niroopanam Malayalathil. Ed. G. Madhusoodanan. Thrissur: Current Books, Endnotes * Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies assert that their involvement in the environmental movements opened their eyes to the fact that science is not gender neutral (3). In their view, modern science, which is glorified as the liberator of humanity, has succeeded only in procuring increasing ecological devastation (6). They perceive modern science as patriarchal, anti-nature and colonial (16). *Ashis Nandy remarks that in the present, all states with the aid of science can demand enormous sacrifice from the ordinary citizen. Usually, the intimidation of science is attributed to those who apply and use it. In other words, science as such is not to be blamed. However, Nandy wonders: Can one go beyond shedding tears copiously over the misuse of modern science by wicked politicians, militarists and multinational corporations and scrutinize the popular culture and philosophy of modern science? May the sources of violence not lie partly in the nature of science itself? Is there something in the modern science itself which makes it a human enterprise particularly open to co-optations by the powerful and the wealthy? (2) * Hippolyte Adolphe Taine in his History of English Literature (1863) remarks that the explication of a work of art depends on three factors author s race, sociogeographical milieu and the historical moment (Abrams 289). * Sugathakumari (1934- ), one of the major literary voices of Malayalam, was the most vocal and active among the literary/environmental activists who opposed the SVHP. Besides being a foremost poet in Malayalam, she has registered a formidable presence in the social and political landscape of Kerala during the last thirty MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY 21

23 years. Besides the enthusiasm she displayed in the organisation of Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi, many of her writings, both in verse and in prose, explicitly deals with the destruction of the planet and its resources. As the founding secretary of the Samithi, she played a significant role in mobilising the rest of the literary community. One of the major attractions of the conference of poets organized by the Samithi was the recital of her Marathinu Stuti.She has been a prominent voice among the most ardent critics of human domination and despoliation of the environment in Kerala. She has also held the post of Chairperson, State Women s Commission. In recognition of her role in rousing the public interest in favour of protecting the Silent Valley and other ecological problems in Kerala, Sugathakumari was awarded the first Vriksha Mitra award constituted by the central government in * Unless otherwise stated, all translations from Malayalam are mine. * Ramakrishna Paniker ( ), popularly known as Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan, was the most revolutionary among the vibrant group of poets who gathered together for protecting the Silent Valley. In addition to his literary career, he was active in politics too. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly during Hence, he is sometimes referred to as the Poet-MLA. He was also the president of the Progressive Artists Association. He had also served the state as the president of the State Library Council. He was enormously attracted by the ideologies of the Naxalite movement that shook Kerala during the sixties and seventies of the last century. Marxist ideologies too made a great impression on him. Modern poetry in Malayalam had one of its most important and popular practitioners in Kadamanitta. His poems are lively with the rhythms of folk art forms of Kerala like Padayani * O. N. V. Kurup (1931- ) one of the most popular poets of modern Kerala has contributed immensely to the popularization of the environmental cause. As with Kadamanitta, the Marxist ideology had an enormous influence on Kurup. Like Kadamanitta, Kurup too has contested for the Kerala legislative assembly on a Communist party (CPI) ticket. Unlike Kadamanitta whose works shed a revolutionary zeal, the poems of Kurup are romantic to a fault. His poems are marked by their musicality and harmony. *The writers who stood for ecology and conservation of nature were scornfully dismissed by the critics as Marakkavikal or tree poets (Sugathakumari, Enviyum 28; Sukumaran, Nallavanaaya 61). The label, in a sense, identifies this group of writers as animistic, romantic and devotees of nature. *N. V. Krishnavarier ( ) is one of the most significant voices in Malayalam poetry. During the anti-svhp campaign, he was the editor of Mathrubhoomi weekly. Besides Mathrubhoomi, his writings on topics of popular and contemporary interests have appeared in magazines like Kumkumam and Kumari. These writings of Krishnavarier have been collected and published in eight volumes. He was a prolific communicator of science in Malayalam. Probably, it is this interest in the scientific issues that made him react against the destruction of nature. * In the words of David Adams, Joseph Beuys ( ), German artist and cofounder of the German Green Party, remains today the most radical of all Western artists concerned with new ecological paradigms. Beuys explained the Western exploitative attitudes toward nature as rooted in individual modes of thinking and an economy oriented toward unlimited material growth. He considered the complicity between the power of money and the power of the state as the basic cause of external societal problems. 22 MALAYALAM LITERARY SURVEY