Thursday, September 26, 2019

CURING CASTE BY SAHODARAN AYYAPPAN: Essay Questions


Essay Questions
How does Sahodaran Ayyappan’s poem “Curing Caste” criticize casteism? &
                                  Sahodaran Ayyappan uses images and symbols borrowed from Ayurveda in the poem  “Curing Caste”. Discuss.
Sahodaran Ayyappan is a social reformer, revolutionary, poet, rationalist, administrator, and legislator. His contributions in ushering progressive thought in the Kerala polity are significant. In his poem “Curing Caste”, Ayyappan uses a medicinal simile to articulate his anti-caste views. Caste is a form of discrimination that had its claws sunk deep into the society of Kerala until the mid-twentieth century. Sahodaran Ayyappan was involved in public discourses where he vociferously voiced the rights of the marginalized and questioned their subjugation by the elite upper class. 
Ayyappan founded the Sahodara Sangham (Brotherhood Association) to facilitate the young members of lower caste communities to participate in movements initiating social change. He also spearheaded the Misra Bhojanam movement that can be translated as inter-dining of upper castes and lower castes. He started a journal titled Sahodaran to promote renaissance in Kerala. He also coined the slogan Jati Venda, Matam Venda, Deivam Venda Manushyanu (No caste, No religion, No God for Mankind) with its notable similarity with Sri Naraya Guru’s slogan One Caste, One Religion, One God for mankind. In 1928, Sahodaran Ayyappan was elected into the Kochi Assembly. He also became a minister in Thirukochi State after the unification of Travancore and Kochi. 
In “Curing Caste”, Sahodaran Ayyappan discusses the caste disease suggesting many remedies. He also shares a healthy future for mankind after getting rid of the caste disease. Two types of cures are proposed by Ayyappan. One cure is applied from the inside and the other is from the outside. The cure from the inside is bound to create better results than the cure from the outside. It is similar to applying external ointments that have an only transitory effect. Caste remains in the internal system of the human mind and causes further damage. 
Hate, gossip and nationalist rhetoric are symptoms of inwardly enshrined caste order. Those who nurture caste in their minds have a big chance of becoming powerful politicians who persuade people to join them through their hate speech. Trying to heal the caste disease without proper treatment is like trying to cool off without extinguishing the fire. The only solution to eradicate caste from the inside and the outside is to exterminate faith in caste. Those who have faith in caste glorify caste by equating caste with truth, morality and divinity. For them, breaking caste is forbidden and living casteless in a society is a cause of shame. Proper medication and precautions must be taken against these harmful discourses by the doctor of society, the social reformers. 
Ayyappan tells us that when change occurs in dogmas and conventions of caste, human beings can appreciate each other fully. Only those who are completely cured of the caste disease can observe the defects and qualities of a person. Without getting rid of caste, according to Ayyappan, no result shall be obtained by mere education or skill development. By using symbols and imagery from Ayurveda, Sahodaran Ayyappan infuses a certain secular characteristic to his discourse against the caste system. His perspective advocates objectivity in systematically challenging caste-based order in Kerala society. 
REF: Multiple Modernities, edited by Board of Editors, Kannur University, Cohin: Hornbill Publishing House, 2019. Print. 

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Monday, September 23, 2019

THE SECRETS OF THE PALAMU FORT BY RAZI: An Entertaining Mix of History and Fiction



          A sleuth story gets a unique treatment in The Secrets of the Palamu Fort. Razi creates his super-efficient detective mastermind, Detective Robin Horo. Robin, Neil, and Babulalji are one team. The narrative takes off as a typical detective story in which a difficult case was handed over by the police to Detective Horo. The case was about a ghost killing people in random. Horo discovers that the ghost does have a motive. 
           The story takes a twist when Horo discovers a historical connection with the haunting of the ghost. The narrative strategy employed by the author is simple and direct. The history of Palamu fort appears intertwined with the concurrent events narrated in line with the events that happen in the life of the renowned detective Horo. 
           The Secrets of the Palamu Fort reads like classic detective fiction. It can be compared with a Sherlock Holmes novel with fewer intricacies. Also, this book evokes the style of Agatha Christie, the English writer and the creator of the character Hercule Poirot. 
           Palamu fort is a real historical site in Jharkhand, India. The history of the place is revealed cryptically through the story. Also, a certain legend is narrated which forms the core of the modern-day adventure by detective Robin Horo. 
           If someone asks about literary significance of The Secrets of the Palamu Fort the answer is that the novel unveils a rather new atmosphere into the sensibility of the pan Indian reader: Jharkhand. Raja Medini Ray and his kingdom, the myth of Elixir of Doisa, the Palamu Fort, and the legend of Satyabhama appears to tease the taste buds of our sensibilities and taunt us to grasp more of the rich historical background of the state of Jharkhand. This is especially true for someone like me, a person from down the south of the country. I haven't encountered many works of fiction based on the historical and geographical area of Jharkhand. Satisfying as it is as detective fiction, Pa The Secrets of the Palamu Fort emboldens the reader's curiosity to find more about the historical locations mentioned in the book. 
           The cover of The Secrets of the Palamu Fort sparks interest as it portrays a warrior aiming his flaming arrow on a rider running away from the scene on horseback. As we move through the story, we realize that this scene is crucial to the story. The portrait on the cover is the depiction of a scene from the story where the fictional character from history faces his ending. Published by Storymirror, an exuberant online platform for sharing stories The Secrets of the Palamu Fort has easily readable typesetting and feels weightless while holding. The Secrets of the Palamu Fort is apt for reading on a bus or train. 
           Author Razi is a medical doctor by profession. His approach to fiction reminds me of classical writers. The construction of characters, scenes, and locations are commendable. For readers of this novel, the question immediately apparent once they finish reading the story would be: 'where would Robin Horo, the detective go after this case?'. We can hope that the author sees this clue and pens the next adventure of detective Robin Horo, perhaps a little deviated from the classical traditions of detective narratives to infuse a new vibe in the Indian detection fiction genre. 

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Curing Caste by Sahodaran Ayyappan: READINGS ON KERALA


Curing Caste
Sahodaran Ayyappan

Paragraph questions:
1.      Explain Sahodaran Ayyappan’s coinage “Caste Disease”.
“Curing Caste” is a poem written by Sahodaran Ayyappan, translated by Dr Ajay Sekher and published in the book Sahodaran Ayyappan: Towards a Democratic Future. Sahodaran Ayyappan uses the phrase “Caste Disease” to denote the practice of discrimination based on caste that existed in Kerala society. He uses medical terms to symbolically phrase the harsh realities of the caste-based social order prevalent during his time. Sahodaran Ayyappan suggests two cures for the caste disease: one is applied from the outside and the other is from the inside. The cures that are only applied externally leave the real causes of the caste problem unsolved. External solutions are short-lived. Without being eradicated, the caste disease could cause further damage in the psyche of the individual as well as the in the function of the society similar to a disease that is left unhealed. According to Ayyappan, the only way to heal caste disease is to apply a cure from the inside. 

2.      How do some politicians exploit caste disease?
Sahodaran Ayyappan is a social reformer, revolutionary, poet, rationalist, administrator, and legislator. His contributions in ushering progressive thought in the Kerala polity are significant. In his poem “Curing Caste”, Ayyappan uses a medicinal simile to articulate his anti-caste views. According to Ayyappan, caste can be compared to a disease that has two forms of cures; one from the inside and the other from the outside. The medicines taken externally can have an only transitory impact on the disease. The caste disease thus left unhealed, could retreat into the inside and wreak havoc inwardly in the individual’s psyche. Ayyappan invokes the perspective of ancient sages to demonstrate his point. He says that hate, gossip, and nationalist rhetoric are symptoms of caste existing dormant in the collective psyche of society. Individuals who nurture caste- bias are prone to become successful as politicians who rally masses in the name of caste and hate-speech. Politicians exploit caste-disease to gather support and secure power.

3.      Explain the lines “Those who cure caste without trying to alleviate it/ Are trying to cool off without extinguishing the fire.”
Sahodaran Ayyappan is a social reformer, revolutionary, poet, rationalist, administrator, and legislator. His contributions in ushering progressive thought in the Kerala polity are significant. In his poem “Curing Caste”, Ayyappan uses a medical simile to articulate his anti-caste views. According to Ayyappan, caste can be compared to a disease that has two forms of cures; one from the inside and the other from the outside. The medicines taken externally can have an only transitory impact on the disease. External solutions are short-lived. Without being eradicated, the caste disease could cause further damage in the psyche of the individual as well as the in the function of the society similar to a disease that is left unhealed. Ayyappan suggests that without minimising the intensity of the caste problem, no cure can have its desired impact. Without extinguishing the raging fire of caste-based discrimination, none of the solutions would work properly. It would be similar to cooling off without extinguishing the fire, a meaningless as well as hopeless act.
4.      What are the benefits of curing caste?
&
5.      What, according to Ayyappan, are the essential elements for gaining full human potential?
Sahodaran Ayyappan is a social reformer, revolutionary, poet, rationalist, administrator, and legislator. His contributions in ushering progressive thought in the Kerala polity are significant. In his poem “Curing Caste” Ayyappan sees caste as a disease and prescribes remedies to heal it. According to Ayyappan if the individual is healed of the caste disease, he or she will be able to see the true nature of human beings. Those individuals become healthy and normal. The poet compares the individual freed of the caste disease with those who recuperate from a major illness. He states that the flaws and virtues of a human being can be identified only by those who can overcome the caste disease. The essential elements for gaining full human potential are not just the use of human intelligence or learning new skills. It is, on the other hand, getting rid of the caste-bias.

REF: Multiple Modernities, edited by Board of Editors, Kannur University, Cohin: Hornbill Publishing House, 2019. Print. 


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