Beyond frames

Masti Venkatesh Iyengar’s Chikaveera Rajendra is a complex novel with several strands -- personal to political. It remains refreshingly dynamic even decades after it was written

January 19, 2017 02:40 pm | Updated 02:40 pm IST

Masti Venkatesh Iyengar (1861-1986), who is rightly acclaimed as the father of modern short stories in Kannada, published his first short story “Rangana Maduve” in 1910 and went on writing till 1984 when he published his 100th story and 15th collection of short stories. In between, he wrote four novels, a number of plays, critical works, memoirs and also published his epic and a number of poetry collections. He was an administrator and editor too. Truly, one of the greatest makers of modern Kannada literature, Masti is revered as ‘Anna’, the elder brother. He is one writer who is read and reread and responded to by the succeeding generations till this day. In this way, his works have attained the status of classics, proving themselves relevant and vibrant inviting new generations to fresh readings and interpretations. Chikaveera Rajendra (1956) is one such classic which has been attracting the attention of not only students, scholars and critics of literature but also theatre and film makers ever since it was published.

Masti published this historical novel seven years after India got its independence from the colonial rule. That was the time when the initial euphoria of the birth of a new nation state was diminishing and a kind of self-criticism was emerging. This self criticism in fact was foreseeing a new movement in Kannada literature which later got consolidated as the ‘navya’ movement. But Masti was as solid as ever in his classical mould and continued his search undeterred by the new movement. The then ‘navya’ movement and thereafter the post-navya, dalit, bandaya and feminist movements interrogated and challenged Masti from their viewpoints. Masti’s works passed these tests and continued to haunt the readers of succeeding generations. One can question Masti, even disagree with him at times, but one cannot ignore him or dismiss him. Masti’s canvas is very large. His probe is very deep. He cannot be forcibly fitted into any one particular ideological or aesthetic frame.

In the very first paragraph of the prologue of Chikaveera Rajendra itself, Masti’s intentions become very clear. The narrator finds it very apt to recognize India as ‘bahuratna vasundhara’. He talks about the expanse and the variety of India noting how each region and small state lived its own life. He observes that ‘the history of each province is as eventful as the history of a nation’. He believes that ‘the history of each part is worthy of notice and it offers guidance’. He admires the valour, adherence to morality, the radiance and the devotion that is manifest in the history of many provinces. However, he does not stop there. In the very next sentence he says: ‘Together with it, the wickedness, the foolishness, the selfishness and the greed!’ Kodagu was one such small kingdom . ‘This hilly land, five yojana long and three yojana wide, is the home of a remarkable community, the Kodaga’. Chikaveera Rajendra was the last king of this kingdom who ruled it for 14 years from 1820 to 1834. Kodagu was colonized by the English in 1834.

Masti’s novel probes in detail, in epic dimension, under what circumstances Kodagu was taken over by the English. It finds three important reasons . That Chikaveera was personally very abnormal, indecent and eccentric and was thereby unable to save his kingdom. The novel is full of details of his cruelty and debauchery. It is true there are a few instances where his human side is spotted but they are eclipsed by the height of his ugliness. There comes a time when his own people desire his departure. But Masti is not interested in merely portraying Chikaveera as a bad king. He does not make his novel a simple monograph. He attempts to probe the deeper politics. The palace politics is so complex that many people inside and outside the palace have been plotting against Chikaveera, some even before he was throned and some after he became a king. This plotting and counter plotting go on making Kodagu weaker and weaker. This helps the English in consolidating and extending their colonial project. Much before Chikaveera was throned, while travelling from Mangalore to Mysore, the English had set their eyes on Kodagu: ‘Kodagu was even more precious than Mysore in their estimate. Its hills, forests, streams and fields made it resemble the Garden of Eden in the Bible. Even the hilly regions of Scotland in Britain could not match Kodagu in natural beauty. They wanted the dispute with the king to grow. Any fresh intrigue was an appetizer and therefore, welcome’.

Thus the three stories, the personal story of Chikaveera -- the story of the palace politics and the story of colonization -- coalesce and the novel grows into the stature of an epic. However, Masti’s Chikaveera Rajendra is more than a political novel. At a deeper level it presents a conflict between good and evil. The overt conflict between Chikaveera and the English is not presented as a conflict between good and evil, but two different forms of evil. The tragedy is that the people of Kodagu are forcibly caught between the two. Politically, Masti does not endorse either of the two. Instead, he draws our attention to many other characters and belief systems which seem to represent the good. Chikaveera’s wife Gowramma, his ministers Bopanna and Lakshminarayanayya draw our attention through their satvika qualities . There are many other minor characters in the novel who follow line. But Masti sadly, but subtly observes that good is also weak and inactive. The good in the novel fails to correct, combat and defeat the evil.

In Masti’s novel good does not triumph. But Masti seems to believe that recognizing what evil is the first step towards resisting and confronting it. A classic is both a mirror and a lamp.

If only we recognize that Masti’s novel is not only a historical record but also a metaphorical reflection of our own times of neo-colonialism, we can also use it as a light to come to terms with the complex realities that are haunting us today.

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