Periyar bonanza: exhilarating reading

PERIYAR KALANJIYAM-KUDIARASU: 11 Volumes: Edited by K. Veeramani; Pub. by The Periyar Self-Respect Propaganda Institution, Periyar Thidal, 84/150, EVK Sampath Salai, Vepery, Chennai-600007. Rs. 1610.

Scholars engaged in the study of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy never had it so good. As many as three editions of the collected writings and speeches of Periyar (1879-1973) are now available. V. Anaimuthu's path-breaking work, first published in 1974, was reissued in a vastly expanded edition earlier this year. The 27 volumes brought out by Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, held up by copyright litigation, were also released soon thereafter. Periyar Kalanjiyam , under review, was conceived way back in 1983 as the definitive edition of the complete works of Periyar. First published thematically, it has now been restructured chronologically. The 11 volumes cover the period 1925-30 of Kudiarasu , the weekly founded and edited by Periyar. (More volumes have since appeared).

Radical thinker

Periyar's public life covered a long span, which virtually coincided with the making of modern Tamil Nadu. He was a self-taught thinker, and his views were radical and even revolutionary. He was respected and revered by the lower castes of Tamil Nadu, but was also much reviled and abused in his lifetime. The transformation in post-Mandal/Masjid contemporary India, however, triggered a new interest in this radical thinker. Periyar's ideas are now seen as offering an alternative perspective to the dominant nationalist framework in which Indian history and society have been seen for long. When Periyar launched

Kudiarasu in May 1925 — interestingly, at a function presided over by a Saivite reformist, Gnaniar Adigal — he was still very much a part of the Congress even though he was already voicing strong views against Brahmin domination and advocating caste-based reservation in employment and education opportunities. The Vaikom Satyagraha, wherein Periyar played a leading part, was just over and the controversy around the Cheranmadevi Gurukulam (a nationalist school founded by V.V.S. Aiyar), where Brahmin students were given a privileged treatment in the serving of food, was raging. For the first time, we have started getting extensive written accounts of Periyar's views on these and other major issues, including the ones related to politics — for instance, the Simon Commission — and the vicissitudes of the Congress, Justice, and Swarajya parties.

In his writings in

Kudiarasu, Periyar strongly advocated atheism and indulged in scathing rationalist criticism of god, religion, scriptures, varnasharma dharma, and the caste system. No religion or no sacred text was spared by him. His views on women's liberation, birth control, and motherhood were virtually inconceivable in any other part of the world. He argued that childbearing and marriage were at the root of women's enslavement. Periyar's ‘Self-Respect Movement', as evidenced in these volumes, had started campaigning for the right of the ‘lower castes' to enter temples much before the cause became a part of the Congress' agenda.

Exhilarating

Periyar's writings and speeches make for exhilarating reading, although three quarters of a century have elapsed. EVR was no pundit, and he cared little for the niceties of grammar. But his style was always original, characterised by brilliant proverbs, idiomatic phrases, and illustrative stories.

The volumes have appendices providing information about the public meetings addressed and tours undertaken by Periyar. Richly produced, with photographs and highlighted quotes, they however lack a critical introduction that contextualises each volume, a desideratum in such exercises. This would also have made editorial decisions on selection clearer to the reader and the researcher.

On a quick comparison with the Anaimuthu and the Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam editions, one finds that the obituaries (published in Kudiarasu ) on V.V.S. Aiyar, Krishnaswamy Sarma, and Subramania Siva are missing; they should have appropriately figured in the first volume. Also, it is not clear why Periyar's writings in journals other than Kudiarasu — such as Nadar Kula Mitran, Dravidan, and Revolt — have not found a place. This is rather odd, considering that the subtitle suggests an all-inclusive collection of Periyar's speeches and writings. An index of names and subjects, and a glossary are also sadly lacking. One hopes these lacunae will be addressed in the coming volumes proposed in this series, and the collected works of Periyar will rival the monumental Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi . One cannot but celebrate this Periyar bonanza and rejoice over it.