Noted scholar A.K. Ramanujan’s essay, Three Hundred Ramayanas , which the University of Delhi withdrew from its history syllabus in 2011 following protests by incensed ABVP workers, will now be available in Malayalam in the book form.
Poet P.N. Gopikrishnan, who had rendered the essay in Malayalam, which was serialised in a weekly journal just as the controversy was raging nationally, is now bringing it out as a volume — Munnooru Ramayanangal complete with a fairly large foreword, Ramanum Ramanujanum (Rama and Ramanujan). Published by Insight Publishers, the book is set for release later this month.
“It’s an insightful expatiation of India’s pluralism. While it is accused of being ‘blasphemous’, the essay actually enriches the Rama lore. There’s nothing that presents the mythical figure in a poor light. In fact, all the essays in his Complete Works, including the one on the Mahabharata; another titled, ‘Is there an Indian Way of Thinking?’ besides several others are worth your time,” says Mr. Gopikrishnan, who rates Ramanujan’s works as possessing the power to influence a culture enthusiast’s thought process. In his preface to the volume, Mr. Gopikrishnan dwells on the need to conserve India’s cultural, social and literary diversity.
“The strength of our culture stems from its heterogeneous character. However, what probably incensed the right wing activists was that his essay on the many Ramayanas did not conform to the Brahmin way of thinking. They could not stomach the idea of a non-Sanskrit Ramayana, of Rama being etched in many hues and tones by linguistic, folk and ethnic groups.”
The contemporary relevance of the book to Kerala society, he says, is immense. “The Sangh Parivar has now befriended several subaltern communities in the State by offering them space within their larger framework for political ends. But if they are against ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas’ I am eager to know their stance on Kumaran Asan’s ‘Chinthavishtayaya Sita’, a radical piece of poem. Have they changed their stance on the cultural issue of space for the subalterns? And, in turn, what do these caste, community and religious groups that have sided with the Parivar have to say about the same cultural question?” asks Mr. Gopikrishnan. In times of increasing cultural resistance, he thinks the essay has greater significance.
It’s an insightful expatiation of India’s pluralism. While it is accused of being ‘blasphemous’, the essay actually enriches the Rama lore.
