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We respect this country's law and Constitution. Otherwise, if anybody refuses to chant Bharat Mata ki Jai , we have the capability of beheading not one but thousands and lakhs.
~ Yoga teacher Baba Ramdev, at a Sadhbhavna Sammelan (meeting for harmony) on April 3, 2016.
Peace-loving seers exhorting violence while being fully aware of the existence of a Constitution at a ‘meeting for harmony’. For members of a generation that has been receiving such contradictory signals about their time and age, it is only natural that they turn to the ‘absurd’ to make sense of their world.
And that is what a college magazine, an annual routine for institutions of higher education in the fully literate State of Kerala, has done. They have made ‘ theri [expletive or profanity]’ their central theme to take on the growing trend of intolerance in our country. And it rises beyond its scope as an intra-college rag to probe deeper concerns. Ironically, the very forces that sought to smother it in flames have now led to its spread like the proverbial wildfire.
The expletives we use everyday contain evidence of how we use the symbols attached to lower castes to subjugate and silence
The annual magazine brought out by Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College in Kozhikode, Kerala, has kicked up dust that may not, hopefully, settle anytime soon. Titled ‘Viswavikhyathamaya Theri [globally renowned expletive]’, alluding to iconoclastic writer Vaikom Muhammed Basheer’s novel Viswavikhyaathamaaya Mookku (globally renowned nose), it has drawn scathing criticism from the conservative circles. And the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) went to the extent of burning its copies a few days ago.
The editors promptly published their magazine online, which has gone viral and sparked off heated discussions among Malayali diaspora across the world. Many prominent personalities have already shared it on their Facebook pages and DC Books, the publishing giant, has come forward to bring it out in book form, which could arguably be a first for a college magazine. At a time when language, literature and history are being used for perpetuating the cultural dominance of the powerful majority, Viswavikyathamaya Theri turns the very tools of oppression on their head to make some sharp statements. How most of the foul words in our vocabulary happen refer to the oppressed — the Dalit, the woman, the coloured, the transgender, the lower castes, the elderly — is indeed a compelling question.
The magazine addresses two fundamental hegemonies India has been grappling with for a long time: Casteism and patriarchy. It explores topics ranging from slut-shaming to the death sentence to queer politics. Issues demanding immediate attention, from manual-scavenging to societal acceptance of transgenders, are dealt with, all the while preserving the youthful spirit of its creators — reflecting any modern-day campus that is largely shaped by popular entertainment and cinema.
“From the outset, we did not want to resort to the tried-and-tested formulae of magazine-making,” Sreeshamim, the student editor, tells me. “We felt that the politics of intolerance was an immediate threat to our country and wanted to approach it in a striking manner. Slur words or expletives were a medium we chose to bring the theme into focus,” he says.
Their magazine, even while in the making, had sparked much interest. Even among Malayalis settled abroad, who wanted it to be published as an e-book. Responding to the protest it triggered, the editor says, “The ABVP says we have criticized the Indian judiciary. But the national media have always reported protests and stirs against the death sentence by wide sections of people.” Their magazine reminds one of the protests at University of Hyderabad and the Jawaharlal Nehru University that have grown beyond individual issues, raising pertinent questions to the nation on how it treats its minorities and the socially oppressed.
Viswavikhyatamaya Theri instrumentalises the idea of profanity to tackle the growing intolerance in the nation
“In fact, the BA Malayalam course prescribes a section on ‘taboo’ words as part of its syllabus. Ancient works such as Unniyacheecharitham and the discourse on the Devadasi system are very much discussed in it,” says Anil Varma, staff editor of the magazine. “They looked at nine words used as expletives in Malayalam and examined the transformation in meaning that each of them went through over the years,” he adds.
“Well-known Malayalam writers such as VKN and Punathil Kunjabdulla have used such words in their works. Also, how names, objects and symbols connected to the lower castes have been used to shame, silence and subjugate the lesser-privileged over centuries is nothing new to our academic discourse,” he adds. Mr. Varma says the magazine has attempted to combine language, linguistics and the social sciences in a constructive manner.
College magazines generally come dripping with a saccharine nostalgia. There sure have been exceptions, but Viswavikhyathamaya Theri — a localised publication in a regional language, originally intended for a limited audience, inspiring such an instant response — calls for more discussion and introspection.
