Remembering
Dr. CDN | & His Dhvanyaloka
On his
birthday today ❤️
What
happens when
a passionate Professor of English - along with a few like-minded vibrant literary
souls - team up for the pure love of literature?
Simple!
Dhvanyaloka happens! 😊
The son
of a shopkeeper,
C. D. Narasimhaiah came from a very humble background. But his parents, sensing
the literary prodigy in him, invested all their meagre earnings on their son, thus
encouraging him on his talents all the way!
This,
coupled with
his own self-powered passion for literature, spurred him on and on to
greater heights in the literary arena!
After
having graduated
from the University of Mysore, he went abroad, to the University of Cambridge
and Princeton University, for his Higher Studies. There he was privileged to be
a student of the great F. R. Leavis.
He then
came back to
India, and joined Maharaja’s College, Mysuru as Professor of English, and later
went on to become the Principal of the institution in 1957, a position in which
he served his institution until his retirement.
One is spontaneously reminded of Booker T.
Washington here. For more on B.T.W, you may want to read our past post HERE.
Even post-retirement, Professor CDN continued to shine
his luminous literary light, with the founding of Dhvanyaloka!
This
post is a nostalgic reminiscence on an amazing rendezvous we had with the
legendary Dr. CDN at Dhvanyaloka, more than two decades ago!
Well, in the final
year of our PG Programme, we were given the sweet luxury of going on a study tour – a study tour
exclusively for the II MA Class.
Wanting to make our trip a bit more rewarding for all of us, Prof. Daniel
David suggested that, we visit Dhvanyaloka in Mysore!
And that’s
how our
trip to Dhvanyaloka happened in the year 2001, in the final year of our MA Programme in English!
Added
delight, since,
we pulled off a surprise birthday party for Prof. Daniel David right inside the omni bus
that was taking us to Dhvanyaloka. 😊
Now for a
few interesting
tidbits on Dhvanyaloka –
Well,
Dhvanyaloka is
the name of the Literary Centre for English Studies in India, founded by Dr. C.
D. Narasimhaiah in the year 1979.
[Much akin to SCILET - the high-renowned Study Centre
for Indian Literature in English and Translation, founded almost around the same point of time, in the early
1980s, by Dr. Paul Love, and housed at the American College, Madurai].
The
Centre is named
after the 9th century writer, Anandavardhana, who is credited with creating the
dhvani theory in his magnum opus titled, Dhvanyaloka, or A Light on
Suggestion.
Housed in a lush,
green locale, amidst hundreds of trees, quite close to Manasagangotri, shines
this beautiful literary abode – the brain child of the legendary (late) Dr. C. D.
Narasimhaiah!
Hundreds
of budding
academics, young researchers and faculty members from all over India and abroad
flock to this sylvan locale, to delight themselves in the resources available
aplenty in the premises.
Apart
from Shri Rajiv
Gandhi, who visited the Centre in 1989, as Prime Minister, a bevy of literary
souls have also visited the premises, including the likes of R. K. Narayan,
Chinua Achebe, A. K. Ramanujan, Ayyappa Paniker, Kamala Das,
Jayanta Mahapatra, Les Murray, and the Nobel Laureate William Golding, to name
a few.
We, in
the II MA Class,
were so blessed to be introduced to the legendary C. D. Narasimhaiah, 80 years young, who,
though a bit weak in body, was so vivacious and exhuberant in his spirit. He was literally in his elements when
we engaged him on his magnum opus in particular, which is titled, The Swan and
the Eagle.
Three
decades ago, the common saying was that,
Any study in Indian Writing in
English would remain incomplete without invoking those impactful insights from The Swan and the
Eagle. Such was the prestige, the pre-eminence and the aura of CDN’s The Swan and the Eagle
amongst academics.
Interestingly,
The Swan and the Eagle has quite conveniently been forgotten in literary
circles today, and even in mainstream academia.
It wouldn’t
be an
exaggeration to say that, The Swan and the Eagle laid down the paradigm
and the solid foundations for the critical study of Indian Writing in
English.
The book
waxes eloquent
on the famed Indian writers – right from the ‘poetic genius’ of Toru Dutt, to the ‘imaginative
prose’ of Anand, Narayan and Rao, to the ‘tongue of flame’ speeches of Swami
Vivekananda, to the ‘scientific humanism’ of Nehru, to ‘the Metaphysical’ in
Raja Rao, to the writers of ‘spurious reputation’ – as CDN himself called them – in Rushdie,
Seth, Shashi Tharoor and Arundhati Roy, all of whom have made such a huge
difference to the quality of our thoughts, our ideas and our living.
We as a class, spent
the entire
day in the sylvan precints of Dhvanyaloka, browsing our way gracefully through
the treasure troves of yore!
There’s
also a beautiful
pond in the premises, to cherish the memory of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden
Pond!
Today, Dhvanyaloka is run by his son Dr.
Srinath, who is also an eminent writer and critic. Also delighted to know that,
he is sustaining the library, and its abundant literary resources - founded by his father - all this long, up until the present, with literally almost
no help from the government! [to my knowledge].
The
prestigious
quarterly journal that was founded by Dr. CDN in 1952, titled, The Literary Criterion also continues to thrive till
date, for more than seven decades now. ❤️
On the
occasion of
Dr. CDN’s birthday today, here’s wishing Dhvanyaloka many more years of
fruitful service to the academic community.
And to
those of you
who plan on making a trip to Mysuru, please don’t forget to make a pitstop at
Dhvanyaloka!
To sign
off in
the words of Dr. CDN,
We have
to return to
our roots. We have to look at the literature of the world from the Indian
perspective. Through Dhvanyaloka I have tried to connect my past with the
present.
Well, therein
lies the
strength and the uniqueness of Dhvanyaloka in all her grandeur!
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