"We have to look at the literature of the world from the Indian perspective!"

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!