M'lore: Call for Withdrawal of Ananthamurthy's ‘Samskara’
The Hindu
Mangalore, Feb 10: A demand for the withdrawal of Jnanpith winner U.R. Ananthamurthy’s book “Samskara” from the Hindi syllabus is a matter of heated debate among academic circles in the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kodagu.
The book is prescribed for the fourth semester (second year) undergraduate students who have opted for Hindi as a subject in the districts coming under the jurisdiction of Mangalore University. The book, originally in Kannada, has been translated into Hindi by writer Chandrakantha Kusnur.
The 60-member Mangalore University Hindi Teachers’ Association has taken up the issue with the university saying that explicit details of the relationship of the central character, Praneshachar, with prostitute, Chandri, are too difficult to teach in the classroom. It has pointed out in its letter that teachers of coeducation classes have found it difficult to teach it. Women lecturers are embarrassed, it said.
Secretary of the association Vishnu Bhat said that the novel is good but it cannot be taught in classrooms. Hence, the association had written to the Vice-chancellor K.M. Kaveriappa, urging him to withdraw the book.
Professor and head of the Department of Hindi of Vijaya College, Mulki, N.P. Narayan Shetty said that the book had “too much of vulgarity” for classroom situations and the fact that the book had sections attacking the Madhwa community was making it uncomfortable for Hindi lecturers.
However, Patabhiram Somayaji of English Department of University College saw a conspiracy against Mr. Ananthamurthy. He said the book was a classic piece of literature and it was being studied in premiere institutions of the country like the Jawaharlal Nehru University, at the postgraduate level. Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul had praised the book in his work “India, a wounded civilisation”.
At a time when modernist literature such as D.H. Lawrence’s “Sons and Lovers” and Gustave Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary” were being taught to students the world over, withdrawing this book would not be proper, Prof. Somayaji said. Instead of mastering the technique of teaching such literature, a section of the teachers was making “false accusations” towards the book, he alleged.
Professor and Head of the Department of English in the Mulki college, Hayavadana Upadhya, agrees that teachers do have difficulty in teaching the book, but its withdrawal would be an insult to its author.
“There is no obscenity or vulgarity in literature,” he said. However, the university should have taken precautions before prescribing the book. Having failed in that, it could wait for a couple of more years when a new book is introduced in the regular process, he said.
However, the head of Department of Hindi of a college in the city, who did not want to be named, said the issue was taking “unwanted colours”, and added that many teachers were skipping parts of the book to avoid “embarrassment”.
When contacted, the Vice-chancellor said the book was a good piece of literature but most teachers had found it embarrassing to teach in classrooms.
Many pages in the book had detailed descriptions of sex that was not proper for classrooms. Hence he had referred the matter to the Board of Studies which will take a decision on the issue on Monday.
If it decides to withdraw it, quick arrangements will be made to publish alternative books and send five copies of it to each of the colleges for the benefit of teachers and students.