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Abiding Faith
Interview by Sachidananda Mohanty
-- Manoj Das, eminent author, talks about his work and the place of a writer in an era of cultural globalisation.---
A bilingual author who has received wide recognition, Manoj Das is perhaps the most influential writer in post-independence Orissa. Born in 1934 in a remote coastal village, Manoj Das has to his credit about 40 books in English and an equal number in his mother tongue. A critic, columnist, educationist and a devoted student of mysticism and Integral Yoga, he lives in Pondicherry and is a Professor of English Literature at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education. He has received numerous literary awards including the Central and Orissa State Sahitya Akademi Awards. Excerpts from an interview...
Your first book in Oriya was published at the age of 14. How did it happen?
Writing came to me like several other functions in life — beholding the splendour of a rainbow or the beauty of a garden. It mattered when the little book received attention and appreciation came from connoisseurs in the field of literature.
Although an acclaimed novelist and short story writer, you also wrote remarkable poetry early in your career. Why did you give it up?
Alas, for reasons quite pragmatic. Poetry and fiction came to me spontaneously. But certain themes could be worked out only through fiction. Not only the editors and publishers, but also the readership demanded more and more of fiction .The creative force of this mode made me its captive. The Muse of Poetry sighed and waited — to kiss me once in a while.
At 15, you launched Diganta a reputed literary journal in Oriya. What was your inspiration?
Few periodicals then existed in Oriya, unlike today. Diganta was my humble effort to improve the situation. I struggled, and was happy to see it growing as a forum where renowned talent mingled with the new.
What prompted you to join radical politics and the Students' Federation of India?
Mine was a charming village on the sea, inhabited by people kind and courteous. A terrible cyclone ruined all, ushering in famine and epidemic. The human misery kindled in me the search for a panacea. I found the answer in Marxism. That was an exciting time: the Communist movement was still undivided.
In 1956 you attended the historic Bandung Conference in Indonesia. How did this experience shape your literary imagination?
The Afro-Asian Students Conference following the great Conference of Afro-Asian leaders who formulated the famous Panchsheel. It had no direct impact on my creativity, but it changed my attitude to reality. In the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, Khrushchev described the horrors perpetrated by Stalin who, for us, was the very symbol of justice. The report shocked and bewildered me. Had I died before the 20th Congress, I would have rested with the trust that Stalin could do no wrong. Can we know the truth from the events on the surface? The questions broadened the scope of my quest.
In Chasing the Rainbow: Growing up in the Indian Village, you have attempted to recapture your experience of childhood. What problems did you encounter in your act of literary recollection? How did you resolve them in literary terms?
Nostalgia can cast a spell on you and edit your memory. I voted for my impressions of innocence. That alone could recreate its distant horizon, its own credibility.
From radical Marxism to revolutionary spirituality of the Sri Aurobindonean kind seems to represent a big leap in faith. How did it happen?
I do not consider it to be a leap, only a progression. I am still a votary of communism in its sublime sense — a state when one's Swadharma or true inner freedom has no conflict with the collective life. Only a transformation of human consciousness can bring about that state.
How does your belief in creative evolution shape your artistic imagination?
It gives me a faith in the purpose of creation that no cynicism can obliterate. This faith helps me to view things in a light that is not transitory.
Some critics have seen the use of "magic realism" in your fiction. Do you agree?
I have never felt inclined to classify my fiction or identify elements in them. I find "magic realism" — what the term conjures up in my vision — abundantly present in the Mahabharata and Homer's Ulysses.
How does your Oriya writing complement your work in English?
I can bank only on the genius of my nativity. Success in terms of popularity of an Oriya work is no guarantee for its popularity in English. But a work's impressive acceptance in my mother tongue contributes to my confidence.
What is the future of regional literature in the era of cultural globalisation marked by the primacy of English in all walks of life?
The spirit of globalisation is indefatigable, but its process and speed must be piloted imaginatively. Our indigenous art forms can find appreciation in pastures new around the world. Similarly, Indian literature, to whatever region it might belong, must remain Indian. With the knowledge about India growing in the world, it should find wider appreciation. The best of Indian literature is to be found in regional languages. Unfortunately we do not have first class translators, barring a few.