| ஒத்திசைவு | प्रत्याह्वय | resonance |

The thing is that, slander happens rather too easily in the world of Tamil Literature, what with its half-baked & clueless charlatans running amok – but to set it right, to show the twisted bent of mind behind the slander, takes a bloody loooong essay.

So, patience, patience…

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One should first read the unbelievable trash that my friend Aravindan Kannaiyan (AK)  has painstakingly written, an example of stuff that he continues to write these days  – if you have not already done that, please spend a few minutes at – Asokamithran, Ilayaraja, Vijaykant and a Feudal Society: Thou Shalt Not Question

Glory be unto thee, O’ my Lord, my AK God, glory be unto thee!

However, I am not looking either – at AK’s  grand statement ‘Asokamithran is the quintessential bourgeoise middle class citizen‘ or at his accounts of the Emergency period under Indira Gandhi and much else. There are so many uncalled for assumptions stemming from an essentially asinine attitude & massive ignorance, hiding in there. But then, what else can one expect from the likes of AK?

3. Subsequent to my reading of AK’s despicably random info-mongering, I chatted up with two much retired IAS officers who were then closely working with Indira Gandhi, about the details of this Zhivago affair, relevant to India. I also spoke to my really ageing Marxist friends/scholars, about the continued trend of  going after ‘banning Dr. Zhivago affair’ – I respect them a lot for their balanced worldview and knowledge of intellectual controversies of that bygone era. I did not talk to any angrezi newspaperwallah or some other hack about the subject, though I could have. This is because, I am generally losing respect for many of these so-called journalists, especially the current newshound breeds.

C. There was this Italian super-rich man – from a monarchist/fascist supporting family background called, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli (1926 – 72) – who became a leftist and then went on to become a left-extremist rebel during his waning years. Anyway, GF  had established a publishing house in Milan (Italy) called Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore during the fag end of 1954.  He was a good acquaintance of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Now, Nehru’s autobiography had already been published in 1936. But, it was the fervent wish of GF that, his publishing firm come out with Nehru’s autobiography as the first title to roll out from his house.

D. The second book to be published by GFE was Dr. Zhivago. The manuscript of this book (written by Boris Pasternak) had reached GFE via a grand series of interesting events. This book was/is critical of USSR model of life at various levels, and therefore had a formidable roadblock ahead of it.

Nehru had known of this book and though he was very enamoured of the Soviet model of development, he was also a strong backer of this book, which speaks well for his genuine credentials in respect of the ‘freedom of expression.’  Nehru actively pushed for the publication of the book with his friend, and lobbied using his connections with the Soviets. A truly commendable work on part of our Nehru, I must add. At this point, Indira Gandhi was nearing 40 and had all the while been under the active tutelage of his father, at his home, I must also add.

Feltrinelli with his second title of Pasternak; first title was the autobiography of Nehtru.

…Though a whole lot of the ‘free world’ statesmen pushed for the book, USSR commissars did not like the idea, they tried their best to block it – but anyway, this book got published in 1957, and went on to become a super hit best seller.

E. When Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel prize (1958: Literature)  for Dr. Zhivago, USSR made a huge fuss of it and asked the author not to accept the prize. There was a very fair bit of conspiracy and controversy to make Pasternak relent. So, Pasternak had to publicly repudiate the award. But then, there was a huge outcry in the rest of the world. And our Nehru was one of the prominent leaders to rally behind Pasternak and he used all the powers of persuasion at his command with the Soviets, but then…

F. After this award fiasco, Pasternak’s family was increasingly under the scanner of the USSR internal security services;  and painful harassment by the commissars was like, total, epic – as my teenage daughter would say.

| “I won the Nobel Prize for literature. What was your crime?”, October 30, 1958 | ‘Bill Mauldin castigated the Soviet Union for not permitting Boris Pasternak to travel to accept his Nobel Prize. With this cartoon, Mauldin won his second Pulitzer Prize’ | http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/mauldin/mauldin-intro.html |

…Again, Nehru weighed in with his charm, and as a leader of a great nation, with mutually beneficial relations with the then USSR – was able to ensure that no great harm (such as him being sent to Gulag) was done to Boris Pasternak or his family; of course there were other great people who were involved from the point-of-view of human rights, but Nehru’s commitment went beyond all that. Indira Gandhi was there, near her father, when all this happened. One absorbs attitudes.

G. All this while, there was a continuous clamour on part of (then) CPI to ban Dr. Zhivago in India. But thanks to Nehru and Indira Gandhi, it did not happen. Meanwhile in 1964 or thereabouts, CPI split and CPM got formed. But the clamour continued on both camps, which was rather unfortunate. (However, there were some real communists, who were not for silly bans like this, I must hasten to add!)

H. Dr. Zhivago was adapted to screen and thusly a film directed by David Lean was released in 1965.  It were to be released in India too. Again there was a concerted attempt including petitions by the communists of all shades – to ban the film.  Finally after some simple cuts – just 25 ft of celluloid, Indian Censor Board cleared it in February, 1967.

I. Even after this, off and on, there were instances of pressurizing the Indian Government to ban the film and the book. All this appears so silly, but it has to be seen in a reasonable context & historical necessities. Indira Gandhi had to work with her leftist colleagues like PN Haksar and Mohan Kumaramangalam; there was also a need to work closely with CPI (considered as USSR worshippers) because India was then, very tied to the economic and developmental benefits of associating favourably with the USSR.

The Communist Party of India and the Indian Emergency

J. In 1975, Indira Gandhi had imposed a ‘National Emergency’ situation on India. CPI (under SA Dange?) supported it. Of course, any support would always come with a price. Again there was this silly clamour for ‘ban’ perhaps because, these CPI folks wanted to please their Moscow handlers; and though not many CPI comrades were after this ban, it would have been very easy for Indira Gandhi to satisfy these noises by a token gesture – Okay, let us ban the book, the film and what not, and be done with it. Who would have questioned the imperious empress, even if she banned them?

K. But, the strong character of Indira ensured that nothing of the sort happened. This is because, she, for all her faults, had some redeeming features too. The book continued to sell and the film did not face any restriction whatsoever – with or without Emergency!

L. Though the restructuring of the Soviet system (=’Perestroika’) had kicked in by the mid 1980s, much thanks to Gorbachev,  it took up-til 1995 for the Russian cultural establishment to rehabilitate the book. I remember that, around 1991 or so, the journal ‘Soviet Literature’ had brought out one commemorative number each on Boris Pasternak and his friend Anna Akhmatova. I still have these two volumes somewhere in my attic.

M. Indira Gandhi was of course a tyrant in many respects, but she also had many redeeming features. Without loss of generality, what Asokamitran wrote nostalgically about was correct.Asokamitran did NOT lie.  Yes, ‘Indira also refused to intervene in a dispute about banning obscene works and had a familiarity with creative literature.’ – Asokamitran was once again correct.

O. Indira Gandhi did not merely ‘contemplate banning Dr. Zhivago’ – in fact, she positively refused to do that! But, one can say that, there was a sentimental attachment angle – what with Nehru-Pasternak connection and the fact that there was an adoring relationship between Nehru and Indira, commonality of interests etc etc; but she also did not want the banning of literature, fatwah and all that shit. She was actually quite invested in good literature and had her own yardsticks.

P. Anyone with any sense of respect of recorded histories or ability to do ‘proper’ research, would not outlandishly say the things that AK has said. What a shame. He also got so many details wrong – apart from randomly slandering!

P. What bothers me is the lack of basic integrity in AK. Not only that, his strutting about like a virile peacock, irrespective of his ‘halo around the hollow’ – also bugs me no end. His tenuous grasp of reality and what passes for his ‘research’ gives me belly-aching laughter. Tears stream down my cheeks, even as I ROFLMAO.

Q. Hope I am grossly mistaken. And sinners do have a future, if there is a sincere repentance for the wrongs one has done so that things can be set right. I hope so, at least!

AravindanKannaiyanForAmericanPresident2016 :-(

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