[Reader-list] Re: Remembering Nissim

[Shivam Vij]

Dear Jane,
 
This mail that you have posted to the Sarai list,
addressed to me, I did get it on my ID a few days ago
but I forgot to reply, writing as I was my own
obituary in the examination hall. I'm really sorry.
 
But i'm also surprised. Firstly, I never wrote
anything on Nissim Ezekiel, though no doubt I want to.
This is happening for the third time this month, when
somebody is accusing me of having written something
that I did not. And when i do write, nobody responds
so enthusiastically!
 
I did circulate, on Sarai, Zest and other reading
lists, some obits on Ezekiel, particularly Dom Moraes'
beautiful appraisal in Outlook.
 
Three poems of Ezekiel are (or were, If i pass this
exam) in my course in English hons. I disagree with
your view on the eight poems that comprise Ezekiel's
'Very Indian Poems in Very Indian English'.
 
One doesn't know if Ezekiel is actually symathising
with 'Indian English' and its speakers. "Pusha
TS" certainly pokes fun at the speaker. Is Ezekiel
saying that people have the right to use English in
the way they wish to - to colonise the English
language, so to speak? But if that is the case, why
are the poems funny? If you read all the eight poems
in the series, and not just the famous Pushpa TS, you
would realise that he is empathetic and not elitist.
You would realise this particularly if you read "The
Raliway Clerk" and feel the pathos in it. Yet, the
Indianism of the language in these poems, in my view
is exaggerated. Ezekiel in my view is unsuccessful in
his attempt to sympathetically project the modern
postcolonial common man. 

African writers like Chinua Achebe write in their own
indigenous style of English, caring a fig for the
Queen's language. But Ezekiel is not doing the same,
because he writes predominantly in exactly the kind of
English that is inaccessible to the speakers of
"Pushpa TS" or "The Railway Clerk".

In short, go to a raailway office. Ask the clerk to
write a short introduction about himself in English.
The English will all be in incorrect syntax. But it
won't be funny.

Objectionable, classist, condescending approaches to
the problematic question of Indian English are
complicatec further by the appropriation of Ezekiel's
style by other writers. Farrukh Dhondy recently did
this in an indifferent collection of short stories.
The front inside cover of "The Little Magazine" does
this.

Any reactions?

Jane, i'm very sorry to hear about the publicity
problem at your private reading. The sarai list is one
way of dealing the problem.

I run a list called Zest which has nearly 400 members
and apart from exchanging articles, Zest circulates
event information. If you post event information on
Zest, I post it on dozens of other mailing lists, with
an estimated cumulative reach of 10,000 people. This
has been of use to many. You, and others, might want
to join Zest by sending a blank email to
zest-india-subscribe at yahoogroups.com.

A friend is running Zest Economic for economic issues.
I strongly feel the need of having a poetry group,
called Zest Poetry. Would you like to moderate it?
There are so many people writing poetry, Indians and
others, in Indian English and other languages. But
there's no place to publish it. Nobody reads poetry,
or so the publishers' logic goes. Zest Poetry would be
a platform for all poets, to discuss, read and
exchange poetry. Perhaps we could dedicate it to
Ezekiel.

If there's anyone else who would like to be moderator,
please write to me at shivamvij at ststephens.edu.

Thanks a lot,
Khudha hafiz
Shivam (in Lucknow till July)




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