Conversing with Malay: The Diasporic Plurality of a Behari Bengali, or a Cultural Bastard
This may be a beginning
of a conversation between me and poet Malay Roychoudhury who was
prosecuted for his publication of the poem ‘Stark Electric Jesus’ in
1965. This poem was originally written in Bangla PRACHANDA BOIDYUTIK
CHHUTAR which was subsequently translated in English with the help of
Howard McCord and Carl Weissner. The poem defied the forms of lyric
poetry (sonnet,villanel, minnesang, pastourelle, canzone, stew etc.) as
well as Bengali meters (Matrabritto and Aksharbritto), retaining,
however, its content vehicle, expressing subjective personal feelings.
Malay Roy Choudhury, a Bengali poet, had been a central figure in the
Hungry Generation’s attack on the Indian cultural establishment in the
early 1960s now living a life of a recluse in Bombay. I was in Bombay
for a few days but could not meet him as he was not doing to well and my
visit coincided with his visit with the med. So I mailed a few
questions to him and this is what he has to say.
Subhankar Das
: The Hungry Generation literary movement was launched by you in
November 1961 with the publication of a manifesto on poetry in English
from Patna where you were residing at that point of time and nobody
could believe that a behari can have any say about Bangla literature.
During the course of the movement you got arrested, lost your job,
dragged around town by the police with rope on your waist…how far it is
true? Do you still feel the relevance of the movement exists? If not,
why?
Malay Roychoudhury
: Everything is recorded in the trial papers which may be retrieved from
the records of Bankshal Court, Kolkata. The case No etc are also
available in various publications. Why don’t you make a little effort
and spend a few silver to get certified copies of those papers to enable
yourself to get enlightened about the facts. The Hungryalist movement
has changed the course of Bengali literature once for all. We definitely
created a rupture in terms of time, discourse, experience, narrative
diction and breath span of poetic lines. The lecturer of Assam
University who is writing his dissertation for a Doctorate on the
subject gleefully informed me that Bengali academicians are even today
scared to utter the word Hungryalism. Well, I guess that speaks a lot.
S.D
: I need a little more explanation on the word ‘behari’ — the causes
behind the rejection etc. ‘lost your job dragged around town by the
police with manila rope on your waist’ do you still remember that day.. I
need the story of that day. Can you elaborate a little –’rupture in
terms of time, discourse, experience, narrative diction and breath span
of poetic lines’
M.R
: I don’t want to recall those days; it gives me pain in my present
loneliness. I want to forgive everybody. There is a rupture; in Bengali
we call it ‘Bidar’. Look around you and you will get the answer. Manila
ropes were not there in our time. Ropes were made of coconut husks. I
don’t think you will fathom the diasporic plurality of a Behari Bengali,
or a cultural bastard.
S.D
: Keeping in mind the Hungryalist movement made a big difference in the
attitude of Bangla Lit Scene don’t you think any kind of movement
finally aspires for a kind of regimentation, closed groups where the
freedom of the authors needs to be sacrificed to keep the movement
going? Please share your experience.
M.R
: Arrey yaar, don’t think in terms of your knowledge of the movements in
Western literature. Hungryalist movement did not have a centre of
power, high command or politbureau. Any one and everyone were free to
join the movement just by declaring himself that he was a Hungryalist.
In fact some of the later Hungryalists are not known to me even today!
Participants were free to publish their own broadsides, pamphlets,
booklets, magazines etc. The movement was not confined to Kolkata only.
As you have just said, I was from Patna; Subimal Basak was from Patna as
well; Pradip Choudhuri was from Tripura; Subo Acharya was from
Bishnupur; Anil Karanjai was from Benaras. The Little Magazine Library
and Research Centre at Kolkata is having an archive, you may like to
check out.
S.D
: What initiated you to leave the literary hub Kolkata to live a life of a recluse in Mumbai/Bombay?
M.R
: I sold off my Kolkata flat, gifted entire collection of
books, gramophone records, discs, cassettes etc to friends and readers
and donated all furniture’s in my neighborhood. I felt very sad about
Kolkata. As you know, once upon a time Kolkata belonged to our clan; I
found it is just leaching. Not that I wanted to come to Mumbai; I would
have preferred to go anywhere. I came to Mumbai because I have a one
room flat in this city.
S.D
: Why you found Kolkata is now just leaching and nothing more ?
M.R
: I just stopped myself from uttering the expression ‘The City of
Lechers’. I had experienced the city some sixty years back; it was
completely different. Ask any one of my age, anyone who is not a part of
the present power nexus.
S.D
: Do you still feel like an outsider after all these 49 years?
M.R
: Oh, yes. I am ‘The Other’.
9 Responses to “ Conversing with Malay: The Diasporic Plurality of a Behari Bengali, or a Cultural Bastard ”
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Rhinestone Cowboy House at the JMK Arts Center | Gearone.in on March 27, 2010 at 4:08 am[...] Conversing with Malay? | Outsider Writers Collective [...] -
R.K.Singh on March 29, 2010 at 4:49 amLiked it very much. I can’t remember those days of literary activism but as a young man I did keep track of it, the Hungry generation. Good, that it did not affect my poetic creativity!
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Priyankar on March 29, 2010 at 12:21 pmThrough this conversation,a page from the history of Indian poetry in general & Bangla poetry in particular,came alive to me . I can empathise with the sense of pain & disillusionment & betrayal that hungry generation poets gone through. yes! for a so-called ‘bhoomiputra’ it is very hard to fathom the idea of diasporic plurality .
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Kamalesh Banerjee on April 2, 2010 at 7:24 amWe who belong to a disillusioned generation, Malay Roychoudhury remains a legend for us. He is still the same fire-breating dragon-poet that he was some four decades earlier. I liked his strange fiction NAKHADANTA on West Bengal written probably in 1980s. That book really anticipated that the culture of West Bengal is going downhill and requires urgent revolutionary takeover from the Marxisists. Marx is not going to help; We must have a dereamer like Malaybabu. I wish he still keeps his pencap open. Good Luck. Thanks to OWC.
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Shamset Tabrejee on April 4, 2010 at 12:30 amhappy to read it
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Bhaskar Sen on April 6, 2010 at 11:59 pmTo know the man Malay Roychowdhury one has to read the complete works of Malay. That he is a story teller looking at things from an angle completely different from the authors of today, can be understood from his book ‘Bhenno Golpo’. Let Malayda keep well and write many many poems, prose and stories in the years to come.
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Kavita Vachaknavee on April 8, 2010 at 8:27 amमलय रायचौधरी से बातचीत के बहाने बंगाल की कविता के उस युग की कई यादें पुन: समक्ष हुईं, जो अब काव्येतिहास का हिस्सा हैं। लगभग सभी भारतीय भाषाओं की कविता में वह काल आन्दोलनधर्मी रचनाकारों के अनेक ऐसे ही संस्मरण अपने गर्भ में समेटे है, जिसने समकालीन ही नहीं अपितु अपने बाद की पूरी काव्यपरम्परा को अत्यधिक प्रभावित ही नहीं किया अपितु मोड़ भी दिया।अब साहित्य/कविता में आन्दोलन नहीं होते। लेखक सुविधाभोगी और बिक जाने को तैयार लोगों की जमात हो गए हैं। ऐसे में भावी रचनाकारों के लिए ऐसी बातचीत का दस्तावेजीकरण अत्यन्त उपयोगी है, आवश्यक है।
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