Sant ram udasi biography of mahatma gandhi

Volume 4 Issue 1 IRJMSH Online ISSN 2277 – 9809 Sant Ram Udasi: A Voice of the Oppressed Dr. Meet Assistant Professor of English Government P.G. College for Women, Bhodia Khera, Distt. – Fatehabad Haryana, Pin-125050 Abstract Dalit poetry in India can be traced back to bhakti kal. During freedom struggle one of the deepest impacts on Indian literature is Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhian philosophy. Dalit is an oppressed class but its situation is even worse and more complicated. The caste exploitation is characteristically unique and very different from class exploitation. But there seems sometimes an overlapping and some time a clash between progressive thought that was shaped by the paradigms of Marxist concept of class conflict and dalit consciousness that was shaped by the experience of humiliation and depravity imposed by a religiously sanctioned social order. It is in this context, Sant Ram Udasi is being discussed in the paper. Though he belonged to the depressed class, he consciously and explicitly was a revolutionary poet of the oppressed. Whether he was unconsciously avoiding a conflict within or was aiming at some kind of synthesis. It remains enigma. Keywords: Subaltern Literature, Santram Udasi, Dalit Literature, Literature of Oppressed Sant Ram Udasi: A Poet of the Oppressed or of the Depressed? Who is a dalit poet? The question seems too simplistic to begin an academic discussion. But with reference to Sant Ram Udasi, the subject of this paper it is a necessary to ask this fundamental question. The answers to this question in context of Udasi get complicated as many threads related to the issue intertwine in his personal life as well as poetic expression. Any writer who writes about dalit experience, the oppression of caste system and questions varna system is a dalit writer. Does that mean that we exclude a writer who is dalit but does not consciously explore these issues? Answer seems to be obvious of course such a writer is not a dalit writer; he/she is writer who happens to be a dalit. But are things so simple? In times when we are trying to peep under the carpet and read sub texts as opposed to the dominant obvious meaning in the International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities http:www.irjmsh.com Page 1310 Volume 4 Issue 1 IRJMSH Online ISSN 2277 – 9809 literature, when we discuss absence as a kind of presence, negation an oblique affirmation, when we are just trying to make out how far experience shapes our language, our language our mind and how far language colours our experience and thought, giving such clear cut answer is difficult, and dangerous too. There can various possibilities for dalit literature. Dalit literature can be literature written about dalits by the upper class writers. They can be sympathetic, patronizing or condescending in their treatment of the dalit issues pertaining to dalit life. Upper class writers can also be strongly critical of the varna system and the cruel ways in which it treats the lower caste people. There can be literature written by writers who are dalits but do not consciously portray the lives and problems of their class. But somehow their experiences as dalits cannot help creeping into what they are expressing and how they are expressing. The language, images, beliefs attitudes silently sneak into their expression. The perfect scenario for Dalit literature seems when dalit himself/herself begins to express his/her own experiences and foregrounds the oppression of the class and its conflict with the system and its conflicts within. But reaching that point is not an easy and direct journey for literature of the people who have not only been considered outcast for centuries but have been denied access to channels of economic prosperity and sources of knowledge. We all are acquainted with, and most of us are part of the caste system in India. Till nineteenth century modern concept of history did not develop in India. History could not be distinguished from mythology. Religion, religious customs and rituals constituted the main cultural fabric of the society. No independent culture of the common people was allowed to grow. As the whole system had religious sanction, it was considered divine, hence inevitable, and unquestionable. The exploitative and discriminatory character is not unique to Indian or Hindu social composition. Most of the cultures across the geographical and historical landscape reinforced the exploitative structures. The more refined a culture gets, subtler and complicated gets the exploitative system, more and more difficult it becomes to penetrate it, demolish it. Hindu caste system is one of the most intricate systems of discrimination in the world. It is what Dr. Ambedkar called „graded inequality‟. Other forms of discrimination divide society into two main groups or sections. As their interests clash, there seems possibility of the oppressed rising against the oppressor, challenging the system, uniting to bring it down. But caste system is International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities http:www.irjmsh.com Page 1311 Volume 4 Issue 1 IRJMSH Online ISSN 2277 – 9809 designed with such cunningness that there is no such possibility. Om Prakash Valmiki, an eminent Dalit writer and poet in Hindi, in his poem "My Ancestors" says that his ancestors did not have the sufficient knowledge to foresee the intelligent Brahminical design and, therefore, they failed to understand the law that turned them into slaves. He begins the poem: You said The Shudra is born from the feet of Brahma And the Brahmin from his head And they did not ask you Where was Brahma born from? (Verma) Manusmriti divided society into four varnas (the fifth one was even excluded from the varna system). Certain castes prospered economically, others could not, were not allowed to. They were prohibited from getting education. A class that is denied access to education and knowledge cannot be expected to develop a rich tradition of literature. We cannot talk of a long history of that literature or independent aesthetics of that literature. That denial also means that the experience , pain, aspirations of that section of society has been rendered mute. Emergence dalit literature is not just an academic development but a social one too. It means the mute are beginning to speak It remains a matter of concern though which language they speak, of the oppressor or of the oppressed.. Dalit poetry in India can be traced back to bhakti kal. During freedom struggle one of the deepest impacts on Indian literature is Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhian philosophy. Gandhdi wanted to uplift the dalits, he like many other leaders was not questioning the basic precepts of Hindu social structure. Dr. Ambedkar, therefore had greater impact on dalit poetry of the time. Another movement that had great impact on Indian literature in general, and dalit literature in particular, is communist movement. Indian Communist party was established in 1925. This resulted in progressive movement in Indian literature. As most of the people associated with the movement were from the upper castes, they did not distinguish between class exploitation and caste exploitation, between the Oppressed and the depressed. To oppress means keep (someone) in subjection and hardship, especially by the unjust exercise of authority., to subject someone to harsh and authoritarian treatment. One is by being treated with little respect, International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities http:www.irjmsh.com Page 1312 Volume 4 Issue 1 IRJMSH Online ISSN 2277 – 9809 belittled, and dominated by someone who treats them cruelly: emotionally, physically or mentally. The depressed was the term used by Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar for dalits. India from time immemorial, has remained a fragmented society owing to the caste system. Almost one-fourth of the country‟s population constitutes what B.R. Ambedkar called the "depressed classes". Though there have been many saints and social reformers who castigated the caste system in India since medieval times, there overall impact has been peripheral. Only in 20th century Ambedkar was able to sharpen the consciousness of the "untouchables" as a "class" and groom them as a powerful constituent of the present-day political system. Dalit is an oppressed class but its situation is even worse and more complicated . As it has been discussed before, the caste exploitation is characteristically unique and very different from class exploitation. But there seems sometimes an overlapping and some time a clash between progressive thought that was shaped by the paradigms of Marxist concept of class conflict and dalit consciousness that was shaped by the experience of humiliation and depravity imposed by a religiously sanctioned social order. It is in this context, Sant ram Udasi is being discussed. Born in mazhmi sikh of landless labour family, his position is already wrought with the conflicts and overlapping consciousness that has been mentioned above. He belongs to the lowest wrung of caste hierarchy. Mazbhi or chura is different from other lower castes like chamars. Mazhabi community is unskilled and generally worked as agriculture labour. It is, therefore economically more backward and have higher levels of illiteracy. But Sikh religion, along with Budhism, Jainism emerged as critique of Hindu Brahiminist order and ritualism. They are egalitarian religions as opposed to hierarchal nature of Hindu social order. The poetry of his early years shows him to be a devout religious person. He was influenced by Namdhari or Kooka movement. The poem dedicated to Namdhari Satguru Partap Singh, I have come to reveal My heart peierced by grief Intoxicated in your love I have come to rekindle the lamps of union (Satguru partap Singh Nun) Or his poem Preetam Pyare Nun, dedicated to Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities http:www.irjmsh.com Page 1313 Volume 4 Issue 1 IRJMSH Online ISSN 2277 – 9809 Don’t call him guru of one sect He is heir to common people, their Critic of customs and That’s why he is beloved of everybody One can even see ideal nationalism in his early poetry. Punjab is portrayed as land of prosperity where grains ripen into pearls. Jwahar Lal Nehru is celebrated as messiah of the poor ehose contribution can be forgotten by his own daughter Indira, but not by the people of India. Slowly he got disenchanted with his religious sect and its practices. Despite its egalitarian precepts Sikhism, in practice, has not been able to do away with caste discrimination. Raj Kumar Hans observes, “The virus of Brahmanism had so afflicted the Indian mind over the millennium that it would spring back the demon of untouchability from time to time even in the areas of its weakest linkage. After the establishment of Ranjit Singh‟s rule and more so after the British conquest of Punjab the Sikhs became easy prey (or conversely speaking, the „high-caste‟ Sikhs themselves became hunting partners) to the hovering vulture of Brahminism and its cardinal practice, the „untouchability‟.” His disillusionment combined with experience of extreme poverty, and his growing association with Communist Party . he began to see social power structure and exploitative system in terms of class conflict. He himself had personal experience of hardships poverty and could empathise with the sufferings of the oppressed class. This dust has covered naked starvation The colour of this dust is same as the colour of our blood (Mitti da Rang, Rahi) The impact of leftist ideology is visible from the titles of the poems „Bourgeois de Tane Bane , „Lenin de Nan‟,‟ Dunia Bhar de Kameon‟, „Lalkar Mazdooran de Nan‟ Marxist vocabulary has made its way into poetry. He even celebrates Vietnam in one of his poems by the same title. But in spite of that his language remains the language of the common man and common man here does not represent middleclass. It is the people working in the fields, factories, starving, living in deplorable unhygienic conditions, and the people who are illiterate whose only link with literature is through oral traditions. International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities http:www.irjmsh.com Page 1314 Volume 4 Issue 1 IRJMSH Online ISSN 2277 – 9809 Udasi writes like a folk poet picking up images, expressions even rhythms from their daily life. In the poem „Lenin de Nan‟ he compares the plight of his own village to the Lenin‟s red town . he uses the refrain like a folk song. Oh! blooming red is your country! No body has ever seen a child lose his blind mother to starvation But in my village there is nobody to wipe blood from the pierced bodies of the laborers He warns the farmers that there pigs are grazing in their fields. He foresees the revolution as he calls upon his people Whenever we begin to talk about bread, we get gun powder Or If your children were to die of hunger of what use is this freedom? He even picked up folk forms like sithani and adapted to raise consciousness about exploitation of farmers by the commission agents. He not only wrote these poems like a folk poet but also sang them on the stage. That is, perhaps one of the reasons that he was dubbed as a stage poet by many critics lacking intellectual depth. But when it comes to portrayal of the life of these oppressed people, he can deeply moving. In one of his most well known poems „Kammian de Verhe‟ Mother earth many moons play in your lap But Oh sun! you keep shining where the labourers live ….. Where hair yearn for combs Running noses sunken eyes and pale teeth … Where people are helpless Delhi is distanced from hearts of the people ….. Where one is born as bonded labourer Where coins reign supreme Where panjiri under debt Where sons inherit the interest of the debt of their father Udasi is meticulously and touchingly portraying the condition of the poor. Are these of the poor? Or are they slums of the lower caste. Metaphorically it can be both, International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities http:www.irjmsh.com Page 1315 Volume 4 Issue 1 IRJMSH Online ISSN 2277 – 9809 but not physically. In India , we know the villages were geographically segregated along caste lines. It is clear that Udasi in his progressive poetry is voices the plight of the poor, of the oppressed. But his personal experience as dalit renders these portrayals more vivid and concrete. In other poems his experience speaks even louder. „Kali Kuri da Geet‟ . Black complexion is generally associated with lower castes. The girl begs from the sun to rise fast as her complexion is bereaved of beauty, and complains that in spite of the fact that she had laid her heart open, he has not shown any warmth towards her. In the poem „Choorian da Hoka‟ the poet brings out the contrast between the emptiness, dullness and grief on the one hand and the colourful , happy life on the other as the tinkling sound of red choora teases the bare wrist. Rath is generally the important family in the village, economically prosperous as well as influential. The reality of the catse system tells us that it has to be upper caste family. But in Udasi it is difficult to trace an overt dalit discourse. many other dalit poets are very conscious of their own dalit identity and voice the pain the caste system have caused them they question it, criticize even wish to dismantle it. As soon as the water of the pious pond was touched the basti of untouchables An explosion! The four storied haveli without stairs Began to fall (21,qt. in Bharti ) Punjabi dalit poet like Gurdas Ram Aalam, Buta Singh Ashaant are more direct in articulating their dalit experience. Aalam in his „achoot ka ilaaz‟ sat irises pandit, maulvi, paadri, even sikh bhai and congress. Ashaant portrays segregation and humiliation of a dalit in his „Mujhe Manjoor nahin tha‟. It is not that Udasi did not experience painful discrimination as dalit. Rajinder Rahi narrates two incidents in his editorial to „Sant Ram Udasi: Sampooran Kav‟ that show that he ahd to constantly face humiliation as majhbi Sikh. He was first arrested in 1971. While he was in jail his mother visited his friend, Markanda‟s family at Tapa Mandi. She was first received her with warm hospitality. But when Markanda‟s mother came to know of their caste she made her sit outside the house .While Udasi was being arrested in 1971 he was abused as churha by the police. Raj Kumar Hans also notes that when Udasi was arrested, jailed and tortured for his Naxal International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities http:www.irjmsh.com Page 1316 Volume 4 Issue 1 IRJMSH Online ISSN 2277 – 9809 connections. The tortures to him were far more severe than were meted out to the highcaste Jatt Naxals only because he happened to be a dalit. Still he never foregrounds his dalit experience strongly and explicitly his poetry remains the poetry of the oppressed never consciously becomes the poetry of the depressed. The poem that represents his attitude on the issue is „Siri te Jat di Sanjhi Vithya de Nan‟. The poem depicts the similarity in the circumstances of jat and siri,. In fact, their destiny is united as they both are dependent on agriculture. Diesel drank our blood, drop by drop Fertilizers eroded our bones Mortgage papers of the bank Eye the piles of grains Both of them wish You were dressed in tatters in our fields My youthful crop May you come out dressed in gold From the godowns of the rich buyers Sant Ram Udasi belonged to the depressed class. But there are hardly any direct references to caste system or questioning of varna system. One of the reasons is impact of progressive thought. The oppressed across different divisions come together. One can say that poet‟s experience as dalit, depressed expands and embraces the pain and aspirations of whoever is oppressed and voices them. Or is it that he is negating something very fundamental to his existence and experience. His disillusionment with religion was not complete. He moved away from namdhari sect. But his sympathies with Khalistani Movement show that his faith in Sikhism was not shattered. Perhaps his faith in a religion that forbade discrimination prevented his questioning the practice of discrimination by the people of same religion. Though he belonged to the depressed class, he consciously and explicitly was a revolutionary poet of the oppressed. Whether he was unconsciously avoiding a conflict within or was aiming at some kind of synthesis. It remains enigma. Bibliography   Bharti, K. (ed)(2006). Dalit Nirvachit Kavitaen, Allahabad:Itihasik Parkashan. Hans, R. K(2010). Rich Heritage of Punjabi Dalit Literature and its Exclusion from Histories. Online available at http://www.apnaorg.com/researchpapers/rajkumar-1 International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities http:www.irjmsh.com Page 1317 IRJMSH   Volume 4 Issue 1 Online ISSN 2277 – 9809 Rahi, R.(ed.)(2004) Sant Ram Udasi Smpuran Kav, Unistar Books: Chandigarh. Verma, V.(2014) Words against the word: the law of material thought in Dalit poetry available at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7018/is_1_33/ai_n28438651/pg_3/ International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities http:www.irjmsh.com Page 1318