Scripting an anti-establishment wave

MUMBAI, FEB 6: The stench and sounds of Dharavi slum is hardly the setting for a literary meet. Yet Marathi litterateurs, poets, writers ...

MUMBAI, FEB 6: The stench and sounds of Dharavi slum is hardly the setting for a literary meet. Yet Marathi litterateurs, poets, writers and artists are gathered deep in the bowels of Dharavi to discuss literature and listen to poetry recitations. They make it clear that they are not 8220;the Establishment8221;.

This Vidrohi Sahitya Sammelan or parallel literary meet which begins tomorrow is meant to send out signals that the cultural voice of a community cannot be completely stilled by a Government or political party that periodically stifles the freedom of expression. It coincides with the concluding day of the 72nd Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, the grand annual affair with a tradition of its own, held amidst pomp and pleasantries at Shivaji Park. Just how far apart the litterateurs, poets and artists participating in the two meets are in their ideological persuasions is seen in a piquant contradiction. Shiv Sena leader and former Chief Minister Manohar Joshi was the 8220;swagatadhyaksha8221; welcoming president atShivaji Park while Sena MLA Shishir Shinde has threatened to 8220;blacken the faces8221; of some well-known personalities at the parallel meet. If he reaches Dharavi, he will kick up another controversy and keep alive Sena8217;s reputation of an intolerant vigilante organisation. However, Shinde and his band of Sainiks have not put the fear of God in theatre director Ratnakar Matkari or professor Pushpa Bhave, two of the many they have threatened. Matkari and Bhave along with 14 well-known personalities issued a statement pointing out the hypocrisy of the grand Shivaji Park meet. 8220;It8217;s not about politics; it8217;s about culture. How can anyone attend a literary meet where Joshi is the swagatadhyaksha8230;as Chief Minister and senior Sena leader, he justified all attacks in the recent past including the one on Fire and the cricket board office,8221; says Bhave.

They have appealed to cricketer Sunil Gavaskar not to accept the Maharashtra Bhushan award from the Sena-BJP Government this year since the Government had insulted PLDeshpande, an icon on the Marathi literary firmament, two years ago.

This is not the first time that a parallel meet is held to rebel against the grand Sammelan but the significance this year is that it has brought many varied voices of opposition to the Sena8217;s strong-arm tactics against culture, arts, literature and music on one platform. It also seeks to show that Marathi literature does not only mean middle and upper-middle class 8220;Brahminical8221; persuasions but includes even the non-literates who partake of and contribute to a literature.

The purpose of a parallel meet is to challenge the hegemony of the established classes and castes, say the organisers. Parallel meets were held earlier during the Emergency and Chief Minister AR Antulay8217;s tenure to protest the 8220;political interference8221; in arts and culture. PL Deshpande had presided over one of these meets. Well-known writer Vasant Bapat who presided at the Shivaji Park meet only hinted at the growing political intolerance but did not mention recentattacks; curiously he had spoken out strongly against 8220;the Establishment8221; during the Emergency.

Also significant is that the parallel meet comes close on the heels of the Sakal Sahitya Sammelan or an all-inclusive meet held last weekend in suburban Mumbai that brought together the litterateur and artistic talents from Dalits, Muslims, women and Jain communities. Together, the two meets signal a challenge to 8220;the Establishment8221; whether political or cultural, says Bhave.

However, the parallel meet has drawn its share of criticism too. Writers and literature-lovers who have been witness to the churning in the world of words believe that parallel and similar meets only preach to the converted. Also that writers and poets frequently migrate from one platform to the other, usually from the parallel to the Establishment. 8220;How come there was no parallel or rebel Sahitya Sammelan last three years8230;.we still had the same Sena-BJP Government,8221; points out Kumar Ketkar, editor and a key force behind theGranthali group that publishes writers and poets not accepted by large publishing houses.

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The parallel and 8220;sakal8221; meets have made their point, counters Bhave; some well-known names in Marathi literature like Shantaram have stayed away from the Shivaji Park meet. If Gavaskar refuses the State Government award, their cause will be strengthened; if he doesn8217;t the two meets will still have made a point 8212; strongarm tactics to stifle cultural expression will be opposed, however, small that voice may be.