A MEET ON 'FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND
THE WAYS IN WHICH IT IS SUPPRESSED!

A report by latha ramakrishnan

'A day like any other day, dawned just a couple of hours ago'- that was what the young wife of the budding , promising poet would have thought. But, she was wrong. For, suddenly there was a knock at the door which when opened revealed the faces of several men. Entering in, they started court-martialling the husband, embarrassing him with a volley of queries in connection with a poem which he has written jointly with two others. As he went out with them, on the way , those men issued pamphlets decrying his role as a poet, quoting several 'targeted' lines    from the said poem and presenting him as an anti-social of sort to the residents of the apartment peeping out and also to those who sent that way.

This is but a sample of the recent trend which attempts to show who pen 'experimental poems' in Tamil, in poor light, . Poems which aim at providing multi-layered meaning and many 'silences' and 'lines within the lines' are wantonly, or, due to lack of proper perception are being misinterpreted as having one single, obscene and anti-social meaning and so condemned. Every other day some pop-magazine displaying half-clad women in most of its pages, in vulgar postures issue statements vehemently reprimanding such poems for writing about 'tits', sex  and the 'vaginal tract', overlooking the 'focus of attention' of these poems. Film-lyricists who never hesitate to 'commodify' women in all possible manner in their crude renderings complain to the general public that such poems mentioning the names of genital organs and copulation, not using the usual flowery, euphemistic idioms and phrases, are not at all proper. What is more,  we have on the reverse the serials and mega-serials which spread the conventional, submissive stereotypes as 'menacing cholera' but they never incur this much wrath and concentrated opposition. Eve-teasing,nay,torturing, when it is done on a large scale on small and big screens in full view of everybody (film songs have no censorship, it seems) remains outside the purview of law. But, a poet trying his hands at various forms and styles of penning poetry is opposed vehemently - of course by vested interests.

It is a myth and misconception to say that only women who dare to question the 'role models' and 'boundary lines' provided by the powers-that-be, face harassment and that men who revolt against the order of the day in their poems remain unscathed. Men, who strive to write genuine poetry remain largely unnoticed with little recognition coming their way. Even those who have been writing for several decades never get interviewed or focused in leading dailies and journals  and even in small magazines. And, what is more, while facing all the hardships of life these male poets have to bear the additional burden of the excesses of all the males down the centuries. And, being hundred against ten has its own disadvantages too). And, for those who take literature seriously, remuneration is a word mostly unheard of. Further, even those who empathise with women poets who write about female body and sexuality ( ofcourse, to highlight the underlying politics in the prevailing notion and depiction of womanliness, womanhood and a lot more), don't  hesitate to brand their counterparts, the men who write in the same genre as 'luscious and vicious'. Above all, the households and families of these men who venture to experiment in the field of 'petry' are harassed in the manner mentioned at the start, with a view to intimidate the writer concerned and the writer himself blacklisted as  pervert and anti-social.

By way of registering their protest against such incidents which are steadily on the rise, causing deep concern, on the 25 th of December, 2004 a Meet was held in the city of Chennai. Eminent writers and poets of Tamil voiced their views on the issue. A.Marx,Manushyaputhran,Veli Rangarajan, Pa.Jayaprakasam, Rayan(editor of Naer  , a quarterly on socio-political issues who has published many worthy translations, Sooryachandran, editor of Puthiya Puthagam Peasugiradhu, Neyveli Balu, who is in the editorial of 'Thamizhar Kannoettam, and poets A.Vennila, Kadarkarai,( a young , sensitive poet whose second collection of poems has recently been released by 'Kaavya', Booma Eswaramurthy( a poet having three  to four collection of poems to his credit and one who through his literary forum called 'porunai india' organizes seminars on various significant themes of modern Tamil Poetry) and myself spoke on the issue at hand. Sa. Devadas, Amarantha (both committed translators and critics , both having a number of works to their credit  with the latter being a social-activist too whose initiatives alongwith her friends have borne fruit in the form of a  forum for translators which has become a registered body recently), Asadha, an upcoming writer and translator whose recent translation of the novel of Marques' The Chronicle of  a Death Foretold needs especial mention, poet 'Sathara' Malathy who has three poem-collections and a number of critical reviews and articles to her credit, whose name is a familiar one for the readers of e-magazines, especially Thinnai(her mother who is now 70 years of age has recently brought forth two of her short-story-collections from the numerous writings from her five decades of life), poet Shankararamasubramanian , showed their solidarity by presenting papers in absentia, which were read out by their friends and fellow-writers.

All those who  spoke on the occasion condemned the fascist approach of those who went to the poet's house with the specific intention of causing embarrassment to his family and also fear. The need for a balanced approach in registering our protests against a piece of work was stressed by one and all. Mr.Marx observed that there are various other forms of intimidatory tactics too in vogue, in the literary circle and emphasized the need to raise our voice against those too.  Writer Pa.Jayaprakasam and Poet Inquilab observed that while the writers cannot and should not shirk their social responsibilities, policing them is not proper. Also, in the name of purifying the society, attempting at crushing  'freedom of expression' is indeed condemnable, said they. Mr.'Booma' Eswaramurthy observed that in the bygone years there used to be heated arguments between the warring groups, but beyond that there prevailed a healthy comraderie and goodwill too, which is sadly absent today. By resorting to intimidatory tactics one can never hope to arrive at the proper interpretation of a writer's work, remarked Mr.Manushyaputhran who insisted the need to be familiar with the rich cultural and literary heritage of Tamil before evaluating a creative work. Poet Vennila and Mr.Suryachandran spoke on the way women writing poetry are abused and harassed to the extent of crushing their creative urge. Poet Kadarkarai observed that human body is the very basis of life and that there is no need to feel agitated over the usage of such words as 'yoni' etc. Poet Shankara rama subramanian's paper posed the query why a poet whose all other works were allowed to remain in the dark, should be penalized in this way for a mere one or two  poems of his, that too without arriving at its layers of meaning, and branded as 'anti-social'. And, in the manner of 'selective amnesia' the targeted poet's specific poems only are highlighted repeatedly and the rest conveniently overlooked or blacked-out while evaluating , which is doing injustice to the poet.

The other 'papers' too provided different but relevant perspectives and insights about the theme of the Meet. As Mr. Veli Rangarajan rightly pointed out, it is high time such debates took place in right earnest so as to achieve a co-ordination  among writers of various 'schools' and 'styles' and this Meet proved a worthwhile initiative in this direction.

Before closing , I would like to present two or three 'points to ponder'.  Though Law is for all of us, when we know that the powers-that-be, especially  in the case of the Tamils, are always nurturing   mediocre writers and putting on the mantle of a moralist, how  useful it would be to seek its help  in protecting our interests as ' serious writers'?   When we write something very radical , are we to feel unduly worried over 'obscene anonymous calls' which even ordinary ladies face in their day-to-day life?  And , what are we going to do about those so-called veteran literary critics who evalaluate a work with pre-conceived notions about the writer and who feels confident that he can make or mar a writer's reputation with his critical evaluation and who wantonly presents a wrong picture of the whole work?  What about those critics who  pen scandal in the name of 'literary criticism or use  this 'review business ' for self-promotion? 

ramakrishnanlatha@yahoo.com