Launch of ELSA and 150th Birth Anniversary of Rudyard Kipling

ENGLISH LITERARY SOCIETY OF AGRA (ELSA)

The Launch of ELSA and 150^th Birth Anniversary of Rudyard Kipling

Youth Hostel, Agra

12th March, 2016

Welcome address by Mr. Brij Khandelwal

Respected chief guest Prof. Ghosh, friends and lovers of English,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the English Literary Society of Agra.

At last,  we have succeeded in launching a fitting platform for promoting, enriching and sharing our love and fascination for a language that has now become a part of our heritage, and even an instrument of empowerment. ELSA has been formed to connect with people who love English, who use English though they may not necessarily be ‘English.’ 

This forum will discuss the current trends in the language. This is not a book-reading club or a festival committee. We are serious about the teaching standards of English in our schools and colleges. We are concerned about research and academic work done in English and would also focus on modern-day writing.

Like it or not, English has become a primary requirement in getting a good job. Many of our students fail to qualify at the interview level and the reason cited often is ‘poor communication skills.’ Like it or not, for most educated Indians, English has become the first choice. The ‘global village’ scenario and the advent of internet and Information technology, coupled with increased mobility, have enabled English language to spread its wings.

In the past, we have seen successive governments at the centre and in the states confused and uncertain about the language policy. For political reasons, English has been the scapegoat. One party introduces, the other shunts out English at the primary level. Little wonder then we see mushrooming of private coaching centres, English speaking courses, and the so-called English-medium schools. The goal is to enjoy English. The poets and writers we read in schools now have a different meaning and depth for many of us. 

A society that does not respect or nurture literary values is a poor society. Literature helps refine our tastes, provide motivation, and guide our path to contentment and enrichment in myriad ways. I like to quote Caitlin Skyvorc: "I study literature because I believe there is power in stories. Literature is both intensely personal as well as a communal experience. I love examining how words, sentences, characters, plot-lines and tropes reveal who we are as humans. Humanity is a complicated thing, and requires an infinite amount of words to describe and analyze. That's the joy of studying literature, there is always a new reality to discover."

Study of literature humanizes people. Literature opens new windows of understanding and the intricate patterns of human bondage with nature and the immediate surroundings. We are told literature is a mirror to society, a mirror that does not hide the ugly scars but brings the reality in stark focus. With these words I now request Prof. Nibir  K. Ghosh to deliver his talk on Rudyard Kipling whose 150th birth anniversary is being celebrated this year. 

150^th Birth Anniversary of Rudyard Kipling

Keynote Speech by Nibir K. Ghosh

It is sheer delight to speak as Chief Guest to the august gathering on the “contemporary relevance of Rudyard Kipling” whose 150^th Birth Anniversary is being celebrated under the banner of English Literary Society of Agra today. Kipling has been a controversial writer and has often been branded a “Jingo Imperialist.” At the very outset I point out how we often jump to conclusions through our bias and prejudice and destroy relationships instead of holding them in bonds of harmony. As an instance, I refer to his poem, “Ballad of East and West”, which many of us may not have cared to read.

For over a century now Rudyard Kipling’s poetic utterance, “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” has been used time and again, both in and out of context, by all and sundry to define visible boundaries that demarcate civilizations characterized by the East and the West. In more recent times Samuel Huntington’s hypothesis stated in his 1996 book, The Clash of Civilizations, - that the fundamental source of conflict in the new world will be cultural - seems to further reiterate the cultural divide indicated by Kipling’s remark. Though the combined forces of globalization have in recent time decisively enhanced mobility across economic and political frontiers, the events of 9/11 which reduced The World Trade Center to ground zero in the twinkling of an eye and perpetuated terrorism on global scale thereafter have set the world rethinking in terms of an imminent clash of civilizations.

It is indeed ironical that Kipling’s most misunderstood statement is generally used by those who see an unbridgeable gulf between the two civilizations – one supposedly ultramodern and the other gradually rising out of a relatively primitive past. Endowed by the bliss of ignorance, they tend to ignore, perhaps deliberately, the true import of  Kipling’s observation.

In both spirit and flesh Kipling’s poetic statement, made more than a century ago, ought to inspire those who espouse the idea that civilizations should never mix and that cultural barriers are insurmountable. In the present era of communication and satellite revolutions it may be futile and superfluous to imagine that “mortal millions” should remain isolated and “alone” in inviolable cultural isles of their own.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the author of the Nobel Prize winning book Gulag Archipelago, had declared way back in 1970 that “Mankind's sole salvation lies in everyone making everything his business; in the people of the East being vitally concerned with what is thought in the West, the people of the West vitally concerned with what goes on in the East.” But, unfortunately, those whose visions are closed to diversity and tolerance on account of irrational mindsets refuse to see and learn how bridging the gulf created by barriers and boundaries can make the world safer and more beautiful.

What especially interests me in Kipling is his firm grasp of the true inwardness of all things Indian. We find this abundantly reflected in the major segment of Kipling's writings. Be it The Jungle Book, Kim or any other work we are bound to agree with the fact stated in the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony Speech that his writings “have brought India nearer home to the English nation than has the construction of the Suez Canal.”

The Jungle Book (1894)

Most of us can easily recall how we were drawn to the lilting lyrics of Gulzar in the song musically rendered by Vishal Bharadwaj :jungle, jungle baat chali hai, pata chala hai/ Chaddi pehen ke phool khila, phool khila hai” in the popular TV serial based on the The Jungle Book  that became hugely popular with all age groups.

In this collection of stories, Mowgli is first raised by wolves before being put out on his own and his adventurous travel through the jungle to find the human village. He learns the meaning of real friendship and trust from inhabitants of the jungle like Baloo the bear, King Louie of the apes, the hypnotic snake Kaa and the wise panther Bagheera. The book has positive messages about friendship, responsibility, and finding family in unexpected places. Though many of the characters are self-serving or outright evil, the ones who succeed in life are the generous, caring ones. There is plenty to make us visit The Jungle Book again and again both for its educative and entertainment values. It is also significant that Walt Disney’s account of the book extended the outreach of the book to international audiences and readers. Incidentally, this was the last cartoon feature Disney was directly involved with before his death.

In this age of environmental crisis Kipling’s book offers much food for thought reminding us of Rousseau’s opening statement in the Social Contract: “Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains.”

“If” by Rudyard Kipling

(first appeared in his collection Rewards and Fairies in 1909)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

The poem is inspirational, motivational, and a set of rules for 'grown-up' living. It contains mottos and maxims for life, and the poem is also a blueprint for personal integrity, behaviour and self-development. “If” is perhaps even more relevant today than when Kipling wrote it, as an ethos and a personal philosophy.

The two lines of the poem,

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

 And treat those two impostors just the same.”

inscribed above the entrance to Wimbledon’s Centre Court, inspires those who contend for one of tennis’s most treasured trophies.

One can draw, in both success and despair, abundant inspiration from each line of the poem for ways and means to face the struggle of life with equanimity and grace. To a world crazy for mantras of instant success, this poem is a vital blueprint for a life nobly lived and a duty well done.

Khushwant Singh rightly called this poem “a message from the Bhagvad Gita in English.” I too am of the opinion that had Kipling not written a single line besides this poem, this poem in itself would have ensured his presence in the hall of immortal fame.”

• ·     Dr. Nibir K. Ghosh is UGC Emeritus Professor, Agra College, Agra, Senior Fulbright Fellow 2003-04, University of Washington, Seattle, USA & Chief Editor, Re-Markings (www.re-markings.com).