Meena Kandasamy: a poet for today

I'm a big fan of Indian/Tamil poet Meena Kandasamy. I keep up with her Twitter updates and read and re-read her work.

Earlier this year, she got in somewhat of a scrap when she championed her point of view after weighing in on a festival associated with a university in April. Organized by the traditionally "low-caste" Dalits, the festival which featured beef dishes being served, outraged some right-wing Hindu nationalists who threatened violence.

When Kandasamy tweeted her happiness at the ultimate success of the festival, the reaction was violent and fierce, many people making horrific threats against her. As one organization put it:

It appears that Meena Kandasamy has been singled out for abuse at least partly because she is a bold and outspoken woman who expresses her opinion freely in the public sphere. The fact that she is a Dalit, especially one whose work focuses on caste annihilation, linguistic identity and feminism, clearly makes her even more of a target.

It's eerie how universal this impulse is: that radical religious fundamentalists (no matter which variety) use violence or threats of violence to any point of view they deem threatening to their outlook.

Though things seem to have blown over for now, I have been meaning to write about Kandasamy anyway for a while and praise her passionate and powerful poems, her bravery in writing what she wants to write (despite threats and criticism), and her general intelligence and creativity. Some poems feel positively ancient in their reliance on imagism and straightforward language:



Cinquains

Morning Song

Wet pink
And dusty grey
The sky begins to blush.
Some sleepy careless charm welcomes
Daybreak.

Even Song

Azure
And pink gold hues
The smug sky at twilight
A final flush of fulfilment
Night falls.


I am almost reminded of Tang Dynasty poets, Du Fu or Li Po: bursts of images and colors which stand in for a vague emotional absence. Her book Ms Militancy contains some fascinating poems that reflect and refract the history of her caste and gender but they are highly personal and evocative as well.

On a highly personal note, when Kandasamy was in Montreal a couple of years ago for the Blue Met, we hopped a train out west and hit Ottawa and then Regina (together with two other writers including the charming and elegant Mr. K. Satchidanandan). I remember hitting a bar in Regina with them, a quiet (and chilly) Tuesday night in downtown Regina, drinking a beer in a gay bar because we were all curious what a gay bar in Regina, Saskatchewan would be like (answer: quiet). It was a nice trip and Meena and Satchi were both very likeable and down to earth.

In all three cities we traveled to, Kandasamy was raved about, people thrilled at her readings, her poems, and her quiet intelligence.

Celebration of Indian Writing...

One event that we are really looking forward to having at our Festival is called Voices From India and the Diaspora, part of the 2011 Blue Metropolis Celebration of Indian Writing.

Picture it: CBC Writers and Company host Eleanor Wachtel on stage with Amitav Ghosh, Bharati Mukherjee, and K. Satchidanandan, talking about what Indian literature today MEANS and where it's going. What does it mean to be an "Indian writer" today, particularly since two of the three writers named above live (at least part of the year) in the US?

Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh is one of North America's most well-respected modern novelists. His 2008 book Sea of Poppies is a powerful story set just before the onset of the Opium Wars in India and contains a motley cast of characters: from a poor uneducated rural housewife on the run and her simple peasant lover, to a French orphan, to an English upstart and sailor.   The first book of a planned trilogy (the second installment, River of Smoke, is due to be released by Penguin-Canada in the summer), Ghosh's writing is full of beauty, skill, and a pure and simple love of language. Indeed, Ghosh's play with words makes it clear that he is, even more than most writers, a wordsmith with a stunning amount of knowledge about the history of various languages. Yet in the end, despite his skill, Sea of Poppies is simply a good story, something many writers' works could benefit from. Short-listed for the Booker Prize, it is one of the most memorable novels I read in preparation for this Festival and I am already planning to read it again...

Bharati Mukherjee

Bharati Mukherjee has lived in North America for much of her career, in Montreal and Toronto and now in Berkeley, California. She has written several novels, three collections of short stories, and a number of journalistic pieces and books. Her latest work, Miss New India (set for release in May), traces the life of a modern young woman in India's new technologically oriented society. In a starred review, Booklist said of Miss New India, "Each character fascinates, and every detail glints with irony and intent, as Mukherjee brilliantly choreographs her compelling protagonist's struggles against betrayal, violence, and corruption in a dazzling plot."

K. Satchidanandan is one of India's most well-respected and prolific poets and editors. His new work, While I Write, is a stunning collection of pieces which demonstrate his accute and sharp view of human nature.

With CBC's Eleanor Wachtel, one of North America's most well-respected arts journalists (and literary interviewers), the conversation is sure to be a fascinating and enlightening one. Don't miss it--tickets for this one are selling fast.

Eleanor Wachtel