Is there an Indian way of thinking? A.K.Ramanujan, in his celebrated essay, ‘Is there an Indian way of thinking?’, tries to answer the question under consideration in various ways, by laying stress on each of the words. Taking into consideration to discuss whether there ‘is’ an Indian way of thinking, the uniqueness of India as possessing certain component factors which distinguish this country from others in its formation of thought which reflects in its writings can be evaluated. According to A.K.Ramanujan, the Indian way of thinking was fostered by “Great and Little Traditions, ancient and modern, rural and urban, classical and folk” attributes which are central to India. India with its apparent diversity of language, caste, traditions and religion seeks to acquire influence from all these aspects to shape a distinctive thought process of its own. Literature in India is indeed a production which has reproduced tons and tons of useful and unforgettable materials, borrowing practically from every aspect of Indian indigenous life, both rural and urban.
The Influence of Mythology on Indian Thought
Mythology in Indian context is perhaps the most utilised and most admired for every generation and genre. History bears proof to every fact that Indians from every age, time, place and dynasty have expressed their ardent desire to be enriched and knowledgeable in myths, mythology, legends and folklore. Irrespective of belonging to the contemporary age or being placed in erstwhile era, Indian mythology and its umpteen sections have rested their permanent influence on Indian literature as a whole, which by their own right, can be considered a literary genre itself. Mythological themes in Indian literature first bear its most influential and destiny-defying traces in the two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. These colossal epics and its plots, sub-plots and further additional plots make these two stand out from every other mythological series in ancient Indian literature. Indeed, Indian literature is saturated with several types of mythological characters and their portrayal have also been one that bears relevance very much with the contemporary Indian society. For instance, in Mahabharata, the clash of the titans, Pandavas and a nd Kauravas, or their familial ties and cold-wars, Lord Krishna`s rendition of the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, or even, Shakuni`s infamous and manipulative game of dice and its consequences owing to sheer greed, makes these episodes stand out manifestly in present Indian context of strife or antagonism with each other. Ramayana too elaborates about lust for kingdom and power and a wife`s devotion to her husband, or a brother`s passionate respect for his elder ones, in the formation of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana or the demon Ravana and his ambition have been hugely celebrated in verse and poetic language, making the writers almost legend and myth-like themselves. Mythological theme in Indian English literature or regional literature has time and again mesmerised and captivated the section of readers in general. The gigantic proportions, the setting, the concept of families residing in a joint method, or the magnum opus work of art, make these contemporary Indian writers stand out in an entirely different genre altogether. As in Toru Dutt (‘Lakshman’), Sarojini Naidu, Sri Aurobindo (‘Savitri’), or Shashi Tharoor (‘The Great Indian Novel’), Rabindranath Tagore have
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recurrently regained stronghold with mythology in their works. Symbolism and implicit references to mythology is one guiding factor that p resently counts in contemporary Indian literature, known to be quite a hit amongst all ages of readers. Religious Influence on Indian Thought
Literature in the Indian context, beginning from the ancient times, would never have been possible had it not been for the fact that religion and spiritual aspects had impressed upon it most profoundly. Religious influence upon Indian literature can be mostly counted into that historical period, which had made a transition from oral literature in India into written literature. Indian literature comprises everything which is included in the word `literature` in the broadest sense of the term: religious and mundane, epic and lyric, dramatic and didactic poetry, as well as narrative and scientific prose. However, in the forefront can be found religious literature and religious influence in Indian literature, beginning from the Vedic Period. Hymns, sacrificial songs, magic songs, myths and legends, sermons, theological treatises and polemic writings, text books of rituals and of religious order have all influenced the formation of an Indian way of thinking. The principal religions of the country which has influenced Indian writing are Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. As such, religious influence on Indian literature cannot just be ignored and stacked away in the haystack. Throughout the history of Indian literature, particular religious doctrines have constituted common threads. One such doctrine is karma - the chain of good and bad actions and their inevitable and predestined outcomes, which result in the reiterated birth and death of the human body. Karma is one of the main preoccupations of many Indian writers. The Freedom Struggle and Gandhian Influence on Indian Thinking
With the call for freedom struggle, there arose in the temperament of collective Indian humanity, a nationalistic fervour and an alienated feeling for anything foreign. Indian writers started to concentrate more and more to render local details strictly adhering the Indian view of life. This resulted in giving a tremendous contribution to Indian writing which was rendering with absolute fidelity and beau ty, the Indian surroundings which served as a background to the mighty freedom struggle, thereby contributing to the global appreciation of the Indian locale. There was a complimentary relation between the Indian struggle for Independence and Indian writing in English. Both provided to enrich the other. There was widespread reaction against western influence and the cultural and religious upheaval which arose during the time was fed and strengthened by the growing tide of Indian nationalism. The Era of political awakening or the Gandhian era relates to a period of 1900 to 1947. The writing of this period vibrates with intense patriotism and political awareness. Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu and H.N.Chattopadhyaya were celebrated patriots and freedom fighters. In their works, they presented a new vision of Mother India and infused inspiration in the hearts of Indian people. Although the poets of this period were influenced by romanticism, the nationalist fervour soon took over their poetry.
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M. K. Naik comments, “Indian Writing in English literature of the Gandhian age was inevitably influenced by the political and social epoch-making developments in Indian life.” He explains that Indian Writing in English in fact “discovered some of its most compelling themes” during the Gandhian era.” Gandhi is a mine of themes for writers and commentators though he himself never worked on any literary topic or genre. Dramatic reconstructions of Gandhiji’s life in fiction are presented in Indian English novels of Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R.K Narayan. Gandhiji insisted on high thinking and simple living which was reflected and highlighted by the literary English authors of the time, who in their novels and short stories, portrayed the real picture of the the-then society from various sides, thereby presenting the influence of Gandhi on Indian villages and towns, letting us a scope to probe how Gandhiji’s ways of developmental communication created effects on human lives bringing a sea change in their thoughts, views and living. Almost all of their novels represent events, which distinctly correspond to the examples of actual incidents, and teachings that Gandhiji in real life encoded during his visits at various places. The writers working in different languages in those days either were mostly persons who had come directly under Gandhiji’s influence, many had even taken part in the freedom movements, or they were highly influenced by his ideals. Their writings were immensely burdened with Gandhian idealism, lifestyle, his teachings, and anti-colonial stands. Gandhiji was so much part and form of any literary genre of that period that he made appearance in many dramas, novels, stories and in poems. In most of the cases, the Gandhian writers, especially the novelists and short story writers, made him an important, guest character or they made a local Gandhi replica and presented him in the light of Mahatma. The theme of Raja Rao’s ‘Kanthapura’ is the transfiguration of a village by the influence of Gandhi. Kanthapura sketches the step by step social development of a south Indian village Kanthapura, and its people, who following Gandhiji became successful not only in forming a Swadeshi or anti-colonial group and performing anti-colonial protests but also redeeming their village from the social evils of untouchability, Castesism, women backwardness, disunity and drinking. Post Independence Influences
On August 15,1947 India became independent. The common characteristics of preindependence Indo-Anglian literature such as n ationalistic fervour, romantic, mystical and lyrical approaches eagerly yielded place to hybridism, a blending of different cultural influences, an active syncretism, montage effects, mythic adaptations aimed at debunking the impression of the colonizer's pervasive power and the resultant anxiety of influence. Traces of the erstwhile poetic conventions still lingered in the fifties till P. Lall and a group of young poets founded the Writers Workshop in 1958. These poets ridiculed the "greasy, weak-spined and purple-adjectived spiritual poetry" and addressed the need to write in a "vital language" free from didacticism dealing "in concrete terms with concrete experience". Upto the nineteen eighties Indo- Anglian literature seemed to have focussed on a nagging sense of alienation from the mainstream culture of India, registering an excessive consciousness about using the colonizer's language during the period of rabid decolonization. A severe guilt syndrome seemed to oppress the poetic consciousness of the Indian writers writing in English. But the post-independence Indo-Anglian poets experienced a most debilitating embarrassment for using the language of the Other, that
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was so alien to indigenous culture. Although English was accepted as the link language for communication, higher education and technical knowledge, English as the medium of expression for creative writers invited censure and such poets felt not only marginalised but ostracized. Oppressed by a guilty conscience, the Indian poets writing in English experienced a sense of identity-crisis and as a result their integrity was flawed by lack of confidence, uncertainty and indecision. Their distress and desperation are registered in their poems which clearly signal their uneasiness and their simultaneous inability to use the mother tongue for the purpose of writing poetry. Writers like Nissim Ezekiel and R.Parthasarathy expresses their sense of being torn between two worlds through their poetry. An extract from Parthasarathy’s ‘Exile’ proves it. "He had spent his youth whoring after English gods There is something to be said for exile: you learn roots are deep. That language is a tree loses colour under another sky." Kamala Das also justifies this sense of guilt experienced by Indian writers in English in her ‘An Introduction’. “Don't write in English, they said, English is not your mother -tongue. Why not leave Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins, Every one of you? Why not let me speak in Any language I like? The language I speak Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses All mine, mine alone. It is half English, half Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest,” Poets like Kamala Das, through their poetry, created epoch making consequences by their absolute rendering with a frankness unusual in the Indian context, sensitive subjects like “skin’s lazy hungers”. Novelists like Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande and Arundhati Roy also gave voice to the experience of alienated self which reigned in the disillusioned post Independence era. Anita Desai’s ‘Clear Light of Day’, which revolves around two brothers and two sisters, portray the alienated self and mental agony of a delicate young woman trapped in the pattern of movement and stillness. She also employs images to portray the fragmentation and disintegration experienced by the characters who are victims of alienation. Arundhati Roy succeeds in expressing the bold topic of female sexual needs and seasoned it with a portrayal of the caste taboos deeply ingrained in the psyche of people in her ‘The God of Small Things’. The Indian thinking had matured now. From the rendering of an ideal romanticised world of literature, passing through the nationalistic reaction in writing, the Indian writer had now achieved skilful heights in the exploration of the individual psyche. Although a movement in similar terms had taken
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place in the West decades before, the time it took to reach the Indian shores can be justified owing to the digression provided by Indian nationalism. Many influences have gone into the composition of the ancient, elaborate and mysterious civilization of India, which itself is the background and context of the Indian way of thinking and subsequently, the Indian literature in English. The physical configuration of the land, with the sheer size and geographical variety of the sub-continent, the incursions of Greeks, Persians, Moghals, Europeans, the Islamic expansion of India, the rigid caste and class systems, the religious influences and the adven t of new religions, the strong mythological background, the Indian struggle for Independence- all deeply affected the nature of Indian thinking, which has throughout its history, shown a genius for absorption and persistence. Even though A.K.Ramanujan has expressed his view that Indian thinking is hypocritical and inconsistent, it has still shown strong signs of development an d maturity in that it has travelled far from the romantic preoccupations to a psychological strain, offering a worthy competition to the western counterpart of writing.
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