By Hassan Cheruppa
Saudi Gazette
A THREE-DAY literary discourse, led by world-renowned Indian poet K. Satchidanadan in Riyadh recently, made an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by expatriate writers.
“The expatriate writers are in a ‘third space’ between their homeland and the host country with an identity crisis and not knowing where is their actual standing. They are confused what to write — either what they see or experience in the new place or those experiences back at home that they could still recollect,” Satchidanadan said.
Chilla, the literary wing of the Riyadh-based Keli Art and Cultural Forum, recently organized the event titled “Chilla World Literature 2017 with K. Satchidanadan,” as its second annual edition of the “Wor(l)d Beyond Boundaries” literary festival.
Apart from the session on “Diaspora and the Malayalam Literature in the Gulf”, there were sessions on the topics of “Culture and Politics of Reading”, “Poetry and Resistance”, “Indian Culture at Crossroads”, and “Three Poems: Three Phases of Satchidanandan Writing.”
In a highly inspiring speech, Satchidanadan dealt with diverse aspects of the diaspora writing. He noted that expatriate writers are struggling to uphold their language, culture and even geographical space that they left without fully absorbing the language and culture of the host country.
Commending the views of eminent diaspora writer Homi K. Bhabha, he said expatriate writers live in “a third space”.
“A few years ago, Indian expatriates living in Dubai asked me to pick the best collection of Malayalam poems available there. It was later published by one of the most popular book publishing firms in Kerala, Current Books. I gave the title ‘The Third Space’ to the anthology, as it implies the inner space of those who migrated from or driven out of their country, culture and language but at the same time they cannot become part of the people, culture, language and geographical space of the country where they reside,” he said.
Satchidanadan, who had served as the secretary of Indian Sahitya Akademi and editor of the journal “Indian Literature”, recalled his life in New Delhi for 25 years. “When I reached the Indian capital city for the first time, I experienced a cultural shock and in that shock I wrote a dozen poems, which were published under the title “Dilli Dallying.”
“This collection included one poem titled ‘The Third Tree,’ which symbolized the diaspora life which was quite unfamiliar to me and which evoked in me a feeling of alienation,” he said.
Author of more than 30 books of poems in 18 languages, including Arabic, in addition to several prose works, Satchidanadan had been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2011.
The renowned poet noted that there is no harmony or synchrony between an expatriate’s culture, language and other factors, and his present surroundings. Even in this conflict of identity, there are instances of the diaspora evoking in him new dimensions of creativity, and that is encouraging, he pointed out.
“A talented expatriate may write about something that he may not write if he was in his native place. I wrote many poems related to Kerala only because I lived outside Kerala. Several other Malayalam writers like M. Mukundan and O.V. Vijayan had the same experience.
“The expatriates can create a new environment for creativity through recollections of life back home. They may also be influenced by a change in perspectives that they did not have in their native place, besides benefiting from the experiences of mingling with other cultures and surroundings,” he said.
Satchidanadan also drew attention to the advantages of expatriate writers today. “There has been a qualitative change in the experiences of expatriates. In the past, there were only isolated migration from India to Ceylon, Malaya and Singapore. But now there is a demographic movement with the massive migration of people who share the same language and culture,” he said.
“The technological advancement is supplementing it as we do not have the feelings of alienation experienced by the early migrants. Today we have the advantage of feeling very close to our native places every moment. This led to the creation of a ‘virtual space’ with a feeling of proximity to homeland even though we lived far apart,” he said.
Satchidanadan urged expatriate writers to get out of the box of rigid identity. Some writers cannot get rid of rigid feelings of regionalism, casteism and religious parochialism even though they travel to America, the Gulf and other parts of the world. He also underscored the need to take advantage of a new language and experience acquired in the host country, apart from nostalgic recollections.
Various sessions of the discourse witnessed lively interactions and discussions by young Keralite writers in Riyadh and neighboring cities.
The inaugural session started with a keynote speech of Satchidanadan on the topic of “Culture and Politics of Reading.”
Noushad Kormath, coordinator of Chilla, presided. K.R. Unnikrishnan, chief patron of Keli, presented a memento to Satchidanandan. M. Faisal briefed the audience on the activities of Chilla. Keli President Mohamed Kunhu Vallikunnam, General Secretary Rasheed Melethil, Joseph Athirunkal, Dasthakeer, Dayanandan Harippad, and T.R. Subramanyan spoke while Jayachandran Neruvambram welcomed the gathering. Priya Santhosh, Jayachandran Neruvambram and M. Faisal were moderators. Iqbal Kodungallur, Nijas, and Siyad Mannancheri recited poems.
A traditional art form called Cholliyattom was staged on the occasion.
