A globetrotting professor, she is on her heels delivering keynotes, chairing national and international seminars, acting as visiting professor in foreign universities. She contributes insightful treatise and erudite volumes.
All the same, her first love is to forge sweet and sonorous rhythms out of her hearty impulses and prolific imaginations vocalising the beauty and the anxiety of people across classes and ages and women in various conditions of sufferings that she witnesses daily.
Professor and Head of Department of English, Berhampur University Dr Shruti Das has the distinction of having a place in ALA Directory of Scholars, Princeton University, USA and in the Bibliography of Commonwealth Writers as a poet besides being the Editor of Literary Oracle, an international journal of literature and culture.
Her ensemble comprises as much awards and accolades as with creative and critical books like “From Margin to the Centre”, a Toni Morrison Reader, “Contemporary Communicative English”, “Language Learning Skills: Teacher’s Perception”, “The Widening Gyre”, “Rethinking Environment: Literature, Ethics and Praxis”, ”Form and Finesse: Business Communication and Soft Skills” (2017), “A Daughter Speaks: a Collection of poems”, “Lidless Eyes”, “Performing the Nation: Memory and Desire in Contemporary Literature”, “Earth Song” and “Environment and Culture in the Anthropocene”.
In an interview to The Pioneer, Dr Das spoke to Sugyan Choudhury about her creative journey besides opining on the New Education Policy-2020 and the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act 2020.
How does the New Educational Policy (NEP) 2020 lay emphasis on the learning of English language?
English has established itself as a window language and been treated as a vehicle of scientific knowledge in third world countries. We in India are diverse in regional languages. We do face linguistic problems in accessing the culture, literature and the rich indigenous scientific knowledge inherent in the various regions.
Therefore, learning English is essential for participation in global economy and acquiring global scientific knowledge. On the flip side, it has been noticed that the recent generations have developed apathy for their mother tongues which might lead to annihilation of cultures in the race for homogenisation.
I think the NEP 2020 hasn’t made much change in the education scenario so far as learning English at the primary level is concerned. Maybe, the expression is different, but the strategy is almost the same. Young ones will learn in their mother tongues till Grade-5 and thereafter learn English as second language. In fact, children used to learn English from Grade-4 and started school a little later than the now-prescribed age of 3. So, I don’t think there is going to be any marked difference in acquiring English. The NEP has made it clear that no language will be imposed on a child. That’s welcome.
As alleged, has the autonomy of universities been violated by the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act?
It will impose curbs on free thinking and research. It contradicts the UGC norms and defeats the national agenda of autonomy and the vision for taking education and research to a global level. Each university has its specific mission in research and specialised departments.
Recruitment by the OPSC will homogenise the system and cultivate a culture of failed missions in the colleges. There will not be any motivation for competition as the faculty bank will not provide customised faculty.
It is ludicrous that Associate Professors and Professors, who should be specialists in their subjects, will be recruited by the OPSC after they write a common entrance exam in complete dissonance with UGC’s mission and vision. On the one hand recruitment entrusted to the OPSC because VCs have been corrupt, and on the other the VCs are rewarded being allowed to function for a year more.
Will this not widen corruption? Bureaucratisation of universities and syndicates will simply take the State back 20 years. The situation will be like in Bihar where the universities under State control have become nonperformers struggling to get “B” Grade in NAAC.
How far has your poetic diction been influenced by your Guardian Angel Toni Morison?
I appreciate your comment and observation. I always remember Morrison’s words that what she wanted to read was not written; so, she decided to write it. My encounter with her books go way back to when I was about 19.
Morrison’s writings are bold, matter-of-fact offering a kaleidoscope of human pain and angst portrayed in absolute lyrical language. I have been fascinated by her diction and simple metaphors. Like Morrison, I became the every-woman and wished to express what they could not.
What’re your views on Indian aesthetics and Western tradition?
As a critic of literature, I would evaluate and comment pitting one against the other. But if you ask me as a creative writer, I respect the beauty in both Indian aesthetics, which is way more nuanced than its western counterpart, and Western tradition for what it has taught me. Amalgamation of the two enriches the understating and appreciation of literature and life.
Do we lack Government patronisation in showcasing our literary talents on the international arena with the Indian writers’ works in translations?
The literary landscape is rich in tenor and texture. With digitalisation and e-book stores, the writer today is accessible to a multitude of readers. There are many literary talents who are candid and experiment in form and language.
I see a great future for Indian literature. And yes, we do need to translate more and more not only into English to reach literary connoisseurs globally but also engage in intra-translation across regional languages so that readers can get a taste of the richness of the Bhasa literatures as well as global literature.
I believe the Government has been neglecting translation for decades now. The new NEP 2020 seems promising in this regard but the reality is yet to be seen.
Could you tell about your creative life and how was it moulded?
I was lucky to be born into a family of litterateurs and storytellers. Being the youngest, I had the advantage of spending a lot of quality time with my father Dr Bikram Das, a writer and a poet, and my grandmothers who were repositories of folktales and myths which strengthened my cultural heritage.
My grandfather Pandit Nilakantha Das was a constant inspiration. Although dead by the time I reached my formative age, he was a presence in the family through anecdotes associated with him and his literature for all ages of people.
As my father’s regular companion, I used to devour the books he brought from his travels in the country and abroad. I started scribbling poems and short stories.
Although I write in my mother tongue, the major body of my writing is in English, the language that came naturally to me. I was again lucky to have studied English literature at the erstwhile Ravenshaw College. The electrifying and mesmerising atmosphere of Ravenshaw in all its moods nurtured my spirit.
The colonial buildings and lawns, the fabulous library fed my hunger and my dreams. Then, it was my wander lust. I have travelled in most of the countries in Europe, some Asian countries and Canada and America.
I have felt the vibration of nature and humanity; and the pangs of poesy have urged me to pen down my feelings.