As we were about to enter into the corridors of the BJB College, Bhubaneswar, a group of young boys and girls with beaming faces, courteous manners looking unmistakably like students of literature pounced upon us (myself and my photographer Sunil) and led us to their language lab where Prof Sailendra Narayan Tripathy sat ensconced being deeply engrossed in his studies. This lab is tied with the Government of Odisha and the IIT Kharagpur. This is where Dr Tripathy administers remedial measures for his students through discussions as he believes in the platonic concept that the best part of education is carried on through conversation. Tripathy began his career as a lecturer in the JKBK College and climbing the hierarchical ladder is presently positioned as the Head of the Department of English, BJB College. A kaleidoscopic personality, he is an educationist, a poet, a litterateur and an art critic all rolled into one. Writing poetry, attending TV panel discussions, listening to music, reading books are his favourite pastime. He was also president of the Rotary International. A friend, philosopher and guide to his students, he is endeared to them as his counselling is like the invigorating mantras and intoxicating capsules pulsating with life energy that inspire the learners to achieve their crowning successes by attaining the heights of their glories. In an interview to The Pioneer, Prof Tripathy spoke to Sugyan Choudhury at the well-furnished language lab being flanked by his students Sohan, Sweta, Biswanath, Rajashree and Sailesh.
As civilisation advances, studies in humanities decline. What’s your response to this observationIJ
In a way, you are correct. People have lost their interest in study of humanities. But that is not totally correct. We have become extremely selfish, greedy and mundane. You see more and more people are joining the corporate sectors, business, commerce and merchandise. But humanities hold the panacea for all our ills, evils, problems and predicaments. We are absolutely nowhere sans humanities.
It is observed that the roll strength of students in humanities streams of your college is coming down in comparison to and in contrast with the science streams. Is it correctIJ
No, Sir. This is not correct absolutely. In fact, our students in humanities are quite large in number. There is a ratio of rising activities in humanities in our college. Students who want to excel in life take to English, Economics, Sociology and Psychology, etc., etc. to excel in life. I believe that studies in humanities are excellent mediums to connect with life.
As a professor of English literature, what’s your response to Bob Dylan’s receiving the Nobel PrizeIJ
Bob Dylan is a wonderful choice. While I was doing my PhD on Allen Ginsberg, he used to talk of Bob Dylan at that point of time. This shows that Dylan was there very much for a quite long time. He holds a considerable influence on American psyche, society, civilisation and thinking. He is a revolutionary singer whose songs are densely poetic. In fact, he was saying there were changes coming in the American society, and he had in fact sung a song “Changes are ad coming”. Even Salman Rushdie, who has never himself bagged a Nobel Prize so far, agreed that Bob Dylan is a wonderful choice. Of course, some people do not accept him as a poet, but as per tradition, the poet and the singer were one at one point of time. Even in our country, in places like Assam and Bengal, there is still the tradition of the bowl singers wherein they sing their minstrelsy while roaming on the street. In the same vein, Bob Dylan, reflecting the angst and isolation in his poems, has breathed oxygen into poetry. His poems are simple as it should be. Poems should be sung; otherwise, poetry will die. He was unwilling to call back to Nobel Prize committee for a long time; and now that he has agreed to receive the prize, it is a great happening. It is good news.
No one from India has bagged the Nobel Prize after 1913. What could be the lacunae by our tribe of writers and poetsIJ
This is a wonderful question. I certainly believe that there is a Western bias against Indian writers. Salman Rushdie ought to have been awarded Nobel long since, even Vikram Seth too. Mahatma Gandhi should have been awarded the Nobel Prize for peace and even for literature. Jawaharlal Nehru had also great contributions to literature through his writings. Although they have been great in their own ways sans the Nobel, yet the Western bias against Indian writers is clearly discernible.
There is a notion that Indian writers are unable to bag this coveted prize for lack of proper translation of Indian literature. What is your considered opinion about itIJ
This is also a very interesting question. It is indeed difficult to translate Indian literature, particularly the sublime part of it into the mundane Western literature. I want to cite you an example in this regard. When Tagore read out his translated poems of Geetanjali for the first time in london, W B Yeats remarked that it was no poetry but grammar. Then, Tagore retorted that those poems of his were translated and edited by C F Andrews and Annie Besant. Then, Tagore read out his own translation of Geetanjali and that touched the poetic sensibility of Yeats, who felt ecstatic and wrote a foreword to it. Thus, a translation bureau should be set up by both the Central Government and each State Government wherein creative people should be employed so that they only can translate creatively. Then, possibility of Nobel for our writers will probably not be an impossible bargain. leave translation, we have our writers like Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie about whom I told earlier. Even Manoj Das and Jayant Mahapatra are writing long since. Are they not interpreting lifeIJ Then, what is wrong with them to have been awarded. They are only promoting Western literature. That should come to an end. But then, we are not disillusioned. Some Indian may achieve this in near future, for I believe that they also serve those who stand and wait.
What is your observation regarding the Students’ Union elections that plague the institutions with campus violenceIJ
I believe there should be meritocracy. But everywhere, there is mobocracy in universities and colleges. The entire campus is affected. Students who come with the hope of real learning get disturbed. What right has a handful of persons to hijack the entire academic atmosphere of a college or a university in the name of electionsIJ It is time the Government thought over this issue. As an academician, I do not want to dwell on it any further.
What are the equations among the teachers and students in an autonomous institution like your BJB CollegeIJ
There was a time when the teacher was a formidable figure, who created awe and terror. Gone are those days. We are in the 21st Century, and the old idea shall hold no water. Our students are far more infinitely equipped and intelligent. Since they are exposed to many ideas and innovations, we mix with our students, and there exists no hiatus between the teacher and the taught here. We understand the problems of our students. The 21st Century calls for a different kind of solution, and that is how we in the BJB College contribute to an ideal ambience by working together. A teacher and a student are both sides of a coin and one cannot exist and achieve recognition or excellence without the other.