ACK/SCIK :- On "Avva", a poem by P. Lankesh

[C. P. Ravikumar]

On "Avva" -- a poem by Lankesh
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"Avva" and "Avva II" are two poems by Lankesh. The second poem
was written twenty six years after "Avva" was received with
great enthusiasm by the critics. The first poem is a tribute
to his mother, a rustic woman who lived an uncomplicated life.
The second is a continuation of the first poem, where the poet
ponders how much of his mother is still alive in him after he
has live a civilized life in the city for so many years.

"Avva" was written when the poet lost his mother. The poem
begins by comparing mother to mother earth. "nannavva
phalavattAda kappu nela" -- my mother is fertile black land.
The poet remembers how physically strong his mother once was.
She once lifted an entire "palla" of corn and won the appreciation of her
husband, who bought her an ornament for her shoulders.
She was a peasant woman, who spent most of her life
farming. Her youth was spent in a torn saree.
And now that she is gone, the poet reflects, how old was she?
How many times did she celebrate the new year, baking
hOlige in front of her earthen stove? How many times
did she shed tears -- for money, for a crop that was destroyed,
for a calf that died. How many times did she go chasing after
a buffalo that ran away?

She was not a Savitri, Seethe, or UrmiLe. She was not the
placid, pretty, and serious women we come across in History.
She was unlike the wives of Gandhiji and Ramakrishna [Paramahamsa].
She did not worship Gods. She did not listen to stories
from the puraNa. She did not wear vermillon on her
forehead even when her husband was live and kicking!

What was she then?

"banada karadiya hAge
chikka makkaLa hottu
gandanna sAkidaLu kAsu gantikkidaLu
nonda nAyiya hAge baidu, goNagi, guddADidaLu"

She lived like a wild bear. She had small children to rear.
She had her huband to care. She counted her pennies and made a
bundle. Like a dog that was kicked, she barked, complained,
and faught her life through.

All her pettiness was not without reason. She had to care for
her family. She would not tolerate if her son was falling into
bad habit or if her husband was cheating on her.

"Ike urideddALu
maga kettare, ganDa bEre kaDe hOdAga mAtra"

She did not know what the Bhagavadgita was. All she cared for was
for her meagre possessions, her farming, her children, a roof
on top, a square meal, a warm blanket, and respectful living
among the fellowfolk.

"ivaLige mechhuge, kritagyateya kaNNeeru:
hettaddakke, sAkiddakke; maNNalli baduki
maneyinda holakke hOdante
taNNage mAtaduttalE horatuhodaddakke"

"I shed tears of gratitude and praise.
For having given me the gift of life, for bringing me up.
For having lived in the soil
And for having silently departed
Like she were going from her home to her farmland."

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C.P. Ravikumar

[sreedhara moorth t.r.]

Lankesh also has written in the same vein about his father, though
this is an essay in one of the regular weekly columns in his Lankesh
Patrike.
He has selected some good essays(written over a period of 10 Years
-1981-1991) & has compiled & named it as teke-tippaNi.
Unlike his mother he says, who was a ghayyLi, his father was a
sadu praNi.He always minded his work lived a very simple life.

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- Sridhar