LITERATURE AS A LIABILITY
Dr. Jernail S. Anand
We don’t want light. We want darkness, in which we could pursue our dark passions.
If we look at the focus of studies in modern times, scales have shifted away from the study of literature and greater emphasis is being placed on the study of subjects which are directly in demand for the purpose of jobs. Only those things are studied in schools and colleges which make students sharp of understanding, quick at decision making, and fast at the art of problem solving. The focus of studies, and the prized positions for which the cream of the students aspire and work assiduously, are top IT jobs with millions in packages, or positions of power and wealth in civil services.
In a scenario, where people are bewitched by the political and bureaucratic power, and wealth, it is but natural that students tilt towards subjects which deliver them into plum positions of society. Now, look at literature, a field which has been sent to margins, and now being obliterated altogether, being replaced by language studies, and teaching of letter writing and draft making. No one can contest if, as we go along, we improve our teaching techniques, and introduce new subjects. But, if we just reduce to nothingness subjects which have always remained the grandeur of universities, it is a serious setback to the idea of education at a whole.
In a society which is being controlled by power lobbies, and machines, and where tastes are being dictated, and human nature is under close scrutiny of AI and other appliances, everything can be digitalized and documented except human mind, his imagination, his feelings, and how a man reacts differently at different occasions to the same stimuli. Psychology is a science, but not an exact science, because human mind cannot be fully brought on the laptop screen. Tentative decisions are made with results which too are approximate. Literature which studies human mind, his psychology, his passions, his joy, and his pain, has revolted against regimentation and digitalization, and herein lies the danger of revolt to an organized society which believes in power and control.
Look at the plight of teachers in schools and colleges. They are booked and copy-booked the whole day, without a moment for themselves, when they can breathe free. Same is the condition of students. No time to look away from the syllabus books. The Principals are happy, now they have made every one busy, and there is no nonsense like students indulging in lofty thoughts, studying great men, and learning arts which relate to higher learning. From books to more books, this is our studies nowadays. From marks to more marks is their trek. And if they top the lists, newspapers capture headlines. And there the game ends.
Literature and Free Thought
Literature is on the losing end, and it is being eliminated, for the reason that it believes in free thought. It believes in the life of the mind. It believes in ethics, beauty, art – things which do not go well with the matter-of-fact practitioners of pratical sense. If we look back, challenge to the political power always came from educational institutions. Because universities were the places where people could study great masters, had time to discuss and debate. Now, also, debates are held, but they do not relate to philosophy. They relate to Shark Tank.
Moreover, the world has learnt the art of turning literature into a commodity, as it has done with religion. A noble activity, which is meant to refine human sensibility, can lose its own sensitivity if it is reduced to an economic activity, a passion for success and awards. The genuine man of literature has been pushed out of the margins, while those who can fight it out, pay it out, buy it out, stay in the field, with laurels. If literature does not subdue, rather gives rise to the running sensations of success and wealth formation, best sellers and copies sold, I wonder it can do the job it is basically expected to do.
Literature has become a liability for the society as a whole, when it resists the attempts to commercialise it and it fails to yield returns in terms of money and power. It is a light which shows us the path. Herein lies the problem. We don’t want light. We want darkness, in which we could pursue our dark passions.
Another major reason why literature has become a defunct field of study, relates to how the leaders of the world behave. Politics and real life is a field of a cutting-edge race of macabre lies. Literature does not fit into a world which has no stake in truth, goodness, honesty, integrity and values like ethics.
If we want a better world, we shall have to revive literature and bring mankind back from the brink of unrealistic dreams of high life based on power and wealth. Else, the drift into the morass of a world of flimsiness, artificiality, shallowness and duplicity is inevitable, and irresistible.
Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, with an opus of 180 plus books, is Laureate of the Seneca, Charter of Morava, Franz Kafka and Maxim Gorky awards. His name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. Anand is a towering literary figure whose work embodies a rare fusion of creativity, intellect, and moral vision. He’s not just an Indian author but a global voice, challenging readers to confront the complexities of existence while offering hope through art and ethics. If Tagore is the serene sage of a colonial past, Anand is the fiery prophet of a chaotic present. Recently he dedicated hos collection of 12 epics Epicacia Vol 1 and Vol 2 to Serbia and Dr Maja Herman Sekulic.
