PROFESSOR Namvar Singh is no more. After battling a prolonged illness, he drew his last breath on February 19 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. The tributes that immediately followed his demise rightly noted that in his death the literary world had been left with an irreplaceable void. In the world of Hindi literature, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Namvar Singh was an institution in himself. His impeccable writing style and the debates that his works engendered kept the critical and creative landscape of Hindi alive for six decades. His profound interest in language was not restricted to Hindi and extended to all Indian languages. He was also proficient in Sanskrit, Apabhransh, Urdu, Bengali and the English language and its literature.
Namvar Singh was an eloquent rhetorician, a quality for which he received the praise of Indira Gandhi at an event. He enriched the literary traditions of scholarship in inimitable ways and such was his impact that his lectures occupy extensive literary space and continue to be debated in literary circles. Ashok Vajpeyi, a poet and a former chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi, was quite apt in his tribute when he described Namvar Singh as a high-ranking public intellectual. Namvar Singh’s status can very well be attributed to his perseverant learning, profound understanding of subjects and unique skill of oration, which secured him invitations to important gatherings all over the country. Once, Prof. Harish Trivedi candidly remarked that there were two types of seminars in Hindi: one in which Namvar Singh was present and the other in which he was not present. However, in later days, his attention shifted from critical writing to the art of speech. He was often accused of changing his stance on an issue from one lecture to another. But despite such criticism, the allure of his presence at gatherings remained undiminished.
Such personalities make rare appearances in the literary world. He continuously wrestled with the most prominent figure of the modernist school, namely, Agyeya (Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan), on literary beliefs/values/canons. Namvar Singh was the only critic from the progressive camp to give Agyeya a tough fight when it came to the establishment of a personality cult. Agyeya has written commentaries on the phenomenon of personality, particularly the uniqueness of a literary personality. Agyeya was particularly cautious of the cult of literary personality. Namvar Singh was not seen as making a conscious effort in that direction. In reality, he never gave in to self-expression. Despite his immense popularity and high number of public appearances, he maintained a distinct, neutral and objective personality, which struck a chord with people.
Krishna Sobti wrote this about Namvar Singh’s personality: “In the personality of Namvar Singh a reflection of both the protagonist and the antagonist can be seen. It is not that he is oblivious of the significance of being Namvar but what is worth noting is that he preserved his persona not with pride, rather with grace and dignity. In his context, self-glorification was unheard of” ( Hum Hashmat , Volume 2). While teaching his critiques in the classroom, I have found that like his critics, students too displayed curiosity about his graceful personality.
In the words of his own students, Namvar Singh was an exemplary teacher. His efficacy in text editing and knowledge of languages, curriculum designing, research supervision, journal editing and other such academic work were of extraordinary proportions. The domain of critical work he generated is wide. His books of criticism such as Chhayawad (1955), Itihas aur Alochna (1957), Kahani-Nayi Kahani (1964), Kavita ke Naye Pratiman (1968), Doosri Parampara ki Khoj (1982), Vaad, Vivaad, Samvaad (1989) and the journal titled Alochna , his eight edited books and his periodic interviews and lectures bear witness to his range and profound depth. In criticism, he is known for Vaad Shaily (argumentative style). He himself endorsed this fact.
Many controversies
He created many controversies about literary values and beliefs and about his predecessors and contemporary authors and critics. Many a times, controversies have arisen over his role in different fields. However, this is not the place to delineate those disputes. It is also true that the controversy-loving Namvar Singh used to restrain himself from certain controversies. For instance, when the Hindi literary world was taken by storm by the works of the renowned Dalit critic Dharmveer Bharati, Namvar Singh refused to get involved, stating that opposing Dharmveer would further strengthen Brahmanism. He took this stance when some Marxist critics were proclaiming that Dharmveer was a fascist.
The figure of Namvar Singh has been controversial. On the occasion of his 89th birthday in 2016, Namvar Singh attended a programme organised in his honour by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts even in the regime of the present government. He was ostracised from the All India Progressive Writers Association for this. In the wake of the decision of some authors to return their awards as a protest against the increasing intolerance in society, Namvar Singh distanced himself from their actions, saying that it was not the proper way for writers to protest. Some Marxist scholars even described these two incidents as the culmination of Namvar Singh’s journey from lal (red) to saffron. In fact, Namvar Singh levelled the same allegation about 15 years ago in an editorial of Alochna against Ram Vilas Sharma because of his writings.
Nonetheless, Namvar Singh as a critic is important. Attendance at a particular event or friendship with a particular person cannot be the basis on which a scholar is assessed. Namvar Singh will be evaluated on the basis of the body of criticism he produced and his vision. He made an important contribution in the post-Ramchandra Shukla era of criticism, which his later critics accepted to a large extent. He played a consistent and important role in the culmination of the Hindi Marxist criticism. For this, he was accused of being formalist-impressionist. But he courageously employed meaningful aspects/insights available in formalist-impressionist criticism to loosen the knot of Marxist criticism. That is why he will be remembered for imparting a creative dimension to Marxist criticism in Hindi.
After reading his body of criticism, one feels that he was not just a charioteer illuminating new paths of literature, but also a reader, the sahriday , a kindred term found in Sanskrit poetics. Such people seek and attain the depth of life before engaging in a formal study of literature. This is the main foundation of Namvar Singh’s body of criticism. It can also be due to the effect of his guru Hazari Prasad Dwivedi on his being as well of his beloved poet Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh, who said: “Critics should not take their eyes off life.” Namvar Singh’s own poet-heart also played a role in forming him into a critic. Perhaps, it was only a critic like him who could say that the criticism was equal to the composition.
Namvar Singh’s identification and contribution as a scholar were not restricted to the world of Hindi. In addition to literary criticism, he undertook a serious study of disciplines of social sciences. From Marx to Gandhi and Lenin to Ram Manohar Lohia, Namvar Singh engaged in a serious reading/learning of modern political thinkers. That is why he gained the respect of scholars of other disciplines and used to get invitations to speak. The senior Hindi journalist Prabhash Joshi organised a series of talks/symposiums called “Namvar ke Nimitt” (In lieu of Namvar Singh) across the country to mark his 75th birthday. It was attended in large numbers and saw scholarly lectures on many subjects.
I would like to share a fond recollection. A two-day seminar was organised in Namvar Singh’s honour in DAV Girls’ College, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana, to celebrate his completing 80 years. Professor Bhim Singh Dahiya, former Vice Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, and Sushma Arya, the principal of the college, had made all arrangements. Namvar Singh attended the programme but expressed his wish to not make a speech. However, at the end of the last session, teachers of both Hindi and English who were in attendance in large numbers requested him to address them. And when Namvar Singh began his oration, it was like a downpour of words, and he spoke for a long time. Like many of his previous speeches, that long speech was unforgettable. On that occasion, I told him that I wished for his good health and life to endure like his words.
In 1959, Namvar Singh contested for the Lok Sabha from the Chandauli constituency as the candidate of the Communist Party of India (CPI). It is learnt that his last wish was for his mortal remains to be kept on the premises of Ajoy Bhavan, the CPI’s central office in New Delhi, for some time after his death. Namvar Singh owed allegiance to principles of socialism, secularism and democracy as a citizen and as a scholar. His writings further these principles.
Prem Singh, a former Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, teaches Hindi at Delhi University.
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