fहndi - Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

how much they are mixing with it. Mostlythese days while colliding at the social andintellectual level they are becoming partof them. One can see that in Indiafeudalism and imperialism are increasingday by day in new forms. This incidentcan be understood by the story of Bali inthe Ramayana.Whosoever went to fight with Bali hishalf strength would be transferred to him.Similarly howsoever we fight withsectarianism, superstitions, religious fanfarefanaticism is increasing and globalizationis increasing in spite of our dissatisfactionwith it. Blind communalism is alsoincreasing in the same ratio. Seeing theMaharastra of Phule, Gokhale and Ranade,what human frenzy of Marathi blindprovincialism is spreading. In manyprovinces of the country the same castefrenzy is to be seen in some form or theother. The more you fight with thetradition of caste the more casteism isincreasing. Was there more casteism in RamChandra's time or in today's times? Thisis to be found among literature andintellectuals. The more the slogan areshouted against Americanism, globalizationand FDI, the crowd in Malls andMultiplexes increases in the sameproportion, in the same proportion selfabandonmentis also increasing. Manypeople opposing America send theirchildren to study in America. The bubbleof opposition has burst into lifeless lumpafter becoming a ritual. This is what BaliSyndrome is.If any society is overshadowed byviolence and sensuality of beauty makeupsto a large extent, take it that the society'sthinking power is finished. Now the eraof heroic poetry and era of amorous poetryhave come with a new face. In such aperiod a new fire of criticism is required.A challenge is thrown how we can bringcriticism out of the narrowness and dryness.How can we make criticism more criticalwithout paying attention to its popularityand how to make sharper attacks on Indianconservatism and the new depravedcapitalism of the west? This is criticism'sjob, to 'demystify' something and to'decolonize' other things and make somespace for life amidst fanaticism.Shambunath, born 1948, is a noteworthy progressive critic and former professor of Hindiwith a number of published books to his credit like Sanskriti ki Uttarkatha, Dussamay MeinSahitya, Hindi Navjagran aur Sanskriti, Sabhyata se Sanvad.He was also director of Kendriya Hindu Sansthan, Agra. He lives in Howrah.Parmila Garg has been teaching English at a College of Delhi University and is currentlyassociated with GGSIP and Auburn University, US. She has translated Surendra Verma’sfamous novel ‘Mujhe Chand Chahiye’ into English. Besides this she has also translated abook of political history ‘Undaunted Israel’. She lives in Delhi.52 :: April-June 2013fgndi •