Saturday, September 10, 2011

Indian Literature ; Derozio (Contd-4)

   Dr. Tarun Kanti Chakraborty in the "Background " of his book said;
" A fruit of the union of two cultures the West and the East," accelerated "the rise of nationalism of Bengal."
He mentions in his book of Soumendranah Tagore's view which Mr. K.R.Srinivas Iyengar agrees that "eighteenth century presented a spectacular decay of misery unimaginable .....vitality and the zest for life were at a vanishing point." Many historians say ;
"The eighteenth century in Indian history has long been subject to debate among historians. As part of the prestigious series, this volume presents key arguments of this debate through a selection of important readings. Was the eighteenth century a Dark Age or was it a period of economic boom? Did it mark a sharp break or was it a period of continuity and change? These and other questions concerning the nature of colonial political culture are discussed by contributors while Alavi’s exhaustive introduction places them in the context of the larger debate." In an earlier chapter we have discussed the period of "Dark age" in Indian history and do not bear the same opinion about the dark age of India. However that does not minimise the role played by Derozio towards the development of Indian Literature .
Dr. Chakraborty has rightly pointed out the the opinion of the historian Jadu Nath Sarkar," The Indian Renaissance was possible ( though in a restricted form, authors opinion)
only because a principle was discovered by which India could throw herself into the full current of the modern civilisation in the outer world without totally discarding her past."
" Steeped in the humanistic ideas and rationalistic principles of the famous Scottish philosopher, David Hume, Drummond had scant regard for faiths and traditions but put the greatest emphasis on reason."
In the short spell of time  Derozio imparted education in Hindu College, he sowed the seeds of patriotism, humanism, and nationalism.The extent of success achieved by Derozio in transforming the minds of his students, caused an alarm of the Hindu Community and the vile campaign done by India news paper.The Managing Committee  of the Hindu College forced Derozio to resign on 15th April, 1831.