Sachi Mash, I think there is no need to compare Debiprasad Chattopodhya and K.Damodaran. Personally speaking, I am highly impressed with DP Chattopadhya's works, especially on his work on Lokayata. Of course, K.Damodaran had a broader perspective. But DP's work is more specific. In any case, there were not too many people within the communist movement like them. And in these days when communal fascism is of mainstream acceptance, I believe that any work on history of philosophical traditions from a political perspective is too relevant and much in need.
On Sun, Jun 23, 2019 at 9:38 AM satchida <satch...@gmail.com> wrote: > I got close to him personally only since the late 60s when I first met him > to support APDR, a human rights organisation whose branch in Kerala some > of us were launching at that time; but I had grown up reading his works > like Indiayude Atmaavu ( The Spirit/ Soul of India), a book whose relevance > is growing today. Com Damodaran fought both capitalism and mechanical > materialism with equal vehemence and upheld all that was positive in India' > s tradition instead of denying it altogether that cost the Movement dearly > as it left the entire tradition for Hindutva ideologues to manipulate. > Hisposition was wiser and deare to me than that of Debiprasad Chattopadhyay > etc who would not go beyond Chatvaka. If I still uphold such a position it > is also partly due to Damodaran' s reserachesalong with my reading of late > Marx and of Gandhi. > > > > Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone. > > -------- Original message -------- > From: Pritam Singh <pritam.si...@area.ox.ac.uk> > Date: 22/06/2019 22:37 (GMT+05:30) > To: KP Sasi <kpsas...@gmail.com>, fourth-estate-criti...@googlegroups.com, > Green Youth Movement <greenyouth@googlegroups.com>, Sandeep Pandey < > ashaash...@yahoo.com>, meghnath ranchi <akhra.ran...@gmail.com>, Joe > Athialy <j...@athyal.org>, George mutholil <gmutho...@gmail.com>, Satchid > Anandan <satch...@gmail.com>, blue rose <seenar...@gmail.com>, Sudhir > Pattnaik <sudhir.pattn...@gmail.com>, Uma Gopi <achinthya2...@yahoo.co.in>, > Anitha Sharma <anithasharma2...@gmail.com>, Javed Anand < > javedan...@gmail.com>, Joe Athialy <j...@athyal.org>, Joe Athialy < > j...@cenfa.org>, Joe Athialy <joeathi...@gmail.com>, Jose Kavi < > kavi...@gmail.com>, Mustafa Desamangalam <mustafde...@gmail.com>, > Augustine Sebastian <opheliaofnoflow...@gmail.com>, Pandavath Baburaj < > pandavathbabu...@gmail.com>, Divya Bhatt <613tasselspictu...@gmail.com>, > Kavita Krishnan <ai...@yahoo.co.in>, ajay singh <ajaysin...@gmail.com>, > Joe Xavier <ajoexav...@gmail.com>, arun kali raja <arunsep...@gmail.com>, > asit das <asit1...@gmail.com>, Dalit Christians <cbcis...@gmail.com>, > koya.prad...@rediffmail.com, Medha Patkar <medha.narm...@gmail.com>, > aruna roy <aruna...@gmail.com>, medha <me...@narmada.org>, Medha Patkar < > nba.me...@gmail.com>, invites <invi...@yahoogroups.com>, common-concern < > common-conc...@googlegroups.com>, SOLIDARITY YOUTH MOVEMENT < > solidarit...@gmail.com>, Peoples' Solidarity Concerns < > peoplesconce...@gmail.com>, anand patwardhan <anand...@gmail.com>, Kappen > Mercy <mercykap...@yahoo.com>, David Selvaraj <davidselvara...@gmail.com>, > Vijayasingh Ronald David <vsroyda...@gmail.com>, Vijayan MJ < > g...@psa-india.net>, Vijayan MJ <vija...@psa-india.net>, VINOD KOSHY < > vinodmukkarana...@gmail.com>, reenaphi...@gmail.com, Kedar Mishra < > kedarmis...@yahoo.com>, Ish Mishra <mishra...@gmail.com>, Pritam Singh < > psi...@brookes.ac.uk>, Brp Bhaskar <brpbhas...@gmail.com>, Satya > Sivaraman <satyasa...@gmail.com>, "binumathew100 ." < > binumathew...@gmail.com>, charul joshi <sankalp.wa...@gmail.com>, charul > joshi <sankalpwa...@gmail.com>, Samar Bosu Mullick < > sanjay_sa...@hotmail.com>, Durang Basumullick < > durang.basumull...@gmail.com>, Samyadip Chatterji <samya...@gmail.com>, > Sathyajit Baburaj <sathyaji...@gmail.com>, David Selvaraj < > davidselva...@gmail.com>, David Selvaraj <david.selva...@gmail.com>, > Krishnamurthi J <jkrishnamur...@gmail.com>, Lakshmi Josyula < > josy...@purdue.edu>, Sandhya Venugopalan <sandhyakpv...@gmail.com>, KP > Madhu <kp.madhu2...@gmail.com>, Mohanan K P <mohanan...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: Exploring the past > > Dear Sasi, > > Your father has been the finest communist I have ever met. Though I was > much younger than him, I had a strong bond of friendship with him. I wrote > his obituary which the Indian Express published as a letter to the Editor. > Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a copy of that obituary which > if I ever find, I will send that to you. > > In his memory > > Pritam > ------------------------------ > *From:* KP Sasi <kpsas...@gmail.com> > *Sent:* 22 June 2019 03:45:43 > *To:* fourth-estate-criti...@googlegroups.com; Green Youth Movement; > Sandeep Pandey; meghnath ranchi; Joe Athialy; George mutholil; Satchid > Anandan; blue rose; Sudhir Pattnaik; Uma Gopi; Anitha Sharma; Javed Anand; > Joe Athialy; Joe Athialy; Joe Athialy; Jose Kavi; Mustafa Desamangalam; > Augustine Sebastian; Pandavath Baburaj; Divya Bhatt; Kavita Krishnan; ajay > singh; Joe Xavier; arun kali raja; asit das; Dalit Christians; > koya.prad...@rediffmail.com; Medha Patkar; aruna roy; medha; Medha > Patkar; invites; common-concern; SOLIDARITY YOUTH MOVEMENT; Peoples' > Solidarity Concerns; anand patwardhan; Kappen Mercy; David Selvaraj; > Vijayasingh Ronald David; Vijayan MJ; Vijayan MJ; VINOD KOSHY; > reenaphi...@gmail.com; Kedar Mishra; Ish Mishra; Pritam Singh; Pritam > Singh; Brp Bhaskar; Satya Sivaraman; binumathew100 .; charul joshi; charul > joshi; Samar Bosu Mullick; Durang Basumullick; Samyadip Chatterji; > Sathyajit Baburaj; David Selvaraj; David Selvaraj; Krishnamurthi J; Lakshmi > Josyula; Sandhya Venugopalan; KP Madhu; Mohanan K P > *Subject:* Exploring the past > > > Any exploration into the life of my father makes me more than humble. Our > father, comrade K. Damodaran was recognised as an intellectual who > instilled Marxism into the minds of Keralites from its early stages. I > tried my level best to find out how many years our father spent in jail. > Even now, I do not really know. The information I have received is between > 12 to 16 years in total. If it is 16 years, he spent one fourth of his life > in jail. If it is 12 years, then he must have spent around one fifth of his > life in jail. The underground period is different. > In fact, there is an interesting story around it. > > Once he received permission from Kannoor jail on parole, to go to his > house for four days. On his way, he stopped at Ponnani. Ponnani beedi > workers' union was initiated by K. Damodaran. There was a strike of the > beedi workers union for better wages at that time. Naturally, he got > involved with it instead of going home. He gave a speech quoting Quran at > that time. Ponnani was filled with Muslim beedi workers. The merit of > K.Damodaran was that he was well versed with Bible, Qur'an and Sanskrit > texts of the upper caste Hindu spiritualities. I am convinced that this guy > is the first liberation theologian in India. Liberation theology entered > India only in 1968. But he spoke about it in India a couple of decades > before. > > After the speech among the striking beedi workers, K. Damodaran was > arrested. Then he told the inspector who arrested him: `You can't put me in > jail. You have no authority.' The inspector asked him: `Why not?' And he > said: `I am already in Kannoor Jail. I have come out on parole. It is > physically impossible for me to be in two jails at the same time.'😊 > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com. 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