About my Race: A song -- Poykayil Appachan

Poykayil Appachan, also known as Sree Kumara Gurudevan, was a revolutionary Dalit
leader and social reformer hailing from Eraviperur near Tiruvalla in central Travencore. He was
born as a slave to a Syrian Christian family of the name Sankaramangalam. Appachan was called as
Komaran at his birth. He was later renamed Kumaran. Being a slave to a Christian family, Kumaran
followed a Christian life and was also given the Christian name Yohannan. He became literate and
was well versed with Bible and became master in bible and Christian theology. For a long time he
worked as a preacher, but his disagreements with the Church led to his eventual exit from the
church. In 1910, Appachan formally gave up Christianity and started his own lower caste spiritual
liberation movement called Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha (PRDS). He was an inspired orator,
an instant poet and a learned organizer. He used carefully crafted poems and spirituals for
organizing people for their liberation and social emancipation. His poems addressed the Dalit
masses and contained profuse references to their lives, dreams and fantasies.
The songs of Poikayil Appachan paved the way for the emergence of Dalit Poetry. His songs
were composed to educate his own class of people and create awareness of the complex life each
and every Dalit faces in this world. The anguish in the poetry depicts this state of no recognition of
his survival in this small world. He outcries to the whole universe, there is no one in this world to
record his life, to retell the story. Also he identifies that the history of his race is completely absent.
About my Race: A Song is the first song in a series that forefronts the question of race.
“Not a single word/About my race is seen/But of other races/ I see histories in plenty.” The
word 'race' denotes the original inhabitants, the evicted and marginalized first people of Kerala.
This is a kind of cultural marginalisation and the Dalits are pushed away from the mainstream.
Though they were a part of the society, they were excluded from the main stream. Poykayil
Appachan's poems are a plain outcry against the perennial discrimination and acute marginalisation
of his race. Their life and history are not even marked in the main stream.
History divides the world into two sections viz., the powerful and the powerless, the elite
and the popular, the owner and the slave. And it takes the side of the powerful, the elite and the
owner. The role of slaves in building the civilization is neglected or completely discarded from the
recorded history. Hence, history becomes 'an absence' rather than 'a presence' regarding the life of
native people. The voice of lower class people is muted or rather they are voiceless in history.
Pointing toward the absence of his Race in written history, Appachan's songs proclaim the presence
of his Race in the history of Kerala.
“Alas, there was nobody here/No one at all in the past/To write the story/Of this race of
mine.” He also argues that there was no one to write about the history of his race which indicates
the problem of illiteracy and ignorance of the Dalits who were marginalised from the main stream.
This thought grieves him. For him, his race suffers an inclusive exclusion whereby the Dalits were
excluded from all the privileges enjoyed by the upper-class people of the society. The politics and
the legal system that should have ensured them with their rights performed a vicious role by which
the Dalit identity has been mutilated over the centuries.
Appachan's poems are not significant for their style, aesthetic beauty, poetic embellishments
etc. Even rhyme, meter and rhythm often do not find relevance in his poetry. For him, poetry is not
for entertainment but for enlightenment. His poetry exposed the harsh realities, the Dalits had to
suffer as a marginalised community. Though they were the tillers and the real inhabitants of the
land, they were denied their birth rights over their land. His poetry also evokes a sense of rebellious
spirit among the marginalised sections to retaliate against the oppression that they had to face over
the centuries based on caste, colour, economic standards etc.
In the poem About my Race: A Song, Appachan comes forward to speak a few words about
his own race which is suppressed by the upper class society. For all the misfortunes in the world the
upper class always condemns the lower class. They invaded not only the land of the early
inhabitants of Kerala but also the native culture. They denied freedom of religion and education to
the marginalized first people. Even Christianity, which offered equality at first, later turned into a
religion with sub classes and addressed the converted low class believers with their caste names like
'Pulaya Christiany', 'Paraya Christiany' etc. Appachan's poems become a unique protest against
these segregations in religion and other social institutions. While the Dalit poets who themselves
struggle for identity, the poets of the mainstream literature are commenting or celebrating their
poetic themes as love, nature, patriarchy, myths or traditions, etc.
“How can God/He who gave shape to all/Allow this to go on?” The poem ends with this
most crucial question to the God. He asks how God, who created all human beings, can allow this
racial discrimination and oppression to continue? Appachan does not believe in a religion that offers
a heavenly justice and an after life. He demands for an earthly justice to the slaves and other
marginalized sections of his Race. His speeches and songs created a subaltern space of ethical
enquiry and resistance in Kerala in myriad ways and contributed to the democratisation of society
and polity. They together paved the foundations of modern Kerala along with the pioneers of Kerala
modernity such as Sree Narayana Guru, Chattambi Swamikal, Tykad Ayya, Ayya Vaikundhar,
Sahodaran Ayyappan, Chavara Achan and Vakkam Maulavi.
Comprehension Questions
1. What does the word ""word" in the opening of the poem represent?
Ans. The word "word" in the opening of the poem represents the history of a race that is oppressed
by other races.
2. Which is the race identified by Povkayil Appachan as my race?
Ans. The race identified by Povkavil Appachan is the Dalit people.
3. How do the "histories in this world'" conceive humanity?
The histories in this world conceive of humanity as two races; the upper class and the lower class.
4. What is the cause for the grief that the poet feels?
What causes the grief that the poet feels is the thought that there is nobody to write the story of his
race.
5. How does he attempt to overcome the feeling of grief?
Ans. To overcome the feeling of grief the poet tries to compose a few notes in his own tune. This
means that he is going to sing a few songs which may reveal the history of his race.
6. Who, according to the poet, are the earliest occupants of Keralam?
Ans. The earliest occupants of Keralam are the Dalit people who came to be regarded as the
wretched.
7. What is the poet not ashamed of?
Ans. The poet is not ashamed to uncover the weakness of his race.
[Link] does the word "cursed progeny" in the poem indicate?
Ans. Cursed progeny indicates the Dalit people who are considered to be cursed.
[Link] are the members of the poet's race blamed for?
The members of the poet's race are blamed for all their weaknesses.
10. What is the poet's question to God?
Ans. The poet asks how God, who is the creator of all, can allow this unreasonable blames imposed
upon his race and can allow the segregation to go on.
Paragraph Questions
1. What is the nature of "histories" according to Poykayil Appachan?
Ans. The word "histories" in Poykayil Appachan's poem refers to the mainstream historical
narratives. These histories are not impartial and holistic. The poet says this because the mainstream
histories are silent about the Dalit community which is the poet's race. There is not a single word
mentioned about them. At the same time, there are plenty of references to be found about other
races and communities. Moreover, the poet says that the mainstream histories divide the whole
humanity into two races. At the same time they speak only about the dominant race and keep silence
about the poet's race. This double standard is what is condemned by the poet.
2. Why was there no one in the ancient world to write the story of the poet's race?
There are different reasons that can be assumed for the negligence to write the story of the poet's
race. The history is full of "histories' of the dominant races. People are interested in writing their
histories which are the stories of those people who have power and authority. The marginalized and
subjugated races are thrown into oblivion. Moreover, the mainstream histories conceive or two
categories of race: the powerful race and the weaker race. The poet's race belongs to the latter and
consequently there is no one interested in writing their history. The members of his race were
dominated by the members of other races. So they were unable to write their own history.
3. What is the story that the poet wants to write about?
Poet decides to write the story of his race because there are no proper historical accounts about his
race. The main stream historical narratives are silent about it. The history of his race is also silenced
and subjugated. The fact that there is no one to write the history of his race makes him sad and he
decides to write a history of his race. The story he wants to write about is a narrative from the
perspective of his understanding of the history of his race. It is a history different from that which is
twisted by the mainstream narratives. So he decides to write how the first occupants of Kerala,
members of his race, were considered by mainstream histories as the wretched of the land.
4. Why does the poet dismiss any sense of "shame'" associated with the present condition of his
race?
Poet decides to write the story of his race because there is no proper historical accounts about his
race. The mainstream historical narratives are silent about it. The history of his race is also silenced
and subjugated. The fact that there is no one to write the history of his race makes him sad and he
decides to write a history of his race. What he intends to write is how the first occupants of Kerala,
members of his race, were considered by mainstream histories as the wretched of the land. Here he
declares that he is not ashamed to uncover the weaknesses of his race. Here, he acknowledges that
there can be defects and weaknesses in his race. However, it is not as serious as being silenced by
the written historical accounts.
5. How does the poet bring in the concept of divinity or "God” in the poem?
The poet brings out the pathetic situation into which his race is thrown. All the people of dominant
races and their historical narratives are trying to silence his race. What they do is to depict and
record only the weaknesses of the race. They even attempt to impose all blames upon this race
which is considered as cursed progeny and the wretched of the land. The poet now expresses his
angst that these dominant races are going to continue their blaming. He is afraid that they will go on
blaming without any hesitation till the end of the world. At the same time he is optimistic that God
will intervene and bring about an end to this ongoing suffering.