What is the role of a writer when the country needs them to show up as a citizen?

From the cab that had dropped me outside Jantar Mantar protest site, the entry point was exactly 20 steps. Every step I took, I experienced a different emotion. Fear, Guilt, Remorse, Anger, Pain, Regret, Dehydrated, Sweaty and what not. It was my first time going to Jantar Mantar, my first time at any protest. Relatively New to New Delhi and its ways, I was quite scared while passing through multiple police checkpoints. Delhi Police has a bad reputation after all.

Upon entering the actual protest site after being checked by various policemen and policewomen, I was finally in the company of my countrymen and countrywomen. Immediately, all my fears dropped and a sense of courage and strength prevailed. I didn’t know what to do there, how to be of use, how to contribute. So I did what I do best. I walked around the site, observing everything with an open mind, standing in silence, passing smiles to fellow protestors and documenting the events as they unfolded. Honestly, I was feeling a bit clueless. Watching Sonam Ji and a couple of students there on a hunger strike for the past 20 days in that cruel Delhi heat, it was a bit disorienting to say the least. I had taken an AC cab for the 40 mins journey from my home to the site and was still feeling hot and sweaty.

I used to believe that showing up to protest sites means providing your share of strength and resilience to the movement but standing there amidst fellow protestors, many of whom had travelled from all across the country and had made the protest site their home - it was me who felt strengthened and courageous. And then there was this strange guilt again, of taking energy from a space where I had come to offer strength.

At the protest site, there was art all around. In posters, in music, in quotes, in the creative ways that people were demonstrating their needs and how they expressed their angst.

People were crowding around Dipke whenever he came near them. A good kind of celebrity I thought. The youth really wants an icon and I saw a glimpse of that in Dipke for the few moments that I could see him. My heart somehow fully approved this gesture.

We need to really be mindful of who we worship in our country. Because one thing is for sure, majority of Indians need someone to worship to. For the longest time it was the Bollywood celebrities and these saffronised leaders. It's high time the public realises that when shit goes down the drain, these people they worship are the first ones to raise their hands - especially since they're the ones shitting in the first place. If it’s Dipke who is the next in line to worship to and if he continues to do this work, so be it. (ideally, one should not worship another human being but that’s for another day)

I could only catch Sonam Ji’s resting body, not even his face. I have never met him, but 4 years back in Ladakh, I had the good fortune of visiting SECMOL. In a way, I met him through his work which I feel is anyways a better way of meeting someone. As an educator, he was always a celebrity for all of us. Seeing him that day was brutal. I couldn’t watch him for long. I was glad I couldn’t see his eyes, fearing what truth they might show me about myself? As a weird way of paying respect to him and praying for his good health, I just closed my eyes for a few seconds and opening them in the other direction turned back and got out of the protest site. The cab came sooner than I thought.

All of this made me wonder, what is my role as a writer, an artist when my nation demands me to show up as a citizen? I am certainly not brave enough as Sonam Ji who has come from the pristine land of Ladakh to be in this torturous and cruel heat of Delhi to fast for 20 days!

In search of answers, I turned to history and within a couple of Google Searches my purpose got handed to me through an article.

In the article, Premchand who is one of my favourite writers and someone whose work has inspired me immensely, advocates for the use of writing as a means of social awareness and expression of truth. He talks about how the purpose of language is to mould our thoughts and emotions, and to give them the right direction.

My first essay on Substack was about Premchand :)

Following words are by Premchand:
On what is literature and what is not

The literature which does not arouse in us a critical spirit, or satisfy our spiritual and intellectual needs, which is not ‘force-giving’ and dynamic, which does not awaken our sense of beauty, which does not make us face the grim realities of life in a spirit of determination, has no use for us today. It cannot even be termed as literature.

The role of literature in pressing times

Today, however, literature has undertaken a new task, and its instrument is our inherent sense of beauty; it tries to achieve its aim by arousing this sense of beauty in us. The more a writer develops this sense through his observation of nature, the more effective will his writing become. All that is ugly or detestable, all that is inhuman, becomes intolerable to such a writer. He becomes the standard bearer of humanity, of moral uprightness, of nobility. It becomes his duty to help all those who are downtrodden, oppressed and exploited — individuals or groups — and to advocate their cause. And his judge is society itself: it is before society that he brings his plaint.

Literature as a torch bearer to progressive movements

Then we shall no longer tolerate a social system under which a single individual can tyrannise over thousands of human beings; then our self-respecting humanity will raise the standard of revolt against capitalism, militarism and imperialism; and we shall not sit quiet and inane after doing a little bit of creative work on pieces of paper, but we shall actively participate in building that new order which is not opposed to beauty, good taste and self-respect. The role of literature is not simply to provide us with amusement, or recreation; it does not follow, but is, on the contrary, a torch-bearer to all the progressive movements in society.

After reading the article which is rich enough to require multiple readings to fully grasp, I am endowed with a deep sense of responsibility and a reminder for why I started writing in the first place. As someone born with a lot of privilege in the country and a moral conscience, it doesn’t just become my work to synthesise and make sense of what’s going around me but almost a duty - especially in such times.

I am humbled by this article, by learning about the All-India Progressive Writers' Association and by the richness of Premchand’s words a century ago. I am equally haunted by how relevant his words are in today’s context, how harrowing it is to realise that we’re still not independent - only the masters have changed and are now more brutal. I am armoured with a purpose as a writer, an artist and also a citizen. I invite all fellow writers, artists, readers, sense makers to talk about this. Draw if you can, write poems, share with your friends and family, make zines, write instagram posts, tweet about it, meditate on it. Everything counts. Make some noise from wherever you are, however you can, whatever noise is for you. When too many of us will begin to make noise, it will be musical. It counts. Writing counts. Your words matter. Truth matters.

Let’s love and truth prevail.
Inquilab Zindabad.