Makoddi Nalla Doratanamu: Rejection of upper caste nationalism

By 1921 Adi Andhra leadership Kusuma Dharmanna (1898 - 1946), first Dalit poet in

Telugu, is also one of the early Dalit intellectuals provided literary form to the ideology of Adi

Andhra movement in Andhra Pradesh. He wrote Makoddi Nalla Doratanamu in 1921,

Harijana Satakamu in 1933, and many other songs. (Bharathi, Thammipudi, History of Telugu

Dalit Literature, New Delhi, 2008, p.64.). He wrote Makoddi Nalla Doratanamu from Dalit

perspective in 1921. Historically, the poetry of Kusuma Dharmanna is very important in many

ways. In the history of Telugu literature, his poetry was the first to be referred to as Dalit

literature. This was because he wrote from a uniquely Dalit perspective. It was different in

many ways from other literature. It was also different from the literature which spoke about

Dalits until that time.

The famous song Makoddi Tella Doratanamu, We do not want white lordship, written

by Garimella Satyanarayana in 1921 worked as a catalyst for Dharmannas writings. This

song was composed at the time of the Non Co-operation Movement to inspire people

participate in the movement. Dharmanna started actively participating in the Adi Andhra

movement during the same period. Taking a clue from this Kusuma Dharmamma bitterly

criticized the Indians who wanted freedom from the whites, but were not willing to give

freedom to the Dalit in Makoddi Nalla Doratanamu. We do not want black lordship (Bharathi)

The central theme of Garimellas poem is to proclaim that Indians do not like British rule

because it is harmful to Indians. Therefore, they want freedom. Dharmanna countered this

argument by writing that when caste Hindus were not ready to give independence to Dalits,

what right did they have to demand independence from British rule. Thus, Makoddi Tella

Doratanamu caused a Dalit thinker to rise up and write a poem like Makoddi Nalla

Doratanamu. Therefore it was a timely struck blow against the prevalence and continuation of
caste system where fight for freedom was the common agenda of nationalists; with this

Dharmanna questions the social ethic of nationalist for not taking up the entwined problems of

Dalit allegations.

Thummapudi Bharathi (Bharathi. Telugu Dalit Literature, p.63.) has argued that

Indians were not willing to give social freedom to their fellow citizens, but at the same time

were demanding freedom from British rule. Thus, the claims of such Indians were unjustified.

If Dalits would not get independence, they would not work along with the upper castes in the

struggle for independence. Therefore, it was difficult for the nationalists to get independence

without the support of the Dalits. Dharmanna demanded that, at least for this reason, they

should be ready to grant independence to the Dalits. Only then could India be free from foreign

rule, as every section of the society would be ready to fight for independence.

Although the literature of Dharmanna consisted mainly of protests against existing

social values of the country, his literature, at the same time, had many other components such

as identity issues of Dalits. He argued that everybody in society was better off than Dalits. The

pathetic label of the untouchable was attached only to the Dalits. Thus, he tried to remind

non-Dalits about their duty towards Dalits. At the same time, he tried to impart confidence to

the Dalits by reminding them of their past greatness. Interestingly, to argue for the greatness of

the Dalits, he depended on Hindu scriptures. In this book, there are elements of positive

appraisal of British rule. He also praised Gandhi for working and preaching against

untouchability. However, he was angry with the Congress and the nationalist cadre for not

following Gandhis principles.

Dharmanna was angry about the attitude of Indian nationalists towards Dalit. He

criticized the Gandhians for not following Gandhian ideas. Below two stanzas tells the attitude

of the poet regarding the nationalists.

 Gandhi, the great soul with compassion,

Says save harijans

Untouchability should not be there

Everybody shouts Gandhi, Gandhi

They claims be his followers

They says we don't forget his preachings

But they show anger towards Malas and Madigas.

They want independence, conduct many meetings

And shout Gandhi Jai Jai,

They say Hindu and Muslim should become one

They ask to wear khadi

They preach Non violence and independence

They are busy organizing peace corps

But they dont speak on earth about Malas and Madigas.

Makoddi Nalla Doratanamu is the first Dalit revolutionary poem in Telugu (Andhra)

that rejected the rule of upper castes in India. In this song, there are 56 stanzas. Each step ends

with the tag line, Makoddi Nalla Doratanamu. Each stanza has five or more lines. Kusuma
Dharmanna used the language used by the masses, not the one commonly found in literature.

He wrote in this form so that it could accessible to people of all sections. Because of its simple

language and the ease with which it could be sung, it became so popular that some of the old

Dalits were singing this song in their homes too.

He criticized both the moderates and the extremists of the Congress irrespective of their

ideology. He believed that both were neglecting the problems of Dalits. Dharmanna even

criticized the ministers, as they were not taking any constructive steps for the emancipation of

Dalits. He was angry with the nationalists for their objections regarding help provided to Dalits

by Americans. During the early decades of twentieth century, some Americans worked for the

development of Dalit education.

Dharmanna portrayed the miserable conditions of Dalits in Indian society. Caste-

Hindus never allowed Dalits to enjoy the freedom of entering temples or hotels or to take water

from wells, to study in schools, to play games, to walk in public streets, to participate in the

village assemblies, and along with others, to participate in parties and festivals. It meant that

the poet was demanding social equality and social freedom for Dalits when Caste-Hindus were

demanding political freedom without thinking about their fellow Indians.

Dharmanna appreciated the British for the work they did for Dalit emancipation while

rejecting the British rule for their economic exploitation of India. That is why Thummapudi

Bharathi opines, Kusuma Dharmamma declared boldly that the suffering of the Dalits

increases if the leadership of the nation is changed from whites to the natives as the natives

strongly practice caste hierarchy. He preferred whites to the native rulers. Of course, one should

not come to the quick conclusion that he is in favour of the white rule. Actually he proposed a

casteless society, but as it was not possible, he preferred the white rule, which was less biased

towards Dalits when compared with the Indian government. But, this opinion seems
problamatic. In Makoddi Nalla Doratanamu, Kusuma Dharmamma said nowhere that British

rule should continue in the country. He felt that British rule helped in the emancipation of

Dalits. It does not mean that he did not find any mistake with the British Government. He

criticized the Government for its harsh and cruel approach towards the various movements and

sections of society. He also opined that some of the Indian socio-religious reform leaders had

also worked for the awakening of the Dalits. Kusuma Dharmamma in later period also

suggested that if Indians needed Independence, they should stop the practice of Untouchability.

He urged that Indians should avoid discrimination and untouchability. Then everybody would

get independence, Indians from the British and the Harijans from both the Indians and the

British.

In Bharata Mata, Mother India, he shows his patriotism or love towards India. He

praised India for having a great past. He said that there were great poets in India like Kalidasa,

there were many warriors like Krishnadevaraya, there were divine places like Kasi, and there

were valuable diamonds like Kohinoor. Then he showed sympathy for Bharata Mata for

having become a slave under foreign rule. Actually, his opinion was that as Indians had been

practicing untouchability, India itself had become a slave. Thus, his message was clear that in

order to get independence for India, Indians should stop the practice of untouchability.

Dharmanna also showed respect towards socio-religious reformers and Dalit leaders. Many of

them can be found in his poetry. This was useful in building the confidence of Dalits that their

upliftment was possible as there were many reformers and Dalit leaders who were working for

them.

During this period, Dharmanna showed a lot of confidence in Gandhi and his principles.

He thought that Gandhian methods could eradicate untouchability and the other problems of

Dalits. In the hope of achieving these objectives, he even joined the Congress and worked in it
for nearly a decade as Congress Panchama Worker. We should note that Dalit movement had

worked along not only with foreign rule but also with conservative forces of the society and

colonial state.