C. D. Narsimhaiah as a Critic of Indian English Literature - A Glimpse of the Ph.D. DPC Meeting

 On the last day of the commencing month of the year. I once again got an opportunity to participate in the fourth DPC (Doctoral Progress Committee) meeting of a Ph.D. candidate Devani Dipali under the supervision of Dr. Yatharth Vaidya sir at the GTU. The meeting was held today via Google Meet where I was accompanied by my friend Dr. Nishant Pandya as another DPC member. The candidate shared about the progress of her research so far and the remarkable role of C. D. Narsimhaiah as a seminal Indian literary critic.

It is evident that the IWE (Indian Writing in English) has its own complex origin and sensibility while growing under the British paramountcy. As per that cliché and jaundiced British perspective according to which India was a nation of snake-charmers and magicians, the English literature produced in India cannot gain due recognition. Indian use of English, as per John Wain and others, lacked the finesse and delicacy and could be considered just a lingua franca. In such a smothering scenario, critics like Narsimhaiah endeavoured to defend the IWE and reclaim its voice.

He underlined the need to focus on the unique Indianness in the works under the canon of IWE. The lens of western literary criticism cannot do justice to study the texts that are deeply rooted in the Indian culture and aesthetics. She mentioned that Narsimihaiah embodies a larger story of Indian academia’s negotiation with global modernity and postcolonial identity.

The researcher came up with some interesting references from the works of I. A. Richards, F. R. Lewis, T.S. Eliot, Matthew Arnold etc. References in her research ranged from Bankim Chandra to Banu Mushtaq and from M.K. Naik to Meenakshi Mukherjee, making it even more significant in the age of NEP 2020 and IKS. Nishant and I made few suggestions to further enrich the ongoing research project. It was a pleasure interacting with my teacher Yatharth Vaidya sir and my friend Nishant.

 

The Year that Was - A Retro Look at 2025

Renowned Gujarati writer Chandrakant Bakshi once wrote that God must be a Marxist in a sense that he has allocated time equally to everyone – 24 hours a day. Be it a political leader or a cricketer or a common man, everyone has the same unit of time. It is how he or she manages it that matters. This Jay Mehta has many Jays within him – Jay as a teacher and a researcher, as a father, as a husband, as an employee, as a son and so on. Maintaining a fine balance while shouldering all these responsibilities has been a tight ropewalk for me in 2025.

Since last some years, it has been a customary practice to have a retrospective look at the recently faded year in the month of January. Be it aesthetic activity or academic updates or personal life events, I post it on FB and I love to scroll through the timeline to enjoy a flashback. This year is no different. However, allow me to pat my back at the onset for the fact that I have been able to complete ample creative and academic assignments in 2025. In that sense, it has been an eventful year for me. I hope to soar higher in 2026. On that note, let us embark on a journey down the digital memory lane.

January commenced with playing the role of a DPC member for a Ph.D. student Devani Dipali at the GTU under the supervision of Yatharth Vaidya sir. She has been working on a rather challenging area of C. D. Narsimahiah's role in Indian literary criticism. I attended an International Conference on "ROLE OF LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CULTURE IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD" organized by Symbiosis College, Pune. Further, I also successfully completed a One Week Online FDP on "NAVIGATING THE PROCESS OF WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER" organized by Gokul Global University. No wonder this was an academically lucrative year for me because as they say, well begun is half done.

In February, I successfully delivered an expert talk on "Ethical Clearance Documents: Step by Step Guide" to the students of Ph.D. coursework at Children's Research University, Gandhinagar. I also attended a National Conference on "Indian Knowledge Systems" organized by the H.M. Patel Institute, VallabhVidyanagar.

March offered me an opportunity to play on the home pitch by delivering an interactive session on LEARNING LANGUAGE THROUGH LITERATURE with the students of Government Engineering College, Surat. However, the highlight of the month is yet to come. It was when I chaired a session of paper presentations at a One Day International Conference on "Connecting Cultures: Children's Literature as a Global Gateway" at Children's Research University Gandhinagar. I could witness some highly interesting paper presentations on fascinating and novel areas such as AI and storytelling, NPTEL's Jadui Pitara tool, branching narratives and children's literature and so on.

If research comes, can creative writing be far behind? With the publication of my article in Divya Bhaskar Kalash Supplement, I saw my name in print again. It pertained to William Shakespeare on World Theatre Day. I also got a chance of charity by donating 150 + books from my collection to the readers’ club called PUSTAK PARAB in Surat.

In April, I could see DR. JAY MEHTA in print again in the form of my interview in the Gujarat Mitra daily. Plus, I completed a SWAYAM NPTEL MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on ‘Introduction to World Literature’ from IIT, Madras with 80% score.

May was the month of break for me in these activities.

In June, once again, I performed the role of an expert for the third DPC of Ph.D. scholar Devani Dipali. Well, can there be any greater event in a month that carries my birthday? So, nothing much to mention in July.

August began with a noble act of blood donation at my workplace. It is like giving my life blood to my work (pun intended!) … and then comes one more article – this time it is about ‘ANIMAL FARM’ by George Orwell published in the Divya Bhaskar. With a prior apology for self-complacency, I would say that this is one of my most favourite articles so far. August also brought our first trekking expedition with family in which I explored the amazing scenic beauty of Dang with wife and son Maurya who also walked on the road less travelled by for almost 01 km.

In the same month, I performed the role of a DPC member for one more doctoral candidate Manasi Joshi under the guidance of Dr. Yatharth Vaidya sir at the GTU. It was my pleasure and pride to share screen with a stalwart like Prof. Atanu Bhattacharya sir who was one of the mentors during our M.Phil. days, salad days at Vallabh Vidyanagar.

Let’s skip September for a change. Shall we?

October – November were the months of my most awaited spiritual journey (both literally and figuratively!) to Kainchi Dham and Nainital in Uttarakhand.

December? Well, let’s be easy with the year at the end.

I am ecstatic and slightly proud of myself that I could do all these amid the plethora of academic responsibilities as a lecturer and as a Class II officer viz, Observer/Board Representative in various competitive examinations by GTU, GPSC, UPSC, GSSB, Presiding Officer duty in the election etc.

Admittedly, this write up has many first person pronoun I, it would not have been possible without the unwavering support and encouragement from people like Darshita Dave, Dilip Barad sir, Bhairavi Dixit maam, Yatharth Vaidya sir, Bindu Goyal ma’am, Nirmal Chaudhari ma’am, Lalit Khambhayta, Mitra Rathod, Bhavesh Rana sir, Chintan Madhu sir, Vaishali Biradar ma’am.

Although there are still miles to go before I sleep, it is soothing to look back in appreciation and celebrate my unwavering, unflinching, untiring, indomitable spirit to excel in the world of words in various forms.

Bless me that I can do bigger and better in 2026.

Bless the aforesaid names that they fuel my engine.

Blessed be the name of God!