Jayant Kaikini’s stories amply show that behind every ordinary face, there are hundred extra-ordinary stories; his stories affect and change us emotionally in a deeper subtle ways; being rooted in material details, he may even be described as a ‘cultural historian of change’, said renowned author-critic Prof Rajendra Chenni.

Delivering the inaugural address at ‘A Day with Jayant Kaikini and his Literature’ organised by the Gandhian Centre for Philosophical Arts and Sciences, MAHE, here on Saturday, Prof Rajendra Chenni said, Jayant broke new ground in literature with his urban stories with otherwise innocuous characters being brought to the foreground. He showed there are ‘extra ordinary’ stories behind ‘ordinary faces’.

Moving away from the path of initial writers to construct a ‘nation’, Jayant Kaikini tried to show the contradictions in Indian life. However, change is something that is a constant in his stories and he narrates his stories picking up details from mundane life, turning them into metaphors. There are rich cultural details and in this sense, he could be termed as ‘cultural historian of change’. There is also a subtle critique of globalisation and communalism, Prof Chenni explained.

Connecting Jayant with story writing tradition of Chekov, Masti Venkatesh Iyengar and Devanuru Mahadeva, Prof Chenni observed that the ‘ordinary’ becomes ‘extra-ordinary’ in Jayant’s stories. Otherwise disempowered characters show remarkable courage to face life as it comes in Mumbai life. It is a counter-world which questions conventional morality. It talks about the underprivileged who really built Mumbai, he elaborated. 

Terming Jayant’s prose as the ‘best’, Prof Chenni remarked that Jayant should also be credited with breaking the barrier between the ‘high art’ and the ‘popular’ with his participation in media and the film world, shocking the puritans at times. Writer Ms Abhilasha Hande noticed humanistic and holistic approach in Jayant’s poems and stories. She explained Jayant’s ‘detached attachment with his characters’, theatrical elements and how real life is reflected in his writings. 

Critic Dr Siraj Ahmed, in his paper, maintained that Jayant’s characters are not ordinary creatures crushed by colossal capitalist modernity, but they stand in opposition to it. His poems are – intricate and delicate - like the nails hit to the sky to fix the mosquito net, as he puts in his poem ‘Jaagarada Konege’. GCPAS Head Prof Varadesh Hiregange maintained that Jayant’s ‘characters’ are the ‘small fishes’ which ‘swim and survive’ in the ‘polluted ocean’ such as Mumbai; yet, Jayant has certain fascination for Mumbai as ‘work is worship’ there. In each of his collection of writings, Jayant subtly writes about his ‘idea of literature’ in terms of ‘nature of short story and poetry’ ‘nature of literary truth’ ‘art of writing’ etc. He may be described as a ‘philosopher of everydayness’, going by his life and writings.

The post-graduate students of Ecosophy, Aesthetics, Peace Studies and Art Media – Ms Gauthami Kakatkar, Desmond Dass, Sampada Bhagavat, Abhijith Anilkumar, Saghar Ada presented papers on Jayant’s short stories. Media professional Avinash Kamath explained the process of ‘Bogaseyalli Male’ – the film on Jayant Kaikini, which was also partly screened on the occasion. Vocalist Ms Shravya Baasri sang Jayant’s film lyrics. Ms Gauthami Kakatkar moderated the programme. 

In the interaction, Jayant Kaikini called upon the young writers to read books of senior writers, and not just be confined to ‘passbook’ and the ‘face book’. Stories will be born when one gets lost in the human world. By its work culture, Mumbai is still a liberating place. Hospital is the most ‘spiritual’ place, where humans can really become humane and many of his metaphors also emerge from the hospital. The stories remain inconclusive as the life itself doesn’t end, he concluded.