luminaire_2014-vol-4 - Garden City College

Transcription

LUMINAIRE
A Refereed Journal of the Department of Languages
(Special Issue)
Chief Editor
Dr. Payel Dutta Chowdhury
Issue Editor
Dr. Sheela Rosalyn
Bangalore – 560 049, Karnataka
(Accredited with ‘A’ Grade by NAAC)
www.gardencitycollege.edu
Phone: 080 66487600/01/51, Fax: 080 66487667
Email ID: [email protected]
First Impression: 2014
© Department of Languages, Garden City College, Bangalore
Luminaire, a Refereed Journal of the Department of Languages
(Special Issue)
ISSN: 2249 2542
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owners.
DISCLAIMER
The authors are solely responsible for the contents of the papers compiled in this volume. The
publishers or editors do not take any responsibility for the same in any manner. Errors, if any,
are purely unintentional and readers are requested to communicate such errors to the editors
or publishers to avoid discrepancies in future.
Published by: Garden City College, Bangalore - 49
Phone: 080-66487600
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.gardencitycollege.edu
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Printed by: AA Advertising & Communications Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore
EDITORIAL BOARD
Patron in Chief & Publisher
Dr. Joseph V.G.
Honorary Consul of Republic of Maldives in India
& Chairman – Garden City Group of Institutions
Editorial Board Patrons
Prof. Jose Varghese
Former Vice Chancellor, National Law University, Raipur (C.G.)
& Advisor – Garden City College
Principal
Garden City College
Vice Principal
Garden City College
Chief Editor
Course Coordinator – Languages
Issue Editor
Dr. Sheela Rosalyn
SGL, Department of Management Sciences
BOARD OF REFEREES
Dr. Anuradha Roy
Associate Professor
Seshadripuram College, Bangalore
Dr. Apara Tiwari
Professor & Head
Govt. Shyam Sunder Agarwal College,
Jabalpur
Dr. Arvind Nawale
Head – Department of English
Shivaji Mahavidyalaya, Latur
Dr. G.E. Vijay Kumar
Professor
SJM College of Arts, science &
Commerce, Chitradurga
Dr. Jayanta Kar Sharma
Associate Professor
Govt. Women’s College, Sambalpur
Dr. K. Ganesh
Associate Professor
Madras Christian College, Chennai
Dr. P. Sartaj Khan
Associate Professor
Al-Ameen Arts, Science & Commerce
College, Bangalore
Dr. Sajal Kumar Bhattacharya
Associate Professor
Ramkrihna Mission Residential College
(Autonomous), Narendrapur
Dr. Sujata Rana
Associate Professor
Deenbandhu Chhoturam University of
Science and Technology, Sonepat
Dr. Sarojini Sudha
Associate Professor
NSS College, Ottappalam
From the Editor's Desk:
Luminaire, a refereed journal of the department of Languages, prioritizes critical as well as creative discourses on
various facets of literature and language. Our primary focus has always been on highlighting the different
perspectives of the literary and linguistic domain from the creative eye of readers and scholars.
The present volume consists of selected papers of ENGCONF2013 and is intended to focus on the varied
challenges and dilemmas represented in the contemporary literary scenario. The papers presented during the 2day National Conference on “Post-Modernism and Progressive India: Literary articulations and Non-Literary
Interventions” on 22nd and 23rd March 2013 were aimed at exploring different strategies adopted by writers in
grappling with issues which are the primary concerns of contemporary times. The papers presented on a variety
of sub-themes – Post-Modern Family, Patterns of Social Relationship, Shifts in Value System, Subverting the
Patriachal Paradigm, Faith and Politics, Threat of Violence, to name a few – focused on recent issues and tensions
in Indian English literature with an attempt to critique matters from a post-modern perspective . The papers were
aimed at exploring different strategies adopted through literary articulations and non-literary interventions in
grappling the primary concerns of progressive India.
This special issue intends to take ENGCONF2013 a step further by enabling thought-provoking discussions
based on the reading of a few selected scholarly papers presented during the conference. This volume comprising
of 28 research-oriented papers offers a critical appraisal of some of the outstanding works of contemporary
writers and gives a varied and analytical interpretation of their works. It marks a significant contribution to
academic research on contemporary issues in literature from a global perspective.
Dr. Apara Tiwari in her paper “Ritualistic Performing Arts in India: Value Based Progress” discusses different
performing arts in India in detail, their progressive nature and how they can be adapted to contemporary India.
Monalisa Borgohain’s paper “Festivals as Social Interaction and Communicative Performance – The Text and
Context of the Phat Bihu” explores the importance and significance of the festival “Phat Bihu”, its historical
association and significance.
A. Raja Rajeswari’s paper “Slavery in the Progressive Indian Era in the form of Manual Scavenging – A John
Rawl’s Perspective” argues that manual scavenging is slavery and looks at the issue through the prism of the
theorist, John Rawls' perspective. On the same theme, Mehak Huria’s paper “Retrospective and Prospective
Mnaual Scavenging: The Nation’s Shame” looks at the history and the existing state of manual scavenging in
India.
Dr. Saroji Sudha’s paper “Writing as Resistance in Dalit Woman Writer Bama” discusses Dalit writing as
resistance in context of the Dalit woman writer Bama. Vrushali Deole’s paper “Caste Conflict in The Immortals
of Meluha” pronounces the ideology of caste conflict in Amish Tripathi’s novel. Shameemunisa in her paper
“Unheard Voices: A Comparative Study of Two Dalit Women’s Autobiographies” presents a comparative study
of the two Dalit women, and their different reactions to the similar fate of oppression, subjugation and inequality.
M.S. Vinutha’s paper “Representation of Women in Mahasweta Devi’s Rudali” traces the journey of Sanichari, a
low class woman and her ultimate empowerment, in spite of the socioeconomic setup of dominance by the
upper class.
Veena M.K in her paper “The ideology of family in the dramas of Vijay Tendulkar & Mohan Rakesh” focuses on
the ideology of family from a post-modern perspective. Sindhu N.S. in her paper “Post-modern Family: Raja
Rao’s Kanthapura and Shashi Deshpande’s In the Country of Deceit” describes the post-modern family as
depicted in the two literary works.
Chaandreyi Mukherjee’s paper “The Post-modern Calcutta Woman: Meaning and representation in Recent
Bangla Films” dwells on the changes in the condition of the post-modern Calcutta woman through select 21st
century Bangla cinema. Madhura Sen in her paper “Discourse in television advertisements: A Study through the
gender prism” discusses how advertisements have specifically delineated gender difference in their projection of
men and women models. Chetan Kumar T.M.’s paper “Women and the Role of Media” concentrates on the
projection of women in media. Greeshma Peethambaran’s paper “Aesthetics of the Third Millenial Bollywodd
Cinema: The Paradigm and the Praxis” explores the aesthetic shifts, in terms of styles, techniques and texts,
discernible in select Bollywood movies.
Jayashree B’s paper “Subversion of gender identities as depicted in Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe and Lesson in
Forgetting” studies postcolonial feminism in two novels of Anita Nair. Dr. Sonia V. Oberoi’s paper “PostFeminism and Progressive India” explores the concept of post-feminism in the context of post-modern India. Dr.
Linda Primlyn’s paper “Post-feminist Perspectives in Manju Kapur’s Home” highlights the realistic introspection
of women as portrayed by Manju Kapur’s from a post-feminist perspective.
T. Avinash’s paper “Tracing the Post-modern Motifs in Kannada Narratives: Tentative Possibilities” focuses on
showcasing post modern themes in Kanada chronicles and how critics are non-unanimous in agreeing upon the
onset of the trend in this segment. Dr. T.R. Shashipriya’s paper “Traits of Modernism in Bharati Mukherjee’s
Desirable Daughters” concentrates on the traits of post-modernism in Bharti Mukherjee’s works. Dr. K. Jayaraju’s
paper “Post-modernism in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome” depicts the circumstances of medical
exploration in the colonial times, while adding a touch of the fantastical instead of the factual. Swetha Antony’s
paper “The Articulation and Celebration of Fragments: a post-modern analysis of Kamala Das’ poetry” presents a
postmodern analysis of Kamala Das’s poetry and the numerous identities she discovered in herself. Dr.
Mehrunnisa Pathan Saheblal’s paper “Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats: A Post-modern Reading” presents a postmodern analysis of Ozeki’s work.
Raghavendra H.M.’s paper “Changing Values, Culture and Globalization in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger”
deals with a changed world and how interactions of cultures lead to its dilution. R. Manjushree’s paper “Shifts in
Value System: Influence of Harry Potter Novels on Indian Readers and Children’s Literature” highlights how
Harry Potter novels have influenced Indian readers, especially children in the light of consequential shifts in value
system. Raju M.S. & Snehaprabha Desai’s paper “Indian Digital Diaspora and Cyber Feminist Webs: A Postmodern Perspective” explores the role that cyberfeminists play, in the contemporary world, while attempting to
empower themselves through the use of cybertechnology.
Dr. Sutapa Dutta’s paper “India or Bharat – What’s in a Name” talks about the gravity of emotional and linguistic
origin that have led to the christening of our country as India or Bharat. Sarannya V Pillai’s paper “The EcoMythical Contours in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide” depicts the futility of man, in spite his education, to
understand nature and her incomprehensible power, which results in him resorting to destruction while she
continues to absorb and re- create. Dr. Panchali Mukherjee in her paper “Migration and Return in Bhagwan S.
Gidwani’s Return of the Aryans as a representative of Hindu Politics based on Religion and State” deals with the
theme of human migration and return rooted in Hindu politics.
I am sure the deep insights of the above scholarly papers would definitely benefit students, teachers and research
scholars of English literature and language. I place on record my gratitude to all the members on the board of
referees for their valuable suggestions and Dr. Sheela Rosalyn, the Issue Editor, Mr. Shaival Thakkar and Ms. Violet
Mc Hardy, the staff editors, for their efforts.
I wish all the readers a happy thought-provoking reading journey…..
Best regards
Chief Editor - Luminaire
Futuristic Clarity and Vision in Kalaatheetha Vyakthulu
Dr. Apara Tiwari
C O N T E N T S
Slavery in the Progressive Indian Era in the Form
of Manual Scavenging - a John Rawls Perspective
Raja Rajeswari Ayyagari
Writing as Resistance in Dalit Woman Writer Bama
Dr. Sarojini Sudha
1-6
7-12
13-16
The Postmodern Family: The ideology of family in the dramas
of Vijay Tendulkar and Mohan Rakesh
Veena M.K.
17-21
The Post-modern Calcutta Woman: Meaning and Representation
in recent Bangla films
Chaandreyi Mukherjee
22-25
Retrospective and Prospective Manual Scavenging:
The Nation’s Shame
Mehak Huria
26-31
Subversion of gender identities as depicted in Anita Nair’s
Ladies Coupe and Lessons in Forgetting
Jayashree B.
32-37
Post-Feminism and Progressive India
Dr. Sonia V. Oberoi
Discourse in television advertisements: A study through
the gender prism
Madhura Sen
‘India’ or ‘Bharat’ – What’s in a Name?
Dr. Sutapa Dutta
Changing Values, Culture and Globalization in
Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger
Raghavendra H.M.
Postfeminist Perspectives in Manju Kapur’s Home
Dr A. Linda Primlyn
38-43
44-46
47-51
52-55
56-61
Tracing the Postmodern Motifs in Kannada Narratives:
Tentative Possibilities
T. Avinash
62-65
Post-modern Family: Raja Rao’s Kanthapura and
Shashi Despande’s “In the Country of Deceit”
Sindhu N S
66-68
C O N T E N T S
Caste Conflict and Ideology in The Immortals of Meluha
Vrushali Deole
69-74
Traits of Postmodernism in Bharati Mukherjee’s
The Desirable Daughters
Dr.T.R. Shashipriya
75-80
Shifts in Value System: Influence of Harry Potter Novels
on Indian readers and Children’s Literature
R. Manjushree
81-85
Postmodernism in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome
Dr. K. Jayaraju
86-88
Festivals as Social Interaction and Communicative Performance –
The Text and Context of Phat Bihu
Monalisa Borgohain
89-94
Indian Digital Diaspora and Cyber Feminist Webs:
A Post-modern Perspective
Snehaprabha N. Desai & Raju M.S.
95-98
Unheard Voices: A Comparative Study of Two
Dalit Women’s Autobiographies
Shameemunisa
99-101
The Eco-Mythical Contours in Amitav Ghosh’s
The Hungry Tide
Sarannya V Pillai
102-107
Representation of Women in Mahasweta
Devi’s ‘Rudali’
M.S. Vinutha
108-111
The Articulation and Celebration of Fragments:
A Post Modern Analysis of Kamala Das’s Poetry
Swetha Antony
112-118
Women and the Role of Media
Chetan Kumar T M
119-125
Ruth Ozeki's My Year of Meats: A Post Modern Reading
Dr. Mehrunnisa Pathan Saheblal
126-128
Migration and Return in Bhagwan S. Gidwani’s Return of
the Aryans as a representative of Hindu Politics
Based on Religion and State
Dr. Panchali Mukherjee
Aesthetics of the Third Millennial Bollywood Cinema:
The Paradigm and the Praxis - A Postmodernist
Deconstruction of the Select First Decade Millennium Movies
Greeshma Peethambaran
129-133
134-139
RITUALISTIC PERFORMING ARTS IN INDIA:
VALUE BASED PROGRESS
Dr. Apara Tiwari
Folk or rural theatre, a performing art form in India is as diverse and traditional as its culture, language,
and customs and as old as the mountains, yet young, modern, and moving. Each Indian folk theatre
performance is a unique reflection of the regional culture, its values, and its peoples. Some forms of
Indian folk theatre are still performed today, but only on ceremonial occasions in some rural villages in
India.
Tamasha of Maharashtra, Nautanki and Ramlila of U.P., Pandwani of Chattisgarh, Phad of Rajasthan,
Bhavai of Gujarat, Jatra of Bengal and Theyyam of Kerela are only a few names in ritualistic drama that
are not only vibrant and alive, but remarkably also popular, especially in the rural regions. Tapped for
its universality and for raising pertinent concerns, many Indian dramatists of English, multi-lingual
and of other Indian languages too, have taken up Indian myths and history in the Indian tradition of
dramatic and theatrical art investigating its modern relevance. Ritualistic drama today needs to be
explored too, as a strong source for comparative studies, demanding to be brought from the confines
into the literary world and unveiled to the modern audience. Dwight Conquergood believes that “. . .
moral issues of performance are more transparent when the performer attempts to engage ethnic and
intercultural texts, particularly those texts outside the canon and derived from fieldwork research.”
(Conquergood 2)
Developed as a distinct genre, its immense possibilities in its inherent tradition and values, to find the
metaphor, the meaning and related concerns will definitely help India progress as against blindly
following Western theories. While bringing in his views on the prehistory of novelistic discourse
Mikhail Bakhtin talks of “fourth drama” or “satyr play” which was a “peculiar type of parodictravestying” showing myths in a “different aspect”. Illustrations of this genre derived from Greek plays
and heroes from ancient literature like the Odyssey and Hercules is almost a parallel representation of
ritualistic drama in India. They mock and reflect on a given culture, people and epoch. Pointing at the
genre as “carnival”, Bakhtin, further lays emphasis on festival and holiday performances of parodic
literature of the Middle Ages.
Pertinent issues raised by the legend of Bonbibi become noteworthy when demonstrated through jatra
theatrical art, the most watched episode of the jatras in Sunderbans of Bengal, which also finds mention
in Amitav Ghosh’s gripping fictional work The Hungry Tide. Traditional jatra, a living and very
popular theatrical folk art originated in Bengal that later became popular in the neighboring Odisha,
Assam, Bihar, Tripura and Bangladesh. ‘Jatra’ in Sanskrit means journey. Devotees during the Bhakti
movement in India moved in a procession singing, dancing, falling into a trance, enacting scenes from
God’s lives. Intense frenzy with other dramatic elements and singing accompanied by loud clangs of
musical instruments came to be known as jatra. After Sri Chaitanya Deb’s initiation, jatra transformed
from devotional, mythological and historical into didactic and later secular, carving its way into urban
proscenium theatre. It is thriving exceptionally today due to its innate malleability of adapting to
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changing social milieu and catering to heterogeneous audience. The traditional performance in open air
arenas accompanied by monologues, melodramatic and highly stylized dialogue delivery with
exaggerated gestures and orations lends a generic character to a jatra, despite the inclusion of few props
and harsh lights. Bibek (conscience) and niyati (fate) as essential allegorical characters is a distinct
feature of a jatra, similar to a chorus in Greek tragedy. It begins with a climax capturing the attention of
the audience. Natun or New Jatras incorporate free verse and prose dialogues. After independence
political satires and protests called swadesi jatras, voicing social concerns, creating awareness against
colonial ideologies, communism, horrors of the World Wars, issues of national and international
importance, local issues and events from television and the cinema came into vogue. Badal Sircar and
Shombhu Mitra are two names among quite a few stalwarts, who have experimented with the form in
the regional language. Mostly enacted during the festive season, there are hundreds of jatra troupes
thriving all over Bengal.
The distinctiveness of Sunderban jatra is its instructive value, which should be attributed to its
ritualistic and progressive spirit. Rapid climate changes and extreme conditions leave no choice for the
inhabitants as well as the tigers in the tide country, but the strong survival instincts in both have forced
them to adapt. It is as necessity that the tigers have become most ferocious, intelligent and excellent
swimmers to become man-eaters. The same necessity has forced people to invade the wild territory. It
is here that the power of the folklore in the legend of Bonbibi becomes relevant connecting the world of
nature and the humans. The local theatre companies called jatra-dol move from village to village
enacting the popular story of Bonbibi who lives in the forests of Sunderbans protecting the inhabitants
from the demon, Dokhin Rai, who appears in the guise of a tiger. No one enters the jungle without
seeking her blessings. Although the rituals of worship followed are from Hindu faith but her origin is
neither in Hindu mythology nor in Bengal. She is the daughter of a Sufi fakir, Ibrahim in the Arabian
city of Medina, the holy city of Islamic faith. Archangel Gabriel set them on a divine mission to make
the tide country fit for habitation. Dressed like a typical Bengali housewife, Bonbibi is worshipped
equally by the Dalit Muslims as well as devout Hindus. The connection thus transcends religious
barriers. A fine balance to rule the territory is maintained after the goddess overcomes the demon with
a truce in which she stays in and rules the human settlement and the demon is confined to the
wilderness. When a greedy fleet owner, Dhona enters the forests with his troops in search of jungle
treasures, this balance is broken. The demon in the tiger’s guise traps the troop members. Only when
Dhona pleads, the tiger agrees to release them in exchange for a ransom in the form of a poor boy,
Dukhey. When the tiger is about to pounce on the boy, he remembers his mother’s advice. She had
asked him to call Bonbibi in times of distress. His ardent prayers are heard and the goddess appears in a
flash and saves him from the tiger. She then restores the boy to his mother. The consequences of
meddling with nature and values of a secular society promoting communal brotherhood are the two
basic issues that this Jatra draws attention to.
Theyyam means daivam in Sanskrit for God. Theyyam dancer, Hari Das, a dalit, says he’s possessed by
God during performance. Slowly transformed into God Vishnu with makeup, he nervously responds
to his feelings despite 26 years of experience. Living in restrictions during the festive season Hari
experiences a blinding transformation, a vehicle through which people thank God for granting their
wishes. Performers dressed as Lord Vishnumurti and Chamundi believed to be incarnated as Gods and
priests, bless the crowds even the ‘most bigoted’ having immense faith in their miraculous feats. Hari
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reveals to Dalrymple in The Dancer of Kannur, that he like other dancers lives a double life as a manual
labourer and a jail warder rest of the year. Ironically, none recognize him as a God without makeup,
facing caste discrimination by the upper castes. The same people pay obeisance and seek his blessings
when he performs donned as a deity.
Despite a high literacy rate and development Theyyam grew due to the inequalities in caste, practiced
even to this day in Kerala. As legend goes, one of its forms, Pottayam Theyyam gained popularity when
Lord Shiva once tested Adi Shankaracharya for discrimination. Shankaracharya was enlightened
thereafter respecting all humans equally. Hari declares, “‘. . . The great modern reformers such as Karl
Marx or [the Dalit political leader] Ambedkar are really only reinforcing the lessons taught to us by the
great god Shiva.’” (Dalrymple 41).
Theyyam has inspired people, created awareness in the importance of education and has improved
overall self esteem. There is faith in people from all castes seeking advice to adopt good ways and discard
bad ones specially when they, “‘. . . see the god in the flesh and you can speak to him and ask him about
your worries.’” (Dalrymple 48-49). It helps thwart misfortune of crop yield befallen on villages, help
women, give advice on jobs, and cure cancer patients. Prosperous sponsors from the Gulf patronize
village Theyyams, a gesture to thank, ironically from a place where the most puritanical and
intolerants live. (Dalrymple 54). An inspiring article on culture unwrapped a reality, “Though
Theyyam is a Hindu ritual form, few know that there are Muslim Theyyams at four or five centres. In
Kamballoore, a prominent Theyyam is a Mapla Muslim. ... Indeed, the form speaks of religious
harmony as well” (The Hindu, Magazine 6 Nov 2011). Moreover, another form, Devakoothu,
exemplifies a general attitude against gender discrimination. “Devakoothu, performed by a female
dancer (women from the Malaya community), is an interesting bridge between the folk and classical
traditions”. (The Hindu, Magazine 10 Feb. 2013) It is significant that woman laborer from the one
untouchable castes is brought on a sacred stage. The rituals before the performance reminds of the cycle
of life and its significance in an agrarian society. Billed by the local media as “‘the only Theyyam of the
world performed by a woman’” it is now attracting tourists in northern Kerela. (The Hindu, Magazine
10 Feb. 2013)
Ramayan is long lasting faith, known by almost every Indian in every age, with Ram and Sita as
adorable figures; Ram as a model man and Sita as a “paragon of all wife-like virtues”. “Ram rajya” is the
golden age of rule as is the countless “Ram-lilas” staged in a number of towns and villages. Ramayan is
the triumph of good over evil, a growing faith drawn from its adaptations relevant to contemporary
life. Very few politicians today remember that Ram learnt to live an austere life from his guru
Vashishta; the same austerity that Gandhiji tried to teach his contemporaries. In the same way the
guru’s advice to Rama that he would have to live up to the family traditions to rule as he was his
subject’s servant, not because he had the right to do so. The acceptance of Bharat as king after Ram’s
exile by the people of Ayodhya and his questioning their loyalty teaches, the privilege to have a vote
but all the same it must be safeguarded. The story of Ram epitomizes national integration and
communal harmony in the country. During Dushera the year when Sagar’s Ramayana was telecaste, it
was noticed that there had never been so many Ravans being burnt at the Ram-lila celebrations as then
and all because of the television. They also revealed that they felt proud to know the ancient Indian
history and the complete story for the first time.
Theatre in Chhattisgarh is called gammat. Pandwani is one of its popular forms, complete with folk
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3
songs, music, dialogues and interaction with the audience. Narrated by the lead artist and supported by
two to three singers and musicians, pandwani becomes livelier with kapalik style. Here the narrator
enacts the scenes and plays the characters single handedly. On the other hand in the simpler vedamati
version, the artist sits on the floor throughout, to narrate the tale of the Pandavas, the chief characters
of epic Mahabharata. According to its foremost singer, Teejanbai, pandwani could be as old as the
Mahabharata and this oral tradition was passed on from generation to generation as reading and writing
was not known then.
In a unique style, as the play progresses, the artist arouses theatrical movements, mimics, breaks into
spontaneous dance, adding an element of surprise and enhancing the dramatic effect. The supportive
singers with harmonium, tabla, dholak and manjira provide the backing vocals and refrain at the
completion of an episode or to celebrate a victory. Intense movements, and the sole prop, tambura or
ektara decorated with peacock feathers and bells, used variously as a gada, bow of Arjun, chariot or hair
of Draupadi are other major features. This consummate theatrical form is meant to entertain as well as
to educate the masses. The artist experiments and improvises, offers critique on current happenings
and uses local words to furnish an insight through the story. Habib Tanvir, the famed playwright of
Chhattisgarh, using the form in many of his plays very effectively, had immortalized it. With the
assistance of yet another exponent of the form, Ritu Verma, an academic enthusiast of drama, Ben
Haggarty, has tried to improvise on the genre in UK into a fusion form. Using epic stories and legendry
lays of the West he has discovered amazing potentials of pandwani.
Mohan Bhopa and his wife Batasi, bards of Rajasthani medieval poem The Epic of Pabuji; were the last
of the hereditary singers of wandering bhopa caste, having kept the oral epic alive. The 600 year old
poem tells of “heroism and honour, struggle and loss, and finally, martyrdom and vengeance”
(Dalrymple 79). Eventually it grew from the tale of a local chieftain’s heroic deeds protecting his cattle
to the epic grandeur relating heroisms of a warrior and incarnate God, Pabu, who died fighting demons
to protect his herds. With other feats interwoven, the 4000 lines poem takes 5 nights to unfold, is less
entertainment and more a religious ritual invoking Pabuji for protection against ill-fortune.
Traditionally performed in front of a phad, the audience consists of nomadic and camel-herding Rabari
caste but other castes, especially the warrior caste also join in. The sacred phad, long narrative painting
made on a strip of cloth illustrating epic events serving as a portable temple rather than a piece of art is as
sacred as any deity. Phads keep evil at bay.
The bhopas had great powers to heal and cure the possessed person. These “Rajasthani Homers” of
Dalrymple acted as exorcist reciting the epic or the mantras. Curing sickness of animals, children
possessed by djinn, invoking the spirit of Pabuji, Mohan felt him within, driving away evil spirits at the
power of the story. With a “‘. . . wonderful sense of well- being, and complete peace [Mohan said that
after the end of a complete performance, which is rare,] It is he who cures. Not me’” (Dalrymple 99).
For the educated today it is just a matter of faith healing and superstition. Despite the more popular
TV, CD, DVD and Bollywood distracting the youth and snatches of epic being played at Rajasthan
palace hotels, Mohan was very positive about its life. “‘. . . for all that has changed, it is still at the centre
of our life, and our faith, and our dharma.’” (Dalrymple 108). Comparing the Odyssey and the Iliad’s
short life in the West regarding performances the author believes that the ritual is alive due to the
intense devotion of the people of Pabusar for phad and its healing power. “The poems had been turned
into religious rituals and the bhopas had become receptacles for the messages of the gods, able to
4
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penetrate the wall – in India always a fairly porous wall – between the divine and the mundane”(
Dalrymple 108). It is like the God who is less remote and looks after the daily needs of the villagers,
someone you look up to for immediate help who is closer to you, understands you. Mohan has passed
on the tradition to his son and hopes it continues with the grandson as long as it is done with complete
devotion. In tune with the Bonbibi legend, here too the heroic deeds of the chieftain fighting demons to
protect his herds teaches courage and sacrifice, and is needed today to fight demons responsible for
destroying the wildlife heritage and disturbing the ecology.
700 year old bhavai, also called swang, a folk theatre form, originated in the 14th century and became
popular in Gujarat. The term bhavai meaning show or spectacle occurs in Jain religious verse
Apabhramsa and also in Abul Fazal’s Ain-I-Akbari. Bhava means expression and also universe and aai
means mother. So bhavai is a dedication to the mother of the universe, Amba. Performed partly as
entertainment and partly a ritual offering to the deity Amba, bhavai performances take place during
the Navratri festival at Mount Abu in Rajasthan, so it is also a popular folk form in that state. It is
similar to Prekshanak, one of the ten forms described in Bharat’s Natyashastra. Anger due to injustice
suffered by the marginalized permeates the art form as portrayed by its originator, the poet Asaita
Thakar. Later his three sons continued to write and perform and after that members of the tragala caste
became bhavai performers.
Laced by sharp humor, the plays are a potent medium of social criticism, whether depicting
mythological stories or presenting a scathing review of caste-ridden social structure. Portraying people
from all classes of society ranging from a bangle seller to a fakir, bhavai is also a living example of
communal harmony. One play for instance, exhibits a love affair between a Hindu bania woman and a
Muslim thanedar followed by an amicable reconciliation in the end. The performance begins with
initial ritual after the preliminary appearances of the nayak or the chief of bhavai and other deities. The
nayak and the jester remain on the scene as the play unfolds, providing commentary at intervals,
assisting in the play’s progress. Songs, dialogues, dance and speeches are integral with female roles
enacted by men. Pakhawaj, jhanjha, sarangi, harmonium and the most unique bhungal are the musical
instruments used. The veshas or the multiple scenes and plots in a bhavai were first published in the
19th century but the enactment was handed down through the oral tradition. It is said that out of 360
only 60 vesha plays by Asaita have survived.
Similarly, the nautanki supposed to have derived from Shehzadi Nautanki, an earliest form, is popular
in North India, especially Uttar Pradesh. According to a theory it is an offshoot of the word natak
meaning drama and yet another theory that admission to such a play was nau taka (nine rupees) and so
it became nautanki. The evolution of the ballads recited by the bards, dramatizes stories of kings, saints,
robbers, lovers, knights, that is encompassing people from all walks of life, are secular by nature. A fine
blend of Hindu-Muslim folk culture, the form intermingles Hindu myths and legends with stories of
Mughal period; a mixed social setup of costumes, language and music. Ranga (stage-manager) initiates
the performance by the ritual; bhaint, singing praises of the guru and other deities, ushering in the
characters, followed by choubola and daur, sung with the accompanied beat and melodies of the
nagara, sarangi and the harmonium. Transforming the classical ragas like bhairavi and khamaj into
rather folkish form, using varied metrical style like dadra and khayal, nautanki champions honesty,
valor and faithfulness through its historical, religious and socially romantic themes like Raja
Harishchandra, Prithviraj Chauhan and Sultana Daku. Hindi is interspersed with a generous flavor of
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5
Urdu, Braj and Rajasthani adding charm and appeal, whereas Sanskrit initiates the ritual to intensify
the sacred atmosphere.
The winding up note brings in traditional values as a means to progress. In a typical Indian spur of rage,
this is a country that can rise to occasion and stand united. Multiple “ravans” that are playing havoc
with innocent lives prompting every Indian to doubt the security of women in India today is due to loss
of moral education at the primary and middle level. During the last three decades an entire generation
has emerged in a culture devoid of traditional values, discipline and love for the country. This is a heavy
loss for the present generation and the real “burning of ravans” will take yet another 15-20 years. The
only corrective measure that is envisioned to rejuvenate the entire nation is to re-establish moral
education and strict discipline at the lower levels. Prioritizing trainings to create qualified teachers,
making it most prestigious, highly paid and facilitative is the key to build architects of any progressive
nation.
Like the mainstream theatre, ritualistic theatre, are valuable source of reviving awareness of Indian
ethos in the modern context. Similarly, flexibility, especially in its thematic content, to adapt to the
times is the testimony of its progressive nature which needs to be discovered and tapped on a wider
arena.
Notes:
• Bakhtin, Mikhail. From the Prehistory of Novelistic Discourse. Modern Criticism and
Theory, Ed. David Lodge, London: Longman, 1988. Print.
• Conquergood, Dwight. (1985) “Performing as a Moral Act: Ethical Dimensions of the
Ethnography of Performance”. Literature in Performance, 2(5), 1-13. Print.
• Dalrymple, William. Nine Lives. In Search of the Sacred in Modern India. London:
Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010. Print.
• Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide. New Delhi: Harper Collins 2005. Print.
• The Hindu, Magazine 6 Nov 2011 and 10 Feb. 2013. Print.
• Jatra <http:/ / banglapedia. search. com. bd/ HT/ J_0081. Htm> at Banglapedia. Web.
• Misra,
Preetu. “The Bon Bibi Legend of the Sundarbans”.
<http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Preetu_Misra> Web.
• Lodge, David. (Ed.) Modern Criticism and Theory. New York: Longman 1988. Print.
• <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bha vai> Web.
• <www.narendramodi.in/the-stage-of-bhavaithe-elegant-art-of-theatre/> Web.
• < http://www.filepie.us/?title=Pandavani> Web.
• "Performing Nautanki: Popular community folk performances as sites of dialogue and social
change Ph.D. Dissertation submitted to Ohio University" by Devendra Sharma. Web.
6
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SLAVERY IN THE PROGRESSIVE INDIAN ERA IN
THE FORM OF MANUAL SCAVENGING - A JOHN
RAWLS PERSPECTIVE
Raja Rajeswari Ayyagari
John Rawls was an American philosopher and jurist, who had through his work ‘Theory of Justice’
laid down certain principles of justice. According to him, principles of justice for an egalitarian society
could be best arrived through the veil of ignorance and even thereafter through the principles of liberty
and the difference principle.
Applying these principles to the modern day employment of manual scavengers it may be seen that
Rawls would not justify the current day occupation of manual scavenging as it is equivalent to forced
occupation even in this progressive Indian era. Then the developments in law regarding the issue, be it
in the form of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition)
Act, 1993 or the recent Manual Scavenging and the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavenging
and Their Rehabilitation Bill 2012 (that was recently passed by the Houses in September 2013), shall be
examined. As regards the Bill 2012, the major issues shall remain the aspect of health and dignity of the
manual scavengers and secondly that of their rehabilitation. Hypothesis and conclusion for the project
shall remain that even the Bill falls short of the protection and rehabilitation.
Meaning of Manual Scavenging:
Manual Scavenging means an occupation wherein people carry the faeces of others. The very act of
carrying the faeces of other people seems horrendous, but it is also true that this is done as a matter of
occupation. There are people who make their livelihood out of this and in fact for most of them this is
the only source of their livelihood. People who are in this occupation are called scavengers. There are
still around 770,000 manual scavengers in India (Human Rights Status Report, 2012). The highest
numbers of manual scavengers are found in Uttar Pradesh (213,975), followed by Madhya Pradesh
(81,307), Maharashtra (64,785), Gujarat (64,195), Andhra Pradesh (45,822) and Assam (40,413).
Tracing the history of manual scavenging and analyzing it through the veil of Rawls:
In India, there prevailed this hierarchy of caste system, comprising of the Brahmins, the Kshatriya, the
Vaishyas and the Sudras. This hierarchy was based on the occupation a person was into. Later, the
occupational groups became so structured that it became hardly possible for any occupational mobility
to take place from one category to that of another. The people who formed the Sudra category were
into different kinds of occupations, which in the modern day sense we may call unskilled labour work.
One group of people among this Sudra caste was that of these sweepers and scavengers, as among the
other categories of workers like weavers, cobblers, etc. Due to the nature of their work the scavengers
were treated as not worthy of respect. What is peculiar is that even the Sudra caste would not accept
them as part of their caste and threw them out of their caste. This is why these Dalits are called as the
‘outcaste’.
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7
John Rawls’ theory of justice is basically that in order to bring about an egalitarian society decisions
must be taken in a situation behind the veil of ignorance (Rawls 12). Behind this wheel people are
ignorant of their situation or place on a given ladder once the veil is lifted. Therefore, people bargaining
behind this wheel would be careful of taking a decision suitable to both the ends. But most importantly
this group bargaining their positions behind this wheel must be in a status of equal contract (Rawls, p.
12). That is to say these people must have such equal position that they are able to deliberate without
factors like fear or undue influence coming from any other deliberating party. Then any arrangement
made between them would be a just outcome.
For Rawls, the veil of ignorance is where the members of the society enter into a contract and contract
signifies an equal position, but that equal voice for the sake of the scavengers can nowhere be seen in the
primitive society. The reason why they had to do this work was explained as because of their birth in a
scavenger family. Probably, the whole concept of casteism, which was just a professional segregation,
became more kind of a birth related factor. Each caste tried to show its supremacy over the other next
category of caste. The occupation of manual scavenging, which is itself very odd, became a caste
predominant activity wherein generations after generations of the same Dalit community was held
responsible for the cleaning activity because of the mere fact of their birth in that caste. Thus, when
there persisted inequality in the society not just right from the point of birth but because of the very
reason of birth, that reciprocity of equal deliberation would not take place even behind the state of veil
of ignorance. Equal participation is more important for Rawls rather that the resulting principles that
would evolve as he felt that the former could secure the latter part of justice. But as has already been
pointed out, the scavengers were not at all considered to be part of society so as to even consider their
position on that ladder where people are to secure different positions thereafter. Therefore the whole
setup as it existed in the earlier era, failed in the Rawlsian test in the very first instance.
Is manual scavenging equal to Slavery?
Manual scavenging is another form of slavery present in the 21st century. Certainly, because of the
inhuman treatment meted out to them and because of their segregation from the society, the poor
Dalits were made to believe that they were indeed born so and therefore they had to take up the
occupation.
The only traditional job that this group knew was that of cleaning toilets and public areas and getting
paid for that job. The stigma attached to this work is so deep-rooted in the society that they can hardly
move out of that occupation. Due to the social disabilities and lack of self – confidence, the scavengers
refused to move out of this job. Even if some of them do dare to throw away the baskets, which are
mostly their job-kit, they are left on the roads with no other alternative for survival. Least could they
expect from the government, which itself was practising this manual scavenging in a manner which
even claimed lives of these poor people. Thus, even in today’s times it can be said that manual
scavenging is one way of slavery and therefore we cannot say that even from a libertarian perspective it
is a free market where people are willfully rendering their services.
That being so, the current social setup also fails the Rawlsian test and what we would want is an
immediate liberation of people from this slavery. This is so because for Rawls a just hierarchal setup in
society would be there only when it respects basic human rights. This can be secured only when there is
equal representation of all the voices in the society. Unlike Aristotle, Rawls does not emphasize on
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participation of all the people in the politics to achieve a good society. It is enough for Rawls if at least
these different voices could be heard at some point in the process of consultation to express political
dissent. The Dalits should not be deprived of this right and as per Rawls such a society would secure for
all persons at least certain minimum rights to means of subsistence and security and liberties like
freedom from slavery, serfdom and forced occupations.
The twin evils of insanitary latrines and manual scavenging are inconsistent with the right to live with
dignity, which is an essence of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution.
Liberation from Manual Scavenging:
As a result of this entire dehumanising practise many representative groups have raised their voices.
One of the most commendable jobs that were done could be said to be the idea of Sulabh complex, an
innovative idea of Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak. But as an organisation, the Karamchari Andolan put lot of
efforts as a result of which the Act of 1993 was enacted in the light of Article 17 of the Indian
Constitution for the purpose of prohibiting employment of manual scavengers and for prohibition on
construction or continuance of dry latrines. The Act could be said to have done something more than
being just a futile piece of legislation with no convictions till date. At least, the government realised
through this Act that manual scavenging is a degrading as well as a dangerous activity that still claims
lives of so many poor people and that it is wrong on the part of the government as well as the society to
ignore the health of people who have been serving the nation by cleaning even the excreta of people.
However, the implementation of the Act was criticised as there was not a single conviction since the
implementation of the Act. A few States have remained silent on the matter, notwithstanding the
Public Interest Litigation petitions filed by SKA in the Supreme Court in 2003. The PIL litigants
sought to enforce their fundamental right against untouchability under Article 17 of the Constitution,
read together with Articles 14, 19 and 21 that guarantee equality, freedom, and protection of life and
personal liberty, respectively.
As a result of the disadvantages found in the 1993 Act, the anti-manual scavenging organisations urged
before the government for the introduction of a more effective piece of legislation. Thereby a new draft
Bill was introduced in the Parliament on 3rd September 2012 (Press Information Bureau, 03-09-2012).
The new Bill has been legislated under Entry 24 of the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India i.e.
welfare of labour and working conditions unlike the 1993 Act that was enacted under Entry 6 of the
State List i.e. Public Health and Sanitation.
Manual Scavenging affects the health and dignity of a person
Manual scavenging is a slow poison that has been responsible for killing the self dignity of a person ever
since it was injected into our society. Undermined physical capacity and the feeling of vulnerability and
hopelessness associated with this form of discrimination have triggered a vicious cycle of pauperisation,
low educational attainment, and social immobility for manual scavengers and their families (ILO,
2011). At the same time it rapidly affects the health of the person and exposes him to various diseases
like exposure to harmful gases, cardiovascular degeneration, musculoskeletal disorders, infections,
skin problems and respiratory system problems (ILO, 2012). All this is due to manually handling the
excreta and most often entering into drain or sewage hole.
The new Bill puts a ban on prohibition of Manual Scavenging except where it is done by way of safety
precautions like gloves, etc. It is to be appreciated that the Act does not consider only the Hindu Dalit
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9
manual scavengers but equally applies to manual scavengers generally whether they are Christian or
Muslims or anybody else. The idea behind the partial ban is that there is a need to ban manual
scavenging for the reason that the act of cleaning human excreta only with bare hands or without other
proper equipments is a dehumanising activity and there is a need to put a complete ban on it.
But more emphasis is put on the reason that it is dangerous to let them work in the same environment
with least protection for their health. Indeed, the second aspect is more relevant and that is why the Bill
includes the definition of manual scavengers as those who are employed in cleaning excreta with the
help of those devices and protective gears as may be notified by the central government. This is in the
light of the reason that it is dangerous to the health of the scavengers and that it has already claimed the
lives of many people and therefore ban on hazardous cleaning of sewer and septic tanks. It is said that 15
workers had died in septic tanks and manholes in Tamil Nadu alone in the last 18 months (As reported
in The Hindu, 5–10-2012). The issue here is that why was there not a complete ban. So this would mean
that the dehumanizing act is only when it is done manually with hands. Yes, this stand of the
government can be taken to be true as we cannot say that what is dehumanizing is the work of cleaning.
But what does affect the human rights of individuals is when they do it in an utter disgusting manner
even putting one’s health at stake. Coen Kompier of the International Labour Organisation, while
stressing that it was primarily a human rights issue and not a sanitation one, hoped that over time it
would also be treated as a job to be done by sanitation workers with proper equipment and dignity (As
reported in The Hindu, 10-10-2012). Now the point is that if this be so then does it in any manner not
affect the object of liberating the scavengers from the disgusting manner in which it is done. Yes, what
appears is that a difference is to be drawn between manual scavengers and sanitation workers. The new
Bill does the same. Then what has to be done to liberate them is to provide the existing manual
scavengers a proper rehabilitation scheme so as to provide them adequate opportunity for an inclusive
growth. Thus, what is actually needed is proper rehabilitation.
Rehabilitation of Scavengers- whether it passes through the prism of Rawls’ principles:
In order to address the concern of the various representative voices as against the failure of the 1993
legislation in doing away with this slavery, the 2012 Bill has included in it the scheme of rehabilitation.
The reason why still many people are in the job is not because of the availability of this job but because
of lack of other job opportunities and proper facilities to them as a result of which the only job left is
that of manual scavenging.
Even for Rawls it would not be enough to give them equal opportunities and later leave them on their
peril to find a dignified place in the society. Rawls lays down two broad principles of justice, viz.,
liberty and equality. By the first principle it is meant that there is to be equal basic liberties for all
citizens. As far as the second principle is concerned Rawls argues that a second principle of equality
would be agreed upon to guarantee liberties that represent meaningful options for all in society and
ensure distributive justice (Rawls 60). Of course Rawls does accept that there might be some
inequalities in the society even after the experiment of the lifting of veil of ignorance. The solution that
Rawls comes up with is that is that then at least the inequalities must be reasonably expected to be to
everyone’s advantage and attached to positions and offices open to all (Rawls 61).
The Bill does provide for scholarship benefits to the children of manual scavengers, provides housing
facilities to them, both subject to the eligibility and willingness and that of relevant scheme of the
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LUMINAIRE
Government. The adult member shall be given training in alternative livelihood along with monthly
stipend, and training and subsidized loans for alternative jobs as per the relevant scheme as well the
services for legal and pragmatic issue.
The rehabilitation schemes must include a better method of drawing these scavengers into the society.
Definitely, one of the ways is proving assistance for self-employment. But the scheme under which it
may be provided is the main concern. For example, as per the current scheme of Self Employment, the
families are required to be engaged in manual scavenging for at least 100 days in a year. The effect of it
was not encouraging people for self employment but that of giving them another reason why to stick to
the current job. Thus, the schemes that government must come up with should be those that provide an
opportunity to the scavengers to get access to the other positions of authority and command, as is
required by Rawls. This cannot be done if they are not encouraged to gather enough courage to break
the barriers of their age-old occupation.
At the same time although rehabilitation has been included there should be a time span within which
the rehabilitation benefits must be provided. Such time limitation is important so that in case of failure
liability could be fixed.
Conclusion
Protection of Dalits has always been in the agenda of the Indian Governments and in fact the provisions
for their protection and promotion occupy a significant part of our Constitution. But till date the
atrocities against this group continues. Unfortunately, even the State agencies are also responsible for
it. It has already been established how manual scavenging by way of traditional means amounts to
atrocities on them. At the same time due to the forced form of labour this has led to deprivation of the
opportunities that other members of the society enjoy. Thus, where on one hand the percentage of
reservations for their equal representations is increasing, their tyranny is not depleting. This certainly
shows a disconnection between actual problem and that of policies introduced.
One such example of that major disconnection is the requirement of a manual scavenging Bill with
proper Rehabilitation Schemes. Social inclusion of Dalits can be done if measures are taken at grassroot level itself instead of having a scheme where one has to wait for trickle down effect. The
Governments, instead of concentrating on bringing more and more reservations must ensure the
implementation of schemes that target right at the grassroot level. This is so because firstly,
reservations were meant to be a means of representation but today reservations are itself an end.
Secondly, as already mentioned reservations are not so effective due to its lesser trickle down effect to
the actual weakest person on the ladder. Thus, instead of this, such schemes are required that aim at the
basic grass-root level itself.
As has been mentioned, both the issues of health and dignity are to be dealt hand in hand and even if
certain population is retained by the government for the cleaning activity then it has to be ensured that
proper modern equipments are in place. This would not only ensure the health to the workers but also
a dignified life. This would be possible because when the way a particular work is done changes then
automatically respect for the people engaged with that work would increase. Of course, some time
period would require for this mind-set to change. But most importantly what is required is the
voluntary form of service for such cleaning activity. A person engaged in the cleaning activity must do
so willingly and not due to the reason that it is his caste because of which he is left with no other work
LUMINAIRE
11
except for this traditional occupation. If this latter situation is to be arrived at then the current workers
or rather the scavengers must be given an option of mobility by liberating them from the manual
scavenging. But if that has to be done then there has to be some supporting scheme in the form of their
rehabilitation so that the friction during this change can be better faced.
As has been pointed out, the Bill does promise rehabilitation but the forms of rehabilitation that are to
be given through certain schemes seem doubtful. There are many schemes existing today and if those
schemes are to be repeated in the name of rehabilitation then not much change would be seen. The role
of several NGOs and Human rights Commission is also evidently important in such cases for the
purpose of keeping a watch on the implementation of the rehabilitation schemes.
Most importantly what is required for proper rehabilitation is to build in the required confidence in the
whole scavenger community that they can, more so as a matter of right, break the age-old barrier. This
is so because the caste system is so deep rooted in India that it is hard to even make them believe to be a
free born person like any other person from any other caste. Thus, a step by step association with them
is very important rather than merely laying down a one time rehabilitation scheme.
Notes:
•
Human Rights in India Status Report, Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN
May 2012. <www.wghr.org.>
•
James Mersey. Dalits in India. Manohar 1999, p. 15.
•
John Rawls. A Theory of Justice. Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., Second Indian
Reprint, 2005, p. 78.
•
The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry latrines (Prohibition) Act,
1993. <http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=87274>
•
International Labour Organisation, ILO and Manual Scavengers in India: Paving the long way
towards the elimination of discrimination based on social origin.
<http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/features/WCMS_159813/langen/index.htm>
•
International Labour Organisation, Advocacy meeting with Trade Unions on Manual
<http://www.ilo.org/newdelhi/whatwedo/eventsandmeetings/WCMS_186253/lang
en/index.htm>
•
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavenging and Their Rehabilitation Bill 2012 <
Scavenging http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/centre-fooling-people-on-ending
manual-scavenging-says-justice-prasad/article3804245.ece>
•
<http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3261450.ece>
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WRITING AS RESISTANCE IN DALIT WOMAN
WRITER BAMA
Dr. Sarojini Sudha
The women of the marginalized groups found a platform to redefine and recast their identities in new
moulds through their writings. The Black writer Marshall in an interview shares:
It is the writer’s great contribution to create new images that will overcome the negative psychological
images we have because of our history (27).
It is imperative that the marginalized people should learn to see themselves in positive terms. Dalit
women writers are now an important political and social force in India. Their literary and critical
writings constitute a major challenge to the theories about Indian politics, society, culture and
literature by intellectuals from upper castes. Dalit women suffer from duel disadvantage- of being dalit
due to socio-economic and cultural marginalization and of being women suffering from gender based
inequalities and subordination. Though Tamil dalit literature is in its growing stage, it is vibrant,
multifaceted, articulate and radically innovative. The aggressiveness of the Tamil dalit women writers
is still strong because they struggle and rebel to attain self identity both in the domestic and social circles
even today. They employ a wide variety of literary forms, devices and styles as tools of resistance to
stub oppression and discrimination that are meted out to the individual and the community. Their
writings call attention to collusion of caste hegemony and patriarchal structure which seek to control a
dalit woman’s sexual life and conduct.
To write about Bama briefly, she is a celebrated dalit woman writer in Tamil whose works have been
translated into English, French and several other regional languages. Born as Faustina Mary Fathima
Rani she writes with the pen name Bama. After seven years of being a nun she left the convent in protest
against the discrimination showed by the church. After a period of disappointment and
disillusionment, Bama slowly dispensed such thoughts and began to gain strength to defend herself and
her community in positive terms. Bama has published an autobiographical work Karukku (1992) and
three novels Sangati (1994), Vanmam (2002) and Manushi (2012). Karukku has become the first dalit
autobiography in Tamil written by a dalit woman in the rustic language of the pariah community. Her
contribution to Dalit literature is significant. She has created a Dalit spoken idiom which renders a
distinct resonance to her writing.
This paper intends to bring out the fact that writing itself forms the organizing motif where the
experience is contextualized and made an integral part of the writing practice and resistance becomes a
strategy in which that writing participates. What Foucault calls the ‘power of writing’ in Discipline and
Punish: The Birth of the Prison plays an essential part in the mechanism of discipline. He writes:
This turning of real lives into writing is no longer a procedure of heroization; it functions as a
procedure of objectification and subjection (192).
The act of writing itself is a declaration for Bama. The element of resistance in her text is the strength
that she incurred to raise up even from the edge of defeat. Resistance in literature is a complex concept
to define, for it is associated with a shift in a paradigm in the relations between text and image.
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13
Identifying resistance in a text is highly dependent on individual context. Literatures of the
marginalized can be grouped under resistance literature because they fight for social and economic
emancipation and resist exploitation at all levels. Dalit writings unravel past history of exploitation and
seek to emerge from the depressive peripheral social structure. Hence Bama’s writings can also be called
resistance writing and Bama a rebel. The autobiographical form of writing is one of the ways through
which Bama expresses her dissatisfaction in the repressed condition of life and to voice her desires and
hopes. It is a literary creation, where she could move beyond alienation through collective solidarity
with other repressed women. In Karukku Bama writes:
It has been a great joy to dalits aiming to live with self respect, proclaiming aloud ‘Dalit endru sollada,
talai nimirnthu nillada’: say you are a Dalit: lift your head and stand tall (Karukku 105).
This simple statement explains that subaltern can speak. She admits the rootlessness in life, social
exclusion and the pain involved in it, yet the challenge then is to subject her to the pain so that it creates
art. Thus creative writing for Bama was to assert and celebrate the humanity of the dalits.
Stephen Slemon the postcolonial critic and theorist in Unsetting the Empire: Resistance theory for the
Second World questions the nature of literary resistance:
Is literary resistance something that simply issues forth through narratives, against a clearly definable
set of power relations? Is it something actually there in the text or is it produced and reproduced in and
through communities of readers and through the mediating structures of their own culturally specific
histories? (104)
Bama explains what writing is for her, “I experience writing as the breaking of the unbroken and forced
silence of the victims and letting the victims and the militants in the victim to speak up” (Karukku 21).
She develops a strategy of resistance that will speak to the muted and create a space from where the
subaltern as a female could speak. She believes:
Those who have found their happiness by exploiting us are not going to let us go easily. It is we who
have to place them where they belong and bring about a changed, just society where all are equal
(Karukku 24).
Sangati, her second novel is an autobiography of a community itself. Every anecdote largely explains
the caste suppression undergone by the pariahs and specifically the women. Bama endeavours to
expand feminist agenda to enlist caste oppression as a subject of concern. The title of the novel being
Sangati which means ‘Events’ is significant because the novel unfolds the events that happen around the
village. She clarifies her stance thus:
My mind is crowded with many anecdotes: not only about the sorrows and tears of dalit women but
also about their lively and rebellious culture, their eagerness not to let life crush or shatter them but
rather to swim vigorously against the tide (Sangati 9).
Women in Sangati are delineated deliberately so that they could gain voice. In Sangati, Bama does not
disclose who the narrator is but allows everyone to involve in the dialogism and helps in the narrative.
The unnamed narrator begins her narration and provokes her grandmother – Paatti to narrate
whatever she could contribute to the events. This is the way Bama takes up the narration to show how
life had been with the earlier generation of Dalit community. So polyphonic narration or rather
multistranded narration suits the novel because it is not the story of an individual but about a
community- a pariah community that participates in the narration. She examines not only the different
issues that oppress Dalit women but also admires the women who could cope with the caste and gender
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discrimination. Her celebration of women is acknowledged by Holmstrom, the translator of
Sangati thus:
The ideals Bama admires and applauds in Dalit women are not the traditional Tamil feminine ideals of
accham(fear), naanam(shyness), madam(simplicity/innocence), payirppu(modesty), but courage,
fearlessness, independence and self esteem (Sangati 119).
Bama juxtaposes feminism and casteism which stand in clear testimony that she is a writer with a
difference. She argues for the liberation from the casteist and the gender oppression, both caste and
gender themselves are seen as liberating points from which to construct a language or to create a
literature that is political in form and subject matter. As Slemon has questioned we find that resistance
is issuing out from the writings of Bama. We find the language to be rustic and without any
sophistication so that it might appear to be vulgar and incestuous but the illiterate women are not
expected to speak the language of the refined, modest women. The sharp, violent expletives are a
weapon to resist the supremacy of the men whether belonging to their community or to the upper
castes. The voice that is raised against the oppressor is a survival technique of the oppressed and Bama
writes:
...Knowingly or unknowingly, we find ways of coping in the best way we can…we could manage our
own lives in our own way (Sangati 68).
In postcolonial literature, resistance becomes a new literary focus which refutes the notion of
negativism, and revitalizes the cultural well being of the indigenous people.
Language is to communicate. I specifically or adamantly use my people’s language. So if I have to write
about my people it has to be in their language (Bama).
What she has said is true because in what other language do the uneducated pariah people speak? She has
rejected the validation of standard language because she wants to express herself in the language of her
people. Moreover, voicing one’s experiences in one’s mother tongue gives greater sharpness to the
expression. Karukku is written in a spontaneous style which she chose not to correct because it was an
outpouring of her heart immediately after coming out of the convent and she found her own voice and
style and created an identity for herself and her community. In Sangati and Vanmam, she has used the
colloquial dialect of her community especially the women’s tongue. Tamil has ascended much further
in its colloquial approach by introducing such dialects through her writings. She has included the
vulgar and obscene language of the marginalized and gave reasons for the violence in their language and
its sexual nature. Language is not only used for communication but also used as a weapon for self
defence. Whenever a dalit woman is disrespected and ill treated, her sharp abusive tongue worked as her
defensive mechanism to silence the men. Holmstrom observes, “Such a language is a woman’s only way
of shaming men and escaping extreme physical violence.” (Sangati 20)
It is apt to define Bama as a creator of feminine aesthetics, since her stories and novels consists of ideas
produced by women that clarify a standpoint of and for women. It is an aesthetic which assumes that
women possess a unique perspective of their experience and express commonalities of perceptions
shared by women as a group that demands the ideology of self definition and self evaluation. Inherent
in this aesthetic is the idea that women be the centre of the entire discourse, the hub of all activities as in
the novels Sangati and Vanmam. As an avant garde dalit woman writer, Bama sculpts new moulds of
female characters and acknowledges the culture and writes about it to celebrate it. Many detractors
would like to insist that Dalits lack culture. Bama questions this argument by consciously bringing in
cultural values in her writings.
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Are Dalits not human beings? Do they not have common sense? Do they not have such attributes as a
sense of honour and self-respect? Are they without any wisdom, beauty, dignity? (Karukku 24).
In Sangati Bama describes many occasions where women show their talents. Women always have a
song for every occasion and Bama is astounded at their spontaneity. She reproduces instances in Sangati
where the Dalit women create songs to suit the occasion. She writes:
From birth to death, there are special songs and dances. And it is only the women who perform them –
roraattu (lullaby) to oppaari (dirge) - it is only the women who will sing (Sangati 78).
The cultural reaffirmation defined by Bama insists that the dominant world culture defines all the
female culture traits as negatives but is proud of the female centered features like emotion, intuition,
love, upholding of personal relationships etc. and stresses the essentiality of the human characteristics
whereby there is a conscious acceptance of the positive ingredients of woman’s existence.
As Slemon has suggested, resistance is found in her texts issuing forth through her narrative style,
incidences in life, language she uses, and it is set against a definable set of power whether it is political,
social or personal. Bama’s life experience taught her the lesson that life is a struggle and it is when she
encounters it with courage and self confidence that it becomes real life. Her strength is her optimistic
vision about life and about her community’s upliftment. To achieve equality and freedom from
casteism and patriarchy, she equips herself with the tactics of resistance at the social, personal and
gender levels. The cultural reclamation in her writings can be considered as a necessary phase of
resistance since the culture and the individual are intensely interlinked that it concomitantly
acknowledges the need for social change. Dalits have been silenced for centuries and now they have
begun to question and discuss their stance and have began to critically engage in dominant discourse.
Intellectual awareness, critical self reflection and self analysis are the ways to transform their lives. The
optimistic realism in Bama’s writings envisions the future by attaining empowerment only through
education because illiteracy and lack of exposure are important factors that oppress the Dalits,
especially the women of her community. Bama’s literary output celebrates womanhood, liberation
and empowerment which transform her works into a potential instrument for the regeneration of
positive social values.
Notes:
• Bama. Karukku. Trans. Lakshmi Holmstrom. Chennai: Macmillan, 2000.
• ---------------------------. Sangati. Trans. Lakshmi Holmstrom. New Delhi: Oxford UP, 2005.
• ---------------------------. Interview.” Recognition for the Language of My People is the Biggest
Award I can Win”. 26 April 2001.
• Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Trans. A. Sheridan. New
York: Vintage Press, 1979.
• Marshall, Paule. “Recreating Ourselves All Over the World: An Interview with Omolara
Ogundipe Leslie”. Black Women’s Writings: Crossing the Boundaries. 3.6(1989):25-38.
• Slemon, Stephen. “Unsetting the Empire: Resistance theory for the Second World”.
Contemporary Post Colonial Theory. Ed. Padmini Mongia. New Delhi: Oxford UP,
2002. 102-106.
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THE POSTMODERN FAMILY: THE IDEOLOGY OF
FAMILY IN THE DRAMAS OF VIJAY TENDULKAR
AND MOHAN RAKESH
Veena M.K.
Everyday life generates multiple identities. Everyday life is a site of struggle over meaning. The feeling
and experience of the ordinary men engaged in the day to day struggle of life or the desires, dreams and
despairs of an individual is reflected in Indian English dramas. Essentially, thus, postmodernism raises
questions rather than attempting to supply answers. Elizabeth Wilson remarks, “Post-modernism
refuses to privilege any one perspective, and recognizes only difference, never inequality, only
fragments, never conflict”. Post modernism is concerned almost exclusively with the nature of its own
presentness. Now, its dominant associations are with post-colonialism, multiculturalism and identity
politics. In this paper, I have made an attempt to focus on the ideology of family in the play, Kanydaan
by Vijay Tendulkar and Adhe Adhure by Mohan Rakesh from the post-modern perspective.
Theatre is considered as a cultural apparatus which helped to depict the suppression of women within
the family, caused by the conflict between the spirit of individualism in women and the rigid
patriarchal order ingrained by men in the family. It emphasizes the unequal relations of power between
men and women in the changing socio economic ethos. Vijay Tendulkar and Mohan Rakesh, are
among the major playwrights who follow the familial focus and their plays are structured by a complex
interlocking of economic, social, political and cultural forces. Here the condition of victimization
extends to all the inhabitants of home (in either a nuclear or an extended family) who are trapped by
cultural constraints and economic circumstances into an impossible coexistence. They predominantly
expose the contemporary psychodrama of family relationships. Here is an evidence of some of the
most influential post-colonial plays deal with the domestic drama. They are Kanyadaan (1983) in
Marathi and Mohan Rakesh's Adhe adhure (1969) in Hindi.
They expose the concept of
disintegration of family in this tradition by virtue of their urban settings and their preoccupation with
contemporary middle-class life.
The new mode of writing with theory have created a culture of serious and sustained dramatic writing
that makes visible a diverse and complex thematic in post colonial drama, enabling theatre to become
“an embodiment of the contemporary life of the nation.” The genre of realistic domestic drama created
by playwrights appears as the cumulative expression of specific theoretical positions, formal choices
and rhetorical objectives adopted by post-independence playwrights as authors and theorists of drama.
The social realism of Tendulkar and Rakesh has created radically modern perspectives on caste, class,
sexuality, gender, family relationships, home and nation.
There is the collapse of the family in the present which is usually set against a happier (and more
prosperous) past, as well as an implicit ideal of family conduct that is normative in the same measure as
it is unattainable. In fact, the clear awareness among characters that they are deviating from the
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prescribed norms accounts for much of the peculiar obsession of these plays. Whatever the condition of
home in the present, every character knows what a home ought to be. The failure of a father to provide
for his family, of a wife to love her husband, of a daughter-in-law to respect her parents-in -law, or of a
brother to protect his sister always appears more egregious because it is measured against these deeply
internalized norms of parental, conjugal and filial conduct in Indian culture. In fact, the clear
awareness among characters that they are deviating from the prescribed norms accounts for much of
the peculiar obsession of these plays. By emphasizing the gap between idealized expectations and the
realities of the moment, these plays collectively question the validity of inherited codes and place the
urban Indian family on a recognizably "post-modern" footing.
The traditional concept of “Home sweet home" is changed in these dramas. The 'family' as an
institution is threatened to disruption and disintegration in the post-modern world with the advent of
rising influences of industrialization and urbanization and globalization. A range of individualistic
representations drawing on ideas of exhaustion, violence, and disillusionment have kept home as a
literal and symbolic place in his dramas. The collapse of the nuclear family in the modern metropolis
establishes an intimate connection between economic decline, emotional disintegration, and
space of home.
Kanyadaan (1983) is a complex play dealing with the cultural and emotional upheavals of the family.
The violence projected in the play has three dimensions: physical, psychological and verbal. It deals
with the violence in the subconscious of a Dalit poet who is married to the daughter of a naïve socialist,
and torments his wife. The familial and social symbolism of ancient ritual of Kanyadaan, the father's
gift of the daughter in marriage to a suitable groom collides against contemporary social processes
whose very purpose has been to subject patriarchal authority, prescribed gender roles, and caste
divisions to radical scrutiny. The incompatibility of Brahmin and Dalit ceases to be an abstract
principle and manifests itself as the friction between parent and child, sister and brother, husband and
wife in post-modern family.
The play Kanyadan or Daughter Gifted Away (1983) is about a girl born into a political family with
progressive views who marries a Dalit man because she sees anguish in his poetry, and promise in
delivering him from his devilish tendencies. Her father’s lofty ideals have inculcated in her a spirit
which tries to find the good in people, and strive to change them. When she informs her parents, her
father is ecstatic, but her mother Seva and brother Jayaprakash are unhappy, after they meet Arun and
are shocked by his language and behavior. However, after getting married to him, she soon realizes that
the devil and the poet-lover are one and the same person, they cannot be separated, neither can he be
cleansed of the vices (drinking, wife-beating) that are a part of him. In fact, there is a strange malice in
him, a sadistic desire to punish her for the suffering his ancestors have gone through the ages. Arun’s
excuse for his attitude is the mistreatment meted out to his family and forefathers at the hands of
society. Finally, the father, who has taught her the lofty ideals of humanity and socialism, is defeated.
He finds himself powerless before the predicament of his daughter, and has to praise his son-in-law’s
autobiography, applause spewing his mouth and poison dripping from his approaches.
In Kanyadaan, according to Maya Pandit, “Jyoti becomes a site on which the clash between the upper
caste and the Dalit castes takes place. She becomes the vessel in which the conflicting caste ideologies
pour their aspirations for power. The complete submission of the girl’s gendered self to the violence
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perpetrated on her by the caste politics leaves no scope for even an ideological alternative. That she
deliberately chooses to become the model, ideal, Hindu, Brahmin housewife to him, that she will call
her husband’s people and home her own, sacrifice her career for him and mutely suffer all the physical,
sexual and psychological violence and humiliation inflicted upon her by him is the problematic of the
play. Why has this happened? Is this the failure of the progressive movement which failed to instill in
her a consciousness of her identity as a woman? Is this the failure of her civil rights?” (Pandit 70). Here,
the girl lacks the awareness that the issues of caste and gender are interlinked.
Family is one of the pillars of this nation state. Traditional notions of family and traditional roles of
men and women in it were rigorously reinforced for the discipline and control of women. Motherhood
became one of the sacred images which obliterated demands for civil rights. It indicates the complete
submission of Jyoti, a self-willed, intelligent girl, to the violence perpetrated by her husband on her
leaves no scope of any alternative solution-neither on the level of ideology not of any action. Jyoti
deliberately chooses to become the model, ideal Hindu house wife who will follow her husband mutely
through the paths of physical and psychological violence. “Tendulkar’s nihilist ideology does not allow
him to view woman as an agency of change. This is a path of complete self-destruction. Marriage
remains sacrosanct, and girls like Jyoti, for no fault of theirs’, except probably they were born in an
upper caste family, have to be at the receiving end of the violence.” (Pandit 65).
In Adhe adhure, each member of the decaying household is equally alienated from every other member
creating the play’s name as half –way-house atmosphere of festering emotions and constantly erupting
frustrations. Mohan Rakesh says “Every one of us is living a life in fragments. During the course of
one single day one is forced to play ten different parts and some times more than one version of each
part. What remains constant is one’s sense of being; the idea of a crisis. It is this that I call today’s mood
of life. And it is in this sense that one feels fragmented. Something like an atomic fission keeps taking
place in the landscape of one’s mind.”
Both the plays stress the condition of victims but do not allow the liberation of departure, adhering
instead to a pattern of continued entrapment that achieves classic expression in Rakesh's Adhe adhure.
Unemployed and scorned by his family, Mahendranath in this play describes himself as a parasite that
has devoured the family home from within. But his attempts to walk away from that hollow life have
fallen into a completely predictable pattern of rebellious departure and humiliating return. In majority
of significant realist plays, these patterns of pervasive discontent, continued entrapment, and selfhatred create notable variations on the thematic structures. Rakesh’s Adhe Adhure, the acknowledged
classic of the collapse of the nuclear family in the modern metropolis, establishes an intimate
connection between economic decline, emotional disintegration, and space of home, “Thus socio
economic changes have joined with the effects of ethnic diversity, cultural heterogeneity, political
radicalism, and religious division to fragment family and community life in both urban and rural areas.
The newly emerged cultural anarchy in the post-war world demands a redefinition, reinterpretation of
relationships that in turn derive their complexities in the spatial, ideological referent called
'home'.(Dharwadker 284)
The theme is the breakdown of communication in human relations and the consequent tragedy which
can be observed and experienced at its direst and most delicate in man–woman relationship. This
failure of communication has three aspects, namely a failure to understand oneself, a failure to
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understand the other person and failure to understand each other. There is usually no realization that
they both do not understand each other, that the failure is mutual. Every character in the play Adhe
Adhure is misplaced. Savitri is a disgruntled type of woman dissatisfied not only with her husband
Mahendra, but also with her son Ashok and two daughters Kinni and Binni. She thinks that her
husband is a weakling, a man not manly enough, lacking both a will and a mind of his own, a person
who is quite incapable of asserting himself, ever under domination first of his parents and then of his
friends. Ashok is good for nothing boy having failed at his degree examination. The younger daughter
is growing through the most crucial stage of her life – adolescence. The elder daughter Binni had a
runaway marriage with Manoj- they have been married for a very short time. It seems she is already
disillusioned and comes to her parents’ house frequently and complains about her short experience of
married life. Infact every member of the family is tense and ready to burst, at the slightest provocation
ever at war, incomplete in themselves – all of them adhe adhure caught in the predicaments of their
own. The untidy condition of the home is symbolic of the confused and chaotic state of everybody’s
mind and Saviri’s dusting is indicative of the fact that she is only reacting to the situation instead of
trying to handle it. Even Juneja who plays the role of the wise man convince Savitri that the
responsibility for the failure of her marriage rests with her, that she is guilty and the husband is not.
This analysis of the situation is incomplete and so is Juneja’s wisdom. Thus the play ends where it
began. The playwright seems to suggest that all marriages and man- woman relationships are bound to
fail. Moreoever, he implies that human beings are no longer capable of bonds of love and human
concerns for each other. The thought is too pessimistic and also far from the whole and complete truth.
Thus, these plays debunk the myth about family as a place of security, comfort and protection. It
depicts the condition of victimization extends to all the inhabitants of home who are trapped by
cultural constraints and economic circumstances into an impossible coexistence. Finally, all these
features lead to the sense of “fragmentation” and “inconsistency” felt among the play’s family members
on the concrete experience of one’s own will necessarily being fallible and relative, rather than certain
and universal.
According to the author Catherine Thankamma, the problem of unequal power relationship between
a husband and wife in the Indian family is focused. To a remarkable extent, these works also have
settled on the private space of home as the testing ground of not only familial but also social and
political relations, so that domestic settings, love, marriage, parent-child conflicts, generational shifts
and pressures of urban life appear as the common fictional substrata of plays that are thematically
incongruent. The plays of Tendulkar reveal that in the patriarchal set up marriage is not only a means
of regulating sexual and reproductive behavior but also a means of upholding male dominance. His
plays expose male chauvinism and the oppression of women and the great injustice done to them by
men and patriarchal culture. What post modernism gives us instead is a multicultural defense for male
violence-a defense for it wherever it is, which in effect is a pretty universal defense.
As an example of a postmodern drama, Kanyadaan seems to display the persistence of the past in the
present, indeterminacy, irony, anarchy, happening and silence which are known as the main elements
of postmodernism. It is, then, attempted to show that in his depiction of certain aspects of family life
and relationships that are common to all families in greater or lesser degree.
Finally, it is concluded that all these features together have been the real key to the sense of
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“fragmentation” and “inconsistency” felt among the play’s family members and have completed the
postmodernist environment which is evident within the postmodern plays. Postmodernism relies on
concrete experience over abstract principles, knowing always that the outcome of one’s own
experience will necessarily be fallible and relative, rather than certain and universal.
The imbalance that has produced the shift from modern to postmodern family life described earlier can
be harnessed to balance post-modern life by addressing the issues at the social level. Balances in the
family will come about only when there are corresponding changes in the social institutions that
impact upon the family life. I think we are at the very beginning of this stage where we can identify the
imbalance produced by the changes in our postmodern life and find a solution to bring back the balance
in our life where the needs of all family members could be met.
Notes:
•
Dharwadker, Aparna Bhargava. “Realism and the Edifice of Home” in Theatres of
Independence. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 284, 285. 2008. Print.
•
Nandy Ashis. Time Treks: “One Hundred years of violence” Ranikhet: Permanent Black.
2007. Print.
•
Pandit, Maya “Family in Tendulkar and others” in Vijay Tendulkar’s Plays: An Anthology of
Recent Criticism, Ed. By V. M. Madge (Pen craft International: Delhi, 2007) p. 65, 70. Print.
•
Rakesh Mohan. Half-Way House, trans. Bindu Batra. Enact. No.53, 1971. Print.
•
Tendulkar, Vijay. Collected Plays in Translation, Introduction, Samik Bandyopadhyay
(Introduction), New Delhi: OUP.2002. Print.
•
Thankamma, Catherine. “Women in Tendulkar and Others: Vijay Tendulkar’s plays”, Edited
by V.M. Madge, p.86. 2007. Print.
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THE POST-MODERN CALCUTTA WOMAN:
MEANING AND REPRESENTATION IN
RECENT BANGLA FILMS
Chaandreyi Mukherjee
The masterpieces of the visionary directors of Bengal have been much analysed and discussed by
eminent film critics all over the world. For a Bengali movie lover any discussion related to movies
essentially begins with the great Satyajit Ray. The era of Satyajit Ray and other stalwarts of Bangla films
has long passed. Throughout the 90s, the Bengali movie industry was largely divided into the popular
cinema and the art films. The popular cinema with its stock devices, overdose of melodrama, garish
costumes and absurd song and dance sequences entertained audiences in and around West Bengal. The
art films appreciated by a select few, mostly the urban intelligentsia of Calcutta, were either branded as
abstruse or largely ignored by the general public. While popular cinema churned one blockbuster after
another, the art films had to be content with national awards and critical acclaim.
It is interesting how this situation has undergone a profound change in the recent years, particularly in
the last decade. New directors and scriptwriters with fresher perspectives have bridged this huge gap
between what was earlier regarded as popular and art. This seamless mingling of art and entertainment
was hitherto unimaginable and is, as we all know, a major characteristic of postmodernism.
Postmodernism resists such division because it sees itself as a conglomeration of what is conventionally
regarded as ‘high’ and ‘low’ art, thereby erasing such stereotyping. With a target audience comprising
essentially of the urban educated youth of Calcutta, these movies have emerged not only as immensely
popular but have also gained critical renown. These new directors have once again brought the city of
Calcutta to the forefront. However, unlike their eminent predecessors, most of them refrain criticising
or glorifying their city and accept it just the way it is. Calcutta, or should I say Kolkata in their
creations, is not reduced to an inanimate appendage as it was in the popular cinema of the 90s, nor is it
an overtly corrupting and disquieting entity. It is endowed with a life of its own, sometimes subtly
influencing and moulding its citizens, sometimes rendering a much needed space for contemplation but
almost always providing them with a contested but profound identity.
It thus becomes interesting to observe how these postmodern movies portray women. It is beyond
doubt that the overall representation of women characters has undergone a tremendous change. They
are neither the innocent yet seductive village belles falling prey to circumstances and finally rescued by
the heroes, nor are they potential housewives perpetually engulfed in marital or pre-marital crises.
They are products of the cosmopolitan city of Kolkata, where tradition and modernity run
simultaneously. However, it becomes imperative to question how far the stereotyping has ceased. We
can begin by talking about Anjan Dutt, one of the most popular and critically acclaimed Bengali
directors. Dutt’s bilingual movie, The Bong Connection was released in 2006. The city of Kolkata plays
a dual role: as the element of nostalgia for the NRI Bengalis and as a city pulsating with divergent
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mindsets of the people living in it. Dutt presents two women living in Kolkata, both highly educated
and on superficial viewing, distressingly different from each other. Through the boorish husband, Dutt
lets us know that he has been inveigled by his father to marry a beautiful, educated girl. His father
thought that getting him married would make him leave his drinking habits and be a better person
while he thought getting married as per his father’s wishes would entail a generous monetary gift from
him with which he could open a business. Unfortunately, the father does not offer him any money and
the victim of all his frustration and cruelty become the educated and beautiful bride. Almost every
night she is the recipient of marital violence but neither the in laws nor she herself, despite her
education, stand up for herself. When Dutt’s NRI protagonist disgusted by the hypocrisy confronts
them in one of the final scenes, she angrily refutes him and screams at him to mind his own business.
She will rather cover her bruises with her sari every morning rather than take action. On the other
hand there is Sheela, played by Raima Sen. Educated, opinionated and independent Sheela refuses to
accompany her long time boyfriend to the US; she is a fervent believer of the progressive modern
Kolkata which is not entrenched in age old traditional concepts and customs. When the NRI
protagonist Andy talks about the necessity of traditional Bengali music to be played in a nightclub, she
retorts, “What’s wrong in being westernized? Why should Kolkata be stuck in tradition?” This
liberated, modern mindset is, however, countered by her innate conservative behaviour. Dutt presents
a very complicated personality, someone quite close to most urban Kolkata girls, rampantly urban,
independent with strong views and seemingly unapproachable from the exterior, but essentially
enmeshed in social propriety. She drinks alone with Andy and when he offers to kiss her while
dropping her home, she seems surprised and resolutely refuses. Why should this typical western act
surprise such a westernized person? It is not that she is not attracted to Andy, then what is it which acts
as a covert restrain on her emotions? Is it only because of her undying and irrational fidelity to her
boyfriend who leaves her for a more lucrative job opportunity in the US and who repeatedly insists on
disregarding her decision of not leaving her country, saying he will return and take her with him? Or is
it because of the inherent modesty- the age old characteristic of good and chaste movie heroines? In the
poignant last scene she bids goodbye to Andy with a smile, checking her emotions, and as he leaves she
breaks down in inexplicable sobs. It is strange that throughout she represses her attraction and affection
for Andy choosing to remain faithful to an earlier relationship whose very existence is doubtful. Dutt’s
women of postmodern Kolkata are thus presented in a transitional scenario, caught in a curious circle
of tradition and resisting from it and both the housewife and the single girl, though appearing different
are actually quite similar in their mindsets.
More recent than Dutt’s The Bong Connection is Srijit Mukherjee’s Baishe Srabon, a 2011 film. One of
the firsts of its kind in Bangla movies, Baishe Srabon is a gripping thriller about serial killings. A
brilliant cast, a captivating storyline, mellifluous music and the casual utterance of colloquial
profanities are a few of its USPs. The main female character in Baishe Srabon is that of a journalist.
While reviewing the movie, Shoma. A. Chatterjee of The Indian Express commented, “Abhi, a young
police officer in charge of the case, has a live-in partner Amrita, an investigative television journalist
who cannot decide between the two men in her life, the other being her childhood playmate and
colleague. The romance has some bits of sleazy bedroom scenes high on choreography and
orchestration but low on content and context. A beautiful rain song written and musically scored by
Anupam Roy spans the love-triangle. Amrita is not serious about her job because she is busy flirting
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with the two men. The suspense of the serial killings would have stood well on its own without the love
story.” She continues, “Raima, the sole eye-candy, looks sexy and beautiful.” To me this simplification
seems essentially sexist and insubstantial. Has Srijit Mukherjee, the person who only a year ago had
given us such a perceptive portrayal of a modern young woman in the critically acclaimed Autograph,
presented Raima Sen in an otherwise brilliant movie, only to authenticate the male gaze? Is the
depiction coloured only by flimsy voyeurism, to make the movie more saleable? Perhaps so. But to me,
this seems grossly unfair. It is true Amrita is a majorly subordinate character in the film which is
dominated by two great male actors and the portrayal lacks the earlier insight and sensitivity. We can
talk about why instead of two main male actors, Srijit Mukherjee could not take two female leads, but
that remains a hypothetical situation of what could have been if the situation had been different. To me
Amrita came across as totally different. She is a westernized Bengali girl, one who is more comfortable
speaking in English and mispronounces many Bangla words. She is educated, employed, highly
independent and no qualms in commencing a live-in relationship with her boyfriend. She chooses premarital physical intimacy and chooses to leave the same partner when their diverse opinions clash. She
smokes weed, drinks and is inebriated; she snores, protests, asks her partner for back massages and does
not hesitate in public displays of affection. She casually talks to her childhood friend about the
intoxicated love-making they had indulged in long ago and how she doesn’t give any significance to
that. She walks around holding hands with this same friend and appears disconcerted when questioned
about her feelings towards her live-in partner. How many times has such a portrayal of a Calcutta
woman appeared in Bangla popular films? Very rarely if not never. Far from the sari clad saints of
yester years, Srijit’s Amrita is flawed, selfish, and egoistic but a living breathing dynamic personality. It
is her boyfriend who is shown to be the traditional man, who corrects her broken Bangla, is insecure
about himself and taunts her about her westernization. While she leaves their apartment after writing
him an unsentimental and prosaic letter, he is overwhelmed in sorrow and cannot take her departure
lightly. The stereotypical portrayal is reversed with the hero shedding profuse tears and the heroine
smoking and contemplating while chatting nonchalantly with his rival. She moves around in a city
undulating with the rhythms of change, which gives her an identity, of a postmodern, pragmatic and
free woman. Her role may seem trivial and ineffectual to many, but the feisty and unconventional
representation brings a new hope and fresher perspectives to postmodern Bangla cinema.
I would like to end with a 2013 Bangla movie, Maach Mishti & More by Mainak Bhaumik. He declares
the film to be “a love letter to Calcutta". He adds, "It's about a typical Bengali family...Then there's the
Marwari community which plays a big part in today's cosmopolitan Calcutta. This is a film about the
Calcutta we see now. It's urban and young and yet the Bong idiosyncrasies are very much there.”
Maach Mishti & More presents beautifully nuanced portrayals of contemporary Calcutta women. The
elder brother’s NRI wife struggles with the traditions and relations. She grumbles when she has to wear
a sari to look the perfect Bengali bride and complains to her sister, “All these years we had our own
lives... and all of a sudden coming here and being my mother in law’s assistant in the kitchen...it’s just
not happening.” She smokes not because she is tensed but because she likes to, she seduces her husband
and doesn’t hesitate to leave him when she becomes aware of his affair. For the first time we find a
married woman in popular Bengali cinema acting on her desire impulses. The youngest brother’s love
interest is a Marwari girl called Neha who is as unconventional as the other females. In one of the most
perceptive yet witty scenes of the movie, we see her riding a bike with her boyfriend riding pillion in
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the same way women usually sit behind men, with two legs on one side and holding her waist. While he
hesitates to accept his true feelings for her, she confronts him by saying, “Let’s face it. There’s
obviously something between us. The fact is I might break your heart or you might break mine but I’d
rather risk it and give it a shot than do nothing about it. You need time to think, right? So think. But
remember, I’m not going to wait forever for you.” In the last scene we see him running to stop her from
going, but instead of the usual sentimental scene, we have an amusing scene of her picking up the
skinny guy in her arms. Jaya Biswas in The Times of India wrote, “Something we just can't miss about
the film is its portrayal of the female brigade. Far from being docile, they come across as these bindaas
babes who know exactly what to do with their lives. They are confident and can tackle any situation
head on.”
As I have tried to explicate through my paper, the depiction of women has come a long way even in the
last decade. From Dutt to Bhaumik, we see a huge difference in the representation. From resistance and
repression there is enlightenment of their own desires and subsequent acting on them. Through these
multilingual urbane movies, the new age directors have created their own special niche in a city which
is most often called the reservoir of age old traditions and is criticised for being stagnant in the same
ancient charm. It is not surprising that these portrayals of women are not only accepted but also
appreciated by many. Numerous areas of improvement remain, but this whole endeavour of bringing
unconventional and inspired female characters to visual mass representation is truly laudable. Some
feel they present real pictures of real women, some feel they provide inspiring models for emulation
while movie buffs necessarily feel that the spark has been lit and the meaning of the postmodern
woman in Bangla cinema has been tried to be explained in an amorphous form.
Notes:
•
Baishe Srabon. Dir. Srijit Mukherjee. Perf. Raima Sen, Parambrata Chatterjee, Abir
Banerjee, and Prasenjit Chatterjee. Shree Venkatesh Films. 2011. Film.
•
Bhaumik, Mainak. “Maach, Mishti & More: Plot Summary”. IMDb. Web. 10 February
2013. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2437786/plotsummary
•
Biswas, Jaya. “Maach, Mishti & More”. Movie Review. The Times of India. 6
January 2013. Web. 10 February 2013.
•
Chatterjee, Shoma A. “Baishe Srabon”. Movie Review. The Indian Express. 13
October, 2011. Web. 10 February 2013.
•
Maach, Mishti & More. Dir. Mainak Bhaumik. Perf. Swastika Mukherjee, Raima Sen,
Neha Pandya, Anubrata Basu, and Parambrata Chatterjee. Mojo Productions (P) Ltd.
and Tripod entertainment. 2013. Film.
•
The Bong Connection. Dir. Anjan Dutt. Perf. Raima Sen, Parambrata Chatterjee,
Shayan Munshi, and Piya Roy Chowdhury. Moxie Entertainment. 2006. Film.
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RETROSPECTIVE AND PROSPECTIVE MANUAL
SCAVENGING: THE NATION’S SHAME
Mehak Huria
Burying democracy in human waste
“I, a “Bhangi,” have always wondered what the Constitution and Independence have given me and
others like me — except a broom in one hand and night soil on the head.”
The democracy of India is, at present, the largest in the world and should be termed a 'wonder of the
world’. But all is not well with this nation that was born out of poverty, hunger and the bloodiest riots
that the world has ever seen. Perceived as the brainchild of a handful of thoughtful, sensitive,
knowledgeable and witty people, India was destined to be a 'great' country but India's 'tryst with
destiny' has been met by some severe handicaps, which threaten to induce anarchy and rebellion into
its core structure! The quiet grip of caste system, religion related violence, gender discrimination, etc.
are still the social devils that have weakened the country from within. One such stigma is manual
scavenging.
If we look up a dictionary the word ‘scavenger’ refers to a person who searches for and collects
discarded items. But in a caste affected country like ours, the word scavenger means a Dalit or a human
being who is considered as ‘untouchable’ or ‘polluting’ by caste persons.
Manual scavenging is an instance of our society behaving ostrich-like in overcoming the caste barrier .
It is a caste-based and hereditary occupation for Dalits that is predominantly linked with forced labour.
This engagement of people in manual scavenging and sanitation work is an example of the persistent
caste barrier in society. Dr. Ambedkar said: “In India, a man is not a scavenger because of his work. He
is a scavenger because of his birth irrespective of the question whether he does scavenging or not.” So
for a manual scavenger, social identity and stigma is being born as a ‘low caste’ and as a ‘scavenger’.
The scourge of manual scavenging is not new in the society. It exists in the country from times
immemorial. When the whole of the Indian society is divided horizontally and vertically into
thousands of castes and sub-castes, untouchables is that one category that falls outside the caste system.
They are at the bottom of the India’s caste system. The caste system dictates that those born into a
particular Dalit sub-caste should engage in manual scavenging, and should remain doing so throughout
their lives thereby denying them the right to lead a dignified life. Manual scavenging is thus the most
extreme manifestation of caste discrimination, that is, discrimination based on work and descent.
Definition of Manual Scavenging
There are a very large number of people engaged in manual scavenging in different parts of the country,
in rural areas as well as urban areas. According to the Employment of Manual Scavengers and
Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 and The National Commission for Safai
Karmchari’s Act "manual scavenger” or “safai karmachari” means a person engaged in or employed for
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manually carrying human excreta. Manual scavenging includes sweeping night soil on the street
followed by cleaning of water borne toilets. It also includes removal of bodies and dead animals
followed by sewerage sweeping, and carrying night soil by basket/bucket or on head. The scavengers
crawl into the dry latrines and collect the human excreta with bare hands, carry it as head-load in a
container to dispose it off. It is also generally believed that after the advent of the Muslims in India
sweeping and scavenging seems to have taken the form of a formal profession. During the British
period with the setting up of army cantonments and municipalities, a large number of people were
required to do these services on a regular basis. How could the imperial masters suffer the indignity of
being seen going out to answer the call of nature! The white man’s burden became the head load of
scavengers.
Present Status:
One of modern India’s great shames is the official failure to eradicate ‘manual scavenging’, the most
degrading surviving practice of untouchability in the country. Even in the 21st century, merely
because of their birth in particular castes, the practice condemns mostly women and girls, but also men
and boys, to clean human excreta in dry latrines with their hands, and carry it to disposal dumps or
lakes or rivers. Many men also clean sewers, septic tanks, open drains into which excreta flows, and
railway lines. Although it has been sixty five years since India achieved independence, India still has
close to 1.3 million people, mostly women, working as manual scavengers. It is a real disgrace and
affronts on our democratic ideals of equity and justice that such a large number of right bearing citizens
of this country are forced to indulge in the inhuman practice of manual scavenging. Manual scavenging
is one of the most extreme forms of caste discrimination and the states complicity in its continued is an
unacceptable human rights violation.
Manual scavengers earn as little as one rupee a day. Though this vile and inhumane practice was
abolished by law in India in 1993 the practice is deeply entrenched in South Asian societies. A historic
Supreme Court Ruling in May 2009 may help bring an end to this abhorrent practice in India. The
Court held Government appointed District Collectors responsible for not eradicating the demeaning
and hazardous practice.
The reasons why the practice of scavenging continues to exist in our society include:
•
Brutalizing poverty
•
Caste driven reasons, Social biases and hereditary occupation
•
Untouchability
•
Absence of adequate economic alternative
•
Lack of education
•
Social apathy
Poverty being the mother of all Human rights violation is greatly responsible for this inhuman
practice. According to Government statistics, an estimated one million Dalits are manual scavengers
who clean public latrines and dispose off dead animals; unofficial estimates are much higher. In this way
scavenging has become the hereditary occupation of some ‘untouchable’ castes. In fact the country has
not been able to do away with the dehumanizing practice of manual scavenging because the issue is not
just about poverty or lack of awareness. Manual scavenging is deeply rooted in caste and attempts to
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27
stop the practice are still resisted. Besides, lack of education and prevalence of social apathy and
indifference are also greatly responsible for the problem. Indifference is essentially an evil and like all
other evils it is also contagious.
Dalits face discrimination when seeking other forms of employment, and are largely unable to escape
their designated occupation even when the practice itself has been abolished by law. In violation of
their basic human rights, they are physically abused and threatened with economic and social ostracism
from the community for refusing to carry out various castes based tasks. It thus became very important
for the government to take necessary steps or implement certain legal provisions to curb the inhumane
practice such as of manual scavenging.
Constitutional and Legal Safeguards
Manual scavenging in India can only be prevented if the law prohibited the practice of manual
scavenging is fully enforced. But the enforcement of this law cannot be achieved in isolation. A
multifaceted approach for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers, the prevention of the construction
of dry latrines and the employment of manual scavengers has to be carried out across India. The
following provisions have been laid down by the Government of India in this respect:
Constitutional Provisions:
Article 14, 17, 21, 23, and 256 of the constitution along with the Directive Principles of
State Policy contain adequate safeguards for the manual scavengers. Article 14 speaks for equality
before the law and the equal protection of law. Article 17 abolishes untouchability. Article 21
guarantees right to life which includes the right to live with dignity. Article 23 contains provision for
protection from exploitation and Article 256 casts a duty upon the state to ensure compliance of the
laws made by the parliament and any other existing laws which apply in the state.
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993:
Section 2 (d) of Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 defines human rights in terms of life, liberty,
equality and dignity. In this way the rights of the scavengers are also protected under this Act which
enables NHRC and various SHRC’s to take appropriate actions against public servants for violation of
the human rights.
The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993:
The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993
punishes the employment of scavengers or the construction of dry (non-flush) latrines with
imprisonment for up to one year and/or a fine as high as Rs. 2,000.
Offenders are also liable to prosecution under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act,1989. Under the Act, the State Government has been given power to
make one or more schemes for regulating conversion of dry latrines.
National Commission for Safai Karamchari’s Act, 1993:
Under the provisions of the Act the Commission is required to perform all or any of the following
functions:
(a) Recommend to the Central Government specific programmes of action towards elimination of
inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities for Safai Karamcharis under a time-bound action plan.
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(b) Study and evaluate the implementation of the programmes and schemes relating to the social and
economic rehabilitation of Safai Karamcharis and make recommendations to the Central Government
and State Governments for better co-ordination and implementation of such programmes and
schemes.
(c) Investigate specific grievances and take suo moto notice of certain matters.
(d) Make periodical reports to the Central and State Governments on any matter concerning Safai
Karamcharis, taking into account any difficulties or disabilities being encountered by Safai
Karamcharis.
(e) Any other matter which may be referred to it by the Central Government.
Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012:
In January 2013, the Supreme Court of India had reproached the Union Government of India for not
enacting the law that would lead to a ban on manual scavenging. The Prohibition of Employment as
Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012 is still pending in the Parliament.
As per this Bill, the district magistrate would be required to make sure that no one in their jurisdiction
was engaged in manual scavenging. The Bill made it obligatory for the cantonment boards and
municipalities along with the railway authorities to build adequate sanitary community bathrooms
within 3 years after the Act comes into force.
Judicial Pronouncements:
The Courts in our country have taken note of the issue in several cases. In January 2005, the Supreme
Court, hearing a petition filed in 2003 by the Safai Karmachari Andolan and 13 other organizations and
individuals, directed every Department/Ministry of the Union government and the State governments
to file an affidavit through a senior officer who would take personal responsibility for verifying the
facts stated in the affidavit, within six months. If manual scavenging is admitted to exist in a given
department, a time bound programme for the liberation and rehabilitation of manual scavengers
should be indicated. National Action Plan for the Total Eradication of Manual Scavenging by 2007 was
framed after the Supreme Court direction but now a new date has come. March 2009 is the new target
date. It is also the target date for rehabilitation of remaining manual scavengers should be indicated.
National Action Plan for the Total Eradication of Manual scavengers. The aim was to provide sanitary
latrines to all households in rural areas by 2012. This included conversion of dry latrines into pour flush
latrines. No one can make predictions regarding the fate of the plan.
Suggestions
Following are some of the suggestions which are mainly based on the recommendations of Planning
Commission, NHRC and various NGOs working in the field:
Identification of manual scavengers:
There is uncertainty regarding the number of manual scavengers. Proper identification of manual
scavengers is necessary both for purposes of their liberation and rehabilitation, and for knowing the
magnitude of the problem and progress in its alleviation.
Removing the loopholes in legislation:
The Act (‘The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition)
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Act, 1993’) does not prohibit dry latrines and manual scavenging in a direct fashion. It operates after
State Government issues a notification fixing a date for enforcing the provisions prohibiting
employment of manual scavengers and dry latrines in the specified area. The notification itself can only
be issued after giving a notice of ninety days, and only where ‘adequate facilities for the use of water-seal
latrines in that area exist’. All States have not adopted the Act, and those who have adopted the law have
not enforced its provisions to achieve the intended results. The Act should be adopted by all States
where manual scavenging exists. States may be informed that failure to adopt the Act may result in
reduction or withholding of Central assistance towards their Annual Plans. Further, the
implementation of the Act in respect of conversion of dry latrines should be made more forthright.
Though there have been some serious lapse in the conceptualization and implementation of the Act but
the Act as it stands today is hardly helpful in catching the offenders. Section 17 (2) of the Act stipulates
that no prosecution for any offence under the Act shall be instituted except by or with the previous
sanction of the executive authority. No wonder that there has been no single prosecution under the Act
so far, even though the practice is widespread.
Involvement of NGOs:
These schemes whether in enforcement of law or in identification of manual scavengers, and the
conversion of dry latrines, do not specifically envisage NGO leadership or even participation. NGO
participation has become necessary for creation of awareness and dealing with the social aspects of the
problem.
Low cost sanitation programme:
States should also form State Sanitation Councils with the participation of NGOs in the field.
Conversion of dry latrines is the key to removing the practice of manual scavenging. The present
subsidy scheme is acknowledged to be inadequate.
Incentives for implementation:
Urban Local Bodies should be given incentives for achieving 100% conversion of dry latrines, and total
liberation and rehabilitation of manual scavengers.
Training for rehabilitating the scavengers:
This goal is to be achieved to secure the active participation of the scavengers in social life and for
normalization of the state of affairs. Scavengers could be trained in various vocational courses which
could fetch alternative employment for them.
Finally it is suggested that, industrialized models of waste management strategies should not be applied
blindly. Human rights violations are local: they "are cultural, political, and internal, close to home."
We may take some guidance from “The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)” which is
one of the last major federal environmental statutes as it may offer help in regulation of the waste and its
management. We may also take example from Sulabh, a charity, which has developed an ingeniously
simple and hygeinic toilet, costing around $100, that empties into one pit, and then, when it is full,
another. It flushes with two litres of water, compared with the ten litres required by a standard cistern
toilet. It takes ten people and two years to fill one pit, by which time the waste in the other has turned
into composted manure, clean enough for growing vegetables. It could help the scavengers to earn
money in dignified way.
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It is a widely acclaimed complaint that in current discussion of social progress “our eyes are turned, not
upon hopes and possibilities and positives, but rather upon despair, impossibilities and negatives.” It is
depressing to learn that even after 65 years of independence, the government has failed to eliminate
manual scavenging. It is shocking to see the plight of those engaged in the menial task when the country
is on a progressive path towards becoming a developed country from a developing country. What is the
use of plans and promises and legislatures of the government, when some of our citizens are denied the
right to live with dignity?
Notes:
•
Dr. B.L. Wadehra Vs.Union of India and others (Decided On: 01.03.1996). Manual scavengers
pdf untouchables in untouchables.
•
National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, Background of the Dalit Situation in India, Sept.
2007 (on file with author).
•
Section 14 of The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines
(Prohibition) Act, 1993
•
<http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/prohibition-of-employment-as-manual-scavengers
and-their-rehabilitation-bill-2012-2449/>
•
<http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/scourge-of-manualscavenging/article4038824.ece>
•
<http://www.safaikarmachariandolan.org/whatismanual.html>
•
<idsn.org/.../Manual_scavenging/Manual_for_advocacy_2.doc>
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31
SUBVERSION OF GENDER IDENTITIES AS
DEPICTED IN ANITA NAIR’S LADIES COUPE AND
LESSONS IN FORGETTING
Jayashree B.
Neo-liberalisation of India has created a new canon of literature which reflects contemporary soceity
wherein its women are confident and are open to new vistas and possibilities. This tendency gets
reflected in literature, particularly in fiction. Satire and irony at the outdated customs and other
oppressed traditions, multiculturalism and cultural clashes, tensions within Hinduism and women’s
struggle to find her own wings are some of the features of contemporary women’s writing. This
research paper is an attempt to analyse Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe and Lessons in Forgetting from a
postcolonial perspective, with due emphasis on the treatment of feministic issues. Postmodernism
being synonymous with the postcolonial world situation wherein the colonizer and the colonized
nations converge in the arena of capitalistic ambience, postmodernism and postcolonial theories can be
applied to almost all the literary works. In this context, Anita Nair’s stories make an interesting reading
because of their contemporaneity. Nair’s stories are grounded in South Indian reality, its inherent
cultural complexities and value system. Ladies Coupe, her second novel portrays the repression, abuse
and urban struggle for survival.The Brahmin heroine Akhila, forced to play multiple roles, the major
one being the bread winner of the family breaks away form her routine and embarks on a journey to
Kanyakumari. Her journey of self exploration by listening to the stories of other fellow passengers in a
ladies compartment is the theme of the novel. Mira, the leading character of Lessons in Forgetting is
representative of the middle aged corporate wives whose repressed self identity emerges when her
husband deserts her half-way in a party. In her graceful, yet keenly observant style the novelist
comments on frothy corporate marriages, while being aware of the discrimination faced by women
and their complex problems, the novelist is aware of their self-destructive tendencies also.
Both Ladies Coupe and Lessons in Forgetting can be termed as gender narratives of self empowerment.
One of the major developments in Indian English literature, gender narratives range from critiques of
dominant patriarchal structures to exploring of multiple feminist strategies for subversion and
creativity. Though the question of representation is a pragmatic issue, it is unambiguous that our
women writers have tried to give a ‘voice’ to the subaltern, repressed identity of women through their
fiction. Women empowerment in India has resulted in a huge workforce comprising of women
belonging to all strata of society. Though the phenomenon of working class began as early as the
freedom movement in India, it has reached its peak from eighties onwards. This aspect can be
understood by applying the paradigm of postcolonial feminist theory.
Literature being a mirror of society, the literary works of an age via stories, poems and novels yield out
important clues as to the essence of nation and nationality. In a sense, the very act of writing is an
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expression of empowerment, given the fact that women had been denied even the rights to acquire
education earlier. Though women’s writing has been dubbed as too subjective, it should not be denied
that pain, sorrow and sufferings are an integral part of life and women had to surmount numerous
patriarchal oppressions in order to emancipate themselves. It should be noted here that gender
narratives are not misogynist; rather they aim for a utopia wherein men and women enjoy equal rights.
While poetry implicitly expresses the poignant feelings; fiction has more scope for character
delineation and complex structure. In this context, Anita Nair’s novels are of special significance
because of her vivacity and pitfalls faced by modern Indian women. Most importantly, they are
narratives of empowerment and throw a fresh light on the future possibilities for liberation from
gender conditioning and their inherent ability to surmount them.
The novel Ladies Coupe can be considered a bildungsroman, albeit representative of the linguistic
complexities and cultural ambiguities of South Indian setting. Most importantly the novel sheds light
on the hypocrisies of the middle class based on class caste, gender hierarchy. In a sense, Ladies Coupe
traces the evolution of working women scenario in India. In the initial stages working women were
considered an anomaly. Infact, not to work marked the class superiority of the middle class women and
women too internalized such values, as told by Akhila’s mother:
‘There is no such thing as an equal marriage,’ Amma said. ‘It is best to accept that the wife is inferior to
the husband. That way, there can be no strife, no disharmony. It is when one wants to prove one’s
equality that there is warring and sparring all the time. It is so much easier and simpler to accept one’s
station in life and live accordingly. A woman is not meant to take on a man’s role.’ (Ladies Coupe 14)
A unique feature of Ladies Coupe is the way the novelist deftly etches out the subtle nuances of Indian
family structure via the mandatory, unstated rule of a woman having to put other’s needs above that of
others. The institution of marriage, much eulogized in our scriptures and literary texts, virtually
expects a woman to sideline all her ambitions, dreams and even self dignity at times. As filial duty as a
concept has a halo around it in India, family traditions and patriarchal values attain an aura of sanctity
around them and continue to drive out the energies of many a young minds. Mothers too, deem it their
responsibility to instill such submissive qualities as virtues.
The milieu of Ladies Coupe is more postcolonial rather than post modernistic one, as neoliberalisation
was at a nascent stage during the early nineties. However, Akhila in the novel symbolizes the latent
energy and subversive tendency characteristic of deconstruction and reconstruction of fixed ideologies
and conventional rhetoric of woman as a ‘giver’ and an epitome of sacrifice. In fact the novel gives
expression to the inherent potential of a woman to take control of one’s life and steer forth unchartered
terrains.
Postcolonial realities of India are entirely different from other postcolonial nations such as West Indies,
New Zealand and Canada or USA. Invariably, this factor gets reflected in literature too. As Gayatri
Charkravorthy Spivak opines, representation of marginalized third world groups are intimately
linked to our gendered, cultural, geographic, historical, historical, institutional positioning. In such a
scenario, Ladies Coupe can be termed as an authentic representation of the subaltern position of
women in India. Another interesting factor is the representation of Dalit women, who are doubly
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exploited due to their caste, gender and class. Nair’s success lies in her delineation of the subaltern
position of women in society. It is an admirable fact that she avoids generalization and simplification of
the problems faced by women.
The story of Janaki and Prabha Devi who lose their vivacity and individuality after decades of
marriage, Sheela the young girl who gets bewildered in the process of growing up, Margaret Shanti
whose desire for higher education gets repressed because of her domineering husband, Maria Koothu
who becomes a victim of rape and delivers an unwanted child, belong to the various strata of society but
their problems are rooted in their gender. After listening to their stories, Akhila, the spinster heroine
decides to reclaim her lost dreams and desires and to live away from her selfish family which treats her
as a cash cow. In a nutshell, Ladies Coupe portrays women’s urge to liberate herself from gender
conditioning and cultural constraints. The novel is grounded in south Indian realities and aims at
dismantling stereotypes of womanhood.
Anita Nair’s novels are replete with references to South Indian culture, caste system and language. Use
of untranslaed words and code switching are some of the devices used by the novelist to preserve the
quintessential ethnicity of South India. For example, Akhila in Ladies Coupe belongs to a Brahmin
family, learns to draw Kolams, performs Poojas and prepares uppuma and iddlis. References to caste
system such as Agraharam, Chettiyar fort etc lends a distinctive South Indian flavor to the novel. The
southern railways and landscape are part of all her four novels.
Unlike Ladies Coupe which has omniscient narration, Lessons in Forgetting by Nair uses multiple
narrative principles, held through the thread of author presence. Mira, the leading character of
Lessons in Forgetting is a representative of the middle aged corporate wives whose repressesed self
identity emerges when her husband deserts her half-way in a party. Devoid of the luxury and upward
mobility under the shelter of her husband, she quickly runs her lessons and emerges tougher than
before. With the support of JAK, a cyclone scientist, whose life had its own cyclones, she redeems her
lost happiness and dignity. Compared to Ladies Coupe, Lessons in Forgetting is more contemporary in
nature and effectively expresses the postmodern Indian scenario, where value systems are being
subverted at an alarming speed. While the sanctity of marriage was considered a virtue during the
eighties, nineties witnessed a steep increase in materialistic attitudes due to increase in information
technology and liberalization. The onslaught of globalization with its invariable impact on the various
components of society such as religion, family and moral codes were totally devastating. Social
mobility, rather than ethical codes were considered as the hallmarks of success, which resulted in
intolerance, cynicism and a blatant opportunistic mindset. Giri in Lessons in Forgetting practically
abandons his marriage of twenty years for the sake of a successful, young chic, without any qualms
about fulfilling his duties as a father for two grown up children.
The novelist touches upon the sensitive, complicated issues of marital compatibility and infidelity in a
lateral, tangential manner. Perhaps it is an indication of the changing mindset of India women
regarding the concept of marriage. Nair’s stories gain social proportions because of the fresh insights
they shed on the fundamental problems faced by women. Ladies Coupe is a perfect example of double
colonization within patriarchy and the hypocrisy of the middle class. Akhila’s family in the novel
doesn’t have any problems regarding her status of an unmarried working woman and uses her as a cash
cow. However, when she aspires to lead an independent life away from the constraints, the same family
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is reluctant to let her go and reminds her of social norms and customs. Meera in Lessons in Forgetting
were not allowed to work outside homes yet they were expected to play the role of ideal wives. A
society which accepts the sexual transgressions of its male members doesn’t sanction the same to its
women. Meera in Lessons in Forgetting and Akhila in Ladies Coupe are strictly castigated by the
family members whenever they try to assert their individual sexuality or liberty.
Compared to Ladies Coupe, Lessons in Forgetting is more contemporaneous in nature and effectively
expresses the postmodern, nihilistic scenario, wherein value systems are being subverted at an alarming
speed. While the sanctity of marriage was considered as a virtue during the eighties, nineties witnessed
steep increase in wealth due to information boom and a gulf between precept and practice. The
onslaught of globalization with its invariable impact in the core components of society such as religion,
family and moral codes were totally devastating. Social mobility, rather than ethical codes were
eulogized, which resulted in intolerance, cynicism and a blatant opportunistic mindset. Giri in Lessons
in Forgetting practically abandons his marriage of twenty years for a successful, young chic, without
any qualms about fulfilling his duties as a father of two grown up children. In fact, it is Mira, the heroine
who performs the dual responsibilities of being a father and mother.
While these two novels appear to be epitome of women liberation and empowerment, the author is
aware of the contradictions involved in the very concept of female emancipation. Most importantly
the novels depict the scars, brutal comments and humiliations that women experience while subverting
deep rooted patriarchal norms and societal expectations regarding the sexuality, sensuality and
individual urges of a woman. Women in India are expected to be sexually innocent and passive before
and after marriage. In fact, lack of passion is considered a virtue in women. Preserving domestic
harmony and housework are entirely the burden and responsibility of a woman. Whenever women
demonstrate their passion and urges they will be considered as sluts or characterless women.
Interestingly, the phenomenon of rape, which has created an enormous wave during the recent times,
has been dealt with by Anita Nair in 2004 itself, wherein the rape victim is accused of provoking the
basic instincts, as in the case of Maria Kolanthu in Ladies Coupe and Smriti in Lessons in Forgetting.
As the focus of this seminar is on postmodernism I would like to quote some of the contemporary
feminists on certain key issues faced by women in their attempt at emancipation from gender
conditioning. In cognizance with this spirit, Nair’s stories deal with the postmodern themes of
‘breaking with repulsive, repressive, representational identity and producing a fragmented, liberated,
libidinal body. They represent emancipated, non-authoritarian modes of existence which refuse social
regulation.’ (Woods 32)
As Smitha Radhakrishnan says in her book Appropriately Indian: Gender and Culture in a New
Transnational Class, ‘India is no longer a backward country of oppressed women, but a country where
smart, competent women work hard and succeed in the global economy’. However, as she rightly
observes,
Even as the definitions of the cultural standards shift in the context of a rapidly changing social and
economic milieu, the importance of culture in the feminized sphere of the domestic remains critical
(Appropriately Indian 9).
Though women have joined the huge working force, the dual responsibilities of preserving the sanctity
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of home and heart remains the responsibility of women. As Partha Chaterjee observes in his Nation
and Its Fragments,
The specific ideological form in which we know the “Indian woman’ construct in the modern
literature and arts of India today is wholly and undeniably a product of the development of a dominant
middle-class culture coeval with that of nationalism. It served to emphasize with all the force of
mythological inspiration what had in any case become a dominant characteristic of femininity in the
new construct of woman standing as a sign for ‘nation’, namely, the spiritual qualities of self-sacrifice,
benevolence, devotion, religiosity, and so on. This spirituality did not, as we have seen, impede the
chances of the women moving out of the physical confines of the home; on the contrary, it facilitated it,
making it possible for her to go into the world under the condition that would not threaten her
femininity. In fact, the image of woman as goddess or mother served to erase her sexuality in the world
of outside the home. (Chatterjee 131)
Thus, in spite of women being empowered, through this rhetoric of emancipation emerges the demure,
harassed modern woman torn between tradition and modernity. As Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan says in
her Real and Imagined Women,
Our understanding of the problems of ‘real’ women cannot lie outside the ‘imagined’ constructs in and
through which ‘women’ emerge as subjects. Negotiating with these mediations and simulacra we seek
to arrive at an understanding of the issues at stake. (Rajan 10)
As Indian feminism is invariably linked to western feminism, a few words from Feminism without
Borders by Chandra Talapade Mohanty will be appropriate here. Though aware of the essentialising
nature of western feminism, Mohanty looks at contemporary feminism in a hopeful manner. As she
observes,
Since the 1970s, there have been key paradigm shifts in Western feminist theory. These shifts can be
traced to political, historical, methodological, and philosophical developments in our understanding
of questions of power, struggle and social transformation. Feminists have drawn on decolonization
movements around the world, on movements for racial equality, on peasant struggles, and on gay and
lesbian movement, as well s on the methodologies of Marxism, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, and
postructuralism to situate our thinking. (Mohanty 106)
In conclusion, Anita Nair’s novels justify certain concepts of postcolonial feminism as they
sympathetically analyse the situation of women in postcolonial India. In spite of women getting
educated and empowered, atrocities against women such as child abuse, rape, female foeticide, dowry
harassments, polygamy etc. are increasing. In this context, Anita Nair’s novels reveal a comprehensive,
realistic picture of rural, suburban India and depict the awakened feminine sensibility in a constantly
changing India society.
Notes:
•
Chatterjee, Partha. The Nation and its Fragments. New Delhi: Viva books, 2013. Print.
•
Mohanty, Chandra. Feminism without Borders. London: Duke University Press, 2003. Print.
•
Nair, Anita. Ladies Coupe. New Delhi: Penguin books, 2001. Print.
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•
---Lessons in Forgetting. New Delhi: Harper Collins, 2010. Print.
•
Sunder Rajan, Rajeshwari. Real and Imagined Women. London &New York: Rout ledge,
1996. Print.
•
Radhakrishnan, Smitha. Appropriately Indian. New Delhi: Orient Black swan, 2012. Print.
•
Woods, Tim. Beginning Postmodernism. Second Edition. New Delhi: Viva books, 2013.
Print.
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37
POST-FEMINISM AND PROGRESSIVE INDIA
Dr. Sonia V. Oberoi
What is Post-Feminism? Is it a step ahead of Feminism or an alternative to it? Is it an entirely new
concept or just an improvised tag? The prefix ‘Post’ in front of Feminism has proved much baffling for
the scholars. Deborah Siegel in her seminal work Sisterhood Interrupted: From Radical Women to
Grrls Gone Wild (2007) tells that the word “Postfeminist” was first introduced in Greenwich Village in
1919 by a group of literary radicals, who did not want to be addressed as “Feminist” (7). However, the
concept was reintroduced publically as a reaction to Feminism with Susan Bolotin’s article “Voices
from the Post-Feminist Generation” published in The New York Times on 19 Oct. 1982. The article
caught the fancy of the young girls of the time; and the rage of the contemporary feminists especially
the radical ones. The young girls started shying away from feminism as feminists were being charged
with “encouraging women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, become
lesbians, and destroy capitalism” (Pat Robertson quoted in Siegel 9). It was felt that the interpretation
of the feminist slogan “The Personal is Political” has gone haywire as it had been distorted and
transmuted. Derogatory titles like bra burners, lesbian, manhaters; New Victorians; neo-puritans and
victim feminists were being used for the feminists. The fall of Feminism during 1980s and 1990s was, in
fact, caused by paradoxical factors as on one side it was felt that much had been achieved through
Feminism and it was not required anymore; and on the other, women got disenchanted with the
movement when Anita Hill versus Clarence Thomas case ended in smoke. Feminists were being
criticized for their extreme behaviour on the one hand and their ineffectiveness in the contemporary
scenario on the other. The movement was condemned simultaneously for promoting too much of
bonding, even lesbianism, amongst women; and for the rampant racism within it as Alice Walker’s quit
Ms. because of her disappointment with the famous magazine’s failure to focus on the issues of the
coloured women of the country. Anyhow, the sad demise of the second wave of Feminism was
announced in June 1998 issue of Time’s magazine where the cover story was “Is Feminism Dead?” The
cover of the magazine had the picture of Ally McBeal, the twenty eight year old new breed lead of the
hit series of the same title on FOX, along with the famous feminists Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan.
The cover of the magazine itself was a sign of the shift from Feminism to Post-feminism as Ally McBeal
epitomized the women of the new millennium. David Kelley, Ally McBeal’s creator explained about
her, “She’s not a hard, strident feminist out of ’60s and ’70s. She’s all for women’s rights, but she doesn’t
want to lead the change at her own emotional expense” (Quoted in Siegel 125).
The last decade of twentieth century is considered a decade of tough women in U. S. because of the
effect of popular culture and badass divas. That decade onwards the belief that women are free, strong
and capable of doing whatever they want has permeated the American women as Madonna declares,
“I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want” (www.goodreads.com). This is the time
when it is realized that Feminism has been interrupted by a more relevant and natural philosophy
called Post-Feminism. Katie Rophie, Naomi Wolf, Rene Denefeld, Camille Paglia, and Christina Holf
Sommers are the new divas of the movement. Feminists consider the transformation as “from serious
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to silly” (Siegel 125). They blame the media and the popular culture for this anti-feminist stance; and
condemn them for initiating and propagating Post-Feminism; but the fact is that the young girls of
twenty first century worldwide do not want the term Feminism for them basically because of three
reasons. First, because they have got as their birth rights what the feminists have strived for. These
millennium girls have seen their strong and working mothers juggling as over-burdened single parents
in the name of enjoying the freedom achieved by Feminism. Second, because the young girls think that
Feminism has robbed women of their femininity; and this is not freedom but limitation and
separatism. Thus, they feel that Feminism itself has become a tradition where they are expected to
behave in a particular manner. So, obviously they react against it. The younger generation does not
want the victim status for itself as feminists believe that all women are the victims of patriarchy. The
postulate Post-Feminists put forth is that Feminism has done whatever was possible in the last few
decades. Now Feminism is a passé for sure and Post-Feminism is a backlash to Feminism. The younger
generation knows that the struggle for equality is not yet over, but they feel that Feminism was for Gen
X, so what is there for Gen Y? The coinage that has become popular in the wake of Post-Modernism is –
Post-Feminism.
However, Feminists argue that Post-Feminism is undoing the rewards earned by them. Post-Feminists
are going towards the pre-feminist era when it has been believed that man and woman are created
separately so they should be treated differently. This is not the truth as the underlying beliefs of both
the movements are different. Feminists believe that man and woman are similar in their capabilities so
they should be treated equally. They should be given equal opportunities in every sphere of life.
Patriarchy, colonization, capitalism, materialism, whichever is the suppressing factor, should be
treated by either reform or revolt. Post-Feminists accept that man and woman are different. They have
different capabilities and they should be treated accordingly. They should not compete with each other
rather they should complement each other. Reform is needed not by competing for similarity but by
accepting the individuality. Another major difference is: Feminism portrays women as helpless victims
while Post-Feminism presents them as beauties with brains who can handle any situation. PostFeminists believe that in the present age women are educated, awakened and empowered enough to
talk about their rights openly and boldly. They do not deny the still rampant gender-based
discrimination but today’s women have different ways to handle it.
Post-Feminists consider the following three objectives which they want to achieve: (i) Opportunities
without any gender bias: Both the genders should be provided equal opportunities not because they are
similar but because each one has the right to grow in his or her own way; (ii) Freedom to make choices
about one’s life: Post-Feminists do not want any kind of limitation. Feminism insists too much on
career but Post-Feminists think that women should have freedom to choose between career and home
according to their convenience. They glorify the role of a mother and a home-maker as such; (iii)
Liberty to follow one’s mind: Post-Feminists hate any kind of restriction. They do not believe in any
kind of norms. They want the liberty to speak about their sexuality; they want the liberty to wear
anything or maybe nothing without being bothered by the male gaze, the liberty to wander on the
roads in the middle of the night without the fear of being raped.
Moreover, Post-Feminists are not misandrists, rather they feel that feminism has put men in an
awkward position by generalizing all of them as oppressors as Naomi Wolf observed in Fire and Fire,
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‘Men are seeing their empire begin to crumble; their world is indeed dying’ (17). Daphne Patai in her
book, Heterophobia: Sexual Harassment and the Future of Feminism, explains that feminism is
misguiding the minds of young girls because of its extreme hostility towards man-woman relationship;
and blames the movement for politicizing education. Thus Post-Feminism is pro-women without
being anti-men. However, it is noticeable that the concept of superwoman is accompanied by the
concept of the caring sharing New Man in the new millennium. This New Man is considerate about the
needs of a woman. He is not a male chauvinist in any ways. He helps his wife in domestic chores and
shares the responsibility of rearing kids. Furthermore, Post-Feminists do not want to hide their
femininity rather they want to brag about it. That is why Madonna in her conical bra has become the
Post-Feminist icon for the girls of 1990s and Spice Girls reached the pinnacle of fame by boasting their
strength and courage in a Wonderbra. The famous movie character Bridget Jones has become the
poster girl of Post-Feminism. Bridget Jones is portrayed as an independent woman who is searching for
the Mr. Right as she knows that she cannot live single throughout her life. Thus she defies the concept
of single woman and craves for the traditional role of a wife.
Indian Women enjoyed equal status with Men in every aspect in the ancient Pre-Vedic and Vedic age.
Man and woman are described as the two manifestations of one supreme power in old Hindu
scriptures. It is believed that man and woman have different forms and they have different
responsibilities; but they are equal in strength, power and disposition. Both find fulfilment in each
other. They are described as Shiva & Shakti and Purusha & Prakriti. Though the downfall in her status
started in Post-Vedic era, but she enjoyed freedom and respect till the ninth century; the real
degradation began eleventh century onwards with the Muslim forces invading India. The life and
chastity of a woman were of no use to these invaders, so different communities started making different
rules like -- Sati, child marriage, polygamy, shaving of a widow’s head to make her look unattractive
etc., for the safety of their women. Gradually these rules for protection changed into social and
religious practices which further curtailed women’s freedom; and women were relegated to an inferior
status in society. All this continued till the nineteenth century when social reformers like Raja Ram
Mohan Roy, Dayanand Saraswati and Swami Vivekanand etc. started speaking for the cause of women.
During the first phase of India’s struggle for freedom many brave women like Bhima Bai Holkar, Rani
Lakshmi Bai, Hazrat Mahal Begum and Rani Channama became famous for their contribution. Then
in the second phase of Indian freedom struggle Indian women participated throughout on an equal
front with men. The women activists were not treated as the inferior lot as was the case in The Civil
Rights Movement. This was the time when Indian women once again started carving a niche for
themselves. Sarojini Naidu, Kasturba Gandhi, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Aruna Asif Ali and many more
women actively participated in politics during that time and were considered at par with men leaders.
The women’s movement in post-colonial India is influenced by the western theories and practices but
only partially; as the prominent women activists like Malabika Karlekar, Radha Kumar, Urvashi
Butalia, Premila Dandavate and Brinda Karat have expressed time and again. The situation of Indian
women is very different from their western counterparts, so the agenda is also different for the
movement. Western feminists maintain that patriarchy is the sole culprit for the wretched condition of
women, but in India many other important and prominent factors like poverty, illiteracy, caste-system
and religious rigidity are there. Moreover, the most distinctive feature of Indian women movement is
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that it has been started by men like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, propagated by men like Swami Vivekanand
and M K Gandhi in past; and now also groups like MAWA (Men Against Women Abuse) are working
fiercely for women welfare. According to Wikipedia the women’s movement in India is generally
defined as following, “An awareness of women's oppression and exploitation in society, at work and
within the family, and conscious action by women and men to change this situation”
(www.wikipedia.com). Another important feature of the movement is that this one is pro-family
whereas Western Feminism is anti-family where motherhood is treated as a hindrance in a woman’s
struggle for self-actualization. The Western feminism has to start from the very beginning as they do
not have any precedent of a society where women are revered as an equal by men, but Indians have a
rich past full of examples in the form of ancient scriptures in which it is announced that women and
men are equal and complementary to each other.
Thus in Indian context, where gender-bias is more a sociocultural issue than a political one, the
contemporary women’s movement is closer to Post-Feminism in theory and practice; whereas
Western Feminism is always received with a pinch of salt. A phase has come and passed in 1970s when
Indian women have called themselves as feminists but, at present, they prefer to be called as activists as
there is a general scepticism about the usefulness of the title; and Indian men, who participate in the
movement with equal enthusiasm and gusto, find the word inappropriate. Hence, it can be said that in
India the concept of Feminism has been deconstructed to make the movement dynamic, vastly useful
and more contemporary; and what has come Post Feminism is obviously – Post-Feminism. No doubt,
it is a relatively a new concept in West but it has already touched the lives of Indian women especially
urban women. These educated, working and independent women do not want to see themselves as
victims; rather they want to make themselves the messengers of change. They want to be independent
but married. They want career as well as motherhood. They want live-in relationships but committed
partners. They do not hesitate to go for one-night stands but they abhor date-rapes. They want to look
sexy but they do not want to be raped. They want to have a say in the matter of choosing a life-partner
–love or arranged marriage, does not matter. They want to protest against oppression and injustice – by
a candle-procession or by a slut-walk, does not matter. They want to be rich – by doing high-profile
jobs or just by getting married to a rich boy, does not matter. They think that they are as good as boys
so boys should also be as good as them. They want to pick and choose according to their comfort and
preferences. They want to do the undone. They want to combine the polarities. They want it all and
they want it now. And why not? They have every right to have it all. And the good news is that the
change, the transformation, the makeover is happening. The pace is very slow but it is not redundant.
Indian men also are going through a positive transformation. They are trying to improvise; they are
learning once again to respect woman and womanhood. They are trying to be more than being just a
man; they are trying to be sons, husbands, lovers and fathers.
Coming to the contemporary Indian arts and literature, Post-Feminism is the latest trend here. Women
writers and artists are creating panoramic works which are women-centric but not exactly feminist in
nature. Anita Nair, herself a representative of the millennium generation, writes about the present day
urban India. As the scope of this paper allows I am going to discuss her most famous novel Ladies
Coupe here from the Post-Feministic point of view. Ladies coupe is the story of Akhila, but the lives of
around half-a-dozen women are exposed and discussed. In the very beginning of the novel it is made
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clear that Akhila wants to make a choice. She wants to take a decision. She may need the suggestions of
some other women but final decision will be hers only. Thus she is wise enough and capable enough to
take decisions. She is an educated, independent, strict, plain, forty-five years old spinster when the
novel opens. She is not happy with her life. Slowly her life unfurls in front of the reader and it is
revealed that she is single not by choice but because of her circumstances. Her father dies when she is
nineteen years old and she is the eldest one in the house. She gets busy in fulfilling her duties towards
her family and the members of the family start taking advantage of her. Gradually they assume on their
own that she does not want a husband and a family of her own. All the other siblings get married. They
become busy in their families. Akhila does all that is required; but slowly she starts making choices, for
example though she is a Brahmin but she starts eating egg because she likes the taste.
After her mother’s death things become even more difficult. This is the time when she decides to take a
review of her life and tries to find the answer of an age old question: Can a woman live alone, all on her
own? She wants a quiet place to answer this question. She decides to go to Kanyakumari. On her way
she meets five other women of different age and backgrounds. Every one of them has seen life and they
know what it is to be a woman. They share their experiences with Akhila. Akhila reaches
Kanyakumari. In the meantime it is exposed that Akhila has experienced love in the form of Hari in her
life years back. Hari appears to be a mature New Age Man who does not believe in the old age dictums
of sexism and classism. Though he is much younger to Akhila and belongs to a different part of the
country, he is determined to get married to Akhila ; but Akhila rejects the proposal because of her
responsibilities. However, in the hotel in Kanyakumari, she ponders about the needs of her body and
has a liaison with a much younger man just to satisfy her physical hunger. She remembers Hari and
recollects that Hari has left a number with her before going away from her. After much deliberation,
she decides to call him and go ahead with him if the life still allows. She dials the number and the novel
ends with Hari on the other side. Thus the novel presents the odyssey of Akhila. She becomes a
Feminist by compulsion but chooses to be a Post-Feminist towards the end as she decides that a woman
can live without a man but she needs a man to satisfy her desires. Nowhere in the novel Akhila has been
shown as a victim of circumstances. Discrimination is there in the system and society but she is bold
enough to break the shackles whenever she wants. She does in her life whatever she thinks is right.
With the story of Akhila Anita Nair presents the concept of Post-Feminism gaining roots in urban
India.
To conclude, Post-Feminism can be anything: a step ahead of Feminism or an alternative to it, a
backlash to Feminism or just an improvised tag; but one thing is sure that it is not anti-Feminism as it
has been originated from it. Both aim at women-empowerment and their ultimate objective is to make
this planet Earth a bias-free place for women. However, Post-Feminism is a more liberal and relevant
concept as far as India is concerned. It would be even better if the progressive India combines its ancient
wisdom with this positive trend to make this world a better place to live and love as it has been
announced much earlier in India that Yatra Naryastu Pujyante, Ramante Tatra Devta – that means:
Women are honoured where, Divinity blossoms there.
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Notes:
•
Bolotin, Susan. Voices from the Post-Feminist Generation. 12 Feb. 2013. Web.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/17/magazine/voices-from-the-post
feministgeneration .html>.
•
Genz, Stephanie and Brabon, Benjamin A. Post-feminism: Cultural Texts and Theories.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009.Print.
•
Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998.Print.
•
Madonna. 28 Nov. 2013. Web. <http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/104438>
•
Nair, Anita. Ladies Coupe. New Delhi: Penguin, 2001.Print.
•
Patai, Daphne. Heterophobia: Sexual Harassment and the Future of Feminist. Print.
•
Siegal, Deborah. Sisterhood, Interrupted From Radical Women to Girls Gone Wild. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.Print.
•
Singh, Kanwar Dinesh. Feminism and Post Feminism: The Context of Modern Indian Women
Poets Writing in English. New Delhi: Sarup and Sons, 2004. Print.
•
Time. 12 Feb. 13. <http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19980629,00.html>
•
Web. 24 Nov. 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism_in_India>.
•
Wolf, Naomi. Fire With Fire: The New Female Power and How It Will Change the 21st
Century. New York: Random House, 1993.Print.
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DISCOURSE IN TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENTS:
A STUDY THROUGH THE GENDER PRISM
Madhura Sen
Television advertisements represent the prevailing mindset of contemporary society as they
target the predominant emotions of a large consumer base. Indian television commercials have
shown a prevalence of the phallocentric discourse and have suggested heteronormative behavior.
Almost all Indian television commercials sanction man-woman relationship and reject other
alternative sexual mores. Same sex relationships, effeminacy, the third sex are only portrayed to
add a comic element or to confirm the superiority of the ‘normal’. The actual categories of
‘heterosexual’ and ‘homosexual’ were invented in the 19th century to weigh normal sexual behavior
against degenerate behaviour. Hegemony refers to and reinforces what has been called the
‘fundamental outlook of society’. The patriarchal hegemonic culture suggests heteronormative
behaviour and watertight gender categories like male and female to be the norm.
The field of representation that we suggest above is one where practice/ performance interfaces with
ideology that serves as a template of reproduction. Most gender performances are not intentional acts
but reiterations of hegemonic practices, while also acknowledging that an element of deliberate action
is potentially present in those performances that challenge or subvert dominant ideologies. Women
reign fairness cream, health drink, baby products, home product commercials. Men are seen in
insurance company advertisements playing the role of protector and provider of the family; or
in motorbike advertisement riding bikes as a symbol of machismo. The patriarchal hegemonic
discourse in advertisements dominates all other peripheral discourses. Women in advertisements
of products for men are mere objects fulfilling their fantasies. We do find the objectification
of the male body in television commercials but in considerably lesser cases.
There is a changing trend in the discourse of commercials with the financial independence of
Indian women. There is a substantial increase in the female consumer base as is there a shift in
priorities. Earlier women had to look beautiful in order to get married and now they have to
look beautiful in order to get a job. However the discourse remains gendered stressing on the
need for women to be fair and beautiful albeit for changing reasons. In motorbike
advertisements targeted at women, there is a visual dominance of the so called ‘feminine’
colors.
A few television commercials have questioned some conventional Indian beliefs and myths. A
particular brand of soap,dove, has also broken the stereotyped image of the perfect woman
body by choosing ‘real’ women over skinny zero-figured women as models.
The aim of my present paper is to study the corpus of a few television commercials aired on
Indian television in the last few decades. I have chosen to study television advertisements only
because it consists of several modes of representation over the print media. The language used in
television commercials might be stereotypical and gendered but when used in reference to the visual
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and actors portrayed in it, new meanings can be constructed. Myth, according to Barthes is a type of
speech. However, language needs special conditions in order to become myth.it is a second-order semi
logical system. That which is a sign (namely the associative total of a concept and an image) in the first
system, becomes a mere signifier in the second. there is a second order meaning over the ‘linguistic
meaning’. Television commercials as a system of communication actually mythify the popular mindset
at that particular period of time when the commercial is aired. The fair and lovely advertisement from
two different decades show similar relation between the signifier and the signified in the first order of
meaning but the second order of meaning is different with the change in popular mentality with the
financial independence of women. The first order of meaning conveyed is that ‘fairer’ women are
acceptable in both cases but the second order of meaning is different, where, a fair woman is accepted
by a man and her in-laws in the older advertisement and a fair woman accepted in the job arena in the
comparatively newer one. Therefore, myth does not evolve from the nature of things but a type of
speech chosen by history.
The very recent snickers advertisement featuring Rekha and Urmila Matondkar has multiple
representations. The commercial features a group of men travelling in a car, while one refrains from
conversation, the other three keep on talking. The taciturn male mutates into Rekha, the Bollywood
diva and surprisingly becomes the most talkative one. Rekha, being the symbol of ‘heroine’ throws
tantrums when her needs are not fulfilled. Again the language used is that of the street and not the
polished, sober one which a woman of such stature would use. The moment he mutates back, he is
much reserved. The catch line ‘jab bhukh lagti hai toh tu heroine ban jata hai’(when you are hungry,
you become a heroine) of course represents ‘heroine’ as the talkative one - it is the male who transforms
into a woman in order to articulate. In the second half of the advertisement, another male mutates into
Urmila Matondkar and it continues. The interpretations would definitely be that women can only talk
about hunger, men being ‘superior’ can never talk about hunger as it is associated with weakness. Men
however has to mutate into a member of the ‘weaker sex’, though belonging to the higher class of the
society uses foul language used by lower class women of the society in order to express hunger-thus
altogether reinforcing the fact the hunger can only be associated with the lower sections of society and
can never be associated with men or the ‘superior’ gender belonging to the higher class of the society
who dominates hegemonic cricket in India.
The Wild Stone talcum powder advertisement very carefully subverts normative behavior of the male
actually reinforcing typical gender stereotypes. Men engaged in pedicure, having longer hair and
getting into women nightdresses are deviation from the ‘normal’ but it all the more reinforces the fact
that those looks, behaviour and actions can only be practiced by women. However, the catchphrase
‘this for others and this for man’ broadens the categories of genders other than the male, by not just
dividing the categories of gender into absolute binary. By using ‘others’ instead of ‘women’ the
category of gender broadens with the inclusion of the other gender including the third sex,
transgendered, transvestites and so on in it, all the more reinforcing that the ‘male’ is ‘normal’. Again,
‘be a man, use Wild Stone talc in the interest of mankind’ also reinforces the fact that men are superior
and mankind comprises of the male only.
Motorbike advertisements targeted at men mostly project those bikes as a symbol of machismo and
beautiful models are seen riding on the back of the riders. However, a few bike advertisements targeted
at women use a liberating discourse which, far from liberating us from the stereotyped gender roles
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entwines us back into the binaries of gender. Again, a very interesting advertisement that went viral in
the social networking sites a few months back, the Camlin permanent marker advertisement. Though
it uses a discourse to question the Indian vermillion myth, it all the more reinforces the myth associated
with the red mark on the forehead of married women.
There is a change in trend of discourse but however it isn’t at all a change in mindset of the society.
Financial power has been influencing social position and identity throughout various stages of history,
money, being a powerful agent in molding it. Earlier, the consumer base included mostly men but now,
with the financial independence of women, the consumer base has broadened to include women in it.
Indian society have become educated enough to believe the existence of alternative sexualities but are
not matured enough to accept those, which however is reflected in the commercials.
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‘INDIA’ OR ‘BHARAT’ – WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Dr. Sutapa Dutta
“The first article of the Constitution of India states, “India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states.” By
definition, and according to the spirit of the law, ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’ are the two names by which the
country is known and therefore seen as synonymous. The popular perception is that ‘Bharat’ or
‘Bharatvarsha’ derives its name from the prehistoric, mythical King Bharat (Vishnu Purana 2,1,31).
The name ‘India’ is believed to have been a corrupted version of ‘Sindhu’, the land of the Seven Rivers,
which got modified by later conquerors as ‘Indus’. But it is not a simple case of naming. Such
nomenclatures have increasingly become fraught with problems, and our entire response, be it our
political rhetoric, or our socio cultural ideology, or our literary and media articulations gets shaped by
the two concepts. So, whereas within the constitutional framework India and Bharat are one and the
same, the two names of a country, but in reality there exists an irredeemable gap between them. Both
have a set of complex interpretations that revolve around the polarised and adversarial concepts of the
nation – one, a secular, progressive ‘India’ of corporate houses and shopping malls with a burgeoning
rich class; and the other a rural, pre-modern, spiritual and idyllic ‘Bharat’.
In common parlance ‘Bharat’ is tantamount to the rural, traditional aspect of the nation, what ‘was’
rather than to what the modern present day ‘progressive’ India ‘is’. Such articulations are rampant in
our media, especially cinema and T.V. channels, in the political speeches, etc. In the NDTV Dialogues
– The growing divide between Bharat and India, (aired on 11 August 2013) renowned panellists
discussed the growing divide between Bharat and India. In trying to define the two spaces and the
differences that exists between them, the panellists argued with fixity of assumption that it could be
defined by the gap that exists between the rich and the poor. This discourse took it for granted that
Bharat stood for the rural undeveloped ‘poor’ population versus the more industrialised ‘rich’
demographic section of India. Again, our cinemas are full of instances where ‘Bharatiya’ is
synonymous with a bygone glorious era. So, ‘Indian woman’ or ‘Indian culture’ would not evoke the
same sentiment and fervour as Bharatiya nari, or Bharitya sabhyata,. And then expressions like ‘Bharat
mata ki jay’ or ‘Bharat ma ki kasam’ would definitely not have the same significance and impact if it
were replaced by the more modern name of the nation. This iteration of a stereotypical polarisation can
be a dangerous trend. In the backdrop of the December 2012 brutal gang rape of a young girl in Delhi,
the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat created quite a stir when he commented: "Crimes against women
happening in urban India are shameful. But such crimes won't happen in Bharat or the rural areas of the
country. You go to villages and forests of the country and there will be no such incidents of gang rape or
sex crimes." (4 Jan 2013). Bhagwat’s claim that rape is mainly prevalent in urban India due to western
influence and that such crime against women do not happen in rural areas of the country, marks a
typical mindset which considers conceptual organizational categories as rigid and fixed. Claims like,
“Where Bharat becomes India crimes happen”, “Western culture corrupts”, “rural locales are morally
better and hence safer than urban areas”, and “women in the villages are pure”, etc. are highly specious
and irresponsible. Such attempts to establish identity or subject positions of nation, race, generation,
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gender, class, or geopolitical locale are based on the expression of intangible cultural differences.
Articulations of such social-cultural differences between rural-urban, past-present, traditional-modern,
Bharat-India, are at once a construction and a projection. It begets its pseudo authenticity by basing
itself on received cultural traditions that perceives these binary constructs as intensely combative,
antagonistic and conflictional. The binary logic through which such identities are framed or
formulated are projected constructs which make one ask as to who is saying what, and who is
representing whom. Who is a Bharatiya or Indian anyway? What particular areas would one demarcate
as rural and urban, etc. How do strategies of such representation and identity formation come to be
formulated?
What needs to be explored is the historic basis for thoughts like this. Gandhi and Nehru could perhaps
be seen as the iconic representation of these two poles. Gandhi stood for a revitalisation of our villages,
for strengthening our rural agrarian economy. He believed that the handloom, or the spinning wheel
was “the panacea for the growing pauperism of India” (My Experiments, ch. 163), and in 1934 he
further went on to assert, “Khadi is the only alternative to this and not the so called socialism which
presupposes industrialism. The socialism that India can assimilate is the socialism of the spinning
wheel” (Singh, p.207). Nehru, on the other hand, firmly advocated a modern industrialized India if we
were to be recognised as a potent power. “India must break with much of her past and not allow it to
dominate the present” (Discovery, p.522), yet Nehru fully aware of the diversities and divisions in the
country was quick to realize that “if we were going to build the house of India’s future, strong and
secure and beautiful, we would have to dig deep for the foundation” (Discovery, p.47). Nehru with his
political acumen was canny to accept that both Bharat and India existed simultaneously, and the
problem was to produce a synthesis between the old and the new.
Nehru’s reference is to a constellation of ideas and images associated with the subcontinent, an
intangible product of a continuous and complex process of transmission of ideas over a long period of
time. Here Nehru shrewdly banks upon the common man’s familiarity with the natural boundaries of
the subcontinent and an awareness of Bharat as a cultural region that has been a part of the emotional
and intellectual inheritance of the people of this land. Nehru’s dialectics of reconfiguring and
reimagining a united nation is a reflection of the complex dynamics of nationalism from a historical,
geographical and political perspective. “The state thus etched itself into the imagination of Indians in a
way that no previous political agency had ever done.” (Khilnani, p.41)
The very basis of Nationalism was founded on the re-invocation of the past. The evocation of past
memories, experiences, traditions, heroes and their achievements was perhaps the most potent means
of uniting the people of this nation. The inspiring records of the past, a revival of memories of the past,
mythical or factual, no doubt proved to be a binding force for a nation struggling to present a united
front to the ideological onslaught of the colonisers. If the colonising strategy was based on portraying
the orient in a negative light, then the concept of a pure, immaculate, guile free pre-colonial Bharat that
got corrupted by the mlechhas, the foreigners who corrupted and defiled her, can be seen as a
reactionary strategy to contest the Eurocentric project of hierarchialising and prioritising western
culture and knowledge. It is obviously an ideological strategy to ‘recover’ the loss of self – a subjugated
people’s way of asserting and restoring their fame and esteem. But emphasising a ‘glorious’ past,
reminding a community of people that the nation was a “sone ki chidiya”, and highlighting the
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positivism of the culture and heritage are also to implicitly acknowledge that the present is not what is
desirable. To camouflage the unworthiness of the present, a worthier temporal spatial space is
envisaged, albeit an imagined one. It is as much a vision as a creation. Colonialism supplanted and
erected an Indian self-image that was an antithesis of the West’s construction of the Orient. The
negation of the colonising stereotypes was possible by subverting the discourse, as Ashis Nandy puts it,
“by appropriating the language of defiance” (The Intimate Enemy, p. 73). The reconstructed self-image
would imply “we are subjugated in the present, but our past was glorious; we are weak in the present,
but we had worthy heroes in the past; we are impoverished now, but we were the richest nation before;
our cities are corrupt places, but our villages are pristine”, etc.
In the wake of the present day ‘post metropolitan’ transformation, the disjunctive line between city,
metropolis, suburb, town, etc has become increasingly nebulous. At the same time these are spaces for
encounters, contestations and conflicts. On the one hand the porous and fluid boundaries have enabled
identities to mingle and negotiate, and on the other hand there is the rigid resistance to such
heteromorphic structures like rural-urban, traditional-modern. This is an era of internationalism, or
rather transnationalism, when a plethora of voices and histories mingle – of the migrant, diasporic,
exiled, refugees, displaced, etc. These voices may not always be collaborative and dialogical, indeed
there might be ambivalences and confrontations. The over lapping identities emphasise that there
cannot be, and probably has never been, any monolithic, holistic and ‘pure’ cultural identities. But bipolar stereotypes are often sourced from a ‘received’ tradition of thoughts that are deeply embedded
into the psyche of a community. Examples of received tradition of knowledge could be religious texts,
myths, epics, oral tales passed down the generations, etc. Re-sourcing such an ideology from the
received tradition gives it an air of sanctity, of a conclusive ‘truth’, not to be doubted or questioned.
The veracity and acceptance of such ‘truths’ would depend considerable on the importance and stature
granted to such sources. If the Ramayana can be acknowledged to be one of the seminal literary works
that has shaped and moulded the thinking of the people of this land, call it Bharat or India or by
whatever name we might care to, then it needs to be seen how the urban-rural and city-forest divide get
articulated and projected in it. My paper would reinterpret literary articulations of such polarisations,
especially the urban-rural polarity in the Ramayana, and would read the considerable potency of the
underlying significance of the nagarvarnan (description of the metropolis), and the vanaprastha (the
departure to the forest).
The composition of the Ramayana by Valmiki takes place significantly in the forest, on the banks of
the river Tamasa, only when Valmiki has renounced all worldly comforts and embraced astute
penance. Oblivious to hunger and thirst and change of seasons, Valmiki’s body is covered with
termites, till the sinner is transformed into a saint - one who could only utter ‘mar’, ‘mar’, can now
chant ‘ram’, ‘ram’. In the forest, Valmiki witnesses a hunter kill a male kronchi bird that was
conjugating with its mate. Angered by the act of the hunter, and moved by the plight of the lamenting
female bird, the Sage Valimiki spontaneously curses the hunter. The curse comes out as a metrical
composition - the first Shloka of the Ramayana emerges from Shoka – deep sorrow. The hunter’s act of
violence and cruelty is a sign of humans asserting power over mute harmless creatures. It is an act of
Man intruding into the space of the animals and the birds to assert his supremacy and power. A very
similar parallel can be seen when King Dasaratha goes into the forest to hunt animals, and by mistake
kills Shravana, the only son of an old and blind couple. Again, it is an act of aggression, of sheer
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uncaring negligence on the part of the outsider who encroaches into a pure untainted space and brings,
havoc, death and sorrow. The bereaved parents curse Dasaratha, and the entire epic kavya is a result of
these two curses. Both the cases can be interpreted to denunciate: (a) The forest is a sylvan surrounding
unspoilt and uncorrupted, (b) Man’s greed and the desire to possess, hunt and kill destroy peace, calm
and harmony in nature, and (c) the forest is defiled by the outsider who exploits and violates this sacred
space.
The city in comparison is a prosperous, populated place. Ayodhya the capital of Dasaratha’s kingdom,
as described by Valmiki in Sarga 5 of the Bala kanda, was a world-renowned city on the banks of the
river Sarayu, one that was vast and glorious, overflowing with wealth and cereals. The city was well
planned with highways and canals, surrounded by gateways and arches, and densely packed with
planned houses. The city was adorned with riches and jewels making it look like Amravati, the capital
of Indra’s kingdom. It had all kinds of machinery, weaponry and craftsmen. It was well fortified,
surrounded by a deep moat and a wide fort wall. The city was splendid with its many bastioned areas,
ramparts and flags, and hundreds of canons which virtually made Ayodhya impenetrable for
trespassers or invaders – “durga gambhiira parikhaam durgaam anyaih duraasadham”. No body could
cross, pass, or surmount the impassable forts and rampart walls. The city was filled with fast chariots
and had thousands of skilled archers but they would not kill without a purpose, or anyone who was
defenceless. Thus this city was the best on earth – “prithivyaam taam anuttamaam”.
It is significant and logical that the Ayodhya kanda is followed by the Aranya kanda, as the city and the
forest are a symbolic manifestation of the split consciousness of the mind. The animal and the civil, the
good and the bad, the pure and the impure, exist simultaneously in every man, and therefore by
extension in every community, in every nation, and in every age and civilisation. The Ramayana
depicts the politics of inclusion and exclusion, the ‘other-ing’ of what proves to be inconvenient,
challenging or troublesome. Such unwanted elements like the rakhshasas, the wild animals, etc that
cannot be accommodated in the so-called ‘civil’ space of the city can be conveniently segregated and
pushed in the space beyond the city, the fringes of civilisation. There is a continuous process of reinscription and negotiation between this landscape of ambivalent boundaries. There are different
terrains of contestation –between those who represent authority and those who are antagonistic to it,
between a defined dharma and adharma. But the plain and often unpalatable truth is that the defence of
‘Bharatiya Sabhyata’ and ‘Indian values’ is frequently a cover for a certain class of male prerogatives.
Our cinema, television, and political discourses thrive on the projection of a fundamental idyllic past of
so-called Indian values that must be preserved because it is supposedly threatened by the cancerous
worms of modernism.
But such an idea of an ethnically clean Bharat that existed before being defiled by the ‘outsiders’ is a
dangerous manifestation of excessive nationalistic fervour that disregards the complex interweaving of
history. Very often terms like ‘civilization’, and ‘culture’ are imbued with unquestionable positive
values. It is as if, all those who were a part of ‘Bharat’ were inherently good and therefore the
beneficiaries of unbounded happiness. The critical study of the Ramayana indicates that that was
clearly not the case even in the yug of Ram-raj – unequal, hierarchialised and divided worlds exist
everywhere and in every age. The politics of identity formation based on empowerment, hierarchy,
inclusion and exclusion is an indication that primordial polarities were a socially constructed
representation. But the boundaries of such ‘imagined communities’ have always remained nebulous,
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often manifested by a to and fro movement, neither this nor that. Such “interstitial spaces”, to quote
Homi Bhabha, “between fixed identifications opens up the possibility of a cultural hybridity that
entertains difference without an assumed or imposed hierarchy.” (Bhabha, p.4) The ‘liminal space’
where two cultures meet and overlap is a dialectical and ambivalent space which does not claim to
resolve tension, or to make a ‘better’ culture, and neither is it a synthesis of the two. It is a space where
the differences can neither be identified nor evaluated, nor can they be distinctly seen or appropriated.
Notes:
•
Bhabha, Homi K. (1994). The Location of Culture. Routledge, London & NY.
•
Gandhi, M.K. (1927). An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth.
Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad.
•
Khilnani, Sunil (1997). The Idea of India. Hamish Hamilton, London.
•
Nandy, Ashis (1983). The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism.
Oxford University Press, Delhi.
•
Nehru, Jawaharlal (1946) 1960 reprint. The Discovery of India. Meridian Books Ltd., London.
•
Singh, Savita (2007). Satyagraha. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Publications
Division, Government of India.
•
Valmiki, Ramayana, edited by Ravi Prakash Arya, Sanskrit Text and English translation by
M.N. Dutt. 4 Volumes, Parimal Publication, Delhi, 1998.
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CHANGING VALUES, CULTURE AND
GLOBALIZATION IN ARAVIND ADIGA’S
THE WHITE TIGER
Raghavendra H.M.
Interaction of cultures and cultural diffusion is a universal phenomenon of the postmodern era.
Interaction of cultures is a universal phenomenon. This process causes the cultures to lose their
uniqueness. This is a normal process in today’s age of globalization and the elements of globalization
are tightening their hold on almost all cultures of the world. Globalization in the field of economy or
science and technology is quite natural, but cultural globalization is not so easy to swallow.
The great Indian English novelists like Raja Rao, Mulkraj Anand, and R.K.Narayan have exposed the
tribulations of the Indian society through their works. Nationalism, poverty, East-west encounter,
Indian philosophy, Gandhianism were the themes of their fictional works. They always portrayed the
society of India, its culture and values. But the younger generation of Indian English novelists like
Jhumpa Lahiri, Shashi Tharur, Kiran Desai, Arundhathi Roy, Aravind Adiga are taking a departure
from these themes. They are taking up completely new complex themes like Globalisation, MultiCulturalism, Cultural Conflicts, loss of morality and values and so on. The clash of the native culture
with that of the global culture of the western world is another current theme of these writers.
When the Globalization and the consequent rise of the Indian middle class is forcing a change in Indian
culture and society; the literature is also bound to change its direction. Indian values like austerity and
simple living with limited means are slowly becoming extinct. Now the Indian middle class- once
deemed as the preserver of Indian ethical values- is racing behind wealth. Aravind Adiga dramatizes the
aspects of globalization like consumerism, cosmopolitanism, multiculturalism and changing ethical
values in his 2008 Booker prize winning novel ‘The White Tiger’.
The negative effects of Globalization are obviously the end of family institution, increasing divorces,
immigration of rural poor to urban area which in turn leads to so many problems like increased
density of population, the scarcity of land, water and all natural resources, unemployment, poverty,
slums, illegal acquisition by landlords, the dislodging of farmers, growing corruption, dishonest
leaders, the ever increasing ambition of the greedy capitalists, terrorism , the threat to the national
security and so on. These negative effects of globalization are well depicted in the novel.
Adiga,- born in Chennai, grew up in Mangalore-Karnataka, migrated to Sydney, studied in New York
and then in Oxford, now lives in Mumbai, but loves New Delhi,- is a true global citizen. He says his
perceptions are sharpened by ‘the places I lived in before I came back to India.’
Dedicating the booker prize to New Delhi he says,
‘It’s the city that I love and a city that’s going to determine India’s future and of a large part of the world.
……..300 years ago it was the most important city on earth and could become so again.’
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He likes New Delhi because it has the potential to be a global centre. Adiga’s love for global culture can
be understood.
The White Tiger is a novel about a man’s expedition from poverty to entrepreneurial success. It is the
story of an ambitious man in the globalizing culture of 21st century India. Michael Portillo, the
chairman of the judging panel of the Booker prize compares the hero of the novel with Macbeth. The
novel shows the other face of India as an emerging global economic super power. Michael Portillo
further says,
‘The book gains from dealing with pressing social issues and significant global developments with
astonishing humour………‘The White Tiger’ presented a different aspect of India…….’
The novel presents a realistic picture of the life of poor in India. India first opened its economy to
globalization and its success can be seen in the materialistic progress in every city of India. But this
economic progress is widening the gap between the haves and havenots. Balram Halwai, the
protagonist of the novel says, ‘In old days there were 1000 castes in India. These days there are just two
casts: Men with Big Bellies and Men with Small Bellies.’ The concentration of wealth in the hands of a
few men – a side effect of globalizing economy- crafts monsters among poor and he himself is the best
example of such fiends.
The novel begins in the form of a letter,
‘For the desk of:
His Excellency Wen Jiabao,
The Premier’s Office,
Beijing,
Capital of the Freedom –Loving Nation of China
From the Desk of:
‘The White tiger’
A Thinking Man
And an entrepreneur,
Living in the centre of technology and outsoursing
Electronic City Phase 1 (just off Hosur Main Road),
Bangalore, India.
Mr. Premier,
Sir,
Neither you nor I speak English but there are somethings that can be said only in English’(3)
Because only English –the global language can bridge the two emerging global powers; India and
China. He wishes a global collaboration of ‘the yellow man’ and ‘the brown man’ to trounce ‘the white
man’.
Balram never brings religion or god in the way of his accomplishment. He mocks the Indian gods,
‘Muslims have one god. The Christians have three gods. And we Hindus have 36,000,000 gods. Making
a great total of 36,000,004 divine sources for me to choose from.’ (8).
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To him Ganges is a black river. He urges Mr. Jiabao not to take a dip in the Ganga. The polluted Ganga
is no longer a purifier. It cannot wash away the sins of the modern day villains who will not care any
ethics or values of Indian culture. Money is the only purifier for them.
The novel portrays not only the globalizing economy, but also globalizing culture of India. It shows
two Indias - one India, the typical Indian village of Laxmangarh where there is no electricity, no water,
no telephone, no roads; and Bangalore, the other India which is the global face of India. Balram now
lives in Bangalore, the silicon valley of the sub-continent and when Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier
visits it, Balram wishes to show the new India to him. Bangalore is a global technological centre
because, ’Indians take to technology like ducks to water.’ (12). This progress of the country has not
solved the predicament and poverty of India. Even globalisation has failed to find an answer to these
unsolved questions. So globalisation is not a magic wand, so that we can use it to vanish evils of the
country. The result is the emergence of ruthless monsters like Balaram.
Munna, a poor boy from Laxmangarh came out as Balram, a driver and then as a vicious entrepreneur,
‘The White Tiger’. He achieved his success by killing his master Mr.Ashok. In his hunt for
accomplishment, loyalty has no place.
Adiga depicts the cultural globalization of India in his descriptions of New Delhi and its people. In
Delhi ‘roads are good and people are bad.’(124). In the hightech city cars of rich go like,
‘…dark eggs down the road of Delhi. Every now and then an egg will crack open, a woman’s hand,
dazzling with gold bangles, stretches out of an open window, flings an empty mineral water bottle
onto the road and the window goes up and the egg is resealed.’(134).
In the society of rich drunkenness, divorce, sex, violence are quite natural. The material prosperity
brings these evils and the result is, they lack peace of mind. Mr.Ashok at one stage says,
‘I am sick of the life I lead. We rich people, we’ve lost our way, Balram I want to be a simple man like
you, Balram.’(238).
But Balram takes up his place by murdering him. He adopts an unethical means to get what he wanted.
The ruthlessness of a successful entrepreneur is exhibited. There is no place for pity in this process of
global competition. This triumph makes him an animal. He has no friends, ‘A White Tiger keeps no
friends. It’s too dangerous.’(302).
Bangalore, where he has achieved success is a forest full of wild animals like him. Here the people ‘sleep
in day and then work all night………because their masters are on the other side of the world in
America.’(298). The globalization has brought perverted changes in the life style of the people of
Bangalore. They are now animals who stroll at night. Balram plans to start a school here and produce
more ‘White Tigers’ like him, whose heads are not corrupt with prayers and stories about god and
Gandhi.
Adiga is successful in dealing with the socio-economical issues and the globalization in the novel with
wit and humour. Kevin Rusby in his review of the novel describes it as, ‘a witty parable of India’s
changing society. The novel depicts the protagonist of the novel as a post modern hero and a subaltern
protagonist. The class war doctrine is also raised in the novel. This is more in tune with cynical
postmodernism, alive in the hero. He refers to the murder he committed so coldly that he makes the
reader compare him to Lady Macbeth. This shows that the novel is postmodern. The hero’s cynicism is
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so astonishing that the novel is nothing but a story of hero’s individual salvation. It can be described as
an ugly portrait of India as a society disturbed by the postmodern concept of globalization.
Notes:
•
Adiga, Aravind. The White Tiger. Harper Collins Publishers India, New Delhi, 2009.
•
Kumar, Satyendra. “Adiga’s The White tiger: A Tale of Modern India”, Journal of Literatures
in India, vol.3, pp.64-75, 2010.
•
Reviews of the novel in
<http://WWW.Wikipedia.com>
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<http://WWW.Criterion.com>
,
55
POSTFEMINIST PERSPECTIVES IN MANJU
KAPUR’S HOME
Dr A. Linda Primlyn
The postfeminist scenario in the English novel in India is a brighter one compared to other genres of
literature. Women attempt to portray their introspection realistically when patriarchy compels them
to be totally subservient in both the social and economic spheres. They are portrayed as silent sufferers
and upholders of the tradition and traditional values of family and society. They have been constantly
under the pressure of living up to expectation from the olden days to the recent times. Yet the status of
woman could not be called as “the second sex.” At the same time they could not completely detach
themselves from the traditional value system which has its own advantages and comforts.
Novelists like Kamala Markandaya, Manohar Malgaonkar, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Githa
Hariharan, Manju Kapur, Shoba De, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, Bapsi Sidhwa and Nayantara Sehgal
have ceaselessly captured the spirit of an independent India struggling to break away from the
traditional Indian cultures and establish a distinct identity trying to be themselves and yet do not wish
to break up the family ties. These women novelists move forward with their strong and sure strides
recognizing their originality, versatility and the indigenous flavour of the soil that they bring in their
works.
Postfeminist literature wants women to assert themselves and at the same time not to upset the existing
situations. The major preoccupation in the recent Indian women novelists is to have a peep into the
innermost recesses of the mind and a delineation of interpersonal relationships. Manju Kapur shows
how women in the present day societies are bogged down by certain plights and how they finally
resolve them and emerge out as bold, challenging, conscious and shrewd women by mildly raising their
voice against their dependency, insecurity, lack of autonomy, and incomplete sense of their identity.
They are found a little weak at first and later they survive by accepting and accommodating themselves
to the traditional norms.
As such, the paper shows how Kapur associates some of the important issues of women in a
postfeministic perspective. She underlines how they very often bear their sufferings in mute silence as
they are conditioned by the moorings of the age-old traditional and conventional values which they
cannot easily defy. It also shows though some of them are at times restless and rebellious, like the
women of Kamala Markandaya, Anita Desai and Uma Vasudevan, at the end, they subdue their voice
realising the wisdom of their tradition-bound ancestors. By highlighting the predicament of the
feminine passivity and the mute and silent endurance of Kapur’s women, the paper shows the sorry
plight of women in the country who carry the burden of life with subservience and complete
acceptance of the traditional norms.
The prominent new voices of Kapur try to establish their own identity and they are mostly educated,
aspiring individuals caged in a conservative society. Their education leads them to independent
thinking for which their family and society become intolerant for them. They struggle between
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tradition and modernity. They are caught in the conflict between the passions of the flesh and have a
yearning to be a part of the political and intellectual movements of the day. But they try to maintain a
balance all the time. Their suffering has made them strong and they struggle to set themselves free from
the shackles of traditions and various prejudices. Sushila Singh points out “The feminist consciousness
is the consciousness of victimization. As a philosophy of life it seeks to discover and change the more
subtle and deep seated causes of women’s oppression. It is a concept of ‘raising of consciousness’ of an
entire culture” (174).
Home (2006) shows the era of change round the corner portraying women who realise their individual
worth and attempt to break through the suffering that traditional society offers them. It shows the
choking closeness and destructive limitations of Indian family values. It is an engrossing story of family
life, across three generations of Delhi shopkeepers, running a cloth business in Delhi’s busy Karol Bagh
area. The two childless sisters Sona and Rupa, of whom Sona is married to Yashpal, the eldest son of a
cloth-shop owner and the other Rupa is the wife of an educated badly paid government servant. They
live with their in-laws in the same neighbourhood in Karol Bagh. Sona is always taught a lesson of
having patience by her husband. After two years of her marriage when she fails to give birth to a child,
her mother-in-law suspects that she has used contraceptives. Her only sister-in-law Sunita dies of burns
in the hospital and she is forced to take the responsibility of Vicky, the only son of Sunita. Her motherin-law says to Sona “It was your Kismet not to have children so you could be a true mother to your
nephew” (25).
Here Kapur points out how people fail to understand the feelings of a childless woman. Women in the
house should have understood her. The mother-in-law imposes everything on her, “Beti, now you are
his mother. God has rewarded your devotion. Sometimes our wishes are fulfilled in strange ways” (26).
Sona who is a religious lady and also is very stubborn not to be the caretaker of her nephew, and prays a
lot and keeps fast to become a mother. A supplier tells her fathr-in-law Lala Banwari Lal to visit a Shrine
for the blessings of a child. Lala Banwari Lal goes to the Shrine with his wife and takes Yashpal, Sona
and the three boys Vicky, Ajay and Vijay with them. Two months after this visit, Sona is conceived
and after nine months she gives birth to a beautiful girl Nisha. Now her life changes and she gets love
and becomes the centre of attention. Lala Banwari Lal celebrates the birth of the girl child on the same
scale that is reserved only for male issues.
As the story moves on, the issues of a woman arise in one way or the other and the solution too comes at
once or a bit later. From time to time, Sona grooms Nisha in the traditions of the Banwari Lal
household to keep the Karva Chauth fast for her future husband, to involve in all pujas saying that the
art of service and domesticity are the two important factors for a woman. Through the story of Savitri,
Sona tries to teach Nisha the lesson of sacrifice and the duties of a good wife. She does not tell Nisha the
power of a woman. Savitri is not only the symbol of sacrifice but also the symbol of woman’s power
that fought with Yamraj and restored her happiness.
Nisha who is at the centre of interest in the family raises her wish mildly in the traditional joint family
to have her college education. The mother opposes her wish to join in college but is convinced by her
sister Rupa’s words: “‘It would be a shame to not educate her further’. . . . ‘Let her do English Honours,
not too much work, reading story books’” (140). Sona accepts that there is no discrimination made as
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male and female in the context of education and hence Nisha succeeds to join in Durga Bai College.
Secondly Nisha as a new woman tries to break the traditional norms by falling in love with Suresh,
outside her caste, a student of Khalsa College of Engineering and shows her individuality. She becomes
a bold girl wandering here and there, roaming the university lawns, sipping coffee in coffee houses with
Suresh. It becomes her routine. On his suggestion, she cuts her hair like Suriya, a famous film star of
the days. She is equally attentive at her studies too. When exams are around corner, she worries, “I
can’t meet you, I have to study, I have to get a second division at least” (151). Suresh provides her “St.
Stephen’s Tutorials” and she gets first division. Their courtship continues and Nisha begins to miss
even more classes. She becomes more adventurous in her clothing, alternating her Salwar Kameez with
jeans and T-shirts. She is waiting to get married with Suresh as well as to get a free life where, “She
would talk, laugh, sing, smile. There would be no need for her to be silent or demure, she was going to
the home of her boyfriend (here she blushed for her own benefit). Hers would be a modern
relationship” (160).
Nisha as a new woman does not allow anyone to step into her individuality. Although she loves Suresh
deeply, she never allows Suresh to violate her chastity. She tells Suresh, “It is just as well there is
something left for when we are married” (191). Towards the end of Nisha’s third year, her parents
come to know about her love affair with Suresh. She has to face many queries. Raju, Nisha’s brother
calls him a crude fucker and says that Nisha is not trustworthy. Nisha rebels, “Who are you to decide
whether I am trustworthy?” (198). Suresh tries to convince Nisha’s family about the purity of his love
and intentions. He does not demand anything even if she is a mangli. On account of this, she is moved
by his nobility. She tells her mother that nobody cares about castes these days. She sobs with indignant
emotion. “Sell me and be done with it. What are you waiting for? (200). According to Silpi Srivastava,
Nisha desires to establish “a value charged, almost a charismatic term with its secured achievement
regarded as equivalent to personal salvation (Prasad 197).
Such a woman, who raises her voice every now and then, accommodates herself when situation arrives.
She readily accepts her norms and becomes passive. She, who has faced opposition for the marriage
from her parents, tries to assure Suresh that she will die without him. But Suresh, who is not in a dying
mood, makes many excuses, saying that Nisha will always be the princess of his dreams. Nisha replies,
“I don’t want to be in your dreams, I want us to be together” (Home 214). Finally she realises the whole
truth that Suresh has betrayed her and played with her emotions: “Raju was right: Suresh was a chutia, a
total fucker. If he loved her he had no right to decide her future on his own. . . She phoned him at home,
and received the same answer. Suresh had vanished from her life and there was nothing she could do”
(214-15). She just leaves her fate in the hands of her parents becoming a bird in a cage, by adjusting with
the idea of another man in the place of Suresh. She accepts her plight by deciding to accept the
traditional norms of the society. She usually lives on an edge and is driven to despair, breathing in a
conventional and confined atmosphere. It is true that she is never being able to show resentment
openly and with much less revolt. Though she is acutely conscious of suppression and oppression and
is unwilling to take it in her stride, she establishes a distinct identity trying to be herself.
Finally, the theme of economic independence which act against the traditional joint value system is also
dealt in this paper. Generally, families adhering to the conventional values, object to womenfolk to
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step out of the house and hence forces women to lead a confined life. Wishing to take a step further
from her mental stress and strain, Nisha plans of doing something meaningful, “I don’t want to be seen
by all these people, why can’t I do some course?” (223). She feels that she would go mad sitting alone in
her home. The mother opposes her views and wants to see her daughter settled because “Marriage is
the destiny traditionally offered to women by society” (192). Simone de Beauvoir holds, “We open
factories, the offices, the facilities to women but we continue to hold that marriage is for her a most
honourable career freeing her from the need of any other participation in the collective life” (198). In
turn, Nisha wants to uplift herself, to establish her identity and individuality, and longs to establish her
own business. She wants to work with her father in the shop, “‘If only you could take me with you,
Papaji,’ she pleaded in a rush. ‘I have seen girls working in shops. Why should it be only Ajay, Vijay
and Raju? There must be something I too can do’” (Home 267).
Belonging to a typical joint family, nobody in Nisha’s family takes her matter seriously. Later her
father Yashpal allows her to start her business of salwar suits. She demands a single year from her father
to show off her abilities and is too much confident about the success of her business. Yashpal arranges a
place for work and gives her twenty-five thousand rupees to start her business. He trusts her as he
would have trusted a son, but her mother is not pleased at this new development in her life. He suggests
she should call her line “Nisha’s Creations.” Her work starts and moves on with success and within a
year, she repays half of the twenty-five thousand loan.
Kapur, even towards the end of the novel, points out how woman mildly raises her voice and finally
accommodates herself to the existing situations. As a successful business woman at the time of her
marriage, Nisha is not prepared to leave her own world of business and also she has some preference for
traditional marriage. A widower of thirty four years, named Arvind, a mangli who has no issue comes
to see her. Nisha’s consciousness about her marriage and business leads her to say: “I cannot give it up”
(302). The boy agrees at this point and he stresses of his implications of a registered marriage. It disrupts
her dream of traditional marriage but still, as a postfeminist, she accepts to the views of her fiancé
because what is important for her, is the life after the ceremony and not the day itself.
When situation arises, Nisha even leaves her own world of business. She focuses on being a good wife,
daughter-in-law and may be a mother. With a heavy heart, she accepts to concentrate towards her baby
to be born and the household duties, feeling that “One day she would resurrect it, one day it would be
there, waiting for her” (333). Nisha adjusts and accommodates herself to the new situation by feeling
and enjoying every experience of her pregnancy. She is satisfied and happy with her role as a mother
and daughter-in-law. She gets her own family, her own Home. She thought, “All mine, she thought, all
mine” (336). It expresses her deep sense of accommodation to the traditional norms of the society.
Kapur’s heroines resemble in their independence of spirit like Shashi Deshpande’s Jaya, Indu and Saru
in her novels. Like them, Nisha does not seek refuge in her parental home or revolt against the
members of the family. She is mildly conscious for her independent existence but also conscious of
maintaining the Indian ethos. Like modern women, she has courage to fight against patriarchy for her
right to education, right to choose her mate in life and economic independence. They symbolise the
changed mindset of Indian girls who want to decide their future and refuse to be treated like “things.”
According to Sharad Srivastava, “A new woman is new if her basic concerns are deeper than merely
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seeking equality with men, asserting her own personality and insisting upon her own rights as a woman
and as equal beings” (196).
Women in any society constitute the most important segment of the country’s population. Their role
in moulding the younger generation cannot be underestimated. It depends on the way a woman as a
mother brings up her children and influences the process of their personality. The harmony of the
family relations and its stability depend upon the status and behaviour of women as mothers,
daughters, wives and housewives. They try to liberate them from the oppressive measures of
patriarchy. Having attained the freedom, they have to silently endure the physical, emotional and
psychological sufferings connected therewith. Nisha creates awareness of women’s liberation and
equality along with men, not fully bloomed but at least up to mark. She is portrayed as an educated,
confident, self-assured, bold and independent spirited new woman. She ultimately returns to the
traditional mode of life, thinking that home is where she may get peace and space.
The idea of female bonding and how daughters can achieve much by following the tradition of their
mothers are also discussed here. Kapur’s women are still bound by customs, traditions, which play an
important role to keep their status low. They are denied freedom and liberty but they strive to come
up in society by achieving education, self employment and selecting their mates. They are found in the
midst of interpersonal ties, familial relations and community networks dominated by men and
manipulated by women, which had suffocated the lives of women in contemporary Indian society.
They are mostly educated, aspiring individuals, caged within the confines of a conservative society. It
is their individual struggle with family and society through which they plunged into a dedicated effort
to carve an identity for themselves as new women with faultless backgrounds.
The simple form of Kapur’s narrative description of every day life, enmeshed with variety of issues,
highlight realism as a powerful mode in her writing. She does not resort to any fantasy or magical
realism, like many of her contemporaries to express the mundane or the exalted. The powerful themes
of love and loneliness, faith and betrayal, sexuality and self-assertion, against the sweeping backdrop of
the worldwide conflict between the colonizers and the colonized are clearly dealt with.
The novel taken up for discussion requires the immediate attention for the transformations of the
social ethos to make it more conducive for the woman to develop individuality in her. A woman’s
assessment of her relationship with the members of the family will enable her to identify her own self,
to come to terms with reality to equip herself with confidence and to accommodate her to the
situations boldly. Indian family reveals many issues that are deep rooted within the family – the revolt
against the age-old traditions, quest for identity, the problems of marriage and finally the silent
subservience to the situation. Nisha refuses to reconcile with the patriarchal and male governed society
and tries to establish her own individual identity. It is true that the theme of postfeminist consciousness
runs as an undercurrent in the novel. It is pervaded by domestic atmosphere and deals with suppression
and oppression. The fact is feminist consciousness is a state of mind, but breaking and destroying social
harmony is not the purpose of feminist consciousness. Woman resists and overcomes the ideological
suppression and reshapes the ideals and the existing value systems to reinvent her in a meaningful way.
In this sense, the novel is a significant contribution towards the realm of Indian English fiction and
postfeminist psychoanalysis in India.
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Notes:
•
Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex, trans H.M. Parshley. New York: Random, 1952. Print.
•
Srivastava, Shilipi Rishi. “Feminist Consciousness in Manju Kapur’s Novels.” New Lights on
Indian Women Novelists in English. Ed. Amarnath Prasad. New Delhi
•
Sarup and Sons, 2008. 173-98. Print.Srivastava, Sharad. The New Woman in Indian English
Fiction. New Delhi: Creative Books, 1996. Print.
•
Singh, Sushila. Feminism Theory, Criticism, Analysis. Delhi: Pencraft International, 1977.
Print.
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TRACING THE POSTMODERN MOTIFS IN KANNADA
NARRATIVES: TENTATIVE POSSIBILITIES
T. Avinash
The field of Postmodernism is highly a contested and a problematic area of study. It is very difficult to
find agreement among critics on its range of meaning and implication. Some thinkers like Jurgan
Habermas argue that the project of modernity has not yet ended and therefore it is too pre-mature to
talk about post modernity. According to him, the Enlightenment values of reason, technology and
liberal humanism continue to engage our debate even today. However other thinkers like Jean Lyotard
argue that postmodernism is a condition which definitely is marked by skepticism about language,
truth, reason, causality, history and subjectivity.
For other thinkers like Jean Baudrillard, postmodernism is essentially a legitimate product of modern
technology and mass media. For him, television by continually projecting floating images creates a
kind of hyper reality where absolute reality is not possible. He argues that reality in television and
internet is only a Simulation and therefore the distinction between signifier and the signified has
collapsed finally. Postmodern communication technologies generate free floating images and no one
experiences anything other than in a derived form. He went to the extent of calling 1991 Gulf War as
“not real but a media event. It is a war without the symptoms of war”. Ziauddin Sardar in a stimulating
essay on Post modernism argues that it gives a TRIMMED view of life. I.e. post modernism is
characterized by no Truth, no Reality, only Images, no Meaning, Multiplicities, equal Representation,
and total Doubt. All absolutes are denied by postmodernists and it is a nihilistic theory of doubt and
skepticism. The principle that governs post modernism is that all that is valid in modernity is totally
invalid in post modern times. Modernity was framed by what is known as grand narratives: i.e Big ideas
that give sense and direction to life. Such notions as Truth, Reason, Morality, God, Tradition and
History do not live up to analytical scrutiny and therefore they are meaningless.
Now, let me examine how contemporary Kannada narratives are negotiating with the critical issues of
modernity and post modernity in our society. It must be noted that extremely diverse and plural
narratives of Kannada literature cannot be formulated in a single design. Any formula is insufficient to
describe modern Kannada literary texts. It rejects any formulaic criticism. The contemporary Kannada
narratives are marked by the absence of any visible and solid literary movements. After the highly
visible Navya and Bandya movements, the post 1990 Kannada literature has not produced any
particular genre/movement of literature. As for as Post modernism is concerned not many writers
claim that they are Postmodern. In fact many critics in Kannada go to the extent of calling post
modernism in Kannada as a pure myth and it is a future, yet to be coming condition. In other words
there is a definite rejection of this so called phenomenon. The argument is that when Kannada
narratives are still grappling with the project of modernity and neo colonialism, it is immature to talk
about Post modernism. Many thinkers also feel that Kannada society is still traditional and evolving.
The articulations about modernity, issues of gender, caste are still being negotiated in kannada fiction
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even now. The new writers like Vasudhenra narrate traumatic experience of globalization and neo
capitalism. But the method employed to narrate the story is still traditional. That is to say that many
writers of contemporary Kannada fiction do not feel that they need new tools of narration to tell the
story.What they have done is that they are trying to explore unexplored areas of experience with the
help of traditional method of storytelling. Therefore many critics feel that post modernism is a feature
of advanced societies and hence the question of post modern condition is a myth.
However a quick survey of recent works in Kannada like Bimba and Maduveya Album by Girish
Karnad, Pampa Bharatha and Anabhijnana Shakunthala by K. Y Narayana swamy, Swayamvara loka
and Bharatha Yaatre by K. V Akshara, Hakuna Matata by Nagaraja Vastare Mattobbana Samsara by
Vivek Shanbhag show a definite shift in the art of storytelling. In all these above mentioned narratives
what we see is the denial of mainstream mega narratives and there is an attempt to construct multiple
narratives. The traditional art of linear story construction is given up. The plot is constructed in such a
way that even the minor character/issue is represented equally or there is no distinction between major
and minor. The drama Bimba of Girish Karnad narrates the experience of a divided self. It brings out
the relationship between reality and appearance because the protagonist of the play negotiates with her
own image in the Television. The entire drama has only one character and she speaks with her illusion
in the television. In turn, her illusion responds to her. Here Jean Baudrillad’s concept of simulation and
simulacra enters the fabric of Kannada literature. What is Bimba and what is Prathibimba is extremely
a difficult question to answer. The dividing line between illusion and reality is blurred. In a
philosophical manner Karnad decenters the fractured self of the female protagonist. Bimba portrays a
world dominated by shadow images. That is why the play is also known as Odakalu Bimba
(broken image).
This kind of denial of the definite centre is also the hallmark of the above mentioned texts. The play
Pampa Bharatha brings out the imaginary confrontation between the poet Pampa and his patron
Arikesari. Interestingly this encounter happens after the death of both the characters. Both of them are
born again and they go on rejecting the popular belief about their characters when they were alive! I.e.
Pampabhratha reconstructs the image of both of them by breaking the stereotypical notion of
historiography. By doing this the text transcends reality and attains the level of meta-fiction. There is a
definite attempt by the playwright to explore what was not explored in the original mythology.
Popular mythology is deliberately broken to find new meaning. The plot is reconstructed as well.
Every character and every incident is so narrated that definite meaning is left inconclusive. There is
cognition and re-cognition. In other words absolute meaning is postponed eternally. Another play
Swayamvaraloka of K.V Akshara presents an extra ordinary situation of swayamvara. The bride in a
remote village in traditional malnad region confronts unexpected grooms from across the globe
because her name appeard in shadi.com of the internet. She experiences surreal kind of presence of
multicultural hybrid grooms because of modern technology. Here there is multiple story-telling by
different narrators. The whole text becomes a mixture of multiple stories leading to multiple
representations. In post modernism it is said that truth is only a story and this text is a fine
example of this.
We must also note that postmodern motifs in Kannada literature are not a new phenomenon. Without
this labeling, the novels of the celebrated writer Poorna Chandra Tejaswi exhibit certain characteristics
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of post modernism. As Umberto Eco once argued, ‘in post modernism meaning is like the multiple
layers of onion. If one layer is removed it leads to the other and ultimately one gets nothing’. Tejaswi’s
novel Jugari Cross presents an inverted image of the universe where the invisible underworld controls
the business of the real world. This invisible underworld is connected by innumerable telephone wires.
The speaker does not and cannot know who is at the other end. As the narrator in a philosophical
manner comments that the other end might be connected to infinity. Who or what is there on the other
end is only uncertain. This uncertainty is the hallmark of postmodernism. The entire novel throws up
such liquid possibilities. There is inscrutable mystery behind every incident in this novel. The
protagonists Suresha and Gowry in a bid to comprehend what is happening around them are pushed to
more and more uncertainty. Their grip on truth and reality becomes liquid. They can cling on to their
own version of truth and reality. Absolute knowledge is denied for them. This denial of the absolute is
an important feature of post modernism. The episodic nature of Tejaswi’s novels is also an
acknowledgement of multiple representation of the same fact. His other novels like Carvalo and
Chidambara Rahasya are known for such open ended narratives and representation of truth as having
the attribute of a liquid marks his writings. Along with this, Tejaswi’s narratives reject the concept of
center itself because his novels possess multiple centers. They are constructed in such a way that it is
possible to enter them from any point of view. Thus tracing the post modern trends in Kannada dates
back to the modernist period itself!!
One can also trace post modern motifs in the novels of Kuvempu. In his prologue to the novel
Malegalalli Madumagalu, Kuvempu bravely declared to the readers “nothing is important here and
nothing is unimportant here”. The whole novel in a leisurely way describes the life world of malnadu.
Even a lower caste person like Gutti or his favourite dog Hulia is given equal representation in the
narrative. In fact the novel is so huge that it lacks a particular/definite centre. This lack of definite
center or the presence of multiple centers is the hallmark of post modernism. Though it impossible to
treat Kuvempu as post modern writer, one can say that his novels show a distinct feature of post
modernism. To stretch the argument further, features of post modernism are present in one form or
the other in Kannada literature from beginning of early twentieth century itself. Many critics also
point out that Devanuru Mahadeva’s works Odalala and Kusuma Bale exhibit the traces of
postmodernism.
To sum up, certain forms of post modernism are present in Kannada narratives from the beginning
itself. Yet it is difficult to label any writer as post modern writer.
Notes:
•
Akshara K V. (2009) Rangabhumiya Mukhantara. Akshara Prakashana, Heggodu
•
Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
•
Bhaba, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. New York: Routledge.
•
Chakravarti N.M. (ed). Community and Culture: Selected Writings of K.V. Subbanna
(Heggodu, Akshara Prakasana 2009)
•
Derrida, J. (1978). Writing and Difference (A. Bass, Trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
•
Eco, Umberto. (1988) Foucault’s Pendulum Secker and Wanberg, London.
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•
Foucault, M. (1972). The Archaeology of Knowledge. New York: Pantheon
•
Jameson, F. (1983). Postmodernism and Consumer Society. in H. Foster (Ed.), The Anti
Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture. Port Townsend, WA: Bay Press.
•
Lyotard, J. F. (1984). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
•
Martin Heidegger, Basic Writings, ed. David Farrell Krell (London: Routledge, 1978),
•
Nandy, Ashish and Vinay Lal (eds) 2001. The Dictionary for 21st Century (New Delhi, OUP,)
•
Satchidanandan K. 1999. Indian Literature: Positions and Propositions. (New Delhi, Pencraft
International)
•
Sardar,Ziauddin.(1997). Postmodernism and the Other: New Imperialism of Western
Culture.Pluto Press, London
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POST-MODERN FAMILY: RAJA RAO’S
KANTHAPURA AND SHASHI DESPANDE’S
“IN THE COUNTRY OF DECEIT”
Sindhu N S
In human context, “family” is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity and co-residence.
In most societies, it is a principal institution for the socialization of children. Anthropologists usually
describe the organization of family as the parents and children co-residing with other members of one
of the parents of the family. Extended from the human ‘family unit’ by affinity or blood relationship is
the concept of ‘set’ which further evolved to community, village and so on. The concept of universal
brotherhood or humanism is the limiting point of family. The family system has ancient roots in India
being traced to Vedic times when four generations lived together. The family was an economic,
political and social institution. The tradition helped in maintaining strong bonds of kinship and
keeping alive customs and traditions.
Family structure has changed over the centuries due to dynamic societal needs and expectations. As the
governing structures, economic structures and social relations changed the family structures also
changed. With the growing impact of urbanization, secularization and westernization, the traditional
joint household has given way to nuclear family, where the members of a single family live together. It
was a dream of many would be brides of yesteryears to have a nuclear family where the husband works
outside and the wife remained a homemaker.
However, with the changing times, in this post-modern world, with the drastic changes in the
economic and social status of woman, even the concept of family has undergone radical changes. The
changes in family structure are primarily due to divorce, remarriage, adoption, full time nannies raising
children and many other social changes. These factors have extended family boundaries, norms and
values. There is no longer a modern family where parents could wholeheartedly focus on the children.
Today, in addition to ‘single parenting’, there is a baffle phenomenon wherein family life is replaced by
‘individual life’, i.e., a person living alone in the strict sense of the world. The latter is the factor which
poses a formidable challenge to the supremacy of the family. This evolution of family pattern from
joint family system to nuclear family and nuclear family to single living can be traced in two books,
Raja Rao’s “Kanthapura” and Shashi Despande’s “In the Country of deceit”.
‘Kanthapura’ portrays the participation of a small village of south India in the national struggle
initiated by Mahatma Gandhi. Imbued with nationalism, the villagers sacrifice their material
possessions in a triumph of the sprit showing how in the Gandhian movement, people shed their
natural prejudices and united in the common cause of non-violent civil resistance to the British Raj.
The entire struggle under the leadership of Murthy and the narration of the entire experience by
Achakka gives a touch of togetherness to the novel.
The old woman Achakka, the narrator, who has seen much and known much, gives a vivid picture of
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the village. She knows all about every house, of every individual in the village. Through her we come
to know about wide variety of characters of the novel from various classes of the village. She speaks on
the enlightened Rangamma, who supports Murthy’s Gandhian Congress and hastens the progress of
political conscience in Kanthapura and also about her sister Kamalamma. We also come to know about
the youthful and beautiful widow Ratna, a devoted Congress worker, Ramakrishnayya, the spiritual
fountain of Kanthapura. There is also a vivid description about powerful Rangegowda, greedy
moneylender Bhatta, the jealous lady Venkamma etc. The novelist thus succeeds in evoking the spirit
of familial bondage among all the villagers when it comes to freedom struggle. The village ‘Kanthapura’
is a microcosm of the traditional Indian herirarchy. In Kanthapura, there are Brahmin lanes, Sudra
lanes and pariah lanes. Despite caste stratification, the villagers are mutually bound by various social
functions which maintain social harmony. The enduring quality of the Indian village is represented as
ensuring an internal tenacity that resists external crisis, its relationship to past contributing a sense of
unity and continuity between present and past generations. Kanthapura may appear isolated and
removed from civilization, but it is compensated by an ever enriching cycle of ceremonies, rituals and
festivals, which brings the spirit of ‘Universal brotherhood’.
Rao depicts the regular involvement of the villagers in social programmes like Shankara Jayanthi,
Karthik Poornima, Ganesh Chaturthi, and the like with the intention of conveying a sense of natural
unity and cohesion within rural society. Aged Ramakrishnayya reads Shankara Vijaya day after day
and the villagers discuss Vedanta with him every afternoon. Religion imparted through discourses and
Pujas keeps alive the spirit of God. Participation in a festival brings about the solidarity among them.
The local deity Kenchamma protects the villagers. Equally scared is the river Himavathy which flows
near Kanthapura.
The essence of this novel can be contrasted with “In the country of Deceit”. The heroine Devayani lives
alone in a house newly built representing the post-modern concept of family. In the novelist’s own
words, “Devayani is in her own home, fumbling for a new start of life……Her family trying to get her
married, her resistance to it with her new relationships and friendships……….”
In the beginning of the novel, we see Devayani trying to emerge from the trauma of her mother’s death
and start life anew. This is symbolized by the demolition of her ancestral home and the building of a
modern house, “a complete reversal of the old house” which is spacious, airy, sunny and has a sense of
openness. Ignoring the disapproval of her family and friends who are keen on getting her married, she
chooses to live alone on her own in Ranjanur, a small town in Karnataka, perhaps the fictional
counterpart of Dharawad. To her relatives and friends who insist her to marry, her answer is “absolute
no” she says “I want a needle point of extreme happiness; I want a moment in my life which will make
me feel I am touching the sky”.
Devayani looks forward to the day when she would inhabit the house again. After her sister and other
relatives leave, she settles in her new home. She spends her time teaching English to a few eager learners
of the language and creating a garden with a frog pond. Thus, she begins to enjoy her life. She admits
later, “I am happy, my garden is blooming. Everything I planted has come up, the right amount of rain,
the right amount of sun. I feel blessed”.
Devayani though lives all alone, shares warm relationships with the different members of the family.
Her aunt Sindhu’s address to her “How are you Putta?” expresses her strong attachment to her niece.
The bond between Devayani, her sister Savi and brother-in-law Shree are also strong enough. The
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loving tenderness with her cousins Gundu and Kshema are really conspicuous. Devayani enjoys her
relationship only from outside, but never wants them to stay in her home.
The plot gets a new twist when Devayani enters into relationship with Rani, the film actress and Ashok
Chinnappa, the District Superintendent of Police and a father of ten year old girl. She gets involved in a
passionate love affair with him. Though Devayani feels guilt as a result of this relationship, she gets
supreme happiness in his company. Though Ashok Chinnappa does not promise any future for her,
she probes deep into this love only to get disappointed at the end. Her separation from Ashok is tragic,
yet she has her own joy. She says, “I too had a moment, a very brief moment when I raised my arms and
my fingertips brushed the sky”.
Devayani, as a “new woman” shows patience, courage and an enviable spirit to face life as it comes on
her way. The novel outlines the makeover of the canon from the traditional patriarchal values to the
value of self-identity. After getting disturbed emotionally when Ashok Chinnappa leaves her,
Devayani comes to terms with herself and decides to live single, yet a family life. She feels herself
responsible for her situation and reconciles to the same. She says, “I have to get on with my life. There
is much to be done………I have no choice, I have to keep going?
According to David Cheal, a Sociologist, “the family is no longer a fixed form. The term ‘family’ has
been replaced by ‘families’ and has become the embodiment of whatever, the individual perceives to be
a family”. Based on this definition, the family becomes whatever the individual wants it to be. The
definition of ‘family’ is thus dependent on every element of an individual life, including beliefs, culture,
ethnicity and even situational experiences. The former novel can be taken as an example of an
extension of human family unit, where the entire village becomes one family in the pursuit of its single
goal. In the latter even a single unmarried woman constitutes a family forming an example for the post
modern family pattern.
Notes:
•
Rao, Raja, “Kanthapura”, 1938. Ed. By C.D. Narasimhaiah. Madras: Oxford University Press,
1989.
•
Naik, M.K. A History of English Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Academi, 1982.
•
Deshpande, Shashi, “In the Country of Deceit”, Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2008.
•
Das, Bijay, Kumar, “New Readings in Indian English Literature”, Delhi, 2011.
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CASTE CONFLICT AND IDEOLOGY IN THE
IMMORTALS OF MELUHA
Vrushali Deole
“The key question isn't 'What is Evil?' The key question is 'When does the Good become Evil?”
― Amish Tripathi, The Oath of the Vayuputras
The Indian writing in English in the postmodern era has covered a long span of writers and their novels,
from Mulkraj Anand’s Untouchable to Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger that have authentically
documented the communal history of the untouchables in our society. Similarly, The Immortals of
Meluha, the first novel of the Shiva trilogy series by Amish Tripathi, constitutes a powerful critique of
the ethical sordidness and hypocrisy of the Indian society through a sub theme of caste conflict,
terrorism and immigration, impressively revealed in his works. The novel presents a kaleidoscopic
portrait of various mythological characters woven with historic fiction who are the victims of one of
most sensitive and debatable topics of modern India-the casteism!
For the mythological parts in the novel, Tripathi relied on the stories and fables that he had heard in his
childhood from his family. Tripathi felt that no subject was better than Shiva, one of the major Hindu
deities and the destroyer of evil; his journey and stories about him would deliver the philosophy that he
wanted to convey, to his readers. Once he started to write a book about Shiva, he decided to base it on
some fundamental beliefs of his. He noted that the Hindu Gods were probably not "mythical beings or
a figment of a rich imagination", but rather they were once human beings like the rest. It was their
deeds in the human life that made them famous as Gods.”
The Immortals is the Odyssey of a person called Shiva, the main protagonist. Shiva is like a clan leader
of a Guna tribe, a patriarchal protector, who is a Tibetan immigrant who came down to settle in the
land of Meluha (Somewhere in Sindh) in search of safety and shelter.
The purpose of this paper is two-fold (i) to re-examine the novel with a sub plot of the burning issues of
our society such as caste system, class conflict and terrorism and also to present the idea of a utopian
society; (ii) to investigate the role of mythological work in a traditional society like ours.
Caste System - a Social Evil:
Amish, as an author of the masses has used a very contemporary technique of writing that appeals to
the contemporary mind with logic and science interwoven in a close knit pattern. Right through the
beginning of the plot, Amish constantly questions the concept of caste divisions in the society raising
concerns on such grave issues that even a utopian society like Meluha faces. It serves a constant
reminder of the 3,000 castes and 25,000 sub castes in India, each related to a specific occupation.
Outside the caste system are the Untouchables. They are considered polluted and not to be touched.
Since upward mobility is hardly seen in the caste system, most people remain in the same caste for their
whole life and marry within that caste.
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As the plot develops, Shiva is taken to Devagiri, the capital city of Meluha, where he meets King
Daksha. While staying there, Shiva encounters a beautiful and mysterious woman, Princess Sati, the
daughter of Daksha with a look of penance on her face. Shiva comes to know that she is a Vikarma, an
untouchable in this life due to sins committed in her previous births. It is described in chaper 6:
Vikarma, the Carriers of Bad Fate:
Shiva asked, ‘Who are Vikarma women?’
‘Vikarma people, my Lord,’ said Nandi sighing deeply ‘are people who have been punished in this
birth for the sins of their previous birth. Hence they have to live this life out with dignity and tolerate
their present sufferings with grace. This is the only way they can wipe their karma clean of the sins of
their previous births. Vikarma men have their own order of penance and women have a different
order.’
[… ] There are many rules that the Vikarma women have to follow. They have to pray for forgiveness
every month to Lord Agni, the purifying Fire God, through a specifically mandated puja. They are not
allowed to marry since they may poison others with their bad fate. They are not allowed to touch any
person who is not related to them or is not part of their normal duties...’
When Shiva unintentionally touches Sati while correcting her dance move, Sati recoils in horror!
‘The Guruji was the first to recover his wits and realized that Shiva must undergo the purification
ceremony. ‘Go to your Pandit, Shiva. Tell him you need a shudhikaran. Go before the day is over.’
Shiva confronts the same issue again (in the chapter Blessings of the Impure)
‘I am sorry, my Lord,’ apologized the son. ‘He didn’t mean to (touch you). He just lost control due to
your presence.’
‘I am sorry, my Lord,’ said the blind man, his tears flowing stronger.
‘Sorry for what?’
‘He is a vikarma, my Lord,’ said his son, ‘ever since disease blinded him twenty years ago.
However, Shiva’s ideological dogmas are instrumental in usurping the entire horrifying tradition of
the Vikarma evil through his logical reasoning…
‘Well, to be honest, it sounds like a rather unfair law to me.’
The triumphant moment in the novel is when Shiva swears to dissolve the Vikarma law and marry
princess Sati. To a sensitive reader, one may find the novel’s sub plot of caste and class conflict as a
mirror to the parallel vices in our progressive times. Amish’s portrayal of lord Shiva as one of the
humans, elevated to the pedestal of godliness, capable of making mistakes presents an excellent stroke
of writing making it a national bestseller.
Stating about the function of myths on our society, Wendy Doniger rightly comments “Real events
and sentiments produce symbols, symbols produce real events and sentiments, and real and symbolic
levels may be simultaneously present in a single text. Myth has been called “the smoke of history,” and
we must constantly strive to separate the smoke of myth from the fire of historical events, as well as to
demonstrate how myths too become fires when they do not merely respond to historical events (as
smoke arises from fire) but drive them (as fire gives rise to smoke) .
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While most might believe that there has been a considerable modernization and development of India
in recent year, yet issues like casteism, untouchability or honour killings stand as proof of lack of
sympathy among individuals with little or no room for tolerance.
By connecting the mythical allusions to the mainstream non-fictional parallel issues that affect the
“collective consciousness” of the people, such innovative novels make us to contemplate on some of the
burning questions of postcolonial India and also offer an ideological framework through its captivating
narratives.
Amish is actually questioning the lingering effects of the ancient vedic system by dwelling on the
characters like Sati, Drapaku, the deformed Nagas etc. He provides us the possibility of dismantling the
prehistoric codes or subverting it through the system of “maika”:
Under the Maika system, all pregnant Meluhan women must travel to a camp when they are ready to
deliver babies. Children are brought up in the Maika without knowing who their parents are. At the
age of 15, a comprehensive exam is held, on the basis of which castes are allocated. After such allocation,
there is one more year of training, this time, caste specific. Children are then adopted by parents from
the caste allocated to them at the Maika.
Immigration Issues:
Apart from the caste/class conflict, the problem of immigration has always been one of the main
concerns and challenges for the postmodern India. The sub plot of Amish’s debut novel undertakes this
challenge of expressing the plight of an immigrant, Shiva, which could be linked in the wake of
globalization.
Shiva had to abandon his native place as it was frequently attacked by neighboring ethnic groups. Here
for the first time we meet Nandi, who according to legends is a close follower of lord Shiva; but, here he
has a different identity.
On commenting the life of a Meluhan, Shiva remarks (Chapter 1: He has come!):
“They aren’t like the bloodthirsty idiots in our land who are looking for any excuse to fight.”
When read from a different trajectory, the novel represents to us the case of the oppressed, or the
“cultural others” that require our deep concern:
“His tribe would have to live by the laws of the foreigners. They would have to work every day for a
living….That’s better than fighting every day just to stay alive!.... We fight almost every month with
the Pakratis just so that our village can exist next to the holy lake. They are getting stronger every year,
forming new alliances with new tribes. We can beat the Pakratis, but not all the mountain tribes
together! By moving to Meluha, we can escape this pointless violence and may be live a life of
comfort…”
Now what could be the power of a mythological narrative for ethical cleansing?
Mythology is the body of myths of a particular culture. The study of myths is the interpretation of our
lives, our battles, our world, our past, yet so much more. Myths are the stories of people, spirits and
everything else around us. The stories of how this began, how things work, and why things are the way
they are. Myths have given fictional references to non-fiction events and in doing so gave people
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something to believe in, something to think about. Ancient Greek and Roman literature has affected
literally every phase of social intelligence. Myths have affected religion, culture, society and literature
in many ways.
Once again, Amish seem to be suggesting the fact that the perfect society would exist if it is
compassionate and embraces diverse ideologies.
‘The foreigner’s words came flooding back to Shiva. ‘Come to our land. It lies beyond the great
mountains. Others call it Meluha. I call it Heaven. It is the richest and most powerful empire in India.
Indeed the richest and most powerful in the whole world. Our government has an offer for
immigrants. You will be given fertile land and resources for farming. Today, your tribe, the Gunas,
fight for survival in this rough, arid land. Meluha offers you a lifestyle beyond your wildest dreams. We
ask for nothing in return. Just live in peace, pay your taxes and follow the laws of the land.’
Terrorism –A Threat to National Security:
India has always remained vulnerable by frequent occurrences of terror incidents. The reality of
terrorism then and now i.e. the fight between the Meluhans and the Nagas and later with the
Chandravanshis is to represent with varying intensity the irreparable damage to destruction to the
potential victims.
(Chapter 2: The land of pure life): There was a terrorist attack there last night.
All the Brahmins were killed and the village temple was destroyed.
I swear by Lord Indra, if I ever find one of these Chandravanshi terrorists, I will cut his body into
minute pieces and feed it to the dogs,’ growled Jattaa, clenching his fists tight.
‘Jattaa! We are followers of the Suryavanshis. We cannot even think of barbaric warfare such as that!’
said Nandi.
The concerned author attempts to display the horrendous outcome of terrorism with its deeper
repercussion in our society to be understood in a wider sense.
‘Do the terrorists follow the rules of war when they attack us? Don’t they kill unarmed men?’
‘We are in a state of war, Parvateshwar,’ replied Daksha. ‘An undeclared one, but a state of war all the
same. We face a terrorist attack every other week. These cowardly Chandravanshis don’t even attack
from the front so that we can fight them. And our army is too small to attack their territory openly.
…Our “rules” are not working. We need a miracle […]
The Meluhans had found no answer to the dreaded terrorist strikes. For the terrorists usually launched
surprise attacks on non-military locations and fled before the Suryavanshi soldiers could arrive….
Myths are thus said to have occurred in the history of all human traditions and communities and is a
basic constituent of human culture. The human cultures are so diversified that there is a clash in their
belief systems. It is through mythical characters, in remote times through Godlike figure like Shiva that
Amish is trying to suggest the urgency to resolve the serious issue through tough security measures for
peace loving citizens. In the contemporary scenario, the actual relevance of myth is said to make unique
use of language that describes the realities beyond our comprehension, thereby expressing truths of the
human condition in metaphor and symbolic language.
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Herbert Silberer understands myth as metaphor; and Oskar Pfister’s recognition that some myths are
insightful and potentially therapeutic. Within psychoanalysis, myth is, or can be, everything from a
pathological symptom to a vehicle of healing.
The anthropologist William Bascom articulated what has become the current consensus in the social
sciences: Myths are prose narratives which, in the society in which they are told, are considered to be
truthful accounts of what happened in the remote past. They are accepted on faith; they are taught to be
believed; and they can be cited as authority in answer to ignorance, doubt, or disbelief.
Amish’s purpose is not only pin-point the existence of these problems but also to provide solutions to
these problems through his fictionalized account of Shiva’s life that has truly appealed to the hearts and
minds of Indian readers!
Given the patriarchal emphasis in Hinduism that is male-centered, Amish has surprisingly projected
feminine characters like Princess Sati ,Anandmayi, Ayurvati in his narratives that have represented
feats of feminine prowess with a fine representation of female heroism. He has thus subverted the
patriarchal construct of binary opposition.
Amish Tripathi has merged historical facts and reality so well with each other that The Immortals of
Meluha is an absolutely fascinating piece of fiction. Shiva, the most popular and potent Gods in
Hinduism, though destined to be God has some very human traits. His journey symbolizes the
spiritual and physical journey of every human being into this world, into enlightenment and life itself.
The reactions of The Immortals of Meluha ranged from mythological writers like Devdutt Pattanaik
who so aptly comment that "the writer takes us on a sinister journey with the characters, who
frequently sound as if they are one of us only.”
Shiva eventually discovers that his quest for the Utopian society-the near perfect society like the
Meluha makes him discover that no way of life is perfect; that each has its own strengths and
weaknesses. What ails our world today, is the belief that our way of life – be it religion, political or
economic system is better than the others, causing constant strife in the social order.
The famous philosopher Alfred Whitehead once said "all philosophy is but a footnote to Plato",
meaning the original myths speak a lot, not just about how things came to be, but how the effect us as
people. Thus, the distressing factors like Casteism, culturalism and inequality have been perhaps the
most popular themes of Indian writing in English. However, Amish deserves a special applaud as the
theme is so vividly presented through the fictionalized character of Lord Shiva bringing hope and
greater acceptance with Indians since they flow from the Mahadev himself. The Immortals is also a
powerful political commentary with social messages for us to implement it. The novel makes you feel
empathetic for victimized characters all at the same time and therein lies the strength of this book. Har
Har Mahadev-there is a lord in each one of us!
Notes:
•
Retrieved from-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortals_of_Meluha.dt.8.3.13.web.
•
Retrieved from: http://postcolonialstudies.emory.edu/tag/race/page/5/dt.10.3.13.web.
•
Tripathi, Amish. The Immortals of Meluha. Westland Publisher.2011.
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•
Doniger,Wendy. Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth. New York, NY, USA:
Columbia University Press, 2010. P.6.
•
Anna-Shattuck,Cybelle. Religions of the World : Hinduism.Routledge.1999.
•
Retrreived from http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/11/17/21599/099/date-15th
March,13
•
Marie Josephine Aruna, Retreived from http://
shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/5557/8/08_chapter%201.pdf.page.4.web
•
Merkur, Daniel; Segal, Robert A. (Editor). Psychoanalytic Approaches to Myth. NY, USA:
Garland Science Publishing, 2000. Page 15.
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TRAITS OF POSTMODERNISM IN BHARATI
MUKHERJEE’S THE DESIRABLE DAUGHTERS
Dr.T.R. Shashipriya
Post modernism literally means ‘after modernism’. It is used to refer to a point of departure for works
of literature, drama, architecture, history, law, culture, religion etc of late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Post modernism has some distinct features which the post modernists do not place in defined category.
Some of the principles of post modernism are absence of absolute truth, truth and error being
synonymous, traditional authority that is false and corrupt, morality that is personal, globalization etc.
Keeping these in view one can look at post-colonial literature as dominant global culture, which is a set
of theories found amongst philosophy, human geography, sociology and literature and these are found
in Post modernism also. The theory addresses matters of identity, gender, race, racism and ethnicity
with the challenges of developing a post-colonial national identity. The protagonists in these post
modern writings are often found to be struggling with questions of identity, experiencing the conflict
of living between the old, native world and the persistent forces of supremacy from new dominant
cultures. This further leads to multiculturalism which is about human beings who are culturally
embedded to grow up and live within a culturally structured world. Different cultures represent
different systems of meaning and visions of life. Each culture needs the other cultures to help it,
understand itself better and stretch its imagination. Every culture is internally plural, fluid and open
and they grow, out of conscious and unconscious interactions with each other. Multicultural society
stands for a society that cherishes diversity and encourages a creative dialogue between its different
cultures and their moral visions. We can find common interest and attachment in multicultural
society. A sense of being fully a citizen and yet an outsider exists in a multicultural society.
Bharati Mukherjee is an immigrant writer who settled in North America and has exposed Americans to
the energetic voices of new settlers in the country. Her stories deal about the various struggles that are
faced by the settlers as problems of identity crop up more in her novels. The quest of identity is tagged
to the self alone. All these factors give rise to emergent trends and tendencies like hybrid cultural forms
among the migrants. These migrant writings deal with issues like home, self and identity. One can find
a personal touch in her stories as she shows a sentimental attachment to the distant homeland but has
no real desire of returning. Her recent novel The Desirable Daughters (2002) describes how she has
been shaped and transformed by the cultures of India and North America though she was born and
raised in India. Her identity is made possible by breaking away from culture in which she was born and
the place that was assured to her in society and by re-rooting herself in a new culture. The sequel of this
novel The Tree Bride (2004) also plays an important role in the hundred year history of a representative
Indian family, both in America and India. The two novels narrate the story of the same family. The
themes of these novels, in the words of M.S.Nagarajan, deal with, “the issues of identity and collision of
cultures, familial loyalty and the question of belonging that exiles and immigrants face. Some of the
immigrants become rootless and get dislocated while others re-adjust and re-locate themselves in the
changed environment.”
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The three sisters of the novel The Desirable Daughters (Padma, Parvati and Tara-the protagonist) are
excited to create an identity of their own in every difficult and complex socio cultural situations. They
never feel suffocated by the conventional society which has little regard for women. But following
different paths, each is important in its own way. Their life is a journey from Calcutta to San Francisco,
New Jersey and Bombay. The story is a portrait of shifting cultures and about how these sisters are
caught between cultures. The concept of post modernity is shown through the way they rebel against
the exhausted and guarded socio-cultural set up and chart out their own course of action. Moving to
different directions and through different tensed circumstances they carve out a unique identity of
their own. To them it is a journey of self realization and self actualization. Tara marries an Indian and
settles in Atherton which is called as Silicon Valley. But modernity is also another face of cross-cultural
impact as Tara breaks her relation with her husband as she finds her life as superfluous and instead of
living happily with her immense wealth she prefers to volunteer work in a preschool in Sans Francisco
for her self-fulfillment. The novelist portrays her as a hybrid subject and imitation of the American
socio-cultural ethos. Asserting one’s own identity and reconstructing and redefining the identity takes
place when one adopts modernity. This is done by Tara who takes a bold step of putting her son to a
school and even shares a live-in relation with Andy, a Hungarian Buddhist and a yoga teacher. When
she arrived at Stanford for the first time with her husband Bish, she had thought the life in America was
the one she had been waiting for, “It was a liberating promise of marriage and travel and the wider
world” (p. 81). She had to leave Bish because the promise of life as an American wife was not being
fulfilled. She wanted to drive and work but feared people would think of Bish in a wrong way – as a
person who could not support his wife. She wanted to take courses in the local community college, but
her domestic life and the boy were the hurdles to her desires. Even in India she never had any freedom
to show her individuality. In America she felt the sick feeling of an alien. When she pondered back
into her life at Atherton, she thought her convent education and Bish’s culture from his St. Xavier,
paved a way for lot of misunderstandings between them. She therefore divorced as she felt she could
not survive an unstructured environment. As she puts it, “Out of structure, Bish created greater order.
Out of order, I created chaos. Out of chaos, one hopes, Rabi will create something resembling a new
American consciousness.” (p.155) Tara’s identity is dynamic; it is in flux, constantly changing. She
tries to cherish the possibilities and promises of the modernity but finds that life fails to deliver these
promises. And so she suffers from frustration and loneliness. The surroundings dissatisfy and
disappoint her. Her assimilation into the alien soil of America is partial. Attachment to American
culture is skin deep and superficial. Bharati Mukherjee aptly brought out Tara’s marginality and her
estrangement in the following lines:
“The moment I step outside the bookstore into the Crowded Haight Street; I lose the heady Kinship
with the world that I feel through my reading. Nobody pays attention to me other than to ask for spare
change or press a handbill into my closed fist. I am not the only blue-jeaned woman with a pashmina
shawl around my shoulders and broken down running shoes on my feet. I am not the lonely Indian on
the block. All the same, I stand out, I’m convinced. I don’t belong here, despite my political leanings,
worse, I don’t want to belong.” (71)
Thus it is evident from the aforesaid citation that Tara has an intense feeling of being cut off from her
communities and its life style. She is in the situation but not with the situation. She ‘stands out’ from
the rest and emerges with a new identity. Through Tara, Bharati Mukherjee voices her beliefs, the
individual’s liberty and freedom to mould oneself, to reconstruct and reshape one’s identity. She
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belongs to both tradition and modernity. Her identity is highly assimilative. She can adopt and
accommodate herself both to her traditional Indian way of life and to her newly adopted American
ethos. But she does not stick to the value systems of either of these ways of life. She moves on both the
planes - the Indian and the American. Modernity causes fluid identity associated with morbidity and
plurality rather than status and singularity. To show this Tara desires to construct hybridity, accepts
her son’s gay sexuality and live-in relationships. She fails to transcend the tradition-bound life of an
Indian woman. Therefore she is depicted by Bharati Mukherjee as a cosmopolitan character without a
focus.
In the Desirable Daughters, Bharati Mukherjee has struck a balance in between the past and the present
through a deft blending of tradition and modernity. Thus she achieves through the character of Tara
who has outwardly severed her links with tradition, but is also very much rooted to the modern
outlook. The theme of identity shows duality and personal dilemma which is neurotic, ambivalent and
suspended between two worlds and rooted in neither. For example in the novel Chris Dey becomes a
haunting figure to Tara. Her search for truth through phone calls and internet, to bring the imposter
to book, leads her into a desperate journey into the past filled with mysterious twists and turns. The
arrival of Chris, stating he is her nephew, son of her eldest sister, Tara’s conception of her family
becomes a question. He was a result of the secret alliance between her elder sister Padma and a Bengali
Christian, Ron Dey. Passion was foreign to their family and recklessness un-known. The claim of the
young man leads to new revelations and the plot thickens and becomes more complex. In India, every
word relating to family carried special meaning. It was how a family based culture saw the world,
outward from the protective weave of relatedness. Tara wanted to deny the boy’s claim on behalf of her
family honour, but the evidence was mounting.
Immigration is another aspect of modernization and one finds issues of personal experience and
unhappiness in settling down in modernity. Some of the complex issues faced by the people craving for
identity in modernity are racism, sexism, violence, high social expectations and pressures, cultural
adjustment, etc. Bharati Mukherjee’s protagonists are women who confront a multicultural society in
their emigration and evolution. Through this immigration they try to reconstruct a life of modernity.
To Bharati Mukherjee America is a transnational and multicultural location for a materially better life.
Tensions of adaptation and assimilation through the emotional and psychic syndromes are common.
Getting modernized may be psychological, sociological, linguistic, cultural and emotional and how
identification can be achieved through assimilation to the new surroundings.
Transformation is the major issue of the modernization and this is portrayed through the women
protagonists of Bharathi Mukherjee. As a postmodern concept the notion of America as a melting pot
of different cultures, ethnic identities and proletarian claims, present migrants as economic refugees in
their social displacements where their cultural and national identities struggle in cultural hybridity. In
their childhood, the sisters are not given any opportunity to make mistakes but when pulled out of the
bubble-wrapped condition, the older two sisters managed to make mistakes, but their dad hid the mess
almost completely. Once they come out of the protective situation, they act out all their fantasies.
This shows that the modernity of America gives one the opportunity to change their life styles.
Despite all the pressures, the relationship among the three sisters helps in strengthening and
confirming their bond of trust in one another and loyalty to their families. The displaced person’s quest
for identity is greatly affected by the euphemisms of ‘modernization’, ‘westernization’ and
‘globalization’. A person who embraces modernity is sometimes haunted by the memory of his
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conventional life and is nostalgic about it. For example though Padma is far away from India, she is still
conscious of her tradition. India is very much present in her psyche, in her root. But the eldest of the
three daughters is fascinated by the life of America. Instead of being a simple upper class Ballygunge
girl she establishes her identity as a ‘multicultural performance artist.’ (94) by restricting herself to
Indian attire. Even Parvati, the pliable middle daughter, shocks the family by choosing her own
husband much against the father’s matchmaking duty. She lives in one of the posh, expensive flats in
Nariman Point, Mumbai, with her rich husband Aurobindo Banerji, a top executive in one of the
companies with a business boom. She is totally Indian to the point of showing hospitality to her guests
for weeks at their luxurious apartment with its breathtaking view of the city. And her easy life with
servants, drivers and other amenities at her disposal is funnily described by Tara, as a much stressed out
life. Tara breaks all taboos and walks out of the wedlock with her son Rabi thinking she would find her
fulfillment. Dissatisfaction is another trait where in Tara faces the difficulties in San Francisco and she
blames her daddy, Bish and Calcutta for it. Bish considers tradition as a centre force of modernity and
Tara considers “Indianness” as form of purity rather than as hybridity. Finally it ends with an
uncovering of a murder and a miraculous escape when her house is bombed by unknown persons with
powerful explosives. Bish rescues Tara from the fire and in the process is hurt very much. While Bish
is treated in the hospital, Tara takes the opportunity to grow and mature as a character and assesses the
two worlds between which she travels, back and forth, between being American and Indian. At that
time the story of the Tree Bride began to emerge in her mind which highlighted the life of the Calcutta
girls born a century later and both of them witnessing the dying traditions.Tara’s quest for identity
exposes her to physical and psychic violence. And in this process she realizes how little she knows
about her own self. Bharati Mukherjee opines, “The mission of postcolonial studies is to level off all of
us to our skin color and ethnic origin.” She creates individuals caught up in personal problems that
confront them and the lives of those around them. Tara is never quite in one position; she is always
going back and forth. She looks back at her family’s past and their future and comes to terms with her
history and legacy, from which she is almost separated. She thinks, “It’s good to rediscover my roots,
but not if they rise up and strangle me” (p.38).
Bharathi Mukherjee describes Tara as “a self-appointed Jean of Arc (221) who is proud to be brought in
a family of India where she had been westernized. So she faces her problems as a liberated Indian
feminine immigrant in her agonized involvement of never ending quest for identity. Bharathi
Mukherjee attempts to bring the immigrant experience, the family relations, tradition and the
internationalizing of the periphery. Tara is a “nowhere women” oscillating between the nostalgic
fascinations of traditional past and the romantic allurements of the present. She “stands in the shaky
ground where East meets West and the sound of cultures clashing could shatter glass” (Los Angeles
Times). Tara appears to be Mukherjee’s Protean heroin who is just braving the new world by her
subaltern and third world marginality. The upbringing of the Desirable Daughters is contrasted with
the changing values of the new world, they have come to embrace. In Tara’s realization the novel
reveals the spaces of tradition, personal memories, life styles, modernity and the existential suffering,
hybrid subjectivity and plurality in her acceptances of modernity that makes the theme of identity
more powerful and poignant in the mainstream of American life. She always felt a parallel connection
of herself to Tara Lata, the Tree Bride, when she heard the stories told by her mother. Tara Lata the
saint, the freedom-fighter made her feel a bond between them and it was obvious. Tara Lata was l5 years
old and was headed deep into the forest to marry a tree. The incident took place in the English year of
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1879 and the Hindu year of 1285 or the Muslim year of 1297. People had to believe in conservative
principles as the groom died of a snake bite. Considering this as the ill luck brought by the girl, they
told she had to lead a life of widow there onwards. Thus Tara Lata became the Tree-bride and led her
life in her father’s house till her death, serving people in different ways. The world came to her in the
place where she stayed. She grew old unburdened by a time-consuming, emotion-draining and never
having to please a soul and lived until she was seventy years.
Tara Lata Gangooly had turned the tragedy of her husband’s death and a life time’s virginity into a
model of selfless saintliness. But the protagonist’s story is different. It is an inversion. She has
moments of intense recollection and strong sensations that disturbed her. Tara visits her sister Parvati
in Bombay. Her life there preserves as much of the old ways as sanity permits. Parvati opines that the
Tree Bride was known for her patience. Each generation of women in Tara’s family had discovered in
the Tree Bride something new. Therefore Tara comes back to India for something more than rest. She
felt, “I’m like a pilgrim following the course of the Ganges all the way to its source.” (p.289) She is
fascinated by her ancestor, the Tree Bride and studies the details of how she put herself to help the
freedom fighters by nursing the wounded, sending letters to the journalists to publish the atrocities of
the policemen on men and women. It is studied that Tara Lata Gangooly, the Tree Bride did not
venture beyond the walls of her compound over sixty years. Yet she had recognition amongst the
people and that was really an extraordinary thing. The novel is like a melting pot of styles. It is a post
colonial tale widespread with meditations on belonging and exile. Because of the overprotected
patriarchal Hindu families where daughters are not at all desirable, the novel took its name and there is
a personal touch of Mukherjee as during the time of her childhood a mother having only daughters was
an unlucky kind of motherhood to have. The writer sketches the three sisters as revolutionaries who
break the social norms and make their own lives. The two elder sisters choose their style of living but
the protagonist has an arranged marriage. Though her husband becomes rich she decides that is not the
life she wanted. So she comes out on her own, divorces the man in a headstrong fashion, and lives with
a live-in companion, a Hungarian Buddhist. The two men are in her life in a parallel projection who
symbolize two diverse cultures and her cultural dilemma. Her portrayal of her son Rabi, who is a
typical product of cross-cultural upbringing, brings out the conflict of imposing an Indian pattern of
parenthood.
Through Tara, Mukherjee is finding hairline fractures everywhere – in the ever changing cultural
landscape of America, in the slow but just as steady transformation of Indian society. Mukherjee thus
states:
Immigrants are living mutations, making conscious and unconscious decisions about which bits of
their old identity to ditch and which to save. Tara is constantly adjusting her center of gravity as the
ground shifts beneath her feet, and the fluctuating style of Desirable Daughters comes close to
mirroring that experience.
Therefore she has given vent to her emotions in a novel, which has mental turmoil, mystery,
fascination and primarily an excited quest for identity and space. To conclude in the words of Dave
Weich the novel is, “A domestic thriller, a portrait of shifting cultures, a rather unconventional
romance. The aesthetic strategy for this book was using the width of the field – of history, geography,
diaspora, gender, ethnicity, language – rather than the old fashioned long, clean throw.”
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Notes:
•
M. S. Nagarajan, The Familiar as Exotic, The Hindu, Daily, August 04, 2002, p.1
www.thehindu.com/thehindu/lr/2002/08/04/stories/200208040050500.html
•
Dave Weich, Bharati Mukherjee Runs the West Coast Offense – Author Interviews, p.1,
www.powells.com/authors/mukherjee.html
•
Bhagabat Nayak, Contemporary Indian Writing in English, Quest of identity in Bharathi
Mukherjuee’s Desirable Daughters, Books google.com HTML (2005).
•
S.P. Swain,Contemporary Indian Writing in English, Problems of identity: A Study of
Bharathi Mukherjee’s Desirable Daughters,
Books google.com HTML (2005).
•
Bharati Mukherjee, Desirable Daughters, Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2002.
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SHIFTS IN VALUE SYSTEM: INFLUENCE OF HARRY
POTTER NOVELS ON INDIAN READERS AND
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
R.Manjushree
The British author J.K.Rowling concentrates on the young readers and has created Harry Potter
growing character, as the story grows. Rowling has balanced both actual world and magical world.
Actual world is where Harry is brought up and magical world is where Harry moves for higher
education to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He encounters different problems and
faces the greatest enemy of his life Lord Voldemort the most powerful Dark Wizard who killed Harry’s
parents James Potter and Lily Potter. Author J.K.Rowling says, “The idea that we could have child
who escapes from the confines of the adult world and goes somewhere he has power both literally and
metaphorically, really appealed to me”
The story is also related to the higher education of Harry where Rowling speaks about teachers,
headmaster, students, groups, competitions, etc. In Harry potter series there is an emerging shift in
educational values that give new definition of learning. The academic development and human
progress in present society, students gain knowledge in various ways and the way of learning is
according to the shift what has already taken place in the actual world. Hogwarts becomes model for
the education system, it is shown the way institution works. The boarding school which is apt to the
present scenario, people has accepted this mode of education. They do not differentiate it like earlier
days and boarding schools and colleges have attained the important place in the present society which
were once degraded and condemned.
From a cornucopia of educational and moral principles Rowling explores in the series, we have distilled
five theories, all of which center on learning communities. Harry’s first departure from Platform 9 ¾
depicts the journey towards and through Hogwarts as one within a peer-group: the students arrive at
the school together and move through its educational and developmental curriculum in a cohort that
does not change for the full seven years. From there on, the communal contact persistently focuses
individual experiences. Contrary to Jody Levine and Nancy Shapiro, authors of Hogwarts: The
Learning Community, who despite their article’s community-centered title focus more on learning, we
find community to be magical, mediating all of the books’ central ideas, including learning. Learning
can materialize outside of the community, but it would not be the kind we and Rowling advocate.
Echoing opinions put forth in Learning Reconsidered, we view learning as a situated, grounded
experience that synthesizes academic knowledge, development of life skills, and greater understanding
of self and other, possible only in a community partnership between students, faculty, and staff.
Rowling’s model (like that of Learning Reconsidered) transfigures the institutional focus from
teaching toward learning that supports a student’s self-actualization in all its aspects. Built on a
cornerstone of community, Rowling’s five theoretical pillars – challenge and support, balancing
academics, communal accountability, transference of allegiance from home to school, and experiential
learning – provide an integrated academic, residential, and social home for the Hogwarts students.
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Rowling has created female characters in different percept. She has highlighted the positive strength of
woman. Feminine aspect love is focused in the Harry Potter series. Harry survives die to his mother’s
love towards her child Harry. His mother Lily sacrifices her life to save her child Harry from
Voldemort. So Voldemort fails to kill Harry but Harry survives with the scare on his forehead in the
shape of lighting.
Another main character in the story is Harmione, intelligent and active but most commonly
cleverness, bravery, intelligence and brainy are the pictures given for male but here in these stories they
no such distinction is made and Harmione is the actual examples for brilliance, she helps two other
major characters in the story Harry and Ron, whenever they are in trouble and has rescued them from
many critical situations.
Hogwarts way of sorting out students according to the skills they possess is another highlighting point.
Sorting hat analysis the person and sort them among four house of Hogwarts. Rowling has given
meaning for all these four Houses – Griffindors are brave, Hufflepuffs caring, Slytherins are cunning
and ambitious, and Ravenclaws intelligent. Rowling gives importance to learning and make children to
realize that practical and theoretical knowledge are useful in our life. Students learn magic and other
subjects at Hogwarts and they use it in their lives under certain restrictions. Harry Potter, Ron and
Hermione use various skills they learn at school.
Rowling has created teachers with different ideas and ideologies, Dolores Umbridge’s Defense Against
the Dark Arts (DADA) is very arrogant and rude teacher. In contrast Prof. MacGonagall treats
children with great care and affection making them to feel comfortable and concerned about their
safety. Prof Lupine, Mad Eye Moody, Prof. Snape, Dumbledore, Hagride, etc. Many such teachers
train students but each of them follow their own style of teaching to make children aware about the
subject matter accurately. Theoretical knowledge is given to them but more emphasis is on practical
life-skills and moral development.
Rowling’s imagination has inspired us to search for clues to her theory of education, and it will
hopefully inspire others to find new and refreshing approaches to student learning. We have found five
theoretical pillars easily applicable to the world outside of the books: challenge and support, balancing
academics, communal responsibility, transference of allegiance from home to school, and experiential
learning, all centered on learning communities. It would not be an exaggeration to say that millions of
people around the world have found reading Harry Potter a transformative event in their lives. The
books’ global effect would probably not be possible without their firm foundation in Hogwarts, a
place that practices transformative education that engages physiological, emotional, cognitive, and
developmental dimensions of its students, and by extension, the readers.
When the first Harry Potter book was released in Britain in 1997, Children’s fantasy books were not in
demand. In fact, few children’s books were in demand at all. It was a time when children spent their
free time watching television and playing video games, not reading. Even the adult fantasy book genres
were experiencing a decline in readership. It’s not surprising that 12 publishers passed on
J.K.Rowling’s debut children’s book, based on the status of the literary market at the time. Even
Bloomsbury who believed in Harry potter wholeheartedly, did not expect much from Rowling’s first
book. At around 90,000 words and 223 pages, Rowling’s book broke all the rules related to standard
children’s fiction, being more than twice the length deemed acceptable in the marketplace. Facing a
market that wasn’t reading, publishers saw no future in a lengthy children’s fantasy books.
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Harry Potter Phenomenon changed children’s literature. Modern day children’s turn off the T.V to
read and it was so fascinating for parents and they were least afraid about the (fat books) voluminous
books. Readers were completely into Rowlings world and it can be witnessed by recalling how
reader’s groups were eagerly waiting for the last book to be released. When the NewYork times asked
online readers to predict how the series would conclude, a good many responded with words to the
effect of “not soon enough”. The influence of Potter mania is wider. What matters is that one has to see
how long it will last in the minds of readers. Harry Potter influenced the generation with its book and
films. There are millions of young adult and teen readers. The suspense story of a boy the question of
life and death and conflict between the boy who lived – Harry and He who must not be named –
Voldemort. These books doesn’t only contain magic but also caste magic on the readers who read it,
Children are completely into it and often tries to imitate Harry Potter all over the world.
Children’s literature influences children to give exercise for their minds by thinking, reasoning,
questioning and comparing stories of their own world. In stories children find solution for problems
without the help of their elders. At the beginning children read and enjoy stories but gradually
understand that there are numerous values which are to be inculcated in their day to day life.
J.K. Rowling understands the power of Children’s literature and in Deathly Hallows she shows us that
Dumbledore knew as well. In his will, Dumbledore gives Hermione a copy of The Tales of Beedle the
Bard, a collection of children’s fairy tales. Though Ron knew these stories from childhood, Harry and
Hermione did not, having a grown up in Muggle families. The Beedle’s tales help Harry on his quest
for the Hallows, and later Dumbledore tells Harry that Voldemort’s greatest weakness was to disregard
that which he thinks is unimportant. “That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to
comprehend.Of house-elves and children’s tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows
and understands nothing… that they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any
magic, is a truth he has never grasped.’ – Deathly Hallows.
There is shift in imaging values as Harry Potter stories are also accepted by Indian readers, adults and
academicians who were rejecting a few years ago are now supporting and positive outlook for the
stories.
While reconciliation between the Potter-banners and the censor-censurers is unlikely, it is important
to note that the positions of both camps are predicated on the same basic premise: that reading is a
powerful influence on the moral development of children and adolescents. Whether a person argues
that a child reading the Harry Potter series is likely to plot the triumph of evil, like Voldemort, or to
launch a personal campaign to promote the welfare of the disenfranchised, like Hermione, the
underlying implication is that our own attitudes and behaviors are influenced by the experiences of
characters we encounter in books. Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore are, after all, contraries, not
contradictions. One opinion that meets with universal agreement is that it is good to see more children
becoming regular customers at bookstores and libraries (also like Hermione), and even those who
object to Rowling’s books on religious grounds or who feel the books lack real literary merit
acknowledge that Harry has drawn children’s noses into books.
Indian readers are also influenced by the movies, as they are more attractive and effective at a time. The
way of Rowling’s narration is powerful in the mean while films are also influential for readers to take
up books for reading.
“Indeed, the line of demarcation separating retellings from fakes is a very tenuous one. Before Harry
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Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released, a bogus fifth novel – Harry Potter and LeopardWalk-up-To Dragon – was released in china; it sold briskly, even though it was rather shoddily put
together and featured a plot in which Harry was transmogrified into a fat hairy dward by a rain of hotand –sour soup. Here we have an example of an extremely radical localization,whereby traditional
Chinese images and myths are tapped to produce an original story that would resonate in a particular
local context – one in which the anticipation for the next installment in the Harry Potter series could be
tapped easily, even with an obvious fake.
What separates these localizations from official translations conceptually, except for their legal status?
Both are local retellings and could easily be considered “fabrications” or “distortions” if a critic was so
inclined. Indeed, both the Grotter books and the fake Chinese novels seem quite similar to the recent
announcement by Marvel Comics that an authorized Indian version of Spider-Man would be
produced. This Indian Spider-Man would be named Pavitr Prabhakar (a close transliteration of “Peter
Parker”) but would obtain his powers from a Hindu holy man rather than from the bite of a radioactive
spider. This kind of blurring of edges between cultural contexts requires something like the power of
the state and its legal apparatus in order to temporarily arrest it, and to distinguish between acceptable
and unacceptable efforts to retell a popular story in a novel context.”
Harry Potter novels bring awareness among children about fundamental aspects of human conditions.
Two contrasting characters are created by J.K.Rowling, one is good and another is evil. From the
beginning till the end they stay with same quality, we watch both growing being orphans that is Harry
Potter in his uncle’s house and Voldemort in orphanage. Harry grows with good qualities like friendly,
mild, goodness in behavior etc. but Voldemort who is Tom Riddle and readers can trace out the way
Tom Riddle becoming Lord Voldemort. He takes immoral ways to accomplish his desires. Both face
difficult circumstances at childhood, Harry makes the right choices in difficult circumstances, but Tom
makes very different choice and becomes evil. So it is where children can be prejudiced by reading
Harry Potter, for some children Tom character may be fascinating and are attracted towards evil
thoughts. This is the reason some Indian readers objected their children from reading these novels.
Another reason is high fantasy, people in India also read such magic and magical world but in Harry
potter more emphasis is given on it and in earlier days it was not accepted by some parents. Gradually
the trend changed and people started to accept these stories and now they are famous worldwide.
Over and over again in the novels it is made clear that it is a person’s choices and actions that are the
defining elements of his moral character. It is not our ancestry, social roles, or wealth that makes us
who we are. It is, as Albus Dumbledore tells harry in Chamber of Secrets, “our choices…that show
what we truly are, far more than our abilities”. (Chamber of Secrets p.333) The key action before the
first book of the series begins is Lily Potter’s choice to protect her son at the cost of her own life. Later,
Hermione Granger makes the heroic choice to challenge the racism behind the slavery of the houseelves. Neville Longbottom chooses not to step aside so that Harry, Ron, and Hermione can leave their
dormitory to go looking for the Philosopher’s Stone, and Neville chooses in Deathly Hallows to fight
on at Hogwarts even after the Death Eaters take over. The choices made in the novels are not all for the
good. Peter Petttigrew makes the choice to betray his friends and thus forever casts his lot with the
forces of evil. We are told that Tom’s mother, Merope Gaunt Riddle, chooses her own death instead of
staying alive to care for her son. Draco Malfoy chooses to accept Voldemort’s assignment and becomes
a Death Eater himself. (Klein)
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In past ten years we can notice the line between adulthood and childhood is blurring. Due to modern
technology and media children share more knowledge and the television, the internet, video games,
and the VCR are easily available for children. Children imitate adults in many ways dressing way,
behavior; attitude etc. so the question is where does childhood end and adulthood begin? The answer is
their mental age decides it rather than physical age. C.S.Lewis made a statement almost fifty years ago:
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so.
Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the
fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up” (210) So the influence of Harry Potter on Indian
readers is an observation to analyze readers adaptation of Harry Potter novels and how Harry Potter is
a globalized children’s literature. Even in India it has occupied its place. The adventures of Harry
Potter, the tireless superhero of the twenty first century, starting with the first book and on to the last
one, and is captivated readers irrespective of age.
Notes:
•
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/essays/issue6/theoriesofeducation
•
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/essays/issue6/theoriesofeducation
•
Gunelius, Susan. Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.2008.
•
Pyne. E.A. The Ultimate guide to the Harry Potter Fandom. United States of America. What
the Flux Comics. 2010.
•
Lana. A. Whited. The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary
Phenomenon. Missouri. University of Missouri Press. 2002.
•
Daniel H. Nexon, Iver B. Leumann. Harry Potter and International Relations. United States
of America. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2006.
•
Lewis, C.S. “On Three Ways of Writing for Children.” In Egoff, Sheila et al., ed. Only
Connect: Readings on Children’s Literature, Second ed. Toronto: Oxford. 1980.
•
Klein, Shawn E. “Harry Potter and Humanity: Choices, Love, and Death”. Reason Papers Vol.
34, no.1.
•
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone. Bloomsbury. London. 1996. Print.
•
---Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret. Bloomsbury. London. 1998. Print.
•
---Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Bloomsbury. London. 1999. Print.
•
---Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Bloomsbury. London. 2000. Print.
•
---Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Bloomsbury. London. 2003. Print.
•
---Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Bloomsbury. London. 2005. Print.
•
---Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Bloomsbury. London. 2007. Print.
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POSTMODERNISM IN AMITAV GHOSH’S THE
CALCUTTA CHROMOSOME
Dr. K. Jayaraju
Amitav Ghosh's The Calcutta Chromosome (1996), an intricately detailed novel, revolves around the
historical figure of Surgeon-Major Ronald Ross and his discovery of the source of malaria, which took
place in Calcutta in 1898 and which won him the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1902. As often happens in
Ghosh's novels, The Calcutta Chromosome intertwines historical research and field work with
fiction, so Ross's real achievement is turned into the lifelong interest of an 'unreal' character, Murugan.
An employee of a Health Organization, Murugan, finding the circumstances of Ross's discovery
incongruous, becomes persuaded that his scientific breakthrough was made possible, or rather guided,
by a group of natives led by a woman-Mangala -operative in silence and secrecy. It is into the relation
between Ross's Research and the working of the mysterious counter-scientists that Murugan
obsessively investigates, His investigations take him to Calcutta where he vanishes, until, years later, he
re-emerges, apparently by sheer coincidence, on the computer screen of a former colleague of his,
Antar. Ghosh's novel, which has been variously labeled as science-fiction, thriller or a ghost-story,
could be appropriately defined as a postcolonial allegory questioning the certainties, neutrality and
objectivity of Western Knowledge and thus denouncing colonial appropriation, which is not only
military, economic and political but as the novel shows-also cultural.
Ghosh seems to suggest that a way can be found by getting over the boundaries imposed to divide
different modes of approaching knowledge boundaries produced by a system of power (colonial power
in this case) which decrees the hegemony of one mode (the western) and the subalternity of the other
(the Eastern); therefore a fusion between official and alternative forms of knowledge can be a way out
of the opposing and excluding constraints of colonial discourse. Antar's sigh in taking up the challenge
of the Calcutta Chromosme seems to conceal the awareness that no human knowledge-be it scientific
or historical-is definitive and fixed; on the countrary, it is open-ended, liable to incessant
transformation and contamination, or-to put it in chambers's words - "all forms of scientific
knowledge are provisional, they are stories still being told, still mutating like the malaria parasite." (69).
The Calcutta Chromosome is a 1996 English Language novel by Indian author Amitav Ghosh. The
book, for the most part set in Calcutta at some unspecified time in the future, is a medical thriller that
dramatizes the adventures of apparently disconnected people who are brought together by a
mysterious turn of events. The books loosely based on the life and times of Sir Ronald Ross, the Nobel
Prize winning scientist who achieved a breakthrough in malaria research in 1898. The novel was the
recipient of the Arthur C.Clarke Award in 1997.
The novel begins with the story of Antar, an employee of the Life watch organization, who recounts an
encounter with L.Murugan, an employee of Life Watch who has disappeared in Calcutta. The plot is
quite complicated and its timelines are deliberately mixed up. Antar starts to track Murugan's
disappearance in Calcutta many years back. Murugan has asked to be transferred to Calcutta because of
his fascination with the life of Sir Ronald Ross. The Calcutta of Ronald Ross is well separated in time
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from the Calcutta that Murugan visits, but the New York of Antar and the Calcutta of Murugan seem
to overlap in time, though it is clearly stated in the novel that they are separated by many years.
Through his research into old and lost documents and phone messages, Antar figures out that Murugan
had systematically unearthed an underground scientific/mystical movement that could grant eternal
life. Loosely described, the process is as follows: the disciples of this movement can transfer their
chromosomes into another, and gradually become that person or take over that person. In the novel,
Ronald Ross did not discover the mysteries of the malaria parasite; it was a group of underground
practitioners of a different, mystical "science," natives of India, who helped to guide Ross to the
conclusions for which he is famous. These Indians provided Ross with clues in the belief that in the
moment Ross made his discovery, the parasite would change its nature. At this point, a new variant of
malaria would emerge and the group's research using the chromosome-transfer technique would
advance even further.
Fact and Fiction in the Calcutta Chromosome
Ghosh employs a factual framework for the invented events in the novel, drawing upon Ross' Memoirs
which were published in 1923. Thus, many of the characters in the novel are historical persons drawn
from excerpts of letters and other documents incorporated by Ross into this autobiographical work.
The novel, however, reflects a post-colonial understanding of the scientific mechanism at work. The
Memoirs were designed to buttress Ross' claim of sole credit for the discovery that malaria is carried by
the anopheles mosquito (Chambers 60). While the fantastical circumstances Murugan uncovers in the
novel are not factual, the underlying evaluation of the circumstances of medical exploration in colonial
times seems to be factually based. Chambers explains that it was "common currency" among Bengali
intellectuals that Ross exploited native workers in his quest to find the cause of malaria (66).
Themes
Silence is a recurrent theme in the novel, originating from the often-stated premise that to say
something is to change it. Huttunen notes that the workings of the Indian scientific/mystical
movement uncovered by Murugan "Constitutes a counter-science to Western scientific discourse" (25).
The tenets of the group contain aspects of the Hindu belief in the transmigration of souls as well as of
contemporary scientific ideas about genetics and cloning (Huttunen 27). Its native Indian members
operate through means kept secret from the more Westernized characters and from the reader, and
their activities become progressively clearer as the novel continues until their plan is revealed to the
readers.
Huttunen explains that the methodology of this group is based on the ideas of Emmanuel Levinas
about communication by way of silence. In Levinas' view, "the other exists outside the traditional
objects that can be internalized by consciousness or grasped by adequate representation....
Consequently silence in this novel represents the kind of unattainable experience that transcends the
level of language, or knowing" (30-31). It is this enigma that the novel leaves behind as an abiding
theme. The reader is forced to keep thinking about it much after turning the last page. The mystery at
the heart of the story is never completely resolved by the author, leaving much to the reader's
understanding and interpretation.
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Notes:
•
Ghosh-Schellhorn, Marrina, 'Chromosome der Utopie: Utopische Entwurfe in der
anglophonen Literatur Indien's in Utopie und Dystopie in den neuen englischen Literature,
eds. Hans-Ulrich Seeber and Ralf Pordzik, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 2002, pp.275-87.
•
Ghosh, Amitav. The Calcutta Chromosome: A Novel of Fevers, Delirium and Discovery
(Delhi: Ravi Dayal, 1996; London: Picador, 1996).
•
'The Story Bug' (review of The Calcutta Chromosome), New Statesman, 6 September
1996, 47.
•
Clute, John, 'Excessive Candour: A Tale Decent Folk Can Buy' (Review of The Calcutta
Chromosome, 1997).
•
Kich, Martin, 'Mosquito Bites and Computer Bytes: Amitav Ghosh's The Calcutta
Chromosome', Notes on Contemporary Literature (Carrollton, GA), 30,4 (Sept 2000), 9-12.
•
Kumar, Gajendra, 'The Calcutta Chromosome. A strango odyssey of Time and Mystery', in
Indian Writings in English, Vol. IX, eds Manmohan K. Bhatnagar and M.Rajeshwar, Delhi:
Atlantic, 2000.
•
Lutwick, Larry I. Review of The Calcutta Chromosome, in Infections in Medicine, 15, 3
(1998), 173.
•
Schumacher, Lyn, 'Review of The Calcutta Chromosome, Foundation', 71 (1997), 120-2.
•
Sen, Sudeep, 'The Calcutta Chromosome', World Literature Today, 71, 1 (1997), 221-2.
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FESTIVALS AS SOCIAL INTERACTION AND
COMMUNICATIVE PERFORMANCE – THE TEXT
AND CONTEXT OF PHAT BIHU
Monalisa Borgohain
Performing folk arts form an important category of study in folkloristics. The recent shift of focus
from content to process in folklore studies has enabled performance-based studies to become an
important medium in confronting issues of cross-cultural contexts. During the last few decades, there
has been increasing focus on performance-based studies in the social construction of reality. This aids us
to focus upon the present realities of cultural processes and provides a more complete context by which
to understand the people and their cultural productions. A performance-centered study allows a blend
of social and aesthetic impulses of culture and represents an affirmative understanding of it. And as
Roger D. Abrahams says in his interview to M.D. Muthukumaraswamy, it also permits a “separation
of the politics and poetics of culture”. A performance can thus be infinitely described, analyzed, and
appreciated just as a literary text can be read and understood from various perspectives.
Through a selection of different actions and representations, the text of a performance constructs and
communicates meanings at different levels of life and living. A text can be scripted or unscripted; it may
be composed of written or spoken words. In whatever form it may exist, texts provide a frame that
invites critical reflection on the communicative processes. Associated with the text is the concept of
context. One can understand the meaning of a particular performance only by studying it in context
which is integrally related to its immediate social, physical and psychological surroundings. Context
provides a spatial, temporal and social definition to the performance act.
As a form of performative art, festivals have always been an important part of culture and community
life. They can be broadly termed as celebratory events, historically and traditionally rooted in a
community’s culture, which provides sites of meaningful social connectivity and exchange. Beverly J.
Stoeltje defines a festival as a cultural performance, which is scheduled at regular intervals, temporally
and spatially bounded, programmed, characterized by coordinated public occasions, and heightened
occasions of aesthetic expression. It serves the purpose of the articulation of the group's heritage and is a
communicative situation actively engaging participants, presenting a combination of participation and
performance in a public context (Stoeltje 1992, 240, 263). Festivals are crucial in facilitating social
interaction and also strengthening the identity of the group by bringing it together. Clifford Geertz
says that one motivation for participating in festivals is social interaction, festival strengthens the
identity of the group by bringing it together; the messages of festival reflect the shared experience of the
group, it communicates about the particular society while telling a story which people tell themselves
about themselves (Geertz, 1973). According to Victor Turner, ceremonial objects carry rich
metaphoric meanings; the past is symbolically portrayed through dominant sacred symbols in
celebratory rituals. These symbols stand for many things and thoughts at once: they are “multivocal”,
speaking in many ways at once; “multivalent”, having various meanings or values; and “polysemous”,
having or being open to several or many meanings. And these “meanings” has to be revealed in order to
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understand the nature of a celebration (Turner 1982). A festival thus provides opportunities to observe
the communicative system of the culture, conveyed through semiotically complex performance
events.
The politics of power struggles in the modern age has brought about overwhelming impacts in all areas
of life and living. In the transition from agrarian to post-modern forms of economy, for the present-day
farmer in his modern urbanized living environment and industrialized production process, the
festivals have lost the significance as symbolic enactments of agrarian rituals and feasts. As such, the
present times witness a growing desire for ethnic recognition in individuals and groups, a search for
ethnic identity, and a conscious exhibition of distinctive ethnic traits. Communities seek to re-assert
their identities in the face of a feeling of cultural dislocation brought about by rapid structural change,
social mobility and globalization processes. In this context, new webs of social relations seek to make
themselves visible by adapting or reinventing forms of meaningful narration. In such circumstances,
“the compulsions of historical and social conditions” (Jawaharlal Handoo, 1998) presses for the
conservation of traditions. Therefore, in today’s society, although the contents and the context of
participation have altered considerably, festivals as cultural performance continue to be expressive
instruments of contemporary social practice. In the context of Indian society especially, folk
traditions have retained their characteristics both in terms of form and meaning, and more importantly
function. (Ibid.) Festivals, in the present context, are used to mobilize, negotiate and test new forms of
discourse to make the new social reality meaningful.
Folk festivals in India are related with agriculture and productivity. The social manners, customs,
habits etc. are the principle elements with which these festivals are integrated. Agrarian people are
primarily dependent on nature. Rain, sun, monsoon, draught are their forever friends. In Assam, Bihu
is one such festival connected with the seasonal and agricultural cycle, and is an integral part of the
Assamese cultural pattern. There are three Bihus celebrated at different times of the year--- the Bohag
or Rongali Bihu celebrated in spring, the Kati or Kongali Bihu celebrated in autumn, and the Magh or
Bhogali Bihu celebrated after the harvesting season i.e. in winter. Of the three, the Bohag Bihu is the
most important and is the main marker of the Assamese community. It is a unified form of the folk
songs, dances, musical instruments of the various castes, sub-castes and tribes of people that became the
inherent natives of Assam from time to time.
Apart from the distinctive observances of the festivals, some specific celebrations are also marked in
integration by the composite culture in many parts of the state. The Phat Bihu is also one such festival
that is unique to Dhakuakhana, a place located in the remote south-east direction of the Lakhimpur
district of Assam. This festival exhibits a singular kind of cultural display and integration, which is very
rarely found in other regions.
To understand the reason that originally begets a festival, it is always essential to look into its historical
setting. Located on the northern bank of river Brahmaputra, Dhakuakhana is a remote, secluded and
was till recent times, an almost inaccessible place. It is surrounded by four main tributaries---Subansiri,
Sampora, Korha and Charikoriya, and is inhabited by a variety of castes and tribes---Ahom, Chutiya,
Mising, Sonowal Kachari, Kalita, Deori, and the fishing community known as the Koibartta, making
up a sizeable portion of the population. At present, it is the sub-divisional headquarters of the
Lakhimpur district. The ancient name of Dhakuakhana was Habung, which means a fertile land. Sir
Edward Gait in A History of Assam has mentioned that in early 13th century, Chaolung Siu-ka-pha, a
Shan (Mong Mao, in the present day Yunnan province in China) prince began his journey with his
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followers, crossed the Patkai hills, fought and defeated the Nagas and reached the Brahmaputra valley
in 1228. He moved from place to place, searching for a seat. In 1240, he moved to Habung and settled
there. But, Habung was a flood wrecked area and the devastating floods of 1244 A.D. forced Siu-ka pha
to leave Habung and finally establish his kingdom at Charaideo in the Sibsagar district of Assam. Had
Habung not been flooded, it would have had the distinction of being the Ahom kingdom. This
Habung, full of history and legends, is known as Dhakuakhana today. As there was no road access to
Dhakuakhana in the earlier days, the royal officers had great difficulty to come to this place for
collection of duties and taxes. So, during the rule of the Ahom King Swargadeo Rajeshwar Singha
(1751-1769), a channel was gouged out connecting the Charikoriya and the Korha rivers and the soil
was used to raise the river banks. The betel nut tree leaves (known as Dhakua in the local language)
were used to carry the soil to the banks, and hence the name Dhakuakhana, Khana in Assamese
meaning ‘to dig’.
The folk culture of Assam is the heritage of the Assamese rustic village life. Bohag or Rongali Bihu, the
main marker of the Assamese community’s nationality, is an integrated folk festival of the various
castes, sub-castes and tribes of people that are its inherent natives. The Phat Bihu is a part of Bohag
Bihu. It is generally celebrated on the 7th, 9th, 12th or towards the end of the Assamese Bohag month
(i.e. mid April-mid May). There are no historical records as to the origin of this festival. According to
local perspectives, the festival got widely propagated during the Ahom rule, but it is assumed that it has
its origin even before that. As this bihu song says:
Pokhila ura di ur o nasoni
Pokhila ura di ur
Rojaru aagor phatbihukhonit
Nepabi piritir oor.
which means,
“Dance like a gliding butterfly, O my nasoni (female dancer)
Dance like a butterfly
You won’t find an end to love and affection
In Phat Bihu that has its advent even before the king.”
There are numerous opinions offered by the local people as to the etymology of the term Phat bihu. It
is said that during the Ahom times, thousands of people gathered on the banks of Charikoriya river to
celebrate the Bihu festival. Due to this huge congregation, there used to be cracks (known as phat in the
local language) on that land. So, it is known as Phat Bihu. Some say that, a section of the people
segregated (phat which in Assamese means to separate) themselves from the high-caste society and
started celebrating Bihu separately. That is why it is known as Phat Bihu. Another widely accepted
view says that the term Phat is a Tai (language of the Ahoms) word, and according to Ahom lexicons, it
literally means a place near river banks where people assemble for trade and commerce as well as royal
collection of duties. During the olden days, people from all communities assembled on the Charikoriya
river bank for routine business and payment of royal taxes (as water transport was the only means of
communication then), and during Bohag or Rongali Bihu, they celebrated the festival together.
Consequently, it came to be known as Phat Bihu, i.e. bihu celebrated on the phat or river bank. Yet
others say that during the merry-making of Bihu, the drums used to crack, the clothes worn by the
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dancers used to get tattered, and voices of the singers broke due to continuous singing. Hence, the term
Phat Bihu, Phat in Assamese also bearing the aforementioned meanings. However, considering the
symbolism of fertility and productivity associated with majority of the folk festivals, the implication of
sexual connotations in the word phat also cannot be completely ignored.
During the British rule in India, there was political turmoil in the entire country which affected this
small region on the north bank of the Brahmaputra also. There were intervals in the celebrations
during the turbulent times, be it political, social disturbances or natural disasters as floods and
earthquakes; and it was only from 1976 onwards, owing to the efforts of many enthusiastic people, that
it is being observed in Dhakuakhana on a regular basis every year. In the earlier times, this festival was
celebrated for seven days and nights, where tribes and castes from all walks of life gathered on the river
bank and displayed their respective traditional forms of bihu dance, and rejoiced in the merriment.
This practice exhibited a singular kind of cultural integration which could not be found anywhere else.
The Bohag or Rongali bihu is normally celebrated in discrete ways by the different tribes and castes.
And, in the celebrations, these varied sections do not display the cultural and ethnic homogeneity.
Also, the Assamese society in the early days was a conservative society where one could find very strict
divisions of castes and creeds. A commingle of these different castes and tribes was something that was
unthinkable. Hence the distinctiveness of the festival.
The present form of this Bihu is a three-day extravaganza where one can be a part of a huge gathering of
thousands of people from all sections of the society, in Mohghuli Chapori on the banks of Charikoriya
River. The festival space has been fenced off and converted by means of various structures and
plantations. It focuses upon a central stage for the performances, the front stage for the audience and the
back stage for the organizers and other groups of people. Rows of Sishu trees have been planted inside
the premises as also the Kopouphool (foxtail orchid) on the branches of these trees. Surrounding the
entire site, temporary structures are set up for the traders who come for business there. The three days
of the festival witnesses the congregation of thousands of people who visit the grounds to join in the
merrymaking, watch the performances, as also for trade and business. All people don the traditional
attire; what is significant is that none without the traditional Assamese costume are allowed to enter the
festival ground. And only the ones wearing muga costumes can participate in the festival rituals. It is
worth mentioning here that Dhakuakhana is renowned for the production of authentic muga silk and
other types of traditional weaving.
On the first two days, there are on stage performances by the various bihu groups---children, maidens
and married women, men--- from all tribes and communities. These are judged and the best ones are
awarded on the final day. The third day starts with a cultural procession, which is of a more recent
addition to the festivities. The procession comprises of a portrayal of the multi-coloured rich Assamese
culture. After the procession, there are performances in open surroundings under the trees which are
known as Mukoli Bihu. Each group performs surrounding a tree each. Before the performance starts,
obeisance is paid to the trees by wrapping a Gamusa (traditional Assamese cotton towel offered as mark
of respect) around it. Performances take place in a completely natural environment, and all people
irrespective of caste, creed, and religion wholeheartedly participate in the celebrations thus obliterating
all forms of boundaries. One can see spontaneous, natural, whole-hearted and harmonious
participation of a heterogeneous mass of population. This is the main attraction of the entire
celebratory process and is the symbolic representation of the original Phat Bihu festival. With it, the
three day festivity comes to an end.
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Earlier, there were no organizers of this festival, and people from all castes, creeds, religion and tribes
joined in the rejoicing. This proves the fact that from the ancient times, Phat Bihu has always been a
symbol of cultural harmony. In the present times, this festival might have lost some of its inherent
importance, the reasons for which may be varied. Be it the operation of the modern consumer
capitalism, or the power politics or the annual wrecks caused by floods which has brought drastic
changes to its topography. But, essentially the tradition remains unchanged, and till today Phat Bihu
continues to be close to the hearts of the people of Dhakuakhana. With the passage of time, the real
form of the earlier Phat Bihu has definitely undergone changes, but its natural traits have not been lost.
People of Dhakuakhana have preserved the essence of this singular festival, and celebrate it with utmost
zeal and zest every year exhibiting an integrated and unique cultural identity. The community build-up
is what is central to the celebratory rituals. The festival becomes a space in which different internal
dynamics and oppositions come to life by the performance of distinctive narratives and values, but
with the display of a unique and integrated cultural identity.
The organizing committee of the Phat Bihu comprises of people who belong to Dhakuakhana,
although people from all over the world can become its member. The organizers and the members
meet periodically during the course of one celebration to the next. The performing groups do the same.
In this way, they form a team and each of them becomes responsible for a number of things in the
festival. The festival does not concern itself only on the network of the organizers and the local people.
Concerted efforts to address a greater public are also made by sending out press releases, and through
the electronic media. Visitors from other places are extended a very warm hospitality, but are referred
to as “outsiders”. For the festival days, physically and metaphorically they take up their own social
space, but they can never partake in the festival rituals or other decision making processes. In this way,
they determine a special social identity differentiating local inhabitants to visitors.
The events in the festivity and the songs, dances, musical instruments, costumes etc. of the
performances stir up memories of the past for the audience. The bihu songs tell the stories of the
different life phases---agricultural life, productivity, as well as love and romance, the tales of the history,
culture, life, love etc. of the people of Assam, as also the regional people’s sorrow, wants, exploitations,
disasters, struggle, harmony et al. The festival turns into a space of individual cogitation on the
recreation of life histories; the past festively converted into a more designed narration framed within
the contemporary social world. The events, performances and other activities associated with Phat
Bihu thus becomes a huge text and carries with it a multileveled context in which a large number of
social correspondences and subjectivities could be observed.
Culture, it is said, has come to play an increasingly significant role in a new globalised disorder. Like the
phenomena of post-modernism, post-modern culture also bears multi-faceted indicators and is thus
marked by the blurring and collapse of the traditional boundaries between culture and art, high and
low culture, commerce and art, culture and commerce. Consumer capitalism is fast releasing the
possibility for creative play and identity construction. Such intensified pressure seems to have
contributed to the revival and revitalisation of festivals, which act as a form of symbolic response to the
experiences of rapid socio-cultural change. Within this context, Phat Bihu, as a regional festival, has
played a significant role in reflecting the life and struggle of the people of Dhakuakhana, and the
harmonious integrity of its entire people in the face of every natural or simulated disaster. Today, as in
most of the folk traditions, a bit of commercialisation has also crept into the festivity of Phat Bihu. But,
change is the essence of life, and we have to accept the fact that life crisis--- be it in the micro or macro
levels---always accompanies all kinds of festivities. The celebratory performances in this festival too
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narrate the life situations of the community as a whole. Phat Bihu in this way turns into a text---rather a
kind of fluid text--- of the life and struggle of the people of Dhakuakhana, and the context of the
celebration displays through its interactional communication performance, the harmonious integrity
of its entire people in the face of every natural or simulated disaster. For the local people it is primarily
an annual celebration of their identity; a sacred space and time to celebrate their whole communal yet
distinctive ethnic identities. The celebrations become a powerful symbol, which apart from producing
a unifying narrative, continuously creates and recreates imageries of reconnecting with the past, to
glorify a unified communal identity in the face of every life crisis. Phat Bihu thus affirms the role of
communicative performance as integral to the complex of creations and conventions which are
fundamental to the existence, perpetuation, and survival of humans as social beings.
(This work is based on the research work for the degree of PhD being undertaken by the author in
North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, Meghalaya, under the supervision of Dr. Desmond
L. Kharmawphlang, Professor and Head, Department of Cultural & Creative Studies, NEHU.)
Notes:
•
Ben-Amos, Dan. Folklore in Context Essays. South Asian Publishers, New Delhi,
Madras, 1982.
•
Gait, Sir Edward. A History of Assam. LBS Publication, Guwahati, 1984.
•
Geertz, C. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York, 1973.
•
GohainBaruah, Padmanath. Asomor Buranjee. Assam Prakashan Parishad, 1976.
•
Handoo, Jawaharlal. (ed.). Folklore in Modern India. Central Institute of Indian Languages,
Mysore, India. 1998.
•
Hussain, Ismail. Phato Bihur Itihash Aru Oitijya. Jyoti Prakashan, Guwahati, 2010.
•
Muthukumaraswamy, M.D. (ed.). Voicing Folklore Careers, Concerns and Issues. National
Folklore Support Centre, Chennai, India, 2002.
•
Stoeltje, B.J. Festival. Bauman, R. (ed.). Folklore, Cultural Performances and Popular
Entertainments. New York, 1992.
•
Turner, Victor. (ed.). Celebration, Studies in Festivity and Ritual. Smithsonian Institution
Press, Washington D.C. 1982.
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INDIAN DIGITAL DIASPORA AND CYBER FEMINIST
WEBS: A POST-MODERN PERSPECTIVE
Snehaprabha N. Desai & Raju M.S.
South Asian women in the Diasporas face a double bind in relation to Western feminism and resistance
to colonial discourses sometimes implicit in liberal feminist attempts to ‘save’ the ‘oppressed’ thirdworld woman. This bind is within online communities of South Asian women. When it comes to
Cyberfeminisms, there are several approaches to cyberfeminism. What all cyberfeminists share is the
belief that women should take control of and appropriate the use of cybertechnologies in an attempt to
empower themselves. Cyberfeminists seek to use internet technologies and to create spaces on-line that
are empowering to women. We believe that the Internet is a feminist issue and are interested in
possibilities s for activism and research on it. Cyberfeminists are multimedia producers, e-mail listadministrators or moderators, programmers, web-page designers, and women who actively engage in
all kinds of on-line synchronous and asynchronous spaces.
Cybercultures are extensions of existing social and cultural practices. That is, technologies, including
digital technologies, are embedded in the cultures that produce them. Cyberspace itself might be read as
a set of social practices, which have exclusionary and inclusionary potential depending on the politics
of use. There is the question of how subalterns (especially Women) use the new media technologies.
This paper is to implicate discussions of India and IT by not only engaging issues of gender as in
women’s access to IT, but also in relation to how technological spaces are gendered and classed within
specific contexts. Thus, Indian nationalist identity formations online as well as processes of economic
and cultural globalization through the spread of multinational corporations (MNCs) are important
factors shaping the access and empowerment of third-world women through technological spaces.
There is a growing body of mainstream literature on topics related to Indians and Information
Technology (IT); Indians in cyberspace and the digital divide. Most articles are celebratory with regard
to the potential of informational technologies for the various populations of the world. Hardly any of
this literature negotiates gender, class, rural–urban differences or any other issues related to sociocultural and economically situated identity formations.
The Paper examines into the online spaces – cyberspace – which constitute an important new space for
the Postmodernism. It proposes the emergence of a cyberspace with interesting and important
consequences for political culture in the age of digital media. New technologies enable the
reformatting of the ‘self’ via profile management, online avatars, and networked relations. Is writing in
cyborg-diasporas across contexts necessarily empowering? What issues and dilemmas are posed for
resistant native informants and diasporic post-colonials within digital spheres of interaction? In the
presence of Western technology, how and when are Subalterns (women as subalterns) constructed as
ignorant? What is the relevance of a Western (ized) cyber feminism to women in India? How do we use
the contradictions of our lived existence to regain our faith in our Other-ed socio-cultural identities, in
‘Third World’ contexts? This Viewpoint will critique the notion of `technology as the great equalizer’.
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Can Indian Digital Diasporas be empowering spaces for women, and can they provide access for the
various socio-culturally and materially underprivileged populations of the developing world?
Information communication technologies (ICTs), nationalisms, and religious diasporas are
inextricably linked within processes of globalization. The world becoming smaller is enabled through
a variety of technologies, and the clashing of various cultural, religious, and political discourses and
extremisms has material consequences. The processes of production and cultural activities surrounding
these processes are both products of an economic globalization and transnationalization that rests on
the need for self-contained identity formations and a performance of multicultural difference.
Religious fundamentalism and nationalism are examples of ‘concepts of belonging’, and ways of
imagining community. There has been much discussion of the imagining of community in the
available literature that examines virtual community formations. This is related to the imagining of
any kind of community online, based in common interests, hobbies, collaboration on projects,
professional interests, and so on. The other sense in which the term ‘imagine’ is used in relation to
community is related to Benedict Anderson’s understanding of imagined communities, framed around
national, ethnic, religious, diasporic identity/subject formations. Thus, some researchers examine the
socio-cultural manifestations of diasporas online, and write of imagined communities of diasporic
postcolonials in cyberspace. There exist opportunities for various people in the diaspora to form
communities via the internet across place-based geographic boundaries that are based on the constructs
of ‘commonality and fellowship’ while connecting to the ‘conditions of existence of diasporic
individuals’.
While Anderson and Mitra write of Arab and Indian diasporas online, not specifically focusing on the
religious diasporas that have emerged in relation to various fundamentalist nationalisms and have
arisen most visibly in the past decades, Amit Rai and Vinay Lal extend discussions of online imagined
communities to an examination of religious diasporas, specifically the Hindu Diaspora and the
discourses surrounding the destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, India, in 1992. (Still others
have focused on the gendered nature of these online religious diasporas, with their implicit and explicit
objectification of the Hindu woman as an icon of pure Hindu culture.) Rai’s use of the notion of
imagined community leads him to examine the style in which diasporic communities are the imagined
‘regulatory fictions’ seen through the ‘totalizing classificatory grids’ produced in British colonial
times.
The performance of diasporic identities in these online communities is thus regulated through historic,
political and religious discourses associated with colonial and postcolonial geographic territories and
nationalisms. While researchers such as Mitra use the concept of imagined community implicitly in an
effort to examine possibilities for the emergence of diasporic counterspheres and seem not to question
whether the internet has the potential to enable a variety of liberatory and counter-hegemonic
coalitions, Lal writes explicitly against the celebration of the notion of imagined communities online.
Indian women are faced with a tension between Indian nationalism’s discursive positioning of the
Bharatiya Nari (Woman of Bharat/India), and Western feminism’s complicity with colonial
discourses. The Indian woman’s expression of agency is complicated by the fact that both these
discourses speak for and about her, but do not allow her to speak for herself. In addition, I observed that
such discourses are also based in class-specific access to the internet.
Madhavi Mallapragada takes the examination of gendering in South Asian cyberspaces further by
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examining masculinities produced in the online ‘Indian Diaspora’. She examines websites within the
context of diasporic female audiences. Mallapragada argues that the articulation of Indianness on such
websites idealizes a ‘traditionally uppercaste, middle class male Hindu (oftentimes North Indian
Hindu) version of cultural tradition and practices’. Rai and Lal trace the production of masculinity in
these cyberspaces to a Hindutva re-reading of Vivekananda’s work, thereby showing how Hindu
fundamentalist movements could remain complicit with Westernization and Modernity, while at the
same time insisting on a Hindu identity in opposition to Muslim identity and Western culture. They
suggest that the production of a certain type of masculinity was also a strategic articulation in response
to ‘White masculinity’.
However, as Mallapragada points out with regard to the representation of the male IT worker in
magazines such as Silicon India, this interpretation misses the contradictions of South Asian urban
masculine subjectivities in relation to globalization processes and the mobilization of certain kinds of
third-world labor in the service of multinational corporations. She writes, therefore, that ‘while one
easy reading of the more sexualized macho male figure would be to see it as a rejoinder to prevalent
mainstream while American perception of Asian male as effeminate … it inadequately addresses … a
much more complex interplay of race, gender, sexuality, [religious discourse] and cultural and political
power’. This complex interplay is structured around the feminizing of certain IT-related tasks assigned
to third-world technology labor (through offshoring and outsourcing) within the current
multinational corporate structure.
There are several approaches to cyber feminism. What all cyber feminists share is the belief that women
should take control of and appropriate the use of cyber technologies in an attempt to empower
themselves. Cyber feminists seek to use internet technologies and to create spaces on-line that are
empowering to women. We believe that the Internet is a feminist issue and are interested in possibilities
s for activism and research on it. Cyber feminists are multimedia producers, e-mail list-administrators
or moderators, programmers, web-page designers, and women who actively engage in all kinds of online synchronous and asynchronous spaces. We are also concerned with issues related to the designing
of software and hardware. The works of scholars such as Donna Haraway (1990; 1992) and Sandra
Harding inform several cyber feminist theories and practices.
According to Nancy Paterson:
Cyberfeminism as a philosophy has the potential to create a poetic, passionate, political identity and
unity without relying on a logic and language of exclusion or appropriation. It offers a route for
reconstructing feminist politics through theory and practice with a focus on the implications of new
technology rather than on factors which are divisive. Cyberfeminism does not accept as inevitable
current applications of new technologies which impose and maintain specific cultural, political and
sexual stereotypes. Empowerment of women in the field of new electronicmedia can only result from
the demystification of technology and the appropriation of access to these tools.
Cyber feminists who wish to re-empower themselves and have access to various power structures do
need to learn to use and access different kinds of technologies. But is it true that technology or Internet
access and use in and of itself will perform the great task of `equalizing’ power structures? In this
context, merely describing material and cultural access as well as listing obstacles to Internet access is
not an indicator of `progress’ or re-empowerment. They create new problems by `destabilizing
livelihoods in the Third World’.
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Their analysis of the situation is still within a certain paradigm or framework of thought that implicitly
assumes that (`Western’) technology and notions of progress linked to mainstream perspectives on
technology and communication using these technologies empower women all over the world.
Notes:
•
Gajjala, Radhika and Annapurna Mamidipudi. ‘Cyberfeminism, technology and international
“development” ’, Gender and Development, Vol 17, No 2, 1999.
•
Haraway, Donna. `Manifesto for cyborgs: science, technology, and socialist feminism in the
1980s’ , in Linda J. Nicholson (ed.) Feminism/Postmodernism. London, Routledge. 1990.
•
Harcourt, Wendy. Women on the Internet: Creating New Cultures in Cyberspace. London,
Zed Press.1999.
•
Lal,Vinay. ‘The politics of history on the internet: cyber-diasporic Hinduism and the North
American Hindu Diaspora’, Diaspora, Vol 8, No 2, 1999.
•
Mallapragada, Madhavi. ‘Indian Women in the US Diaspora and the “Curry Brigade”: the
politics of nation, gender and sexuality on the web’. Presented at Constructing
Cyberculture(s): Performance, Pedagogy, and Politics in Online Spaces, 6–7 April, University
of Maryland, USA. 2000.
•
Mitra, Ananda. ‘Virtual commonality: looking for India on the internet’, in Steve Jones (ed),
Virtual Culture: Identity and Communication in Cybersociety. New York, Sage. 1997.
•
Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, Identity on the Internet. New York,
Routledge. 2002.
•
Nayar, Pramod K. An Introduction to New Media and Cybercultures. Malden, MA: Wiley
Blackwell, 2010.
•
—. ‘Information Spaces, Digital Culture and Utopia’, Journal of Contemporary
Thought 31. 2010.
•
Rai, Amit S. ‘India on-line: electronic bulletin boards and the construction of a diasporic
Hindu identity’, Diaspora, Vol 4, No 1, 1995, pp 31–57.
•
Radhika Gajjala, ‘An interrupted postcolonial/feminist cyberethnography: complicity and
resistance in the “cyberfield” ’, Feminist Media Studies, Vol 2, No 2, 2002, pp 177–193.
•
Rajan, Nalini. Ed. Digital Culture Unplugged: Probing the Native Cyborg’s Multiple
Locations. New Delhi, Routledge. 2007.
•
Thirumal, P and Gary Michael Tartakov. ‘India’s Dalits Search for a Democratic Opening in
the Digital Divide’, International Exploration of Technology Equity and the Digital Divide:
Critical, Historical and Social Perspectives. Ed. Patricia Randolph Leigh. Hershey, New York:
Information Science Reference, 2011.
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UNHEARD VOICES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF
TWO DALIT WOMEN’S AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
Shameemunisa
Introduction
Dalit literature represents oppression, struggles, assertion, hopes for freedom and quest for identity of
the downtrodden community who as “untouchables” are unfortunate bunches of social, economic,
and cultural inequality. Dalit writing goes hand in hand with political activism, and with critical and
ideological debate. Dalit women autobiographies portray their pain and agony as well as their bravery
and resolution. Dalit women write about oppression from the caste system, but also from Dalit men.
When my life has been truly mine?
In the home male arrogance
Sets my cheek swinging
While in the street caste arrogance
Splits the other cheek open³
As one of the poems from Telugu Dalit literature above presents, protest against patriarchy, however,
it is not the only mark of Dalit women writers. For many, there is a sense of common problems with all
women.
The present paper compares two Dalit women writers’ autobiographies entitled The Prisons We Broke
from Maharashtra by Baby Kamble and Karukku from Tamil Nadu by Bama. Both the books focus on
the degradation and inhuman treatment of the Dalit community brought about by the Hindu caste
institution and focus also on how the Dalits converted to other religions are still subjected to
subordination.
The Prisons We Broke and Karukku
The Prisons We Broke has the power to make the reader angry and ashamed. She does not glorify the
life of the Dalit community; rather she explicitly states that her intention is to subject the life of her
community to critical scrutiny in order to demonstrate how Brahminical domination had turned the
Mahars into slaves, forcing them to live in conditions worse than animals. It is a head on confrontation
with Brahminical hegemony on the one hand and with patriarchal domination on the other. Baby
Kamble describes the life in a Maharwada with meticulous details: Lice-ridden tattered clothes, diseased
carcasses for meals, and continuous hunger and starvation. Kamble`s early life was a world of
ignorance, enslavement, force, and superstition in Hinduism. When Baby Kamble speaks of her life,
her education, her marriage, entrepreneurial skill, her children and her work among the orphans she
authenticates the life of the entire Mahar community.
Karukku portrays a realistic picture of the Dalits in Tamil Nadu. Bama expresses her grief over the
pathetic and helpless condition of Dalits: “They never received a payment that was appropriate to their
labour.” (47) Dalit women are easy targets of the non-Dalit men for sexual harassment, mental torture,
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and exploitation. Karukku deals also with the problem that Christianity continues to face in
Tamilnadu. The non-Dalit Christians never assimilate the Dalit Christians into their fold. Bama points
out, “The upper caste Christians had their own cemetery elsewhere.” (25) Christians also follow the
same caste system of Hinduism, resulting in caste hierarchy, caste subordination and exploitation.
Karukku is concerned with the issue of caste oppression within the Catholic Church and its
institutions, and presents Bama’s life as a process of lonely self discovery. The tension throughout
Karukku is between self and the community: the narrator leaves one community (the religious order)
and affirms her belongings to another (a Dalit community, particularly of women). Karukku traces
her disillusionment with both the liberal promises of a humanist education and the incorrigible actions
of a church that refuses to acknowledge its own teachings of brotherly love and compassion. The story
of this conflict and its resolution forms the core of karukku.
Baby Kamble pays tribute to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, who is the chief source of inspiration for Dalits.
“Ambedkarism is the philosophic soul of Dalit Literature” claims G. Lakshmi Narsaiah (1999)³ in
writing about Telugu Dalit Literature. In Prisons We Broke the lasting influence of Ambedkar’s views
and teachings on the Mahars comes out starkly. Bama refers neither to Ambedkar nor to Periyar, who
not only attacked the caste system, but who gave remarkable speeches and writings against the
oppression of women. Karukku was written out of specific experience, the experience of a Tamil Dalit
Christian Woman. Yet it has universality at its core which questions all oppressions, disturbs all
complacencies, and, reaching out, empowers all those who have suffered different oppressions.
Bama has focused on the great importance of education for the liberation of the Dalits. The Prisons We
Broke even points out that the Mahars were leading their lives in ignorance and abject poverty. They
would not dare to go against the social norms and challenge the caste Hindus. They were greatly
superstitious and obeyed their oppressors. If any Dalit woman happened to break the entrenched
practices of the caste system, she would be humiliated not only by the caste Hindus but also by the
Mahar people. They were so ignorant that they were not able to lead a common human life. Kamble
not only blames Hinduism for the ill-treatment given to the Dalits, but also condemns it as a religion of
animals. Besides, she declares that the pride of the caste Hindus is at the cost of the lives of the ignorant
Dalits.
Bama has depicted that the non-Dalits would not support the downtrodden to come up in life. She has
documented in her autobiography that caste conscious non-Dalits are highly prejudiced. So, Bama
warns the Dalits that they must not believe and depend on the non-Dalits. Regarding this, she poses one
question to the readers: “Is it likely that he who finds his comfort by exploiting us will ever change, or
ever allow the system to change?” (68)
An important aspect of both narratives is Dalit feminist critique of patriarchy. They graphically
describe the physical and psychological violence women have to undergo in both the public and private
spheres. If the Mahar community is the ‘other’ for the Brahmins, the Dalit Christian is the ‘other’
community for non-Dalit, Dalit women become the ‘other’ for Dalit men. Authors demonstrate how
caste and patriarchy converge to perpetuate exploitative practices against women. It is here that the
urge to define the self becomes most evident in women. Another significant feature of the two memoirs
is the “transparency” with which both the writers bring out the internal trauma in the psyche of their
people situated on the threshold of fundamental transformation. Their urge for self-assertion, the
intense struggle between the pulls of an oppressive yet familiar life and the promise of a more dignified
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yet unfamiliar new world- bring to light a view from within, which would otherwise have been
irretrievably lost.
Conclusion
Both perspectives say that the Dalits can liberate themselves from the shackles of suppression and
subordination through their own effort of education and social activism, neither Hinduism nor
Christianity offers any concrete solution to the agony of Dalits. Kamble is more vocal in the criticism
of the educated Dalits who forget their roots and ignore the Dalit cause. Bama focuses more on the
suffering of less educated and illiterate Dalits.
Both the books take us to Black revolution of America. Martin Luther King Junior, one of the
revolutionary spirits in America expresses his hope in a speech delivered in Lincoln memorial,
Washington d. c. august 28, 1963, as “I have a dream that one day the glory of the lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh see it together”. The Prisons We Broke and Karukku insist on humanism which crosses all
boundaries. They enabled many to raise their voices and proclaim, “My language, my culture, my life is
praiseworthy, it is excellent.” As Martin Luther King Junior requests Americans hopefully, as
Ambedkar hopes from Indians, and as Bama and Kamble hope a change in people, as a responsibility of
us (our society), let freedom ring from every corner of the country. When we let freedom ring from
every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day
when women in general and Dalits in particular sing heart fully, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God
Almighty, we are free at last!”
Notes:
•
Bama. Karukku.Trans.by Laxmi Holmstrom. Chennai: Macmillan, 2000.
•
Kamble, Baby. The Prisons We Broke. Trans. by Maya Pandit. New Delhi: Orient Longman,
2008.
•
Anand, Mulk Raj and Eleanor Zelliot (eds). An Anthology of Dalit Literature. New Delhi:
Gyan Prakashan, 1992.
•
Naline, Iyer and Bonnie Zare (eds). Other Tongues: Rethinking the Language Debates in India.
New York: Rodopi, 2009.
•
Kachru, Braj and Yaman Kachru and S.I. Sridar. Language of South Asia. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2008.
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THE ECO-MYTHICAL CONTOURS IN AMITAV
GHOSH’S THE HUNGRY TIDE
Sarannya V Pillai
The Hungry Tide the much acclaimed work of fiction Amitav Ghosh is as well a critically approached
text, thereby leaving minimal scope for research. The ecological concerns in the text have been worked
upon from many dimensions; the mythical aspects also have been traced. It is from here the paper would
take its course attempting to make a metaphorical bridge between the ecology and mythology presented
in the narrative. The course of narration traverses through the three principles of Nature—sristi,
paripalana and samhara; the waters that is the habitat of various living forms also becomes the destroyer
of them thereby acquiring a status equivalent to a power beyond human authority.
Most of Ghosh’s fictional works deal with geography, explorations and the impact of the ecosystem on
the human psyche. The Hungry Tide focuses on the political disappointment of two revolutionaries
who nurtured in them a utopian vision to reform the land and its people. However, they fail to imbibe
that the river that surrounds the island could topple their vision in the form environmental disasters and
the impacts it would entail in the lives of people. Ghosh bares open the concept of democracy,
government, environmental concern and ecosystem preservation in his piece of fiction compelling the
reader to question the ethics of conservation and preservation from the point of person struggling
between life and death, with sequence of ebbs and tides between.
The novel offers the readers a narrative embellished with history, geology, mythology that are blended
effectively so as to render how the life in the tide country operates at a different level than any other place.
The tide country is a utopian realization of the English Lord Hamilton who wanted to resurrect a
peaceful ambience where the people lived without any barriers among themselves. Life there depends on
the capricious onset of the tides thereby leaving no room for discrimination among each other:
The tide country is not simply a remote and hostile environment where nature can be studied in the raw.
It is also a substantial human environment, where natural phenomena develop through interaction with
mankind. It is in fact a zone of several different kinds of interaction, a zone of contact between different
cultural, national, ethnic, linguistic and religious communities. (Dix, 126)
Kanai is on his way to meet his aunt Neelima who resides in the tide country. He has been beckoned by
the Neelima who is known as ‘Mashima’ to be handed some of her dead husband, Nirmal’s documents.
He gets acquainted with an American-Indian cetologist Piyali who is on an assignment to collect details
of a rare species of dolphins in the Sunderbans. Piyali called ‘Piya’ encounters with the corrupt
government forest guards who for the sake of money throws her into the river crammed with crocodiles.
She is rescued by the boatman Fokir who along with his little son Tutul is set forth to catch crabs for their
livelihood. Simultaneously the narrative weaves along the happenings ashore at Mashima’s house where
Kanai reads those papers to find the truth about the tide country. The narrative is fashioned like the tidesone that ebbs onto the shore and one that retreats to the water. Neelima manages a woman
empowerment society that takes in issues of women and other residents of the island. She came years ago
with her husband Nirmal from Calcutta to the tide country so that Nirmal could overcome the
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disillusionment with revolutions in the city. The revolutionary in him waited for a chance which found
its exit when the Indo-Bangladesh war was in its process. The refugees sought shelter in the lonely islands
in the tide country that were declared as tiger reserves. The refugees were driven away from the islands or
sometimes shot dead. Kusum, a resident of the tide country supported the cause of the refugees and
slowly Nirmal also joined her lot. His secretive visits to meet the people in the island called Morichjhapi
invoked in him a sense of responsibility and he began to teach the children there. He was accompanied by
the boatman Horen who also was a distant relative of Kusum. Nirmal began to nurture an odd feeling
towards Kusum , also a widowed mother of the young Fokir. She represents the lot of helpless women
who are lured out of the islands in the fake promise of safe living in the cities. Her mother ended up her
life in a brothel; fortunately Kusum was saved by Rajan who died after Fokir was born. Kusum shared a
bond with the young Kanai who once stayed on the island. Kusum for Kanai had been a book of
information regarding history and myths pertaining to the island. The notes left behind by Nirmal are
read parallel to the events Piya become part of. They serve as connecting link to the various happenings
in the waters; what the rational/scientific perception defines in fact is a mythical phenomenon. Life
seems to shuttle between two mythical figures, Bon Bibi and Dokhin Rai; the occurrences in and out of
the island can be defined in the terms of the battle between them. They represent life and death
respectively and in this regard the whole existence of the people who sees life as an entity evolving
through these mythical dichotomies becomes another myth. At the same time, the landscape of the
forests seem enchanting with its myriad fauna and flora, on the other plane, it acts a mesh trapping the
human psyche with its beauty and fear of its inhabitants. Landscape becomes an integral part in telling
and re-telling the saga of a nation torn among unresolved problems, of people who find themselves
entangled in the webs of identity crisis, of culture that became creolized and transformed into something
new in the flux.
The Myth of Bon Bibi
The people in Sunderbans worship a mythical figure named Bon Bibi who is believed to the guardian of
the lives in the tide country; unlike the archetypal origin of a goddess that begins in “heavens or on the
banks of the Ganges”(102) Bon Bibi hails from Arabia,
The setting was Medina, one of the holiest places in Islam; here lived a man called Ibrahim, a childless but
pious Muslim who led the austere life of a Sufi faqir. Through the intervention of the archangel Gabriel,
Ibrahim became the father of blessed twins, Bon Bibi and Shah Jongoli. When the twins came of age, the
archangel brought them word that they had been chosen for a divine mission:they were to travel from
Arabia to ‘the country of eighteen tide’- athhero bhatir desh ¬–inorder to make it fit for human
inhabitation. (103)
Bon Bibi gains supremacy over the demon Dokhin Rai “who held sway over every being that lived in the
forest—every animal as well as every ghoul, ghost and malevolent spirit. Towards mankind he harboured
a hatred coupled with insatiable desires—for the pleasures afforded by human flesh he had a craving that
knew no limit” (103). The human settlement became the territory of Bon Bibi and Dokhin Rai, who
mostly appeared in the semblance of a tiger, withdrew to rule over the wilderness. This equilibrium is
disrupted as a voracious fleet owner named Dhona who crosses over to Dokhin Rai's territory in search
of forest treasures. The demon manages to ensnare the human troop in the forest. In order to be released,
Dhona agrees to deliver a poor boy named Dukhey, who was the last to join his troop, as ransom to the
demon king. Therefore, Dhona departs with his fleet managing to leave Dukhey behind to be devoured
by Dokhin Rai. Just as the Demon was about to pounce on the poor boy in the guise of a tiger, Dukhey
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remembers his mother's advice to call on Bon Bibi in times of need and appeals to the deity to deliver him
from his ordeal. Bon Bibi appears as if in a flash and drives the demon into the forest after giving him a
lesson to remember. Later, she restored Dukhey his health and sent him back to his mother
(Misra, Preetu).
Bon Bibi represents Mother Nature herself as she is ordained to bring a harmonious equilibrium among
the living beings in the ecosystem, by warding off the evil and thus showing “the world the law of the
forest” (105). “The detailed description of transcultural fusion of Hindu and Muslim strands in the cult of
Bon Bibi is symbolic of the holistic approach to reality in idea and practice which is the basis for the
coexistence of man and nature” (Mahanta 104).The inhabitants of the tide country believe that Bon Bibi
would rescue them in danger; the belief that exists as a myth is challenged by the real mishaps, however,
the trust in the power of the superhuman force persists to the date. Bon Bibi represents a uniting force
that maintains equilibrium in the ecosystem.
The disillusionment with the political happenings in the place synchronizes with the helplessness of the
natives of Sunderbans. The landscape and the waterscape prohibit the people to exercise the freedom of
thought or action, for the life depends on the chances of escape from the waters and the storms and
cyclones. Homi Bhabha has acknowledged the power of landscape to embody the vision of the
emergence of a nation. Bhabha writes that,
[t]he recurrent metaphor of landscape as the inscape of national identity emphasizes the quality of light,
the question of social visibility, the power of the eye to naturalize the rhetoric of national affiliation and
its forms of collective expression.
In a post-colonial nationalist context, landscape and local environment thus work to exorcise the multifaceted appropriation of land through territorial colonial aggression, and re-integrate the subsequent
displaced, erased, or lost identity of the colonized within the post-colonial nation. The landscape adds to
the uncanny atmosphere where the individual loses his or her sense of belonging, girdled by “all that
mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men” (Heart of
Darkness, 106).
Dokhin Rai as the Tiger
The tiger is mostly seen as the evil form of the demon Dokhin Rai. As per the belief of the islanders, the
demon took the form of tiger to devour his prey. The myth of Bon Bibi killing Dokhin Rai is sung by the
boatmen to instill in them courage that they would not be harmed by the tiger. Kusum tells Kanai: ‘No
you can’t use the word-to say it is to call it’ (108). The ‘it’ refers to tiger. The tiger is not seen as a
carnivorous animal rather a demonic force that can appear anywhere once it is addressed. The constant
fear in their minds allows them to lead an unconditional way. There is no ambition, than a wish to fulfil a
day’s requirements. Fokir being the son of the brave Kusum stood odd among others for he never feared
death:
‘My mother told me,’ Fokir said, ‘that this was a place where you had learnt not to be afraid. And if you
did, then you might find the answer to your trouble.’
…
‘My mother used to say that here in Garjontola, Bon Bibi would show you whatever you wanted to
know’ (323).
Unfortunately in Garjontola, Fokir succumbs to death caused by heavy storm and rain, though he saves
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Piya from sharing his fate. Piya is saved thrice, first from crocodiles, second from the tiger who advances
to them, save for the heavy tides and lastly from death. Many people get killed on land by tigers and
snakes. The only animal that can loose its terror on land and water alike is the tiger. The guards take
actions against the tigers being attacked, the pathetic side of this is the number of human lives being
crucified in these reserves never enters the records, Kanai’s words emphasize this man is to tiger ratio:
“…It happens every week that people are killed by tigers. How about the horror of that? If there were
killings on that scale anywhere else on earth it would be called genocide, and yet here it goes unremarked:
these killings are never reported, never written about in the papers. And the reason is just that these
people are too poor to matter”. (300)
In the postcolonial lexicon, landscape is an agency to represent a victimised locale that could tell and retell
the history and histories within a nation. Amitav Ghosh decentres this notion and brings in the
anthropological issues that gets unnoticed and uses landscape to depict the atrocities done on people on
behalf of environmental conservation.
Dolphins as Messengers of Bon Bibi
The dolphins that are exclusively found in the sunderbans “was thought to be the result of the unusually
varied composition of the water itself” (125). In the myth of Tethys, “the Greek goddess who was
Ganga’s mother” (181) shrank and “withered…dying…the birth of the two rivers in which her (Tethys)
memory would be preserved, her twin children- the Indus and the Ganga” (181) the river dolphins called
in Bangla shushuks, are held in a high stature, “the legacy left to the twins by their mother, Tethys. The
rivers nurtured it and made it their own. Nowhere else in the world is the shushuk to be found but in the
twin rivers, the Ganga and the Sindhu” (182). Kusum calls shushuks as messengers of Bon Bibi. This
mythical significance of the dolphins gets evoked when Piya starts believing that these creatures could
foretell natural occurrences:
Logging the dolphins’ appearances, she saw they were surfacing with unusual frequency, with barely a
minute or two separating their exhaltations. And more than once, along with the breathing, she heard a
sound not unlike a sequel.
There was something odd here; she decided… (366)
…Suddenly she understood. Without thinking, she began to shout, ‘Fokir, there’s a storm coming!” (367)
The messengers could convey the danger, though not prevent it. Fokir dies. As Mahanta says, “Like the
cult-religion practiced in the area, life too is a syncretism between man and nature. It is a case of human
and natural ecosystems blending with one another. A blending which can neither be translated by Kanai
nor be understood by Piya from their respective positions” (104-5). Of all, it is Fokir who could
understand and interpret Nature in his own ways.
The life in the Sunderbans cannot be carried on with regard to any human laws; rather it depends on the
tides and ebbs: “Ghosh creates a sustainable ecology where human life is as changeable as the ebb (Bhata)
and flood (jowar) of water” (Jaishree 76). The number of people who were killed in the 1970 cyclone in
Sunderbans is more than three lakhs and that was “one of the reasons why this storm became so famous”
(204). Ghosh maintains that the human loss is taken for granted or seen as in terms of mere numerical
value, The Hungry Tide explicates this rather cold and incongruous attitude.
The Hungry Tide shows the various hues of the lives in the Sunderbans. The Guardian reviews,
Geographically, The Hungry Tide is set in familiar territory for Ghosh - the archipelago of the
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Sundarbans, in the Bay of Bengal. These mangrove swamps are infested with crocodiles, snakes and tigers
which are a constant threat to the scant human population.
The government’s inability to provide safety to human lives in case of emergency is a major issue
discussed in the text. “Tigers are zealously protected by various international environmental groups
(who apply economic pressure on the Indian and Bangladeshi governments to maintain the tiger habitats
by military force)”( Singh Amardeep) In this paper, the main aim was to how these people resorted to
myths for the mundane affairs and how these myths operated in the ecological level. The myth of Bon
Bibi is closely linked to the natural occurrences where her messengers and the natural beings, the
dolphins. The myth overlaps with the ecosystem as animals have the capability to grasp the changes in
Nature. The modern science could easily deconstruct these myths, however, “This tradition has deep
roots in the principles of conservation,” says Pradeep Vyas, Director, Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve.
“Known by many names and forms -- Bonbibi, Bonodurga or Byaghro Devi (tiger deity) -- she is a
personification of the forest. The faith of the villagers in worshipping her and Raja Dakshinrai before
entering the forest is a reaffirmation of their commitment to forest and tiger conservation.”
(Kalpita Dutta)
In post-colonial literary studies, we tend to start with imaginary or imagined landscapes–the literary
text–but too quickly reduce or flatten landscape to an illustration of what might be considered
anthropological reality or political symbolism and not the fundamentally contested and
multidimensional literary construction that it is. In his essay “From Transcendence to Obsolescence”,
Harold Fromm says: It has been said again and again that modern Western man’s comfortable life amidst
the conveniences of technology has caused him to suffer a spiritual death, to feel alienated, empty,
without purpose and direction…. (32) The conciliation of a postcolonial or de-colonized identity begins
by “re-appropriating and remapping the land into an alternate landscape– a constructed visual, textual,
political and social space–and performing through landscape a new body politic”
(Compan and Pieprzak 8).
The Hungry Tide purports that in an environment where life is fragile the essence of any person is
broken down to its core. Amitav Ghosh lets the tide country break down the barriers of both society and
his characters (Greer). The ecomyths are in fact a source of inspiration for the people to move in and on
the land and waters without losing hope. It is belief that Bon Bibi and her messenger shushuks would
ward off the dangers that could befall on the natives of Sunderbans. The omnipresence of the eco-myths
reiterates and in this way establishes the argument that to understand nature, man has to translate the
subtle yet complex contours of this ecomythical associations in the ecosystem.
Notes:
•
Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide.Delhi: Ravi Dayal. 2004. Print.
•
Armstrong, Karen. A Short History of Myth. Delhi:Penguin, 2005. Print.
•
Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture. New York: Routledge, 1994. 143. Print.
•
Compan, Magali and Katarzyna Pieprzak,eds. Land and Landscape in Francographic Literature:
Remapping Uncertain Territories. UK: Cambridge Scholars, 2007. Print.
•
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness & Other Stories. Oxford:OUP,2002. Print.
•
Dix, Hywel. “‘You and Your Stories!’ Narrating the Histories of the Dispossessed in Amitav
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Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide and Salman Rushdie’s Midnights’s Children”. Ed. Bibhash
Choudhury. Amitav Ghosh: Critical Essays. New Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited, 2009.
126-142.Print.
•
Dutta, Kalpita “Maa Bonbibi in the land of tigers”. Web. 20 April 2012.
m<http://infochangeindia.org/environment/features/maa-bonbibi-in-the-land-of
tigers.html>
•
Glotfelty, Cheryll and Harold Fromm, eds. The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary
Ecology. London: U of Georgia P, 1996. Print.
•
Greer, W. R. “The Tide of Emotion”.Rev. of The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh. 2004. Web.
22 April 2012.< http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/hungry_tide/review/ >
•
Jaishree, N. “Struggle or Survival? A Reading of Amitav Ghosh’s Women in The Glass Palace
and The Hungry Tide”. Kakatiya Journal of English Studies. Vol 30.2011, 73-80. Print.
•
Mahanta, Banibrata. “Foregrounding the Local: Nature, Language and Human Enterprise in
•
Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide.” The Indian Journal of English Studies. Vol.XLIV, 97-105.
Print.
•
Misra, Preetu .“The Bon Bibi Legend of the Sundarbans” .Web. 20 April 2012.
<http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Bon-Bibi-Legend-of-the-Sundarbans&id=2827929>
•
Roy,Sandeep. Rev. “The Hungry Tide”.
<http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/hungry_tide/review>
•
Singh, Amardeep. Rev.“Short Review of Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide” .Web. 20 April
2012. <http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2004/08/short-review-of-amitav-ghoshs
hungry.htm >
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Web.
20
April
2012.
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REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN MAHASWETA
DEVI’S ‘RUDALI’
M.S. Vinutha
The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few years. It has
crossed many stages from equal status with men in ancient times through the low status in the medieval
period to the promotion of equal rights as a result of struggle by many reformers. These several stages in
the status of women have made the history of women in India eventful.
In ‘Rudali’, Mahasweta Devi lays open the bare realities of an exploitative and repressive socioeconomic and religious system and the corrupt ways of socially and economically dominant classes.
Alongside, the writer also promotes women’s journey towards agency and empowerment. The
central character of this story, Sanichari who was at the beginning very weak, emerges as an
empowered woman who is better equipped to adapt, survive and manipulate the system according to
her needs of survival.
Sanichari belonged to Ganju, a low class community in Tahad village. Like other villagers, her life was
also lived in distressed poverty. The opening sentences of the novella situate her in a socio-economic
context, and firmly establish that she who shares the dire poverty in the village is a part of the
community which is suffering of poverty. Above this, within the family also she had to undergo the
mental torture from her mother-in-law. Just like any other Indian household, she also had to face a lot
of criticism from the mother-in-law in various ways which is obvious in the opening paragraph- ‘Her
mother-in-law used to say it was because Sanichari was born on inauspicious Saturday that her destiny
was full of suffering.’ (p.71) hence, the very first paragraph focuses on the tension between the fate of
the poor and economically construct situation of these poor. Though she was young and couldn’t
answer back then, she was logical enough to analyze the words and situation and talk to herself very
logically- ‘Because I was born on and named after a Saturday, that made me an unlucky daughter-inlaw?! You were born on a Monday- was your life any happier? Somri-Budhua-Mongri-Bishri- do any of
them have happier lives?’ (p.71) She never cried when her mother-in-law died. Even when her
husband died, she did not cry. The deaths reveal the ground reality of Sanichari’s plight in the village in
two different ways. The writer shows that on one hand Sanichari is getting stronger to handle the
situation according to the need of the hour and on the other hand the religious demands are
exploitative and they are all the more severe, if it is a woman. Sanichari undergoes the religious
impediments in her life at different points of time. When her mother-in-law dies, it was a rainy night
and the funeral rites had to be completed before the night was over. If not, she had to bear the cost of the
repentance rites for keeping the corpse in the house overnight. Though there was not even a cupful of
grain in the house, Sanichari had to perform those rites without any concession. And in the pouring
rain she made all the arrangements for the cremation. Being a woman, she had to take the lead to make
all the arrangements single handed. ‘She was so busy that there was no time to cry... The old woman
had given her so much trouble that even if Sanichari had tried to cry she wouldn’t have been able to
wring out many tears.’ (p.72) Through these lines, Sanichari’s pathetic plight as a daughter-in-law at
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the micro level and as a part of the society at the macro level is made visible. Still more worse was the
situation when her husband died of cholera after drinking milk which was used to bathe the idol of lord
Shiva. The milk had been collected in large tanks over past few days when they had gone to the fair.
The religious demands which accompanied every death further impoverished the already poor like
Sanichari. The priest of the temple demanded that she should make the ritual offerings there only
before returning to her village. She was exploited in the name of religion and was insisted to spend a
‘precious rupee and a quarter on a Spartan offering of sand and sattu’ (p.74). When she returned to her
village, Mohanlal, the priest of Ramavatar (the landlord) scoffed- ‘What! A mere offering of sand, that
too in river water!... Can Tohribrahman know how a Tahad village’s kriya is done? By obeying him,
you’ve insulted your local priest!’ (p.74) So, just to satisfy the local priest, Sanichari ‘was forced into
debt to Ramavatar. She received Rs 20 and put her thumbprint on a paper stating that she would repay
Rs 50 through bonded labour on his fields over the next five years’ (p.75) There was no concern or
concession for Sanichari as a woman. She was made to pay twice over the ritual offerings. The
oppression was two folded as she was a low caste and a woman who was all alone to undergo the
exploitative condition. Every death is seen to be mediated by the religious demands that follow for
rituals which further impoverish the already poor. And every loss and difficulty that she suffered was
because of the dire poverty, the constricted life, and lack of hope of any kind of positive change or
improvement. She had grown so cold that she had not cried or mourned over the death of either her
mother-in-law or her husband.
In spite of all these difficult situations, Sanichari was smart enough to use her presence of mind to get
her debt waved off from Ramavatar Singh. When his uncle was on death bed and many relatives had
come to his place, Sanichari thought that it was the right time to plead and so ‘from outside the door,
she loudly pleaded, You, who are the benefactor of the poor! This poor woman begs you to reward the
service she did you today! Please wipe out the debt due! Write it off as repaid!’ (p.76) She made him
helpless to wave off the debt. From here onwards her growth in a different direction starts. She shows
the strength of her mind which is initiated by the survival instinct. Mahasweta Devi projects her as
empowering herself from this point of her life. Sanichari had poured her heart and soul to bring up her
son Budhua after her husband’s death. Though, the son took the family responsibilities, Sanichari was
not fortunate enough to lead a peaceful life. This was because of two reasons- Budhua had contracted
tuberculosis due to heavy load of work and his wife Parbatia was not happy with the family setup as she
was always hungry for food and there was not enough to eat at home.
On one hand, if Mahasweta Devi projects a woman (Sanichari) who is selfless, motherly and also who
manipulates the situation according her needs and survives successfully with all her strength, on the
other hand she projects a different kind of a woman (Parbatia-Sanichari’s daughter-in-law) who is more
selfish and un-motherly and also who surrenders to the situations and hence very weak in the character.
Since, Parbatia could not control her hunger; she managed to feed herself on all sorts of stuff, as she had
contacts in the marketplace. Her hunger level reached such a stage that after the death of her husband,
she ran away with another man leaving a six month old baby at home. Supporting his wife, once
Budhua had told his mother that, she steals money only to satisfy her hunger. Through Budhua, the
writer familiarizes the readers with another face of the woman who can be helplessly selfish and refuses
to submit to the harsh conditions, even though her options are prostitution and the insecurities of a
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wandering life. Unlike Sanichari who struggles to empower herself as well as the other fallen women,
Parbatia is a very ordinary woman who cannot control and manage her simple desires.
If Parbatia becomes a prostitute because of her own making, there are many women who become
prostitutes because of the landlords. At this juncture, one can recall how Dulan, Sanichari’sneighbour
analyses for Sanichari, Bikhini and his wife how the malik-mahajans create prostitutes by keeping
women and then casting them off, thereby forcing them into the market place. It also becomes very
clear at this point that Dulan is the mouthpiece of the writer when he establishes that the exploitation
of the poor by the rich takes many forms and that prostitutes are also the victims of the landlords along
with the other outcastes.
Further, Sanichari meets Bikhni, her childhood friend and they start living together supporting and
helping one another. Here, Mahasweta Devi makes the readers realize the fact that one woman can
successfully live and lead her life in the company of another woman though there is no blood relation
between them. The writer also explicates the various strategies of survival employed by the subaltern of
the subalterns (women of the low caste) individually and as a community. Very surprisingly, a man
helps these women to empower themselves. Dulan contributes at every stage to the growing
empowerment of Sanichari by advising and showing her the ways to adapt and cope with the
situations. Sanichari learns how to turn the situations according to her convenience and through this
survival strategy she uses the system rather than just being used by it. With the help of Dulan, Sanichari
and Bikhni learn to negotiate with the rich as rudalis. They learn from him that knowledge and
information about the rich is the real power that they can have during negotiation of the terms and
conditions of how much to be paid and what are the things to be given when they render their service as
rudalis. In this way, Sanichari’s self-image shifts from that of helpless victim to empowerment
and agency.
Sanichari and Bikhni become the famous pair as rudalis and when the landlords need a big crowd of
rudalis and an effective funeral, Bikhni used to get more prostitutes from the red light area. After the
death of Bikhni, Sanichari hesitated to go to the area to get the prostitutes. But, after Dulan’sadvice, she
realizes that what one is forced to do to feed oneself is never considered wrong and that ‘consideration
of the stomach are more important than anything else.’ (p.116) At this juncture, Dulan’s words sound
very meaningful and not only project poverty of the poor but also help Sanichari to understand the
need of the hour and move ahead in her life.- ‘Don’t weigh right and wrong so much, leave that kind of
thing to the rich. They understand it better, we understand hunger.’ (p.116) Thereafter, Sanichari
grows confident, uninhibited and canny in all her dealings.
One more interesting fact which can be observed about the status of women through Sanichari in this
novel is that though she is considered as outcaste by the upper caste people, very surprisingly, her own
husband had not considered her below himself and never oppressed or suppressed her. She was
considered as equal and they led their lives peacefully. Mahasweta Devi shows Sanichari and her
husband as partners, both equally working hard for home and livelihood. She works shoulder to
shoulder with her husband. Together the two of them erect a hut on a piece of land they have inherited
after the death of her brother-in-law. This is an unusual reversal of the normative male-family member
type of situation which can be seen. Ironically this kind of life doesn’t exist for women of even the rich
families. Suppression of the female members of the family is very common even among the rich. When
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the middle wife of Nathuni, the landlord says, ‘the others are given respect because they have sons. I’m
the mother of a mere girl’ (p.101) shows not only that the women in the family are not given any kind
of value, but also that the girl children are never the matter of joy though there is no scarcity of money
and property. The irony here is that the upper class women may feel themselves privileged, but are still
bound by the same social and cultural prejudices that affect the poorer women.
Amidst different issues of women as subalterns, the text revolves around the issue of prostitutes as well.
A good example is Parbatia who escapes from a severely circumscribed, poverty-stricken existence,
leaving behind all duties and responsibilities- even her infant son-driven by a hunger and need, in excess
of what her daily life can offer. She runs away with another man and after some years, she is seen as a
prostitute in Tohri. She had surrendered to her fate. Many other cases of prostitution can be seen in the
novel as a result of the exploitation by malik-mahajans. One instance that can be seen is that of one of
the maliks, Gambhir Singh. ‘He kept a whore, had a daughter by her. As long as the whore was alive, he
kept the child in comfort. When the mother died, he told the girl, a whore’s daughter is a whorepractice your profession and support yourself… that girl (Gulbadan) is now rotting in Tohri, in the
randi bazaar.’ (p.91, 92) There were many women who had become prostitutes this way. Most of them
had surrendered to the situation thinking that ‘It’s all a question of fate.’ (p.102)
However, Sanichari grows into a strong, confident woman looking at Bikhni who was more devil-maycare and rebellious and also with the help of Dulan. She reaches such a level that there is no more disgust
or moral aversion towards the prostitutes, though her own daughter-in-law is one amongst them. She
just feels sympathy for those women whose plight is possible worse than her own and hence offers to
empower them as she herself has been empowered by showing them the way to survive by being
rudalis. Towards the end of the novel, the writer tries to show that the custom of the rudali is not just a
means of survival; it is an instrument of empowerment, a subaltern tool of revenge. Sanichari calls
Gulbadan to be a rudali – ‘Gulbadan, you come along as well. Gambhir Singh has died; by wailing for
him and taking their money, you’ll be rubbing salt in their wounds. Don’t hold back. Take whatever
you can. Come. Come.’ (p.117) Finally, unlike any other woman who submits and surrenders to the
situation blaming fate, Sanichari becomes an empowered women and lends a helping hand to empower
the other weak and fallen women as well. Dulan and Bikhni with devil-may-care attitude are equally
instrumental in the gradual empowerment of Sanichari.
Notes:
•
Devi, Mahasweta, Rudali, Trans. Anjum Katyal, Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2008.
•
Sen, Nivedita and Yadav, Nikhil (Eds), Mahasweta Devi : An Anthology of Recent Criticism,
New Delhi: Pencraft International, 2008.
•
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Mahasweta_Devi
•
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Socialism_exclusion.
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THE ARTICULATION AND CELEBRATION OF
FRAGMENTS: A POST MODERN ANALYSIS OF
KAMALA DAS’S POETRY
Swetha Antony
Introduction
If there is a path breaking era in the history of Indian Literature that was the decade starting off from the
mid 1960’s. It was ‘a time to change’ particularly for Indian English Literature, as was declared by a
group of writers who went on to effect a much needed revival. Apart from the towering presence of
Nissim Ezekiel poets such as Dom Moraes, Jayanta Mahapatra, Gieve Patel, A.K. Ramanujan, Arun
Kolatkar, Dilip Chitre, Eunice De Souza, P.Lal, Kamala Das and Aravind Krishna Mehrota were
pertinent in ushering in modernism into Indian English poetry. Characterized by experimentation
with verse and themes, their style of writing was a novel beginning, paving way for the raj of poetry
among the many genres. Moreover, this period is important in the relatively young history of Indian
English Writing as it was during this time that it rose to prominence as one among the New Literatures,
with a unique strategy combining expertly the skeins of new techniques and grains of the Indian
tradition.
Among these pathfinders, the presence and contribution of Kamala Das is indisputably significant, for
she not only challenged the so called ideals of the Indian society but also revolutionized the process of
writing itself. A bilingual writer, she handled various genres like poetry, short story and novel with
panache, but is remembered for her poetry as she was active on the Indian literary scene from the 1960s
till her death in 2009 with eight published volumes of poetry to her credit. Incidentally she was also
nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in the year 1984. As The Times journalist Jenny Booth
says in Das’s obituary her debut into Indian English poetry was a far cry from the “19th century
diction, sentiment and romanticized love” (2009) which had dominated the Indian English Poetry
till then.
The Cosmopolis that is Kamala Das!
Kamala Das carved out a niche for herself with her unique,direct diction and daring thematisation. Her
poetry mostly in the confessional mode was not just an articulation of the self but also a play with
language and the form. At the outset, it is characterized by ambivalence which stems from her diverse
involvement with herself : “Poetry is like that. If you are prepared to go deep into yourself and aspirate
the marrow of your essence, you become a poet. You have a new vision which is a poet’s vision.
Everything is poetry.” (Weisbord 2011: 73)
For Das, the self is in a constant flux defined by many externalities, including the past - the myths,
legends and folklores of her land and her ancestral home ; her present - the post independent India
which opened up the possibilities of an ambivalent yet unified identity; and displacements geographic , psychological and spiritual. It is clear that the ‘I’ – the self —that is the subject of her poetry
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is an ‘I’ that is constantly in the process of attempting to articulate and represent the dilemma arising
out of the conflicts surrounding the ‘I’. Is it not inevitable, then, that her writing becomes an attempt
at articulating this fragmentation? The multiplicity and the sense of fragmentation evident in her
writing are a direct result and effect of the mélange of post colonial crisis and the impact of modernism,
as seen in her poem “An Introduction” which hailed as her poetic manifesto. According to the critic
K.Satchidanandan it is a polyphonic text with several of the poet’s voices seeking articulation in a single
verbal construct (Das 1996: 12). She says:
I am Indian, very brown, born in
Malabar, I speak three languages, write in
Two, dream in one. Don’t write in English, they said,
English is not your mother- tongue. Why not leave
Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins,
Every one of you? Why not let me speak in
Any language I like? The language I speak
Becomes mine, its distortions, its queerness
All mine, mine alone. It is half English, half
Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest,
It is as human as I am human, don’t
You see? (Das 1965: 62)
Through these lines we find her marking her identity as an Indian – yet paradoxically in the same
breath she says she is from Malabar. Interestingly the national identity is pitted against the regional
marker here. She also problematizes the use of the language. Even though she is well versed in her
mother tongue, Malayalam, she chooses to write in English which she says might seem funny to others,
but, ironically it is the only language that could make sense of her existence. From these lines it is clear
that her concerns dwell upon the notions of identity and its articulation.
She identifies herself as a post-colonial Indian who is plagued by essential questions, all pertaining to the
identity and the appropriation of an alien tongue. This deep engagement with subjectivity is also
reverberated in Bill Ashcroft’s concept of “transnation”. He says: “…before national borders have been
crossed, the national subject is already the subject of a transnation” which is … the fluid, migrating
outside of the state that begins within the nation. …. The transnation is a way of talking about subjects
in their ordinary lives, subjects who live in between the categories by which subjectivity is normally
constituted. . . . If we think of the ‘transnation’ extending beyond the geographical, political,
administrative and even imaginative boundaries of the state, both within and beyond the boundaries of
the nation, we discover it as a space in which these boundaries are disrupted, in which national and
cultural affiliations are superseded, in which binaries of centre and periphery, national self and other
are dissolved. This is because, …, the nation is already a migratory and even diasporic aggregation of
flows and convergences, both within and without state boundaries.
(Wilson et al., 2010: 73)
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Ashcroft’s view that the subjects of a transnation are constituted by an in- betweenness is of importance
when it comes to Kamala Das. The ambivalence in her verse can be connected to this aspect.
Kamala Das has experienced an identity change with the changes around her – social, political,
geographical, spiritual and personal. The identity inherent to her roots – the Nair Identity gets shifted
with Indian Independence. This is followed by her marriage to a person with whom she could not
relate to on any level and on top of that she is uprooted to a cityscape. In addition to this, she juggles
religion and faith. Her conversion to Islam at the fag end of her life has also impacted her world view
and consequently her writing. Her life - turbulent with changes and confusion- is expressed by Das in
her conversation with Emily Weiseboard: “Who am I? The mind that goes on asking but never gets any
reply shudders like a fish left gasping on the shore.” (Weisboard 2011: 213). In her search for meaning
and coherence, she stumbles upon poetry.
Is ‘the’ self ‘a’ self?
Her writing in a confessional mode subtly communicates her inherent confusion as a plural identity
arises out of a dialectics between her past and the present, between tradition and modernity, her change
from the rural aristocratic settings to a busy yet lonely middle class metropolitan setup. There is also an
inevitable tinge - an anxiety of loss– an evident consequence, which reverberate within her
metamorphosing into incoherence at times, a pent up madness which floods out through her verse,
All around me are words, and words and words,
They grow on me like leaves, they never
Seem to stop their slow growing
From within. . .
................................
They never seem to stop their coming
From a silence, somewhere deep within. . .
(Das 1965:9)
The silence within her is but a speaking silence. Das’s verse also indicates that she is constantly drawn
between the many selves and images created by the discourses stemming out of a patriarchal paradigm.
As she says:
Dress in sarees, be girl,
Be wife, they said.
Be embroider, be cook,
Be a quarreler with servants. Fit in. Oh,
Belong, cried the categorizers
This is a clear suggestion of the conflicts within her as she comes to terms with the stereotypical
representation of Indian women. She wrote this in the 1960’s Calcutta when the notions of a
progressive India and the emancipation of the women were very prevalent. On the other hand, there is
a possibility that this could also be a declaration of the dilemma wherein, with the shifts from the
matrilineal aristocratic setup to a mainstream metropolitan patriarchal setup she encounters the
stereotyping of a different kind where she is forced to take up a role as depicted in the lines:
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Be Amy, or be Kamala.Or, better
Still,be Madhavikutty. It is time to
Choose a name, a role. (Das 1965: 63).
Her poetry is, in effect, a writing back – a conscious interrogation and an attempt at shifting the
contours of stereotyping.
Linked to the dialectics within her and her work, is the idea of the ‘Name’. Shahnaz Habib, believes
that straddling with many names was one way in which Das straddled her multiple identities. Kamala
Das is the name she uses when she writes in English, when she pens down in Malayalam she becomes
Madhavikutty, she calls herself fondly as Amy in her memoirs and Suraiyya is the name she chose when
she converted to Islam. For her, name, is a nuanced veil – something that conceals, separates or screens.
It could be the disguise that she chooses to come to terms with herself (ves) or her way of celebrating the
many selves in her. In other words she exists in a mélange of differences and similarities which is the
paradox of post modernity. Yet she is all that by her own choice.
The issues of being a woman as constructed by certain notions, of being given identities, and the way ‘I’
becomes just a name, are her evident concerns. When she writes so in “An Introduction” she seems to
allude to the idea that everyone is a proper name with a set of significations attached to it. However, it
comes out as an attempt at trying to place her somewhere within its many folds, out of her urge to
belong, to carve out a niche for herself, as in “An Introduction”, she says, “I too call myself I.”(59). The
image of an old playhouse employed by her in her second collection of poetry is also very poignant for
the same reasons.
. . . You called me wife,
I was taught to break saccharine into your tea and
To offer at the right moment the vitamins. Cowering
Beneath your monstrous ego I ate the magic loaf and
Became a dwarf. ( Das 1973:1)
The Post- Modern paradox.
With Das’s encounter with the many changes, some of them psychologically traumatic, it is inevitable
that a plurality of identity should be the result. She conveys not just the confusion created by the
ambivalence, but also the trauma of dealing with it. Her poetry, in effect, could be a result of the trauma
of the self (ves). The inability to come to terms with the selves or to identify a self to be comfortable
with, results in multifariousness, which inevitably colors her poetry. Almost all the poems start
somewhere, meander through many thoughts and reach somewhere else. The words she uses are
simple but poignant. Yet there are some poems that come out to be complex, some poems where the
real is dovetailed with the fantastic or the bizarre. Some are almost obscure –vague thoughts on the
verge of being philosophical. They are like flashes of lucidity merging into chaos. For instance in “The
Fear of the Year” she starts with “This is no age for slow desires,” but goes off in a tangent after that
ending with the lines:
so that we
Perceive the flying steel hands sow
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Over mellow cities those dark,
Malevolent seeds and the red,
Red, mushrooms hotly sprout and grow
On an earth illogically
Stilled, and silenced, and dead,dead,dead. (Das 1965: 11)
Her writing seems to be caught in a web created by the schizophrenic state. It cannot be dismissed as a
mere coincidence then that Nayantara Sahgal in the essay “The Schizophrenic Imagination” says:
. . . Schizophrenia as a state of mind and feeling that is firmly rooted in a particular subsoil, but above
ground has a more fluid identity that doesn’t fit comfortably into any single mould. A schizophrenic of
this description is a migrant who may never have left his people or his soil. We are all somewhat divided
selves, but I’m referring to the divisions that history and circumstances impose on the complex
creatures we already are. (2000: 104)
In this essay, Sahgal talks about the process of creativity and the impulses behind it. Interestingly she
places herself in the post-independent scenario which is very relevant to the creative process of
Kamala Das.
Her poetry, her outburst - a verbal collage - evokes the stream of consciousness narrative to a large
extent. There is an evident playfulness that is visible and a definitive incoherence which could very well
be the semantic instability that is an integral part of post modern condition. She relies heavily on
techniques like fragmented narration, paradox, and questionable narrative voice. It other words her
poetry is radical, declaring its refusal to be moulded into a specific mode. It can be posited that the
nuances of schizophrenia in her language are imbibed by the confusion arising out of the differences
inherent in a post colonial, post modern cosmopolitan citizen- conflicts induced by the dialectics of
identities.
She found her cocoon in her writing, especially poetry - donning the role to shift the gaze - to shift the
contours of subject and object. It is as if taking a risk of losing the self, only to get an extent of selfrealization. There are poems that seem to question the role of a writer and the process itself. For
instance in the poem “Loud Posters”, she says:
I’ve put
My private voice away, adopted the
Typewriter’s click as my only speech; I
Click-click, click-click tiresomely into your
Ears, stranger, though you may have no need of
Me, I go on and on, not knowing why . . . (Das 1965: 22)
What we find in these lines is the self reflexivity that is an integral feature of post modernism which is
often characterized by the subversion of the implicit contract between author, text and reader. Most
often post modernist works do not tend to embark upon an ending as such. In character development,
both modern and post modern literature explores subjectivism, turning from external reality to
examine inner states of consciousness, exploring fragmentariness in narrative and character
construction. In Das, this aspect stands tall. Her poems are nothing short of meta narratives on which
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post modernism hinges. She self consciously and systematically draws attention to her writing, posing
questions about the relationship between fiction and reality. For her, irony and self reflection are the
favorite tools. This can be traced to the articulation of the dilemma that came out of the conflicts of
gender, caste and class – a long drawn out outcome of the post colonial and post modern condition. She
says in her poem “Composition”:
What I narrate are the ordinary
events of an ordinary life
Ultimately
I will feed only the hunger
to feed other hungers,
that basic one.
To crumble,
to dissolve
and to retain in other things
the potent fragments
of oneself. (Das 1967: 42)
Thus it can be reckoned that for Kamala Das poetry is an articulation and celebration of fragments.
This shines through in her poetry as she speaks about I’’ as the monster, the freak, and I the stranger
inside her. This ‘I’/ ‘other’ dichotomy is her attempt at pinning down a gap or lack within her. A
picture of fragments of herself, picking up different identities is put across through poems like “The
Freaks”, “The stranger and I”, “Forest Fire”, “The Siesta” and many more.
The notion that identity has to be seen in relation to something makes her place herself in
complementary pairs like she and her grandmother, she and her son, she and her husband, she and her
elusive lover, she and some stranger etc… She projects herself into the past and her identity is contested
among a number of identities. Is she the writing subject, or is she the object of the writing? At times it
seems as if it not a merging but a transcending that is taking place – a kind of metamorphosis to her self
and to her writing as is evoked by her poem “The Old Playhouse”. This is similar to the kind of
elusiveness that she gives to the ‘ yakshis’ from the folklore through “The Family Home” or the sea,
which according to her cannot be held as is said in the poem “Suicide”. The sense of ‘I’ as something
constructed, not just the notion of female and woman as construct, but some kind of an artificiality at
the core becomes the foci of her creativity. It is also clear that ‘I’ is always the transcendental signified
for her.
Conclusion
People are different, and differences multiply the more people we meet, placing an ethical
responsibility on us to be open to difference. But even more interesting is the extent to which people
appropriate and maintain difference within themselves, by negotiating different subject positions.
(Bill Ashcroft as cited in Wilson, Sandru and Welsh 2010: 77)
These words are poignant when it comes to Kamala Das. It is not wrong to say here that creativity
especially poetry can be a reflection of the inner selves. Incidentally for her, self is a collage of the many
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selves resulting from the many conflicts- a plurality of selves. Her poetry being confessional and self
reflexive makes it an articulation of these pluralities thereby creating the effect of a schizophrenic
outpouring. Such a condition is inevitable for a person pregnant with a post colonial angst. In grappling
with the newly imposed identities and in trying to articulate in an adopted tongue it is highly probable
that a schizophrenic condition is the outcome. It can be concluded that she articulated this condition
expertly dovetailing it both into the themes and the form of her poetry. The reason behind it is quite
clear from her words itself: “The two of me did not become agitated. One suffered, and one watched
and wrote.” (Weisbord 2011: 131)In short, for Das, poetry was a means of negotiating with her peculiar
situation. The celebration of fragmentation which is visible in her poetry cannot be reduced as play
with the self and the language which she so expertly induced, however it has another level where she
deliberately affected a writing back, a potent critique of the times she lived in.
Notes:
•
Booth, Jenny "Kamala Das: Indian poet and writer". 13 June 2009. London: The Times.
Retrieved May 28, 2011. Online
•
Das, Kamala. Only the Soul Knows How to Sing, Kottayam: D.C.Books,1996.Print
•
------------- Summer in Calcutta, New Delhi: Everest Press,1965. Print
•
--------------The Descendants, Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 1967. Print
•
---------------The Old Playhouse and Other Poems, Madras: Orient Longman, 1973. Print.
•
Habib,Shahnaz. "Obituary: Kamala Das - Indian writer and poet who inspired women
struggling to be free of domestic oppression".18 June 2009. The Guardian: London online
available http <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/18/obituary-kamala-das>
online.
•
Sahgal, Nayantara. “The Schizophrenic Imagination” in Jain, Jasbir. (ed.) Creating Theory:
Writers on Writing, New Delhi: Pencraft International, 2000. Print
•
Weisboard, Emily. The Love Queen of Malabar: Memoirs of a Friendship with Kamala Das,
New Delhi: Research Press, 2011. Print.
•
Wilson, Janet. Sandru, Cristina and Welsh, Sarah Lawson. (eds.) Rerouting the Postcolonial
New directions for the new millennium, London and New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.
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WOMEN AND THE ROLE OF MEDIA
Chetan Kumar T M
Introduction
Women in India make up 52% of its total population. Women empowerment in India is a much
debated topic and a harbinger of challenging task as one need to acknowledge the fact of gender divide
issues and discrimination against women as social malice since thousands of years. Empowering
women aims to inspire women with the courage to break free from the chains of limiting self belief
patterns and societal or religious conditioning that have traditionally kept women suppressed and
unable to see their true beauty and power. Mass media plays one of the significant roles in women's
development and its empowerment. Media can create an awakening inspiration to achieve their
potential as prime movers of change in society.
With the advent of 21st century and its development in various scientific and technological era the
status of women are also changing at a fast pace but we cannot ignore the very existence of a world
where women are discriminated, marginalized and oppressed because of various gender divide issues.
Women are vital human resources in improving the quality of life. The country's overall development
depends greatly on the inclusion of women in its development process. They have been the
transmitters of culture in all societies. The status of women in society is a true index of its cultural,
social, religious and spiritual level. It is one of the most important criteria for estimating with precision
the degree of civilization attained by a particular society in various period of its history. There is
increasing realization that the process of development will be left incomplete without the active
involvement of women.
The portrayal of gender as a product and the accompanying body politic in the media is well
documented. Media can act as both a perpetrator and as a protagonist, it can either be an accomplice to
gender based discrimination by portraying stereotypical sensational images of women or it can provide
balanced coverage that empowers women while exposing acts of gender bias. How to maximize the
voice of those marginalized or weaker sections is a huge concern in the society and what the various
tools are or medium to facilitate them to be heard in a society and why alternative media should be the
chosen one as alternative to others in the present need of the hour.
Role of media in the New Millennium
Media is not only a mirror of the society but also an instrument of political, economical, cultural, social
change. Its main aim is to spread noble ideas of the people and the expression, thought, perception,
feelings and other aspects .It must expose social evils and help the eradication of discrimination,
inequality, race, color, gender and other sources of violence. This is the period of Information
Explosion and this age is considered as the age of Information, this growing trend has made the
involvement of youth, men, women, children in shaping their life patterns as well as providing a better
outlook of socialization pattern.
Women are gradually providing this worth and making and indelible mark in the media world
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sweeping out in various roles they as reporters, writers, news analyzers in print and broadcast media,
anchoring, compeering programmers and effective discussions. 20% of our country population are
youths they are fully mobilized by media, but coming to women they don’t know how women are
shown the representation of her in media is wrongly shown as sexual objects, glamour dolls, skimpily
dressed, villains and shown violent which may lead the society to intimate relationships as well as make
gaze over media .In this context television is massively projected as a effective role of depicting and
distorting women in the fold of commoditization of her body parts which is the biggest violation of
human rights which is a growing trend.
The new millennium witnessed a complete transformation of the media. Private television channels
were given licenses and the market bounded. The multiplicity of television channels, both for
entertainment and news and current affairs, split the skies wide open. Radio, too, began to shape urban
consciousness in a big way. FM channels, though not permitted to air news, navigated intelligently to
raise social issues. Crimes against women, their safety in public spaces, were given priority.
But a slew of channels meant steep competition. Ratings began to dictate the content. Crime emerged
as a popular genre, fetching higher Television Rating Points (TRP) than even political stories. Once
that happened, every crime, even the most innocuous ones, began to be featured in a sensationalized
fashion. Anchors screamed into the cameras building atmosphere, explicit graphics were used to
reconstruct the event and judgments were passed live on air. Reportage hovered on the thin line
between fiction and reality. Facts flower into the wind, identities of victims of violence were revealed,
microphones were shoved into the faces and inappropriate questions were asked, further traumatizing
them, all in the name of news. Even minors were not spared. Over 70 percent of girls who were raped
were below eighteen years of age.
Competitions became so stiff that most news was ungoverned. In the race to be first with the news,
television newsrooms would put out images and content without vetting. Newspapers suddenly faced a
massive exodus with journalists leaving for better pay packages that TV offered but even that did not
meet the demands of the ever-hungry TV channels. No one would remember a mistake in the volume
of news what was churned out endlessly. Things became progressively worse. Viewers complained
about how news was becoming perverse and failing in its mandate, yet remaining glued to their
televisions. Newspapers, much more conservative than news channels, were influenced as well. Print
journalists positioned stories keeping in mind what was played out through the day. The tone of the
stories and the manner in which stories were told began to get tinged by the same hyperventilation that
marked TV news.
Women and Media – Depiction and Distortions
Nowadays a fast growing and everlasting forms of communication could be done only with the help of
media. The importance of media has gone to a wider extend of providing basic information knowledge,
reality, socialization, shaping the perception of the individual as well as gains a way leading the country
towards its up gradation as a whole. Media is not only a mirror of the society but also an instrument of
political, economical, cultural, social change. Its main aim is to spread noble ideas of the people and the
expression, thought, perception, feelings and other aspects. It must expose social evils and help the
eradication of discrimination, inequality, race, color, gender and other sources of violence.
Women and media play a vital role now days. Media which influences all sets of people through
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Newspaper, Television, Films, and others had provided a wider social change. But doesn’t had changed
the pattern of women no it has not she is considered as an object sexual harassment, glamour doll,
oppressed, depicted and distorted one. She has been portrayed daily in the media as commoditized
object of advertising her body to sell the products of all MNCs and local companies.It could also say
one of the marketing trends of female bodies of male gaze. Media treating women is narrow. On films
as well as in the press and the broadcasting media women are typically under-represented and cannot go
further than the confines of home and family. These are all considered a factorial form of media where
she is treated as an inferior sex and inferior status where she is not socially, economically and culturally
portrayed. It has portrayed stereotypical sensational images of women accompanying the body of
politic in the media. Due to various efforts of Feminists they are coming forward to make the issues
come out of from them and struggle for their freedom. The role of women in media started off from the
1960s onwards when television became a part of the society. From that period onwards women who
were shown in the newspapers, films and television received a lot of importance. Portraying women is
common now days where she is being exploited day to day by the means of her ignorance unaware of
any situations. Why she is thus portrayed? It is due to male dominant society where she is considered as
inferior sex of men and she could only serve as a homemaker or a mother, so regarding Medias context
on women is irrational and under exploited as a social evil of the community. She is unsecure in doing
works and exploited in the name of working conditions in media.
Depiction of Women in Television
The impact of visual media as a very powerful vehicle for communicating ideas and images is known to
be tremendous. Television creates a world which seems very real and viewers are unable to differentiate
between the contrived world and the real one. Impact of television is more on the young children and
adolescents, who sit in front of the television, and for hours, succession of pictures is watched by eyes
that are only just opening onto the world and it becomes imprinted on minds that are still
impressionable. The availability of cable and satellite television exposes them to new information
about the outside world; reinforces stereotypes and beliefs which may affect individual attitudes and
behaviors. It’s also a known fact that children’s gender development occurs through observation and
imitation of gender behavior. While family and school play the roles of primary agents of socialization
for children, transmitting values, beliefs, Do’s and Don’ts of society; the role and influence of television
cannot be undermined considering the amount of time that children spend watching television these
days. Because gender roles are socially constructed, most of the behaviour associated with gender is
learned rather than innate. People learn what sorts of behaviour and personality are regarded in their
cultural context as appropriate for males or females. Television also perpetuates traditional gender
stereotypes because it reflects dominant social values. In reflecting these values, television also
reinforces them, presenting them as 'natural'. Thus, as one might expect in our society, which is largely
dominated by men; influenced by these stereotypes, unconsciously what gets reproduced is a
traditional 'male' perspective, perpetuating dominant gender stereotypes.
The concept clearly says that women could be only as a homemaker maintains the households, being a
good wife and good mother to her kids. But she is exploited in the means of serials like characters which
are unrealistic, ignoring characters where she is not represented in a right position at all. Most of the
television serials which are shown are fully stereotypically in nature where men go to the office and
women are shown are light of approval and disapproved that she stays on home which means that they
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don’t have work at all. Women are shown as billions who go for power of hunger in the role of
stereotyping which comprises full of vices. This is the vamp of anti-heroine where women portrayed as
ultra modern women while she works as a plunging neckline, bold, shorthair, ruthless, and villains.
Women in Advertising
(Different Advertising Media)
There are several categories of advertising listed below.
1. Broadcast media e.g. TV, Film, Radio, Internet and Screen sliders,
2. Print Media e.g. Magazines, Trade Journals, Technical Publications and
Periodicals,
3. Outdoor or Mural e.g. Poster hoardings, Display Boards, Electric signs etc,
4. Transit Railways, Buses, Aircrafts, subways etc,
5. Direct Mail Advertising, and
6. Other forms like Window Display, Point of purchase material, Exhibitions etc.
Throughout the planet, cable/satellite television has grown at a very fast pace and among all popular
means of mass media, Television has naturally the greatest mass appeal as well as acceptance. From the
year 1991 when the satellite television was introduced, the idiot box of 1980s turned into a new world
full of magic and hundred of channels. It is a fact that all developments lead to unexpected changes.
Similarly, television too has transformed its viewing as a fragmented exercise. Now the whole family
does not watch programmes together like in the decade of 1980; but there are different programmes for
different target audience like housewives, youth, businessmen, elderly people and children.
The advertisers too have recognized their specific target groups and have started making
advertisements according to target viewers of the serials. Television has a very powerful impact as it
creates a world that seems very real and viewers are unable to differentiate between the contrived world
and the real one. Particularly the young children and teenagers are more affected as they are exposed to
a new outside world and therefore the advertisements being shown shape their thinking whether it is
representation of women or other things. Gender and media is the subject that is being discussed
frequently. The portrayal of gender as a product and the accompanying body politic in the media is
well documented. Media can act as both a perpetrator and as a protagonist. it can either be an
accomplice to gender based discrimination by portraying stereotypical sensational images of women or
it can provide balanced coverage that empowers women while exposing acts of gender bias.
Advertisements
Advertisement is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or
listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideas or services. They are a prominent and
very significant part of television viewing. It informs, persuades and motivates the consumer about the
advertised products, services or ideas. In our caste conscious, superstitious, feudal and intensely
patriarchal society, portrayal of women has always varied from one stereotype to another-such as a girl
child being a prospective mother, a woman as a sex object or an eye catcher; a woman as homemaker
whose only aim in life is to serve her husband with mouth watering dishes or making him proud by
providing him with the whitest shirt. But times have changed and so has the women in advertising.
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Women are now no longer confined to four walls of the house; they are moving out and are also
supported by her male family members.
Advertisements, which are a careful blend of verbal and visual components, are meant to render an
effective selling message. Women in Indian advertising are being seen in a different way now, as they are
reflective of changes in the society. Women are now depicted in numerous contexts like as a girl child,
prospective mother, a career woman or as a person who enhances the appeal of the advertisement. Now
modern advertisements are presenting a more realistic and balanced picture of Indian women.
Women and the Law
Portrayal of women in media has been big concern it was during 1975 it was noted by the Committee
On The Status Of Women, it stated out certain recommendation in avoiding the portrayal of women
should be stopped out. Later during 1986 the INDECENT REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN
(PROHIBITION) ACT was introduced its main aim is to provide proper regulation of representation
of women in media. It prohibits indecent representation of women through advertisements, books,
writing, paints, and figures or in any other manner. Section 4 prohibits the sale, hire, production,
distribution, circulation, sending by post any book, pamphlet, slide, film, writing, drawing, painting,
etc which contains indecent representation of women in any forms.
The National perspective plan for women (1988-2000) explain that the media should project women
in unorganized sectors as workers not merely performing duties of mother or daughter.
Advertisements displaying women as women as sex symbols and using them for sales promotion
should be seriously discouraged. It either felt that it was equality necessary not to convey sex linked
division of labor or womens predilections with feminine per suit through conventional and traditional
stereotypes womens programmes should be telecasted at least one hour in a day. Awareness with regard
to problems of women in unorganized section is necessary for both men and women. Media and the
programmers should be a flexible one.
Prasar Bharathi (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act 1990 lays down its powers and functions,
the need to inform and stimulate the national consciousness in regard to the status and problem of
women, paying special attention to the up liftmen of women. Doordarshan plays an important role
and a powerful instrument to speed the message of and assist in the overall improvement in the status of
women, the government used this facility wisely and well. Beijing platform for action, It was
highlighted in Beijing conference that lack of gender issues and can find stereotyping gender can be
found in public and private, local, national and international media. Print and electronic media in most
confines do not provide a balance picture of womanâ€.s deserve life and contribution to society in a
changing world.
The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP):
It is the representation of women and men in mass-media. On 16 February 2005, hundreds of women
and men in 76 countries around the world participated in the third GMMP, 13000 news items on TV,
radio and in magazines were monitored various professionals in media where involved in this. To India
it electronic media organizations across English and regional electronic media was monitored. The
report submitted on 2005 stated out that the survey which was taken in 76 countries from 1995 till now
17% of news devoted to women and marginally during 2000 it became 18% and between 2000 and 2005
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it has increased from 18% to 21%. The overall representation of women is low participation is due to
the news which are linked with percepations of womens status in the society as a whole. Womens view
is not considered was important as men. in India 35% of anchors are women its compared with 21% of
overall countries specifically in television its 14% 17% of women in news are projected as women
shown in news doesnâ€.t have specified occupation that women in education and Government
employees. Only 5% have gender challenging, stereotypes and 91% do not highlight either gender
equality or in equality.
NCW (National Commission for Women):
National Commission for women has suggested modifications in the Act and elaborates upon ways to
strength the in it and make it workable so that the objectives can be achieved. The NCW recommended
that. This definition says depiction of women in, any manner of her body or any part thereof would
amount to indecent or derogatory representation if it has the tendency to make women as a sexual
object. The tendency to present a woman as a sexual commodity for mans pleasure or to glorify
womens subordination to man as an attribute to womanhood or the effect of being indecent or being
derogatory, to order igniting a women or it is likely, to deprave, corrupt or injure public morality or
morals. The latest reports of NCW has accomplished that women who are abused in media are now
days increasing a lot.
Conclusion
Women in India are increasingly exposed to education and participate in workforce; gender
demarcations are undergoing rapid change. They have now greater physical, cultural and social
mobility than what their mothers and grandmothers used to have. Today’s woman has the freedom to
explore new ways of living, peer bonding, handling relationships, and so on. Since they are getting
monetarily independent, their value at home is also increasing. This has reduced the “commodity”
status of women and their portrayal as sex objects in advertisements has witnessed a key change.
A multi pronged strategy for awareness and mobilization of public opinion is needed for developing a
positive image of women in media. It is also necessary to draw a fine line as to what constitutes morality
and what is obscenity. In advertising, there has been a sea change in the depiction of women in India
during past two decades. They have kept pace with the changes in the society.
Even though there are various laws protecting women representation in media but it has failed to
incorporate it in media. The tendency of presenting women as a sexual commodity for satisfying mens
pleasure or to glorifying womens subordination to men as an attribute to womanhood or the effect of
being indecent or degrading .
Inspite of the law, gender concerns in media is a serious concern today as the problems of women’s
portrayal in the media has been agitating the mind of the civil society and an attempt is being made to
curb this growing problem. Continued incidences of obscene depiction of women in television and in
media in general, call for a debate on the need for effective laws against them and proper
implementation of the existing legal provisions. There is a section of society which uphold the opinion
on having their creative freedom of expression, a fundamental human right. However, the duty that
has to go along with exercising this freedom has to be stressed upon, apart from complying with
prevailing laws.
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Notes:
•
Longjam Meena Devi. Empowering Women through Alternative Media
http://www.rtc.bt/Conference/2012_10_15/2-MeenaLongjam-AlternativeMedia.pdf
•
Meenu Anand. Women in Television : Depictions and Distortions
http://www.du.ac.in/fileadmin/DU/Academics/course_material/hrge_10.pdf
•
George, Dimitrov. “Media and Human Rights: Women in Television Depiction and
Distortion in India”. <http://www.booksie.com/other/article/georgedimitrov/media-and
human-rights-:women-in-television-depiction-and-distortion-in-india/nohead/pdf/ver/8>
•
Chaudhuri, Mohuya. “Role of Media in Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Public Spaces”.
htttp://cequinindia.org/pdf/Special_Report/ROLE%20OF%20MEDIA%
20IN%20ADDRESSI G%20GENDER%20by%20Mohuya%20Chaudhury.pdf
•
Khare, Dr Sumi. “Changing Role of Women in Indian Advertising”. International Journal of
Transformations in Business Management (IJTBM) 2011, Vol. No. 1, Issue No.1, January-March.
Pp 8. http://www.ijtbm.com
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RUTH OZEKI'S MY YEAR OF MEATS: A POST
MODERN READING
Dr. Mehrunnisa Pathan Saheblal
Ruth Ozeki is a Canadian American novelist film maker and Zen Buddhist priest. She worked in
commercial Television programs and media production for over a decade and made several
independent films before she turned to put the pen on the paper. She studied English and Asian studies
at Smith College and travelled extensively in Asia. She is the recipient of Japanese Ministry of education
fellowship award pursue her to graduate in classical Japanese literature at Nara University. During her
years in Japan she worked in Kyoto's entertainment. Dater district as a bar hostess, studies flower
arrangement as well as Nohdrama and mask curving, founded a language school, and taught in the
English department at Kyoto Sangyo University. Ozeki returned New York in 1985 and began a film
career as an art director, designing sets and props for low budget horror movies .She switched to
television production, after several years directing documentary, style programs for a Japanese
company. She started making her own films. Body of Correspondence 1994 won the new vision Award
at the Sans Francisco film festival. Having the Bones 1995 an award winning auto biographical film,
tells the story of Ozeki's journey as she brings her grand mother's remains home from Japan. The
movie is screened a the Sundance Film Festival the Museum of Modern Art, the Montreal World Film
Festival, and the Margaret mead film Festival and many other places Ozeki's films, now in educational
distribution, are shown at Universities, museums and venues around the world Ozeki, a frequent
speaker on college and University campuses, currently divides her time between New York city and
British Columbia, where she writes, Knits Socks, and raises ducks with her husband artist diver
Kellhammer. She practices Zen Buddhism with Zoketsu Norman Fischer, and it is editor of the Every
Zen Website. She received Awards such as Kiriyama for My Year of Meals, American book award for
All my Creation. A Tale for the Time Being was short listed for Nobel Prize for literature in 2013. In a
conversation with Ruth Ozeki when she was asked, 'What inspired you to write a novel about the meet
industry? She said, 'Actually, it never occurred to me to write a novel about the meat industry. I started
out writing a novel about a woman who makes television, especially Japanese, T.V. documentaries
about American life. I'd worked in this small niche of the media industry for eight or nine years, and
during that time, it always struck me that the funniest, most interesting, most tragic, and most
culturally profound interactions always happened either behind the camera or when the camera was
turned off. I hate wasting good narrative and am an archivist at heart, so I decided to record some of the
anecdotes. I started with the same of Suzuki and oh in the motel room shooting out the Hustler
magazine. Pinups with a Wal-Mart air gun, and before I knew it I'd stumbled upon a first person
narrative voice that was strong enough and had enough to say, to sustain a novel. My Year of Meats
deals with an cross - cultured tale of two seemingly disparate women Jane Takagi Little and Akiko
Ueno. Jane Takagi is a documentarian gets a job at American meat Industry sponsored program 'My
American Wife' for Japanese audience it is a Japanese Program by an American meat- exporting
business. Jane discovers some unsavory truths about love, fertility and a hormone called DES. On the
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other side of the Globe the author introduces the character of Akiko Ueno, a beleaguered Japanese
housewife, who is submissive and obeys her husband. She struggles to escape from her child-craving
husband.
Ruth Ozeki very brilliantly makes the lives of two characters to intersect, one obedient housewife,
whereas the other is the representative of the 'American' voice in form of my American wife. The
author had tried to project the realities thousands of Japanese used for the commercialization of the
products and markets to gain profits. To make money out of meat industry is the only concern of the
Japanese sponsored American program. The hormone called DES is used for both women and cows.
Ruth Ozeki says, "of course, the climax occurred when I came across the information that the synthetic
hormone D.E.S. had a history of misuse, as not only as a pregnancy drug for women, but as a growth
stimulant for cattle. Suddenly the metaphor was no longer simply a literature conceit. It was
frighteningly real: women weren't just like cows; women and cattle were being given the identical
drug, with equal disregard for safety. I realized then that Jane was a D.E.S. daughter, and it was a
moment of exquisite and horrifying resonance. The novel explains in depth the issues of the issues of
the overuse of antibiotics and growth hormones, estrogen poisoning from DES, feed lot practices that
lead to mad cow disease, and dangerous and inhumane slaughter houses. The writer also focuses on
issues such as soil erosion and global warming to unsustainable cattle grazing. At the end of the novel,
an appended bibliography further reinforces the idea of documentable truth. The novel divides
between fact and fiction to enable the readers to understand the marginalization of Asian Americans,
the bi-racial subjects within mass media.
The novel also links to the modes of production that shapes the experiences basically related to meat
and media and on the other side the critical role that race and racism play in reproduction; again that
deals with the physical health, family formation and structures of identification. The novel operates at
two levels: issues of Asian American identity and the Meat Industry / Mass Media.
Jane is a biracial documentary film maker who grew up in rural Minnesota, their worked for a time in
Japan, where she produced corporate sponsored television programming. Jane is an original Japanese
American - a nearly six foot - tall, green - haired rebel who speaks "Men's Japanese" and who identifies
as 'Polysexual, Polyracial, and perverse". She is thus identified as a racial, gender, sexual and national
boundary-crosser.
Jane's primary nemesis is Joichi Ueno, the abrasive and abusive Japanese advertising executive charged
with the BEEF-Ex account. As Jane battles her boss to expand the television program’s model of
'typical American Family" beyond white, middle-class meat-and-potatoes eaters, Ueno terrorizes his
own wife Akiko, whose bulimia develops in Conjunction with their marriage. Akiko accepts Ueno's
request to serve as a show's test audience, rating each program and following that week's recipe. After
her drunkenly rapes her one right and she becomes pregnant. Akiko runs away to America to raise her
baby as a single Mother.
Meanwhile, Jane finds herself un-expectedly pregnant by Sloan her jazz musician lover, but loses the
baby due to a malformed uterus that is a result of her Mother's doctor-prescribed use of the synthetic
hormone DES.
Jane's personal experience thus dovetails with her work on a television program, since she learns that
DES is now used to bulk up cattle, despite severe health effects for humans who come into contact with
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the drug. Jane is eventually fired by her authorities for her refusal to follow My American wife is
approved script.
She then decides and devotes herself to work on a "real" documentary about DES poisoning, using key
footage from one of the unaired television episodes featuring a five-year old girl who premature sexual
development is a result of DES use on the family cattle.
The novel ends with Jane speculating that "may be sometimes you have to make things up, (Sic) to tell
truths that alter out comes. The novel at the subterranean level has a mixture of both fact and fiction
and brings an awareness of Hormone called DES and the novel also depicts the author's concern for
marginality and racial authenticity, basically for Asian and Asian American women.
"In the end, Kristeva’s discussion of a third generation of feminism is less about the gains that could be
made for women and more about the gains that can be made for human beings."
Julia Kristeva relates the third generation of feminist writers as who believes for the betterment of
humanity rater than placing man and woman in opposition. Ruth Ozeki as a third generation writer
takes the readers through her fictional creation to the reality and facts, to the documentaries thereby to
have a better future for all human beings. In Ruth Ozeki's novel My Year of Meats it is the gain in terms
of physical health for women and awareness about the meat industry in general for all the human
beings.
Notes:
•
Ruth, Ozeki. My Year of Meats. London: Penguin Books, 1999.
•
Noelle, McAfee. Julia Kristeva. New York and London: Routledge, 2004.
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MIGRATION AND RETURN IN BHAGWAN S.
GIDWANI’S RETURN OF THE ARYANS AS A
REPRESENTATIVE OF HINDU POLITICS BASED
ON RELIGION AND STATE
Dr. Panchali Mukherjee
The term ‘migration’ has been derived from the Latin lexicon ‘migratio’. The human migration refers
to the physical movement by a large or a small group of individuals over long or short distances from
one area to the other. Bhagwan S. Gidwani in the historical novel Return of the Aryans (1994) shows
the pre-historic migrations of the Aryans from Bharat Varsha (India) in 5000 BC to various parts of the
world, their trials and triumphs overseas and finally their return to Bharat Varsha.
Everett S. Lee in “A Theory of Migration” (1966) classifies the factors causing migrations into two
categories namely ‘Push Factors’ and ‘Pull Factors’. The push factors refer to the unfavourable
attributes in a region which cause migrations. The pull factors refer to the favourable attributes in a
region which attract migrants from a different region. The theme of migration in this novel deals with
the social context in the migrants’ region which prompts them to leave. In this novel, the slaves who
had been settled by Sindhu Putra, the crusader against slavery who attained the status of a god, are
forcibly evicted by the armies of Karkarta Sauvira and Gangapati XIV after his murder from the land in
which they had been settled. This land is a “punya-bhumi” (Gidwani 699) or a land where virtuous acts
are performed or a sacred land for these slaves as they turn the rocky barren land to a lush green fertile
land with their labour. Thus the eviction of the ex-slaves from their land becomes the push factor for
the initiation of mass migration. The ex-slaves who are the people of this land or “rya” (Gidwani 700)
become “arya” (Gidwani 702) or non-people or exile and leave the sacred land. The “aryas” swell in
number as they are joined by people who are not displaced and uprooted but are affluent, secure in their
positions and are threatened by no one. They join the cry “We are arya!” (Gidwani 702) as they are
moved by pain and tears of the others, their minds dwell on Sindhu Putra and they feel that they too are
the victims. The movement begins in fear and faith- fear of the land in which they feel rejected, the
routes to new lands would be difficult and dangerous and they may not find new lands. They have faith
in the spirit of Sindhu Putra that they would be guided on an auspicious path that would lead them to
new lands. “The great migration of the Aryans from Bharat Varsha had begun” (Gidwani 708).
Hinduism is an important source of political discourse in India. The theme of human migration and
return in Bhagwan S. Gidwani’s Return of the Aryans manifest the various aspects of Hindu politics
such as Gandhian Socialism, Ram Rajya, Integral Humanism, Cultural Nationalism in the form of
Hindu Nationalism, Hindutva, Third Way, Litigation Free Model, Swadeshi, Uniform Civil Code and
‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’.
The ideology of ‘Ram Rajya’ is associated with Hindu politics. It is an ancient Indian concept of an ideal
society based on pure moral authority. Bhagwan S. Gidwani shows in the novel that the Aryas go in
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search of a pure land which they call “punya-bhumi” (Return of the Aryans 699) that is synonymous to
‘Ram Rajya’. The ex-slaves who have been settled by Sindhu Putra are evicted from their lands after the
murder of Sindhu Putra. The ex-slaves become ‘arya’ meaning non-people or exiles from ‘rya’ meaning
people of the land and as a result the migration of aryas begins to faraway lands in search of “punyabhumi” (Return of the Aryans 699) or ‘Ram Rajya’ where the ex-slaves will not be persecuted (Return
of the Aryans 699-708).
‘Integral Humanism’ is a political philosophy propounded by Deendayal Upadhaya (1916-1968) in
Integral Humanism (1965). The philosophy proposes that each nation creates institutions to satisfy
needs and these institutions should be shaped by group or social solidarity which can be sustained and
maintained under changing circumstances. The ‘Song of the Hindu’ in the novel states the basic
premise of ‘Integral Humanism’:
… What then is the goal of the Hindu? Through strength, unity, discipline… to reach the ultimate in
being, ultimate in awareness and ultimate in bliss, not for himself alone, but for all… (Return of the
Aryans 65)
The theme of migration and return in Bhagwan S. Gidwani’s Return of the Aryans is based on the
politics and ideology of nationalism with the nationalistic purpose of debunking the “Aryan Invasion
Theory” advocated by the British. This kind of nationalism is called “Postcolonial Nationalism” or
“Third World Nationalism”. The “Postcolonial Nationalism” is born in those nations that have been
colonized and exploited, to fulfil the requirement of offering resistance to the colonial powers. It
ensures that the identities of the colonized people are primarily authored by themselves and not by the
colonial powers.
‘Hindutva’ is a term coined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966) in a pamphlet titled Hindutva:
Who is a Hindu? (1923). It refers to Hinduness or the quality of being a Hindu. Veer Savarakar
considered Hinduism to be an ethnic, cultural and political identity of the Indians who inhabit the land
of their ancestors, India. He includes all Indian religions in Hinduism. He envisions the creation of a
‘Hindu Rashtra’ or a Hindu nation as ‘Akhand Bharat’ stretching across the entire Indian
subcontinent. The advocates of Hindutva such as M.S. Golwalkar and H.V. Sheshadri exhibit
‘Postcolonial Nationalism’ when they subvert the history of ancient India as presented by the British
to justify their colonial rule in India and to foreground the ‘White Man’s Burden’. Thus these advocates
of Hindutva refute the ‘Aryan Invasion Theory’ as professed by the British historians and foreground
the ‘Out of India Theory’ which contradicts the ‘Aryan Invasion Theory’.
The “Aryan Invasion Theory” advocated by the British states that pre-historic migrations of the protoIndo-Aryans occurred in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent. According to Gidwani, it
is a myth created by the British in order to prove the fact that Indians have always been ruled by the
foreigners as they are incapable of ruling themselves. The foreign invaders such as the Aryans or the
British have brought progress and enlightenment to the Indians. Thus the Indians should never aspire
for self-rule as it will bring darkness, decadence and ruin over them. The author subverts this myth by
showing the mass migration of Aryas out of Bharat Varsha to different parts of the world in search of a
sacred land and their eventual return to Bharat Varsha after their realization that there is no sacred land
as such except for the one that you make using your efforts. Bhagwan S. Gidwani in his novel displays
‘Postcolonial Nationalism’ when he gives an account of the ‘Out of India Theory’ based on Hindutva
where he shows the Aryas to be migrating out of India rather than Aryas invading the north-western
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part of the Indian subcontinent and then settling there. The author also shows the way in which the
Aryas from Bharat Varsha have positively influenced the people of the foreign lands. They have been
instrumental in abolishing abominable social practices, customs and rituals in those lands. They have
taught them agriculture and about many other developments in different spheres of knowledge.
The author in the “Introduction” to the novel states, “But what I am trying to say in this novel is that
the Aryans who left Bharat Varsha were not warriors or conquerors, not men of genius or madness;
they were not religious zealots, fanatics or crusaders. These travellers simply had a dream that led them
on towards the ‘unreachable goal of finding a land that was pure and free from evil – and it was a road
that led everywhere but finally nowhere’ and at last they came to realize that there was no land of pure,
except what a man might make of his own efforts”. (Return of the Aryans xv)
Bhagwan S. Gidwani shows ‘Cultural Nationalism’ in the form of ‘Hindu Nationalism’ in the novel.
‘Cultural Nationalism’ which refers to a kind of nationalism in which the nation is defined by a shared
culture and the national identity is created by cultural traditions and language. As per Hindu politics
the idea of ‘Cultural Nationalism’ is manifested in the form of ‘Hindu Nationalism’ because the term
‘Hindu’ does not refer to a follower of a particular faith but to an individual who shares his/her cultural
identity with the other inhabitants of a particular land or a nation state, in this case, India or Bharat
Varsha and may be the follower of any faith. The author makes Ekantra, a character in the novel,
espouse the ideology of ‘Cultural Nationalism’ in the form of ‘Hindu Nationalism’ to Bharat and
Yadodhra:
Ekantra nodded again and said, “No doubt, they speak of pre-ancient Sanathana Dharma when they
say the Hindu is without a beginning. After all, the two expressions – ‘Hindu’ and ‘Sanathana Dharma’
– are synonymous and interchangeable, and came to apply to all the people who then lived along the
Sindhu, shortly after the 108 tribes led by the old man arrived there.”
Ekantra understood Bharat’s unasked question and slowly said, “I think you are trying to ask: when did
the Hindu tradition or the Sanathana Dharma begin? I don’t know, son. There are of course those who
say that it is timeless, ageless without beginning.” (Return of the Aryans 119)
The ‘Third Way’ or the ‘Hindu Way’ is a socioeconomic philosophy which was propounded by Shri
Dattopant Thengadi (1920-2004) and refers to the empowerment of the dispossessed by giving them
ownership of the means of economic production. Bhagwan S. Gidwani in Return of the Aryans
incorporates the idea of the ‘Third Way’ or the ‘Hindu Way’ as he shows Sindhu Putra empowering the
slaves who are dispossessed of their land and belongings by providing them with the ownership of land
which they use for agriculture. The slaves refer to this land as “punya-bhumi” (Return of the
Aryans 699).
‘Litigation Free Model’ which is an important attribute of Hindu politics was developed by Nanaji
Deshmukh (1916-2010) who was a social worker and a veteran leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh. He strived for a litigation free resolving of conflicts and differences which is based on the ancient
Indian principles of consensus and alternate conflict resolution. This in turn helped in rural
development and avoided the impoverishment and exploitation of the rural folk as they would not
waste their efforts in seeking justice through litigations. In the novel, the author provides an insight
into the prototype of ‘Litigation Free Model’ as it existed in the pre-ancient Indian society through the
following example from the land of Sindhu which probably later brought in the trend of out of court
settlement in case of a dispute:
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The man who raped Hiranbai and killed her mother would surely have received the mandatory
punishment of enslavement, confiscation of wealth and castration. But Karkarta’s court was
not invoked.
Hanauti, owner of the whorehouse, pleaded that the matter be hushed up for the good name of the
whorehouse. The whores refused. Hanauti had to agree that the culprit be caught and punished.
(Return of the Aryans 207)
In this example, the criminal who committed the heinous crime of rape and murder is punished
without invoking the court of the Karkarta or without any litigation.
Gandhian Socialism is a philosophy propounded by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) in
Hind Swaraj (1909) that adopts a sceptical approach towards technology and large scale
industrialization with an emphasis on self-employment and self-reliance so that people lived together
with love and tolerance. The idea of ‘Swadeshi’ is interrelated to the ideology of Gandhian Socialism.
It is a chief tenet of Hindu politics. The word has been derived from Sanskrit where ‘swa’ means self and
‘desh’ means country. The idea refers to the self sufficiency of one’s own country. The author shows
the self-sufficiency and self-reliance of Bharat Varsha in this novel. The novel portrays that migration
from one region to the other leads to the sharing of knowledge between the members of two or more
regions thereby bringing about self-sufficiency, self-reliance and development in a particular region.
The progress of the pre-ancient civilization is manifested in the development of ships and harbours in
the land of Sindhu. Vasistha, the elder son of the Karkarta Nandan, developed ships as well
as a harbour:
Vasistha himself had gone to lower Sindhu, several years earlier, as a junior member of a large group
sent by Bharat under an experienced boat-builder, Naupati, to study the boat-building techniques but
Vasistha, along with his two seniors – Naupati and Pilava – remained. He and his two seniors were
making phenomenal progress in building bigger, faster and more dependable boats, which could be
used for longer voyages in rough weather. (Return of the Aryans 335)
Bhagwan S. Gidwani brings home the idea of a ‘Uniform Civil Code’ associated with the Hindu
politics in the novel Return of the Aryans. The idea of a ‘Uniform Civil Code’ refers to a similar set of
secular civil laws which governs people irrespective of their religion, caste and tribe. The Bharat
Programme devised by Nandan, the Karkarta of the land of Sindhu, and Sharat, Nandan’s son, in
consultation with Sindhu Putra is an example of a ‘Uniform Civil Code’ as it proposes certain laws
which govern the people of the land of Sindhu without exception (Return of the Aryans 489). Sindhu
Putra journeyed from the land of Sindhu to the land of Ganga and to the land of Tamala abolishing
slavery, freeing the slaves and implementing the laws of the Bharat Programme to protect the rights of
the slaves in these lands.
“Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum” (Mahopanishad VI. 71-73) is a phrase derived from Sanskrit which means
that the world is a family and an individual should respect the differences that exist in this world which
would lead to peace and harmony in the world and any one power cannot be dominant by disregarding
the other powers. It is a chief tenet of Hindu politics which is illustrated by the author in the novel. The
Aryan bands are shown to move from Bharat Varsha in search of a pure land that is free from evil after
the death of Sindhu Putra because they saw the decay around them and felt that the land of their birth
could not protect them. They feel that the moral order exists somewhere and they should live there.
They branch out to Hari Haran (Iran), in the west to modern Turkey and Iraq, in the south of the
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Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and to the north in Soviet Union. Some of the roving Aryas go to
the Land of Kosa Karas or China, others go by a land route to upper Burma then to Malaya and Sindpur
and from there to Bali and Sumatra by boat. The Aryas take the sea route to reach Malaya, Sindpur,
Hindu Chayya or Indo-China and Indonesia. Some of the Aryas take an overland route to China
through Avagana, over the Hindu Kush passes through Bactria and Central Asia. There are many
routes which remain unknown (Return of the Aryans 711-720). This shows that the Aryas have gone to
the farthest limit of the world. Some of them settle there and the others return back to Bharat Varsha
after they fail to find a pure land anywhere else. This further establishes the conundrum of ‘vasudhaiva
kutukbakam’ because the world is shown to have been populated by the Aryas which in turn shows
that all the inhabitants of the world have descended from the same racial stock. Thus all the individuals
should exist in peace and harmony as they are one and have the same origin.
Bhagwan S. Gidwani’s novel Return of the Aryans explores the theme of human migration and return
in the light of the pre-historic mass migration of the Aryas from Bharat Varsha to different parts of the
world and their return back to Bharat Varsha. The main reason for the mass migration is shown to be
the eviction of the ex-slaves from the lands they had been settled in by Sindhu Putra.
The theme of human migration and return in the novel is examined in the context of Hindu politics.
The novel shows that Hinduism is not just a faith but an ideology that influences the Indian political
discourse. This theme further shows a Hindu not as an individual who follows a certain faith but as an
individual who considers India to be his/her own land and shares the culture of the land with other
individuals of the land. The ideologies of Gandhian Socialism, Ram Rajya, Integral Humanism,
Cultural Nationalism in the form of Hindu Nationalism, Hindutva, Third Way, Litigation Free
Model, Swadeshi, Uniform Civil Code and ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ are examined in the context of
the novel. The novel through the very same theme explains that spiritual philosophy of a nation
influences the political ideology of the nation and shapes the identity of its people. Lastly, this theme
successfully conveys the idea that the world is a family which blurs the borders that defines different
nations.
Notes:
•
Gidwani, Bhagwan S. Return of the Aryans. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 1994.
•
Gellner, Ernest, and John Breuilly. Nations and Nationalism. Ithaca: Cornell University
Press, 2009. 1.
•
Muller, Jerry Z. “Us and Them.” Foreign Affairs. 87.2 (2008): 16 August 2010.
<http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/63217/jerry-z-muller/us-and-them>.
•
“What is Human Migration.” Human Migration Guide (6-8). 2005. National Geographic:
Xpeditions.20 April 2012. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/09/g68/
migrationguidestudent.pdf
•
Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar. Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?. Bombay: Swantantrayaveer Savarkar
Rashtriya Smarak, 1999.
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AESTHETICS OF THE THIRD MILLENNIAL
BOLLYWOOD CINEMA: THE PARADIGM AND THE
PRAXIS A POSTMODERNIST DECONSTRUCTION OF
THE SELECT FIRST DECADE MILLENNIUM MOVIES
Greeshma Peethambaran
“Last night I was in the kingdom of shadows.”
Maxim Gorky, on attending his first film screening.
This paper seeks to explore the aesthetic shifts, in terms of styles, techniques and texts, discernible in
the select representative Bollywood movies released during the first decade of this millennium (200009) from the vantage point of the function and impact of cultural appropriation and postmodernist
theoretical formulations. Postmodernism, as a discursive stylistic grid has enriched film theory and its
analysis by calling attention to a stylistic shift toward a media conscious cinema. Much of the work on
postmodernism in film has involved the positing of a postmodern aesthetic, exemplified in such
influential Hollywood films as Blue Velvet, Blade Runner and Pulp Fiction.
The representation of reality has been one of the main theoretical concerns of postmodern
philosophers. Postmodernism can well be viewed as an attempt to represent the problems of
representation. It denotes the end of realism. Language itself is incapable of communicating objective
truths. So literature, formed entirely of language, cannot pretend that it can represent objective reality.
Fredric Jameson believes that there is a crisis of representation in the modern world and that the mass
media substitute images for reality. Signs no longer refer to the outside world, which is only presented
through unreal images. Foucault's and Baudrillard's analyses are even more detailed, providing the
useful concepts of hyperrealism and simulation. Illustrating his concept of the third-order image,
Foucault claims that "Disney land is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is
real, when in fact all of Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order
of the hyperreal" Baudrillard's term for hyper-reality is simulation and the world of simulacra
presented to us doesn't refer to reality, but only to its simulation, representing nothing more than
simulacra themselves. In similar fashion, Bollywood films depict a simulated reality which only
partially refers to the outside world, presenting us the illusory world of the simulacra. Falsely
supporting the foundationalist beliefs, Bollywood has created a body of films that disrupt our
perception of reality.
The postmodern era is a phase of crisis and pervasive doubt, and universal theories are no longer
applicable. Lyotard calls the universal doctrines "grand narratives", and questions their ability to
explain everything evident in the works of Hegel or Marx. Grand narratives repress individual
creativity and exercise monopoly in their claim for universal truth. Lyotard's groundbreaking
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paradigm can very easily be applied to the distinction among various film styles. While the Classical
Bollywood Cinema tried to present a dominant mode of film narrative and asked us to form highly
probable hypotheses of universal appeal, contemporary Bollywood cinema presents us with stories
that disrupt the clear generic classical unified structure overthrowing even the need for closure. The
temporal structure is distorted and films focus not on the active, goal-oriented protagonist, but on the
people from the fringes of society, outsiders who oppose the accepted social norms. In this and several
other features the contemporary film scene strikingly resembles the pattern of Lyotard's "little
narratives", and it is on these resemblances that this paper predominantly sets its thrust.
The key intention behind this investigation is to spell out the redefining possibilities of the Bollywood
cinematic idiom from the postmodernist angle so that the insights thus gleaned can be put to academic
use in the teaching of Indian cinema chiefly represented by the Bollywood as a global cultural
phenomenon.
Rang De Basanti deserves discussion in the paper as a meta-textual self conscious film, it being a film on
film making. Its title meaning "Colour it Saffron" or "Paint it Yellow" in English translation, this
2006 Bollywood drama written and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and featuring the British
actress Alice Patten in the lead role of Sue, tells the story of a British documentary filmmaker
determined to make a self-financed film on Indian freedom fighters based on the diary entries of her
grandfather, who served in India as a jailer in the Imperial Police during the freedom struggle.
From the diary, she learns about the story of five freedom fighters who were active in the movement:
Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, Ashfaqulla Khan, and Ram Prasad Bismil.
Sue, the film-maker travels to India, with the help of her friend, Sonia from the Institute for
International Studies at the University of Delhi. After a few unsuccessful auditions in search of the
actors, Sue finally casts Sonia's friends, four young men — Daljit "DJ", Karan Singhania Aslam Khan
and Sukhi Ram— to portray the revolutionaries. They agree, but after they begin filming, a friend of
theirs, Ajay Singh Rathod, is killed in a fighter aircraft crash, with government corruption appearing to
be the root cause of the incident. The government proclaims that the crash was caused by pilot error
and closes the investigation. Knowing that Rathod was an ace pilot, Sonia and her friends do not accept
the official explanation. Instead, they claim that he sacrificed his life to save hundreds of other lives that
would have been lost had he ejected from the aircraft and left it to crash into a populous city. They
investigate and learn that the crash was due to a corrupt defense minister , who had signed a contract
exchanging cheap and illegal MiG-21 aircraft spare parts for a personal favor. To their surprise, they
learn that the key person who was responsible for organizing the deal was Karan's father,
Rajnath Singhania.
Angered by the situation, the group and their supporters decide to protest peacefully at India Gate, the
New Delhi War Memorial. DJ, Karan, Aslam, Sukhi, and Laxman decide that they must emulate the
early freedom fighters and resort to violence to achieve justice. As a result, they kill the defense minister
to avenge Rathod's death, while Karan murders his father for his corrupt actions. The minister is
reported to have been killed by terrorists and is hailed as a martyr by the media. To bring forth their
intentions behind the killings, the five of them attempt to reach the public through a radio station.
They forcibly take over the All India Radio station premises after having evacuated its employees.
Later they are all shot by the police who proclaim that they are dangerous terrorists.
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Being shot Daljit manages to crawl to the Recording Room, where Karan is still on air. When Karan
understands that he has been shot, they speak amongst themselves for the last time, regarding the
others. It is there that they are shot to death, but not without the sound of their hearty laughter still
hanging in the air like an echo of a long dead music. The film comes to an end with Sue describing the
impact of the boys on her life a wave of melancholy closing over her and her friend Sonia.
The post-production visual effects handled by Tata Elxsi's Visual Computing Labs in order to create
the military MIG21 Aircraft can be hailed as a digitrick that forms part of any postmodernist film. In
form and theme, Rang De Basanti can make very little claim for postmodernist quality, though it is
contemporaneous as a film that speaks about the ‘terrible beauty’, in Yeats’ words, born out of the
transformation of the ordinary youths into martyrs.
However the film’s soundtracks are noteworthy for its creative integration of traditional Punjabi
cultural elements. Regionally defined elements such as a woman's prayer at the Sikh Gurdwara
(Golden Temple) and the bhangra harvest dance are also incorporated alongside the more
contemporary, global styles such as hard rock and hip hop to depict the cosmopolitan lifestyle of the
youngsters in the film. Altogether the feel that the music gives is that of the margins turning into the
mainstream, a postmodern feature.
3 Idiots, the 2009 Vidhu Vinod Chopra comedy film of 2009 directed by Rajkumar Hirani, and
scripted by Abhijat Joshi was a loosely adapted version of Chetan Bhagat’s novel Five Point Someone
The film which won fabulous critical praise and commercial success centers on Farhan Qureshi, Raju
Rastogi and Ranchhoddas "Rancho" and Shamaldas Chhanchad are three students who share a room
in the fictional Imperial College of Engineering (ICE) hostel. Farhan is studying engineering to pursue
his father's wishes, over his own passion for wildlife photography. Raju is studying to get his family out
of poverty. Rancho studies for his simple passion in machines. Rancho believes that one should follow
excellence, not success, as success will take care of itself if excellence is followed.
However, this different approach is sneered upon by the president of the college, Professor Viru
"Virus" Sahastrabuddhe (Boman Irani). Virus's favourit student, Chatur "Silencer" Ramalingam (Omi
Vaidya), believes in mindless memorizing over understanding in order to reach his goals of corporate
status. Raju, who is initially annoyed by Rancho's methods, moves in with Chatur, where he fares
worse. Meanwhile, Raju's paralysed father goes into a cardiac arrest, and is saved in the nick of time by
Rancho and Pia, Virus' daughter, who is doing residency in the city hospital. This makes Raju
genuinely change his mind about Rancho and becomes his bosom friend along with Farhan. Rancho
falls in love with Pia, and she reciprocates. Angered, Virus continually attempts to break Rancho's
friendship with Farhan and Raju. Things further escalate four years later when the three friends
drunkenly break into Virus's house one night, in order for Rancho to finally profess his love for Pia;
unfortunately Virus finds out. The next day, Virus threatens to rusticate Raju unless he pins the
drunken incident on Rancho. Not wanting to betray his friend or let down his family, Raju attempts
suicide and ends up in a coma. With two months of extensive care from his mother, Rancho, Farhan,
and Pia, he makes a full recovery and thus discards his fear of the future, adopting Rancho's outlook.
His frankness impresses the corporate agents during a job interview and they hire him. Farhan, goaded
by his friends, convinces his parents to allow him to drop out of school and follow his wildlife
photographer dream.
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Furious, with his dignity and pride ruined as a result of Fahran and Raju getting jobs, Virus schemes to
set Raju an impossibly tough final exam, as the job offer is contingent on graduation. Pia learns of this
and informs Rancho and Farhan, who break into Virus's office for the exam. However, Raju, with his
new-found attitude, refuses to cheat and throws the paper away. However, Virus catches them, beats
Rancho with his umbrella, and expels them on the spot. Pia angrily confronts him, revealing that her
brother, whom their father had pushed to become an engineer despite his preference for literature,
committed suicide after failing ICE's entrance exam three times. After revealing this secret, Pia then
flees to her hospital, sobbing. Later that night, Pia's pregnant older sister Mona goes into labour. A
heavy rainstorm cuts all power and floods the streets, making it impossible for Mona to reach the
hospital, or Pia to reach Mona. The students rig up a power supply and other equipment so that, with
guidance from Rancho and Pia by webcam, they can deliver the baby. The baby is apparently stillborn,
but kicks when the students all chant Rancho's calming mantra "All is well." Thus, the baby is
resuscitated. Virus finally reconciles with Rancho and his friends, allowing them to stay for their final
exams, and giving Rancho an astronaut pen, a symbol of excellence.
Their story is framed as intermittent nonlinear flashbacks from the present day, ten years after Chatur
vowed that he'd become more successful than Rancho. Chatur, who now boasts of his wealth and his
bright career with an American company, is eager to rub it in Rancho's face. Raju and Farhan have tried
to find Rancho for five years with no results; with Chatur's help, they travel to the Chhanchad estate in
Shimla, where they find a completely different man: the real Ranchhoddas Chhanchad. They coerce
the man into revealing the truth: their friend was an orphaned servant boy who loved learning, unlike
the man they encountered, the real Rancho. After seeing the boy's intelligence, Rancho's father
arranged for the servant boy to go to college and earn a degree in Rancho's name. The real Rancho
reveals that their friend is now a schoolteacher in Ladakh.
On the way, the three rescue Pia from an unhappy wedding. In Ladakh, Raju and Farhan find villagers
working with gadgets that show the stamp of Rancho's ingenuity, and learn from their friend MM that
Rancho has all of Farhan's photography/research books, reads Raju's engineering blog every day, and
kept Pia's helmet. The three friends reunite and Pia and Rancho rekindle their love, while Chatur
mocks Rancho – until Rancho reveals his true name: Phunsukh Wangdu. Chatur, mortified, accepts
his defeat and pleads with Phunsukh to forgive him and accept his company's contract.
A timely social commentary on a dysfunctional engineering school system that pressures huge
numbers of students into suicide, the film found praise as a vital, inspiring and life-revising work of
contemporary art with some heart imbued into every part. Maybe cinema can't save lives, but it can
make you feel life is worth living. 3 Idiots does just that, and much more. The director takes the
definition of entertainment into directions of social comment without assuming that he knows best.
But the film cannot be taken as a simple laugh riot. The film has at its core the simplistic ‘humanism
alone works’ philosophy. Complying with the postmodernist norm, the director makes it a point to
remind us as the film progresses that this is a movie, not a page from real life, by playing with the
characters as puppets without leaving them to develop freely and normally. The characters as Jameson
comments on postmodernist characters are ‘depthless’. The best example is the character of Chatur.
The movie also willfully exaggerates several things even to the extent of challenging the intelligence of
the viewers at several places in order to prevent identification of the viewer with the characters and
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137
thereby to forget that he is watching a movie not experiencing life itself. This is how it comes to be
classed with the postmodernist films. True the film’s outlook is what we call earnest-whimsy. Realism
tempered by the understanding that it is possible to deconstruct and this is the attitude postmodernism
holds high.
Directed by Amir Khan Taare Zameen Par, reissued as Like Stars on Earth for Disney's international
DVD, is a 2007 film based on an idea developed by writer Amole Gupte and his wife Deepa Bhatia who
is also the film’s editor. The film explores the life and imagination of eight-year-old Ishaan who excels
in art but performs not that well in studies; this leads his parents to send him to a boarding school.
Ishaan's new art teacher suspects that he is dyslexic, and helps him to overcome his disability. Ishaan
dislikes school and fails every test or exam. But Ishaan's internal world is rich with wonders that he is
unable to convey to others, magical lands filled with color and animated animals. He is an artist whose
talent is unrecognized.
After receiving a particularly poor academic report, Ishaan's parents send him to a boarding school.
There he sinks into a state of fear and depression, despite being befriended by Rajan physically disabled
and one of the top students in his class. Ishaan's situation changes when a new art teacher, Ram Shankar
Nikumbh joins the school's faculty. He reviews Ishaan's work and concludes that his academic
shortcomings are indicative of dyslexia. On his day off, Nikumbh visits Ishaan's parents and asks if he
can see more of their son's work. He is stunned by the sophistication of one of Ishaan's paintings, and
tells his parents that Ishaan is a bright child who processes information differently from other children
in his class, but Ishaan's father is suspicious that the explanation is simply an excuse for his son's poor
performance. Nikumbh demands that he read some Japanese text on a box and berates him when he
cannot, giving him a glimpse into Ishaan's experience of school. Nikumbh describes dyslexia to them
and explains that it is not a sign of low intelligence. He tells them he can provide extra tutoring that will
help Ishaan, highlighting the boy's artistic ability evident in his many paintings and other
creative works.
Towards the end of the school year Nikumbh organises an art fair for the staff and students. The
competition is judged by artist Lalita Lajmi. Ishaan, with his strikingly creative style, is declared the
winner and Nikumbh, who paints Ishaan's portrait, the runner-up. The principal announces that
Nikumbh has been hired as the school's permanent art teacher. When Ishaan's parents meet his
teachers on the last day of school they are left speechless by the transformation they see in him.
Overcome with emotion, Ishaan's father thanks Nikumbh. As Ishaan is getting into the car to leave
with his parents, he turns around and runs toward Nikumbh. The film ends with a freeze frame shot of
Nikumbh tossing Ishaan into the air.
This film, like 3 Idiots, is another cinematic critique on our educational system. The husband and wife
team of Amole Gupte and Deepa Bhatia developed the story as a way of understanding why some
children cannot conform to a conventional educational system. In an interview with The Hindu,
Deepa Bhatia stated that her original inspiration was not dyslexia but the childhood of Japanese
filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, who performed poorly in school. Her goal was thus to explore the story
of "a child who did not fit into the school stream." She referenced a specific moment in Kurosawa's
biography where he began to excel after meeting an attentive art teacher, and noted that this scene
"became the inspiration for how a teacher could transform the life of a student"(Gauri VII). It is
138
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therefore partly inter-textual; it is this feature of the work that qualifies the film to be included among
postmodernist work. The film also mixes the fictional and documentary forms of film making. It was
important that the audience connect the film to real children, and the crew traveled throughout India
filming documentary-style footage of children from all walks of life. Those visuals were later integrated
into the end credits. A robotic style of music, characteristic of postmodernist music, overlaps most of
the sequence—this is mirrored by the machine-like morning routines of the mother, father, and
Yohaan—but changes for Ishaan's portion to imply that he is different from the rest. This concept is
furthered by speed ramping and having the camera sway with the music to create a distinct style. The
films also aims at inclusiveness in social opportunities by stressing the need for particular attention of
the teachers on students suffering from dyslexia so that they may not left out and the society come to
lose the benefit of talents they may develop if properly attended to. In its vision, the film is rather plural
and not individualistic. This again is a postmodernist attitude.
To take leave, what the present day postmodernist film genre typically relies on are the three key
techniques that separate it from the traditional narrative film:
1) The pastiche of many genres and styles;
2) A self-reflexivity of technique that highlights the construction and relation of the image to other
images in media and not to any kind of external reality; and
3) The attempt to constantly remind the viewer the constructed nature of what appears on screen.
Contradictions among technique, values, styles, methods, and so on are inescapable to postmodernism
and are in many cases irreconcilable. Any theory of postmodernist film would have to be comfortable
with the possible paradox of such ideas and their articulation.
Notes:
•
Baudrillard, Jean. Simulations. New York: Semiotext(e), 1988. Print.
•
Foster, Hal. Ed.
Press, 1983.
•
Foucault, Michel. 1969. The Archaeology of Knowledge. Trans. A. M. Sheridan Smith. London
and New York: Routledge, 2002.
•
Hicks, Stephen R. Postmodernism, Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault.
New Berlin: Scholarly Publishing 2004.
•
Lyotard, Jean-François. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Trans.
•
Geoffrey Bennington and Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.
•
Monaco, James. How to Read a Film. Oxford University Press, New York, 2000.
•
Stam, Robert. Film Theory- An Introduction. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2000.
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The Anti-Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture. Washington: Bay
139
Contributors:
Antony, Swetha: Research Scholar (Ph.D), The English & Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.
Avinash, T: Associate Professor, Sahyadri Arts College, Shimoga.
Borgohain, Monalisa: Assistant Professor, J.D.S.G. College, Bokakhat.
Deole, Vrushali: Assistant Professor, K J Somaiya Institute of Engineering & Information, Mumbai.
Desai, Snehaprabha N. Lecturer, Sahyadri Arts & Commerce College, Shimoga.
Dutta, Sutapa: Assistant Professor, Gargi College, New Delhi.
Huria, Mehak: Student (LL.B.), Symbiosis Law School, Noida.
Jayashree, B: Lecturer, Alva’s College, Moodbidri.
Jayaraju, K: HOD, Govt. Degree College, Vinukonda.
Manjushree, R: Assistant Professor, Alva’s College, Moodbidri.
M.S, Raju: Lecturer, Sahyadri Arts & Commerce College, Shimoga.
Mukherjee, Chaandreyi: Research Scholar (Ph.D), Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.
Mukherjee, Panchali: Assistant Professor & HOD, T. John College, Bangalore.
Oberoi, Sonia V: Senior Assistant Professor, New Horizon College, Bangalore.
Peethambaran, Greeshma: Assistant Professor & HOD, Acharya Institute of Graduate Studies,
Bangalore.
Pillai, Sarannya V: Research Scholar (Ph.D), The English & Foreign Languages University,
Hyderabad.
Primlyn, Linda: Assistant Professor, Scott Christian College, Nagercoil.
Raghavendra, H.M: Assistant Professor, Govt. First Grade College, Turuverekere.
Rajeswari, A. Raja: LLM Student, NALSAR, Hyderabad.
Saheblal, Mehrunnisa Pathan: Assistant Professor, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada
University, Aurangabad.
Shameemunisa: Assistant Professor, Christu Jyothi Institute of Technology and Science, Jangoan.
Shashipriya, T.R: Assistant Professor, Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
Sen, Madhura: Research Scholar (Ph.D), University of Calcutta, Kolkata.
Sindhu, N.S: Assistant Professor, Govt. College for Women, Mandya.
Sudha, Sarojini: Associate Professor, NSS College, Ottappalam.
Tiwari, Apara: Professor & HOD, Govt. Shyam Sunder Agrawal P.G. College, Sihora.
T.M, Chetan Kumar: Assistant Professor, Rajalakhmgouda Law College, Belgaum.
Veena, M.K: Associate Professor, Sahyadri Arts & Commerce College, Shimoga.
Vinutha, M.S: Assistant Professor, Govt. Law College, Hassan.
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