PORTRAYAL OF MODERN SENSATIONAL JOURNALISM IN VIJAY TENDULKAR`S PLAY ` KAMALA`
BY
DR. RAM SHARMA
SENIOR LECTURER IN ENGLISH
J.V.P.G COLLEGE, BARAUT, BAGHPAT [U.P.]
Vijay Tendulkar mocks at the modern concept of journalism which focuses on sensationalism and to create sensations , the journalists can go to any extent whether it is subjugation of women or violation of human rights.All these things are raised by the noted dramatist in his thought provoking play Kamala.
This play opens in an enclosed space –the living space of a Delhi based journalist who has brought a tribal woman from a flesh market in Luhardaga .In real life , an Indian Express journalist ,Ashwini Sarin bought an adivasi woman for Rs 2300 from a village auction and exposed the kind of flesh trade which goes on all the time and is a sad comment on `civilized society` with its profanity of modernity.
In the play Jaisingh Jadav purchases Kamala from the flesh market and treats her as an object that can buy him a promotion in his job and a reputation in his professional life.Jadav never stops to think what will happen to Kamala after this exposure.This play raises the question on modern sensational journalism .While he is a commited journalist, striving to expose the inhuman practice of women being bought at auctions and then sold into prostitution ., he also knows that the story will make his career.
Jaisingh`s enthusiasm is directed towards sheer sensationalism .He creates sensationalism at the expense of Kamala .He sells awoman –thar poor and illiterate woman- to the press men for their amusement .He makes her a laughing stock .He exposes her to their vulgar inquiries and finally without any compassion for Kamala , Jaisingh Jadav discards Kamala in an orphanage for women.In this way the responsibility of Jaisingh Jadav comes to an end after she ceases to be an advantage to him.
P.D.Dubbe observes,
He duped Kamala who had come prepared to his bonded keep with all the associated feeling of sex , motherhood and living.``2
About this modern sensational journalism Kakasaheb tells Sarita, the wife of Jaisingh Jadav.
KAKASAHEB—I`m honoured.Who asks after me now ? I`m back number –a remnant of times past. A dead journalist – who`s just about saying alive ! Now in the day of your husbands type of journalism .The High –Speed type ! Something catches fire – and there he runs! There is a riot somewhere else –and off he flies .If there`s an atrocity in the heavens or a ministry topples in the sky –why , there he is ! Eye-witness report ! Being on the spot –that`s what important ! Never mind what you write
SARITA. That`s not so ,Kakasaheb .He never writes anything without first hand knowledge.
KAKASAHEB-That`s why there`s such a correspondence later. `This is a mistake` -or `That`s a lie`- `It just didn`t happen that way-
SARITA. Of couse, there will always be some people who say that kind of thing!
KAKASAHEB-Who`s got the time to get first hand knowledge?If you hesitate , you`re are lost.High-speed journalism ! Let`s see who runs fatest-if it comes to that, write any nonsense!
SARITA[Mischievously].Just you wait.I`ll tell my husband.
KAKASAHEB. Tell him.Go on , tell him! How will he find the time of reply to it?Even if he`s here when you start telling him –by the time you finish he`ll be in Biharsharif –or perched on Laldenga`s roof –gathering eyewitness evidence! And what will be observing ?Murder, bloodshed, rape, atrocity, arson!
[p5,6]
For the sake of his objective.Jai Singh becomes selfish and savage.He doesn`t allow Kamala , the woman he bought in the flesh market , to take bath before the press conference whereas he enjoys the luxury of bath after the tedious journey.He gives explanation to his wife Sarita.
------And people of her kind don`t have a bath for days on end.It`s a famine area .Where they could they get the water? And you`ll be surprised –she`ll feel dirtier after her bath.Please don`t do any such thing concerning her without asking me first. For God`s sake.`
[p-18]
He deceives Kamala by saying that there will be a feast in her honour at the conference.He takes her in the same torn sari that she has been wearing . He doesn`t give her an inkling of his objective in buying her and lets her believe that he has purchased her like the others at the flesh market and dream of a handsome husband , children and a palace like house.
KAMALA[Not emerging from the veil] It`s nice. Such a big house! Like a royal palace.
JAISINGH[Winking at Sarita] Would you like to stay here always, Kamala?
KAMALA[Nodding her head delightedly] Yes!
JAISINGH.You won`t have to do any work here. Just eat and relax .
KAMALA. As you say , master. But i`d like some little work or the other.
JAISINGH[ To Sarita] Did you hear?She says,she`ll do some little work or the other.These downtrodden people are happy at the slightest excuse .Toil and labour take getting used to .Luxury doesn`t [ To Kamala] Go inside , Kamala.
[ p-13]
When Sarita asks him whether he has thought of Kamala`s feeling , he tries to convince her that Kamala will find the home a luxury after the way she use to. She will be given two full meals a day without doing any work and she will be under the protection of the home.
SARITA. But for that, did you have to buy a woman?
JAISINGH I needed evidence, didn`t I ? Do you know , I turned the world upside down to find this bazaar. I was the first journalist to reach it ! [ His face , his voice , are happy] Today I`m going to throw the whole caboodle in the government`s lap- along with the evidence .Just watch ! Let them deny it this time. I`ve caught them properly –the bastards ! [ Recollecting himself] . But keep this absolutely secret for the time being .No one at all must find out .If there`s even a slight leak, all my work is wasted.
SARITA[ Noticing his warning glance] Yes
JAISINGH. I`m not sure about you.[ Realizing the distrust he is showing , he mends it with] I don`t mean you`ll do anything on purpose--- There`s a press conference to be held by my paper this evening. Once I`ve announced everything in that , there`s no problem . Then you can talk about it.
SARITA[ Emboldened] Suppose someone finds out .What`ll happen?
JAISINGH. It`ll be end. Our entire plan will be flat. My editor and I have put this thing together with great care.Even the proprietor of the paper has no idea. There is a way of these things. You have to build them up that way. What`s so unusual about the Luhardaga flesh market ?Women are sold in many places like that , all over the country. How do you think all the red-light districts could operate-without that? That`s not the point .The point is how we project Luhardaga- the technique of it. The art lies in presenting the case –not in the case itself! Keep watching .See how we`ll blast out this shameful affair .There will be high drama at today`s press conference .It`ll create an uproar ! [ He is pacing about excitedly]
[ p-15]
This sensationalist journalist who tries to bring about a revolution in the outlook of the society through his articles is utterly selfish , cruel and insensitive to the feelings.Sarita , Jaisingh`s wife , has a home and family .But she realizes that she is also a valueless object like Kamala , who doesn`t have any right over what she thinks to be hers. She cannot decide how to manage her affair in her house.Kamal`s innocent talks shakes her from within and makes her realize that she is another Kamala living in Jaisingh`s house .Kamala says to Sarita,
`` Memsahib, if you won`t misunderstand ,I`ll tell you .The master bought you, he bought me too.He spent a lot of money on the two of us—So , memsahib , both of us must stay here together like sisters.We`ll keep the master happy ---You are an educated woman .You keep the accounts and run the house ---And we must have land of our own ---Fifteen days of the month ,you sleep with the master, the other fifteen , I`ll sleep with him`` [p-35]
Jaisingh Jadhav exploits not only Kamala but also his wife , Sarita. Arundhati Banerjee rightly comments,
``Like Kamala, Sarita is also an object in Jadhav`s life , an object that provides physical enjoyment , social companionship and domestic comfort``3
This is drudgery to which Jaisingh Jadhav , the saviour of Adivasi woman , exploits his wife.Jaisingh has never thought of her as a person with a head .Sarita sums up the aggressive nature of Jaisingh;
--- a man who in the year 1982 still keeps a slave , right here in Delhi , Jaisingh Jadhav .I`m going to say, this man`s a great advocate of freedom .And he brings home a slave and exploits her. He doesn`t consider a slave a human being- just a useful object.One can use and throw away .He gets people to call him a sworn enemy and tyranny. But he tyrannizes his own slave as much as he likes , and doesn`t think of anything of it –nothing at all. Listen to the story of how he bought the slave he got free-not judt free-the slave`s father shelled out of money –a big sum—[p-46]
Kamala is totally ignorant of sensational journalism and Jaisingh`s purpose.He lets her imagine that Sarita is also his slave and wounds her deepest feelings.In her earnestness to do justice to Jaisingh she promises her that she will have as many children as Sarita likes and do all the hardwork of the house.
P.D Dubbe observes,
`` Sarita is a symbol of slavery in family system `4 She slaves for her family without asking for anything in return .She continues,
` They[ women] must only slave away .Dance to their master`s whim .Laugh , when he says laugh.Cry , when he says , cry .When he says pick up the phone , they must pick it up.When he says, come to a party , they must go` [ p-46]
He becomes surprised when she doesn`t like to accompany him to a party given in his honour.
JAISINGH. .You don`t want to come? Why ?
SARITA. That`s my will.
JAISINGH. [Rather surprised] Your will?
SARITA . Aren`t I allowed to have a will of my own?
JAISINGH[Sarcastically] Never noticed any sign of it before—
[ p-44-45]
Jaisingh uses both the women , Kamala and Sarita as pawns in his game of chess.
SARITA. Why ? Why can`t men limp behind ? Why aren`t women ever the masters ? Why can`t a woman at least ask to live her life? [p-47]
In this play Kakasaheb provides the true ideals of journalism and in contrast to these Jadav`s concept of newspaper reporting is shown in a critical light.
KAKASAHEB. Why does he have to? My dear , it`s not the facts of an occurrence that are important .But the topic is .Discuss that .Comment on it. Suggest a way to stop it-suggest that. After all any murder, rape or arson is like any other.What difference can there be ? Why waste our country`s time , and ours, writing accounts of them?What sort of journalism is it that smacks its lips as it writes blood-thirsty descriptions instead of commentary ? Its business isn`t news –it is bloodshed! [ p-6]
In the end we can say Jaisingh uses Kamala and Sarita as a tool to get success in his sensational journalism and he has not to take anything with their salvation or rights.By raising this modern sensational journalism the playwright has raised questions regarding the value system of a modern success oriented generation who are ready to sacrifice human values even in the name of humanity itself and how in a success –oriented male-dominated society , women are the victims or stepping stones in men`s achievements .On receiving the Katha Chudamani award Vijay Tendulkar confessed `` I have been writing about life around me. When I feel the need to say or do something , I do it .Otherwise I will not be able to sleep ` [8] He was well aware of the bleak future ahead.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
All text citation are from Vijay Tendulkar , Five Plays ,trans .Priya Adarkar ,Bombay, Oxford University Press, 1992.
P.D.Dubbe, `` The Theme of Flesh Trade in Vijay Tendulkar`s `Kamala ` The Commonwealth Review[ ISCS], Vol 5 , No 1, 1993-94, p-44
Arundhati Baneerjee, `Introduction ` Five Plays , Vijay Tendulkar [Bombay, O.U.P, 1992], P-17
P.D. Dubbe, `The Theme of Flesh Trade in Vijay Tendulkar`s Kamala ` The Commonwealth Review[ ISCS] Vol 5, No1 , 1993-94, p-46
Saturday, July 3, 2010
HUNGER AND DEGRADATION IN THE NOVELS OF KAMALA MARKANDAYA
Hunger and Degradation in the Novels of Kamala Markandaya
By :
Dr. Ram Sharma
Sr. Lecturer in English
C-26, Shradhapuri Phase-II
Kankerkhera
Meerut Cantt-250001
Tel/Mob-09219710874
E-mail : dr.ram_Sharma@yahoo.com
dr.ram_Sharma@rediffmail.com
Kamala Markandaya was genuinely concerned with the problems of rural India before independence. Among many ailments, hunger and degradation were the most torturing and disgusting. . "Kamala Markandaya's novels are generated by the tragic vision that finds in contemporary life a fruitful seed-bed for conflict."1
Kamala's first novel 'Nectar in a Sieve' was fervent cry of protest against social injustice, hunger and degradation which were the common factors of countless villages in India before independence. The novel was a powerful presentation of patience in the face of suffering. It was also a glaring example of labour when there was no hope. The narrator Rukmani was married to Nathan at the age of twelve, he was a tenant farmer rich in nothing except in love. They sold their utensils, sarees, and other domestic things and suffered patiently. The problem of starvation sprang up when their children grew and there was not enough land to accommodate all.
An English man established tannery in the village which ruined the peaceful atmosphere of the village on the name of progress and advancement. "Destructive in its side effects it indicates a new way of life."2
. Nathan and Rukmani felt one problem after another. Finally, they had to leave their land which they had formed for thirty years. They were on the verge of hunger and starvation.
Kamala Markandaya's description of hunger and pain were very poignant and impressive.
Kamala's assets were that she was very realistic and authentic in the presentation of hunger and degradation. They were created not only by Nature but also by over-lordism. Nathan and Rukmani faced cruelty caused by an unavoidable fate; Rukmani had her stoic resignation. These poor peasants had to fight against an unjust social order. These problems of hunger and degradation were because of 'the inequalities in the whole structure of society.'3
Kamala Markandaya presented the theme with all its facets and aspects. "Far more terrible than physical hunger is the negation of self-respect, that denies the basic right of dignity to a human being."4
Kamala Markandaya presented the heart-felt degradation of Rukmani in the following words :
This home my husband had built for me with his own hands in the time he was waiting for me; brought me to it, with a pride which I, used to better living, had so very nearly crushed. In it, we had lain together and our children had been born. This hut with all its memories was to be taken from us, for it stood on land that belonged to another. And the land itself by which we lived. It is a cruel thing. I thought, They do not know what they do to us.5[ p-137]
.
In 'Nectar in a Sieve', Markandaya had firmly said that proverty, hunger and starvation could lead to the disintegration of family with a number of misfortune and problems. Floods had destroyed all crops, Rukmani had some rice which would last until times were better. Kenny was angry, he cried out; Times are better, times are better; Times will never be better for many moths. Meanwhile you will suffer and die, you meek suffering fools."6
Kenny further asked Rukmani if spiritual powers come to solve their problems of hunger and degradation? At this she replied : "Yet our priests fast, and inflict on themselves severe punishments and we are taught to bear our sorrows in silence and all this is so that the soul may be cleansed."7
Kamala exhorted people to change their mentality with a view to getting rid of such nasty problems of hunger and degradation. Herein lay Kamala's positive attitude o life. The leper boy Puli was healed of his leprosy in the hospital and Selvam had found a congenial job in the tannery. For the solution of the problems of hunger and degradation, we could not harp on the same strings, we had to look ahead with Dr. Kenny's eyes or a Western attitude.
In another novel 'A Handful of Rice' Kamala presented the other facets of poverty and starvation. It was hunger which compelled people to commit crimes. Ravi, the hero entered Jayamma's house forcefully as a thief because he was over-powered by hunger. The conversation which took place was reflective of the whole situation :
"What do you want?"
"Food, I told you," he said impatiently.
"And be quick."8
In 'Nectar in a Sieve,' she presented hunger and degradation in a village, in this novel, 'A Handful of Rice,' she depicted these social problems in the city. "Rukmani in the village and Ravi in the town complement each to the design representing social injustice."9
Ravi did not face only economic insecurity but also moral degradation. He was in a constant predicament that honesty and prosperity would not go together..
One night Ravi was heavily drunk in prohibition time to get rid of his hunger and frustration. :
Ravi was choosey in his choice of food, he told Damodar: "All I want is a meal - a nice, hot, home-cooked meal not bazaar muck."10 The next morning, the house-wife gave him a thorough beating, the husband scolded and advised him to behave decently as a decent boy like him ought to do.
Ravi was transformed into a decent boy, he went back to replace the bars he had broken. He married Nalini and joined Apu as his apprentlice.
The novel was based on this conflict of conscience.
Being tortured by the dilemma of conscience. Ravi started behaving with his wife Nalini in a very cruel manner.
That afternoon Ravi joined a mob in looting a granary. Kannan advised him against such an action as 'the rice is for all, this way is wrong, this way the innocent suffer.'11 But he went and was beaten by the police. Ravi was young man symbolising thousands of unemployed young men who intended to pass a respectable and honourable life. Ravi visualised a happy life.
.
Ravi's son Raju became a victim of poverty when Nalini requested him to call a doctor, Ravi burst out. It did not mean that Ravi did not love his son, but he was helpless by his poverty. He was broken by his son's death, and went to Damodar and cried out. But Damodar refused him. At last, he joined a group of young people to loot grains,.
Against all poverty, hunger and degradation, 'Nectar in a Sieve' had optimistic notes. Uma Parameswaran observed: "Nectar in Sieve is the story of the faceless peasant who stands silhouetted in the unending twilight of Indian agrarian bankruptcy, the horizon showing through the silent trees now with crimson gashes, now with soul-exalting splendour, always holding out the promise that the setting sun will rise again after night, the night ever approaching yet never encompassing."12 .
In 'Some Inner Fury,' Kamala gave pictures of an upper class family which had plenty of food left over after every meal. The hungry children jumped on it. In 'Possession' a father sold his son Valmiki to Caroline for five thousand rupees under the pressure of extreme poverty. His mother observed : "he has already decided. Did you not hear him? It was the money - it was too much for him. But it is always so, men are ever free and easy with that for which they have neither suffered nor laboured."13
In 'Two Virgins,' Markandaya had presented another aspect of degradation - that was moral degradation. It was not the result of hunger and starvation, it was a part of modern society which claimed to be advanced. Mr. Gupta, the film director symbolised a corrupt modern man of society who easily exploited innocent girls for their sexual purposes. Lalithan under the impact of the Western Civilization fell a victim to the temptations of Gupta and ultimately became pregnant. The entire family fell into the greatest degradation. Miss Mendoza and Mr. Gupta were intended to symbolise the corrupting influence of the Western culture on India. Both were instrumental in taking Lalitha away from her family. They tempted Lalitha to fall into her ultimate degaradation. She was charmed by the glamour shown by Mr. Gupta. Amma condemned him perfectly : '.... that Western punkcurse the day he and his ways crossed our threshold.' We could not condemn the Western civilization only, Lalitha also had her weakness for glamour and show.
Appa and Amma decided that Lalitha's child must be aborted and 'this is the only indication of a judgment that seems social rather than moral.'15 Lalitha had fallen into both kinds of degradation - social and moral. Lalitha disappeared from her family twice being over-powered by her shame. Chingleput was another morally degraded character who intended to exploit Saroja for her sweetness and innocence. When she went to him, he tried to seduce her. Thus, she lost all her faith in him as her guide.
. Although 'Some Inner Fury' had an emotional and political theme, human degradation was also found there in the form of political degradation. The whole country was united for the sake of Independence. Some Indians with Englishness like Kitsamy and even Mira suffered from a great political stress and humiliation. Kitsamy was too much Western and English to cope up with an Indian girl like Premala. She suffered from a great personal degradation in love, therefore, she deserted her husband and lived in a village looting after a school which was managed by an English missionary Hickey.
The element of degradation could be discovered in Kamala's novel 'Possession.' The very theme was based on the British lust for possessing things - which was, of course, a degrading experience. Lady Caroline Bell, a rich aristocratic woman purchased a young illiterate boy Valmiki from his parents who had the talents for painting. The whole situation was degrading, he was brought up in London and she made him in the purely Western sense, accelerated painter. But while he became the artist she intended him to be, Valmiki but lost his soul he was undergoing through a degrading experience which was shown by his pet monkey. He had his involvements with the Jewish refugee girl Ellie and later with Annabel which brought all his humiliation and he had to sever his ties with Caroline in order to come back to India and find his true self.
In 'The Nowhere Man', Kamala Markandaya had given a documentary on racial prejudices and their origin in colonialism. Kamala had dealt with the problem of degradation in this novel also. Both Abdul and Srinivas had memories of their countries Africa and India, respectively. Srinivas and his wife were compelled to leave India because 'their families are suspected of underground activities against British rule in India.'22 Srinivas and Vasantha felt the degradation of rootlessness, but they could never get rid of it.
.
Srinivas felt highly tortured and degraded that he was considered as an alien and an outcaste in England, although he had passed fifty years in England. This realisation was breaking, he developed leprosy and he even tried to commit suicide. Mrs. Pickering prevented him from doing so. Fred prepared a bonfire but became a victim of his own guilt, Srinivas was saved but he died of shock. Rootlessness created degrading situations for Srinivas and Vasantha and Kamala had visualised their suffering and painted it wonderfully exhorting people to be sincere to their roots.
In 'The Nowhere Man,' Kamala had shown a reaction of society in modern Britain to the inflow of coloured immigrants. They found themselves in an awkward and degradating position, Srinivas and Vasantha were placed in similar circumstances. Srinivas became a victim of leprosy, his son became very angry. He further suffered from emotional degradation, when he was rebuked by a police man for offering the ashes of his wife into the river Thames. The police man chided that it was rubbish, Srinivas emotionally answered : "It was not rubbish - it was my wife."16
In 'The Golden Honeycomb' also we could find the instances of human degradation under the domination of the British rule. It was the time not only of political subjugation but also of social degradation. It was further aggravated by native princes who became perfect slaves of the Britishers. The Raja of Devapur was a different prince, he was not upto the expectations of the Britishers. Therefore, he was ousted, a remote relation having the same name Bawajiraj was installed to the throne with his wife Manjula. This was the greatest degrading position which was the result of slavery.
Bawajiraj III had a son by his mistress Mohini - Rabindranath who became a great patriot and naturalist. He fought for the eradication of people's degradation and moral downfall.
. At last, India got freedom on 15th August, 1947 and the patriotism and nationalism of people like Rabindra Nath deserved all applause and admiration for liberationg people from a degrading and humiliating position in which they had been suffering for years.
In the end we can say that-
Kamala Markandaya had presented her themes of Hunger and Degradation in the most realistic and aesthetic manner.
References :
1. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya, Arnold Heinemann, New Delhi ' p. 211.
2. ibid,' p. 14. ' p. 15.
3. ibid p. 16.
4. Kamala Markandaya, 'Nectar in a Sieve,' p. 137.
5. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 16.
6. ibid' p. 47.
7. Ibid., p. 116.
8. Ibid., p. 133.
9. Kamala Markandaya, 'A Handful of Rice' (New Delhi : Orient Paperbacks, 1985), p.45
10. Ibid., p. 235.
11. Uma Parameswaran, 'A Study of Representative Indo-English Novelists' (New Delhi : Vikas Publishing House, 1976), p. 92.
12. Kamala Markendey, 'Possession,'Jaico Publication,Bombay,1966 p. 24.
13. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 85.
14. ibid p. 51.
15. Kamala Markandaya, 'Possession,' p.206.
16. Ibid.
By :
Dr. Ram Sharma
Sr. Lecturer in English
C-26, Shradhapuri Phase-II
Kankerkhera
Meerut Cantt-250001
Tel/Mob-09219710874
E-mail : dr.ram_Sharma@yahoo.com
dr.ram_Sharma@rediffmail.com
Kamala Markandaya was genuinely concerned with the problems of rural India before independence. Among many ailments, hunger and degradation were the most torturing and disgusting. . "Kamala Markandaya's novels are generated by the tragic vision that finds in contemporary life a fruitful seed-bed for conflict."1
Kamala's first novel 'Nectar in a Sieve' was fervent cry of protest against social injustice, hunger and degradation which were the common factors of countless villages in India before independence. The novel was a powerful presentation of patience in the face of suffering. It was also a glaring example of labour when there was no hope. The narrator Rukmani was married to Nathan at the age of twelve, he was a tenant farmer rich in nothing except in love. They sold their utensils, sarees, and other domestic things and suffered patiently. The problem of starvation sprang up when their children grew and there was not enough land to accommodate all.
An English man established tannery in the village which ruined the peaceful atmosphere of the village on the name of progress and advancement. "Destructive in its side effects it indicates a new way of life."2
. Nathan and Rukmani felt one problem after another. Finally, they had to leave their land which they had formed for thirty years. They were on the verge of hunger and starvation.
Kamala Markandaya's description of hunger and pain were very poignant and impressive.
Kamala's assets were that she was very realistic and authentic in the presentation of hunger and degradation. They were created not only by Nature but also by over-lordism. Nathan and Rukmani faced cruelty caused by an unavoidable fate; Rukmani had her stoic resignation. These poor peasants had to fight against an unjust social order. These problems of hunger and degradation were because of 'the inequalities in the whole structure of society.'3
Kamala Markandaya presented the theme with all its facets and aspects. "Far more terrible than physical hunger is the negation of self-respect, that denies the basic right of dignity to a human being."4
Kamala Markandaya presented the heart-felt degradation of Rukmani in the following words :
This home my husband had built for me with his own hands in the time he was waiting for me; brought me to it, with a pride which I, used to better living, had so very nearly crushed. In it, we had lain together and our children had been born. This hut with all its memories was to be taken from us, for it stood on land that belonged to another. And the land itself by which we lived. It is a cruel thing. I thought, They do not know what they do to us.5[ p-137]
.
In 'Nectar in a Sieve', Markandaya had firmly said that proverty, hunger and starvation could lead to the disintegration of family with a number of misfortune and problems. Floods had destroyed all crops, Rukmani had some rice which would last until times were better. Kenny was angry, he cried out; Times are better, times are better; Times will never be better for many moths. Meanwhile you will suffer and die, you meek suffering fools."6
Kenny further asked Rukmani if spiritual powers come to solve their problems of hunger and degradation? At this she replied : "Yet our priests fast, and inflict on themselves severe punishments and we are taught to bear our sorrows in silence and all this is so that the soul may be cleansed."7
Kamala exhorted people to change their mentality with a view to getting rid of such nasty problems of hunger and degradation. Herein lay Kamala's positive attitude o life. The leper boy Puli was healed of his leprosy in the hospital and Selvam had found a congenial job in the tannery. For the solution of the problems of hunger and degradation, we could not harp on the same strings, we had to look ahead with Dr. Kenny's eyes or a Western attitude.
In another novel 'A Handful of Rice' Kamala presented the other facets of poverty and starvation. It was hunger which compelled people to commit crimes. Ravi, the hero entered Jayamma's house forcefully as a thief because he was over-powered by hunger. The conversation which took place was reflective of the whole situation :
"What do you want?"
"Food, I told you," he said impatiently.
"And be quick."8
In 'Nectar in a Sieve,' she presented hunger and degradation in a village, in this novel, 'A Handful of Rice,' she depicted these social problems in the city. "Rukmani in the village and Ravi in the town complement each to the design representing social injustice."9
Ravi did not face only economic insecurity but also moral degradation. He was in a constant predicament that honesty and prosperity would not go together..
One night Ravi was heavily drunk in prohibition time to get rid of his hunger and frustration. :
Ravi was choosey in his choice of food, he told Damodar: "All I want is a meal - a nice, hot, home-cooked meal not bazaar muck."10 The next morning, the house-wife gave him a thorough beating, the husband scolded and advised him to behave decently as a decent boy like him ought to do.
Ravi was transformed into a decent boy, he went back to replace the bars he had broken. He married Nalini and joined Apu as his apprentlice.
The novel was based on this conflict of conscience.
Being tortured by the dilemma of conscience. Ravi started behaving with his wife Nalini in a very cruel manner.
That afternoon Ravi joined a mob in looting a granary. Kannan advised him against such an action as 'the rice is for all, this way is wrong, this way the innocent suffer.'11 But he went and was beaten by the police. Ravi was young man symbolising thousands of unemployed young men who intended to pass a respectable and honourable life. Ravi visualised a happy life.
.
Ravi's son Raju became a victim of poverty when Nalini requested him to call a doctor, Ravi burst out. It did not mean that Ravi did not love his son, but he was helpless by his poverty. He was broken by his son's death, and went to Damodar and cried out. But Damodar refused him. At last, he joined a group of young people to loot grains,.
Against all poverty, hunger and degradation, 'Nectar in a Sieve' had optimistic notes. Uma Parameswaran observed: "Nectar in Sieve is the story of the faceless peasant who stands silhouetted in the unending twilight of Indian agrarian bankruptcy, the horizon showing through the silent trees now with crimson gashes, now with soul-exalting splendour, always holding out the promise that the setting sun will rise again after night, the night ever approaching yet never encompassing."12 .
In 'Some Inner Fury,' Kamala gave pictures of an upper class family which had plenty of food left over after every meal. The hungry children jumped on it. In 'Possession' a father sold his son Valmiki to Caroline for five thousand rupees under the pressure of extreme poverty. His mother observed : "he has already decided. Did you not hear him? It was the money - it was too much for him. But it is always so, men are ever free and easy with that for which they have neither suffered nor laboured."13
In 'Two Virgins,' Markandaya had presented another aspect of degradation - that was moral degradation. It was not the result of hunger and starvation, it was a part of modern society which claimed to be advanced. Mr. Gupta, the film director symbolised a corrupt modern man of society who easily exploited innocent girls for their sexual purposes. Lalithan under the impact of the Western Civilization fell a victim to the temptations of Gupta and ultimately became pregnant. The entire family fell into the greatest degradation. Miss Mendoza and Mr. Gupta were intended to symbolise the corrupting influence of the Western culture on India. Both were instrumental in taking Lalitha away from her family. They tempted Lalitha to fall into her ultimate degaradation. She was charmed by the glamour shown by Mr. Gupta. Amma condemned him perfectly : '.... that Western punkcurse the day he and his ways crossed our threshold.' We could not condemn the Western civilization only, Lalitha also had her weakness for glamour and show.
Appa and Amma decided that Lalitha's child must be aborted and 'this is the only indication of a judgment that seems social rather than moral.'15 Lalitha had fallen into both kinds of degradation - social and moral. Lalitha disappeared from her family twice being over-powered by her shame. Chingleput was another morally degraded character who intended to exploit Saroja for her sweetness and innocence. When she went to him, he tried to seduce her. Thus, she lost all her faith in him as her guide.
. Although 'Some Inner Fury' had an emotional and political theme, human degradation was also found there in the form of political degradation. The whole country was united for the sake of Independence. Some Indians with Englishness like Kitsamy and even Mira suffered from a great political stress and humiliation. Kitsamy was too much Western and English to cope up with an Indian girl like Premala. She suffered from a great personal degradation in love, therefore, she deserted her husband and lived in a village looting after a school which was managed by an English missionary Hickey.
The element of degradation could be discovered in Kamala's novel 'Possession.' The very theme was based on the British lust for possessing things - which was, of course, a degrading experience. Lady Caroline Bell, a rich aristocratic woman purchased a young illiterate boy Valmiki from his parents who had the talents for painting. The whole situation was degrading, he was brought up in London and she made him in the purely Western sense, accelerated painter. But while he became the artist she intended him to be, Valmiki but lost his soul he was undergoing through a degrading experience which was shown by his pet monkey. He had his involvements with the Jewish refugee girl Ellie and later with Annabel which brought all his humiliation and he had to sever his ties with Caroline in order to come back to India and find his true self.
In 'The Nowhere Man', Kamala Markandaya had given a documentary on racial prejudices and their origin in colonialism. Kamala had dealt with the problem of degradation in this novel also. Both Abdul and Srinivas had memories of their countries Africa and India, respectively. Srinivas and his wife were compelled to leave India because 'their families are suspected of underground activities against British rule in India.'22 Srinivas and Vasantha felt the degradation of rootlessness, but they could never get rid of it.
.
Srinivas felt highly tortured and degraded that he was considered as an alien and an outcaste in England, although he had passed fifty years in England. This realisation was breaking, he developed leprosy and he even tried to commit suicide. Mrs. Pickering prevented him from doing so. Fred prepared a bonfire but became a victim of his own guilt, Srinivas was saved but he died of shock. Rootlessness created degrading situations for Srinivas and Vasantha and Kamala had visualised their suffering and painted it wonderfully exhorting people to be sincere to their roots.
In 'The Nowhere Man,' Kamala had shown a reaction of society in modern Britain to the inflow of coloured immigrants. They found themselves in an awkward and degradating position, Srinivas and Vasantha were placed in similar circumstances. Srinivas became a victim of leprosy, his son became very angry. He further suffered from emotional degradation, when he was rebuked by a police man for offering the ashes of his wife into the river Thames. The police man chided that it was rubbish, Srinivas emotionally answered : "It was not rubbish - it was my wife."16
In 'The Golden Honeycomb' also we could find the instances of human degradation under the domination of the British rule. It was the time not only of political subjugation but also of social degradation. It was further aggravated by native princes who became perfect slaves of the Britishers. The Raja of Devapur was a different prince, he was not upto the expectations of the Britishers. Therefore, he was ousted, a remote relation having the same name Bawajiraj was installed to the throne with his wife Manjula. This was the greatest degrading position which was the result of slavery.
Bawajiraj III had a son by his mistress Mohini - Rabindranath who became a great patriot and naturalist. He fought for the eradication of people's degradation and moral downfall.
. At last, India got freedom on 15th August, 1947 and the patriotism and nationalism of people like Rabindra Nath deserved all applause and admiration for liberationg people from a degrading and humiliating position in which they had been suffering for years.
In the end we can say that-
Kamala Markandaya had presented her themes of Hunger and Degradation in the most realistic and aesthetic manner.
References :
1. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya, Arnold Heinemann, New Delhi ' p. 211.
2. ibid,' p. 14. ' p. 15.
3. ibid p. 16.
4. Kamala Markandaya, 'Nectar in a Sieve,' p. 137.
5. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 16.
6. ibid' p. 47.
7. Ibid., p. 116.
8. Ibid., p. 133.
9. Kamala Markandaya, 'A Handful of Rice' (New Delhi : Orient Paperbacks, 1985), p.45
10. Ibid., p. 235.
11. Uma Parameswaran, 'A Study of Representative Indo-English Novelists' (New Delhi : Vikas Publishing House, 1976), p. 92.
12. Kamala Markendey, 'Possession,'Jaico Publication,Bombay,1966 p. 24.
13. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 85.
14. ibid p. 51.
15. Kamala Markandaya, 'Possession,' p.206.
16. Ibid.
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