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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. They
were the greatest social concerns of India before freedom. In her various
novels, she had dealt with several problems concerning various aspects of India
like social, political, national and international in the form of the East-West
Confrontation. References to human degradation could be found in almost all her
novels. Her tragic vision found its best expression in her novels which she
filled with her social concerns. She did it for the sake of human amelioration
and betterment. "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 The tannery was growing up
as a token of industrialization and mechanization, but for the villagers it was
a symbol of disaster and destruction..
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Rukmani visualised. Another
English man Dr. Kennington was introduced as a symbol of Western civilization.
He was building a hospital for the sake of villagers. The tannery work was
creating handicaps in the path of hospital building.. Simple rural values were
replaced by those of shoddy industrialization. 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.
However, their faith in better times was firm and unbroken. Dr. Kenny was
annoyed by Rukmanis stoic resignation to fate and times, he cried out.
Their paddy was destroyed, they expected no rice till the next harvest and lived
on salted fish, roots and leaves, the fruit of the prickly pear and small fish.
Then there was drought, the paddy became as dry as a bone and Rukmani had to
face bitter hunger. Kamala gave passionate pictures of hunger through Rukmani. |
Kamala Markandaya gave a very
impressive and accurate description of hunger. She had emphasised the three
stages of it - firstly when its pain was increasingly sharp and gnawing,
secondly, perpetually dull and sickening one, finally, when the vast emptiness
pervaded and the pain ceased to be painful Markandaya must have felt on keeping
a fast. Kamala Markandaya's description of hunger and pain were very poignant
and impressive. Its effect on old people and children was the worst. The
portrayal of hungry Kuti was simply superb. Kamala Markandaya must have observed
hungry people in order to give such impressive descriptions. They were also
journalistic and generalized. As she had stayed in England, she had not seen the
harrowing scenes of hunger which affected Bhattacharya immensely. Hunger had its
degrading effect on people; it drove Ira to prostitution and made Nathan 'as
thin and dry as a hollow bamboo stick.'3 It took away poor Kuti's life and
remained insatiated even after Nathan and Rukmani left the village. They went to
the city and sought Murugan in vail and worked pathetically in the stone quarry.
Markandaya painted from her backyard a guava tree which was reduced to a stump
because of nature's ravages and human vandalism
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.'4
Kamala Markandaya did not give ready-made solutions, but she was sure of better
times to come.
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."5 Farmers suffered from hunger but they
suffered from a great degradation when they were turned out of their own lands.
They could eat roots or leaves or the fruit of the prickly pear in times of
drought or flood, but when they were deprived of their rented lands, they
suffered from the greatest degradation. They had hope, so long as they had land,
Nathan and Rukmani felt highly degraded when they were turned out of their land.
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.6
Rukmani symbolised the feelings of a number of peasants who fell victims to
hunger and degradation. She always felt that the establishment of tannery was
responsible for their ultimate hunger and degradation.
Rukmani and Nathan were compelled in the city to be stone-breakers in order to
earn their bread. They suffered from a great degradation and disgrace when their
daughter Ira was rejected by her husband because she was barren. They tolerated
every kind of disgrace and degradation patiently and calmly. Old Granny died of
starvation. Nature played a very important role for the hunger and degradation
of poor peasants. She had her innate uncertainties and tricks of weather.
Rukmani was constantly aware of the uncertainty of weather.
Rukmani's fears came true when her son Kuti died of starvation and Nathan also
died of over-work, exhaustion and starvation. Nalini had attacked them in the
form of rains first resulting in floods. After some time, they had no rice to
eat. They were forced to live on roots and leaves, the fruits of the prickly
pear and plantains. Drought was the second from of nature's attack. Rukmani
expressed her heart-felt sorrow in these words when human beings wandered here
and there like wild animals in search of food and ate whatever rubbish they
could get.
Kamala Markandaya justified the title by making her readers realize the true
meaning of hunger and starvation. Unlike other Indian - English novelists, she
presented things authentically on the basis of her experiences. Actually, hunger
and starvation led people to degradation. If immorality was due to poverty and
hunger what would we call it? According to Markandaya, it was not immorality, it
was the question of the survival. Kunthi was forced to join prostitution because
of poverty, she even blackmailed Rukmani and Nathan; Ira wanted to Protect her
dying child by hook or crook, therefore, she became a prostitute. Our social
system was responsible for all this humiliation and degradation. Rukmani's
daughter Ira was rejected by her husband because she was barren and in the
village, the whole blame fell on the wife.
Ira's return to her father's house was a great cause of degradation for the
entire family. It was most humiliating when her father refused to eat the food
she brought. "Yet the fault is not his, but nature's that wrecked a good
harvest."7 Thus, negation of self-respect or degradation was more horrible than
physical hunger. 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."8
The younger generation, the sons of Nathan and Rukmani, getting fed up with
hunger and degradation wanted to revolt against them. But when their parents
showed a passive acceptance of their lot, their children left home thinking that
their attitude would never change. They were impatient at injustice, they wanted
to improve their fortunes. Thus, there was disintegration of family, actually,
it was brought about by hunger and degradation. Selvam became angry when his
father was evicted. He angrily asked: "You have made no protests."
The managers of the tannery managed to break the strike. Arjun was angry :
Rukmani did not understand what it was to learn. She went to Kenny who satisfied
her : "I have told you before - you must cry out, if you want help. It is no use
to suffer in silence. Who will succor the drowning man if he does not clamour
for his life."9 But Rukmani felt that it was a sign of weakness if one cried out
one must rise above one's misfortunes. 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."10 According to the Eastern concept of life people had to
suffer from hunger and degradation and other problems like social injustice
calmly. Rukmani told Kenny : "Do not concern yourself - we are in God's hand."11
This was the basic cause of peasant's hunger and degradation. These people had a
traditional resignation to Fate, God and even the vagaries of climate and
nature. They had developed the mentality of passive acceptance. Kamala presented
a problem of hunger and degradation in villages, she also gave a solution that
by following the Western methods, we could improve our standards. Even tannery
was good because it was a reflection of modern mechanical revolution, Dr.
Kenny's establishment of the hospital was also a unique thing for the poor and
the sick. 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."12
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."13
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.
Leaving the penury and apathy of the village, he came to the city - Madras to
make a better living. But he could not get anything else than unemployment,
frustration and encounter with the police. His meagre education had made him
useless to work by his hands and other jobs he could not get. Damodar, another
young man told him about the profits of the underworld. Ravi having known the
city, learnt the ropes and hopes for something better to come up.
One night Ravi was heavily drunk in prohibition time to get rid of his hunger
and frustration. A police man ran after him, he forced his way into the house of
a tailor Apu in order to get food as well as to escape from the police man.
Kamala depicted the condition of Ravi's starving : 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."14 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 apprentice. However, he wanted
to improve himself, he wished to offer more to his wife. He was dissatisfied
with the resigned acceptance of the old man Apu. He again went to Damodar to
improve his sources of prosperity. Damodar promised him work, but it put Ravi in
a tension between Damodar's values and Nalini's. 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.'15 But he went and was beaten by the police. Ravi was young man
symbolizing thousands of unemployed young men who intended to pass a respectable
and honorable life. Ravi visualized a happy life.
Hunger always forced people to leave their lands, Rukmani and Nathan left their
land in 'Nectar in a Sieve'. Ravi left village in 'A Handful of Rice' for the
city. He thought of himself. Poverty and hunger brought all suffering to him
including the disintegration of his family.
Ravi was so much degraded by poverty, hunger and starvation that he used to beat
his wife badly and even had sexual intercourse with his mother-in-law. 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, but again he lost all courage as he was thoroughly broken
by his son's death.
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."16 Thus, Kamala had given very authentic and realistic
descriptions of hunger, starvation and degradation in 'Nectar in a Sieve' and in
'A Handful of Rice'.
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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."17 |
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 gretest 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.'18 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.
The question of human degradation could be found in other novels of Kamala
Markandaya also. Although 'Some Inner Fury' had an emotional and political
theme, human degradation was also found there in the form of political
degradation. Indians were suffering from a great political downfall under the
rule of the Britishers. 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. Govind, her lover was a revolutionary who burnt the school and
unfortunately Premala was also burnt within.
Kit and Govind were highly tortured, they accused each other. In the dark and
stormy night Kit was killed and no body knew by whom. Mira and Richard had
enjoyed honeymoon before marriage, but they suffered from racial differences.
They started crying 'my country and your country' this created a degradation for
both of them. She was degraded for loving an English man and her for loving an
Indian lady. He felt unsafe even her company. This was all a degrading and
confusing state of affairs.
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 end, when Valmiki went back to India, Caroline was sure that he would
come back. Her position was degrading, but she was still sure of her victory.
The conflict between the East and the West had been repeatedly stressed. The
English always wanted to put conditions into their degrading situations. "The
English take it for granted that they should live on the fate of the land, and
the 'hypnotised natives' pile it on to their plates."19 The English were happily
conscious that they were treating 'Val' as an equal. Caroline was ruled to
Anasuya, she exploited racial prejudices making a trouble between Valmiki and
Annabel saying that Val was emotional, unstable - Foreigners are - Dear Annabel
you must realise they aren't like us, you would never be able to rely on one of
them."20 Caroline instead of ridiculing Indians, created a degrading position
for herself.
At the end of her battle for Valmiki, Caroline asked Anasuya. In order to get
rid of the degrading position, Caroline gave it the shape of a game. Kamala
Markandaya depicted every thing realistically with a touch of social satire and
irony. Caroline and Swamy symbolised the evil and the good respectively. Valmiki
became a ridiculous figure under the hands of Caroline, but thanks to his mentor
the Swamy, he was recovered from his degradation and regained his paradise in
India. Val, the village idiot, turned sophisticate and then contemplative, is
men in his journey from innocence to know ledge of good and evil and the choice
of good."21 Caroline was feeling much degraded but not accepting it, when
Valmiki joined his Swamy in India.
Caroline came of a breed that never admitted defeat.
In 'The Nowherd 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
rootless ness, but they could never get rid of it. Their son Laxman married an
English girl, he became and English man; Their second son Seshu was killed by a
German shell. Vasantha constantly suffered from humiliation and degradation and
she wanted to go back to India but it was not possible. Ultimately, she died of
tuberculosis.
After the death of this wife, Srinivas felt dis-oriented and extremely degraded.
Abdul tried to motivate him to become richer and richer by unfair means, but he
was moulded by his wife into an honest Indian. At last Mrs. Pickering, an
English divorcee came into his life who helped to rehabilitate him. Thus, they
shared the misfortunes of each other by adjusting to each other. But the agony
and a sense of degradation always haunted him.. He realised that he belonged
neither to India nor to England. Recial prejudice were spreading, a neighbour
Fred Fletcher tried to assault Srinivas, he was saved by his mother.
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."23
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. As he grew up, he made friendship with Sophie, the daguther
of the Resident, Sir Arthur Copeland. Everywhere, there was a sense of
degradation and social chaos.
Bawajiraj was very happy to know that the viceroy had approved the appointment
of Rabi as an heir to the throne of Devapur. But Rabi was not at all happy,
because he was now a young man and he realised that this was all a degrading
situation, a ridiculous affair and 'a fragile golden honey comb.' He joined a
group of striking workers on Chowpathy beach, he was wounded by the police. He
was healed up by Jaya who told him about love and the miserable life of the
poor. His vision became more clear and he became firm to improve the condition
of the people of the state. His friendship with Sophie was growing. The common
people were rising up, the golden honeycomb which English people had cocooned
for the native princes or rajas was beginning to disintegrate. 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.
Kamala Markandaya had presented her themes of Hunger and Degradation in the most
realistic and aesthetic manner.
Reference :
1. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 211.
2. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 14.
3. Ibid., p. 104.
4. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 15.
5. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 16.
6. Kamala Markandaya, 'Nectar in a Sieve,' p. 137.
7. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 16.
8. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 47.
9. Ibid., p. 115.
10. Ibid., p. 116.
11. Ibid., p. 133.
12. Kamala Markandaya, 'A Handful of Rice' (New Delhi : Orient Paperbacks,
1985), p.
13. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 57.
14. Kamala Markandaya, 'A Handful of Rice,' p. 14.
15. Ibid., p. 235.
16. Uma Parameswaran, 'A Study of Representative Indo-English Novelists' (New
Delhi : Vikas Publishing House, 1976), p. 92.
17. Ibid., 'Possession,' p. 24.
18. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 85.
19. Margaret P. Joseph, 'Kamala Markandaya,' p. 51.
20. Kamala Markandaya, 'Possession,' p.206.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid., p.39
===============
Contributed By:
Dr.
Ram Sharma, Lecturer in English,
Janta Vedic College MEERUT, U.P.
dr.ram_sharma@yahoo.co.in
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