Stories That Speak Of Reality
“Here Expectations are not high but Intentions are.
Here the purview of the voice of dissent against injustice and exploitation is
not widespread, but it has a remarkable depth. Here you may not find a definite
roadmap to accumulate power, wage a decisive struggle or achieve an elusive
victory but you would find a narration richly impregnated with insightful
perceptions, soaring expressivity, pointed resistance and a vivid presentation
of reality.”
Shivmurthi’s
literary horizon may not be fathomless but the female characters of his stories
successfully bring forth the extremely miserable conditions of Indian
womenfolk, particularly the Dalit women, through a vivid and incisive
storytelling based on Indian rural society. Although the chronology of his
stories precedes the liberalization and globaliztion of Indian economy, it’s
quite evident that not much has changed since then in its present Indian
villages. Whether we take the female protagonist of his story ‘Kasaiwada’ namely
Shanichari , a women leader and the wife of the village headman ,or Vimili of
‘Triyacharitra’, Surji of ‘Akal Dand’ ,Lallu’s mother in ‘Siri Upma Jog’
,’Kesar Kasturi’s Kesar or the sylvan wife in “Bharatnatyam , all inhabit in a
society that offers them nothing but
poverty, scarcity, hunger, exploitation, limited expression of romanticism but
commonplace encounter with lust aided by treachery and falsehood, acrimonious
relationships , overbearing desire to protect ones self-respect ,censure,
defeat and social debasement. The women characters in Shivmurti’s stories can
so easily be observed today in villages across all states of India, with the accompanying
vividness and authenticity, that we cannot but acknowledge and praise the
rustic moorings and the realism of author’s literary works. Here I have tried
an analytical exposition of the condition of Indian womenfolk in the village
society of India, having read Shivmurti’s collection of seven stories known to
me, based purely on a reader’s point of view rather than the established
cannons of literary criticism and its principles.
It’s quite
remarkable in Shivmurti’s stories, the way we are able to easily connect
ourselves with the characters in his stories and feel a sense of anxiety,
excitement and sympathy evolving within us in context of the happenings and
varied situations his characters face during the course of the story. The
intensity and depth of such feelings are evidently absent during the course of
reading the literary works of other such authors and even in the stories of the
Hindi stalwart Premchand. I believe the reason behind this is Shivmurti’s usage
of rustic Avadhi dialect in his stories which effectively transports its
readers to the kind of local settings and environment which his characters
inhabit. His style of prose is markedly unassuming, distinctly inspired and
adapted to the unique way avadhi is actually spoken in the dusty by lanes and
low caste neighborhood of a typical Indian village. His language lacks the
pretensions of a civilized society and freely makes use of slangs and proverbs to
provide his readers the original flavor and authentic experience of India’s
countryside. A critical assessment of his aesthetic sense in portraying the
female characters of his stories finds him close to realism whereby the ladies
of Shivmurti’s stories are as beautiful or wretched as they exist in real life
conditions of an Indian village. His women characters are more often hapless
daughter in laws, wives, mothers and ageing ladies who are essentially victims
of the scourge of child marriage, malnutrition and poverty.
Shivmurti’s
ability when assessed from the perspective of his endeavor to highlight the
physical beauty of his female characters is found to be surprisingly
remarkable. In his story ‘Kasaiwada’ ,when the village headman makes his way
out of the police inspector’s house, licking a dry mixture of finely grounded
wheat and sugar, he attributes its sweetness to the strong and supple body of
the policeman’s wife that seems of not more than forty and which smells
enticingly of rose .He then compares it to his own wife’s body which annoyingly
carries a pungent smell of a sugarcane factory. No wonder he exclaims that it
is continuously surrounded by flies. Similarly in the story ‘Triyacharitra’
,the increasingly evolving and blossoming youthfulness of Vimili is observed
and praised by a male character –Driverjee when she happens to be in front of
him. In the same vein in the story ‘AkalDand’, Shivmurti describes the youthful
Surji in the following manner –“Having lived for years on unwholesome food that
could hardly fill her stomach, her body was bereft of its curves, what was intact
however was her naturally fair complexion , lustrous eyes , a seemingly
attractive and expressive face and a radiance that accompanies a youthful body
of not more than twenty five. Alas where could she hide all this given her
woeful state of affairs and it was exactly what had caught the attention of the
secretary.”
Shivmurti’s
ability in describing the bodily features of impoverished and hapless women particularly
of aged women is unequalled .Take for example the description of Surgi’s mother
in the story ‘Akal Dand ‘ – “ Wrapped in
a tattered greasy sari, surrounded by flies , she looked more of a creepy wraith
. Her shriveled and sagging skin that covered the limbs, her fully dried up
dangling breasts, disheveled grey hairs , pair of listless eyes peeping from
behind the ripened eyelashes, evoked an image of an old scruffy wretched hen
whose feathers had been plucked out”. Similarly in the story ‘Khawaja O! Mere
Peer ‘, his portrayal of the aged aunt is remarkable –“Her decrepit withered
body had bent from the waist. The worn out sari had lost its opaqueness and revealed
the outlines of her scrawny legs .Her lifeless sagging breasts made their way
out from beneath her shabby loosely fitting blouse”. In ‘Siri Upma Jog ‘ ,Laalu’s
mother a rustic countryside women ,married since childhood, supports her
husband in no small measure, to pass the competitive exams and become a high
ranking official only to see him leave Laalu’s mother to fend for herself alone
in the village while he nonchalantly settles down in the city and marries an
attractive urban girl. Several years latter when their grown up son travels to
the city to meet his father, we find the father remembering her long forsaken
wife in a utterly distasteful manner, He recalls her adolescent face which,
because of a broken tooth, he found rather unattractive. Her body was feeble
and looked malnourished (as a result of excessive hard work and indifferent
partner) .Her limbs were abnormally swollen (battered as were they by her
husband’s regular beatings).They lived in abject poverty at that time. She had
been recently ceremoniously sent off by her parents to now reside with her in laws.
Her husband had passed the higher secondary examination that year and therefore
she could have been no more than fourteen or fifteen. Alas what a cruel fait
accomplished at such a tender age. Though impoverished and unlettered, Laalu’s
mother was noticeably self-confident and optimistic. Very soon she gets to
mother a child. She labors conscientiously and is seen making a lot of
sacrifices for the sake of her husband’s career. Therefore when she gets to
hear that her husband has indeed successfully passed the competitive exams for
a government job , we find her to be
absolutely ecstatic as she wrongly presumes that the time had finally arrived
for her to redeem her social status among the village women who had scornfully
rebuffed her resolute and indefatigable efforts to do all sorts of menial work in
order to help and support her husband .
In the story ‘Kesar
Kasturi‘ ,when a government official who had for long became accustomed to city
life visits his daughter’s in-laws in the village, Shivmurti’s creation of the
scene can indeed unsettle a reader –“Upfront stood a muddy emaciated pair of
bullocks, their hairs standing at ends due to cold . Beyond them lay a huge
pile of haystack. Veiled by it and basking in the sunshine sat Kesar’s aged,
debilitated and almost blind mother in law. Beside her stood a cot woven with
jute. Spread on the ground was a layer of dried hay and a greasy black rug at
one of its corner. The area of two to three yards between the rug and the old
bag was swarming with houseflies. She panted hoarsely, cuffed frequently and
rolled out a lump of cough besides her which quickly became covered with a
black coat of grateful flies. The uniqueness of Shivmurti’s narrative style or
aesthetic sense is his matter of fact presentation unfazed by what may seem
reprehensible or sound obnoxious. Such realistic aestheticism and picturization,
remarkable lingual spontaneity and adroitness are both undoubtedly uncommon and
commendable.
Shivmurti is an
unembellished story teller when it comes to describe sensuality, sexual
inclinations, sexual gratification or sexual exploitation. He uninhibitedly
highlights such instincts as per the demand of a story and unreservedly speaks
out his mind on such subjects as and when deemed appropriate. Social norms of
civility or elite culture does not seems to weigh him down either not to acknowledge
such grey areas of human personality or to speak about them in half spoken
words. The spontaneous flow of his stories makes them gripping and effective.
Lingual realism makes it even more fascinating. Irritated by his son, who seems
to be overpowered with insatiable desires for his wife, the father in the story
‘Bharatnatyam’ ,reprimands him in the following manner –“ You Duffer, even now
you continue to spent the evenings between the legs of your wife when in the
last four years you have accumulated a litter of three she-puppies. Even if you
now give birth to a mouse, I will surely expel you from the house without
giving any share in the tillable land.”. In the absence of a suitable provision
to protect himself from severe cold elsewhere, the son has no alternative but
to sleep with his wife during winters. Shivmurti later in the same story makes
the son talk of his dwindling sexual
appetite with the passage of time which gets satiated now with getting to spend
a hour or so with his wife once in a week or even a fortnight .Although the son
claims that even after giving birth to three daughters in such a short time his
wife’s hunger for sex hasn’t diminished as such .The wife’s rather unflagging sexual
appetite is humorously presented elsewhere in the same story when her sister in
law sarcastically attributes it to the wife’s sly motive of using her husband
as a bull to burden the household with a team of progenies.” No wonder that
vamp of a woman is unable to bear a male child” exclaims the overtly jealous
sister in law. In spite of having to face such humiliating ridicule, the son
claims that his unperturbed wife even now occasionally comes up to him at night
when the rest of the household has gone to sleep to hand him lovingly a glass
of warm milk, a gesture he feels is borne out of his wife’s heightened need for sexual gratification rather than a
feeling of love or care for her husband. He vents his sense of utter
helplessness and frustration to cope with the consequences of the extraordinary
libido of his wife with the following words –“ At twenty four , I have become a
father of three children. Feel like crying to even think of it . If I could just
throw away the conch and cymbals of my unconcerned father, joyously busy worshipping
his God. What right did he had to marry me at the age of five. Occasionally
when I suggest to my wife that I should now get my vasectomy done, she tends to
loosen her loving embrace around my waist and instantly becomes sullen as if I
have suggested her to chop off her head. She refuses to differentiate between
vasectomy and male disability. So many times have I tried to convince her
without success that after vasectomy every thing goes on as before expect for
the fact that henceforth we wont have to bear more children “
In his story
‘Bharatnatyam’,Shivmurti further dwells on the psychological aspects that have
a significant bearing on the sexual relationship that exists between an
unemployed and frustrated husband with his sexually passionate wife. The
husband confesses of his increased libido at times when he is feeling mentally
distraught .On such occasions his wife although quite unhappy with his
unemployed status does not demur much and gives in to him. He admits of feeling
deeply pained and guilty for his wife to see her move around in shabby worn out
clothes. A kind of psychological apathy that had crept into their relationship
gets dissolved when the husband finally gets a clerical job in the city. This
sudden upbeat turn of events, the son claims triggered in his wife an even more
intense libido which is conveyed in Shivmurti’s style as follows –“My sister in
law lovingly handed me a glass of warm milk after dinner while my wife showed
her appreciation by diligently giving a well oiled full body massage followed
by duly getting all my fingers and toes to crack. That night she pressed my
waist with her arms so tightly that it pains even now to think of it.” The
husband goes off to Delhi to join the job, only to loose it after a few months.
He returns to his village empty handed only to find himself intrigued by his wife’s
sensuous reception, who, instead of trying to know the reason of his abrupt visit,
was overjoyed at the sight of her husband .The husband recalling the first
night in village after loosing his job says –“My wife could not bear to be away
from me and that night having completed all her household chores by nine o’
clock came over to lay besides me in the bed. She gave whole heartedly to me
and just as we were approaching the orgasm, she uttered rather shyly though with
a hint of self adulation, take me too this time with you to the city. How long
would I continue to rot here .I haven’t been there yet. I had no intention of
prematurely drawing curtains on such blissful moments and therefore cut short
her speech by showering a few quick passionate kisses on her mouth.” It is
Shivmurti’s unique style of presentation that keeps such ribaldry from been
stamped as indecent or trashy but on the contrary it makes Shivmurti’s stories
even more captivating.
In a similar
context, in the story ‘Khwaja Oh Mere Peer” , we come across yet another
fascinating plot in which a nephew having gained the trust of his aunt, vividly
describes the idiosyncratic sexual relationship that existed between the aunt
and the uncle who had been living separately since marriage in their respective
villages. The aunt driven by the desire to have a son compulsively walked the
distance between the two villages at night daily to meet her husband who laid
waiting for her perched on a maachaan in his fields.” Every night having fed
the livestock and her parents, the aunt left with a stick in her hand.
Unmindful of the threat of snakes, scorpions, jackal or the wolf that lay in
between she reached the uncle’s maachaan before midnight. Having passed an hour
and a half with him she left for her village back. Be it a moonless or moonlit
night, chill of winters or the thundering & lightning storm clouds during
the rainy season, for my aunt her husband’s bed and the accompanying
opportunity lay merely a hour and a half away.” The aunt in moments of candor
admits to her nephew –“The family is essentially unsecured without a man. I
needed a support. Having been denied the support of a husband, I longed to have
it from my son. This compelled me to walk daily through four miles of rugged
terrain in moonless or moonlit night to reach out to him. If it were not for
the social norms that extinguished my opportunity to bear a son from a man of
my liking, I would not have to take the trouble of daily running up to him. If
he had indeed loved me wouldn’t he himself been acquainted with the path that a
women continued to transverse up and down.” The nephew argued with his aunt
that though she was right in expecting her husband to take the inconvenience
for her sake rather than herself, it may be his fear of being ridiculed in
public of showing such an act of desperation that had kept him for doing so.
The aunt negates his argument by questioning the very basis of any such guilt
in a person who does so to meet his socially accepted wife. Later it is
interesting to take note of nephew’s analysis of the situation which he
presents to his wife in the following manner – “Alas it is nothing but a
mechanical process to give birth to a child. One can beget a child even in the
absence of love. Even a rape produces similar results. Love or emotional
attachment is rather a different issue. Aunt was telling if the uncle had
indeed possessed such feelings for her wouldn’t he being a man taken upon himself
the trouble of reaching out to her rather a woman doing so”. Here we get to see
Shivmurti engrossed in penning his independent investigation on the subject of
man-woman relationship.
Later Shivmurti
uses the character of a boatman Cheti , to give a new direction to this
narrative of the ongoing sexual encounters between the aunt and the uncle. One
night having relented to her wife’s frequent requests ,the uncle made his way
to her village but having started late they meet each other when the aunt had
already covered two third of the distance. Accepting her husband’s insistence
she turns back followed by her husband. . It’s here that Shivmurti decides to
give birth to a remarkable expression of romanticism. – “Aunt’s anklet emitted
a sweet sound for a considerable length as she continued to walk along the lowland.
She walked in front with the uncle in tow. Finally he catches up with her and
starts raining her with passionate kisses on the mouth, breasts, her navel and
in between her thighs. A comfortable bed of dense outgrowth of Kaas grass on
the moor adjoining the lowland became their sporting place in which they
continued to rise and fall in bliss. Suddenly from nowhere appeared a mountain
of ominous looking thunder clouds that covered the moon. Wind picked up speed.
The forest started rustling .The uncle quickly pulled up the lounging body of
his wife and having rested it on his shoulder, darted towards his maachaan. The
aunt pleased by her husband’s spontaneous masculine gesture, her head facing
downwards behind the uncle’s back, kept striking him sportingly with her
fists.” Cheti the boatman narrating the eye witness account to an aged Mangru
concludes by sighing – “Sky was covered with rain bearing black clouds. Rain was
pouring down. Stalks of maize surrounded the maachan and the night was in full
blossom. Alas such complementary coincidences are indeed hard to come by in a
normal martial life.” At this point it seems that Shivmurti has successfully
used this story as a medium to gracefully entreat us to the kind of rustic
romanticism that wouldn’t have been possible without him in mainstream Hindi
literature. The aged Mangru when expresses his doubts as to the authenticity of
the incidence instantly gets the following curt reply from Cheti –“With your
buttocks not having the opportunity to get colored with turmeric, what would
you know of all this.” We are but left to wonder at Shivmurti’s audacity and
cheeky language. This audacious approach in fact lends credibility to the
various characters of his stories as indeed being real life representatives of
a typical Indian village and provides realism to the story line.
In the same
story ‘Khwaja Oh Mere Peer’, there is yet another incident related to the aunt
which smells of romanticism. On seeing his aunt arrive at the village, the
nephew recalling his childhood remembers her as the most flirtiest when he used
to visit his maternal grandmother’s village. Resting on her knees, she would
squeeze his cheeks and mischievously asks him as to when he is going to impart
the skills to her as well. Would he prefer to do so in the midst of a crop of
Split Red Gram or he would choose to go about doing it amongst a standing crop of
Black Gram. Continuing with her playfulness, she suggests that he might as well
tutor her in both. Once in a field of Split Red gram and the next time in that
of a Black Gram field. Here is an example of tingling covert obscenity. It
sounds well. This is in fact the uniqueness of Shivmurti’s narrative style.
Another example of a similar indirect and pleasing expression of romanticism is
presented to us by Shivmurti when on the occasion of the Spring festival of
Holi, having being smothered with color from head to toe by Rameshwar’s wife,
just as he stood in front of her wife’s house to leave for his own village, the
Uncle on the way back recalls the incident and having become inebriated with
emotions start singing the folk songs welcoming the spring joyously. Suddenly
he exclaims –“That vamp drenched me full. I am feeling cold. “
Shivmurti’s
women characters even though living in poverty and inadequacy are conscious of
a women’s self-esteem. In ‘Kasaiwada’, on the occasion of her daughter’s
marriage in a collective marriage function of the village where any kind of
ostentatious display was not permissible, Shanichari does not fail to put all
her jewelry in her daughter’s trousseau which as a matter of fact was 3 kg of
bullion in silver. In ‘Triyacharitra’ , when one of its male character
Driverjee, tries to present Vimali with a packet allegedly containing a thing
to be worn underneath, her self-respect gets hurt. Vimali now an adolescent was
married as a child. Her husband is a daily wage laborer in Kolkatta. She still
lives with her parents and has not yet been ceremoniously sent off to live with
her husband. In such circumstances she was the cynosure of all men for obvious
reasons. We find Vimli thinking of her sorry state of affairs as follows “What
does that person in Kolkatta know about how this Vimali has kept secured his
belonging. Difficult as it is as if to guard a tree laden with ripened mangoes.
So many soliciting eyes are there fixed on the mango tree.” Such symbolic
presentation of Vimali’s thoughts trying to protect her modesty is possible through
the pen of Shivmurti only. Similarly Kesar the female protagonist in
Shivmurti’s story ‘Kesar Kasturi ‘, though having to bear the curse of poverty
throughout her life, whenever visits her father or her uncle’s house conducts
herself with utmost dignity and self respect. “Grief is meant to be faced
father and not avoided as it tends to follow you everywhere”. She hums a local tune “When one has come with
pain written in one’s destiny what can her parents do.” Kesar again sings “Your
moustache (pride) would never be comprised Father, nor your turban (prestige) lowered.
If I am to spend the whole of my life in a decrepit hut, my honor too would not
venture out through its small gates.” Imbuing such emotionally laced folksongs
with a magical effect and effortlessly making it reach the hearts of a common
reader is the distinctive quality of Shivmurti. Readers of Hindi prose are admirers
of his lingual and emotional wizardry.
Most of the
women characters in Shivmurti’s stories are victims of poverty, social vulnerabilities
associated with child marriage or the overbearing conduct in a patriarchal
society and are seen appropriately rebelling against them. Opposing such anomalies
vocally as well as through direct physical action is part of their normal
psyche. Combating such economic, social, physical or mental exploitation is the
dominant purpose and central theme of Shivmurti’s stories His language while
narrating such incidences, submerged in the emotional and sweet sounding avadhi
dialect along with the occasional use of local slang vocabulary makes it
magical in quality. The central female character of the story ‘Kasaiwada’,
Shanichari is illiterate and a victim of poverty and exploitation whose
daughter Roopmati although having being apparently married in a collective
nuptial ceremony of the village has in fact been treacherously given off to a
city dweller by the village headman to be used as a prostitute. Taking cognizance
of the matter the opportunistic Leaderjee, a teacher by profession and a
political opponent of the village headman, insinuates Shanichari to sit on a
protest fast in front of the headman’s house. As soon as the headman comes out
of his house, Shanichari confronts him by holding his feet with both her hands and
shouting – “Return my daughter you cheat! Having filled your coffers by selling
off my innocent daughter as if some cow or a goat ,may your whole body be
lacerated with septic sores of leprosy with pus oozing out everywhere. You
leper.” Although Leaderjee’s interest in clandestinely supporting Shanichari is
to use her as a pawn to drum up opposition amongst the villagers against the
village headman and therefore make it easier for himself to become the headman
and thereafter explore his dreams of becoming a member of State Legislature and
a minister , a handicapped and eccentric
Adrangi lends his full and open support
to Shanichari .He roams around in the village streets alone raising voices of
opposition against the devious duo of the village headman and the Leaderjee
,laying bare their false pretensions. When with the support of the local police
inspector, the headman gets shanichari forcibly evicted from the protest site ,
Adrangi marches through the village streets beating a drum and announcing the death
sentence to the village headman. That evening having prepared effigies of the
headman and his sons he gets them hanged from an acacia tree. Here Shivmurti
presents Shanichari as a rebellious women brimming with self confidence who
challenges the village headman head on by walking up to his house, beating his
doors challenging him to come out and calling him
names.
This spirit of
opposition against injustice in the story ‘Kasaiwada’, is not just limited to
Shanichari and Adrangi .The scene that is presented to us by Shivmurti, of the
village headman’s wife warning her husband against the consequences of his
unjust and repressive activities is far more blunt and forceful when compared
to a rather formal and restraint stand taken by the demonic Ravan’s wife
Mandodri that we get to see in the various mythological tales related to Lord
Ram. Gesturing aggressively with her hands in exasperation she retorts to her
husband –“This village has indeed become a veritable Lanka (the abode of the
demon Ravan in Ramayan) . It will burn just like it. You are the villainous
Ravan .Leader has taken upon himself the role of the Vibishan (the thoughtful
younger brother of Ravan). This village would be totally ruined because of the
infighting between both of you. It has already started doing so. Keep selling
the women and daughters of the village. Sell me too. Fill your coffers. Take
all the money with yourself after your death but I am no longer going to live
in this house with you. I would rather go around begging with my son.”
In a similar
manner when the other Machiavellian protagonist Leaderjee ,makes Shanichari put
her thumb impression on a blank stamp paper on the pretext of petitioning the
Chief Minister and treacherously usurps her land followed by the villainous
headman who opportunistically uses his wife to convince Shanichari to call off
her fast and then in the garb of offering a drink to Shanichari to break the fast treacherously mixes poison
in it to murder Shanichari, flames of rebellion engulf Leaderjee’s house too.
Fed up with her husband’s crafty misdemeanors she finally erupts. Having taken
a seat in front of him with belligerence writ large on her face she shouts at
her husband-“You scoundrel and a cheat its because of you that I am not able to
bear a child.” Dismayed by his wife’s sudden outburst when Leaderjee tries to
pacify her, his wife’s anger is boundless –“You people are butchers. The whole
village has become a veritable slaughter house. I would not live in this
village any longer.” ‘Kasaiwada ‘, is quite a revealing story of shivmurti
which effectively highlights the anomalies of exploitation & repression , decadence
in politics , administrative corruption and brutal suppression of antagonistic
voices that continues to permeate in many such villages like that of
‘Kasaiwada’ ,throughout India even when its constitution(which seeks to
eradicate such anomalies) has been in force since decades.
In the story
‘Akal Dand’, the Secretary in charge of relief distribution in that area could
not restrain his carnal desires for Surji, a low caste woman who works as a
daily wage laborer to fend for herself and her aged parents. One day he enters
her unguarded hut with the intention of making her submit to his whims. He
tries to seduce her by promising to change her life forever if she agrees to
cooperate. Surji in a befitting response sternly asks him to leave the hut immediately.
However the secretary overpowered by his senses tries to force the issue. Shivmurti
at this juncture , in his incisive style of prose describes a remarkable fight
back of a women laced with humor – “ A sure footed thump of Surji’s feet on the
secretary’s bottom makes him fall flat on his face at the wooden doorpost .His
two large front teeth sped out from his horse– toothed mouth. Having being
knocked out of his senses with blood oozing from his mouth, he lay there
panting heavily like a buffalo.” Seeing his miserable condition Surji retorts
–“Run away immediately if you care for your well being or If I start shouting now
your pretence of being a gentleman would get stripped off for good.” ‘Akal Dand
‘is a one off story of Shivmurti in which we get to see the central woman
character a victim of poverty, repression and exploitation fight against all
odds to reach a level where like a veritable demon slayer, she chooses to fight
back and punish the oppressors for their crimes even at the cost of being
tagged a criminal herself. When the humiliated secretary takes the services of
a local ruffian Rangi Babu to forcibly bring Surji to her personal quarters,
Surji now with her back to the wall is seen to rise to the highest level of
courage and resistance. This last scene of the story which takes its readers to
the climax of a women’s fight back against the repressive regime of men is
unparalleled –“A large crowd has gathered inside and outside the secretary’s tent.
The scene inside the tent is shocking. Secretary babu is lying almost naked on
the bed wailing aloud in pain. Surji having slashed away his private part from
the body has made good her escape from the rear exit and disappeared into the
dark night”
Dissenting
voices of women are found widespread in other stories of Shivmurti as well.
These voices are either of a wife, or a mother, a daughter-in-law or simply a
forsaken woman. In ‘ Bharatnatyam’, Shivmurti amazingly conveys the rousing
anger of a mother towards her unemployed and idle son by using a graphical description
of a typical Indian countryside activity. Here a son watching his mother
preparing cakes of cow dung observes her body language to rightly asses the level
of anger brewing inside her. He remarks – “On seeing me she increases the force
with which she slaps the cow dung into shape as if her hands are hitting my
face. Thump! Thump!. At that time I feel as if my face is covered with cow dung
cakes left on it to dry.
‘Triyacharitra’,
is possibly the most popular story of Shivmurti with a women-centric storyline.
The protagonist of this story is Vimali whose father is handicapped and mother
old and incapciated.Her husband from a childhood marriage has never tried to
contact her, nor does she know of his whereabouts. She has an elder brother who
after marriage, under the influence of his wife has left his parents to live separately.
Therefore to take care of herself and her parents’ needs she starts doing
household chores in the house of the village headman. But one day when the
headman’s wife curtly refuses to oblige her mother of a small amount of money
as a credit so that she may cook food in her house, Vimali quits her job the
very next day. Her voice of dissent is aggressive –“I would certainly not sweep
the floors and cast away cow dung in a house where one can’t hope to get a few
pennies even when begged most humbly”. Vimali then turns to daily wage labor. Having
decided to do a job which women normally do not prefer, she starts working in a
brick kiln where she carries loads of bricks from dawn to dusk. This arouses
quite a stir among the village women. Her father also criticizes her choice of
profession but she receives the support of her mother who advises her not to
pay heed to the small talks of such jealous women of the village. To rub salt
on the wounded egos of such jealous women and show her open support for her daughter’s
work, Vimali’s mother in an act of defiance and sarcasm is seen carting a sack
of salt to her house bought with her daughter’s first pay. Here Shivmurti very
bluntly presents the rhetoric of Vimali’s mother in the following words –“Who
so ever wants her wounded ego rubbed with salt is welcome to come and do so. If
my daughter spends her whole life, grinding & mincing, cleaning cow dung
and feeding livestock, if she wears their worn out discarded clothes, It’s only
then that they would feel pleased with her. For a mere morsel of bread should
she help kids clean their soiled bottoms? Is there a wolf waiting for her at
the brick kiln? Work hard from dawn to dusk and return home. What so
unrespectable about it? People of this village can’t bear to see someone else
hearth burning bright as if its fire is burning on their own chest. It’s
because of such jealous people that we lost our son to his wife. You are indeed
handicapped but have you become blind too. Think wisely and understand.” The image of Vimali’s mother rebuffing her
husband and the society simultaneously in Shivmurti’s unique linguistic style
immersed in the local avadhi dialect makes it quite captivating.
When the
adolescent Vimali gradually blossoms into a youthful lady and starts becoming a
victim of lewd comments and vulgar activities of men, her voice of dissent to protect
her dignity and self respect becomes even more assertive. On such occasions although
she is normally seen conducting herself with confidence and tactfulness. When
one day her co-worker at the Brick kiln, Billar accompanies her on the way back
from work on the pretext of safely dropping Vimali at her house and tries to
take undue advantage of her midway, she sternly asks him to keep away. When
Billar seems undeterred by her rebuke, she tactfully advises him to behave like
a gentleman. Billar is aware of Vimali’s affinity and soft corner for the
driver of a truck at the Brick- Kiln and tries to corner her by slyly
suggesting –‘Though the driver babu’s body seems to be pleasantly scented it looks
as if mine is foul-smelling.” Vimali without blinking an eyelid replies back – “Listen
you brother of Ramkali. Neither have you married me in my childhood nor Driver
babu. So be careful.” Billar gets discouraged by her aggressive posturing but
later tries to win her by enticing her mother. He sends his sister with a new
hookah and a pot filled with tobacco as a gift for Vimali’s mother. Pleased by
his gesture Vimali’s mother tries to convince her daughter to marry a second
time with Billar by making her recall the indifferent attitude of her childhood
husband and her bare minimal income. But Vimali resists such an attempt of her mother,
she says –“You are thinking of my welfare now. Why didn’t you do so before. What
was the need to tie me around the neck of another person in my childhood?”
Thereafter she criticizes the thinking of her mother –“If tomorrow someone
comes over and claims to be an owner of 10 bighas of land you would in that
case make me sit in marriage with him as well “ . When she gets to see the
hukkah and the pot of tobacco she becomes absolutely rebellious- “For a mere 10
rupees worth of a smoking pot and tobacco, you made your daughter feel like a
widow. Come on speak up .How did you dare to do so. You would hand over the
wife of someone else to another person even without him knowing it even. Do you
consider me some cow or a goat.” The mother gets rattled by her daughter’s
sudden outburst and pleads her to lower her voice lest others get to know of
her misdemeanor. Is it possible to come across such an incisive and rustic
deliberations of women in popular Hindi Literature other than that of Shivmurti
.
In the same
story we see the father-in-law of Vimali a victim of child marriage named
Bisram presented as a thoroughly mendacious character. Even though his son does
not live in the house he gets the youthful Vimali ceremoniously sent off by her
parents to live with her in laws and thereafter tries to sexually exploit her.
He is both influential in his village and very cunning too. Vimali understands
his motives and continues to struggle to secure her modesty from him.
Describing this struggle in the words of her father-in-law, Shivmurti makes use
of quite a forceful and vivid language – “Initially she conducted herself with
dignity and respect like a newly married daughter-in-law .Weeping profusely she
use to plead “I am of the age of your daughter .You are like my father. Catching
hold my feet with both her hands she might as well wash them off with her
endlessly flowing tears. It looked a matter of time before she finally gives in.
But later she became quite ferocious like a cat .She meowed, clawed and threw
her hands the same way. Her nails were like that of a cat with which she
bruised my face, nose and ears. My whole face is searing with a burning
sensation.” When Bisram tries to make her submit forcibly she fights back with
vengeance –“ Having been laid down forcibly on the cot with Bisram on top of
her, she folded both her legs and struck him with her legs with such force and
accuracy that Bisram was hurled quite a distance back from the cot. After the incidence
he had to live with an acute pain in his chest and head for quite some time.” Shivmurti
while describing the self protective struggle of Vimali presents here quite a
remarkable simile – “With folded legs and knees kept close to her bosom, Vimali
as an anxious porcupine with inflated quills waited in anticipation of an
attack from her opponent. Bisram stood at a distance growling. As soon as he
would close on to her, she would shoot one of her quills. Swisssh!” We continuously
get to see such struggle as that of Vimali in real life around us. It happens
not only in the countryside but in the cities too.
Having failed to
succeed with force, Bisram turns to treachery. Having visibly started spending
most of his time in religious activities he starts sleeping in a separate hut
too. Then one day he treacherously mixes an intoxicant into an allegedly
religiously consecrated drink which makes Vmili semi-conscious. Thereafter he
sexually assaults her. Even in that semi–conscious state Vimali’s mind is seen
to struggle to fight back though her body refuses to cooperate. Shivmurti’s description
at this juncture is quite heart-rending –“What is happening? Is it the hut that
is wiggling or the cot? She would scratch all his face. Pierce his eyes. But
why my body isn’t moving. Bisram seems to have gained the strength of a tiger. As
if an engine of a goods train Chug! Chug! Chug! Hey please stop. She wants to
scream aloud but merely ends up emitting a muffled sound of pain and helplessness.
She feels totally out of control. It feels as if sinking down slowly into the
depths of an ocean.” Even after being robbed of her modesty she refuses to
break down. She braces herself for the fight-back. The fire of revenge gets
enflamed inside her-“Suddenly her sobbing ceases. A glint appears in her
listless eyes. It continues to get even brighter. If one has seen a cat’s eye
glow in the dark. With a bluish tinge,they burned with hatred.” Vimali decides to avenge her
oppressive and treacherous father-in-law for his misdeeds. This yearning for
revenge is quite effectively presented by Shivmurti as follows –“Her eyes can
visualize the dark skinned almost naked body of Bisram lounging on the cot
inside the hut. Like a satiated and contented demon, having satisfied his
hunger of ages he slept soundly. Spittle of chewed betel leaf dripped from the
corner of her half open mouth. Filthy body and a filthier mind. She would burn
to ashes all filth, odor, treachery and deceitfulness. There is no other way. “
Today we get to
see a lot of unsound, unjust and illogical decisions from the infamous khap panchayats,
village councils or the various religious institutions. Shivmurti, during the
course of his narration, has described the cruel and heart rending activities
of such blind and insensitive village councils with utmost realism and
vividness. Vimali’s father-in-law having finally attained success in robbing Vimali
of her modesty, thereafter most deceitfully files a compliant in the village council against
his daughter- in-law. Vimali even in such adverse circumstances refuses to
capitulate and continues to vehemently raise voice of protest. When Bisram
having falsely implicated her of stealing some ornaments tries to physically
assault her by catching hold of her hairs, Vimali again fights back.-“The
daughter- in – law defiantly stood up and cautions Bisram . “Beware you grey
bearded dog. If you dare touch my body again I am going to chew you alive.”
Bisram frightened by her ominous posturing backs down. Later in the village
council she stands to confidently present her case before the village
councilors.
“Is it true that you went to Bisram’s hut with a bottle of kerosene
and a matchbox “
“Yes it’s true”
“Why did you go there?”
“I went there to sprinkle kerosene on him and burn him alive”
“Why”
“Because he is the very animal who drank alcohol with me, ate fish
and raped me in my hut. I wanted to burn him alive but he escaped. Now I would
eat him raw”.
But the village panchayat was least interested in justice. There no
one cared for truth, to listen to it or willing to speak it. A sort of
prejudice existed in everyone’s mind. The sentence has already been arrived in
their minds it just had to be formally declared in the village panchayat.
Nevertheless in this village panchayat of Shivmurti there is one woman who
stands up in support of truth. She is the mother of Mantoria . Raising her
voice she says-“The daughter-in-law is saying the truth .I am its witness. One
day I had myself gone in Bisram’s hut .The same old bottle of liquor. The same
leftover stubs of beedi. Bisram is an old sinner. A ruthless vulture he is. Debauchery
exists in his heart since long.” When the village panchayat declares Vimali to
be an adulteress and decides to punish her stamping her forehead, Mantoria’s
mother again rises in protest –“This is unjust. If a mark is to be stamped, it
should be stamped on the bottom of Bisram and Bodhan Chowdhury”. Nobody pays
heed to her protest; Vimali however decides to protest against the injustice.
In front of the full village panchayat she fearlessly repudiates the sentence
against her –“I refuse to accept the decision of the village panchayators. They
are both blind and deaf. They do not seem to contain in themselves the truthfulness
of God. I spit on such an unjust decision –Ptthhuu! Let me see who dare come
forward to stamp me.” Such forceful voice of protest is seldom found in women
centric discourses that exist in mainstream Hindi Literature. Shivmurti‘s story
is indeed unique from this perspective and stands out as a milestone.
Shivmurti’s stories generally reveal the plain naked reality of the
social injustice, exploitation and oppression permeating in the village societies
of India.
It seems to be presented by a person having had the experience himself rather than
having merely read and understood. It clearly illustrates the cause agents
behind such anomalies. The age old traditions of child marriage is in fact the
chief cause agent of such anomalies which has been effectively highlighted in
his stories ‘Triyacharitra’ , ‘Sri Upma Jog’and ‘Bhartnatyam’ . Triyacharitra’s
Vimali questions her mother as to the need to tie her around the neck of
another person in her childhood. In an effort to keep her modesty secure for
her husband she has to struggle at every step since adolescence and through her
years of attaining full youthfulness eventually to loose it to the treacherous
designs of her own father-in-law- “Betrayal! Deceit! She had protected herself
at so many places and from so many people. Numerous rugged terrains, forests,
animals and ruthless hunters only to be defiled in her own husband’s house! The
bund itself treacherously submerged the cultivable land.” In the absence of
proper avenues at the local level for earning their livelihood, the migration
of young men to large cities and metros leaving behind their families to fend
for themselves in the villages becomes a predominant reason for women
exploitation in rural areas. In ‘Kasaiwada’, it is noteworthy to see the
confession of fearful Shanichari when pressurized by the local police inspector
as to the identity of her daughter’s father. “ Shanichari gets perturbed. Now
that the name of her deceased husband is being defamed she has to speak the truth.”
Your highness Its this village headman himself with whom I have my daughter.
You did not give me an opportunity to speak the truth. My husband was employed
elsewhere at that time”. Its not rare to see women being exploited in the
Indian villages. On the contrary it is quite common. In ‘Kasaiwada’ itself, a
male character Adrangi quite humorously highlights this fact to the local
police inspector –“How many women like Shanichari would have to get themselves
fitted with a permanent contraceptive with your assistance Inspector sahib till
this headman finds himself capable enough. If indeed it has to be fitted then
it should be done to the village headman himself “. Given an opportunity even
men from nearby townships and cities do not fail to sexually exploit such women
living in the villages. In the story ‘Akal Dand’ when the village women on
account of inadequate source of livelihood due to severe drought ,starts
working in the houses of government officials , doctors and businessmen
dwelling in the nearby city ,the situation that develops is humorously
presented by Shivmurti as follows-“The other day ,driver of the water tanker
was saying that in the city, men who had been a widower since ages also
regained their marital status in this drought “ .In such a scenario Surji’s
apprehensions of herself getting victimized is brought out with the following words –“ What is this happening
? Surji thinks of it. It’s not by the flood but in a drought that the whole
village is seemingly being cast away “
Illiteracy is another major source of exploitation. In Indian
countryside since long agricultural land belonging to tribal and dalit sections
of the society have been usurped by the literate class against petty considerations.
After independence with the support of the governing elite this process has gained
even greater momentum. In ‘Kasaiwada’ , the deceitful character Leaderjee
emboldens poor Shanichari to directly confront the village headman by sitting
on a protest fast in front of his house. He knows that the ruthless village
headman would not spare Shanichari. On the pretext of writing a complaint to
the chief minister, Leaderjee gets her land treacherously transferred in his
name. An illiterate Shanichari finds herself exploited from all corners. First
the village headman sexually exploits her then sells off her daughter
.Leaderjee makes use of her seething anger for revenge for political gains.Therafter,
she looses her land and finally her life. The root cause of all the happenings
is certainly the illiteracy and the poverty of Shanichari . Shivmurti has very
aptly described the land grabbing trickery of Leaderjee in the story.
-
“But is it not the paper meant
for the courts my Son? It has an image of a rupee note on top of it “
-
“Oh Aunt it’s only the petition
written on a watermark paper that gets entertained in the chief minister’s office.
without a court paper and a revenue stamp pasted on it has no
value there “
-
“OK but there is nothing
written on it?”
-
“Don’t worry the words have to
be typed on it. A handwritten complaint won’t serve the purpose “
Shanichari puts
her thumb impression.
Caste based
social status is the greatest bane of Indian society. Although caste is based
on one’s profession, however the brammnical class has always tried to link it
to one’s birth in his discourses and teachings. This system of classification
on the basis of caste irrevocably decides your work area, your personal traits,
your social status in society, your code of conduct and your future at the time
of your birth itself. Shivmurti in his story ‘Akal Dand’ makes Rangi Babu a
local ruffian ,in response to Surji’s spirited attempt to safeguard her modesty
and dignity from him make him utter the following words which highlights this
very anomaly and prejudiced mentality -“ If she is born a low caste ,there is
no question of her being innocent and pure. Such women are born with a
deceitful aptitude at birth itself “. Due to weak enforcement of law and order
in the Indian countryside the villages are easily transformed into a personal
chiefdom of the local ruffians. Nobody can utter a word against them or dare to
raise a voice of dissent. In the story ‘Akal Dand’ too the dissenting Surji
finally succumbs due to the fear of Rangi babu and becomes a victim of his
treachery. The same Surgi who gives a befitting reply to the sexually inclined
secretary ,on the insistence of Rangi babu could do no more but to think as
follows – “What can Surji say (to Rangi babu). Even if I refuse, this ruthless
character would get his men kidnap me anytime during the night. At least now he
is treating me with some consideration. God knows what he would do to me then.
Even if I cry for help no one is going to come forward to oppose him. As long
as I am in your protective company Babu sahib I do not feel worried .Whenever
and wherever you say, I am ready to give my statement or put my thumb
impression.”
Women are
considered physically and emotionally weak in Indian society by tradition. They
can either feed their children or cry for them. Firmly entrenched in this mentality,
women in our society continue to be a victim of exploitation, oppression,
injustice and torture. In a typical Indian household the most vulnerable is the
daughter-in-law. Her position in the family is consequent of the economic
status of the family. Shivmurti in his story ‘Triyacharitra’ has successfully portrayed
the vulnerability of the daughter-in-law in a very emotionally surcharged
manner. When Vimali’s father-in-law makes her ceremoniously take leave of her
parents to start living in her in-laws house even though her husband is
employed in the city, Vimali’s position becomes quite vulnerable – “The
daughter-in-law didn’t utter a word. Absolutely dumb. What spoke was her eyes
which watched anxiously with a crestfallen expression. Her face had a weary
look, as if she waited like a cow to be slaughtered”. When Vimali tries to
resist the father-in-law’s sexual overtures he starts abusing and taunting her
–“Would you care to visit the fair. Should I bring some sweetmeat for you? Or should
I make arrangements for a holy dip in the Ganges?” He tries to sarcastically
hurt the delicate mental state of his daughter-in-law. “Driver’s liquor was
sweet smelling but you just can’t bear mine. You choose to close your nostrils
at it. You close your eyes. Tell me what else you would close”. Normally the
kind of abusive language that is commonly used in the villages doesn’t get
incorporated in the literary works of elitist writers. But Shivmurti believes
in presenting things as they actually are in real life. Therefore when Bisram
abuses his daughter-in-law by calling her a bitch it doesn’t sound out of place
–“It looks as if it’s a sin even to talk to me. If you try to spread your
artfulness do you think you would be spared? You bloody bitch “. The
daughter-in-law continues to bear everything quietly. She just tries to dodge
him to safeguard her modesty. She knows that the village panchayat or the
society at large would not support her. They would on the contrary pronounce
her guilty and abuse her. Shivmurti quite adeptly describes the mental struggle
continuing in the daughter-in-law’s mind –“Even to pass a night looks as hard
as if to pass an age. Even if I try telling someone of my predicament what
would I say? They would only laugh at me. Moreover I would have to stand in
midst of the village panchayat where I would be publicly embarrassed by having
to answer the overtly revealing questions of the ingenious village panchayators.
Such bad publicity is likely to spread everywhere and would even reach to my
parent’s village. Vimali found yearning simultaneously for both her husband as
well as her father-in-law “.
Women being
sexually exploited and in the event of them resisting such atrocities being
made to bear sustained physical and mental torture is not uncommon in our
society. Even though we continue to talk of the exalted status of women in
ancient Vedic and Puranic times, even though we continue to produce such
forceful slogans dedicated to women empowerment, there seems to be no
noticeable change happening in the collective psyche of the society on such
issues. Here in order to hegemonies women, new norms of morality and high
character are invented almost everyday ,new code of conduct laid out for
daughters and daughter-in-law and there is no one to ask any questions from
men. It is this social environment which in ‘Triyacharitra’ , makes the village
panchayat decide in favor of stamping the forehead of an innocent
daughter-in-law. The village panchayat pronounces –“ In this new age the
punishment for being unchaste is to stamp such a women with a permanent mark on
her forehead declaring her to be an adulteress at the very place where a
married Indian women puts a rounded mark signifying her martial status and
consequent chastity.” This punishment is executed by that society with demonic
exuberance – ‘The daughter-in-law desperately flinging her legs and arms in
order to set herself free, is lifted by the people and brought tightly held in
their arms to sit in the village square. Groping her youthful body they make
lewd comments at her soft and fleshy body parts. “Hold her tightly down lest
she may run away again”. The description of the utter helplessness of the
daughter-in-law a victim of treachery and oppression on one hand and the
reprehensible mentality of her oppressors by Shivmurti is indeed captivating,
heart rending and nightmarish. “Whosoever is holding her from whatsoever part
of her body wants to enjoy the feel of her youthful body. Pulling & pinching,
pressing and groping hands. The daughter-in-law starts whining like a cow being
readied for slaughter. Hearing her loud frightful screams, sleeping children
get awakened and start crying while those looking at her run away out of fear. It’s
an occasion of the defeat of all dissent. It signifies the unsuccessful
culmination of all her struggles. The ironical progress of the society towards
its self destruction. Definitely it is the utter degeneration of moral values
in our society which tends to get trivialized. Pheww! As the heated metal ladle
touched her skin, the daughter-in-law gave out a heart wrenching cry of pain. A
leaping corpse .The smell of burning flesh was rendered in the air. Hearing her
terrifying screams of agony some of the street dogs started barking anxiously
while others started howling. The daughter-in-law after relentlessly screaming
felt unconscious. The crowd falls back.” In this way Shivmurti in the last part
of his story ‘Triyacharitra’ takes us to a world of reality which makes us feel
ashamed, but the irony is that shamefulness can be felt only if it is left
somewhere in our hearts.
Shivmurti’s
stories predominantly consists of women centric discourses, but in the center
of these are not the modern, literate, fully conscious women competing with men
for equal status or women fighting for economic or political ascendancy in the society
so as to attain and maintain a heightened sense of self-esteem and status in
social and literary circles or simply the elitist women conscious of their
gender rights but his women centric narration focuses on the outer and inner
beauty of women belonging to the lowest strata of society. The physical torture
& oppression, struggle & resistance, love & hate, family bickering
etc of such women who spent their whole life confined to the four walls of
their houses in the remote villages of India’s countryside. Here expectations are not high but intentions
are indeed. Here the purview of the voice of dissent against injustice and
exploitation is not widespread, but it has a remarkable depth. Here you may not
find a definite roadmap to accumulate power, wage a decisive struggle or
achieve an elusive victory but you would find a narration richly impregnated
with insightful perceptions, soaring expressivity, pointed resistance and a
vivid presentation of reality. In his stories, the heroine does not live in a
make believe world of fantasy trying to overturn the established norms of
society through symbolic gestures of resistance and opposition but herein lies
the life experiences of the illiterate
,impoverished and uprooted common women or child brides belonging to the
toiling, exploited and neglected sections of the Indian society, where the
optimism of success or the despair of
defeat has lost its meaning or importance but where there is endless struggle
and endless agony.
This article by scholar Umesh K. Chauhan was published in the special issue (October –December 2012) of Hindi literary magazine Lamhi based on the writing of eminent hindi fiction writer Shivmurti. It is its English version.
