Kucchi ka Kanoon : Kathakar Shivmurti
A remarkable story narrating the resurrection of a
simple rustic Indian woman “Kuchhi Ka Kanoon” , is the latest flaring torch of inspiration for women’s
struggle and liberation . This story of Shivmurti belongs to the twenty first
century and not to the twentieth. What actually is there in this new story of
Shivmurti ? What novelty does Shivmurti tries to present in his new narrative?
Such analytical evaluation of Shivmurti’s latest creative work is being
presented here.
Shivmurti is an
exceptional storyteller in contemporary Hindi Literature who depicts the stark
reality of Indian countryside, its impoverished people and its women with such
spontaneity, which is indeed quiet uncommon. This realism is evident not only
in his storyline or its various incidences but also in his distinct linguistic
style, conduct of his characters and the dialogue among them. He uninhibitedly
depicts Indian rural society as asymmetric, as ugly, rough or distorted as it
actually exists. For this he selects the subject of his stories on the basis of
his personal experience, carefully chooses his characters and unreservedly
adopts their language, dialect, deliberative style and conduct. He does not try
unnecessary glorifying his characters or brandishing them as villains. He
simply strings them together with the accompanying virtues or flaws as is apparent
in their conduct. For this reason, while reading his stories we can quite often,
vividly relate a sequence of incidences to be happening in the backward or
schedule caste neighborhood of our own native villages. However there is not an
exclusive concern for the problems of backward and schedule caste sections of
the society in Shivmurti’s stories. Neither does he seem overly obsessed in
highlighting issues concerning Dalits, the domination of Non- Dalits or the
ostensible social asymmetry. His allegiance is with the poor of every caste and
community. Therefore in the popular sense his literary work cannot be
categorized to be a part of Dalit centric discussions. Class based concerns are
quite evident in his stories. There are women centric concerns in it however he
has never declared himself to be a feminist. But one thing is quite apparent
that women occupy the center stage in most of his stories possibly due to his
overwhelming concern for the impoverished, relentlessly oppressed rural women
living in a medieval society of Indian countryside rather an urban society
oscillating between modernity and futuristic concepts. It’s because of such
unique attributes, that Shivmurti though having authored possibly ten odd
titles is counted among the top storytellers in contemporary Hindi prose.
Publication of a
new story of Shivmurti evokes quite an interest in the literary circles to
become a hot topic of discussion and debate everywhere. Therefore after a gap
of three years, a long story of his, ‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ was published in the 32nd
edition (Oct 2015) of a respectable literary magazine ,Tadbhav, it
spontaneously attracted my attention .I have written earlier on Shivmurti’s stories,
not to demonstrate my knowledge of critical evaluation but purely from a
reader’s intellect which I think is quite needed today. When I therefore used
my reader’s intellect to read this story ‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ , I found it quite
dissimilar from the rest . Frankly speaking, initially I was rather taken aback
by the impression that Shivmurti too through this story, quite akin to Akhilesh,
while supposedly climbing the staircase of realism wavered to create an utopian
world for his characters that in fact matches his idealism. Although seemingly
impossible albeit pleasant figment of imagination was similarly discernable in
Akliesh’s new story named ‘Shrankhala’ , published three years ago which was at
odd with his earlier works like ‘Wajud’
, ‘Yakshgaan’ and ‘Grahan’ which were inspired by real world situations ,plots
and characters. But when I read the end of ‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ , and though of
it again in retrospect , I felt that the beguiling face of a women’s fight back
presented in this story and the spread
of women consciousness from cities to villages is certainly not imaginary in
nature but quite close to reality that exists today in our villages though it
may not be so widespread as of now . This literary work is not a step in the
direction of Premchand’s idealistically inclined realism. Critic Sooraj Paliwal
in his article ‘ Hamare Samaj ki Kahaniyan’ ( Bahuvachan 37 , Apr-Jun
2013) writes – “ Story is the art of
recreating its time. Time is the basic theme of a story. A story can describe a
reality only by revolving around the pivot of its contemporary time “ . ‘Kuchhi
ka Kanoon’ , effectively adopts this principle and is arguably a realistic
story based on its contemporary time period.
Shivmurti has
always kept women’s struggle at the center stage of his stories , everything
else is either relatively insignificant or exists simply in support of it. Whether
it is woman character named Vimili in ‘Triyacharittar’ , Surji in ‘Akal Dand’
or Shanichari of ‘Kasaibada’ ,everywhere it is a fight for a woman’s self
esteem conducted by an unassuming ,impoverished and helpless women characters.
More often than not women end up vanquished but nevertheless they do end up
awakening a swirl of sensibilities in their reader’s mind. They succeed in
effectively registering a women’s exasperation and intense longing to liberate her,
with its readers. It lights a torch of women emancipation in a way that doesn’t
get extinguished even after the story has ended. ‘ Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ , is a new
flaring torch of ‘Women’s struggle’ in this sense. This is Shivmurti ‘s story
of the twenty first century and not the twentieth . The village council in this
story is quite different from the one in ‘Triyacharittar’ . The central woman character
of this story although illiterate and enchained by social trappings is
nevertheless much more outspoken, politically suave, determined for her rights
and the outer world is ready to support her struggle as well. For this reason,
in this village council the central woman character does not get vanquished but
comprehensively silences her adversaries in their own den by her competent logical
reasoning to emerge as a vanquisher. Here the destiny of her struggle is not grim. It
becomes a medium to clear the path for transforming the stinking and outdated
system of paternalistic society existing in our villages .The woman in this
story is also not alone in her struggle , supporting her cause is a new awakened
society which is termed nowadays as
civil society .
If we talk of
the structure and storyline of this story , it has to be said that ‘Kuchhi ka
Kanoon’ is in a different league from his preceding literary works. Even though
readers of Hindi prose are quite habitual of reading long stories but this
story is a bit extra long so that it seems more of a novel at first sight. The
storyline has been kept simple without incorporating unnecessary complications
or unprecedented suspense. In spite of it being long it isn’t tedious and the
reader once having started reading it would continue to do so till he reaches
the end. A daughter-in-law of a non
descript farmer family and a young widow ,Kuchhi is the central character of
this story . She is beautiful, well structured and has an attractive
personality. She is greatly adored by her husband Bajrangi who dies one day
tragically after consuming spurious liquor. Kuchhi could never come to terms
with this sudden turn of events at having to become a widow just a few months
after her marriage even before she could bear a child. Her in-laws are old.
They cannot see their young daughter-in-law waste her whole life as a widow in
their house. Therefore they decide to give permission for her remarriage and
sent him back to live with her parents. But destiny has something else in
store. Kuchhi’s father arrives to take her back with himself. Her belongings
are strapped on her father’s bicycle. Kuchhi also starts formally taking leave
of her in-laws but suddenly her mother-in-law collapses out of grief. The
sending off ceremony is postponed and from there starts a remarkable tale of a
women’s struggle for liberation.
Kuchhi‘s
father-in-law, Rameshwar does not have an another off spring. His nephew
Banvari intends to usurp his property. He considers Bajrangi‘s sudden death as
a blessing in disguise. He would have directly benefited if Kuchhi had returned
to her parent’s house as it would then make things easier for him. Therefore he
does not appreciate the postponement of Kuchhi’s departure. Later when Kuchhi’s
mother-in-law gets admitted to the district hospital with a fractured leg and
therefore Kuchhi’s departure gets indefinitely postponed, he starts conspiring
against her in order to achieve his objective. He wants to forcibly develop
physical relationship with Kuchhi . He believes that in this way he would
naturally get to inherit his uncle’s property. For the sake of his ambition, he
does not even care for his wife Sulakshini . In fact she too, out of greed
becomes a co-conspirator and associate of her husband. Kuchhi although is a
self-respecting woman. She also feels responsible towards the security of her
aged in-laws. She posses a indomitable spirit to wage a struggle. Not only is
she blessed with an appropriate physical strength but also a resolute mind. She
gives a befitting response at each step to Banvari’s nefarious designs. Her
mother-in-law has faith in her abilities. Her father-in-law does not have the
courage to resist his nephew and meekly bears his undignified behavior while at
the same time the mother-in-law provides moral support to her daughter-in-law.
Kuchhi’s daily excursions to the city based district hospital during her
mother-in-law’s treatment, has made her quite worldly wise. She gets acquainted
with a free spirited nurse at the hospital named Kutti, who guides her as to
how she could salvage her miserable circumstances. She becomes conscious of her
right to become a mother and gets inseminated. Her pregnancy causes a stir
among the village women. Kuchhi had uptill now successfully rebutted Banvari’s
every move but now in the light of her pregnancy Banvari plans to drag her to
the village council , get her declared a debauchers and remove her forever from
his path. The village council chief Laxman chowdhury and Banvari’s mentor Balai
Pande become active supporters of his conspiracy. However Kuchhi is aware of
the political equations in the village and just before the convening of the
village council, personally meets Dhannu baba, a thoughtful veteran and a
strong headed lady named Sughara Thakurain in order to drum up support for her
cause. However her strongest ally in the village is Dharamraj a well educated
lawyer. Its because of these reasons that the proceedings of shivmurti’s
village council in this story get altered.
In the story ‘ Triyacharittar’
, the village council did not cared for the truth and Vimili was to be punished
in any case even though another women character Mantoria supported Vimili’s contention and opposed the unjust
proceedings of the village council. However in Kuchhi’s case time has changed. Shivmurti
in this story has very adeptly grasped the change that has occurred with the
passage of time in a woman’s psyche, her conduct, her resolve, her
understanding of politics, in the ecology of the village and in the general
atmosphere of the surrounding world, to let the story adapt a new direction.
Kuchhi is seen not just resisting but also trying to change the mindset of the
village councilors. Today the villages are not cut off from the influence of
the cities. Elements from the nearby places also get attracted to the
proceedings of the village council. The presence in large numbers of female
associates of Dharamraj , the village based lawyer and women activist of
various government agencies , bear testimony to this fact. The village
councilors in their presence could not openly subvert the rightful course of
action. Therefore in this village council Kuchhi doesn’t faces the prospects of
a certain defeat like Vimili in ‘Triyacharittar’. On the contrary she emerges
victorious even when the village council is divided in dispensing justice. In
the end her brother-in-law Banvari creates a ruckus in order to disrupt the
proceedings of the council which seemed moving towards passing an adverse
ruling against him. In this way although Kuchhi is not successful in getting
her contention formally endorsed by the village council, however at the same
time she doesn’t let the village council pass an adverse sentence against her
action. She forcefully asserts her independent right to bear a child in her womb.
By ending the story with shouts of “Awake! Awake! Run! Run!”, in the village council Shivmurti
is trying to emphasize the change that is discernable in the circumstances
surrounding rural women and in the mindset of the society as a whole. It is an
announcement to the effect that women have sufficiently awakened to become
conscious of their rights and would no longer silently bear the injustices of a
paternalistic society. There is a clear indication here that the winds of
change that are blowing at present in isolated places would soon converge
together and gather speed to take the form of a hurricane that would change
forever everything in its path.
How much and
what type of right does a women have over her womb is the central moot point of
this story. Through it Shivmurti has tried to take the discussion related to this
topic happening in futuristic society one step further. The noteworthy aspect
however is that in order to do so he has not taken help of women characters
that are literate and have already become active torch bearers of the change,
but of a helpless woman who is neither very educated nor brought up in a
progressive environment. Her personal, moral and ideological strength is the
only support on which she can rely during her struggle.Her mother-in-law
supports her but looks unto her .The seeds of desire to take control of her
circumstances and liberate herself from them have been sown by the free
spirited nurse Kutti Progressive people such as Dhramraj the lawyer, Dhannu
baba and Sughara Thakurain living in the village have inculcated in her
knowledge and logical aptitude. She has to fight her oppressive brother-in-law
who intends to usurp her in-laws property and also protect her aged in-laws
from his evil designs. Her husband is dead and she needs a legal
Heir to save her
in-laws property from the clutches of Banvari . Since she cannot obtain a
biological child of her husband Bajrangi , she is ready to accept someone else
to help her bear a child . For the acceptability of such a measure it is
essential that the identity of the sperm donor is kept secret. To exercise her
right to bear a child in her womb, she is prepared to take any sort of risk
even if it entails fighting against the society itself. When her mother-in-law
casts doubt on her strategy, she boldly says “Is it necessary to give my child
someone else name too. Is not the mother’s name enough for the child?” Bewildered
to see her unconcerned attitude at having become pregnant in the absence of her
husband a village granny named Chatura, when in a state of shock grabs
Kuchhi by her arms and shaking her vigorously exclaims in a hushed tone –“How
can you speak like that? Did some ghost or a phantom did this to you? If your
brother-in-law Banvari gets to know of this he would grind you into pieces and
gulp you down along with his drink.” Kuchhi unperturbedly replies – “How can my
brother-in-law be concerned with myself? Do I eat out of his pocket? His hearth
and mine are separate “. When during the proceedings of the village council,
the issue of the right of a woman to independently bear a child starts getting
discussed animatedly; Balai Pande tries to prove Kuchhi debauchers in front of
the village council on grounds of ethics. In order to impress the council with
his knowledge of religious scriptures he cites from the commentaries written on
a thousand year old tradition of sage Yagyavalkya regarding the social laws and
customs every human must adhere to in order to lead a moral life. He also
contends that the existing legal statutes related to inheritance, marriage, adoption
etc were written during the reign of Pandit Jahwarlal Nehru who had personally
ensured that they are prepared as per the ancient tradition of sage Yagyavalkya
. Terming Kuchhi as illiterate and ignorant of the law of the land he threatens
her by remarking that even the high and the mighty were made to bite the dust
when similarly pitted against the law of the land and when it thrashes it does
so until the person’s mouth starts foaming. But Kuchhi doesn’t get over awed by
the pretentious show of scholarly knowledge by Balai Pande. On the issue of her
right to bear a child, she nonchalantly tells the village council-“ I am not a
trader to trade things after diligently considering the possibility of loss or
gain” ,Switching her attention to Balai Pande she adds further –“ Is the
thrashing of a person also written in the statute books, Learned Sir ?”. This
sharp witted reply of Kuchhi in response to Balai Pande ‘ s threat of legal
ramifications of her act , effectively stupefies both him and Banvari to put
them in docks in front of the village council. At this juncture the women from
nearby places present in strength lend their support to Kuchhi contention. A
girl stands up from their midst to state “Though Yagyavalkya has been dead since
ages, the loop of his statutes continue to entangle women’s neck even now. The
time has come to bury such outdated laws with the dead and prepare new laws
which allow women to live and not treat women as mere objects of use but as
living entities. We all are in full support of our courageous sister “ . This
completely silences the village councilors. In this way eventually the archaic
and irrelevant social laws proposed by Balai Pande are rejected while the
‘Kanoon’ (Law) of Kuchhi rules the roost in the village council. Seen from an
overall perspective this story in fact gives a new direction to the growing
dissatisfaction and disenchantment with the working of traditional forums of
arbitration like village and khap panchayats . Shivmurti through this story has
tried to transform a socially relevant issue of the right of a women to bear a
child discussed essentially in Indian society either domestically or in private
to a free and open topic of discussion to be debated by society at large. This
is the special significance of this story.
Critic Vaibhav
Singh in his article titled ‘Present Stories and Creative
Challenges’(Bahuvachan-37,Apr-Jun 2013) has said –“ Becoming a part of someone
else experience , to be able to gain their perspective, and surpassing one’s
ego so as to understand their vulnerabilities is the essential exercise that
significantly increases the competency of a story teller “ . In this sense
Shivmurti is quite an accomplished story teller. He frequently visits his
native village and is quite aware of the social, political and economic conditions
of the villages. The plot and characters of his story are inspired from his
actual experiences in real life villages itself. For this reason his characters
seem quite natural and relatable in his stories. In ‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ , too
Shivmurti has utilized the social reality of his village . Making use of his
experienced intellect he has presented a simple rural woman as a personality
that ushers in a significant social change. A daughter-in –law of a non
descript farmer family that never had the chance to breathe freely in a
progressive environment, how does Kuchhi
gets suddenly inspired by a futuristic concept of the right of a woman over her
womb and resolves to fight for her dignity and self respect. Shivmurti has
fabricated a very innate incident for this purpose in the story. The trigger
point that catalyses the change in Kuchhi is embedded in the dialogue between her
and the free spirited nurse Kutti , held during her mother-in-law’s treatment
at the city based district hospital. A striking piece of conversation it
signifies the turning point in the story.
“I took my child
as a gift from one of my friend .I slept with him for a month and got the baby
“. The friend asked –“Do you care to marry me”. I replied “No. The lover
becomes a demon after marriage. Do you understand what Demon means?”
“But isn’t a
women after all needs a man?”, asked Kuchhi
“One can have a
man when necessary, one can have a child when required.”, blurted out Kutti as
she went away clanking her sandals on the floor. Then suddenly she turned to
look at Kuchhi. With a grin on her face she said –“It’s not the man but the
husband who is dangerous”
On hearing nurse
Kutti ‘s indirect advice , the youthful mind of Kuchhi gets suddenly gripped by
an intense feeling of agony at not
getting to bear a child because of the sudden widowhood and the consequent
prospects of loosing her property and self – esteem in the society for ever
.She makes up her mind to deal appropriately with the situation. She doesn’t expect
any help from her father-in-law. She continue to selflessly
take care of her
mother-in-law. When the mother-in law returns to the village having recuperated
at the district hospital, Kuchhi shares with her the evil designs of Banvari
and her intention to have a child of her own. The mother-in-law has faith in
Kuchhi’s abilities. She not only sympathizes with her but after discussing the
pros and cons of her intentions, gets ready to support her. Although she makes
it clear that Kuchhi would have to face the onslaught on her own. The
conversation between them at night before while going to sleep is a revealing
example of how to sound the bugle of revolt against the continuous oppression
faced by women due to the established cannons of the Indian paternalistic
society. “Lying on the bed alongside me, my daughter-in-law having remained
immersed in deep thoughts for sometime had said to me in a somber tone –“
Listen Mother , I feel like giving birth to one or two sons , so that when they
grow up they can suitably screw up that person.” The aged mother-in-law could
understand the tempest of hurt and agony raging inside her daughter-in-law. In
a soft voice she had consoled her thus
-
“ It is precisely this that a woman cannot do ,my little daughter”
-
“But it is only a woman who can
do this Mother! And certainly not a man”
-
“Don’t think of committing such
an act or else the villagers would not let you stay in the village and Banvari
would not let you live.”
-
“But mother that person is not
letting us live even now. It is for this reason that it has become necessary
now”
-
“ Yes it is indeed necessary
but alas our time has passed away”
Kuchhi does not
want to live a life of terror stricken, oppressed and a sexually exploited
widow. She in order to protect her self-esteem, achieve her rights, save her
in-laws property and to be able to feel a sense of completeness of being a mother
intends to wage a struggle. The courage with which she faces the greedy and
licentious Banvari all alone when one day on the pretext of lighting his beedi
, he entered the inner quarters of her house is indeed quite exciting. She
immediately grabs a sickle and flaunting it menacingly at Banvari snarls
–“Although you look of my father’s age but even then you are not ashamed to put
a soliciting face in front of me?” When Banvari tries to entice her by saying
–“First at least listen to me Kuchhi . Why do you consider me as your enemy? I
would keep you both. You continue to reign over in this house while Sulakshini
would do so in mine. Then where is need to go elsewhere?“ , Kuchhi curtly
replies “Listen to me for once with your ears wide open . Our paths are
separate and they would remain separate in future as well. But even then if you
try to forcibly cross my path then I would see toit your blood and mine flow
the same path. “With these words she made her intentions and resolve amply
clear. The words with which she apprises her mother-in-law of her resolve to
prevent Banvari from usurping their property are quite characteristic of
Shivmurti ‘s literary craft –“ But only if I allow him , would he be able to
gulp it down . Like a fish bone I would get stuck in between his throat. I would
not hesitate to even shove my hand in his intestines to get my property. I am
no longer going to leave you alone here. Just you both were parents of my
husband, I consider you to be mine too.“ Her voice became even more
authoritative “Send the news to my father that from now on Kuchhi’s life would
be spend in the service of her in-laws. Let that sinner defame me as much as he
can” . Similarly when she is pressurized in the village council to give her
prior assurance to accept what ever may be the verdict of the councilors,
having knowledge of Banvari’s attempt to influence their decision by diligently serving them
jaggery and water since morning , she bluntly expresses her doubts over their
impartiality.- “ I have already promised to honour your position . But if the councilors
after accepting jaggery from the opposite party pronounce their verdict to
pierce Kuchhi ‘s eyes or cut off her ears , how would it accept that” She
stupefies the councilors by declaring unequivocally in the village council –“
Listen you all. Kuchhi stands now to speak , “ Though Kunti ( mother of
Pandavas in Mahabharta) feared the consequences , Anjani ( mother of the monkey god Hanuman)
similarly feared as well ,Likewise the mother of Sita ( wife of Lord Ram in
Ramayan) too didn’t openly confessed
the truth . But the mother of Balkisan is not afraid of the consequences .I
would certainly give birth to my Balkisan “
Such indomitable
resolve for women’s struggle in the story, is not limited to Kuchhi alone, but
she has infused a similar resolve in her mother-in-law as well. The father-in-law,
Rameshwar is however timid. He does not want an open altercation with his nephew.
He tries to convince his wife too from harboring such intentions. He even
accuses his daughter-in-law of unnecessary fomenting trouble for them. The aged
mother-in-law could not bear to see her daughter-in-law being falsely accused
in this way and comes down heavily on her husband. Here each word uttered by
her seems like a heavy blow on the paternalistic system of society –“The aged
mother-in-law angrily retorts –“The cause of trouble is my daughter-in-law or
that butcher of a person your nephew, who is unable to hold his tongue. It is
he who has set his evil eyes on our land, house and even on our daughter-in-law.
She has come in this house through marriage. All of this belongs to her after
all. If you send her off to her parents now, would you take me to the forest
daily for my natural calls? Would you cook the chapattis? Once I have
recuperated fully we shall formally send her off if that what she desires. Or
else we would keep her with our self as the mistress of this house. Who can
evict her? How dare you utter such words? Don’t try to make her a scapegoat for
your frustrations. Does anyone throw away a blanket for fear of lice? ” . Here in a single instance, multiple
challenges faced by a woman have been highlighted, the issue of the rights of a
daughter-in-law, the issue of her involvement in outdoor & household
activities and the right to independently take decisions of her life. By using
a local proverb of a blanket and the lice to put across his point, Shivmurti
has also enriched the language of his story.
Shivmurti in
‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ has used the village council as a platform for open
discussions and debate. Here the issue being debated is not related to the
interpretation of a deep religious philosophy or religious thought. Here the
issue under consideration is the right of a widow to bear a child. Her resolve
to become a mother. Here the concerned widow is a helpless woman. Although she
lacks knowledge of religious scriptures but her knowledge of practical aspects
of life is quite over whelming. Her ordinary intellect incorporates in itself
an extraordinary capability for logical argumentation. Here the group of
councilors is in favor of age old customs and are blind supporters of
traditions. It has its own stake in maintenance of status quo of the
predominance of the paternalistic system of society. It is not prepared to give
credence to logical reasoning as a basis to decide on a issue. Among them the
only ray of hope for Kuchhi are the duo of Dhannu baba and Sughara Thakurain
who although ambiguous on their support for the issue, but cannot be doubted
for their commitment towards justice. For this very reason Kuchhi specially
request them to be present in the village council. Kuchhi presents her defence
for each of her actions on the basis of logical arguments in front of the
village council. The argument behind her getting pregnant - “Though my husband
was relived once for all from all his troubles with his death, I however had to
face the agony of death and shame every day from all quarters for all sort of
reasons. Fetup with having to die each day I decided to give birth to my
support “is as logical as her reason for not remarrying “ If I had remarried
there would have been no one to take care of my in-laws .I couldn’t leave them
to fend for themselves alone. After all my relation was not limited to my husband
alone” When having to face a contention
from the councilors that till such time
she remarries her husband has exclusive and ethical right over her womb, she
replies “ This womb of mine is of no use to a deceased person. Then who has the
right after his death ? When would I get the right over my own womb?” This kind
of counter argument leave the councilors dumbfounded, but the person who has
been continuously putting up pointed arguments in the village council in order
to humiliate and defeat Kuchhi , Balai Pande could not for long remain silent
to her persuasive arguments. “You intend to enjoy the right over your late
husband’s property at the same time you want to give birth to an illegitimate
child in the same house.! How is that possible?” When Balai tries to corner
Kuchhi in this way to put her in the docks, Kuchhi comes up with a very
ingenious reply –“He could not possibly come from heaven to help me conceive a
child and I alone could not do so either.” This ongoing debate between Kuchhi
and Balai Pande in the village council hereafter becomes even curter
-
“So you have decided to carry
forward the lineage of Bajrangi with the help of an illegitimate child. Oh how wonderful!”
-
“ His lineage may or may not
but mine would definitely move forward”
-
“ You fool, a family lineage is
not recognized by the name of the mother , but gets extended due to the sperm
and name of the father”
-
“ Why so , when it is the
mother who incubates the child for nine months in her womb while the father
having inseminated moves away”
Balai Pande
presents a lot of logical arguments and counter arguments in the village
council. Kuchhi successfully gives a befitting response to his every assertion
even more adeptly. In support of the still born child he expounds a very
accurate rationale –“Oh what a remarkable law you have stated Balai Baba! If I
adopt someone else child then he would get to inherit my husband’s property but
if I produce a child from my own womb then he wouldn’t get anything.Who so ever
is born from my womb would in any case carry at least half of my blood though
the other half may belong to someone else. In contrast an adopted child would
not even have an ounce of my blood. Then please tell me who therefore would be
more closely related to me among the two “ . When Kuchhi’s act of getting
pregnant without her husband is considered unethical and unrelated to examples
of similar conduct by characters in religious scriptures like Kaushalya (
mother of Lord Ram in Ramayan) ,Kunti ( mother of Pandavas) etc and therefore sought to be categorized as
an illegitimate act , Kuchhi nonchalantly remarks –“ Look you councilors , It
may have been possible for the royal princess and queens to give birth to a
child by eating puddings and deserts or praying to God . Even the deities and
their ancestors come to their rescue in such circumstances when invoked. But
for a poor village women like me one can only expect such help to be forth
coming from a human and a man “ And when the council tries to illicit the
identity of the sperm donor she flatly refuses to do so in the following way –“
Every women at sometime or the other has a man in her heart . Some are
fortunate to marry a person of their choice while others are not. She in that
case forgets everything to make herself compatible with the choice of her
destiny. I had not desired that man before but when the need arose, I gave that
man a space in my heart”. This statement of Kuchhi indicates not only her candor
but also her spirit of resistance , her preparedness to fight for her rights
and the signs of change that have occurred in women’s psyche.
Dhannu baba who
adopts an impartial approach to the debate in the village council is in fact
considerate of Kuchhi’s actions. He has knowledge of religious scriptures and enjoys
the trust of the villagers. He respects Kuchhi and admires her resolve, conduct
and beauty. He believes that by wrongly humiliating her, the village would
bring disrepute upon itself. In the words of Shivmurti -“ Dhannu baba on seeing a young widow like
Kuchhi feels the same way as a farmer who sees a high worth land lying
untilled” . Dhannu baba is of humorous bent of mind and has a habit of
presenting his words laced with humor. When Kucchi goes to him before the
village council to request him to be compulsorily present that day to support
her just cause, he relieves the tension and gloom in her by humorously
suggesting the name Kuchhi to have originated from the word ‘Kuchwati’ . Prior
to the village council, Kuchhi for three days sit with him to gain knowledge of
social laws elucidated in religious scriptures and to understand the practical
aspects of facing and negating the charges of the opposition in the village council.
Dhannu baba tries to maintain her motivation and conviction by citing examples
of similar conduct by mythological characters who had become mother without the
assistance of their husband in the following words –“Don’t worry so much. You
are certainly not the first woman to have become a mother in this way.
Innumerable children of such type have taken birth since prehistoric times. Each
of them became even more mighty and was even more powerful than his predecessors.” Dhannu baba sharing
with her the stories of such mythological characters like Karn , Hanuman , Sita
, Pandavas etc says –“ In fact you are the first woman to state openly that you
are giving birth in order to fulfill your need . No one till date has spoken
with such complete honesty “Undoubtedly Shivmurti in this story has not only
given a more realistic interpretation of such mythological events but also
tried to assert that if the pregnancy of such mythological women after marriage,
their motherhood and rights of children born to them have been accepted and
considered fit to give protection, then how can the pregnancy of Kuchhi be
considered lowly and illegitimate? How can she be publicly humiliated for it? Her
conduct should be considered even better than those of the mythological
characters who had acted similarly. When
Kuchhi in front of the village council retorts –“Though Kunti (mother of
Pandavas in Mahabharta) feared the consequences, Anjani (mother of the monkey
god Hanuman) similarly feared as well, likewise the mother of Sita (wife of
Lord Ram in Ramayan) too didn’t openly
confessed the truth. But the mother of Balkisan is not afraid of the
consequences .I would certainly give birth to my Balkisan”, certainly it is the
newly gained conviction of moral uprightness from Dhannu baba that is providing
her strength of purpose and fearlessness.
The tragic irony
of the community arbitration councils in Indian villages is that often they are
biased due to the influence of local ruffians, callous characters or families
and adjudicated in favor of them .Their principles of rightful conduct and
justice are predominately inspired by traditional beliefs or age old customs
and are often prejudiced.
The proceedings
of the village council knitted by Shivmurti in ‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ , is not an
exception to this failing . Here too the chief of the village council, Laxman
Chowdhury is in covert support of Banvari. When he is unable to repudiate the
rationalistic arguments of Kuchhi in the village council, he opposes her
efforts to win acceptance for her child by proposing a new theory of social
propriety against it –“ I think the seed should be given credence . The land
may belong to anyone but the yield from it depends upon the type of seed sown.
A mango plant would sprout from a mango seed .Similarly an Acacia would spring
forth from an Acacia seed. If a seed of Acacia has been sown in a land, how can
one expect to enjoy mangoes from it. But Kuchhi is indeed fortunate to have in
midst of the convened village council, plain speaking ex-village headwoman Sughara
Thakurain to support and validate her contention. She immediately counters and trivializes
the argument of Laxman Chowdhury regarding the significance of the seed to
decide the issue by submitting before the village council the following counter
argument -“The relevant point of discussion is not to decide as to what would
emerge from what type of seed. That much is quiet evident even to the visibly
amused Bangar , sitting behind in the crowd. .. The question is who shall have
the right to harvest the crop in the field? Suppose a person is sowing wheat in
his field. Some of the wheat seeds get scattered in the neighboring barley field.
When the plants have grown it becomes clear that the wheat plants present in
the barley field are due to the seeds of the neighboring farmer. Then in that
case, can the farmer of the neighboring wheat crop, claim his right over the
wheat plants growing in the barley field.” This logical argument of Sughara Thakurain
effectively deflates the chances of Balai Pandey to emerge victorious in the
ongoing debate. The councilors lack courage to stand up against Sughara as she
prior to this, in a personal family dispute, efficaciously struggled against
the male domination in the village. She cogently silences Balai Pande by
counter charging him of having forcibly kept a women locked for the whole night
in his house. As for neutralizing Laxman Chowdhury, Dhannu baba raises the
issue of illegitimate offspring in the village council and their general
acceptance in the society. The indication is clear that since Laxman Chowdhury
himself was born an illegitimate child from a Burmese mother, and the villagers
had never enquired about the identity of his father, he therefore has no
justifiable right to insist Kuchhi to disclose the identity of the sperm donor
in her case as well.
Sughara Thakurain,
intends to use Kuchhi’s case as a pretext to bring the subject of women’s
plight in general within the ambit of discussion taking place in the village
council. She questions the usefulness of men dominated paternalistic society
existing since prehistoric times. Her fearless attack on the centuries of
injustice meted to women is quite trenchant-“Though Kuchhi may not have to
learn the lesson, but women born in this country since thousand of years have
indeed learnt it the hard way. Their feeling has become immune to the pain. By
threatening her with the same consequences, they are still being herded like
sheep. But somebody please tell me why did sage Agastya used all his
capabilities to punish only his own wife. Why couldn’t he do anything against
the person who took advantage of solitude, to treacherously outrage her wife’s modesty?
Having accomplished his sinful act, he unperturbedly walked away from in front
of the sage, grinning and smugly twisting his moustache. Instead he vented his
frustration and outrage on his own victimized wife by cursing her to turn into
a stone. What kind of justice is this? What is there in it for a woman to learn
“ . This statement of Sughara comprises quite a significant part of the story
in which there is a forceful attack on the male oriented established cannons of
Indian society by a fully awakened and agitative woman. There is the
fragmentation of traditions, declaration of its irrelevance. In it is clarion
call for women to move in a new direction.
Along with the
central issue of right of woman over her womb, there are other things in this
story that stir our sensibilities from within. Even so as in any story of
Shivmurti , we expect to see a face of Indian villages that is quiet close to
reality . There is nothing sentimental or imaginary in it . Anything that is
worthless is presented as worthless. Something which is distorted or ugly is
similarly presented as such. For several years now , I have considered
Shivmurti’s stories to be a medium to validate the existing reality of rural
society. The realism of our villages is similarly apparent in ‘Kuchhi ka
Kanoon’ as well. Although in this story Shivmurti has not extended his attention beyond the personal struggle of
a village woman to analysis in depth the status and direction of the rural
society ,nevertheless being an accomplished writer he has not tried to ignore
the ecology altogether . If we consider a particular scene in the story in
which an important character of the story and the chief expounder of code of
conduct and justice in the village council, Balai Pande is seen lounging on a cot.-“After
eating his dinner, Balai baba , in the darkness of the night is lounging
outside his house alone on a jute strung cot ,just away from the front door of
his house under a fig tree. His unclad body is perspiring profusely. Having
lifted his dhoti unto his thighs it looks more of a loin cloth. He scratches
his back by rubbing it against the jute strings tightened around the wooden
frame of the cot. He is slowly flinging a handmade fan around himself to ward
off the mosquitoes.” . Even today life in our villages is quite similar, full
of perspiration, untouched by the modern amenities of life, living underneath
the shade of a tree. Another interesting scene that comes across us is when
Kuchhi is ready to take leave of his in-laws and return to live with her
parents.-“Her father is busy handing over the jewelry and other such items
Kuchhi received at the time of marriage, back to her mother-in-law. He wants to
clear up everything so that there is no altercation in future. In midst of such
happening, Kuchhi eyes settle on a natural scene that is quiet touching –“Having
become restless due to the presence of a large gathering of villagers at the
front door , the buffalo tied outside starts grunting aloud while moving
nervously around her tether.This buffalo had also accompanied Kuchhi to her
in-laws house at the time of marriage . it had been given to her husband by her
father as a blessing for taking vows of marriage with his daughter. Now would
she have to accompany her back as well?” Such instinctive portrayal of day to
day rural life shifts Shivmurti’s stories closer to the reader’s heart and make
them even more sensitive.
In this story of
Shivmurti there is not much scope to dissect and analysis the working of the
establishment or the political condition o0f the country, but wherever he got
such an opportunity he did not let it go in vain. When Kuchhi brings her
mother-in-law to the district hospital in the city for treatment, she gets to
face the inefficient and corrupt medical services existing at the hospital.
Although she succeeds in getting her mother-in-law admitted at the hospital
with the active assistance of Dharamraj the village based lawyer, she has to
face a lot of difficulties in getting the treatment done at the government
hospital. Shivmurti has aptly described the despicable state of affairs at the
hospital as follows-“ The broker for the private nursing home was right , the
doctor having not received any bribe ,
intentionally delayed the operation for 3 days . In the morning he would say he
would do it tomorrow and the next day he again excuses himself on some pretext
. There was risk of the wound getting septic in case of further delay . The
ward boys and nurses at the hospital had been hackling from the first day
itself that none can get pass that doctor like Yama ( Diety of Death) . Even if the leg gets
an inch shorter than the other one ,the old dame would have to limp for rest of
the life. Tell that lawyer brother –in-law of yours to show his overbearance in
courts only and not here or else next time he visits the hospital, he would
have to be admitted with broken limbs as well” This is the naked reality of our
government hospitals . Wherever our sight goes one can but see crowd of people swarming around with
no one to attend them . Only patients with some acquaintance at the hospital
can hope to get timely treatment and service. Otherwise right from the
procuring of admission slip to consulting the doctor, undergoing tests,
obtaining their reports, issuance of medicines etc one has to pass the whole
day standing in different queues. In government hospitals one often get to see
the afflicted face of Indian society in totality at one place itself. Life and
death are a part of daily routine at such hospitals. No one gets concerned by the
regular deaths occurring due to inexplicable delay or negligence in treatment.
Shivmurti in the
story has used the narrative related to the hospital as a medium to present a
bird’s eye view of the frailty affecting our society. Today people are dying either
due to various diseases or are being put to death. Compassion seems to have
vanished from our thoughts. Ties of love, understanding and brotherhood are
getting broken. There is no emotional bond of mutual love existing in man-women
relationships. Daughters are being daily thrashed or torched alive to death in
paternalistic society either due to dowry or having given birth to a girl
child. While describing a scene of a ward at the district hospital , Shivmurti
seems more like an eyewitness to enactment of some serious crime than a story
teller. –“ Bed no 7 is kept reserved for patients with burn injuries. It gets
ready every morning having changed its white bed sheet and pillow. Most of the
patients that occupy this bed are newly married women. Some carry a year old
girl child while some a mere six months child with them . That bed seldom
remains unoccupied. Those women who have consumed poison are relieved of their
pain in the very same day while those with burn injuries die after moaning for
four to five days. Sometimes it takes seven to ten day for the infection to
spread in the whole body and result in death. How many daughters and
daughter-in-law are there in the country that even after dying daily
continuously for so many years either to poison or burn injuries, they do not
seem to end. This is a question that can affect the sensibilities of anyone but
in an insensitive society who really cares for them. People in desperation are
flocking for suicide. For women, suicide seems to have become the easiest way
to end all their troubles. Shivmurti description of a particular bed in the
emergency ward of the district hospital is quite heart wrenching where women
are brought to take their last breadths before death –“ This bed has been given
an appropriate name ‘Poison Bed ‘ , that is kept reserved for patients who are
admitted having consumed poison. Daily at this hour, someone or the other
arrives without exception. Among them are only women and not a single man. Each
of them is not more than twenty or twenty five years of age. Most of them come
after having swallowed ‘Sulphas ‘ . That is the most readily available poison
in villages and countryside.” The extraordinary awareness of women rights and
the indomitable willpower for struggle took birth in Kuchhi’s psyche amidst
such reprehensible scenes at the district hospital.
The usage of
local dialect, incisive and sensitive language along with a unique
story-structure for which Shivmurti is known are found incorporated in ‘Kuchhi
ka Kanoon’ as well . The only difference being the presence of a higher degree
of conceptual ferment as compared to his previous stories. There is the
exuberance of logical elucidation in its dialogues. The voce of dissent against
the miserable state of women due to traditional beliefs is also quite
articulate. Occasional usage of humor and satire in between has made the story
even more captivating. The kind of crude language that Shivmurti decides to use
for the wily character Balai Pande who is tutoring Banwari to take charge of Kuchhi’s
body in order to inherit his uncle’s property .- “ She is in need of a man ,she
would get it. You want the property, you would get it as well. Likewise Rameshwar
and his wife both need someone to cook chapattis, they too would be assured of
it. In this way everybody’s problem would get fixed “ The uneasiness of Banwari
, immersed in thinking of the possible fallout of Balai’s advice has been
remarkably conveyed symbolically with the help of a simile –“ A person soliciting two women at
the same time burns just like a brick in a local brick kiln. Just as the brick cannot
help but suffer the smoke in the kiln, likewise the person too is unable to give
vent to his uneasiness “. Shivmurti presents a fine example of satirical
language laced with humor to describe the surcharged atmosphere of speculation
and anticipation among villagers before the commencement of proceedings in the
village council-“ The general meeting of the village council called to hear the
pleadings of a debauchers is bound to be even more enjoyable than the annual
enactment of Lord Krishna’s romantic tryst with milkmaids of Vrindavan
.Therfore the women of the village are flocking in groups to the village center
, having completed their household chores for the day in time for the proceedings
to start . Among them are the mother-in-law as well as the daughter-in-law ,
aged as well as young , women of all types expect daughters and sisters. The
young toddlers accompanying them are either on foot or in their laps , with a pot containing either a mixture of
boiled rice and pulses or Maggi (instant noodles) .The daughter-in-law has kept
their fasces veiled . Though they cant hope to be able to speak but certainly
they cant be prevented to at least listen. Young boys who have just reached
adolescent too are arriving at the village council, with a shy grin on their
faces trying to hide their faces behind each other”
Shivmurti by
frequently employing local words, idoms and proverbs in popular currency among
the masses, makes his language quite natural, sensitive and interesting. These
characteristics of his language can be seen in the various excerpts from the
‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ presented in this article. Here I feel it to be appropriate
to highlight some of the other characteristics that have not yet been pointed out
elsewhere, but without which the scrutiny of the interesting and quite
effective variety in his language would remain incomplete. When Banwari accuses
Kuchhi ,in the village council of using her pregnancy as a pretext to enjoy
like a debauchers , the words with which she counter accuses Banwari is a fine
example of potent and pointed language
–“ Councilors this man had considered me to be a nectar of the pulse plant
which can be licked at will just by inserting one’s finger into it. Having
realized that he would not succeed in his objective he is creating this
nuisance in order to force me to leave this village. He considers the people of
this village to be innocent as a child to be able to understand his real
motive. He would win them over to his side by bribing them with jaggery . He is related to me as my husband’s elder
brother The custom is that the husband’s elder brother must even avoid the
shadow of his younger brother’s wife let alone think of physically touching
her. But even three months had not elapsed after my husband’s death when this
man one day treacherously grabbed my breasts. At another time taking advantage
of solitude due to my mother-in-law’s treatment at the district hospital he
came inside the inner quarters of my house with evil intentions. Though half of
his hairs have grayed with age but his heart continues to be black with evil .
In order to entice me , he offered to make me his chief maiden . You yourself
ask this licentious man whether it is true or not? This should be decided in
this village council as well.”
Dhannu baba’s
satirical language to water down the effects of all sort of nonsensical
questioning directed at Kuchhi by
Laxman Chowdhury is also quite
exceptional –“That which could happen in Treta yuga , why cant it happen now in
the age of Kali ? In Treta the womb could bear a child by eating. In the age of
Dwapar it could happen by simply taking name of God. Going by that rate in the
present age of Kali, the womb should get occupied by merely looking.” The
consequences of this satire are however quite unwelcome. Mischievous elements
are always present amidst such congregation. Shivmurti make use of them to
direct some unprincipled language at Dhannu baba , to unsettle him by making
fun of him publicly in the village council .-“ You are supporting Kuchhi quite
fervently Baba. Is it that while reclining or lounging you had the taste of her
as well?” Considering such excerpts from the story, it can be safely adjudged
that Shivmurti is indeed a master of language and to read his stories is to
undertake a journey into the amazing world of language.
Generally in Shivmurti’s stories political deliberation
as such is not given much prominence. Whatever that does take place is that of
local administrative or government agency level , which is limited to
description of village level caste based or class based equations and mutual
bickering. But in ‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ , although of limited nature , Shivmurti has indeed given
space to open political discussion. When in the village council, the discussion
revolves around the law of inheritance that was prepared under the supervision
Pandit Jawarlal Nehru, Kuchhi by saying –“I cannot believe that Pandit Jawaharlal
ensured the passage of such an inept law. In the portrait of his, he looks
quiet docile” ,gives expression to a strong political satire against the anti –
women law . In the same way when Banwari , by calling Dhannu baba an illiterate
, tries to pressurize him to stop talking freely in the village council , Dhannu
baba in reply advices him to respect the ingenuity of illiterates . To buttress
his point he makes a significant political statement by speaking of the
fortitude with which the so called illiterate people of India
I had written in
one of my earlier article that Shivmurti’s stories are basically stories of
women centric deliberations but in its center are not modern, educated and
awakened women, who are competing in midst of a male dominated society for
equal rights, acquiring economic and political strength in order to protect
their self-esteem at social and intellectual level ,protective of their gender
rights and living in a upscale society . His women centric deliberations is
focused on their physical and innate beauty ,their worldly sorrows and oppression, desires, resistance , love
and hate relationships , family altercations etc of women belonging to lower strata
of society that are carrying on their lives within the precincts of their
houses in the remote villages of India’s hinterland. The ‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ is
a bit different. Even though Kuchhi is not literate and equipped with
consciousness of gender rights, she has learnt quite a bit from external
sources to inculcate in herself a remarkable ability for struggle and logical reasoning.
Here the struggle is not limited just to live with self respect and protect
one’s property but it is aimed at acquiring the right of a woman over her womb,
the right of a newly married widow to become a mother. Here the motive is the
establishment of new social values. Here the situation is that of resistance
towards traditions. Here the aim is revaluation of traditional principles and
beliefs and espousal of new values and belief systems. In it is the advocacy
for establishing an appropriate system for ensuring the self-esteem of women by
highlighting the irrelevance and non-usefulness of concerned traditional beliefs
and legal statutes of the country. Shivmurti through this story, undoubtedly,
not only provides a new direction to women centric deliberations but also a
fresh perspective to struggle for women liberation. Karl Marx in the ‘The Holy
Family’ has said “A natural benchmark for human liberation in a particular
society is the extent to which women liberation has been achieved in it” .
In that sense
this story is an account of human liberation. Definitely Shivmurti is a major
narrator of stories related to human liberation in contemporary time and his
new story ‘Kuchhi ka Kanoon’ , is a milestone in the direction of promoting the
noble objective of human liberation.
This article, written by Eminent Scholar Umesh Chauhan, has been published in National Hindi Magazine India Inside's special issue - SAHITYA VARSHIKI 2016, based on eminent hindi fiction writer Shivmurti's Writing titled as 'Vanchiton Ka Vyakhayata (Voice of deprives)'. It is its English version.
This article, written by Eminent Scholar Umesh Chauhan, has been published in National Hindi Magazine India Inside's special issue - SAHITYA VARSHIKI 2016, based on eminent hindi fiction writer Shivmurti's Writing titled as 'Vanchiton Ka Vyakhayata (Voice of deprives)'. It is its English version.
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