CU-MA-English-SEM-III-Indian Writing in Translation-Second review report

 Amalgam- a mixture or combination of things  Egalitarian- (used about a person, system, society, etc.) following the principle that everyone should have equal rights.  Idealism-the unrealistic belief in or pursuit of perfection 2.5LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Study the drama “Naga- Mandala” by Girish karnad to understand his art of narration deeply. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 2. Girish Karnad is skilled in the art of characterization. Analysis and understand how he used the characters of his plays, dramas, and novels to deepen the effect on the viewers. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 3. Read and research other works of Girish Karnad to highlight his contribution in the field playwriting. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 2.6UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions Short question: 1. Girish Karnad‘s Tughlaq is a comment on the political anxieties of the Nehruvian era. Write a short note. 2. Which decisions taken by Tuglaq proved to be the reasons behind his failure? 3. Explain in brief how the symbols of Game of Chess, Rose, Sleep and Prayer are used by the writer to heighten the effect of the play? 4. Political aspiration collides with the reality. Comment briefly. 5. Throw some light on the character of Aziz in the play Tuglaq. Long Question 1. Critically examine the summary of the play “Tuglaq” written by Girsh Karnad. 51 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

2. Girish Karnad‘s Tughlaq juxtaposes the historical and the contemporary. Discuss. Tughlaq’s failure is rooted in his uncompromising idealism. Analyse. 3. Comment on Karnad‘s use of theatrical devices in his Tughlaq. 4. Write an essay on Girish Karnad‘s use of symbols in Tughlaqs. 5. Parallelism between Aziz and the Sultan is one of the central theatrical strategies in Girish Karnad‘s Tughlaq. Justify. B. Multiple choice questions 1. The play “Tuglaq” was originally written in a. Marathi b. Urdu c. Kannada d. Hindi 2. The original play has how many scenes a. 10 b. 13 c. 15 d. 8 3. Who among the following sultans of Delhi has been described as “mixture of opposite” a. Balban b. Alauddin Khilji c. Ibrahim Lodi d. Muhammad Bin Tuglaq 4. Which was the first Novel written by Girish Karnad? a. Yavati b. Tuglaq 52 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

c. Talenda 53 d. Hayavadna 5. Girish Karnad full name was a. Girish Ram Karnad b. Girish Raghu Karnad c. Girish Rahu karnad d. Girish Raghunath Karnad 6. What coins did Tuglaq issued instead of silver coins a. Gold b. Copper c. Bronze d. Silver 7. To where did Tuglaq transferred his capital? a. Delhi b. Daultabad c. Agra d. Jaipur 8. Muhammad Bin Tuglaq was known for taking a. Relief decisions b. Controversial decisions c. Favouring Muslims d. Intelligent decisions 9. Who killed Tughlaq’s father and brother? a. Azam CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

b. Aziz c. Ratan Singh d. Tuglaq himself 10. To which of the autobiography Girish Karnad lends his voice? a. Wings of Fire b. Turning Point c. Target 3 Billion d. None of the above Answers 1-c), 2-b), 3-d), 4-a), 5-d), 6-c), 7-b), 8-b), 9-d), 10-a) 2.7 REFERENCES Reference’s book  Collected Play volumes1 by late Girish Karnad  Three modern Indian Plays by Girish Karnad and Badal Sircar  The Great Indian Collection  Irishman’s TUGLAQ Some critical issue  Muhammad Bin Tuglaq :Tale of a Tyrant by Anuja Chandramauli  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muhammad-ibn-Tughluq  https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/theatre/tughlaq-by-girish- karnad/article27921098.ece  http://www.dspmuranchi.ac.in/pdf/Blog/Tuglaq%20themes%20and%20techniq ues.pdf  https://mercywrites.in/minor-characters-of-tughlaq-by-girish-karnad/  https://thewire.in › culture › girish-karnad-tughlaq 54 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT – 3 U.R ANANTHAMURTHY: SAMSKARA Structure 3.0 Learning Objectives 3.1 Introduction to U.R Ananthamurthy 3.2 Chapter wise summaries and comments 3.3 The Narrative: Three important features 3.3.1 Focalization 3.3.2 Inter textuality 3.3.3 Structure 3.4 Summary 3.5Keywords 3.6 Learning Activity 3.7Unit End Questions 3.8 References 3.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this unit, you will be able to:  Learn the work and learning of U.R Ananthamurthy  Analyse and understand narrative style and structure of novel “Samskara”  Answer the exam-oriented questions 55 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

3.1 INTRODUCTION Figure 3.1.U.R ANANTHAMURTHY (21 DEC 1932- 22 AUG 2014) Udupi Rajagopala Acharya Anthamurthy was born on the 21st of December 1932 in Melige village in Karnataka’s Shimoga district. He was born in a conservative Brahmin household. Shimoga has a prosperous tradition of Sanskrit studies and Ananthamurthy did his primary schooling in a traditional Sanskrit school in Durvasapura, a traditional pathshala. He completed his higher studies in Tirthahalli (a small panchayat town in Karnataka) and graduation from Mysore University. After completing his Master of Arts from Mysore University, he received a Commonwealth scholarship. Later on, Ananthamurthywent abroad and completed his doctorate from the University of Birmingham in 1966. His dissertation was titled ‘Politics and Fiction in the 1930s’. Career 56 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

He began his career as a Lecturer in English in 1956 to 1963. After that he joined Regional College of Education, Mysore, as a Reader in English till 1970.Later he became Professor of English at Department of English, University of Mysore in 1980 till1992.He was also appointed as Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala in 1987-91. He also worked as visiting faculty in various foreign and Indian universities like University of Iowa (1975), Tufts University (1978), University of Hyderabad (2000), University of Cornwell (2000), Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi (1993). He was Chairmen, National Book Trust of India, Delhi in 1992-93; President, Sahitya Akedemi, New Delhi in 1993-98 and Chairman, Indian Institute of Social Sciences, Delhi in 1998-2000. Personal Life Ananthamurthy’swife was a Christian lady and he met his wife Esther in 1954 and they were married in 1956. They faced many problems as it was a inter religious marriage. They had two children, Sharath and Anuradha. He lived in Bangalore for most of his life. Vivek Shanbaug, a famous writer in Kannada is his son in law. Literary Works Ananthamurthy's works have been translated into many Indianas well as European languages. Several of his works have been awarded with important literary prizes. Samskara, Bhava, Bharathi Pura, and Avasthe are some of his famous works. He has written numerous short stories as well. Many movies are inspired form the themes of his novels and short fictions have been made into movies.Most of Ananthamurthy's literary highlights with psychological aspects of people in different situations, times and circumstances. His writings observed and analysed the problems and aspects ranging from challenges and changes faced by Brahmin families of Karnataka to bureaucrats dealing with politics influencing their work. Most of his novels are highlighting the emotion and psychological behaviour and reaction of individuals dealing with the situations that are unusual and unrealistic. Generally his stories revolves around the results of influences of socio-political and economic changes on traditional Hindu societies of India and clashes due to such influences - between a father and a son, husband and wife, father and daughter and finally, the fine love that flows beneath all such clashes are portrayed by Ananthamurthy in his works. This is obvious in his stories like Sooryana Kudure (The Grasshopper), Mowni (Silent Man), Karthika' etc. It does not mean that Ananthamurthy is just sticking to portray only some standard subjects of Indian literature of his period. “Bara” (drought)depicts the dynamics of a drought-striken district of Karnataka and the challenges and dilemmas faced by a bureaucrat in such situations. 57 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

He enriched Kannada literature with iconic books like Samskara, Avasthe and others. His Works In Kannada, AnanthaMurthy’s works can be classified into short stories, poetry, plays, novels and essays. The list of his publications given below- Short stories  Aidu Dashakada Kathegal,2001  Suryana Kudure,1995  Mooru Dasakada,1989  Akasha Mattu Bekku,1981  Mauri,1972  Prashne,1962  Endendu Mugi0vada Kathe,1955 Poetry  Eeevaregina Kavithegalu (collected poems) (2001)  Mithuna (1992)  Ajjana Hegala Sukkugalu(1989)  15 Padyagalu (1970)  Bavali (1963) Novel  Divya (2001)  Bhava(1994)  Avashe (1978)  Gharathipura (1973)  Samaskara (1965) Play 58 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Avahane (1971) Political Life U. R. Ananthamurthy also had a short and an unsuccessful run for the Lok Sabha. He opted to contest the LokSabha election was with the prime ideological objective to fight the BJP.”Former Prime Minister of India and eminent Janata Dal secular leader, H. D. Deve Gowda had made an offer for Murthy to contest for his party. However, later on Janata Dal (Secular) allied with theBhartiya Janata Party Murthy under a power sharing agreement. After his event Anathmurthy was felt betrayed and said “I will never forgive my friends in the Janata Dal (Secular) for joining hands with the BJP.”In 2006, Ananthamurthy also contested for the Rajya Sabha elections from state assembly. In June 2007,a controversy arose involving S. L. Bhyrappa’s novel Aavarna, in which he accusd Tipu Sultan to be a religious fanatic who could not tolerate the hindus in his court.Following whichhehad a heated debate with Girish Karnad on a public platform. After which Ananthamurthy declared that he will not take part in anyliterary functions in future as a strongcriticism. Man of controversies However, Ananthamurthy did not stay away from controversies. Once again, he was caught up in a controversy when hefell in love with Esther and married her, breaking the boundaries of the religion. He was born in a Madhwa family. He was the most vocal secular, socialist voice Karnataka has seen in recent years. He was never afraid of exposing the blind beliefs and conservative practicesprevalentin Hinduism, particularly among Brahmins. Due to which he was always surrounded by one or the other controversies. When he wrote Samskara, that exposed the hypocritic practices in the society, he has to face wrath from many orthodox mind of the society. The controversies increased all the more when during the recently election he said he do not want or live in India ruled by Modi. Approachable to all Ananthamurthy was easilyapproachable to everyone. He was readily available for all small and big writer, and everyonewho wanted his help and guidance. For this reason, he was fondly called as ‘Mestre ‘(master / teacher) by all. He was a source of inspiration for new generation writers and inspired them to read and write more. Social media was flooded with emotional tributes by all those who interacted with him and read his work of art. His interest towards learning more was ever-growing. He interviewed Nigerian author Chinua Achibe for hisfamous novel ‘Things fall apart, ‘ Awards 59 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 1984 :Rajyothsava Award  1994: Jnanpith Award  1995: Maasti  1998: Padma Bhushan  2008: Nadoja Award by Kannada University  2011: The Hindu Literary Prize, shortlist, Bharathipura2012: DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, shortlist, Bharathipura Death He was suffering from diabetes, and his last days saw severe kidney failure which finally proved fatal for him. He was admitted to Manipal Hospital recently. On Friday, August 22nd, his blood pressure levels dropped and he had to be put on ventilator. He was declared dead by the doctors in the evening. 3.2 CHAPTER WISE SUMMARY AND COMMENTS Characters Praneshacharya- learned scholar and priest of Durvasapura Naranappa– a Brahmin who leads a non-Brahminical life Chandri – a dalit woman who lives with Naranappa Garudacharya – a relative of Naranappa Lakshmanacharya – a relative of Naranappa Dasacharya -poor Brahmin of the agrahar Sita Devi- wife of Garudacharya Shyama- son of Garuda and Sita Devi Anasuya- sister of Naranappa's first wife Shripathi -son of Anasuya Belli- low caste woman 60 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Putta- a half caste man who took Praneshacharya to festival Padmavati- low caste prostitute Bhagirathi- Praneshacharya ailing wife Context The Novel Sanskara was written in Kannada in 1965, it was made into a powerful film with Girish Karnad playing the part of Pranesacharya. The English translation of the novel came out in 1976. It is a short novel as novels go only 144 pages. There is an interesting story about how the novel came to be written. U.R. Anantha Murthy wrote the novel in 1964, when he was in England doing his Ph.D. He was 32 at that time. When Anantha Murthy was a child of 13 he met a former army man and learnt about his romance with one of the pretty dark girls belonging to anuntouchable family. He and his friends edited the story of elopement of this couple written beautifully written the story metaphorically so that the elders of his community do not come to know about it. The girl reminded him of the story of, afisherwoman, Matsyagandha. A self-disciplined and an austere man fell in love with this fisherwoman. He rewrote the story in 1964 while doing research in England. What triggered off the writing was his visit to a film along with his English supervisor, Malcolm Bradbury. The above eventstellthe distrustand scepticism Anantha Murthy has developed about the caste system and the discrimination existing in the society.This also helped him to imagine and sketchthe outline of the characters for the novel Samskara. Initially, Samskara is a simple tale of a Brahmin scholar who is unable to decide whether to cremate a man who has given up Brahmanism or not. But at the core, it is a complex story of a man, in search of the truth (or meaning) of the life .This story help finding an answer to a complex question, whether there is a meaning of life or not, and if there is some meaning of life, then what is it? Ananthamurthy figure out the solution in two ways. On one hand, there is no meaning of life, in form of Naranappa ,On other hand , there is a meaning of life, but it is different from bookish (Dharma Shastra) meaning of life ,According to the second perspective Salvation can be attained by doing good deeds, as done by Praneshacharya. Ananthmurthy gave priority to the second option by transforming Praneshacharya from aBrahmin of theoretical knowledge to the Brahmin of transcendentaland beyond the physical world experience. (which is full of rasa). Ananthmurthy progresses this development of Praneshacharya by making his ideology clash with Naranappa's ideology. In starting, welearnt howPraneshacharya is mocked by Naranappa for his 61 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

bookish knowledge and his failure to identify the real meaning of rasa of life, even when he teaches and talks about the rasa in a great detail. He targets Praneshacharya ‘s ignorant yet innocent way of thinking by giving the example of his disciple Shripathi. Praneshacharya's real transformation starts with when he makes love for the first time with Chandri and he experience the rasa of life, in real terms. begins. Chandri is a strong character of the story who has the practical knowledge. However, his denial of the fact (that there can be another meaning of life) challenges him and he tries to escape his village Durvasapura. After his escape, his transformation really starts, when he meets Putta (who plays an aid like Krishna to Arjuna, but he is not Krishna, he is just a man with his own flaws) and his transformation completes when he accepts the truth and returns to Durvasapura. Ananthamurthy points, there is some specific meaning to life but it is not written in the religious texts and written somewhere else, and probably we have this knowledge since our very origin. Probably, we know the meaning but we don't accept it and constraint it with the rules. Ananthamurthy opposes the Brahminic way of life and open up the eye of the readers to adopt logical way of life, and do things what one supposed to do in the time of a death, i.e., the Samskara. Ananthamurthy display the rasa of life is forgotten by the people altogether and they have done it by imposing self-suffocating rules. Moreover, anyone who take pleasure and relishthis rasa is considered immoral, below standards, and traitor. In the story it is mentioned how Praneshacharya teaches about the erotic love but he, himself, is unaware of the anything about the sexually arousing love. And subsequently when he indulges in love making with Chandri, he feels guilty and tries to run from the situation by escaping to Durvasapura. In short it can be summed up that, Ananthamurthy's Samskara is not just a story of person, but a tale of every person, who isperplexed and confused by society -made, self-imposed (so-called religious) laws, and in search of the realistic and practical way of life. 62 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Figure 3.2. Girish karnad as praneshacharya in movie adaptation of the novel Chapter wise Summaries and Comments Part One (Chapters I-X) Chapter I: Naranappa's death creates chaos and unrest among the Brahmins of Durvasapura. Samskara is the story of a Madhva Brahmin colony, led by Pranesacharya, a devout Brahmin well- read in the scriptures and the shastras. The name of the colony or Agrahara was Durvasapura. Pranesacharya led an exemplary life looking after his invalid wife. For twenty years he had followed a routine that consisted of taking a bath, saying prayers, cooking for himself and his wife, giving medicines to her and reciting sacred legends before the Brahmins assembled in his house. He thought his salvation lay in his willing performance for his ailing and ill wife. One morning Naranappa's concubine Chandri came and told Pranesacharya of the death ofNaranappa. Naranappa was a heretic in the colony and had defied every known Brahmin way of life. The news created commotion in the Agrahara. Pranesacharya's first task was to go and tell all the Brahmin families in the agrahara that Naranappa had died, for no Brahmin could take meals while the body of a fellow Brahmin lay uncremated. Later the Brahmins assembled in Pranesacharya's verandah to hear his verdict on who would do the funeral rites. The wives distrustful of their husbands, had also come in through the back door. Naranappa had no children. So there was no one to perform his death rites? Pranesacharya said that, according to the shastras, 63 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

any relative could, failing which any Brahmin could offer to perform them. Garuda and Lakshmana were related to Naranappa but each of them had quarrelled with him and were un interested in performing the rites. The unbrahmin-like habits and deeds of Naranappa were raked up. He kept a low-caste concubine, drank liquor, and ate meat, and desecrated the temple pond with his Muslim friends by fishing there. All the more, he was accused of corruption and cheating the young people of the agrahara and of also Parijatpura. While the Brahmins were thus debating as to who should perform the funeral rites, Chandri offered all her gold ornaments to pay for the funeral expenses. This changed the entire situation. The Brahmins now feared that someone else might be tempted to agree to perform the funeral rites and so they discussed with one another in giving accounts of Naranappa's evil deeds. Finally, at Dasachrya's suggestion it was decided that the Brahmins of Parijatapura who were smartas and were not so strict in their orthodoxy and who were quite friendly with Naranappa .As for gold, Pranesacharya would decide who it should go to. He would also refer to sacred books to find a way out of the dilemma they faced about Narrappa’s cremation. Chapter II:DurvasapuraBrahminsgo to-seek help from Parijatpur Brahmins. The contrast was also drawn between the flowers grown by Naranappa and other Durvasapura Brahmins. Flowers in other brahmins’homes were meant for the worship and were offered to god but those that bloomed in Naranappa's yard were meant for Chandri's hair. The brahmins of Durvasapura, crossed thestream of Tunga, entered the forest, and travelled for an hour to reach Parijatapura. Then they went to Manjayya's house. Manjayya welcomed them warmly. When he heard about Naranappa's demise, Manjayya was sorry and correctly concluded that he had died due to plague, though he was afraid to mention the disease. The Parijatpura folks were happy to get a chance to cremate a high-caste Brahmin but felt that Pranesacharya was able to take the right decision about the ethical issue involvedin the cremation of Narrappa. Manjayya agreed to perform his last rites without any costas Narrappa was a good friend of his. ChapterIII:Pranesacharya’s attitudetoNaranappa While the Brahmins were away at Parijatpura, Pranesacharya studied his sacred books trying to find a solution to the dilemma they faced Naranappa had always been a problem for the agrahara. The real challenge was to test what would win in the end: his own penance and his faith in ancient ways or Naranappa's demonic ways. The Acharya had promised Naranappa's mother as she lay dying that he would look after her erring son and even fasted two days a week for him. Once when the Acharya counselled him, Naranappa told him disrespectfully that since the Congress was coming back to power, 64 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

they would have to open the temples to all outcastes. When the Acharya told him not to separate Shripati from his wife, he mocked saying that only sterile Brahmins lived with women who gave no pleasure. He too had abandoned his hysterical wife for the same reason. He was a sensualist pleasure seeker and lived by the precept of enjoying all the rasa of life to the fullest. He was critical of Garuda's greed that had made him rob a poor widow of her property. Once, three months before Narrappa’s death, Acharya visited Narrappa in response to a complaint that he did fishing in the sacred temple pond along with his Muslim friends. The Acharya was afraid that hisdecision might set a bad example for the lower classes, who he thought, followed the right path out of fear. On that occasion Naranappa asked his concubine Chandri to bring liquor and had the effrontery to offer it to him. And he challenged him again saying that he would destroy Brahminism. He in fact, accused him of telling obscene and inappropriate tales that excited his listeners and corrupted them. He went on to tell a thinly veiled story that paralleled the Acharya's own practice of reciting legends of Shakuntala and other women from the Puranas, and the erotic effect they caused in a young listener. This young listener was so sexually aroused that he went and took a young outcaste woman bathing in the river in the moonlight. Naranappa drew the conclusion that it was he, the Acharya who had corrupted Brahminism. The Acharya scolded him and later he stopped telling luscious puranic stories to his listeners. Naranappa advised them to discard their sick wives and take those that gave them pleasure. ChapterIV:FocusonGarudaandLakshmana'sgreedandDasacharya'shunger The Brahmins come back from Parijatapura. Garudacharya’s son Shyama left home and because Garuda punished his son severly due to which Shyama left the house. Some people also blamed Naranappa for inflaming Shyama to run away from house. Lakshmanacharya blames Garudacharya for doing black magic against Naranappa’s father. It was believed that the black magic boomeranged on Garuda. Shyama’s parent were worried about his son and wanted him to come back at any cost as he was their only son and he is the only one who could perform their funeral rites. They came to know that Shyama joined an army and will be relieved onlyby giving the penalty of six hundred. They did not have enough money to bring back their only son and wanted to grab the chance to cremate Naranappa and legally gets Chandri’s gold ornament. Sitadevi does not have enough money to pay the penalty and get her son back from army but her hope brightens as she thinks that by conducting funeral rites for Naranappa they could legally get Chandri’s golden ornaments.Garuda does not want his condition to be like Naranappa after death that’s why he wanted his opportunity at any cost. So, he visits Praneshacharya and tries to persuade to allowhim to do the funeral rites for Naranappa. He 65 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

reminds Praneshacharya what he said once said, that even though it is inappropriate (for a Brahmin) to eat cow’s meat, but one can do it when it’s the matter of someone’s death and life. He convincedhim thatfor the sake of dharma, a requirement could be fulfilled. Their selfish motive was to get gold and nothing else. At a same time, Anasuya also wanted to get the golden ornaments. Anasuya relative of Naranappa. Moreover, Anasuya’s sister is Naranappa’s first legal wife. Earlier Anasuya was against of her husband performing funeral rites for Naranappa but when she came to know about the gold ,she pretended and , she sheds tears saying, “O God, O God, whatever he (Naranappa) might have done, how can we cut the family bond that binds?” Anasuya has hidden anger against Naranappa because he has spoiled her son-in-law, Shripati. Shripati was married to her daughter, Lilavati. But soon he became like Naranappa and gets spoiled. Anasuya requested his husband Lakshmanacharya, to go to Praneshacharya’s house and convince him to get the permission to do the funeral rites for Naranappa. Lakshmanacharya was an extreme miser person. He stole banana leaves from others farms, dries them up, makes them into cups and sells them. Now he is eyeing on Chandri’s gold. Lakshmanacharya and Garudacharya competed for the gold. Lakshmanacharya tries to convince Praneshacharya for doing funeral rites saying that Naranappa is his wife’s cousin. son. Meanwhile Dasacharya inform and request Praneshacharya to cremate Naranappa ‘s body as early as possible as it was getting stinky near his house duethe decaying body. He suggests that Praneshacharya can use the gold for the Maruti God and they could get rid of the body. Garudacharya did not like Dasacharya’s suggestion is afraid to refuse it openly says that it might bring bad name to Praneshacharya. Praneshacharya ask all to go back and resorted to the ancient religious texts. Chandri comes and give medicine to his ailing wife and Praneshacharya continued studying ancient religious books to find a solution. Chapter V: Shripati makes love to Belli, an outcaste, discovers Narappan’s death and run out This chapter tells us about the sub consciousness of Shripati as return from Kelur to his home after spending a happy week with a drama troupe. It was well known that Naranaapa and Shripathi got along very well as they had commonon interest in dramatics He had a secret desire torun away from the Brahmin dump, and wanted t to have physical relation with Belli, an outcaste girl. He was excited to a great extent on hearing Pranesacharya's _ description of the erotic beauty of Shakuntala during his recital of puranic legends. He took Belli at the river .It seems it was his story that Naranappa was 66 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

telling the Acharya when the latter had come to counsel him to behave (Chapter III). He was hopeful of getting the girl’s role in the troupe and wanted it so that he could run away from Brahmin dump. After taking Belli in the outcaste hutments, he found that Naranappa is no, more. And ran away to Parijatpura. Lakshmidevamma saw him running and misunderstood him as Naranappa’s ghost. Chapter VI: The seventy-year-old widow, Lakshmidevamma, curses garuda for robbing her; Pranesacharya returns Chandri her gold. This chapter ,the seventy-year-old child widow Lakshmidevamma is introduced, she was known in the Brahmin colonies for her high temper, her burps and her curses to Garuda for taking her property. Chandri was waiting at Pranesacharya's house for his decision. She was too close to Naranappa and lived with her for ten years and the delay in his cremation was reasonof her worry. As a prostitute she was considered to be sinless. Born to and being a prostitute, she was exempted from all the rules. She considered to be ever-auspicious, daily-wedded, the one without widowhood. How can sin define a running river' (43)? She ate bananas to satisfy her hunger and slept on the floor. Pranesacharya was trying hard to find an answer to find a solution to the dilemma. If his quest proved fruitless, it would be a victory for Naranappa. Readers are also given a hint of the fact that Praneshacharya do notwant to excommunicating Naranappa. He had a soft corner and compassion Naranappa. It suddenly came to his mind to do not the Maruti temple across the river and seek his help. He also thought of Chandri, helped her with a mat, a blanket and a pillow. He also returned all her gold ornaments. As she would need them for future. Chapter VII: Pranesacharya goes to the Maruti temple for divine guidance and leaves the stench filled agrahara. Due to the rotting body of Naranappa, heagrahara was filled with unbearable smell and the Brahmins being superstitious were fearful. The rats were also dying. The Brahmins were distraughtby hunger and visited Pranesacharya again and came to know about his plan of to go to the Maruti temple. Chandri followed him, and wait for his final verdict. Chapter VIII Dascharya goes and eat at Manjayya’s house in Parijatpura Dascharya, dying to eat flattered Manjayya for being as good Brahmin as anyone else and criticized his own community for asking Parijatpura Brahmin to do what they would not do themselves .He also criticized Garuda and Lakshmana for their greed. Manjayya offered him 67 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

something to eat. Initially he confined himself to uncooked food but later his appetite got better and he ate whatever was offered to him. Chapter IX: The Brahmins, waiting for Pranesacharya in heat, hunger and dread come out of their houses trying to shoo away the vultures that descend on the agrahara. The death of rats, which was a result of the plague that raged in Durvasapura, filled both the Brahmins and the outcastes with superstitious dread. Chinni, the outcaste girl, who came instead of Belli to collect manure from the Brahmin houses, feared that people were dying because of the Demon treading on them. A vulture on the roof was considered to be a bad evil sign of death. And when Garuda's wife spotted one sitting on their roof, she feared for her son and the couple prayed to the household god to forgive them for coveting the god's gold. Soon, numerous vultures were seen descending on the agrahara. Everyone in the agrahara came out struck dumb with dread. Then began the effort to shove away the vultures. At Dasacharya's suggestion they beat the bronze gongs and blew their conches as they did during the great offerings of flaming camphor making the vultures fly away. But they came back leading the Brahmins to beat to beat their gongs and blew their conches as they did during the great offerings of flaming camphor making the vultures fly away. Thiscontinues till the nightfall till the vultures disappeared. In the meantime, Chandri sat in the forest near the temple waiting for word from the Acharya. She blamed herself for causing all this trouble for him. But she did not forget to eat the plantains that she had brought. Chapter X: Pranesacharya's prayers to Lord Maruti go unanswered -- he returns through the forest at night -- meets and mates with Chandri. Pranesacharya came back from the temple disappointed. The Maruti God has given him no sign. It was night .As he moved through the dark forest,he met Chandri. She felt compassion for him and embraced his feet in gratefulness and wept. He on his part bent down to bless her and caressed her loosened hair. She held him close, made him lean against her breasts and fed him plantains. He touched her bosom and fainted. Part Two (chapter 1-6) Chapter 1 Pranesacharya and Chandri after making love in the forest Chandri cremates Naranappa with the help of Naranappa's Muslim friends, goes away to Kundapura. Pranesacharya woke up in the forest at midnight with his head on Chandri's lap. At first he thought he was in a dream and wondered where he was and how he had got there ('I clean forget where I came from and where I should go from here (65]). When he was fully 68 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

awake he asked her to tell all the Brahmins what had happened in the forest. He said that he himself had not the courage to tell this to them. He also added that he was ready to perform Naranappa's funeral rites for he had lost all authority to ask anyone else to do it. Then they walked back-together. Chandri, however, did not want to do what the Acharya had asked her to do. She went to her master's house but finding that his dead body had changed beyond recognition, rushed out in fear to the farmer's section and approached Sheshappa to help her cremate the dead body. Sheshappa however refused, then she went to the Muslim section where Abdul Bari, the fish merchant, agreed to do the job. They went and cremated Naranappa. The dead body, as she thought, was 'neither Brahmin nor Shudra. It has changed into a stinking rotting carcass. Thereafter she collected her things and the gold ornaments that the Acharya had returned to her and set out for Kundapura without touching the Acharya's feet. Comment- Pranesacharya didn’t meet either Chandri or himself for what happened during the night. He was not guilty for what has happened. Chapter II: Plans of the Parijat Drama Group members to cremate their mentor Naranappa go awry. Shripati and other members of the Parijat Drama Group were holding a rehearsal of a play in Manjayya's house. During a discussion it was clear that Naranappa had been the active member of the Group, had donated a harmonium, played drum very well and was an inspiring role model for all others. After the rehearsal, the five members of the Group went to the riverside and drank liquor. They acknowledged that Naranappa was a dear friend of theirs, that Chandri was a matchless beauty. The least that they could do was to take his body and cremate it secretly. With this intention in mind they went up to Naranappa's house but found that the dead body had disappeared. They all ran away in fright. The sleepless Lakshmidevamma saw what she called 'demons' running away. Comment –Here is more positive side of Naranappa's personality. He was theatre enthusiast, a good drummer and a source of inspiration for young boys. In contrast to the other Brahmins he had a more creative constructive interest. Chapter III: Pranesacharya's new self-awareness - confusion in ideas - reports failure -- the brahmins decided to consult Pt Subbannacharya at the Kaimar agrahara The Brahmins tormented by vultures, hunger and dread came to Pranesacharya but he admitted that he couldn't get Lord Maruti to say anything and asked them to do what they liked. At Dasacharyas suggestion they decided to go consult Pt Subbannacharya at the Kaimara agrahara. Since the journey would take them three days, they would send their wives and children to their in-laws. 69 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Pranesacharya's world had changed suddenly. All old beliefs seemed topsy- turvy. At sixteen he had sought to achieve salvation through self-sacrifice and had deliberately married an invalid woman so that he could serve her and thus earn merit. But his unforeseen experience of sex with Chandri changed everything. He had lost the old certitude ofBrahminism. Instead ofa clear path he saw only an abyss. The experience also gave him a new self-awareness. While giving a bath to his wife, he became aware of her ugliness. 'For the first time his eyes were beginning to see the beautiful and the ugly' (74). Flowers, female beauty and sexual pleasure - all had earlier been associated in his mind with divinity but now he wanted a share in them for himself. He still looked for Chandri. He felt light that he was no longer the guru. He was totally confused about what he really wanted, salvation or pleasure. He was not able to understand his real identity and the manner of man he is. Comment- An important sentence here is this: 'Must forget all words learned by heart, the heart must flow free like a child's’. Pranesacharya begins to experience all-natural desires. This chapter marks the second stage in his evolution. Chapter IV: The Brahmins left for Kaimara without Pranesacharya. But Subbaanacharya is unable to help -- then they go to the monastery. Two brahmins are taken ill on way. The Brahmins went to Kaimara without Pranesacharya. He stayed back because of his wife's periods. At Kajmara, Pandit Subbannacharya offered them food and they ate to their fill. But he had no clue to their dilemma. The monastery was their next destination. But at the insistence of the Kaimara people they spent the night there and started the next morning. They had to leave Dasacharya there, for he fell ill. They walked twenty miles to reach another agrahara where they dined spent the night. In the morning they started for the monastery, whic h was ten miles away but without Padmanabhacharya who had also been taken ill. Comment- We can guess the reason of death of the two Brahmins,plague Chapter V: Pranesacharya's self-examination -- his visit to the river and the scene of his lovemaking in the forest - wife's death and cremation. For a good part of the chapter we are inside the mind of Pranesacharya. He is all alone in the agrahara except for his ailing wife and some crows and vultures. He then tried to analyse his motives in taking Chandri. Did he take her out of compassion? No, he took her because the body's 'tigerish lust', long repressed', leaped to the surface. In this battle with his self, it was Naranappa who had won. He realized that it was he and not Naranappa who had turned the agrahara topsy turvy. He had heard that a young man, 70 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

inspired by his description of Shakuntala, had gone to the river and slept with a low caste girl. In his fantasy he did what he had never done before - he stripped all the untouchable girls and looked at them. Who could it be? Belli, of course. He urgently wanted to caress her breasts. Pranesacharya then enjoyed himself swimming around in the water and came out and dried himself in the sun. Later he went to the spot where they had made love. He was totally lost in his surroundings and smelled sarsaparilla creeper deeply and enjoyed it. He went to the stream for swimming, basically did whatever gave him pleasure and enjoyment. It was time for him to give food to his wife and he went back to the agrahara. He found his wife to be hot and feverish. There was also a swelling on the side of her stomach. He tried to give her medicine but was unable to give. He didn't know what to do. But he realised that something was wrong. He rushed headlong towards Naranappas house, shouting for Chandri. Then he remembered that there was a dead body there and he ran back to his own house and found her dead. With the help of four ither Brahmins from Kaimar agrahara, he cremated heragrahara, His tears flowed unchecked till all his weariness had dropped from him. Comments- The death stench is contrasted with the smell of sarsaparilla and the latter smell is described as sinking into his life breath. We find him enjoying the ordinary pleasures of life -the pleasure of eating and swimming and of drying himself in the sun and of sitting am id grass and flowers and creepers and trees. His wife was 'the field of his life's penance' and he watches the field burning down to ashes. The suggestion. s that his penance is over and he is ready to take on a new path. Comments on Chapter VI:At the monastery after having the big meal, thechief declared that Narranappa was still a Brahmin even though he has left his Brahminism and that he must be given a proper cremated. All Naranappa's property must go to the monastery. Pranesacharya after his wife’s cremation has cut off his ties with his past. The shawls, the money and the gift given by the monastery do not matter to him anymore. Comments on Part Two. This section marks the second stage in Pranesacharya's spiritual evolution. In the first part he failed to lead the community aright and had a sexual experience with a prostitute that turned everything topsy-turvy. In the second part, his last palpable tie with the agrahara is snapped in the form of the death of his wife. Equally importantly, he realizes what all he has missed in life in terms of physical pleasure and sensations. So now he ventures forth on an un- planned journey, leaving all his learning and rituals behind. The last sentence is important: 'Meaning to walk wherever his legs took him, he walked towards the east. 71 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

PartThree:(ChaptersI-II) Chapter I: Pranesacharya's self-analysis continues. Ahalf caste youngman Putta joins him in his journey. Weare inside Pranesacharya's restless state of mind. He had decided to go wherever his feet took him. His mind was overactive and he wanted to still it. Earlier, whenever he had to still his mind he would recite the name of Vishnu but now he had to stand alone, without god. He wanted to be like a kite in the sky - a mere awareness, floating still and self-content. He thought of the illiterate saint Kanaka for whom God was an urgent awareness, a wonder. But for him God had been a matter of routine, a set of multiplication tables, learnt by rote. So he tried to distance himself from god. Chapter II: The story of the Durvasapura Brahmins -- Pranesacharya arrives at a new equation with himself, decides to confess to his fellow Brahmins. It is a long chapter that holds several different strands of the story together. In Parijatpura, Manjayya realized that the deaths of Naranappa, Dasacharya and Pranescharya's wife indicated the outbreak of plague. He immediately went to the city to inform the municipality to send in doctors and take other measures to stop the epidemic. The Brahmins, disappointed at the monastery, made their way towards Durvasapura. Gaurdacharya voiced the general reluctance of the Brahmins to cremate the decomposed body of Naranappa. Subbanacharya tried to put heart into them. They also realized that the cows were alone there, with none to look after them. In Durvasapura, Belli lost her parents to plague. The neighbours set the thatched hut with the dead parents inside on fire. Belli, frightened, ran away from the village. Putta stuck to the Acharya like sin. The Acharya wanted to be alone and think but Putta wouldn't leave him. Putta didn't know that he was Pranesacharya. He thought he was merely a mendicant Brahmin going on his beggarly rounds. He asked him a riddle. Pranesacharya was able to solve the riddle but he didn't want to tell him the answer, for that would mean becoming friendly with him. He chose to be called dull-witted, much to the amusement of Putta. Then Putta asked Pranesacharya to ask him a riddle in tum but the latter said that he didn't know any. Comments While journeying with Putta, the Acharya keeps thinking things out. As a responsible person, he wants to take on the responsibility for his actions on himself. This marks an important stage in his spiritual development: 'I've become a mere thing, by an act of will III become human 72 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

again' (107). He takes an important decision - not merely to go where his legs take him but to do what he wants. Going to Kundapura and starting to live with Chandri was one such idea. Pranesacharya at the Melige Tank with Putta Pranesacharya stopped at the Melige tank with Putta to wash his hands and feet.The Acharya was afraid lest people in Melige should recognize him. But there was comfort in the thought that all the Melige Brahmins were Smartas and they were unlikely to notice him in the bustle of the festival. But fear dogged him still. He wanted to root it out completely. Naranappa had lived with Chandri fearlessly. But if he were to live with her, he would probably cover his face. Putta disclosed that his father was a high-class Brahmin who kept his mother better than he did his wedded wife. The Melige festival looked colourful and quite enjoyable. With temple chariots pulled by ropes,smell of camphor all around, Putta and Praneshcharya bought fruits and coconut for god to offer. Praneshcharya wanted to slip away from Putta but Putta was not ready to leave him and was trying hard to be friend with him. Putta seemed to be enjoying every small bit of the festival. He bought ribbons for his wife and coloured pipes for his children. He enjoyed a whole bottle of soda and was indulged in experience and contentment, whereas Praneshacharya seemed to be outside this ordinary worldly pleasure. He was incapable of involvement in anything. He realised that Chandri also belonged to Putta's kind of world and find himself neither in this world nor that world. Putta requested and even forced Praneshcharya to drink coffee. He drank and enjoyed it too. Putta asked him to come along for the temple meals. But Acharya was afraid of polluting the temple as he was in the mourning period of his Wife's death. He believed that if he pollutes the temple, the chariot would know it move even aninch. On the other hand, Naranappa even ate the holy fish and noundesirable thing happened. His mind told himto fulfil hisresolve to livewith Chandri fully orelse give up the whole thing. Comment- the Acharya's Brahminical fears assail him again. The point of comparison, as always, is Naranappa. He realizes that the only way to liberate himself from fear is to do a thing fully. The Cock fight They went to see a cock-fight. There were two roosters were leaping at eachother with knives attachedto their legs. They being watched with full concentration by the spectators. Pranesacharya felt as if he had suddenly dropped into a demonic world. It was 'A demon world of pressing need, revenge and greed'. This sent him into mental shock and he was 73 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

perplexed that if this cruelty was part of the world where Chandri lived. He found himself unfit to live in this kind of confused world. The cocks were wounded but after normal treatment were ready to fight cruely again. Pranesacharya suddenly felt a fatherly affection for Putta. If he had a son, he would have brought him up lovingly. Putta felt disappointed but still offered to go partof the way with him. Pranesacharya then said he had to go to a goldsmith to sell the gold ring on his sacred thread. He needed the money to go to Kundapura. Putta said he knew one and took him there. Acharya agreed to sell it for ten rupees. Visit to Padmavati Putta took Praneshcharya to Padmavati, who turned out to be a prostitute. Acharya was aroused on seeing her. But was reluctant to take the plunge. Putta suggested that he stay the night there and could leave for Kundapur the next day. But later, sensing his confusion, he said that they would come back after he had had his dinner at the temple. Comment-The sight of Padmavati reminds the Acharya of the offering of full breasts in the forest, Belli's earth-coloured breasts and the death of his wife, Bhagirathi . The Acharya's mental tussle The Acharya was experiencing a havoc inside. He wanted to give up a quarter-century of disciplineand become aman of the world No. no. Naranappa's funeral comes before all else. After that come all other decisions. Comment- His sense of responsibility never leaves him. The narratorcontinues toemphasize oninformation about the cremation of Naranappa. At meals in the temple On reaching the temple, Putta did not accompany Acharya for meal so he went inside alone. Pranesacharya was afraid of being detected. He was awarethat if his identity is detected it will create great trouble, as he is still in the pollution phase after his wife's death. The festival might have to be cancelled. He was in utter confusion and sat down. He was struggling to make a choice between Padmavati and Chandri. Inside the temple,someone partially recognized him and he was extremely afraid and ran for his life. He wished to go to Agrahara and confess it to all brahmins. Heprayed to god to show him the right path. Putta thought he was running away to answer the nature's call. TheAcharya thought of what he had to do on reaching agrahar, at midnight. He wished to come cleanabout 74 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

everythingwithout a trace of guilt or sorrow. He knew he will be a new transformed man at midnight. He told Putta,his truth and his decision to go to Durvasapura. Just then, a wagon came along which was going to Durvasapura. The wagon could accommodate only one person.Puitta convinced him to go alone. Pranesacharya was anxious, hopeful. 3.3THE NARRATIVE:THREE IMPORTANT FEATURES The study of the narrative is an important critical activity and we aim at developing a certain minimum analysing different examples of narratives. The best way to do this, would of course be to begin with simpler, shorter narratives like the short stories in this paper. You could concentrate on one short story, examine it closely and ask some basic questions about it. Some of these questions have been discussed in the study material on Bhisham Sahni's Tamas. Please look up the discussion on analysing narratives there. Here we shall focus on two critical terms in connection with the narrative- Focalization and Intertextuality 3.3.1 Focalization- 1. Following Gerard Genette in his Narrative Discourse (1972), it is important to distinguish between narration and focalization, between the person who tells the story (the narrator) and the person whose vision is being verbalized by the narrator (the focalizer). The terms used earlier were point ofview or perspective. These terms were found somewhat inadequate. The term focalization was preferred as being more abstract and more technical. Mieke Bal· refined Genette's concept of 'focalization,' 'developing, for example, the difference between the subject and object of focalization and assigning an autonomous role to the focalizer.' (Narratology: An Introduction, 115) A most useful book to consult is Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics by Shlomith Riinmon-Kenan (I 983; rpt.1996). 2. The person who tells the story and the person who see may be the same person but they need not be. As Riinmon Kenan states in her book, a person is perfectly capable of both seeing and doing things at same time, but at the same time is also capable of telling what other person sees. 3. Focalization may be internal or external. The focalizer may be outside the story or he may be one of the characters in it. 4. Similarly, the focalized may be viewed from inside or outside. 75 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

As far as Samskara is concerned, the story is told by a fictive omniscient narrator who stands outside the action of the novel and who tells the story in the third person. He is omniscient because he has the ability to enter into the minds of all the characters and know what they think. Naturally he is also the chief focalizer. We can him narrator-focalizer. The writer's choice of an omniscient third person narrator-focalizer is very apt. It gives him enough flexibility and manoeuvrability. Since Samskara is a novel of changing, conflicting attitudes, it is important that the writer should have enough freedom to present the adversarial point of view as powerfully as possible. His choice of an omniscient narrator allows him to probe the minds of all the characters and it particularly enables him to present Naranappa as a worthy opponent. Notice the two meetings between Pranesacharya and Naranappa that the former recalls. The Acharya had gone to plead with him not to separate Shripati from his wife. Naranappa replied with a guffaw and asked: \"O Acharya, who in the world can live with a girl who gives no pleasure – he snarled”. Later, when the Acharya went to ask him not to present a rebellious example like fishing in the sacred pond with Muslim friends before the people, he offered him liquor and threw a challenge to him about who would win in the end. He in fact tried to turn the tables on the Acharya and accused him of corrupting the Brahminism of the place and told him a story about how his (the Acharya's) story about Shakuntala had so excited a young listener that he had gone and taken an outcaste girl who was bathing at the river. The points could be summarized as follows: 1) The novel is a third person narrative, which is told by an omniscient narrator. 2) The narrator is also the agent who sees. He could be called the narrator-focalizer. 3) But the narrator-focalizer is not the only focalizer in the novel. 4) Pranesacharya is the most important character and he is also the most important focalizer in the novel. 5) An important focalizer is Putta. The narrator doesn't take us much inside the mind of Putta but he views Pranesacharya in a manner that brings him down several steps from his precarious perch (Because he doesn't know this is Pranesacharya, Crest Jewel of Vedanta, etc. he is behaving as he would with a common mendicant brahmin on his beggarly rounds. 6) We get to know other characters like Garudacharya, Lakshmanacharya, Dasacharya, Durga Bhatta, Naranappa but we don't stay long in their minds. 76 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

7) The narrator's tone is important. There is never a moment when Pranesacharya or Chandri aren't sympathetic figures. On the other hand, characters like Garudacharya and Lakshmanacharya are shown up from the first to be guilty of the sin of greed. 8) The first chapter is a remarkable piece of writing. It is essentially a dramatic scene It· contains two crucial events -the death of Naranappa and also Chandri's offer of her gold to meet Naranappa's funeral expenses. While the first sets the novel in motion, the second exposes the greed of the Brahmins of the agrahara and shows how decayed Brahmins are. 3.3.2 Intertextuality The term, intertextuality coined by Julia Kristeva in 1966, refers to a textual practice that is- is-quiet. Stated simply, it refers to the presence of one text in another. This is what Jonathan Culler has to say about it: Recent theorists have argued that works are made out of other works: made possible by prior works which they take up, repeat, challenge, transform. • This notion sometimes goes by the fancy name of 'intertextuality'. A work exists between and among other texts, through its relations to them' (Literary Theory: 34). intertextuality appears to be a special feature of the narrative texture of Samskara, for there are many references to Indian tradition in the form of myths, parables and characters from epics. There are perhaps western references too. So far as the writer is concerned, these references reflect a consciousness that is not only cultivated but is also soaked in ancient Indian lore. Naturally the text demands a similar consciousness among the readers who can understand the text in all its complexity. These references help to root the-novel in the Indian context and provide it a kind of scaffolding for its themes. These references serve a variety of purposes -- they are used to anticipate, to mirror, to illustrate and generally to root the text in the Indian soil. A cluster of references connect the Chandri-Pranesacharya relationship to this archetype and to other relationships. The references in the first part of the novel help to anticipate the union between Chandri and Pranesacharya. Chandri as Matsyagandhi is held up as an example of erotic beauty that is irresistible. The first time this comparison is made is in the consciousness of Durgabhatta who hangs a picture of Mats yagandh a by Ravi Verma (8). This is followed by Naranappa's reference to 'Quite a lusty lot, those sages' and then to 'the fellow who ravished the fisherwoman smelling of fish, right in the boat' (22). The story (told by Naranappa) of how Shripati, sexually aroused by Pranesacharya's recital of Shakuntala's beauty takes Belli on the river bank is also meant to anticipate the sexual union between Chandri and Pranesacharya. Shripati himself thinks of Menaka the temptress who destroyed the penance of Vishwamitra. 77 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

There is another reference unrelated to the Matsyagandha myth that prefigures the Acharya's union with Chandri, namely the reference to Shankar who in order to experience sex entered the body of a dead king and had sex with the queen (6). As Bruckner suggests, Pranesacharya takes the place of the deceased Naranappa and has his first experience of sex with Chandri. The references to Matsyagandha, Shakuntala and Menaka serve another purpose. As the Afterword to the novel suggests, 'Lowcaste and outcaste women like Chandri and Belli are hallowed and romanticized by references to classical heroines like Shakuntala and Menaka, the .temptress of the sages' In Part Two, there is an allusion to yet another beauty - celestial in origin this time - to Urvashi, but the focus is on the Acharya. Pranesacharya is cogitating within himself and imagines asking Chandri to 'tell them' but he realizes that she wasn't there. His Urvashi has walked away (75). The reference is to the Urvashi-Pururuva story, said to be the first love story in the world, in which Urvashi disappears after spending some time of enjoyment with the king, leaving him desolate. Later the Acharya wonders if the ancient sages face such a conflict. He mentions two: Parashar and Vishwamitra. The standard Indian image of man tom with conflict is Trishanku and the writer resorts to it several times. Looking within himself he tries to analyse the decisive moment when he took Chandri and his responsibility in the entire episode: 'In that moment, decisive of which way I should turn, the decision was taken to take Chandri. Even if I lost control, the responsibility to decide was still mine....What happened at the turning? Dualities, conflict, rushed into my life. I hung suspended between two truths, like Trishanku' (See Part 96). There are other allusions to Trishanku also. I wonder if the writer in his allusion to turning intends a reference to T.S Eliot’s Ash Wednesday also. 3.3.3 Structure Some more points can be concluded about how the narrative is organized. As you will notice there are three part in the novel and they coincide with the important stages in the life of its principal character Pranesacharya. 1. Part One consists of 10 chapters and ends with the failure of his Brahminical mission at the Lord Maruti temple and sexual union with Naranappa's mistress Chandri. 2. Part Two consisting of 6 chapter an end with the death of Pranesacharya's invalid wife and his decision not to return to the agrahara but to walk wherever his legs take him. 3. Part three consist of two chapters, one short and other long, sees a spiritual agitated praneshcharya traveling with a half caste young man Putta and arriving at a new 78 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

equation with himself. The guided tour of the festival and the fair that he undertakes with the Putta makes him aware of a ‘demonic world of passion and sensation’. His uncertainty ends his decision to go back and confess to the Brahmins and hopefully, to begin a new life with a new identity for himself. Critical approach to the literature Samskara starts with one of the fundamentalrefining and purification rituals in the ceremony of Hindu worship. Praneshacharya was the most honourable Brahmin in agrahara, which was a very traditional and orthodox, He daily routine starts with helping his ailing and physical unfit wife in bathing. He carried all his duties towards his wife with full dedication and thought it to be path of this salvation.He had a sexless life for twenty years, but has no regrets. The death of immoral and sinful Brahmana, Naranappa, ignites a spiritual tussle in Praneshcharya. He is forced to question and is dubious aboutthe long-practiced rituals and beliefs of Brahmin culture. The cleansing ritual which he performed on wife ends after some important events, thismarks the beginning of the end for Praneshacharya’s spiritual cleanliness and purity. Samskara—the important ritual given to Brahmins after their death—becomes the central controversy of the novel. Naranappa was infamous for all his immoral and offensive acts which were always disapproved by all the so-called pure Brahmins of the Agrahara. He drank alcohol, has Muslim friends, ate meat and caught fish from temple pond. Keeping low class outcaste mistress named Chandri was his most immoral and sinful act.Inspite of his hedonistic behaviour, he was never boycotted from the conservative agrahara. One day Chandri, broke out the news of Narranappa’s death to the Agrahara. The news created a great conflict and tussle over conducting his cremation ceremony who was neither a Brahmin nor a shudra.Ananthamurthy raised criticism to many Brahmin’s way of life, culture and practices. When he dies, no one want to be involved in performing the death rites of a sinful man. Naranappa’s body rot for several days due to obstinacy to follow sacred laws of brahmins. This filled agrahara with the deadly stench and rats, vultures. The Brahmins false practices overweighed the basic human right of a decent, timely and respectful cremation process, irrespective of his religion or character. In 1960’s when the novel was written, it faced harsh opposition from many South Indian Brahmi communities for portraying their conservatism in the conflicts over Naranappa’s death ritual. They werehurt and upset for depicting their religious practices as a ridiculed and hypocritic obsessions. The Brahminscharacters in the novel are seen indulging in some or the other hypocrisy. For example, the character of Dasacharya is shown to be a miser manwho receives food fromthe death ceremonies and anniversaries. He is devasted not because of the issue of Naranappa ‘s death but because the mourning period of anyone’s 79 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

death has to be observed with strict fasting and he can’t withstand the hunger. Another Brahmin, Durgbahatta, has lust for Chandri. The description of Durgbahatta’s lust exposes the duplicity of these so called religious men. Ananthamurthy also portray the Brahmins’ selfish reactions to Naranappa’s death— especially of Durgbahatta’s longing for this grieving woman—makes their outward show of piety even more perverse and ridiculous. In order to cajole the Brahmins to cremate her lover, Chandri offers her gold jewellery tothem. The entice of the goldresults in many of the Brahmins to change their minds about performing the death rituals for Naranappa; they thought that the gold or material gain from the funeral of sinful man is worth putting their Brahmin hood in jeopardy. They began fighting for doing his funeral ceremony. The exposure of the Brahmins’ duplicity reads like a tragicomedy about a family that fights over the earthly possessions of the deceased before the funeral has taken place. Praneschacharya resorts to Maruti god to help him taking the right desicion bout Naranappa’s burial. After several hours of performing chanting in front of god, he is exhausted, hungry, and frustrated he was still confused. He encounters mourning Chandri outside the temple and fall into one other’s arms and the subsequently have sexual encounter. This ignites the catalyst for encounter. spiritual tussle. Forty-year-old, Praneschacharya, has never experienced sexual intimacy with a woman. Chandri’s supple and healthy body, open up a new world of flesh and desire for him. His life begins to feel strange and unknown to him. When he returns to his wife, for the first time in their marriage, he found her a disgusting, shrivelled up invalid. The realized what a blunder he had done marring an invalid woman. The most shocking realization for Praneschacharya is his deeper understanding of Naranappa’s decision to live with Chandri though it was an immoral deed as per agrahara. Throughout the narrative Praneschacharya it was stated that he never insisted on Naranappa’s removal from their community as he believed that one day through his teaching, he could bring him back into his Brahmin hood. Is it ironic that, though Naranappan died, it is Praneschacharya who followed Naranappa’s way of life? At the end, the story deals with Praneschacharya struggle to find an answer for himself. Should he go back to the agrahara and confess all of his non-brahmin acts to his fellow Brahmins? Or should he completely accept Chandri and fully indulge in this newly discovered world of the flesh? He undergoesthe process of extremeself-realisationon meeting a young man named Putta who becomes his guru and introduce him to a completely differentways living outside his conservative agrahara. Putta takes him to a festival with games and acrobats, a cruel some cockfight, and also takes him to a local prostitute. 80 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Putta embodies all of the worldly experiences that Praneschacharya has always tried hard to be away from throughout his existence. Praneschacharya has shackled his own pleasure and passion for a long time and when he encounters female flesh, carnivals, and cockfights he is overwhelmed to the point of inertia—his mind is not able to decide which way of living is right. Till the end Praneschacharya does not find a resolution to his mental dilemma. His intense asceticism has closed his eyes to the physical pleasures of the world outside of his obstinate Ans rituals and cleansing baths. What begins as a Samskara for a dead man becomes a Samskara, or a rite of passage, into a wholly different cycle of life for Praneschacharya. Analysis of the women charactersofthestory Samskara is a theme-loaded novel juxtaposing the pulls and pushes between the esoteric and the hedonistic, the transcendental and the mundane, the scriptures and human life, and so on, in a complex manner. Thus, the novel is open to different interpretations from various aspects and angles with different perspectives. There are several women characters depicted in the novel and has their significance. There are two categories of women in the novel: one, women who belong to the high caste Brahmins, two, women who belong to the ‘low’ castes. Bhagirathi, the invalid and sick wife of Praneshacharya, Lakshmidevamma, a half-mad child-widow, Anasuya, the wife of Laksmanacharya, Sita Devi, the wife of Garudacharya, Lilavati, the daughter of Lakshmanacharya and Anasuya and the wife of Shripati come from the Brahmin campus. The wife of Narnappa, who was abandoned by him and died in insane condition, is mentioned indirectly in the novel. Chandri, a prostitute and mistress of Narnappa, Belli, an untouchable girl, Chinni, friend and neighbour of Belli, Padamavati, a prostitute, are from the ‘low’ castes. Putta’s wife, whom he talks at length to Praneshacharya, the girl, who dances on the rope in the fair of Melige and haunts Praneshacharya in his state of self-reflexivity, also belongs to the ‘low’ caste. A cursory observation can demarcate these two groups: the Brahmin women are depicted as plump, disfigured, ugly, unattractive and ignorant/reluctant for sexual pleasure. They are quarrelsome and greedy about material things. The ‘low’ caste women, on the other hand, are beautiful with attractive figures and are readily available for sexual intercourse. They are not greedy about material belongings. Chandri, the prostitute, offers her jewellery to meet the expenses of the last rites of Narnappa. There is no mention of money or some other material gifts to Belli from Shripati. Padmavati does not bargain about for money with Putta when he takes Praneshacharya to her house. The delineation of the erotic beauty of the low caste women has been articulated through upper caste Brahmins in the novel. Their readiness for sex with male Brahmins is again a 81 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

perception of the Brahmin men in the narrative. The extreme disregard for the Brahmin women in terms of beauty or lack of it, is again expressed through Brahmin characters who are involved in sexual relationships with ‘low’ caste women. There is no refutation of this perception of the Brahmin males from women of either category. The biggest irony in the novel is that, the last rite of Narnappa, which is the central and main issue in the novel, is performed by Chandri, the ‘low’ caste woman with the help of a Muslim. Further, there are no moments of self-reflection or self-realization in any of the women characters. At one point Chandri tends to go through a moment of ‘anxious thoughts’ when she broods, “Why everything I do turns out this way? I gave the gold out of my good will, and it made nothing but trouble. And now the Acharya is in trouble, trying so hard to get the funeral rites performed right.” But the narrative reminds the reader immediately that ‘Chandri was a natural in pleasure, accustomed to self-reproach. She then remembers the sexual intercourse episode with the Acharya in the forest that night and feels ‘only a sense of worthwhileness, like the fragrance of flowers hidden. Thus, the entire narrative suggests that the Brahmin women are born to perform domestic, routine, family duties, as if they are the work force recruited to look after the house-hold without a personality of their own. Such a treatment of women characters is reductive as it presents them almost as caricatures. The ‘low’ caste women are depicted as dark brown, sensual and servile; born to fulfil the sexual desire of upper caste men as and when they need them. There is little mention of sex between men characters and women from Brahmin category. Shripati’s wife does not allow him sex and ‘tightens and twines up her thighs’ following advice of her mother. But he does not make any conversation with her on this issue. It is to be noted that the sexual intercourse is performed without a word spoken from either side. Shripati listens to the recitations of holy legends by Praneshacharya on his verandah every evening. One night, listening to the detailed description of Shakuntala, the heroine of Kalidasa, an uncontrollable sexual desire is aroused in him and he runs from the spot to take a plunge in the cold water of the river. There he finds Belli whoi had come to the river to fetch water and has sex with her under the full moon. No word was spoken from either side during the intercourse. One night, while returning from Shirnali in a drunken state, Shripati plans to have sex with Belli. He thinks, ‘Which Brahmin girl, – cheek sunken, breast withered, mouth stinking of lentil soup, – which Brahmin girl was equal to Belli? He describes the raw beauty of Belli in an explicit manner. Shripati is a frequent visitor to Belli’s hut, every time he has sex with her; it is without sharing any of his activities or ideas. He dismisses her talking because, according to him, ‘If she opens her mouth, she talks only ghosts and demons.’Belli keeps her self almost naked most of the time, and her nakedness haunts even Praneshacharya. 82 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Chandri, though she appears for a short period, is a memorable character in the novel. Although she is generous and kind, the first and foremost quality, noted about her, is her physical beauty. She has been living with Narnappa in the agrahara for 20 years. But she mostly stays inside the house where Brahmins do not enter. She comes out in the open on the demise of Narnappa. Durgabhatta, with erotic feelings, calls her a ‘Chitrni’, as described by Vatsyayana, with long fingers and solid breasts, who would suck the male dry in sex. He finds her more beautiful even in the state of grief and fear. According to Shripati, ‘Chandri was utterly beautiful, beyond compare. He compares Chandri with Menaka ‘who destroyed the penance of Sage Vishvamitra. The sexual intercourse between Praneshacharya and Chandri takes place in a dark lonely forest in silence without speaking a word. In the episode, the Acharya just cries ‘amma’ and Chandri weeps. It is a unique portrayal of a sexual scene difficult to be found in other fictional works. Praneshacharya awakes at midnight and finds himself in the lap of Chandri, feeling like ‘stranger to himself’. Then he comes to realize the reality and calls Chandri, who is afraid that he ‘might scold her, despise her’. However, she has ‘a hope in her that his touch might bear fruit in her body. And a gratefulness that she too might have earned merit.’ She thinks all this without actually saying anything. Chandri emerges as a strong and independent woman in comparison to the Brahmin women who could not cross even the boundary of the agrahara. Chandri is an active, mobile and self-reliant character. It is her own decision that she comes and lives with Narnappa; she takes the initiative in the intercourse with Praneshacharya by feeding him with plantains, taking her sari off, spreading it on the ground, and first lies on it hugging Praneshacharya close to her. She takes every decision on her own, including the one to reject Praneshacharya’s advice of facing the Brahmins of the agrahara jointly, because she does not want Praneshacharya to accept his ‘fall’ before the Brahmins; she performs Narnappa’s last rites with the help of a Muslim in a quick decision; then she decides to leave Narnappa’s house and walks alone through forest path to catch a morning bus to Kundapura from where she came to Durvasapura. But one should not confuse her strength and independence with the essence of her womanhood. The source of her strength is the traditional institute of prostitution in India. She cannot change or by-pass her lot as a prostitute. In fact, she finds herself content and comfortable within the tradition and never raises any question about it. She knows that after the death of Narnappa, she cannot stay in Durvasapura. That is why she goes back to her native place Kundapura. The subjectivity of Praneshacharya knows no limits of expansion after the intercourse with Chandri. But Chandri does not have such a fortune. Padamavati - She is a prostitute, appears to be a beautiful and serious minded woman in the novel. Her beauty attracts Narnappa, a philanderer, always in search of new women. He too 83 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

has sex with Padamavati, without any dialogue, without making any conversation. He rather becomes, as Putta describes, violent with her in his drunken state. Padamavati too speaks nothing before Praneshacharya. Putta, the pimp, always speaks about, and on her behalf. No woman in the novel, from either category, has her own voice to prove her to be a thinking and questioning being. Lakshmidevamma is the only exception who hurls curses on Garudachrya and his family for robbing her property because she was a helpless child widow. But no one pays any heed to her. She is an isolated creature in the agrahara and no one cares for her ranting. 3.5 SUMMARY  Samskara is one of the acknowledged pieces of art of modern world literature. Itstarts when Naranappa, an inhabitant of a small south Indian town and a is considered to be a most sinful and immoral Brahmin of the agrahara, who has outrageously defied all the rules of caste and purity for years by eating meat, drinking alcohol, keeping a low-class outcaste mistress, mocking God— unexpectedly falls ill and dies. His fellow Brahmins are unable to answer the question of whether he should be cremated as a Brahmin or a non-Brahmin. His create a controversy and divides the other Brahmins of the village. So, they approachPraneshacharya who is regarded as the mostreligious and respected member of agrahara. His is a man who serves his invalid and ill wife and thought it to be his path of achieving salvation.  Praneshacharya’sdilemma over Naranappa’s cremation leads him to find the answer for his own existence and undergoes the process of self-realisation. Though an answer is urgently needed since as he wonders and the villagers wait and the body start to rot, more and more people are falling sick and dying. He seeks the help and look for signal from his god too. But still is unable to find the solution to the question. Instead, he discovers something else entirely—unless that something else is also God.  Samskara, beautifully translated by the great poet and scholar A. K. Ramanujan, is a tale of existential mystery, a life-and-death encounter between the sacred and the profane, the pure and the impure, the ascetic and the erotic. 3.6 KEYWORDS  Ant autobiography:anti-biography (plural autobiographies) The history of the unsavoury aspects of a person's life.  Omniscient- knowing everything 84 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Stench- a very unpleasant smell  Cremate-to burn the body of a dead person as part of a funeral service  Carcass- the dead body of an animal  Agrahara- a village or a part of village given to Brahmins for their maintenance  Smarata – Brahmins who specialize in the Smriti corpus of texts named the Grihya Sutras, in contrast to Shrauta Sutras 3.7 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Study the Autobiography ‘Suragi’ by U.R Anathamurthy for better understanding of the writing technique of the writer. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 2. Read ‘Avasthe’ and ‘The Rituals’ by U.R Anathamurthy and make a list of critical issues highlighted by the writer and his literary contribution. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 3.8UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions: 1. Write a short note on the love making scene in the novel. 2. What are critical social issues highlighted in the novel ‘Samskara’. 3. Highlight the character of Praneshcharya in the story. 4. Does the novel reach a definite end? Discuss in brief 5. Discuss the various shades of Chandri‘s character in the story. Long Question 1. Pick out all allusions to Pranesacharya-Parashar-Chandri- Matsyagandha in the text and figure out their narrative purpose. 2. Write a note on significance of the opening scene of the novel “Samskara”. 3. Discuss how the narrative of Samskara has been organized. 4.What is intertextuality? In what ways do the reference help strengthen the theme of the novel? 5.What is the new equation that Pranesacharya has arrived at with himself? 85 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

6.Justify the title “Samskara”. B Multiple choice Questions: 1. Which community is criticized in ‘Samskara’? a. Christian b. Muslim c. Sikh d. Brahmin 2. Who is the most respected person of the Agarhara in ‘Samskara’ a. none of these b. naranappa c. praneshcharya d. mahabala 3. What form the background of the novel ‘Samskara’ a. rebirth b. birth c. death d. None of these 4. Samskara is about……. a. Greed b. Lust c. All of them d. Gluttony 5. Which of the following was practiced by Naranappa against the tradition of agraha? a. meat-eating b. illegal relationship c. wine d. All of these 6. With whom Praneshcharya commits liaison? 86 a. chandri CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

b. unknown woman c. rani d. None of these 7.‘Samskara’ was originally written in which language a. Hindi b. Kannada c. Tamil d. Telegu 8. With whose help Chandri cremate the body? a. brahmin b. a Muslim c. mahabala d. an unknown 9. Where does Praneshcharya go to meditate? a. agraha b. home c. Maruti temple d. None of these 10. According to the beliefs, what was the cause of the epidemics plague in the village? a. rats b. Naranappa’s dead body c. water pollution d. None of these Answer 1-d), 2- c), 3-c), 4-c), 5-d), 6-a), 7-b), 8-b), 9-c), 10-b) 87 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

3.9 REFERENCES Reference’s book  The mind and metaphors of U.R Anathamurthy  Bharathipura by U.R Anathamurthy  Avasthe by U.R Ananthamurthy  https://www.purplepencilproject.com/book-review-samskara-u-r- ananthamurthy/  https://www.coursehero.com/file/35666499/samskara-summurydocx/  https://www.hastakshep.com/old/women-characters-in-u-r-anantha-murthys- samskara-a-lohian-reading/  https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2016/12/14/in-review-samskara-a-rite-for- a-dead-man-by-u-r-ananthamurthy/ 88 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT – 4ISMAT CHUGTAI: THE QUILT Structure 4.0 Learning Objectives 4.1 Introduction to Ismat Chugtai 4.2 Critical Analysis of Ismat Chugtai “The Quilt” 4.3 Summary 4.4 Keywords 4.5 Learning Activity 4.6Unit End Questions 4.7 References 4.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this unit, you will be able to: ● Acquaint the learning of Ismat Chugtai. ● The lesson analyses Ismat Chugtai’s essay “The Quilt.” ● Answer the examination-oriented questions. 4.1 INTRODUCTION Figure 4.1 Ismat Chugtai (21 Aug 1951- 24 Oct 1991) 89 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Early Life Ismat Chughtai was born on 21 August 1915 in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh .Her parents were Nusrat Khanam and Mirza Qaseem Baig Chughtai; she was the ninth of ten children six brothers and four sisters. The father was a civil servant ,therefore moved frequently as from one place to another; her childhood was spent in cities including Agra ,Jodhpur, and Aligarh mostly with her brothers as all her sisters go married while she was very young. Her elder brothers influenced her personality to a graet extent during her early years of development. She considered her second-eldest brother, Mirza Azim Beg Chughtai as her guide and mentor. When her father was retired from the Indian Civil Services their family finally settled in Agra. Chughtai received her primary education at the Women's College at the Aligarh Muslim University and received the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1940 from Isabella Thoburn College. Her family was against her higher education, despite of the opposition she manged to complete, her B.A (Arts) from the Aligarh Muslim University the following year. During this time Chughtai was associated with the Progressive Writers' Association, During her first meeting in 1936 she met Rashid Jahan, one of the leading female writers associated with the movement, . Rashid Jahan highly educated MBBS doctor and a liberal women's rights activist having communist ideology, who introduced Ismat to the basics of communism, and she decided to make Rashid Jaan her guru and follow her foot steps.Ismat later revealed, ‘I hated moaning women, who bore illegit children. Fidelity and beauty, which are considered a woman’s virtues; I condemn them. Love is a burden on the heart and nothing else. I learned this from Rashid Aapa.’ Ismat blamed lacvk of literacy for the condition of women. After completing her BA, she enrolled in an IT college in Lucknow where her subjects were Politics, Economics and English, Polity, and Economics. After arriving there, she got the opportunity to enjoy freedom the first time and was freed from all the restrictions of middle-class Muslim society. Chughtai was known to give voice to “realistic, challenging female characters\". Chughtai began writing in private around the same time, but did not seek publication for her work until much later. At an age of eleven, Ismat Chughtai started writing stories but did not publish them under her own name. In 1939, the short story titled ‘ Fasadi ‘was published in the distinguished journal Saqi, people thought it was her brother, a well-known writer, Azeem Beg Chughtai had written this story under a pseudonym. Later, during the same year, her stories like Kafir, Dheet, Khidmatgar, and Bachpan revolutionized the literary circles, and she became famous as a reknowned author. In 1941 and 1942, her twocollections short stories were published titled ‘Kaliyaan’ and ‘Chuntii.n’. But her most controversial work came in 1941, ‘Lihaf’ which explored the intimate relationship between two women, and caused turbulence in the fraternity of Urdu literature. Ismat face court trials for vulgar and offensive and it became the focal point of her life’s work, so much so that all her remaining work was 90 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

overshadowedand remained unpopular like ‘JoDa’, ‘Genda’, ‘Nanhi Ki Nani’, and ‘Bhool- Bhulaiyan’, which were equally well-written. She taught in different places, and participated in some well-talked affairs, after completing her graduation from IT college, Ismat got job as an Inspector of Schools, in Bombay. Ismat met Shahid Latif who used to write dialogues in Bombay Talkies for Rs. 225. Ismat knew Shahid from Aligarh while he was doing his MA. When she came in Bombay, their strong romance began and they got married soon. Ismat’s idea of love was quite unconventional and different. She said, ‘I consider love to be a very important thing; it’s the very strength of heart and mind, but a person should not become stingy in it, one should not become suicidal for its sake. Ismat was introduced to the film industry by Sahid Latif. He had turned to a producer from a screenwriter. Ismat wrote stories and dialogues for his several films like Ziddi, Aarzoo, and Sone Ki Chidiya. After that, his films were not doing too well and failed. Even after the death of Shahid Latif, Ismat remained connected with the film industry. ‘Garm-Hawa’, the famous film made on Indo-Pak partition was also written by Ismat, she had also written and played a small role Junun,Shyam Benegal’s famous film. Other films in which Ismat’s exhibited her writing talent through their stories include ‘Chhed-Chaad’, ‘Buzdil’, ‘Shikayat’, ‘Shisha’, ‘Fareb’, and ‘Lala-Rukh’. In 1960s, Chughtai wrote eight novels in total,her first novel was Masooma (The Innocent Girl) which was published in 1962. The film projected the life of a young actress, Nilofar, who is forced to work as call girl to support her family once her father leaves them. Set in the Bombay of 1950s, the novel revolves around the themes of sexual exploitation and social and economic injustice. Her next work, the 1966 novella Saudai (Obsession) was based on the screenplay of 1951 film Buzdil, which she wrote with Latif. Critics have noted that Saudai could never shed its structure and still read like a screenplay despite Chughtai's efforts. Following a mixed reception for both Masooma and Saudai, Chughtai received significant appreciation for her fifth novel Dil ki Duniya (The Heart Breaks Free). Reviewing the novel, viewers have placed it second only to Tedhi Lakeer in the canon of her work. The novel follows the lives of a different group of women living in a conservative Muslim background in Uttar Pradesh. Dil Ki Duniya, much like Tedhi Lakeer, is autobiographical in nature as Chughtai drew heavily from her own childhood in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. Hussein compared her two novel and commented that, \"if Tedhi Lakeer impressed me with its boldness, range and its credentials as a major novel, Dil ki Duniya's influence would linger with me forever, and I’d find its thematic and stylistic echoes in my own stories\". Chughtai's 1970 novel Ajeeb Aadmiwas also based on the life of film actor Guru Dutt (pictured, 1955). 91 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

In beginning of 1970s, Chughtai wrote two novels, Ajeeb Aadmi (A Very Strange Man) and Jangli Kabootar (Wild Pigeons) in which she used her knowledge of the Hindi film industry, which she had been a part of for the last couple of years. Jangli Kabootar, was first published in 1970, showed the life of an actress and was partially inspired from a real-life incident that hadhappened at the time. Chughtai's grandson, Aijaz Khan had expressed his interest in a making a feature film and became a filmmaker.In an interview with the Mumbai Mirror he said: \"would like to make one of her stories, Jangli Kabootar [as the story has] always fascinated me.\" Slowly Chughtai's status as a writer rose. Her numerous works was translated into English, and she became a well known name in the Urdu literature of the twentieth century, and received subsequent critical reappraisals, Critical reappraisals for her works began with rereading’s of Lihaaf, which in the intervening years has attached a greater significance; it was appreciated and gained interest for its portrayal of the insulated life of a neglected wife in the male dominated society and became a landmark for its depiction of sex which was still considered a taboo in modern Indian literature. Lihaaf has since been widely anthologised, and following the critical reappraisals, became one of her celebrated work. When her work was made available to for reading to a wider audience over the years, criticism centered around the limited scope of Chughtai's writing has also reduced. In 1993 retrospective piece, Naqvi also countered the perceived scope of Chughtai's writings, and commented that her work was \"neither confined to nor exhausted\" by the themes central to Lihaaf: \"she had much, much more to offer\".She separately quoted the example of Jangli Kabootar, which was one of the first novels in Chughtai's creation to explore the theme of infidelity. Naqvi also mentioned that how, Chughtai still remained keen on probing new themes and expand the scope of her work, even when she gained much popularity in Urdu literature. Chugtai’s Tedhi Lakeer, becameone of her magnificient work and is now considered to be one of theexemplary works of Urdu literature by critics and publication groups. Shamim Hanfi, a famous Critic and dramatist appreciated her work most, saying that the novel, itraised the bar of the world literature to the highest level. Hussein also compared it to be one of the best Urdu novels and mentioned that Chughtai amalgamate all her literary influences and her own real experiences to bring out a radical content. He also compared the framework of the novel to that of a bildungsroman and was in surprise how Chugtai exposed and highlighted the feminist and nationalist issues of the period. He rewriting style was also compared to that of a French intellectual and writer Simone de Beauvoir, based on her technique of humanist affiliations. Andthe duo's existentialist . Literary Style and Influences 92 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Chughtai was an open minded Muslim whose nephew, niece and daughter married to Hindus. She considered herself to come from a family of , \"Hindus, Muslims and Christians who all live peacefully\".She also accepted that she read and gave equal respect to the Quran, the Bible and the Gita. Her work, especially short stories depicted the prevailing cultural of the region around her. Her story \"Sacred Duty\", very well proved this in which she threw light on the social pressures in India, implying to specific religious ,national, and cultural traditions of that time. During her initial years, Nazar Sajjad Hyder was well established as an independent feminist voice, and her two short stories of different women, Hijab Imtiaz Ali and Rashid Jehan, had a great impact on her. Many of her writing work were banned in South Asia like including Angarey and Lihaaf because the content was considered to be reformist and feminist and was supposed to offended conservatives and orthodox thinking.(for example, the Niqab, which she considered to be the veil worn by Muslim women should be stopped because it increased the is dictorial and primitivebehaviour). This resulted in ban of her several books at different point of time. The crust of her writing was set in the Indian Muslim middle-class society centred especially around women. Her stories were full of dare yet they were funny and crisp. Theywere very thought provoking and full with sarcasm. She used the local language and dialect in her stories. According to an amazing writer Qurratulain Hyder, this added an extra spice and enhanced its flavours of her stories. When a reader reads her stories, they feel as if they are a part or member of the story and are experiencing all of it in real. In the story Lihaaf, We can experience the blow which the young girl Amiran experience, when she came to know that the Begum Jaan is very lonely and her maidservant friskher under the quilt in the night. Those were the days when the topics like homosexuality were not even discussed in private. This resulted a lot of dishonour to Chugtai. She, despite of being a woman dared to bring all this on pages of a book. Case was filed against her for obscenity in court of law along with “Sadat Hasan Manto”, who was famous as the bad boy of Urdu literature. She got along with himvery well. Inspite of all this she was not discouraged from writing bolder and daring stories. In one of her work “The wedding Shroud”the reader can feel the further urgency of “Kubra’s “mother to get her daughter married before she fades away into spinsterhood . Every character of the story seems to be real and the reader feels like meeting and losing the characters; every chapter looks like coming straightfrom the homes of known people. When we read her stories, we feel like diving in the reality of her make-believe world and give comfort to a protagonist who has been ill-treated or 93 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

oppressed.It becomes difficult for the reader to forget the characters painted by her on the pages of her books. Chugtai’s unique style of expression is her signature skill in her writings. Her language of the stories not only express her mind but is also an abstract truth in itself. Language is the hero in many of her novels, including ‘Masuma’, ‘Ek Qatra Khun’, ‘Saudai’, ‘Jungli’, ‘Ajib Admi’, and ‘Kabutar’ ,’Dil Ki Duniya’. According to her ‘Dil Ki Duniya’ is one of her best written novels. In return for her magnificient contribution to the literature, Chugtai received many important awards and prizes from government as well as non-government organizations. She was awarded the Padmashri,in 1975 by the Government of India. The Madhya Pradesh government awarded her the Iqbal Samman, the Ghalib Award, in 1990. She was also awarded Filmfare award for the art works. Further Work Ismat Chughtai was never in favour of the Partition, and she integrated this resistance through her story Jadein, where the house’s matriarch could not be convinced to migrate to Pakistan and leave her haveli, even though her family was ready to move. Chugtai wrote about the importance of art and free press in her book Yahan Se Wahan Tak, “if writers, journalists and thinkers turn away from present-day circumstances and write merely for personal gain, their work will lack vigour, and anything that is lifeless is not meaningful.” She investigated her feminism without any regrets and guilt by continuing to write on unconventional themes like gender inequality and homosexual relationships. One of her novels, Tedhi Lakeer, is a semi-autobiographical in nature and delve into tabooed themes of child sexuality, lesbianism and abortion. This novel was considered to be one of her finest work. Writing Style Chughtai supported in dealing with the intricacies of the day to day lives. She saw the sensual trivia between the four walls of the house and the sexual politics within the private. She once simply noted, somewhat dishonestly, that her mind was “an ordinary camera that records reality as it is”. So as per her, she is writing about the issues and relations which are real and existed in reality. Chughtai always chose to write in the native language of the characters she was writing about. She wrote from inside the tradition and spoke to it. In India writing in English is relatively simple because a writer can write anything in English get away with it because the readership is liberal and not rigid and progressive for the most part. On the other hand writing in Urdu, was a bit difficult. She was proselytizing among angry natives. Telling them about their culture and their lives and doing this in unadulterated fashion. Her text 94 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

always included the things that existed in real life and was away from imagination and there was no concession to the romantic for its own sake. For her writing conversations was easier. Her writing style was natural and simple in many ways. Her real and easy techniques made her stories so easy to dramatize. While Naseeruddin Shah and his group were analysing the work of Chugtai and Saadat Hasan Manto, they would have found the work of Chugtai easy to deal with. She has to face outrage after her first two stories came out to public, which was pretty much expected. One problem was that Chughtai’s writing was in the language of the common people and not like any other difficult to understand literature. She was an active member of the Progressive Writers’ Association. They were progressing from the highly Persianized style of writing that was existed for a many decade. They also changed the perception that only the upper classes were worthy of being written about. Chughtai declared that she gave preference to write about the topics, she would hear of, which may not necessarilybe her experiences. She herself had a comparatively free life, as her family showed the tolerance towards her early obstinacy. She said she hated the oppression and domination of the women and men she wrote about. That being captured in the ideas of shame and honour was ridiculous. Death During her few last years of life, in late 1980’s, Chughtai was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease . Due to her disease her work became limited and was not able to write much. She took her last breath, after her prolonged disease, at her house in Mumbai on 24 October 1991.following Chughtai was known to have been hesitation of getting buried, which according to Islam is a mandate funeral practice after death. Rakshanda Jalil ones mentioned one of Chughtai's discussion with Qurratulain Hyder, a friend and contemporary writer in an Uncivil Woman: Writings on Ismat Chughtai, \"I am very scared of the grave. They bury you beneath a pile of mud. One would suffocate I’d rather be cremated.\" As per the trusted sources, Chughtai’s last wish was to be cremated. Fulfilling her last wish, she was cremated at the Chandan wadi crematorium. 4.2CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ISMAT CHUGTAI’S “THE QUILT” \"Lihaaf\" (\"The Quilt\") is shortstory, written by Ismat Chugtai in 1942. It was originally written in. When it was published in the Adab-i-Latif, Urdu literary journal, it faced much controversy and opposition,this hue and cry was due to its theme of homosexuality and thus led to an obscenity trial. Ismat Chugtai defended herself in the Lahore Court. She was forced to apologize in the court. But she did not apologize and also won the case, after her lawyer presented that the story makes no proposal to a sexual act, and prosecution witnesses 95 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

was not able to bring out any obscene words, and it was confirmed that the story is suggestive and told from the point of view of a small girl. Later on in coming decades it was widely anthologised, and became one of her most famous work. Along with one of her other novel, Angare, remained banned for many years. After few, she revealed in detail the court trial in her noted Memoir Kaghazi Hai Pairahan (A Life in Words: Memoir). Though it gained attention for its mention of lesbianism, it also highlighted the restricted andshackled life of a disregarded wife in the feudal society. In Modern and Urdu Literature, portrayalof sex act is still a taboo. Fire (1996) is the first film of the element trilogy directed by Deepa Mehta and is based on the short story of the Urdu writer Ismat Chugtai’s Lihaaf. Both works have portrayed female sexuality in an explicit way, these works also analyse the manner in which men dominate women through the control of female sexuality and how women protests and becomes strong, independent and emancipate their position.. It will discuss how Deepa Mehta has adapted the short story into a film of 108 minutes, studying it in the light of adaptation theories along with the contribution of Mehta and Chugtai to feminism. Adaptation of novels, stories and dramas into a film have become quite common in today’s world; Moreover, such movies based on literature are successful gaining immense fame. A film adaptation can be defined as the transfer of a work or story in a whole or in part to a film. Ismat Chughtai was a gem in Indian Urdu writer. Most of Chugtai work revolved around in the themes of female sexuality and femineity. Her works crossed all obstacles set up by patriarchy and brought forward the impeccable concerns of female desires and sexuality. The story Lihaaf or The Quilt was published in the year 1942 and is narrated from the point of view of a child narrator. The story ‘Lihaf’ is about a female lead character, BegumJaan who is married to a rich Nawabh. He had great reputation in society but was a Homosexual He can’tshare this secret to anyone because he was Nawab. Because he knew that once society find him as a homosexual, he will lose his ancestor’s hard-earned reputation. During that time ,Homosexuality was considered to be a crime so for the sake of society he married Begum Jaan but never build sexual relation with her., Begumjaan in spite of all material comforts and many servants lived a lonely life because her husband though being of virtuous nature remained engrossed in the company of young boys. She craved for her husband’s company, his love and his attention but being always neglected by him she finds no solace anywhere. As per the description of Ismat Chughtai “Begum Jaan” is extreamly beautiful lady. She is described to be young, white skin with anattractive figured woman. She has unsatisfied sexual desires and wanted to satisfy it with his husband. Shetries to seduce Nawab in different ways but 96 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

every time she failed and turned to despair and loneliness. Rabbu, begam Jaan’s household servant is introduced in the story, she is an expert in giving therapy of massage. This pleased and which made Begum Jaan happy and satisfy. They both were involved in lesbian sex. Rabbu used to give her massage daily for several hours before bath, which she used to enjoy. This resulted in regaining Begum Jaan her glow. This ended her misery and despair and she found solace in Rabbu’s company. The story is narrated by Amiran a teen age girl. She noticed all this when she was at Begaum Jaan’s house. Amiran was left at Begum Jaan’s house for few days when her mother was going to Agra for some work and she was not willing to leave her daughter alone in house due to her aggressive behaviour. Amiraan was captivated by the beauty of Begumjaan. Due to whichshe could not bear Rabbugiving hermassagingalways. Amiranuse to sleep with Begum Jaan in her room. Her bed was placed near Begamjaan’sbed.During night she would notice Begams quilt shaking heavily. Chugtai compared this with an “elephant”struggling inside at night. Every night she used to notice the elephant like shadow on the wall and sounds of fast breath coming from inside the quilt.Reader very well knows about what was going on but Amiran being a young girl in her teen years is unable to understand this clearly. One day Rabbu went away in search of her son.Begamjaan was restless and depressed and felt dejected when Rabbu was away. She missed the way Rabbu used to give physical pleasures to her in the form of massage..she replaced Rabbu with Amiran who was forced by Begumjaan to rub her back. Once Rabbu comes back, Begaum Jaan was again pleased. One strangenight, Amiraan noticed the quilt ‘s shadow slike a wild elephantone time. She is scared by this the child somehow gathers the courage and switch on the lights. As soon as the lights were switched on the quilt jiggled and collapsed. Moreover,in doing the quilt was lifted from one end. This revealed the thing which the child was not ready to see. Out of extreme fear she jumps back into her bed. This cleared the fact about the homosexual relationship between the two. Begumjaan’s desires were not satisfied by her husband so she looked for physical pleasure in Rabbu. The famous Bollywood film ‘Fire is based on the story Lihaaf, concept of “female sexuality”. In spite of this they also portray helplessness of women trapped within social network, their suppression, their sheer loneliness and their proclamation of liberation by developing a forbidden relationship. For instance, through the female characters, Chugtai and Deepa Mehta very skilfully depicts the frustration and anguish of a wife refusing the domination of men, recreating oneself gradually through other woman, there was neither victory nor defeat, each one of them was both subject and object, liberal and slave that too in equal proportion. The patriarchal control over women’s life and women’s bodies subjugates their aspirations, such works like Fire and Lihaaf portraying female desires courageously and in a convincing way are not readily acceptable in hegemonic patriarchal 97 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

society. Both the works invoked huge controversy, after the publication of Lihaaf Chugtai was summoned to court on the charges of obscenity, the case was dragged for two years in Lahore court and was solved with the argument that the short story was narrated from the point of view of a child and there was no obscene language used in the story. The movie Fire was released in India after two years of its release (1998) in other part of the world, although the winner of fourteen international awards this movie became the target of religious and political groups in India, the posters of the movie were burnt, there was immense protest on the date of release of the movie and the protestors even demanded the names of the protagonist to be changed because they believed that the movie encouraged collapse of marriage and is degrading Indian society. Apart from the similarity of female sexuality and its oppression, the other event found similar to the story in the movie is the discovery of the erotic relationship of Radha and Sita, Begumjaan and Rabbu by Biji and the child narrator who are unable to reveal about this to anyone. However, there was no other incident common between the movie and the short story. In contrast to the short story, the movie has explicitly picturised female sexuality not in accordance with the patriarchal culture. Protagonists, Radha and Sita in the movie realises love for each other and finds ways to continue this in private until exposed by Mundu, their servant. Unlike the characters Begumjaan and Raboo, they boldly decline their destiny to be controlled by rigid patriarchal structures and become voice for thousands of supressed women and challenged societal norms. The title of the story Lihaaf serves as the metaphor for the quilts capability to hide and conceal things, also the ending of the story shows the way, protagonists continued their enlightening and self-fulfilment relationship in concealment and how their erotic relationship remains secrete by the child narrator. The quilt becomes concealment for the activities of Begumjaan and Raboo, nothing is stated clearly here only with few hints, it leaves things for the readers to decide. So many changes made by Deepa Mehta in the movie are apparent, the reason could be to expand the short story in a two hours film and to avoid the issue of plagiarism. This is what Linda Hutcheon talks about when she describes how adaptation as a “product” cannot never remains faithful to its original text because it gives rise to the issue of plagiarism, therefore, adaptation must differ from the original text while discussing the sources and fundamental ideas. Thus, the movie Fire may not be as accurate and close to its original work Fire, it may be loosely based on the story Lihaaf but it shares the same agony, anguish and the worst position that women are placed in. Ismat Chugtai and Deepa Mehta with their path breaking works depict the hypocrisies of a male dominated society and describes how the identity of a modern women is constructed through the margins of gender and society. Themes ofthe story Patriarchy 98 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

The sensitive issue of Patriarchy and male domination is very well depicted in the story. Nawab was a Homosexual but was not ready to accept thosereputation. This highlighted two things. First that Nawab Sahab had a fear for Society Second:Patriarchy attitude of Nawab Sahab. Through this, his dual personality came in light. For Society he was a Nawab of good repute but for begum Jaan he was a failure as a husband being homosexual and more interested in men than her wife. “After marrying Begum Jaan, he deposited her in the house with all his other possessions and promptly forgot about her.”. Throughthis line the writer is trying to talk about the patriarchal attitudetheprevailingin society. “Deposited” this word is usually used for a non–living things, For Nawab she was just an obligation and marring her helped him to save his identity as Homosexual. He is cold hearted and don’t have any guilt for his orientation nor have any soft corner or emotion for his wife. He treated her like a non-living object and was not bothered for her wife physical requirements. Homosexuality Nawab have lots features which resembled to women and was attracted towards the young wrestlers who used to come to his house. He used to keep young male scholars at his house and bear their expenses and in return gained the physical returns from them. But he was not ready to accept his orientation in public. He had a true patriarch attitude which make him feel superior to others. He never allows Begum Jaan to go outside the house. She was compared to the statue in the house.The only difference between Begum Jaan and the statue of her house is that Begum Jaan could cry on her situation.Nawab was a homosexual but it was Begum Jaan who suffered. because she was a woman, it holds true that “to be a woman is more difficult to be a Homosexual”. Begum Jaan also has to tolerate because of Nawab and his family’s false reputation. He was forced to marry due to the family pressure in spite of the fact of him being homosexual. To satiate her physical needs, Begum Jaan also had intimate relation with her masseur, Rabbu. Marriage Marriage is projected to be a very important theme in this novel. Chughtai projects marriage as an oppressive relationship that validates female mediocracy. Marriage plays a very important role in this story. Begum Jan marriage with Nawab has caged and shackled her in a restricted domestic set up, where she has no voice of her own and is unable to breathe 99 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

freely. As a result, Begum Jan violates the social and moral boundaries. She transforms to be a woman who measure the lengths of her sexuality from within parameters of patriarchy, without ending her married life.After marrying Begum Jaan, he deposited her in the house as we do with a non-living object and readily forgot about her.” Nawab sahib has given all the comfort to her which she required to lead a comfortable life and according to him, she should not need anything else. But he forgot that apart from materialistic possessions a wife or a woman also needs physical and emotional support from her husband. He tends to ignore that fulfilling sexual desires and needs cannot be compensated by the materials. In this line Ismat Chughtai is trying to explain the patriarchal attitude of society. The term “Deposited” is usually used to indicate the use non–living things, so it is clear that she was just anobligation for Nawab Sahib, whom he married just to hide his identity of being homosexual. He had not any guilt, same or emotion for her wife, if he had, he can free her to do whatever she want but she treat her like non-living things of his house. In Quilt writer also talked about the topic of marriage. In villages, stilltoday marriageis looked as an economy homosexual.Sahib was quite elder to begum Jaan, still she was married to him to him. Nawab was not an apt choice for Begum jaan. But only for money her parents married her to Nawab. Nawab Saheb was rich, highly reputation and powerful and it is enough for any parents. Oppression Oppression is the major theme of this story. The author discuss about the ill side of oppression of women and her desires. In the story both begaum Jaan and Nawab are the stricken by oppression in different ways. Nawabwas forced to marry Begumby his family in spite of sexual orientation because of the social pressure that are shove upon him. He is oppressed by the social and moral ideologies and hidehis identity to the outsider. Begum has to face dual oppression. Firstly, sheis oppressed by her husband because of her gender and secondly because of her own sexuality. In no way she could accept her lesbian identity, as it was a strict social taboo. Female sexuality and desire This is another theme that is common to most of Ismat Chugtai’s work She always provided the voice to women sexuality and their desires. Begum Jaan was married without giving a choice and became just a part of the furniture or non-living item. She has a limited approach to prove her individual identity or sexuality. This may be the reason that she started her expression of sexual desire but building a lesbian relation with her housemaid. SYMBOLS, METAPHORS AND SIMILIES IMPLIED IN THE STORY The Quilt (Symbol) 100 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)