JAC : A Journal Of Composition Theory ISSN : 0731-6755
Feminist interpretation in Kiran Nagarkar’s novel ‘Rest in Peace’
Misha Parnami
Research Scholar
Department of English
University of Mumbai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Email- [email protected]
Mobile- 9009865321
Abstract
The role of women is not just vital in society but has always remained vital in literature. It has drastically changed in today’s world. From always carrying out domestic chores, the women of today are at compelling positions and at par with men. At whichever position they might be, they have always remained the support system of the family. Kiran Nagarkar’s novels are exuberant not just in terms of its’ male characters but also its female characters. Strong, independent, vocal and supportive are the qualities of the women characters in his novels. Nagarkar’s trilogy: ‘Ravan & Eddie’ (1995), ‘The Extras’ (2012) and ‘Rest in Peace’ (2015) have the same women characters. The novels are a true depiction of the ‘female’ in feminism and a ‘female’ in the modern world. The research paper focuses on the female characters in the novel ‘Rest in Peace’ throwing light on their qualities that a modern woman possesses in the Indian context.
Keywords: female, modern, strong, independent, vocal, supportive
The notable bilingual writer, Kiran Nagarkar was a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, storyteller and drama and film critic. Born on 2 April 1942 in Bombay, in a middle- class Maharashtrian family, the writer wrote in Marathi, his mother tongue as well as in English. A Postmodern in his approach and writings he died on 5 September 2019 in Mumbai after suffering from brain hemorrhage. His novels include: Saat Sakkam Trechalis (1974), Ravan &Eddie (1994), Cuckold (1997), God’s Little Soldier (2006), The Extras (2012),sequel to Ravan &Eddie , Rest in Peace (2015), last book in Ravan &Eddie trilogy, Jasoda: A Novel (2017) and The Arsonist (2019). He has also written the play ‘Bedtime Story’ and the screenplay ‘Black Tulip’ (2015). He won the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel ‘Cuckold’ and was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. His novels have been translated into Germany, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Marathi. He pursued his studies from Fergusson College, Pune and S.I.E.S. College, Mumbai. He studied English Literature and because he was so Anglicized, no one would talk to him and this forced him to spend time in the library, which made him a serious reader.
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The fictional novel ‘Rest in Peace’ written by Kiran Nagarkar was published in 2015. This is the third novel in Ravan & Eddie trilogy. The first two being: ‘Ravan & Eddie’ and ‘The Extras’. The novel is divided in three parts consisting of twenty-eight chapters. ‘Rest in Peace’ brings an end to Ravan &Eddie. From being the Extras in Bolywood industry, they become superstars in this novel. Moreover, from being the superstars, their fate plays such a terrible role that they fall again and are finally killed by Bashir Akhtar a.k.a. Three Point One, the villain of the novel. All through their lives, Ravan and Eddie see a lot of ups and downs. And, in all these peaks and valleys, women have played an indispensable role in their journey. From their mothers to their friends and girlfriends, women in their lives have always supported them through thick and thin, guided them, helped them and stood beside them. The female characters in the novel are Parvatibai (Ravan’s mother), Violet (Eddie’s mother), Pieta (Eddie’s sister and Ravan’s girlfriend and later wife), Belle (Eddie’s girlfriend), Granna (Eddie’s grandmother), Asmaan (Ravan & Eddie’s friend), Mrs. Venkatraman (Ravan’s tutor), Sukanya (Mrs. Venkatraman’s daughter).
From only carrying out domestic chores to coming out of their houses and being at compelling positions and at par with men, women have come a long way. They are now at shoulder to shoulder with men. Literature has always remained a mirror to the society. It has not just given us strong male characters but has also given us strong female characters. At whichever position they might be, they have always remained the support system of the family. Nagarkar beautifully in this novel gives the complete authority to his women characters. They are strong, independent and modern and support their male characters. As the old saying goes, ‘Behind every successful man is a woman’ holds true for this novel. In this research paper, the researcher will analyse the women characters and their qualities and depict them as modern women in the Indian context.
Ravan’s mother Parvatibai is in the tiffin business. She makes food, gets the tiffins delivered, earns a livelihood, and takes care of the house. On the contrary, Ravan’s father Shankar Rao does nothing and is a burden on the entire family. He only sleeps and rests at home. Despite Parvatibai constantly telling him to go out and work, he does not pay any heed to her and does whatever he likes. Parvatibai works very hard to take care of the family. Though sometimes there are customers who get angry at her and create a nuisance outside her house still like a strong woman she handles everything by herself. She supports Ravan through everything he wants to do in life. From supporting him to becoming an actor to becoming a taxi driver she always stands beside him. When Ravan becomes a successful and popular music composer and is visited by big shots of Bolywood, Parvatibai takes care of everything and allows everyone to come home and serves them tea and food. She even supports Ravan when he decides to marry a Catholic girl Pieta who is Eddie’s sister. She keeps her lifelong hatred aside and goes to Violet to ask for Pieta’s hand for Ravan. She puts her needs and wishes behind her son’s. When Ravan asks her to shift to the new apartment with him, she refuses him, as she knows that Ravan and Pieta are in a relationship.
She says, ‘Na re, baba, I will die of boredom there.’ (110)
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Eddie’s mother Violet too is a working woman. She used to sew clothes and earn money. She generally thinks that Eddie will not be able to make anything worthwhile of his life but in her heart, she is too concerned about him. She doesn’t show that but deep within she loves him and cares about him. She didn’t like these directors and producers and didn’t allow Eddie to bring them home. Their relationship had been rough but she was always watching over her son. Not only Eddie she supports her daughter Pieta also. Pieta pursues her education and gets a job. Violet doesn’t put any restrictions on Pieta. When Pieta is adamant on marrying Ravan, she puts her life-long hatred for Parvatibai and Ravan aside and allows the marriage to take place.
She is concerned for Pieta and warns Ravan,
‘You take good care of my girl. Because if you don’t, you will have to deal with me. I think you’re aware that I don’t forget and I don’t forgive.’ (115)
When Eddie asks her to shift with him in his new apartment, she refuses him. She says,
‘Your home. I’m so happy for you, Eddie. But my home is here.’ (87)
She is grounded and sticks to her roots. She tells him that Granna and he could move to Pali Hill while Pieta and she would remain in the chawl. She also added,
‘I’ve spent all my life in this room. I would be lost anywhere else.’ (87)
When Eddie requests Violet and granna to come and attend the award function, she refuses it by saying,
‘She would not be able to stand the tension of not knowing till the last minute whether her son would win the Filmfare Award or not, and anyway Hindi film music was not her cup of tea.’ (108)
Eddie’s grandmother is a fun-loving lady. She also supports Eddie in everything. However, Violet doesn’t understand much about Bolywood but granna supports him and even goes to attend an award ceremony where Ravan & Eddie were nominated.
‘She had even asked Eddie to buy her a flowing, ankle-length midnight-blue silk gown.’ (108)
She also agrees in shifting to the new apartment with Eddie.
Eddie’s sister Pieta is an independent working woman who earns and contributes to the expenses of the family. Pieta had risen in life.
‘She was now the second-in-command of the computer department in her organization.’ (17)
She has a pleasant relationship with Eddie and supports and gives him money whenever he needs it. When Eddie wanted to go to abroad for becoming an actor, she contributes money for the same. She also supports his relationship with Belle. When Belle goes to the States and doesn’t
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respond to Eddie’s letters like a supportive and concerned sister she calls Belle’s landlady. Her relationship with Ravan is full of love and concern. She tells Ravan everything about her past and the abortion. She also supports Ravan in everything. Even when Ravan doesn’t earn money she doesn’t complain because she has complete faith in Ravan’s talent. She is strong-headed, determined girl and whenever she decides something, she sticks to it. She was very adamant in marrying Ravan because she deeply loved him and sticks to her decision despite her mother and brother having problems with the marriage. She is very strong as she goes alone and gets her abortion done without telling anyone in the family. She was the decision maker in her relationship with Ravan. She told Ravan that they would not spend money extravagantly. She also told him that she will start a recurring deposit account in the bank and will put two thousand from her salary aside. She told him to contribute whatever amount he could. She said that they would buy a small flat when they collect enough money. She gave Ravan three months to prepare for their marriage. She says,
‘I’ll give you three months. That’s the cut-off date. You got that? Not a week more; no, not a day more.’(95)
When Pieta’s grandmother was hospitalized because of a heart attack, she contributed the money for her treatment. She also furnishes Ravan’s new flat. She loves her mother a lot and because of her, she agrees for a Church wedding. She is modern in her approach and is even willing to change her name, as she hates it. She tells Ravan to give her a new name. Ravan replies,
‘How about Piya? No compassion or pity in it. Just love.’ (145)
Pieta loves Ravan a lot and is completely loyal to him. Because of her first abortion, it was dangerous for Pieta to conceive again and they had decided that she will be on the pill but without telling him, she conceives and dies. She knew that a child would give Ravan a lot of happiness. However, the baby who was born was a stillborn baby. When Ravan finds out about the pregnancy, he questions Pieta to which she replies,
‘Because I love you. Because I want to make up for lost time. Because you did not give up on me. Because you are so good to me. Because I want to have your child and make you happy.’ (313)
She is dedicated towards her family, work and friends.
Eddie’s girlfriend Belle is a talented, strong-headed girl. Despite her parents not liking Eddie she goes ahead and tells him to stay in her house. She supports Eddie in his career. She is the lead singer in Eddie’s band Bombay Bombshells. All through her stay in abroad she sends letters to Eddie and maintains the relationship. She is a perfectionist at her work. When Eddie calls her to record a song for them, she just has twenty-four hours to practice the song. She asks for one more day to get the song right. She understands the delicacy of maintaining her relationship with her new boyfriend Veerendra Malaviya. In between the recording, she was talking to him as he
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was waiting for her to get home. When he comes to the recording to take her home he told her that she was an international start and there was no need for her to record a song in Bolywood as
‘Bollywood produces nothing but trash.’ (54)
She takes her friends side and bluntly tell him to leave by responding,
‘They’re my friends, Veer, good friends.’ (55)
When Belle breaks up with Veerendra she tells him that she has no intention of coming back.
‘Veer tried to stop Belle. ‘You leave now and you need never come back.’ ‘I don’t intend to.’’ (149)
After their break-up she doesn’t mind taking the first step and confronting Eddie.
Asmaan is a strong, independent girl who is Ravan & Eddie’s friend and a lyricist. She was the one who generally wrote the lyrics of the songs, which Ravan & Eddie directed. She is a modernist in her approach towards life. All the lyrics of her songs were also observations of life. She never lets her friends down. When Ravan & Eddie ignored her, she didn’t take it to her heart. When they went to meet her, she was very delighted to meet them. She is also very smart in money matters. When Asmaan, Ravan and Eddie go to meet Prajapati Sehgal, she bluntly asks him for their payment. He said,
‘One-and-a-half lakhs between the two music directors and seventy-five thousand for you.’ (34)
When Asmaan, Ravan & Eddie buy their individual flats and Eddie suggests that they should live in the same building, Asmaan puts her foot down.
‘You’ve got it wrong, Coutinho. I want to be left alone; I want to breathe my own air and not inhale the fetid farts and sweat and halitosis of the five hundred and sixty-seven residents in my chawl. If you’re afraid of being lonely, Eddie, you better remain in your CWD Chawls where everything is public; sex, bonding and unbonding, murderous fights, happiness, sulking, exuberance, defecation, first love and the nineteen others that are bound to follow. I want to find out what it’s like to be lonely. I want to taste this chimera, this fabulous creature called aloneness. I want to nuzzle up to it and make love to it seven times a day. Maybe I will tire of it someday but I would rather leap from the terrace of my new flat than go back to my chawl.’ (67)
Whatever money she earns she gives it to her family. However, she doesn’t tell her family about the flat because she wants her own freedom and privacy.
‘I don’t know how the two of you are going to play it but I’m not going to breathe a word about buying the apartment to my family. Do you know why? Because they’ll jump down my throat and want the little money I save in their own pockets and I will never hear the end of how selfish I am.’ (67)
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Asmaan’s family came to know about the flat and decided to shift with her in her new apartment. She told Ravan that her mother had given her room to Yaqub, her brother and she had replied to her mother very rudely. She told her mother,
‘If you and your son or anybody else so much as opens my door even a centimetre, I will call the police and have the lot of you thrown out, bag and baggage. Don’t for a moment think that I am making an idle threat. If Yaqub’s clothes, shoes and all his other things which are in my room are not removed in the next ten minutes, I assure you I will fling them down from my window. And you and your other daughters will put every single thing that is mine back in my room. I didn’t invite you or the rest of the family here. This flat is mine and in my name. I pay for it every single month. I’ve taken a lot of shit from you, your son, your husband and my sisters. Don’t ever, ever take me for granted again.’ (99)
When Ravan and Eddie launch their own production company Asmaan writes a screenplay for them named Jaan se Pyara Dushman. Pieta dies and Ravan and Asmaan get into a relationship.
Mrs. Venkatraman who has a stammer problem lives in Ravan’s building. She sings very well and is very talented. On Ravan’s request, she started giving him musical lessons through cassettes, which she recorded at home. Later, she also sings for Ravan and Eddie.
She has a daughter Sukanya, who is a strong girl who wants things by hook or crook. For that, she could go to any extent and she blackmails and threatens Ravan. She forces herself on Ravan physically in the lift, as she desperately wants a signing contract.
‘She pushed him against the rear wall and was pressing against him now. Her tongue was forcing itself into his mouth and her right hand was at his crotch unzipping his fly.’ (165)
She told Ravan, ‘I want a singing contract and a recording within a fortnight.’ (166)
However, all her efforts go in vain and Ravan doesn’t agree and doesn’t fall into her threat trap.
In Part, three in the novel reversal of fortune takes place and because of the crazy shootout in the Chambal ravines where Ravan and Eddie were shooting, Ravan and Eddie are back in the chawl and are unemployed again, Asmaan, Ravan and Eddie lose their apartments in Pali Hill and move back to their parent’s house. Asmaan and Belle persuade their families to keep Ravan and Eddie in their houses but their families don’t agree as Ravan was a Hindu and Belle’s family hated Eddie. Asmaan and Belle go to every extent possible and get in touch with the lawyers in order to get back the rights of the movie they were shooting. They also get in touch with the director and the other actors. They also plan to buy apartments on an installment plan.
To conclude, one can say that, the novel ‘Rest in Peace’ by Kiran Nagarkar truly depicts the women of modern times. From supporting their lovers to going against their families and changing their names, this novel highlights the modern women in the Indian context.
Volume XIII Issue II FEBRUARY 2020 Page No: 669 JAC : A Journal Of Composition Theory ISSN : 0731-6755
REFERENCES
Nagarkar, Kiran. Rest in Peace. HarperCollins Publishers, Delhi. 2015. Print
______. Ravan and Eddie. Penguin, New Delhi. 1995.Print
______. The Extras.HarperCollins Publishers. New Delhi.2012.Print
Wikipedia contributors. (2020,February 6). Nagarkar Kiran. Retrieved from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiran_Nagarkar
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