CHAPTER II

GITA MEHTA'S FICTION: THE SOCIO-HISTORICAL CONTEXT

IJ GITA MEHTA'S BIOGRAPHY:-

Gita Mehta, a daughter of the great freedom fighter, was bom in

Delhi in 1943. At her birth, Mehta’s grandmother demanded that she be named the Joan

of Arc, as a child bom into a community of freedom fighters, who were often forced to

go underground as a result of their political actions. But instead, she was named Gita

(song), as in song of freedom. Only a few days after Gita’s birth, her father was

imprisoned for his political activity. Growing up, she was surrounded by her parent’s

active struggle for Indian liberation. At the age of three, she and her brother were sent to

a boarding school while her mother followed her father from one jail to the next.

Mehta was educated in and the . While attending

Cambridge University, she met fellow student Ajay Singh Mehta. The two married and

have a son. Mehta and her husband “Sonny”, the President of Alfred A. Knopf publishing

house, currently maintain residences in New York, and , spending at least

three month of every year in India. As a result of ’s prominent position in

New York’s publishing industry, the couple is a central figure in New York’s literary

publishing world.

II] HER MAJOR WORKS:-

Mehta’s first book came about as a result of a publishing industry cocktail party

one evening in 1979, where she attired in her usual sari. As she explained in an interview

21 with Wendy Smith, “somebody grabbed my arm and said, ‘Here’s the girl who’s going to tell ns what karma is all about.” In response, Mehta replied that “Karma isn’t what it’s cracked up to be”. Hearing her response, someone urged her to write about her ideas on the subject, and after only three weeks of work, Mehta completed Karma Cola:

Marketing the Mystic East. This first book is a series of interconnected essays weaving

Mehta’s own impressions of India’s mysticism with the impressions she reads through other people. Ultimately, it is a satire on the major wave of foreigners swarming into

India in the 1960s in search of India’s Karmic powers. She blends humour with witty observations, constructing a book that presents her own impressions through the experiences of many.

Raj, Mehta’s first novel, published in 1989 is a thorough and colourful historical story that follows the progression of a young woman bom into Indian nobility under the

British Raj. Through young Jaya Singh’s story, Gita Mehta shows her readers India’s struggle for independence as it affected a slim segment of high culture society. Through her story, Mehta not only weaves together elegant language and colourful pictures of

Indian culture, but also paints a picture of Indian colonial life. In the novel she presents historical facts based upon her female protagonist’s strength of character.

Mehta’s second novel A River Sutra published in 1993. The novel centres on

India’s holiest river, the Narmada, in the form of interconnected stories. It is about the tales of various pilgrims on the river tap, the deep veins of Indian mythology and artistic traditions while also forming a prose meditation on the country’s secular-humanist tradition. Mehta’s subject matter is as rich as the tradition she taps. Classical Sanskrit drama, Hindu mythology and Sufi poetry all find reflection and reiteration in the novel.

22 For all its substance of ancient Indian tradition and thought, A River Sutra is a modern work that acknowledges the difficulties facing modem India at the same time as it takes the reader on a skillfully realised journey into a resonant culture.

Mehta wrote Snakes and Ladders, a collection of essays about India since

Independence in 1997. She explained in an interview that when she wrote Snakes and

Ladders, her intention was, “to make modem India accessible to westerners and to a whole generation of Indians who have no idea what happened 25 years before they were bom”1. She defines her India through insightful, intelligent and often witty eyes with a smattering of personalised anecdotes that define it not so much as a set of essays, but a collection of lives. Her lively stories illustrate her analysis of what modem India is as seen through her eyes, while she explores India with her reader.

In addition to writing, Mehta has also spent some time as a journalist and directed several documentaries about India for BBC and NBC. She has made four films on the Bangladesh war, and for NBC she covered the Indo-Pakistan war that led to the creation of Bangladesh. She has also made films on elections in the former Indian

Princely States. She has the unique opportunity to collect the richness of living on three continents, (New York, London, and Delhi) and it is this rarity of perspective that gives her a uniquely witty and frank ability to define her vision of India through her work.

III1 GITA MEHTA’S FICTION IN SOCIO- HISTORICAL CONTEXT:-

1) RAJ IN SOCIAL CONTEXT:-

Gita Mehta’s novel Raj is published in 1989. The novel focuses on the culture and tradition in royal class family. The novel evaporates some social, political, historical

23 events in the time of colonialism. It is also a story of an individual, Jaya, bom as a

Princess of Balmer, married to the Sirpur Prince, becoming a Regent Maharani of Sirpur, and finally enrolling as a candidate for election to lead Siipur.

In the social context, culture plays a vital role. Culture is an irrefutable part of social situation. Culture is a base and identity of society. Indian society is a patriarchal society, therefore in this society woman is always a neglected creature. Gita Mehta portrays the picture of women in royal family; but she paints the picture from modem point of view. In the ‘Prologue’ of the novel the writer tells about both the children of the

Maharajah. The Prince of Blamer, Tikka, was nine-year-old with his mother’s fair skin and hard black eyes of his father. But compared to Tikka, Jaya was dark in complexion.

The Maharani frequently wondered if that dark skin would create problems when the time came to arrange Jaya’s marriage. She was worried about Jaya’s temperament too.

Society expects that women should cool- headed, subservient, beautiful and virtuous and a girl’s marriage is a major social issue.

Society preserves culture and it includes beliefs, traditions, superstitions, customs, etc. Maharajah Jai Singh tells the Maharani that, she must break purdah for the sake of Zenana people who are suffering from famine and help the people in his absence.

The news of breaking purdah makes the Maharani motionless. She is in a confused state and waits for the moment to pass and her husband to withdraw those few words which would destroy a thousand years of tradition. It is very difficult for her to break the age- old tradition; but the Maharajah says to her, “Savage times requires savage measures!’’

(P.31). He tells her that at the time of trouble they cannot think about their traditions.

24 Through his speech he proves that it is Maharajah’s as well as his family’s duty to save his subject from trouble.

On the day of the spring festival the Maharajah recalls the Maharani to Balmer fort. When she enters the Temple of the Balmer Maharanis, the Baran folds her hands in supplication and tells her, “You have sat with potters and sweepers and other untouchables. The priests say you are polluted” (P.35). Through the Baran the writer expresses the views of society towards lower class people. The Maharani stares in disbelief at the Baran and says, “You know the rulers have always been above caste. We are mother and father to everyone in Balmer; we enter every home and eat at every table”

(P.35). They thus do not discriminate their children on the basis of caste and class. The priests declare her ‘polluted’ and ask her to undergo the rites of purification.

Even at the time of breaking purdah tradition, Maharani says in a confused state,

“My predecessors would have killed themselves rather than endure such dishonour.”(P.33). Kuki-bai, the concubine then reminds Maharani that her husband’s grandfather had prohibited the women of Balmer from over burning themselves on their husbands’ funeral pyres. She further tells the Maharani that in today’s society a woman can associate and manage the state after her husband’s death. In ancient period woman was not independent but always depended on man; but nowadays she is an independent creature. Kuki-bai’s statement shows how society develops herself step by step and if the ruler allows her to regulate new rules, she can change her rules.

Exactly seven years after the famine it rains in the state and the Maharani decides to re-enter purdah. In the society there are some vows for royal women so one

25 day Maharani and Jaya go to the Temple of the Balmer Maharanis. The Maharani makes

Jaya to recite the ancestral litany of the Balmer Maharanis. Jaya wonders because there are so many satis and so many vows that are required for royal class woman and society too expects that they should follow them.

Even though there is a purdah tradition, the Maharajah has decreed that his daughter is not to be raised in purdah. The Maharani always insists that Jaya be educated in the traditional manner of the princesses of Balmer. The traditional education of the princess is that there are lessons of music and rangoli. Jaya hates Raja Man Singh, her paternal uncle because he is in favour of British culture and manners. He had already engaged English tutors for his daughter and his small son John. Because of the influence of English learning, his children are known by English names and eat with knives and forks, and also call their parents Mummy and Daddy. It indicates that Raja Man Singh imitated British culture. The British want to spread their culture all over India in their ruling period but Maharajah Jai Singh is totally against of it. He wants to preserve Indian culture. Tikka, the Prince of Balmer is very fond of the game of cricket. He gives an example to his sister Jaya that Ranji, the famous cricket player of India was invited to play for England itself; but because of the colour of his skin the Sahibs in Bombay would not let him play. Jaya suddenly becomes conscious of the difference between her brother and her cousins. ‘Tikka did not want to imitate the angrez; he wanted to be better than them and force their admiration’ (P.59). Tikka is also like his father bound with his own country. Through the characters of Tikka and Maharajah Jai Singh, Gita Mehta shows that if the rulers do not imitate the foreign culture, then the society also refuses to do so as the society follows the manners and rules conditioned by the king.

26 Festivals play an important role in the aspect of culture. In the novel there is a description of Dasara festival. During the nine-days fast which preceded the Dasara procession, Jaya tries to stay awake because in the morning the priest will be reciting the epic battle between Rama and Ravana. In this Dasara festival each day’s Puja had its specific task of commemoration like food, learning, music etc. There is a Puja of weapons, lances and swords and by the end of morning they disappear under offerings of coconuts and marigold garlands. Mehta, through the description of Dasara festival, reflects the culture and tradition of Indian society. She also gives reference of the epic

Ramayana, and describes mythical characters like Rama and Ravana.

Maharajah Jai Singh wants to improve upon the condition of Balmer. He appoints

Mr.Roy to redesign Balmer’s irrigation system and increase the electricity supply. He also appoints Mrs. Roy to teach English to Jaya. Jaya never sees an Indian woman like

Mrs. Roy. She dresses in austere homespun saris, the rough white cotton broken only by a coloured band at the border to indicate that she is not widowed. Her lessons are full of bloodcurdling accounts of the injustice of the Empire. One afternoon when Jaya looks at her, she tells her that she wears this type of sari because it is woven in her own country and says, “Each time when I buy a garment like this I put food into the mouths of

Indians” (P.65). Through her statement she suggests that we should be Indians and buy

Indian goods.

The concept of marriage in princely state is different from that of ordinary people.

At the time of arranging Jaya’s marriage, all the maidservants and Maharani think that if she marries Prince Pratap of Sirpur, she will be kept in a golden cage like a nightingale. It states the then status of the woman was that of a mere decorative piece. The concept of ‘a

27 nightingale in a golden cage’ reflects that she obtains all the status of Maharani of Sirpur but she does not have any right. Maharajah Jai Singh trains Jaya in all activities. He also gives her lessons of Rajniti. He tells her that Saam, Daan, Dand and Bhed are the four arms of kingship. Maharajah Jai Singh thinks from modem point of view but in reality society cannot allow the girls to leam all these things. Society expects the role of woman as a housewife only. So the Maharani complains, “Who will marry such an overeducated girl?”(P. 94).

At the Manwar ceremony Mrs. Roy tells Jaya that Manwar ceremony consists of women drinking themselves into insensibility so they can speak the names of their husbands. But Jaya, a representative of society tells her that ladies never take their husbands’ names as it is considered disrespectful. Mrs. Roy gives her an example,

“Suppose your husband is cruel. How will you resist him when you dare not speak his name?”(P.105). It reflects that even though the husband is very cruel and always beating his wife, the wife cannot resist him because for her he is like a God and whatever he does will be right. Even though the society develops itself, the age-old traditions and beliefs are intact even today.

There is a slight infatuation for James Osborne in Jaya’s mind but she cannot disclose her feelings as the society cannot allow her to do so. When Tikka departs to

England for war and there is no word from Tikka, the Maharani surrenders herself to prophecy and unnatural powers. In the society there are superstitions, prophecy, beliefs about anything and a person who is totally helpless, naturally believes in these superstitions and prophecy. The Maharani is also that kind of person.

28 At the time of Diwali festival every house in the kingdom is lit with clay lamps to attract the goddess of wealth. Every day the Maharajah Jai Singh listens to the news of

Tikka’s great performance on the battlefield. All the atmosphere of Balmer is full of happiness and enthusiasm. Two days later, they receive the news of Tikka’s death in

World War I and the enthusiastic atmosphere suddenly changes into the state of melancholy. Tikka’s death becomes indirectly the cause for the King’s death. Balmer’s subject thus loses their both the rulers and this is a very intolerable experience they ever had been experiencing.

The novel also describes the marriage ceremony of Jaya. Marriage is a very joyous and unforgettable incident in every girl’s life; but Jaya has to marry her husband,

Prince Pratap Singh’s sword, as he is out of station for long. The marriage is followed by several rituals. Raja Man Singh, her paternal uncle moves forward with a handful of gold coins, letting them fall in a glittering shower onto the sword to deflect the evil eye from the bridegroom. There are rituals of ‘seven steps’ and at every step the bride takes seven vows with her husband, measuring the bride in silver and golden coins, etc.

There is a difference between Indian culture and foreign culture. Foreign culture is sophisticated than that of Indian and there is a slight attraction for foreign culture in everyone’s mind. Jaya’s husband Pratap Singh is also attracted towards foreign culture.

Pratap employs Lady Modi to teach Jaya ‘the intricacies of Western society.’ So when

Lady Modi tells Jaya about her hair- cut, Jaya suddenly answers, “Long hair is one of the emblems of a married woman. I will not cut it off. It would be inauspicious for my husband.”(P.195). Jaya’s answer reflects that even though she learns English, she cannot abandon her own tradition. In the novel Jaya is considered as a symbol of modem woman

29 because she is trained in hunting, riding, shooting, tent-pegging, playing polo and lessons

of Rajniti; but she is also a tradition - bound woman.

In April, when Jaya gives birth to a son, the oveijoyed Dowager Maharani

celebrates the birth with appropriate ceremony. The son is considered as an heir of royal

family and he takes forward the inheritance of King’s family. So the birth of a son is a

very joyous ceremony for Sirpur Kingdom. At dawn and at dusk, firing cannons drowned the clanging of temple bells, announcing the birth of the Kingdom’s heir. In the state of

happiness prisoners also participate. New clothes are distributed among the poor people

of the Kingdom.

In October, there is a name ceremony held in the courtyard. Name ceremony is

one of the unavoidable ceremonies in the Indian Society. The nature of this ceremony is

different from class to class and caste to caste. In royal families and upper class the

ceremony is celebrated in an expensive way than that of in the middle class. In the Sirpur

Courtyard the priests perform the Pujas for the heir to the Sirpur throne. The ceremony is

described in the novel, thus: “The Raj Guru carried the child to the sacred fire. Grains of

rice were placed in the small hands. The crowds shouted with pleasure when the infant’s

hands opened at just the right moment to allow the grains to fall into the fire. Ganges

water was sprinkled on the baby’s body; Sindoor was rubbed over his forehead. Raising

his voice, the Raj Guru announced that the new prince of the Sirpur family would be

called Aijun” (PP.299-300).

During the Diwali celebrations, mythology draws its customary curtain over

history in Sirpur. The priests hold daily readings from the Mahabharata at the Kamini

30 Temple and the names of the Sirpur kings are recited for the satisfaction of every citizen.

The customs, rituals and traditions are followed by festival, celebrated by the people.

There is a kind of unity in the society and people gather together for celebrating the festivals without any discrimination.

In the novel there are melancholic incidents such as Tikka’s and Maharajah’s death. The novel also describes the death of Maharajah Pratap Singh in plane crash. The death of Maharajah affects the royal family as well as the society. Without a ruler the society is like an orphan. Because of the death of Pratap Singh, their four year old son becomes the Maharajah of Sirpur. Jaya becomes the guardian of his throne for fourteen years.

The society makes some rules and regulations for a widow and expects that the widow must follow them. The society treats a widow very crudely and considers her as an unclean creature. She is not permitted to participate in any rituals and festivals. The widow even though she is a Maharani, is a negligible thing in the society. For the thirteen days Jaya sits in the puja room while the mourners shriek there absence litanies of death in the corridors. On the fourteenth day, after Maharajah Pratap’s ashes are scattered in the river at Benares she is permitted to return to her own apartment. The writer describes

Jaya as a widow, thus: “There were no glass bangles to be slipped onto her wrists, no long minuts spent combing the thick hair that had once fallen to her knees, no sindoor to mark the circle of matrimony on her forehead. She did not even have to cover her shaved head. A widow was not considered desirable, only unlucky” (P.355).

31 After Prince Pratap’s death when Jaya holds the Kingdom of Sirpur, one night she receives the news of the death of Dowager Maharani and the ceremonies of the Dowager

Maharani’s death keep Jaya in the harem until the thirteen days of pujas are over. The ashes are taken by the priests to be immersed into the river at Benares.

In 1939, the Second World War begins and it affects the social situation in India.

In 1942, the problem of food is growing day by day. Aijun, Jaya’s son is now sixteen years old ruler but spends his time at the airfield trailing behind the American pilots. On the journey to Calcutta, Jaya, James Osborne and Sir Akbar talk about Sirpur lancers and the food which is provided to army, by government. When Sir Akbar asks about the remaining food Osborne tells that the government has sold it back to the traders. Hearing such type of answers Jaya’s expressions suddenly change into disbelief. Aijun notices her expressions and says angrily, “Britain can’t be held responsible for everything. It’s fighting a war” (P.431). Jaya is surprised to listen to such a response from her son, which is unexpected for her. She realises that Aijun had come back from England with an

Englishman’s certainty.

On the way back to the station a crowd spill onto the road and Jaya wants to show him how severe is the problem of food in our country. She says to Aijun, “Look at that cafe next to the cinema. Those people are being charged one price to see the food a higher price to smell it and a third if they have enough money to eat it. This will happen in Sirpur if our farmers are not stopped from selling their grain” (P.431). As a regent

Maharani of Sirpur, she thinks about the welfare of Sirpur’s people. British people buy grain from farmers a lower price and sell it to the traders by charging higher price. So

Jaya wants Aijun to be aware of Britisher’s trading policy.

32 In 1946, Hindu-Muslim clashes spread throughout the city, Calcutta and Sir

Akbar calls all the Sirpur people for the safety of Sirpur House. Sir Akbar and Aijun go back to make sure that they have left no one behind. When they are returning to Sirpur

House a Hindu mob gathers around their car and demands to know why a Hindu king is traveling with a Muslim. At that time Aijun declares that Sir Akbar is the Prime Minister of Sirpur. Aijun’s declaration takes a violent turn and the mob kills both Sir Akbar and

Aijun. The Hindu-Muslim riot thus becomes the cause of Aijun’s death. From 1932 onwards, there have been Hindu-Muslim clashes and resultantly Sirpur people cannot tolerate Sir Akbar’s being their Prime Minister. This shows how the conditions take violent turn when their religious sentiments are hurt.

2) RAJ IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT:-

The novel Raj is considered as a historical fiction. It is a collection of many historical events related to the freedom struggle of India. History is not complete without politics. History and politics are interconnected with each other. In Raj also there is a fine blend of historical and political events. While commenting on history Mohamed Mustafa points out: “In the process of (re) writing the 53- year -old history, the author not only interrogates the singularity of a historiographer’s account, but also realistically narrates some of the important events that took place in the Imperial British India and Royal

India.”2

The action of the novel begins from 1897 famine in Balmer, Because of famine many villagers leave the villages and at the same time all the rulers prepare to travel to

London for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. At the celebration of Tikka’s birth all

33 U—I bj " " ,rv KOLHAPUR* WUYAJi___u uniy *JUiViLi'"**'1 * the noble kings gather together and discuss about the Diamond Jubilee of the Empress

Victoria. They also talk about the high taxes of England which are more savage than the sword of the Moghuls. All the kings are aware of the fact that Angrez rob them. They do not want to go to England, but taking into consideration the welfare of the people

Maharajah Jai Singh decides to go to London.

Two days before the Jubilee, Jai Singh receives the news that an old friend of his father’s, the Maharajah of Dungra, had arrived in England and wished to see him. In their meeting when Maharajah Dungra asks him about their Imperial Masters, Jai Singh’s remarks are seditious. He is very angry and tells the truth about Britishers thus: “The proudest warriors in the world have become toy soldiers to decorate British parades.

Armed with guns we cannot fire because the firing pins and the ammunition are kept in

British India. We owe fealty to an empress whose guard is called Beefeaters. But we are

Rajput’s who hold the cow sacred because it nurtures life. Countless Rajput’s soldiers died of thirst in besieged forts rather than drink water from streams into which enemy armies had poured the blood of slaughtered cows” (P.21). Through his statement he explains the exploitation of Indian soldiers by British.

Dungra is a puppet in the hands of the British Empire. He imitates British manners and tells Jai Singh that he should co-operate Britishers because money is the most important need in today’s life and it is only gained by co-operating the British

Empire. But Maharajah Jai Singh does not like Dungra’s attitude and he opposes him.

34 In March 1915, India raises an army of a million men to defend the British

Empire. One day while all the Balmer celebrate Diwali festival, they hear about the death

of Tikka in World War I. Tikka's death becomes the cause for the King's death.

King George V issues a royal proclamation promising limited self government to

India. But the events of that year drastically alter the relationship between Indians and

their British rulers. The publication of reforms promised by George V horrifies the

British community in India. Their newspapers wage a sustained campaign against the

idea of natives being competent to govern themselves. The situation is made very critical

by international pressures. India’s sixty million Muslims believe that British troops have

profaned the holy cities of Mecca and Medina during the war and have defeated Ottoman

Emperor, Commander of the Islamic Faith. The Afghans call upon Indian Muslims to join them in overthrowing an infidel empire. The economic situation is also dangerous.

Despite the severe shortage of food, the Empire continues to export Indian grain. The

perceived heartlessness of the British Empire is intolerable for Indians so in reaction to

this they embrace the doctrines of Marx and Lenin. Other Indians take inspiration from

President Wilson of the United States, that passionate advocate of self- determination,

regarded by many Indians as the most powerful figure in the world. The Imperial

Government proceeds to pass the Rowlett Acts, under which Indians can be tried in

special British courts with no right of appeal. Muslim leaders call upon all believers to

stop working for the British Empire and Gandhi launches a nationwide non-cooperation

movement to show Indian displeasure with what is being called the Black Act of the

British Raj.

35 A mass meeting is held in Amritsar to protest against General Dyer’s ordinance.

As rumours of General Dyer’s Jalianwala Bagh Massacre spread, Indian disaffection with the British Empire grows critical. The Indian poet and Nobel Prize laureate Rabindranath

Tagore returns his knighthood to the British. The incident of returning the Nobel Prize to the British proves very significant as it is considered as a great insult of the British. This also exhibits Tagore’s love and respect for his country.

In a group of men wearing white Gandhi caps and carrying black flags appear on the road. They have placards in their hands with slogans like ‘Give India

Dominion Status Now’, ‘Self Government for India’, ‘Simon Commission Go Home’. In the novel there is a reference of two political figures, Sardar Patel and Jinnah.

In the last part of the novel there is a description of many historical events. The events are described from 1929. In 1929 British Empire increases taxes on essential things. Mahatma Gandhi writes a letter of protest to the Viceroy of India. But the viceroy does not reply to the Mahatma’s letter so Gandhi launches his Civil Disobedience

Movement against the British Empire. In 1930 Gandhi undertakes the Dandi March in which thousands of freedom-fighters participate. In his address at Dandi, Mahatma

Gandhi says, “We seek to make them recognize the wickedness of their system through nonviolent protest. As soldier must learn to kill, a Satyagrahi must learn to suffer, to die if need be, to prove the righteousness of his cause” (P.371). Non-Violence is a major principle of Gandhian ideology. According to Gandhi, ‘Non- Violence is a sharp weapon of protest’. It is followed by Gandhi’s arrest. After his release Gandhi consents to attend the Second Round Table Conference. It is in the Second Round Table Conference that

36 there is a dispute between the National Congress and the Muslim League indicating the beginning of Hindu- Muslim antagonism.

The conflict between the National Congress and the Muslim League goes to such an extent that in 1936 elections are declared to ascertain the conflicting claims of both the parties. In September 1939, the Second World War begins and every member of the

Indian National Congress resigns from government to protest against India’s being forced to enter another World War and Jinnah declares the resignation of his opponents ‘A Day of Deliverance for the Muslims of India’. In 1940, Nehru announces that India will become a republic and in contrast Jinnah has announced a separate country for the

Muslims. D. R. More in the light of the Hindu- Muslim conflict at the time of partition observes in his India and Pakistan Fell Apart: “The contradictory tendencies of the

Hindu and the Muslim populations on the grounds of religion, culture and power, made them inimical to each other. There was a failure of Gandhi’s ideology of non-violence, as both communities looked at him with suspicion, Hindus taking him to be pro-Muslim and

Muslims thinking that he was pro-Hindu. Dominance of the Hindus and Sikhs in politics, administration and other fields ignited the Muslims’ hatred for them. Educational and

Economic imbalance between the two communities in the Punjab, Bengal and other provinces created dissatisfaction among Muslims.”3

The religious rift between Hindu and Muslim widens so much that one day Jinnah announces, “Pakistan, a homeland for the Muslims is the avowed aim of the Muslim

League” (P.423). In 1942, India gets the news that the United States of America has entered the World War when Japanese increase their air attacks on the important Indian ports of Chittagong and Calcutta. The war badly affects the social situation. In the war

37 period the food position grows more serious. The paddy fields are denuded and peasants sell their crops at inflated prices. When the famine sweeps in eastern India and the fear of

Japanese occupation in a war worsens, the National Congress launches ‘Quit India

Movement’, urging all India to cease co-operating with the British war efforts. In 1946, the Hindu-Muslim clashes take place in Calcutta resulting in the massacre of more than sixty thousand Hindus. In this riots Jaya’s son Arjun is killed by the blood- thirsty

Muslims. Within a year after this bloodbath in Calcutta, the Indian subcontinent is divided into India and Pakistan. Even the assassination of the Mahatma takes place as the aftermath of the partition. Jinnah too dies of cancer.

Meanwhile Jaya comes to know from Chandni that the lawyer Arun Roy wants to become their next Maharajah. Jaya is doubtful about Arun Roy. She thinks that if he is elected from Sirpur, everything will be ruined. At last she contests and vans the election and becomes the ruler of Sirpur state.

3) A RIVER SUTRA IN SOCIO CONTEXT:-

A River Sutra is Gita Mehta’s second novel published in 1993. The novel reflects social situation through various characters. In social context there are references of cultures, traditions, beliefs, customs etc. Culture is an integral part of a society. Through culture we realise the identity of society. About the social background of the novel A. G.

Khan observes, “While campaign to “Save Narmada” has already been launched by environmentalists and social activists like Medha Patkar, Baba Amte, Shabana Azmi; interest in Narmada as a river acquires great significance.”4 In the novel there are six stories. The novel is a collection of interconnected stories.

38 At first there is a bureaucrat narrator who describes all the stories. One day he learns of a vacant post at a Government rest house situated on the Narmada River. He works in that rest house and during his tour of that area he discovers that ‘the criminal offence of attempted suicide is often ignored if the offender is trying to kill himself in the waters of the Narmada.’ (P.2) The statement shows the holiness of the river. The narrator wants to show that Narmada River which is considered as the daughter of God Shiva is the holiest river. The narrator thus reflects upon the Indian’s faith in Narmada.

The guards of the bungalow are from Vano village. They are descendants of the tribal races. The narrator describes the goddess of Vano villagers, thus: “The Vano village deity is a stone image of a half-woman with the full breasts of a fertility symbol but the torso of a coiled snake, because the tribal believe they once ruled a great snake kingdom until they were defeated by the gods of the Aryans” (P.6). Vano villagers believe that their goddess cures snakebite and madness. When the narrator goes to meet his Muslim friend Tariq Mia, he meets a Jain monk. The narrator is very curious to know about the monk’s life. He observes the monk and asks him about his shaving head. The monk answers him that to avoid human vanity they shave their heads. The monk covers his mouth with a muslin mask. The narrator asks him about the mask which was covering his mouth to which he answers: “these masks prevent us from killing some blameless insect by sudden inhalation” (P. 11). The monk also tells about the principle of non­ violence. The narrator wants to know more about the monk’s previous life and thus the first story of the Monk starts.

The monk describes his renunciation ceremony on which his father spends sixty- two million rupees. The monk is very clever young man and a son of a rich diamond

39 merchant. Because of his business he travels all over the world and then he decides to renounce the world to seek the ultimate truth. Now he is free from doubt, delusion, extremes. He promotes stability and protects life around him.

The narrator then tells Tariq Mia of his encounter with the Jain Monk. He is fascinated by his renunciation ceremony. He becomes curious about the monk’s first words, ‘I have loved only one thing in my life’ (P.47). But the monk had gone without telling him what it was. He asks Tariq Mia about it and Tariq Mia tells about the human heart’s secrets. He says, “The human heart has only one secret. The capacity to love”

(P.48). According to Tariq Mia to have complete self - realization one must experience life oneself and must not escape from it by renouncing the world because one knows so little of it.

Tariq Mia tells him another story of a teacher which helps the narrator to understand the ways of the human heart. The story is about Master Mohan, a music teacher and a blind boy, Imrat who is endowed with a golden voice. Master Mohan cannot fulfill his ambition to become a successful singer. He goes to enjoy Quawwali singing by a group from Nizamuddin and there he meets the blind Muslim orphan, Imrat.

He accepts the guardianship of that boy because his helpless sister requests him and when he listens to the golden voice of Imrat he feels as if he is reborn as a musician. He wants to fulfill his ambition in Imrat. They practice on the marble Varandah of :he Victoria

Memorial in the early mornings. Master Mohan instructs Imr^t to sing songs of Kabir,

Mirabai, Khusrau, Tulsidas, Chisti and Chandidas. The boy’s singing becomes so popular that a great Sahib invites him to sing for him at his residence. The boy’s song fills the hall with ecstasy and the rich man who is full of jealousy and selfishness, slits Imrat’s throat.

40 He says, “Such a voice is not human. What will happen to music if this is the standard by which god judges us?” (P.89). Master Mohan cannot tolerate this and he comes to the banks of the Narmada in search of ‘peace’. Later on his way back he commits suicide.

The story is about murder and suicide. The rich man who is full of jealousy kills Imrat.

Master Mohan, in the grief of Imrat commits suicide. The story indicates both cruelty and kindness of human heart.

When the narrator asks the question about Master Mohan’s suicide, Tariq Mia answers him, “perhaps he could not exist without loving someone as he has loved the blind child” (P.91). Master Mohan fulfills his ambition of a successful singer in Imrat. He searches his self in Imrat’s self and when Imrat is killed he loses his self. In society there is a mixture of various feelings like joy, happiness, jealousy, selfishness, sadness, love, hate etc. So when a person becomes selfish the feelings overcome his mind he commits even the cruel act with a cold mind.

One day the narrator receives his colleague’s letter that his colleague’s nephew,

Nitin Bose will be coming their for a few weeks leave. He is interested in tribal customs and he is a director of a big Tea Company. The story of an executive Nitin Bose is very touchy in a sense that he becomes mad after falling in love with a tribal girl during his stay in a tea estate. After making love to her in darkness for several nights he knows that she is a coolie’s wife. When he goes back to Calcutta, he is haunted by the love song of that tribal woman. When he comes back to the tea estate he encounters that tribal woman.

It is believed that he is possessed. The tribal priest tells him, “Only that river has given the power to cure him” (P.137). It indicates the faith of society about the river Narmada.

So Nitin Bose is taken to the river bed where he immerses the figure of a goddess.

41 15451 Mr.Chagla explains that, “Without desire there is no life. Everything will stand still.

Become emptiness. In fact Sir, be dead” (P.142). The story suggests that man suffers from emotional and spiritual limitations but there is also a realization of achievement.

The story is woven around the feeling of love.

The guard of the bungalow tells that his father loses his life on the journey of the area of the Temple called ‘Supaneshwara’. He gives more information about the bandits and all sorts of bad elements living in that part. Police cannot catch the bandits because of huge jungles. One day Mr.Changla comes with an old woman who is in search of her daughter. She says that her daughter is kidnapped two years ago. The woman who is a courtesan tells her story to the narrator. She describes at first the state of Shahbag which is famous throughout India for its culture. The Nawab ruled Shahbag was Muslim but he honoured the river’s holiness, ‘Bathing in the waters of the Jamuna purifies a man in seven days in the waters of the Saraswati in three, in the waters of the Ganges in one, but the Narmada purifies with a single sight of her waters. Salutation to thee, Narmada’

(P.163). The Nawab thus expresses his faith and belief about Narmada. The old woman is a courtesan in Nawab’s Haveli. She tells that her daughter is like an angel. She is perfected in every art. One day the most wanted bandit Rahul Singh kidnaps her.

The old woman lives that night in the bungalow and the next morning her daughter comes there and tells her story to the narrator. Rahul Singh kidnaps her not for ransom but he believes that she has been his wife in so many lives before that one. Rahul

Singh is not a murderer but he has the highest decorations for his valor in two wars against Pakistan. When his soldier’s commission ends he comes home and finds that his family is killed and his land is grabbed by a man who is in protection of the local

42 politicians. Denied from justice Rahul kills all the murderers. When Rahul Singh touches her she also feels like him. They marry secretly at the temple of ‘Supaneshwara’ but one day he dies in the encounter of police. She loses her husband and also her unborn child.

Now she cannot live a lonely and alienated life. She cannot even come back in society because she is known to be a courtesan and a bandit’s wife. So at last she commits suicide in Narmada. The girl thinks that she denies all the traditions and restrictions of the society and even though she comes back in society, people cannot accept her. Mr.Chagla tells the narrator about an old woman’s statement, ‘only that she was happy her daughter had died in the Narmada because she would be purified of all her sins.’(P.190) The story expresses the feeling of intimate love and the belief of rebirth.

The narrator arrives in the village Mahadeo and there he meets a woman who is examining the lurid glass painting of the gods. She tells him about her father who was a finest Veena player in the world. Her father tells her that arts are Shiva’s gift to mankind.

The musician devotedly gives the lesson of music to his daughter. She is very ugly and her mother is very furious about her ugliness. Her father however tries to free her from her own image so that she can love beauty wherever she finds it. One of his disciples promises him that if he teaches him music he will marry his daughter. But after receiving training in music the disciple deceives the father and the girl. She cannot tolerate it. So her father brings her to the banks of Narmada for meditation and cures her of her attachment to the physical world. He expects that she becomes ‘a ragini of every raga’.

The musician ignores the outward beauty and gives more importance to inner beauty. He realises that if our mind is beautiful, entire world is full of beauty.

43 When the narrator tells the story of the musician to Tariq Mia, he tells the narrator another story of a minstrel. The story is about an ascetic, Naga Baba. Naga Baba goes to the cremation ground for nine day’s meditation. The night after nine days of the meditation is known as the night of Shiva. On this night the Lord of Death and Shiva’s acolytes break their fasts by begging at the houses of those who are unclean, untouchable or profane. Naga Baba also follows this ritual. After breaking his fast he goes to the brothel and there he demands alms. He demands a little girl from the woman. He takes the little girl with him and makes her to sing in the praise of the Narmada. The girl’s father calls her inauspicious because her mother dies soon after giving birth to that girl.

So it indicates the superstitions in society and how it affects the life of a woman. Her father sells her in a brothel. In the brothel she is called ‘chand’ but Naga Baba renames her ‘Uma’- peace in the night. At last Naga Baba saves the girl from the clutches of the prostitute.

In the last part of the novel ‘The Song of the Narmada’, Uma’s character develops with the help of Naga Baba. She is now a young girl and Naga Baba encourages her to sing at temple festivals. Tariq Mia tells the narrator, “She was the fruit of his austerity” (P.258) He also tells, “If the Narmada was'bom from Shiva’s penance, then surely Uma was bom of the Naga Baba’s penance” (P.258). In Sanskrit the meaning of

‘Narmada’ is ‘whore’ so there is a comparison between Narmada and a minstrel because the minstrel at first is also a whore.

After Tariq Mia’s departure the narrator meets Mr. Chagla, Dr. Mitra and

Professor V. V. Shankar, an archaeologist. After resigning his job Professor Shankar writes a book named ‘The Narmada Survey’. One day the minstrel comes there and sees

44 Professor Shankar, and recognises him as ‘Naga Baba’. The narrator is surprised; but he realises that after studying the history of the Narmada, Professor Shankar examines the holiness of the river through the character of Uma. All the stories are thus related to the

Narmada and the social life around the Narmada. These stories also depict how the holiness of the Narmada affects the lives of all characters. Salman Rushdie comments,

“Gita Mehta’s A River Sutra is an important attempt by a thoroughly modem Indian to * make her reckoning with the Hindu culture from which she emerged.”5

4) A RIVER SUTRA IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT: -

Every novel has its own background. Many times history situates a novel. History reflects society through its aspects like traditions, myths, beliefs, customs etc. In A River

Sutra the setting of the novel is Narmada River. The Narmada is a holiest rive worshipped as the daughter of the God Shiva. In the novel there is a description of the principles in Jain, Muslim and Hindu religions. There is a reference to Hindu scriptures in which stages of life are described such as - the infant, the youth, the householder and the stage of the Vanaprasthi.

Myth plays a vital role to decorate history. The narrator describes the myth about Narmada, thus: “It is said that Shiva, Creator and Destroyer of worlds, was in an ascetic trance so strenuous that rivulets of perspiration began flowing from his body down the hills. The stream took on the form of a woman- the most dangerous of her kind: a beautiful virgin innocently tempting even ascetic to pursue her, inflaming their lust by appearing at one moment as a lightly dancing girl, at another as a romantic dreamer, at yet another as a seductress loose-limbed with the lassitude of desire. Her inventive variations so amused Shiva that he named her Narmada, the Delightful One, blessing her

45 with the words “You shall be forever holy, forever inexhaustible.” Then he gave her in marriage to the ocean, Lord of Rivers, most lustrous of all her suitors” (PP.8-9). The myth indicates the birth of Narmada River and also her holiness.

The narrator is fascinated by listening to the monk’s renunciation ceremony. He describes the floating body of an ascetic. Tariq Mia tells that India’s greatest poet ‘Kabir’ also floats down this river. Tariq Mia describes the htory of ‘Kabirvad’, “Kabir was sailing down the Narmada, cleaning his teeth with a twig. He threw the twig onto a mud flat in the river. The twig put down roots and grew into a huge tree, the Kabirvad. Poets and singers and mystics have come from all over India to praise God by his many names under the shade of the Kabirvad, even in the worst times of religious slaughter” (P.47).

Tariq Mia tells the narrator about the myth of Kabir’s toothbrush and in the story he explains it.

In every human being’s mind there is a desire of ‘Kama’. The narrator explains the myth about Kama, God of Love. The Ascetic had sneered at Kama’s power. Kama unleashed the five flower tipped arrows from his sugarcane bow-the Enchanter, the

Inflamer, the Parcher, the Paroxy of Desire, the Carrier of Death. "Then Maya, the

Illusion of the Worlds, had appeared- the only woman capable of arousing the lust of the

Destroyer of Worlds. Enrage at the destruction of his meditation, the Ascetic had opened his third eye, the Lotus of Cammand, and reduced Kama to ashes even as he himself was being consumed by Desire” (P.97). The narrator indicates that even the God Shiva cannot destroy ‘Kama’.

46 In ‘The Executive’s Story’ there are references to Puranas. The story includes

Indian philosophy and mythology. There are legends contained in the Puranas. There is a reference to the great Alexandrine geographer Ptolemy who wrote about Narmada,

“People immolating themselves in Narmada’s banks or drowning in her waters in order to gain release from the cycle of birth and rebirth” (P.152). It indicates the faith that if someone drowns himself in the water of Narmada he will be released from the cycle of birth and rebirth.

Dr. Mitra also describes the history of the war between the Aryans and the Pre-

Aryans. Pre-Aryans lived their life peacefully before the Aryans arrived. Their philosophy is based on a profound respect for nature and the interdependence of all life.

Then the Aryans arrived as restless nomads. The war between the Pre-Aryans and the

Aryans was a classic conflict between instinct and reason. Pre-Aryans killed many

Aryans who were blessed with immortality by their gods so they are immortal.

The area of the temple called ‘Supaneshwara’ is considered as immortal. Because in the war between the Aryans and the Pre-Aryans, the later severed the head of one

Aryan from his body and after that the head lied in the jungle but cannot die because of the blessing of immortality. “Honeybees are said to circle the Immortal’s head, sahib. The bandits believe if they are stung by one of the honeybees, they cannot be killed in a police shootout.” (P.156) Dr. Mitra thus explains the myth of immortality to the narrator.

In the novel there is a reference of Vatsayana’s Kama Sutra in which sixty four arts are described. When the narrator meets the musician’s daughter, she tells him the myth about the musical instrument ‘Veena’-“Musicians believe that one morning after

47 Shiva had made love to the Goddess all night-and a night in the lives of the gods is thirty thousand years of human time-Shiva rose from his bed and saw the Goddess still asleep.

Her breasts were like perfect globes and her slender arm rested across them, her fragile bangles sliding up and down with each breath. Shiva was moved to such tenderness by the sight that he created an instrument to immortalize his wife’s immortal beauty-the first instrument of music, the Veena.”(P.196) The daughter of the musician also describes the

‘Veena’ in such a way, “Look, the two globes that provide the Veena’s resonance is the breasts of Parvati. The neck of the Veena is her slender arm, the frets of the Veena her glass bangles, and the music of the Veena the expression of Shiva’s love” (P. 196).

In Vedas it is told that by playing a Veena with the correct rhythm, a man can attain salvation. When the musician gives lessons of music to his daughter, he gives reference of ‘Ragavivodha’ in which raga is described as, “a raga without grace notes is like a night without moonlight, a river without water, a creeper without flowers, a woman without a garment” (P.215). It expresses the significance of raga in music. In the novel there are references to Hindu Scripture like Vedas, Puranas and Upanishadas. There are also references of Vyasa’s Mahabharata, Kipling’s Jungle Book, Kalidasa’s poem The

Cloud Messenger and his great play Shakuntala which refer the Narmada.

So, the novel is full of myths and historical references. In both the novels, Raj and

A River Sutra there are social and historical issues. Through these novels Gita Mehta reflects the culture, tradition, custom, beliefs and superstitions of Indian people. In Raj she describes the freedom struggle of India and in A River Sutra the holiness of the river

Narmada through various stories. Every character of the stories comes to the bank of

48 Narmada for the salvation of their sins or to seek peace of mind. So both these novels reflect the culture of India which was unique in the world.

49 Works Cited:

1) http://people.virginia.edu/~pm9k/59/taies/gitapub.html

2) Mustafa, A. Mohamed, “(Re) Writing History: A Post-colonial study of Gita

Mehta’s Raj”, littcrit, Vol.32, Number land2, June, December, 2006, P. 76.

3) More, D.R., India and Pakistan: Fell Apart, Jaipur, Shruti Publications, 2004,

P.12.

4) Khan, A.G., “Gita Mehta’s A River Sutra: Two Views”, The Literary

Criterion, Vol. XXIX, 1994, No.3, P.8.

5) Rushdie, Salman and West, Elizabeth, The Vintage Book of Indian Writing

1947-1997, London, Vintage, 1997.

50