Alochana Chakra Journal ISSN NO:2231-3990
Delineation of Women in Amish Tripathi‘s Scion of Ikshvaku Shailesh Kumar Raut#1, Ami U. Upadhyay*2 #Research Scholar (M.Phil.) ,School of Humanities and Social Sciences , Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India *Vice-Chancellor and Director, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India [email protected] [email protected] #Corresponding Author
Abstract— There has been a very powerful and strong conception of women since ancient times in India. Women are the keystone of every civilization’s arch. Some of the best ways to recognize and appreciate the essence of a society, and to acknowledge its limits, is to research the role and status of women within it. Women characters by Amish Tripathi are educated, strong, brave, and courageous, enjoying equality in all parts of society. They do extremely well at war techniques, medicine and administration. In the patriarchal world where women are barely audible, Amish attempts to give the tacit, subdued and stereotypical women their voices in the hope of improvement in the entire social mindsets. This paper is an attempt to analyse the delineation of women in the first book of the Ramchandra series, The Scion of Ikshvaku and how Amish peeps through the window called feminism interpreting the various women characters in the selected literary work.
Keywords— Amish, Feminism, Gender, Ikshvaku, Myth, Stereotyped, Women.
I. INTRODUCTION
―I make my women characters very strong.‖ – Amish Tripathi.[23] Amish Tripathi, is a recognized contemporary Indian fiction writer who uses the art of handling the tool of myth to convey the notion in a very diplomatic way to devise an excellent artistic solution to the problems. His novels are a fusion of myth, fantasy and science. Almost all his novels have Hindu myths and legends as their source or background. Though many versions of our myths and epics exist, Amish deliberately chooses the ancient interpretations as his source, in order to bring about a shift in the perspective of women characters.[19] ‗The only constant in life is change‘ says Heraclitus [6] and it is inevitable but it is never admired by those in power. The strength in psychology of fiction is indispensable but there is no safe house for the revolutionists. So, the writers take their pen as their weapons and bring out the anti-social activities from dark to light. In order to defend themselves they use myth and history to convey their ideas.[10] Though Fiction is visualized and envisioned unreal stories, it enables to creating an empathetically humane society. People sometimes are shaped by the fiction they read. It can say publically what might otherwise appear unsayable.[7] The readers identify themselves with the characters of a fiction and their struggles and frustrations for societal problems become indistinguishable to their own. Scion Of Ikshvaku is based on myth, that myth which becomes tool to Amish to percolate his voice to very reader. Myth authorizes and sometimes validates socio-cultural patterns and creates new ones. The same myth which subjugated women is seen to empower women due to the change of perception or interpretation. The works of these writers irrespective of their gender have been able to bring about a mighty transformation in the social position of women. Myth serves as a powerful weapon for the feminist writers as they can rethink and revise the image of silent, passive, submissive all accepting women of the past and envision them from a different perspective. These reconstructions of ancient women‘s identity have gone a Volume IX, Issue IV, April/2020 Page No:4941 Alochana Chakra Journal ISSN NO:2231-3990 long way in demolishing their socially constructed inferior status. Here again the researchers would like to draw the attention of the readers that the women characters in Indian mythology interpreted as silent, passive, submissive females were neither the final picture or the only interpretation, as there were and are critics and readers who strongly believed and interpreted them to be strong women. In the present time there is a group of creative writers that revisit reinterpreting old mythological text and in a new light. There are various strategies employed by the feminist writers which include deconstructing the role of a woman in patriarchal male dominated society by placing them in the centre of the text, decentralizing the male superiority in the myths, portraying the uncelebrated glory of free willed ancient woman, subverting the power structure which provides the space for them to show case their talents.[19] In the Indian scenario, several contemporary writers like Samhita Arni, Kavita Kane, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Devdutt Pattanaik, Sharath Kommaraju, Ashok Banker and Amish Tripathi have presented under-represented voices from ancient texts in order to subvert mythical stereotyped images of women as well as created new dimensions in the texts.[15] Amish also believes that the contemporary legal and administrative system has lost relevance and campaigns for its total revamping and if not thorough overhauling. A profound reading of his writings gives the criticism of law, politics and society.[10] Since the purpose of fiction writers is not to produce a work of literary importance but to entertain the people so they go about freely distorting mythical storyline. Amish borrows his inspiration from mythology and old legends and adopts the storyline of Ramayana keeping all chances for imagination. He establishes their relevance, covering various implications, in contemporary socio-political conditions with intricate symbolism.
II. WOMEN IN SCION OF IKSHVAKU Amish Tripathi has deconstructed the socio-economic image of the traditional powerful man with the new wonder woman who contributes to the society through her inherent leadership traits. The female characters in Scion of Ikshvaku – Sita, Kaikeyi, Kaushalya, Manthara, Nilanjana, Roshni, Samichi, Shurpanakha, Sumitra , Urmila and Radhika are portrayed not as weak females, but as the embodiment of power and valour. All these characters are presented as dexterous, independent, and powerful professionals.[13] The women in this fiction do not demand for political equality, economic rights and social identity; they are quintessence of excellence and perfection. They seem to be free from the long drawn hierarchical line between male and female and have dismissed the stereotype ideal of ―femininity‖ that assigned them submissive gender attributes like; compassion, gentleness, timidity, nurturance, tenderness, docility, feebleness. And showcase dominant attributes like; adventure, boldness, aggression and leadership assigned to men and ―masculinity‖.[9] Amish portrays a different, down to earth Sita in his book; she is not just a princess who dresses up and behaves in conventional manner or craves for jewels or fineries and a good place to live in. She has her own point of view and fights when needed; she is the mixture of beauty, brain and bravery. She is a chivalric warrior, qualified soldier in the battlefield, ‗Her warrior‘s body carried the proud scars from battle wounds.‘ [20] She is a skilled, experienced diplomat with realistic , concrete and seasoned approach. Her acquainted political brain could construe the implications and importance of forming political alliances. Since marriages were also a form of shaping such alliances, she could not devise the reason behind Ayodhya, the overlord of the Supt-Sindhu, wanting to form it with a small kingdom like Mithila. She boldly puts this before Ram a day before the Swayamvar, the practice of voluntarily choosing a husband. ‗You are Ayodhya, the overlord of Sapt Sindhu. I am only Mithila, a small kingdom with little powers. What purpose can possibly be served by this alliance.‘ [20] As the prime-minister of Mithila, Sita is a staunch follower of the law, who contributes to the society through her inherent leadership traits. But she could also adopt unorthodox ways to meet the ends. She also knows how to manage all relationships. She loves hunting boars in jungle. In the episode where Surpanakha could not take Ram‘s rejection, she tried to kill Sita but, was engaged in a duel and pushed back. Sita is ably complemented by another woman Samichi, the police and protocol chief of Mithila who is a strong framed Volume IX, Issue IV, April/2020 Page No:4942 Alochana Chakra Journal ISSN NO:2231-3990 soldier whose body acknowledges scars of well fought battles. Kaikeyi is shown to be the shield of Dashrath, breaking the typecast that only man can protect his wife because he is physically stronger than her. She commendably manages to rescue her husband in the battle of Karchapa that radically alters the future course of the empire of the Sapt Sindhu. She wants her son to be the king and is the reason behind Ram‘s ‗vanvas‘ but it also shows how strong a woman can be when it comes to protect her rights that she can go to any extent in order to protect her husband or the son. Amish‘s Manthara is portrayed in an un-established manner. She is not a hunchback maid to Keikeyi but a superfluously rich, powerful and influential businesswoman of the Sapt-Sindhu. She has earned this credit by counting and manipulating the monopoly of Ravana on the external trade of the Sapt-Sindhu. Manthara had guts and a clear vision about the affairs and diplomatic tie ups of the state .The book introduces two medical professionals one is Nilanjana, the proficient royal physician, who is an expert of her field. While attending Kausalya‘s labour she is shown thinking about surgical extraction of the baby. And the other one is Manthara‘s daughter, Roshni, a woman of impeccable character and a picture of grace and dignity. She suffers a brutal assault and couldn‘t survive and thus confirms when a woman determines to rise up, it is the man who always pulls her down and overpowers her by any means.[15] She presents herself as an independent woman and holds very strong view point. She can be seen as a reflection of modern women who hold the idea that they may be weak physically but they are capable of doing anything especially when it comes to earn for themselves. Radhika, the love interest of Bharat, the daughter of the chief of the forest dwellers proves mettle to turn down Bharat‘s proposal to maintain the law and integrity of her clan. It is not a sacrifice of a woman‘s love for the sake of the family since it took immense courage to refuse an Ayodhyan prince, the overlord of the place. It should not be misinterpreted that women characters in Scion of Ikshvaku showcase masculine traits in becoming equal to the male characters. Amish does not seems to advocate masculine feminism throughout his writings. Though the female characters do all the ‗mannish‘ works thus proving themselves being equivalent, he does not wish to take away what they already possess. While the characters of emotional and soft-hearted Kausalya and Sumitra are the epitome of motherly figures; Urmila and Shurpanakha are young and beautiful damsels who could charm even the hearts of stones.
III. CONCLUSION Gender stereotyping is the oldest and most established divisions between human beings, prevalent in every society, irrespective of its social, political and economic foundations. The capabilities of women could never be doubted, so undertaking masculine behaviour or substituting men in the battlefield or any other place just to prove they could do it, is not required at all. Amish‘s women have self-confidence and their body language reflects that they have actually earned their place and not given as a favour. There being women does not make them vulnerable to get manipulated suitably. Change in women is not advocated but ‗the attitude of men in general needs to be changed‘ [21] Women's position in society has undergone a dramatic change and as literature represents society, the literary texts often mirror this emancipation of women. In his retelling of myths of Lord Ram Amish Tripathi gives women characters a generous space. He has captured the essence of Indian women through them, who are beautiful and virtuous. His characters are brave and strong, and support women's rights. They shine through the agony, having broken the society's shackles. It doesn't matter what sort of struggle she's going to have to go through in her life, a woman has inherent power to survive and emerge. It is not sought to permit women to perform manly work but let all know that they are what they are with their entire feminine prowess so that the world could have a word like womanipulate.
REFERENCES [1] Anjanamol,P.http://www.languageinindia.com.May2018.19April2020
Volume IX, Issue IV, April/2020 Page No:4943 Alochana Chakra Journal ISSN NO:2231-3990 [4] Dr. Pratima Shah, Dr. Prof. Ami Upadhyay. http://baou.edu.in. January 2019. 19 April 2020
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