ROLE OF SYRIAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AND ITS HINDU ASSIMILATION PRESENTED IN THE NOVEL “The God of Small Things” *Prapurna Inaganti (Lecturer Vignan Junior college) Nizampet Hyderabad **Dr. Manish Srivastava Supervisor Professor Department of English & Foreign Languages GGV, Bilaspur (C.G) India ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Arundhati Roy was born on 24th Nov, 1961. She is a child born of a marriage between a Christian lady from Kerala and a Bengali Hindu tea – grower. Her primary education was at corpus Christie, the school run by her mother Mary Roy. She doesn‟t want to discuss her father as she just refers to him as an acquaintance. Arundhati Roy was the first resident Indian to win the booker prize in 1997, India‟s 50th year of independence The God of Small Things, although one of the best seller faced legal objections. Arundhati Roy‟s novel The God of Small Things was translated into Malayalam, and the royalty amount which she received was given for the encouragement of Dalit literature. She also involved herself in projects like Narmada Bachao Andolan. She conveyed her feelings in various articles like Lies, dam lies and statistics, The greater common good and The end of imagination. She has also written a book the Algebra of infinite justice which is a collection of speeches and discourses of Roy from July 1998 to October 2001. She is married to Pradeep Kishen, a film director after her divorce from her first husband Gerard. Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal www.ijellh.com 566 Da Cunha. She has written on various themes of social activism. Her other literary works are: A strange kind of freedom Come September War is peace Insult and injury in Afghanistan The Algebra of infinite justice The End of imagination The role of Syrian Christian community and its Hindu influences in the novel The God of Small Things. Indian Christianity is almost as old as Jesus Christ himself and it is considered the part of Indian Society as the temples, mosques, bazaar, etc as Indian Culture is diverse, the Christians are also not uniform. There are Kerala Christians, Goan Christians, Anglo-Indian Christians, Tamil Christians and Telugu Christians, etc. All these Christians have different socio-cultural practices, economic prosperity and individual mental outlook. In some parts of India like Kerala, the Christians existed from the times immemorial and blended themselves with their surroundings so much that the Christians cannot be distinguished from their Hindu or other non-Christian neighbors. Christianity in India claims its apostolic origin from St. Thomas who is said to have landed in Malabar Coast in 52AD. His work is considered very influential among the people. In the 4th century B.C, a group of Syrians, headed by a merchant known as Canai Thoma or Thomas of Canaan, came to Crangamore and settled in the city where they established regular contacts between Kerala and the Christian cities in western Asia and obtained Bishops for the local church i.e. Malabar church from Mesopotamia and Persia. They introduced the Syrian liturgy i.e. the Book of Common Prayer and the Nazarenes (means followers of Jesus of Nazareth). Due to this they are known as Syrian Christians. These Syrians flourished under the patronage of the Perumals, the contemporary rulers of Kerala. They escaped religious Christianity in general which means a casteless society. Beef eating and indifference to washing oneself were further abominations in the eyes of the Hindus which prevented any type of assimilation between Europeans and higher classes of Hindus. The Syrian Christians on the other hand had appreciated these Hindu prejudices and had maintained the higher Hindu class standards and the ceremonial purity which they have derived in desire for high Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal www.ijellh.com 567 status from Hindus. The converts are intelligently thought from Brahmins and applied to illustrate this conversion. I would like to throw light on Father Roberto de Nobilio.S.J. a catholic missionary who had taken responsibility of the Madurai missionary introduced a bold and original method in his missionary work in the year 1906. Roberto de Nobilio conceived the idea of attempting to express Christianity in terms of Hindu culture. In this way he attained success in the existing societal practices. He taught Christianity in the lines of Upanishads. Roberto de Nobili called himself „Roman Brahmin‟ He attracted people from all sections of society and the converts enjoyed higher class privileges like Hindus. This theory of Roberto de Nobilio was criticized by people of India and Portugal. As a result, his theory was upheld by pope. People argued that Roberto was not trying to convert Brahmins into Christians but in reality converting Christianity to Brahmanism. But he was successful to a large extent as he was able to convert a large section of high class Hindus. He made every possible change and pro-Hindu traditions. He allowed his converts to retain their caste privileges and practices and to worship in their own churches. He also claimed to introduce the fifth Veda (Christian Veda). In this way, we can say that Syrian Christians are influenced by Roberto De Nobilio. The churches underwent this Indianization process. Various Christian leaders tried to explore the experiences of creativity of Hindu hermits and sages which would help them to discover the riches and assimilate them in Christianity. Many other leaders like Chenchiah tried to assimilate ashrams and yoga in Christianity. Christians generally have their names after some biblical character or Christian saints. But the trend changed towards Hindu‟s side and their names are like Devadas, Veena, Pratap instead of William, Cecilia, Wilson and Veronica, etc. The society of Arundhati Roy revolves around Syrian Christians of Kerala in the backdrop of post-colonial Kerala of 1969. Syrian Christians play a major role in the lives of the people and characters in the novel. The author reveals that Syrian Christians are not different from touchable or higher class Hindus, who give importance to caste codes and discrimination. Syrian Christians along with Hindus represent approximately sixty percent of the population, and Muslims and Christians make up the rest. The Syrian Christians are the descendants of St. Thomas, one of the twelve missionaries who came to India. The Syrian Christians of India are as old as Christianity in the world. The history of the Syrian Christians starts from 239 AD and these Christians were called St. Thomas Christians. Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal www.ijellh.com 568 These Christians escaped the religious abuse, arrived in Malabar and started to settle in Kerala. They made Kerala a place of chapels and churches. They acquired wealth and attained same status as that of Hindus. According to a historian, “most of the Syrians today view themselves as to be the relatives of the Apostles first proselytes. Syrian Christians in Kerala enjoyed a high status in social order because of its aristocratic associations. They enjoyed a status equivalent to that of Brahmins throughout that period. Today, the Syrian Christians structure around 20% of Kerala‟s social order. They are socially dynamic and developed their standard in Kerala, one of the most educated states in India. Today, these Syrian Christians run schools of different levels for young men and women. The women of Syrian Christian community celebrate their liberation in the existing social order. The first lady to get a B.A degree in law in Kerala in 1909 was a Syrian Christian. Mary Roy, the author‟s mother led a determined fight for womens‟ rights for 30 years. She also battled against the Christian legacy law where she won a milestone verdict by Supreme Court that allowed Christian ladies in Kerala the right to their parents‟ property. Arundhati Roy forwarded this social legacy of Syrian Christians internationally through her book “The God of Small Things‟. All the characters of the novel i.e. reverend Ipe‟s family belong to this community. This novel sheds light on the supremacy of Syrian Christian group in the contemporary social scenario of Kerala. Arundhati Roy being a Syrian Christian herself depicted the characters in the same lines. Her characters Mammachii and Ammu are extensively modeled upon the figure of Mary Roy, Mother of Arundhati Roy. Roy‟s characterization of Ammu as a sharp and skilful lady is a direct resemblance to Mary Roy (Author‟s mother). The supremacy and dominance of Syrian Christian community is evident by a homicide of Velutha, an untouchable paravan. Ayenemenem police was also under the influence of this community. Police is presented as touchable instruments of society who backed the killing of Velutha. Velutha is a skilled laborer in the novel who worked for reverend Ipe‟s family. Velutha was also working as a party worker in the communist party but no comrade of his came to his rescue when he was killed. His service to reverend Ipe‟s family for years went in vain. He encountered a hopeless demise in which caste codes and rules played a major part. It is quite ironical where Syrian Christians played a game of caste. An untouchable like Velutha become victims in the hands of these upper classes. He is beaten to death, for the crime he committed, defying all the human rights given to us. His illicit relationship with a higher class lady Ammu, brought his pre-mature demise. The mystery of Refereed (Peer Reviewed) Journal www.ijellh.com 569 his death his in the fact that how Syrian Christians enjoy the privileges bestowed upon them by a socialist government. It is quite paradoxical that socialist government can let such things happen. This shows the standards of casteism followed by the Syrian Christian community.