Brave Sisters A novel & A Study of Ambivalence and Change: Indian Woman-Warrior or Victim? Meira Chand MA, Edith Cowan University 2009 This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia School of Humanities (English and Cultural Studies) 2013 ii ABSTRACT This thesis is comprised of a novel entitled Brave Sisters and an accompanying essay entitled, A Study of Ambivalence and Change: Indian Woman – Warrior or Victim? Both novel and essay are linked by an exploration of the issues of feminism and the impact of colonialism and the nationalist uprisings against British rule in late colonial India. Brave Sisters This is a historical novel set in the late 1930s and 1940s against a backdrop of India and South East Asia. It explores the life of an illiterate Indian woman, Sita, condemned early to the completely disempowered state of child widow. She is rescued from this situation through the intervention of a humanitarian female doctor and enabled to join her brother who has migrated to Singapore. He arranges for Sita’s marriage there to an Indian friend, a scholarly man who has become embroiled in the Indian freedom struggle. Sita’s life is soon overwhelmed by the events of the Second World War and the Japanese occupation of Singapore. During this time she encounters the charismatic revolutionary Indian leader, Subash Chandra Bose, and his struggle for Indian independence from the British. Bose commands the Japanese-backed Indian National Army and Sita joins the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, a women’s fighting force initiated by Bose within the army. There, she learns to fight and handle a gun and participate in military manoeuvres. Inevitably, this transformation in her external circumstances triggers profound psychological changes within her. The novel is concerned to establish that Sita is constantly influenced and strengthened by her access to deeply traditional forces derived from her own religious and cultural background. The novel follows her inner journey to awareness and empowerment, along with her outer journeying iii with the independence fighters to their final disastrous battle on the border of India and Burma, and their subsequent retreat. Once the war is over, Sita finds herself widowed for a second time. Her regiment has been disbanded and she must return to the narrow confines of her previous life with its now unbearable traditional Indian constrictions on the female personality, and its inescapable gender discrimination. Sita’s sufferings and endurance have resulted in the creation of a new self; she has recognised her own inheritance as a manifestation of the traditional female power of shakti, and moves to create a fresh life for herself as well as for others whose development has been more impeded than her own. A Study of Ambivalence and Change: Indian Woman -Warrior or Victim? The accompanying essay examines the situation of Indian women during the era before Independence from British rule, and indeed antecedent to this period. In some sense this encompasses continuing influences on the situation of contemporary Indian women. The study explores the Indian concept of shakti, dynamic female energy, and the long history in the country’s religious culture of a line of powerful warrior–like women. Gender disparity in India is examined, as is the history and plight of Indian widows and the widow burning culture of sati. Within the rigid social framework sources of empowerment, such as the traditional concept of shakti, is a vital concept that is also discussed. The political implications of the era with the impact of the Second World War and the struggle for freedom from British rule in India, is also explored. The particular focus here is on the formation in Singapore of the Indian National Army under the command of the Indian freedom fighter, Subash Chandra Bose. With active military support and encouragement iv from the Japanese, Bose’s goal was the liberation of India from British colonial rule. Within the INA Bose established a women’s military regiment, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, named after a legendary 19th century Indian princess who led an armed struggle against the British. The Indian National Army may be considered by some as a largely ‘forgotten army’ but at the time it was a potent source of hope for freedom both within and outside India. Indeed, its exploits and that of its founder Bose have achieved an iconic status in India’s national history. In spite of such eminence, the history of the women of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, have still not been accorded their full importance. The study also explores the nexus between history and fiction, and the problems of negotiating fiction within a historical context in literature and in the imagination. v vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I appreciate deeply the support afforded me by the University of Western Australia, particularly by the School of English and Cultural Studies. Despite some difficulties encountered as an overseas student, these were all handled with great courtesy, care and concern. My sincere thanks are owed to Professor Kieran Dolin for his unfailing kindness and help during some difficult times. Dean Alan Dench’s ready assistance through a particular crisis is also remembered with thanks. I am grateful to my co-ordinating supervisor, Professor Van Ikin, for his patient advice and expertise in guiding me, particularly through the varied technicalities of the submission of this thesis. Dr Tess Williams’ input and interest is also much appreciated. I must also record my thanks to Professor Glen Phillips of the International Centre for Landscape and Language, for his valuable support at the inception of this project. No words can adequately describe my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Cynthia vanden Driesen, without whom this degree may perhaps never have been embarked upon. Her constant encouragement, selfless concern and care have weathered every storm and surmounted every obstacle on a long and fraught path, even through her time of great personal bereavement. My deepest thanks and admiration are forever with her. vii CONTENTS Abstract………………………………………………………… ii Declaration ……………………………………………… …..... v Acknowledgements……………………………………………. vi Brave Sisters Chapter One……………………………………………………. 2 Chapter Two…………………………………………………... 15 Chapter Three.………………………………………………… 30 Chapter Four ………………………………………………….. 43 Chapter Five…………………………………………………… 57 Chapter Six……………………………………………………. 72 Chapter Seven…………………………………………………. 88 Chapter Eight………………………………………………….. 101 Chapter Nine…………………………………………………… 116 Chapter Ten……………………………………………… ……. 130 Chapter Eleven…………………………………………………. 143 Chapter Twelve………………………………………………… 154 Chapter Thirteen……………………………………………….. 172 Chapter Fourteen……………………………………………….. 188 viii A Study of Ambivalence and Change: Indian Woman - Warrior or Victim? Exegesis………………………………………………………... 202 Appendix One………………………………………………….. 257 Appendix Two…………………………………………………. 268 Bibliography…………………………………………………… 273 1 BRAVE SISTERS A Novel By MEIRA CHAND 2 BRAVE SISTERS Chapter One India 1939 In the main house the bridal bower lay undisturbed in darkness behind a locked door, the bed still decorated with strings of jasmine and marigolds. Instead of a bridal bed, Sita slept that night on a rough pallet on the floor, in an outhouse near the servant’s quarters; a widow not a bride in her husband’s home, her presence now a pollution to all. Outside, servants gossiped around a fire of burning cow dung, the dense smoke sweetening the cool night air. Sita listened to their talk, her shaven head still sore from the rasp of the razor, and knew she was in some way neutered by the loss of her thick dark hair. A bright moon speared the dusty glass of a small window above her. In the dim light Sita held up her hands, gazing at the filigreed pattern of wedding henna drawn earlier in the day on the palms of her hands and feet. The henna had darkened, and she remembered Chachi, her aunt, saying that if the mendhi took well, it was a sign that your mother–in-law would love you. The servant’s voices came to her, discussing the bridegroom’s death, discussing marriage in general. A husband is to be followed, like the body by its shadow, like the moon by moonlight, like thunder by lightning...take care now… do not let that widow’s shadow fall upon you …` Sita shivered as she lay in the hot stuffy shed. Beyond the shame of it all, she recognised also a pang of relief that she would not now have to endure the man’s touch. When he had lifted the sari from her face and she glanced up at him for the first time, all she had been 3 able to think of was that moment when they would be alone and he would move towards her. She closed her eyes and immediately pictured her mother-in-law again, and the horror of the day returned to her. Sita’s husband had not died slowly or silently, but in a convulsion of sounds and popping eyes, foam bubbling from his mouth. Later, his corpse was laid upon a bench and covered with a sheet. The mound of his belly thrust upwards to the sky, the strings of jasmine hanging from the gold coloured wedding turban escaped the side of the shroud, the flowers fresh and plump, and their perfume filling the air. Sita stared at the still body in confusion. Only moments earlier, as the religious rites ended, her bridegroom had placed the sweet smelling wedding garland upon her, making them man and wife; the prayers were finished, the ceremony complete. She was daubed with the red marks of marriage – the carmine tikka on her forehead and the streak of the sindhur along the parting of her hair. Her slight form had barely reached up to her husband’s chest and the red and gold wedding sari, draped stiffly about her still childish body, appeared to diminish her further. Her husband towered over her, his flesh firm as the bolstered sofa in her aunt’s house.