Masoumeh Moradi
Ph.D Scholar in English Literature, University of Mumbai
Mumbai
Introduction
Rabindranath Tagore is one of the greatest writers in modern Indian literature, Bengali poet, novelist, educator, and an early advocate of Independence for India. Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Two years later he was awarded the Knighthood, but he surrendered it in 1919 as a protest against the Massacre of Amritsar, where British troops killed some 400 Indian demonstrators.
Tagore was the first Indian to bring an element of psychological realism to his novels. Tagore tried to combine traditional Indian culture with Western ideas. In 1901 Tagore founded a school outside Calcutta, ‘Visva-Bharati’, which was dedicated to emerging Western and Indian philosophy and education. He produced poems, novels, stories, a history of India, textbooks, and treatises on pedagogy. He was also a composer, setting hundreds of poems to music. Many of his poems are actually songs, and inseparable from their music.
Rabindranath Tagore maintained that a wholesome education must educate the mind along with the senses. Tagore was brought up in a family atmosphere where freedom was emphasized - freedom of language, imagination, spirit and mind. Thus he held that the main purpose of education is to promote freedom, freedom from structured and oppressive school education, freedom from the confined walls of the classroom, freedom for consonance with child’s nature, and freedom of movement. Tagore’s setting remains limited to the experiences of men and women under British rule.
Tagore's stories are on a variety of themes: love, nature, supernatural events, social issues, psychological relationships etc. Through the stories we come to know the social conditions in which women were placed, almost always the victims, and more interestingly, responding differently yet with the same dignity, how each handled the pressures associated with it. The treatment of women and their position in society was of serious concern to Rabindranath Tagore. Being a sensitive man and the supreme romantic poet, he understood women in all their joy and sorrow, hope and despair, their yearnings and their dreams. The violence, both psychological and physical, against women in society was all-pervasive, cutting across class, caste, rural and urban divide. Its functioning was sometimes blatant but often subtle, insidious and invisible. What was worse was that the society as a whole, even the women, seemed to have got used to this slow poisoning without realizing the effect it cumulatively had on it. There was very little protest and the poison gradually had settled in the 'body-society'. Tagore saw in the women an immense wealth- their courage against all odds, their power of survival under the worst possible conditions and oppression, their forbearance, their self-sacrifice and gentleness. It pained him to see such colossal waste of so much human treasure. Through his stories and novels he wanted to shape public opinion, personal beliefs and the society's self-perception. He wished to bring out into the open, and consciously and critically look at the position of women in the society. He wanted these stories to be the mirror in which men would see themselves and would want to change, for it was necessary to bring about a change in the way men looked at themselves in order to change the lives of women.
The stories in his book present one aspect of this humanism- portraits of women. These portraits are drawn in soft earth colors and they look real and familiar and last long in our mind. The characters shine like stars and do not blind the eye.
Tagore’s stories reflect on child-marriage, the dowry system, growing gulf between city and country, bigoted orthodoxy of caste system and even wife burning. His stories are fables of modern man, where fairy tale meets hard ground, where myths are reworked, and the religion of man triumphs over the religion of rituals and convention, where the love of a woman infuses the universe with humanity. He writes with concern about such issues as the Hindu revivalism in the late nineteenth century and the bondage of women. The rhythms of daily life, his rural encounters and childhood reminiscences, unfold in his tales, as does a sense of history, the reality of the political situation and its impact on individual lives. Tagore wishes to see the world of humanity not only reflected in his own life but also actualized in Bengali literature.
Tagore’s stories have a distinctive poetic lilt, poignantly capturing those elements of their lives, laced with a gentle irony at times. Most of them deal with life of the middle-class family man, and often with the position of the not-yet emancipated woman in a patriarchal society. Despite his apparently supporting stance towards women, his stories have a rather one-dimensional view of women classifying them under the Madonna-Whore dichotomy. Many of his stories seem to be attempting to lift the veil from the hypocrisies of Bengali (and thus, Indian) society.
Being the champion of the emancipation of women in the true tradition of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidhya Sagar, Tagore through his novels brings out the problems of the women of his age. For this purpose he makes women the protagonists in almost all his novels.
The novelistic world of Tagore embodies a vision of India caught up in the cross current of opposing ideologies, of questioning of the old or traditional moral sanctions in search of self fulfillment, the clash between the reformist and revivalist forces the conflict between the moderate and extremist elements in politics as well as the eternal struggle in the human consciousness between love and sacrifice. His stories are written in a prose that is rythmic, often to the point of being poetic. However, his stories are mostly rooted in the life of ordinary people.
A Grain of Sand: Chokher Bali is Novel Prize-winning author Rabindranath Tagore's classic exposition of an extramarital affair that takes place within the confines of a joint family.
In Haimanti, Tagore takes on the institution of Hindu marraige. He describes the dismal lifelessness of Bengali women after they are married off, the deep hypocracies of the Indian middle class, and how Haimanti, a sensitive young woman, has to pay for her sensitiveness and free spirit with her life. Tagore takes on the unidentified home of Hinduism, Hindu marriage, describing the cheerless lifelessness of married women.
Tagore's short stories influenced deeply Indian Literature. 'Punishment', a much anthologized work, was set in a rural village. It describes the oppression of women through the tragedy of the low-caste Rui family.
A Grain of Sand: Chokher Bali
A Grain of Sand: Chokher Bali is Novel Prize-winning author Rabindranath Tagore's classic exposition of an extramarital affair that takes place within the confines of a joint family.
It is the story of the rich, flamboyant ‘Mahendra’ and his simple, demure, beautiful wife ‘Asha’ - a young couple who are befriended by the pragmatic Behari. Asha was an uneducated girl. Their cozy domestic scenario undergoes great upheaval with the introduction of the vivacious ‘Binodini’, a young, attractive widow who comes to live with them. Binodini did not have any formal education even though her father appointed a European Governess for her instructions. Binodini though brought up in a village is skilled in all the households arts like cooking, knitting and interior decoration. Asha and Binodini become bosom pals. Binodini is initially drawn to Behari but then begins to respond to the advances of Mahendra, who has become obsessively attracted to her. After several twists and turns, Binodini elopes with Mahendra, leaving the entire family in turmoil. Bihari pursues them to Allahabad and succeeds in bringing them back to Kolkata, but the question remains: can a marriage that has once been ruptured by breach of trust be mended again into a meaningful relationship?
On the one hand, A Grain of Sand: Chokher Bali is a sensational account of two illicit relationships: Mahendra's infatuation with Binodini which blinds him to everything else, and Binodini's secret passion for Behari of which she is never able to speak. On the other hand, it is a complex tapestry woven by the emotional interplay between five finely etched characters: the impulsive Mahendra, his adoring mother Rajlakshmi, the frail and sensitive Asha, the strong, silent Behari, and the self-willed and irresistibly attractive Binodini. Binodini is a widow exploited and humiliated by her kinsmen in the name of tradition and religion.
A compelling portrayal of the complexity of relationships and of human character, this landmark novel is just as powerful and thought-provoking today as it was a hundred years ago, when it was written. It examines women’s secondary status in society and marriage and their lack of power. It further demonstrates the tragic condition of women / widow in the feudal backwardness of the society, revealing the cruel exploitation, injustice and absurdity. It vehemently criticizes the feudal morals and customs. It dramatizes the struggle of young beautiful widow for self actualization and selfhood in a social system that denies all scope for such attempts. Binodini is very fortunate to receive modern education which many girls of even the affluent classes were denied.
The novel deals with several hidden and visible themes at different levels by stringing them together in a story that appeals to heart and mind equally. Somewhere, though it is not clear whether author intended or not, the role of destiny too creeps into the story.
One feeling stifled underneath the veneer of another gets manifested like the color of a chameleon in this novel. Every character goes through a gamut of emotional and behavioral changes throughout the course of the story. Mahendra, a head strong man full of vanity goes through the ordeals of a hapless lover only to be snubbed. Bihari, a close confidante of Mahendra, vacillates between friendship and confessions of a granted but yet unrequited love. Asha, the devoted ingenuous wife plays a typical traditional Indian house wife. Annapurna, the aunt, exemplifies the reckoned character of a widow in Bhadra lok Bengal. Rajalakshmi, the mother of Mahendra, gives us a glimpse of a dotting mother and a haughty character in one breath whose venomous ploys pales into insignificance before her own tricks. And Binodini, the protagonist, a repressed widow dogged by misfortune, finally finds herself in Kashi after having been in and out of perverse attempts at quenching what was never to be quenched: Seems fatalistic. It is this fatalism, illustrated quite vociferously, that works towards making characters acquiescing after having been through a phase of some willful decisions and painting the story with a colour that so undeservingly mars the depth of an otherwise tale of deep emotions playing at different levels to show us an interplay of emotions in the echelons of depth of human soul.
Three widows entangled with each other bring to the fore three different faces of widowhood. One quite content to put up with the rules set by the society. Another taking charge of the house like a traditional matriarch and the third, a young girl with the exquisite beauty, confronting a quandary between being a widow, an arrogant woman and a femme fatale. Superficially, all three widows seem completely in control of their lives but once we scratch the surface, not even one out of three have the leash of their lives in their hands. Rajalakshmi, though a penchant well wisher of her son, helplessly works towards unsettling his conjugal life. Annapurna, an immaculate and level headed character finds herself compelled to leave house and become hermit. And Binodini, never quite clear of her intentions, witnesses her soul being wrenched out of her body more often than not. Besides these three widows, the two men who populate the novel turns out to be two poles tied with a bond, which was never there to be seen in its most sacred form but whose illusions left the reality amazed and relieved. And one last but equally important character Asha, the wife, dumb witted but pure hearted, illustrate the duties of a wife regardless of being wronged or hard done by.
This brief story of Binodini takes us through a course where we see the human vulnerabilities pitted against the lure and bait of ancient old flesh and as almost always happens, it is the lure that wins. The abysmal plight and pathetic state of widowhood shorn of any right of remarriage and conflict of carnal desires and morals of a young unrequited flesh forms the basic plot of this novel.
Haimanti
In Haimanti, Tagore takes on the institution of Hindu marraige. He describes ala Strir Patra, the dismal lifelessness of Bengali women after they are married off, the deep hypocracies plaguing the Indian middle class, and how Haimanti, a sensitive young woman, has to pay for her sensitiveness and free spirit with her life. In the last passage, Rabindranath directly attacks the Hindu custom of glorifying Sita's entering in fire to appease her husband Rama's doubts, as depicted in the epic Ramayana.
The husband in the story loves Haimanti the wife soft and never complaining who will never tell her husband of the wrongs she is exposed to in their family. The mother-in-law, herself a woman, is the prominent cause of Haimanti's suffering, and quite expectantly the tender readers, irrespective of gender, will harbour hatred towards the mother. However, one should hardly blame the woman, a poor creature, who, in all probability, herself was maltreated when she entered the family as a bride. The patriarchal values led her to accept all that she does as normal, legitimate and, therefore, inevitable. Over the years, a total demolition of womanhood has taken place and consequently she is no more a woman; rather, she is her husband's wife, son's mother and daughter-in-law's mother-in-law, who is not at all ashamed of injuring the other woman for dowry. And it has to be the manufactured self of the mother who will insist that her son remarry. The son feels that he will not be able to turn aside the request of the mother, implying that he will consent in time.
So what could be the possible impact of the story on the young? They are supposed to adore Haimanti for her softness, gracefulness and patience, and abhor the mother-in-law because of her monstrous appearance. Once again it is inevitable that a woman is to remain either an angel or a beast identity constructed by man is trapped in a vicious cycle of which she can never come out.
Through the story we also come to know the social conditions in which women were placed, almost always the victims, and more interestingly, responding differently yet with the same dignity, how each handled the pressures associated with it.
In the stories, barring a few exceptions, Tagore offers the woman portraits to man's craving and satisfaction, which, in other words, is the constructed self of woman, the 'pure gold baby'.
From the beginning of our society, women have naturally accepted the training which imparts to their life and to their home a spirit of harmony. It is their instinct to perform their services in such a manner that these, through beauty, might be raised from the domain of slavery to the realm of grace. Women have tried to prove that in the building up of social life they are artists and not artisans. But all expressions of beauty lose their truth when compelled to accept the patronage of the gross and the indifferent. Therefore when necessity drives women to fashion their lives to the taste of the insensitive or the sensual, then the whole thing becomes a tragedy of desecration. Society is full of such tragedies. Many of the laws and social regulations guiding the relationships of man and woman are relics of a barbaric age, when the brutal pride of an exclusive possession had its dominance in human relations, such as those of parents and children, husbands and wives, masters and servants, teachers and disciples. The vulgarity of it still persists in the social bond between the sexes because of the economic helplessness of woman.
Punishment
Punishment, by Rabindranath Tagore, is a short story involving Indian culture and a dilemma for two brothers. 'Punishment', a much anthologized work, was set in a rural village. It describes the oppression of women through the tragedy of the low-caste Rui family.
Chandara is a proud, beautiful woman, "buxom, well-rounded, compact and sturdy," her husband, Chidam, is a farm-laborer, who works in the fields with his brother Dukhiram. One day when they return home after whole day of toil and humiliation, Dukhiram kills in anger his sloppy and slovenly wife because his food was not ready. To help his brother, Chidam tells to police that his wife struck her sister-in-law with the farm-knife. Chandara takes the blame on to herself. 'In her thoughts, Chandara was saying to her husband, "I shall give my youth to the gallows instead of you. My final ties in this life will be with them."' Afterwards both Chidam and Dukhiram try to confess that they were guilty but Chandara is convicted.
Sitting within the confines of the prison, Chandara narrates the events that led her to her present predicament. Married to Chidam, and sharing the same roof with her brother-in-law and his wife Radha, life went on with its ups and downs. Radha’s inadequacy in looking after her four year-old son often led to altercations between the two of them which was well-known to the neighbours. And Chidam, like some men, tried to keep his wife Chandara within his grip and would not tolerate any infringement upon his independence, however unlawful it may be.
In spite of Chidam’s shortcomings, Chandara accepted life as it was, consoling herself that at least Chidam loved her and that was enough. But hiding under this deceptive consolation was no longer possible when one day things took turn for the worst. Chidam’s brother Dukhiram, having come back from work that day found that there was no food at home and in rage, killed Radha, his wife. Quick to react on this was Chidam, who found it quite easy to shift the blame on Chandara who was, after all, known to have had fights with Radha quite often. For Chidam it was important to save his brother first and only then find out some ways or means to wring Chandara out of the clutches of law (if at all possible). To Chandara it was appalling that she should be falsely implicated for the murder by no other person than her husband, who also suggested making up other stories in court later to save her from the arms of the law.
But Chandara is no longer to be taken for granted. She decides to give herself in as the murderer to show Chidam that she is not to be played around with – to be called the murderer when Chidam wanted it, to make up stories again when he wanted her to be free. She now had to prove that she is “someone” too, not just a woman who danced to her husband’s tunes. Given the time and circumstance, the only way she could do it was by accepting the punishment for a murder she did not commit – and be hanged! Just before the hanging, the doctor says that her husband wants to see her. "To hell with him," says Chandara.
Like many other women, apparently ordinary, but with extraordinary qualities (which can be found in many of Tagore’s portrayal of women), Chandara is an example of defiance. Deliberately accused by her husband of a crime not committed by her, Chandara finds herself a puppet manipulated on a string in a male- oriented society. Set in a time when women could hardly voice their protests, Chandara chooses to embrace the noose rather than wait for her husband to prove her innocence as he “promises”. That is her way of protesting against the false accusation brought against her. To do so, she has to make the supreme sacrifice – her life, but that is her defiance, her challenge, and her victory in a world where justice for women was rarely just.
Chandara remains invincible till the end. She “wins” by treating death as a choice rather than as a punishment. Her self-sacrifice becomes revenge and a kind of victory. She proves her dignity and worth by refusing to save herself from the false accusations. She is a woman of substance who demonstrates far more worth than one would expect from someone in a low position as she was in the society of those days.
‘The Lost Jewels’, ‘The Hungry Stone’, indicates the extent of Tagore’s deliberate attempt to evoke an inter-textual resonance to anticipate a story with supernatural presence. "Cabuliwallah" ("The Fruitseller from Kabul") Tagore speaks in first person as town-dweller and novelist who chances upon the Afghani seller. He attempts to distill the sense of longing felt by those long trapped in the mundane and hardscrabble confines of Indian urban life, giving play to dreams of a different existence in the distant and wild mountains. "Atithi" ("The Runaway") typified the analytic focus on the downtrodden. Tagore also examines Hindu-Muslim tensions in ‘Musalmani Didi’, which in many ways embodies the essence of Tagore's humanism. On the other hand, ‘Darpaharan’ exhibits Tagore's self-consciousness, describing a young man harboring literary ambitions. Though he loves his wife, he wishes to stifle her literary career, deeming it unfeminine. Tagore himself, in his youth, seems to have harbored similar ideas about women. Darpaharan depicts the final humbling of the man via his acceptance of his wife's talents. Ghare Baire or the Home and the World examines rising nationalistic feeling among Indians while warning of its dangers, clearly displaying Tagore’s distrust of nationalism – especially when associated with a religious element. As with Ghore baire, matters of self-identity, personal freedom and religious belief are developed in the content of an involving family story and a love triangle. Internationally, Gitanjali is Tagor’s best known collection of poetry. Besides Gitanjali, other notable works include Manasi, Golden Boat, Wild Geese and purobi. Tagore became the only person ever to have written the national anthems of two nations; Bangladesh’s Aamaar Sonaar Baanglaa and India’s Jana Gana Mana.
Most of the works of Tagore which include stories, novels, poems etc. are well known for the ideas put forth and revolve round the upliftment of women and children in the society. His stories have a distinctive poetic lilt, poignantly capturing those elements of their lives, laced with a gentle irony at times. Through all his works, Tagore basically concentrated on the following:
· The struggle of women in the male-dominated conservative society
· The struggle of educated young women for equality and freedom
· The plight of widows in joint families and their exploitation
· Remarriage of widows
· The complications that arose when women participated in the freedom struggle
· The conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and the sufferings of daughter-in-law
· Dowry system
Love in all forms has its obligations, and the love that binds women to their children binds them to their homes. But necessity is a tyrant, making us submit to injury and indignity, allowing advantage over us to those who are wholly or comparatively free from its burden. Such has been the case in the social relationship between man and woman. Along with the difference inherent in their respective natures, there have grown up between them inequalities fostered by circumstances. Man is not handicapped by the same biological and psychological responsibilities as woman, and therefore he has the liberty to give her the security of home. This liberty exacts payment when it offers its boon, because to give or to withhold the gift is within its power. It is the unequal freedom in their mutual relationships which has made the weight of life's tragedies so painfully heavy for woman to bear. Man comes with desert-thirst / woman provides the drink of honey. Man ploughs the fertile land, / woman sows crops in it turning it green. Man ploughs, woman waters / that earth and water get mixed together and brings about a harvest of golden paddy!"
Several social reformers from Bengal such as Raja Ram Mohan, Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore, consistently championed the cause of Indian widows and strove for many, many years to get a rightful place for them in the society. Thankfully, due to their tireless work, at least in the urban areas, the widows were given their due place in the society and in the homes. Yet a vast majority of the rural population continued to turn a blind eye to their plight. They were expected to survive alone, without any support from the family or from society; serving the Lord.
There are more than 33 million widows in India - almost 10% of the Indian female population. 50% of the widows are over 50 years of age. A study conducted by the Government in 1994 revealed that of 88% widows who remained in their dead husband's village, only 3% shared the same hearth with their in-laws. Less than 3% widows lived with their parents. Sadly for the widows; the political leadership has also turned a blind eye to their plight because the politicians are fearful of raising a controversy, as well as the fact that the women do not form a "vote-bank" for them. Being aware of the plight of widows and their consistent exploitation by the religious forces and local administration, a few voluntary groups such as the "Guild of Service" set up by Dr. Mohini Giri and ably supported by Mrs. Veena Singhania, have tried to make some health-care and medical facilities available to the widows.
Tagore portrays the oppression of women in the hands of men - even from men within their own family. He personifies the cruelty, selfishness and vanity in a women and the misery of ignorance suffered by women and then the submission due to it. He discusses the strength of a woman’s inner beauty versus physical beauty. Through the stories we also come to know the social conditions in which women were placed, almost always the victims, and more interestingly, responding differently yet with the same dignity, how each handled the pressures associated with it.
Conclusion
Literature and culture play a crucial role in the establishment, maintenance and contestation of political power by forging a "manufactured consent" to keep up the so-called equilibrium in society. This exploitive system "hegemony" views, sees, judges and evaluates the people and things from a perspective that serves only the interest of a specific group or class. Thus, literature and culture create some values or constructs which are accepted at their face value without question or reasoning. Seen in this light, literature can be a very powerful means to present a set of a kind of mythical values to regulate the lives of people in a community. The intended goal is achieved when these values gradually but surely make people believe that they must accept them for their own good and that anything contrary to these values shall have to be considered sacrileges. Therefore, the identity of a woman in our society, dictated from her infancy, is that she is weak, insignificant, and such a delicate creature, which needs to be protected by a strong and powerful man. By the same token, her identity is determined by her relationship with a male; as if she was, is and will always be somebody's daughter, wife or mother. They are made believable, because their creators listen to the dictates of what is dubbed as 'cultural construct.'
Creative expressions attain their perfect form through emotions modulated. Woman has that expression natural to her--a cadence of restraint in her behaviour, producing poetry of life. She has been an inspiration to man, guiding, most often unconsciously, his restless energy into an immense variety of creations in literature, art, music and religion. This is why, in India, woman has been described as the symbol of Shakti, the creative power.
For life finds its truth and beauty, not in any exaggeration of sameness, but in harmony. True womanliness is regarded in our country as the saintliness of love.
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