Chapter-V. hjove^ciyya/hc^ovy ofthe/pe<yple^

Transcription

1 Chapter-V hjove^ciyya/hc^ovy ofthe/pe<yple^

2 CHAPTER V Novel as a History of the People History and politics have always been a predominant pre-occupation of the Indian-English novelists. Many post-colonial writers like Mistry, Tharoor, Rushdie and others have employed their creative talents to explore the contemporary reality and have re-narrated the stories of their own people and shown concern for the hitherto neglected people, communities and regions. At times a clash between tradition and innovation becomes the central issue in the verse of these novelists. These writers try to re-narrate history of their own country and their community. Their discourses aim at repossessing history of their ancestors. Jameel Begum A. asserts "the process of assimilation to a foreign white culture while positioned in a country that did not belong to them, was halted by a strong spirit of nationalism and an urge to write themselves into Indian history. This in-betweenness also led the community to address issues that directed attention to their ethnicity and culture specificities within the context of political and social changes in India (147). Many Parsi novelists exhibit ethno-religious traits in their novels. Especially, in the wake of the partition of the sub continent the Parsis with their affiliations with the colonizers and Anglophilic inclination distanced themselves from the main stream of Indian society. The decline in demographical figures made them apprehensive and the rising communal 180

3 disharmony has intensified their community consciousness more than ever before. Mistry in his novels Such a Long Journey and Family Matters writes the consciousness of their community in such a way that the community emerges as a protagonist. His novels are characterized by both ethnocentric and minority discourse features. Naturally, both his novels clearly portray anxieties, alienation and feeling of insecurity of a modem day Parsi people. In the novels he deals with the story of middle class Parsi in Mumbai. By focusing on the Parsi culture, tradition, religion and etc Mistry proves himself to be a committed Parsi writer. His novels are closely linked with sociocultural existence of the Parsis. These novels create a vivid picture of Indian family life in general and that of a close knit Parsi family in particular. The novel Such a Long Journey is set in the years around early seventies Mumbai. He uses the historical facts and events like the partition of India, the war with China and Pakistan, emergency and birth of Bangladesh as some of the main events of Indian history. However, the entire factual history has been used as a background to corroborate the existence of the oral version of history. The novel mainly deals with its protagonist, Gustad Noble's dreams and aspirations with co-inhabits in a flat in Khodadad building with other members of his community. This building which enshrines several Parsi families is a world in itself (60). 181

4 This novel is not just a fiction about Parsi life in India, though all the major characters Gustad Noble and his family, Dinshawji and Major Jimmi Bilimoria are Parsis. The Parsi community is created in the writer's perception as a marginal group that is shut out/ walled in by choice/ designed within the Indian mind set. The novel revolve around a typical middle class Parsi world, witnessing day-today life of the struggles, fears and weakness of one of the smallest communities of the world. However, Mistry tries to expresses the fading glory of the Parsis in general and of the Gustad Noble's in particular, on religio-cultural basis. The novel shows the life of Parsi Noble begins with performing daily morning ritual Kusti to keep evils away from him, although, such spiritual practices could not protect him against the trials and tribulations of the physical world. Mistry also takes the readers to the Tower of Silence and Fire Temple, places otherwise closed for the non Parsis. Mistry deals with the past and present of his community. The novel recounts the journey of the Parsis, who came to India all the way from Iran in seventh century A. D. Gustad proud of his ancient roots, counters Malcolm's argument that Christianity came to India over nineteen hundred years ago. For this Gustad replied: Our prophet Zarathustra lived more than fifteen hundred years before your Son of God was even bom; a thousand years before the Buddha; two hundred years before Moses. And do you know how much Zoroastrianism influenced Judaism, Christianity and Islam? (24). 182

5 In this way Mistry shows us the origin of the Parsi religion, their history of migration, their spiritual performances and their Holy place. Fire temple and etc. Mistry manages to convey a vivid picture of India through sharp sketches of Indian family life in this novel and shows deep Indianness. The black magic, in its indigenous ways, practiced by Miss Kutpitia, her signs of omens and methods of bringing good luck to the family are still in practice among many Parsis. The misfortune that befalls Guatad's family is interpreted by Miss Kutpitia from her own ideological point of view rooted in beliefs and superstitions, culturally accepted and transmitted from generation to generation. The genesis of the trouble in Dilnavaz's family is attributed to the killing of a live chicken in the house brought by Gustad to celebrate his son's selection to IIT and the birthday of Roshan. Killing a bird in the house is very ominous, according to Miss Kutpitia. Against Gustad's wishes, his wife Dilnavaz invites Kutpitia to the dinner party but Kutpitia excuses herself claiming that the wriggling and dancing lizard tail on her table top was a definite ill omen forbidding her to go out for the next twenty-four hours (35). The ominous incident also casts its spell over the dinner party. Gustad's son Sohrab is very ungracious when Dinshawji congratulates him on his success in getting admission to the IIT. A sudden power failure plunges the flat in darkness; this symbolizes the eclipse of the father-son relationship. When the matter is brought to the notice of Kutpitia by the worried Dilnavaz, the Kutpitia attributes all this to "Jadu-Mantar" (63). 183

6 Dilnavaz is instructed to do some magic rites for a few days to bring back her son Sohrab who rejeuses to join the IIT against the wishes of his father and leaves the home. On the advice of Miss Kutpitia, Dilnavaz circles a lemon over Tehmul's head and offered its juice in a sweetened drink to the halfwit Tehmul-Lungraa ( ). By this there was no effect on Sohrab's mind. Instead things go from bad to worse. Admitting this, Kutpitia proceeds to give details about how to manage Sohrab's treatment procedure. To cure Sohrab, a lock of Tehmul's hair has to be burnt along with his nails (207). Roshan's illness was worsening day by day even after providing treatment from Dr. Paymaster. Meanwhile, Dilnavaz's consultations with Kutpitia intensify further. Kutpitia maintains that Roshan's illness is caused by an evil eye. To protect her from it she asks Dilnavaz to perform a ritual: Take your needle and thread, a nice strong thread, with a big knot at the end. Select a yellow lime, and seven chillies. Chillies must be green, not turning red. Never red. String them together with the needle. Lime goes at the bottom. Then hang the whole thing over your door, inside the house ( ). Each time Roshan walks under it, the evil eye becomes less and less powerfiil. But even this does not relieve Roshan of her illness. It is both evil eye and some dark force that are responsible for the continuous illness, argues Miss Kutpitia. Peerbhoy Paanwala who sells pan for all seasons, but the one most in demand is the bed-breaker with its renowned aplirodisiacal properties. He 184

7 suggests that when the Mughal Emperors used this variety of paan when they went to their harems. Thus the novel is replete with the episodes which recall popular myths and local colour. Various characters belonging to the Parsi community bring to the forefront peculiar traits of their community. The author tries to consider the possibilities of bringing in some sort of changes with the course of time: "It was not all jokes and singing in the canteen, though; sometimes the hour went in passionate argument about matters that concern the community, such as the Tower of Silence controversy" (71). And the reformer's proposal to introduce cremation would always result in flared up tempers. More often than not, together with their tradition their fears and anxieties are the focal points to character of the novel. Parsis had been in India a thousand years, they count as Indians. On the other hand, there were also those who suffered from the Indian post-colonial reality and took refiige in a glorification of the Parsi achievements of the past as well as to an uncritical nostalgia of everything British. This process of "cultural inversion" becomes evident in Dinshawji's complaint about the change of street names in Bombay (74). The Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi is seen as detrimental to their interests. To them she and her father have done injustice to Feroze Gandhi, a member of their community. Their anguish against her is also with the nationalization of banks during her rule, which destroyed their sovereignty over the banking system. She also made Nagarwala of their community 185

8 member as a scape goat in the money laundering case. This also perturbed the Parsi's psychology. Dinshawji also holds her responsible for the disharmony in Maharashtra, he says: "At once she began encouraging demands for separate Maharashtra. How much bloodshed, how much rioting she caused. And today we have that Shiv-Sena, wanting to make rest of us into second class citizens..." (39). He views all these phenomenons as a loss of personal history for the community. However, the novel is not entirely about an ordinary man and his family. The Parsi world and national issues are inter-related throughout the novel. There are numerous references to the wars or events related to wars against the neighbouring countries, which serves as historical back drop. Events like the 1948 Pak invasion on Kashmir, Indo-China war in 1962, Indo- Pak war in 1965 and 71 and the birth of Bangladesh are weaved in novel. Gustad thinks that the war with China was a humiliating defeat, every where people talking of nothing but Chinese had advanced. Nehru's faith in 'Hindi- Chine bhai-bhai' was shaken and he was betrayed by Chinese (9-10). Dr. Paymaster refers to Lalbahadur Shastri's proficiency in Indo-Pak war of 1965 in which he fared better than Nehru had in the war with China (114). These wars have adversely affected the lives of middle class in the country and the Parsis as well. Mistry through Gustad Noble tries to express the fear of the war faced by his community. Gustad Noble recalls his father's shopping in Crawford Market which has become for him a nightmare: "Gustad alone, with his 186

9 meager wallet and worn basket lined with newspaper to soak up meat juices that could start dripping in the bus, causing embarrassment or worse still, angry protests from vegetarian passengers" (21). These occasional trips to bring home meat or a live chicken are no longer a personal affair but potential deadly bomb that could spark Muslim- Hindu riots. Fear and guilt, shame and vulnerability haunt Gustad on these innocent trips to Crawford Market. For him the values of tolerance, kindness, co-operation and goodwill have been wiped clean by the tentacles of nationalism. Religious intolerance, anger, hatred and bitterness are what he sees at the core of the Indo- China, and Indo-Pak wars. Jayadipsinh K. Dodiya express Mistry's version of history in two different dimensions. Gustad and Dinshawji belong to an older generation who still has little faith left in them for the ruling party to improve country's future. Sohrab and his friends representing younger generation are quick to scrutinize the foulness of politicians with their youthful vigor. In between them is Dr. Paymaster with his adept views about contemporary politics, or Dilnavaz and Miss Kutpitia, totally ignorant of the political changes. Dr. Paymaster believed that politics, economics, religious problems, domestic strife, all could be dealt with methodically: "Observe the symptoms, make the diagnosis, and prescribe the medicine, after the prognosis..." For instance, he says to Gustad: East Pakistan had been attacked by a strong virus from West Pakistan, too powerful for eastern immune system. And the world's biggest physician is doing nothing; Worse, Dr. America is helping the virus. 187

10 Only the complete, intravenous injection of the Indian army will defeat this virus ( ). Mistry has woven together threads of history and social life, for history of nation is sure to infiltrate into social and personal level and affect the lives of people (The Fiction 77). Mistry in all his novels deals with the hfe of middle class Parsis in Mumbai. Such a Long Journey summarizes the sufferings of Gustad Noble and Family Matters with the life of sufferings of Yezad and Nariman Vakeel. This novel deals simultaneously with family matters and the fact that family does matter to an individual.the protagonist decides to seek shelter in Zoroastrianism and its rituals clearly indicate that Family Matter is a typical Parsi novel along with its superstitions and myth. Superstition and logic manifests itself in the narrative of Mistry's Family Matters as well. A horrifying accident of Lucy, Nariman's rejected lover and Yasmin, Nariman's wife on the terrace of "Chateau Felicity" which leads to the death of these two women makes Edul Munshi's wife Manizeh think that Nariman's flat is a cursed one. Hence, she resents her husband going over to repair the ceiling of the house. She even sees the chipping and falling of the ceiling plaster as an ill-omen. In spite of her opposition Edul had ventured into the house of unhappiness to repair the ceiling. Her worst fears come true when her husband tried to fix the beam on the ceiling, slips and falls, trapping Edul underneath and knocking down Coomy who had stepped 188

11 into serve him tea. The deaths of the two characters confirm the notoriety of the flat. Mistry depicts his communities disapproval of intercommunity marriages through the relationship between Nariman Vakeel and Lucy who is a non Parsi. Lucy's family is also against her marriage with a non-catholic. Another instance of the Parsi hostility to alliance occurs outside when Yezad catches his son Murad kissing a non Parsi girl. He advices his son: "You can have any friends you like any race or religion, but for a serious relationship, for marriage the rules are different" ( ). Because we are pure Persian race, a unique contribution to this planet and mixed marriage destroy that. Through the conflict between Yezad and Murad, Mistry has raised the delicate issue of generation gap and has presented candidly the problems faced by the Parsi community in terms of clash of traditional values with modern way of life. Emigration is one of the important events discussed by Mistry in this novel. Mistry as a Zoroastrian, his ancestry can be traced to the Persian Empire which had crumbled under the repeated onslaughts of Arab invasion during 638 A. D and 64 A.D. When the Persian Empire came under Arab rule, Islam became the favoured religion. Zoroastrian religion was ousted, though the Persian culture and language were appropriated by the invaders. The majority of the people accepted the new dispensation, but a minority preferred to retain their religion and fight for their rights. History records that this confrontation ended in the defeat and flight of Zoroastrians to other countries. 189

12 A small group of Parsis came to India and took refuge in Gujarat under the local ruler Jadav Rana. Though they are treated well, they try to emigrate to foreign countries in search of money. Narendra Kumar V.L.V.N says: The Parsis prefer the west since it offers unlimited scope for growth and prosperity. Dislocation is part of the Parsis psyche. Exiled twelve hundred years ago, they came to India. Now they are migrating to west in search of greener pasture. Thus there is 'double migration' in the case of Parsis (14). This is also true in the case of Yezad and Mistry himself- This indicates that the thirst of Parsee community to achieve economic status with a view to ensuring security in life. Mistry, in his novels discusses Parsi religion, customs, rituals, myths and etc. In Family Matters Mistry traces the importance of Parsi religion. Yezad, at first, does not have any interest in going to the Fire-temple. But when he loses his job he started going to the Fire-temple regularly, not for praying but for peace of mind. For him. Fire-temple is "a real oasis in the midst of this big, mad city" (299). Towards the end of the novel he is portrayed as a true religious man. Mistry in all his novels in many ways bears witness to the last grand stand of Parsi Zoroastrianism in India, who is facing a very serious threat of imminent extinction. In this novel he writes about the old myths and legends of ancient Iran. Using the device of oral narrator, Nariman Vakeel becomes the story teller and the audience, listening to these tales about ancient Iran, is his 190

13 young grandsons Murad and Jehangir. Nariman tells the story of the evil king Zuhak and the two serpents that grew out of his shoulders and needed to be fed the brains of two young men every day. This naturally meant that two men had to be sacrificed to Zuhak's unnatural appetite each day. Finally this depredation is put to an end by the brave Faridoon who in a terrible fight defeats Zuhak but is unable to kill him, so chains him and buries him deep within a mountain. Thus evil is overcome by good. This myth reinforces the basic Zoroastrian tenets of the eternal battle between good and evil that rages within the soul of all men. Interwoven with this myth is the role of nature in the salvation of human souls. The evil Zuhak deep within the bowels of the mountain, sucks on his chains all night and weakens them to the extent that he would be able to break them apart and thus strike terror all over again. But the cock, who crows every morning to herald the dawn, also signals the end of Zuhak's aspirations and the chains grow strong again at the behest of the good angel Sorosh. Thus the bond between man and nature is renewed each day. In this myth making Mistry points out that it is important for human being to remember their origins through such devices ( ). The Parsis have a profound interest in music. During the British Raj in India the Parsis had close contact with the colonizers and they still have profound interest in western music and theatre. A.G. Khan writes that "The Parsis social and cultural mores were now at par with the British. They came to cultivate a profound interest in Western music... The Parsis emulated music 191

14 English lifestyles by building some fine villas in the colonial architectural scheme and decorating them with typical Victorian furniture's followed by painting". The piano and violin are their favourite musical instruments. This can be witnessed in the case of Nariman Vakeel who is a music lover even in his sick bed, the neighbour Daisy, a violinist plays violin for him and makes him happy by playing his favourite song (474). A true Parsi should be tolerant about the faiths and beliefs of others. In most Parsi households one can see both Zarathursti and non Zarathursti images. Yezad however feels that 'non Zarathursti images' are responsible for the quarrel and fighting in the house. He believes that such disturbances interfere with the vibration of Avesta prayers. So he throws the non Zarathursti images into the sea (491) in this way he differs from other Parsis. The Parsis are noted for their honesty. In this novel Mistry has shown Yezad as a dishonest man. He is an employee of Vikram Kapur an owner of "Bombay Sporting Goods Emporium". Kapur trusts Yezad so much and allows him to handle all his business dealings. Kapur has faith in "Parsi reputation". He comments upon Yezad thus: "The Parsi reputation for honesty is well known. And even if it is a myth-there is no myth without truth, no smoke without fire" (156). Yezad's father was an honest man. Once he was presented with a clock for his honesty and Yezad keeps that clock in his flat as a matter of pride. He often narrates this story to his children and tells always.to be honest in their life. 192

15 Mistry, through various characters in both the novels has incorporated ancient myths with a living condition of the Parsi as a community. This has made the novels a social document. The novels gain its effective strength from interplay of fact and fiction, which places the novels in the category of fiction. Pre-occupation with history is an integral aspect of writer's intention. The novels views and reviews a vast canvas of Indian life. It discusses minutely and realistically the ups and downs of an average Indian and also touches certain explosive aspects of the Indian politics and the three wars, the emergency, the birth of Bangladesh and atrocities of Shiv-Sena in Mumbai. The novels emerge as a parallel history of modem India. In this context Mistry re-narrates the history of his community and country as it has been in the post-independence era. It seems that the "novelist constructs the story of his community in the novels, which centralizes the Parsi community as a protagonist through its characters. This re-narration of history in a way depicts consciousness of anxieties and aspirations, perils and problems of existence of individual, communal and national issues. Mistry has, in this sense, successfully exploited some historical points of post-independence era and endeavored to rethink them and re-narrates about his community and country through the various narratives woven in the novels" (Dodiya, The Fiction 78). A Fine Balance can be labeled as a historical novel as it presents some of the most important events in the history of post-independence India and the way these affect the lives of ordinary people. The book focuses on two such 193

16 events: the Partition coupled with Indian Independence in 1947 and the State of Emergency between During the Partition of India, the violent conflicts between the Hindus and Muslims reach unimaginable proportions in certain regions: Communal slaughter at the brand new border had ignited riots everywhere, and sporting a fez in a Hindu neighborhood was as fatal as possessing a foreskin in a Muslim one. In certain areas it was wiser to go bareheaded, for choosing incorrectly among fez, white cap, and turban could mean losing one's Head (87). Ishvar and Narayan are witnesses to all this aggression while they learn the trade of tailoring in the house of the Muslim Ashraf Chacha. They repay the Muslim's kindness to them by saving the latter and his family from the hands of an angry Hindu mob ready to slaughter and bum to the ground everything Muslim. Though part of an upper-middle class family and living in the city Dina, too, feels the consequences of historical events even if not directly. As a result of the violence accompanying the Independence and Partition she is banned from leaving the house, a fact which traps her within the confines of her brother's tyranny. The second historical event, the State of Emergency, has an overwhelming presence in the novel and devastating consequences for the existence of many characters. Ishvar and Omprakash are probably the ones who suffer the most from the 'beautification of the city and the sterilization programme'. In addition, Ishvar and Om lose their good firiend and mentor 194

17 Ashraf who is beaten to death in the market place in the course of the irresponsible actions which characterized the State of Emergency. Not only are the very poor powerless in the face of the terror of the Emergency. Maneck friend, the Students Union leader, Avinash, who is tortured to death by the police for speaking against Government measures. Unfortunately the reader discovers that rich people do not make any effort to understand the drama of these individuals. An example would be the attitude expressed by Nusswan and Mrs. Gupta of Au Revoir Exports. Dina's brother Nusswan is supportive of government measures considering that: People sleeping on the pavements give industry a bad name. My friend was saying last week-he's the director of a multinational, mind you, not some small, two-paisa business- he was saying that at least two hundred million people are surplus to requirements, they should be eliminated...got rid of. Counting them as unemployment statistics year after year gets us nowhere just makes the numbers look bad. What kind of lives do they have anyway? They sit in the gutter and look like corpses. Death would be a mercy ( ). Nusswan calls the Prime Minister "Our visionary leader" and the Emergency "A true spirit of Renaissance" (371). Mrs. Gupta and Nusswan are ignorant of the fate of the poor and dispossessed and praise the Emergency benefits. Indeed, the State of Emergency gives her the possibility to pay low wages and make a good profit without fear of union leaders and strikes. There are instances in the novel where his characters voice their anti-emergency 195

18 opinions directly but these are scarce. However, in this illustrative scene he brings to the fore the excesses and absurdities of the political regime. The book concentrates its attention on the terror experienced by people during the Emergency underlining the most unsightly and hideous aspects of life such as poverty, despair and violence. In this novel Mistry expands his area of interest moving beyond Parsi life to embrace the fate of the wider Indian nation at the time of the infamous Emergency. His concern here is not only with members of the Parsi community but also with lower caste Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. It is mainly a list of characters from the margins who find themselves at the mercy of the Brahminical and pseudo-secular elites shaping India in the 1970s. In presenting history Mistry concentrates on those moments or processes that are produced in the construction of cultural otherness. A Fine Balance offers the social articulation of otherness from a minority perspective, focusing on the world of the deprived classes with their aspirations and assertions. This novel tries to uncover the suppressed or neglected or misrepresented chapters of Indian history and present the writer's point of view as well. This re-narration of history from his own personal perspective helps the writer to construct his own story of both his community and nation. Shashi Tharoor in his novel Riot sheds light on the history, myth and culture of India. Uma Nair says Riot "skims the anguish of isolation and the social mores of Indian society bringing back once in a while the historic crutches of suspicion and divisiveness that we have been left with" (19). 196

19 Tharoor taking history as its base, revisits the past with objectivity and irony, and transforms it into historiographical meta-fiction which problematizes history by presenting historical incidents and characters. The Riot is written on the backdrop of the death of an American student, Priscilla Hart, the actual incidents relating to the Coca-Cola controversy in India and the conflicts of Ram Janmabhoomi/Babri Masjid indicate the understanding that treats history as fiction. Riot marks the emergence of a new perspective vis-a-vis fictional in its clear diversion from being a reflection of social reality. Instead of giving expression to some already existing reality or worldview the novel develops into a kind of discursive formation of ideas and an expression of divergent views forming specific relations to historical events. Hence the historical events as well as the fictional happenings depicted in the novel offers multiplicity of perspectives and provide different versions of historical as well as the fictional truth. The Riot is not seen by the author as an isolated experience but an entire nation's history and socio-cultural ethos is brought to bear on the particular textual moment which examines the fundamental basis for the Hindu-Muslim communal divide and the reasons for the widely prevalent religious conflagrations in the sub continent. The issue is complicated when the author offers divergent perspectives on history by people like Prof Mohammad Sarwar and a Hindu chauvinist Ram Charan Gupta. Tharoor seems intent on 197

20 creating probable and divisive subtexts by giving scope for counter views against the analysis of the individuals concern. The most fundamental question explode in the text is the question of what exactly constitutes history. As far as Hindu fanatics Ram Charan Gupta are concerned they are clear in their view of Hindu myths and legends associated with texts like The Ramayana and The Mahabharata as part of main stream historical discourse. Mr. Gupta supports the cause of construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. He says: In Ayodhya there are many temples to Ram. But the most famous temple is not really a temple anymore. It is the Ram Janmabhoomi, the birthplace of Ram. A fit site for a grand temple In olden days a great temple stood there. There are legends about that pilgrims from all over India would come to worship Ram there. But a Muslim king, the Mughal emperor Babar, a foreigner from central Asia, knocked it down and in its place he built a big mosque, which was named after him, the Babri Masjid. Naturally our community was much hurt by this (52). It is not only Ram Janmabhoomi temple but literally dozens more temples are demolished and replaced with their mosques. The same was repeated to the Kashi vishwanath temple at Varanasi by Aurangzeb. And ordered one of his generals to bring the emerald lingam back to him and smash the great temple. The Hindu Temples were destroyed and replaced by mosque 198

21 quite deliberately, as part of a conscious imperial strategy by the Muslim rulers, to demoralize the local population and humiliate them ( ). A corrective is offered by historian Prof. Mohammad Sarwar who declares that: "The whole point is that historians like myself, who have not sold our souls to either side in this wretched ongoing communal argument, have a duty to dig into the myths that divide and unite our people" (67). Hindus have grudges against Muslims. He says: "Indian Muslims suffer disadvantages, even discrimination, in a hundred ways..." (112). There are prejudices in this country. India does not believe in secularism. Her citizens are radicals. The Hindutva brigade is trying to invent a new past for the nation, fabricating historical wrongs, degrading evidence of Muslim malfeasance and misappropriation of national glory. They want to teach Muslims a lesson, though they have not learned many lessons themselves (67). As the Professor makes it apparent later on, his liberal secular ideology informs his notion of a near Utopian composite religiosity (64). It is this notion of secularism as propagated by the successive Congress governments that is found to be at fault by both the Muslims (107) and the Hindutva brigade typified by Ram Charan Gupta (56). The problem posited is that a secular version of history is perceived to be a complicit in the ideological movement in the majority community. The open debate in the text with regard to the veracity of facts surrounding the Ram temple in Ayodhya is emblematic of a deeper divide that 199

22 goes beyond the veneer of acceptability that lies shrouded as a result of government institutionalization, in this case the Congress. While Ram Charan Gupta is vociferous in his evocation of the whole issue: The spot with the best site on a hill, is occupied by a mosque? Do these secularists think that was an accident, or a simple coincidence? Or might it be, instead, that Babar, the Mughal invader, demolished the biggest, the best, and the most important temple of the Hindus and replaced it with a mosque named for himself, just to rub the noses of the conquered in the rebel of their faith? (120). Professor Mohammad Sarwar clarifies later: I know the Hindutva types believe that the temples of Ayodhya precede Babar and that he must have destroyed the biggest one because it was the best located. But the problem with this is that there's a lot of evidence for the opposite-for the building of temples in Ayodhya under Muslim rule, well after Babar built his Masjid (183). But even he acknowledges that in the sub continent and its history, religion and communal sensitivity has played a major role. In a way the Professor undermines the sanctity of the historical process through the recognition of these limitation or rather religious constraints. While the Professor would turn the ideological underpinning of the Hindutva brigade as one that limits the process to an exercise in reinventing the past, people like Ram Charan Gupta would say that they are retrieving / recovering their heritage which has a truth 200

23 value that is more than mere symbolism. In this way Riot along with a functioning as metaphor for historiographical flaws, also tactfully informs the post-modem notion of past as evanescent but everywhere inscribed. After giving views from both the Hindu and Muslim camps, Tharoor uses Lakshman's conversation with Priscilla Hart to speak his mind. Lakshman wonders why Hinduism, an essentially tolerant faith should want to desecrate a Muslim shrine to validate itself. He wonders why the Muslims are being assaulted for something that happened over four hundred and fifty years ago. He rightly remarks that it is because "politicians of all faiths across India seek to mobilize votes by appealing to narrow identities" (45). By seeking votes in the name of religion, caste and region, they have urged voters to define themselves on these lines. Lakshman tells Priscilla that Hindus could be right. There could have been a temple there at Ayodhya over which Babar built a mosque. But it is rather uncivil for Hindus, of the present enlightened age, to repeat what Muslims of the sixteenth century did in a fit of ignorance and fanaticism. Such narrow mindedness could only provoke violence and tarnish the image of Hindus across the world. He feels Hindus need to uphold the dignity of their religion. Such sentiments need to be respected by Hindu fanatics when they say that they are proud to be Hindus, for authentic Hinduism has always stood for religious tolerance. 201

24 Tharoor along with history tries to show Indians are superstitious and believes in myths. Geeta, Lakshman's wife is a symbolic representative of such types of people. She is very religious as well as superstitious. When she comes to know from Gurinder Singh that her husband has decided to move away with Priscilla to USA, she goes to swamiji in the temple of Lord Shiva. She prays, undergoes fasts and seeks blessings from divine world to save her relationship. She asks swamiji to conduct a special pooja for her to help to prevent her husband not to go with Priscilla. She says: "use tantra, do the tandava, use anyone and anything you want, swamiji, but please do not let this foreign devilwoman run away with my husband" (227). Tharoor says Indians even believe in fairies and ghosts. Lakshman rightly says: "In India, myths and legends are very slow to die" (47). Kotli- Zalilgarh's only authentic historical sight is a haunted building. Nevertheless, here Lakshman and Priscilla enjoy their rendezvous every Tuesday and Saturday. It is quite isolated place, far away from the town. "It is believed that the owner of the Kotli was murdered in his bed by his wife and her lover. But he never let them enjoy the fruits of their villainy. He haunted the house, wailing and shrieking and gnashing his teeth, until he had driven them away in terror. No one would live there after that, so it just fell into disuse" (47). As Tharoor himself writes an article in "The Hindu" daily newspaper that the Hindu zealots who chanted insultingly triumphalist slogans helped incite the worst elements on the Muslim side, who criminally set fire to a railway carriage carrying temple campaigners; in turn, Hindu mobs have 202

25 torched Muslim homes and killed innocents. As the courts deliberate on a solution to the dispute, the cycle of violence goes on, spawning new hostages to history, generating new victims on both sides, ensuring that future generations will be taught new wrongs to set right. He has pointed out in the last words of Riot "history is not a web woven with innocent hands". Tharoor in The Great Indian Novel portrays the post-colonial realities of India using the epic men and the episodes of the Mahabharata. It has been noted that "one of the most striking trends in the Indian novel in English has been its tendency to reclaim the nation's histories". In India, myths have traditionally been seen to be more important and have more explanatory power than history, something that was also part and parcel of the twentieth-century. Therefore Indians were traditionally preoccupied with myths, philosophy, literary and religious writing rather than history. History is one of the central themes of The Great Indian Novel, which, in addition to being a satirical narrativisation of twentieth-century Indian history in a mythological format borrowed from the Mahabharata, with figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru corresponding to the characters of the ancient Indian epic. The story of the Mahabharata provides the novel with the basic structure on which Tharoor has fitted a history of twentieth-century India, beginning from Mahatma Gandhi's return to India in 1915 and finishing with Indira Gandhi's second premiership in the early 1980s. The novel's narrator, Ved Vyas, or V.V., has been personally involved in the political life of the period, and then dictates, like the supposed composer of the 203

26 Mahabharata, the story to a scribe. History does not just provide a backdrop for this novel, nor is it merely littered with historical signposts to put the story in time: history is the very content of The Great Indian Novel, even though it is presented using myth, fiction and satire. P. K Raj an discusses that, The Great Indian Novel blends myth and history, two different times operate in the very beginning of the novel: mythical time and historical time. This arises from the fact those contemporary political events as well as the episodes of the great epic Mahabharata which form the two basic components in the novel. Tharoor attempts to present historical events, guided not by their traditional versions but by more reliable/ authentic accounts of events and inner stories, seems to make it a startlingly original picture of the epoch it seeks to portray. The use of narrator V.V, who is both a witness to history and a leading participant, makes it possible to provide a first-hand relation of events as they really happened and also impart a touch of objectivity and immediacy to the narrative. The very objectivity of historical writing is also called into question, as "the facts" on which the depiction and interpretation of many of the incidents and events in The Great Indian Novel are based are rumours, hearsay, secondhand information and guesses. V.V. openly admits the subjectivity of his account and at the same time implies that all accounts of history are subjective. A literal transplantation of the characters of the epic by actual men and women of history on a one-to-one formula tends, on the one hand, to make a caricature 204

27 of the historical events, on the other, to ignore the boarders between myth and history ( ). M.K. Chaudhury brings out that Tharoor in his The Great Indian Novel instead of using two separate time-frames, one for the epic age and the other for the modem, fuses them into a single one presenting characters, events and situations pertaining to the Mahabharata as contemporaneous with the present time. His novel makes a bold and creative use of the mythic setting for interpretation and understanding of the historical process and uses this mode for biting commentary on the political episodes and the personalities of modem India. The first half of the novel establishes a point-to-point parallel between Bhisma and Gandhi- from the taking of the terrible vow to the agony of the partition and the final assassination. As the scheme expands, the story encloses other characters. The modem Dhritarastra, J. Nehm, "has the blind man's gift of seeing the world not as it is but as he wanted it to be" (85). Subhas Chandra Bose, the modem version of Pandu, is presented ironically but not without sympathy. He is seen as one who could have changed the history of India had he not been betrayed both at home and by foreign powers. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the modem Kama, is one of the most interesting figures of the novel. Tharoor goes into the details of circumstances of his birth; the reasons for his alienation from the Congress Party which made him join the Muslim League, in order to form equation between Kama and his modern prototype. The other principle characters of the 205

28 Mahabharata are conceived as the major institutions of India-Bhima as the army, Arjuna as the press, Draupadi as democracy. In his fictional rendering of the history of India of the post Gandhi period, Tharoor makes a more skillful use of mythic setting by relating the past and the present in dream. By placing the past vertically on the horizontal present, he integrates a number of key episodes of the Mahabharata into the story, a couple of which are slightly modified, in order to project important political events of the post-independence period. The defeat of Hidamba by Bhima is used as a parallel for the liberation of Goa from the Portuguese rule; the tearing off of the body of Jarasandha into two by Bhima reflects the dismembering of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. By replacing Bhima by Sahadeva in the original episode of Bhima-Bakasura wrestling match, the sad and humiliating defeat of India in the Indo-China war has been mirrored. The most effective use of the mythic setting, however, is to be found in Tharoor's creative use of the episode of the disrobing of Draupadi as a parallel for Mrs. Gandhi's misrule (Dushasan) of the country, her over throwing of democracy and the abrogation of constitutional rights during the emergency. Disrobing of Draupadi here is symbolic of denuding Indian people of their dignity and freedom. The marriage of Draupadi and Arjuna is given a modem meaning by presenting it as a union of democracy and the voice of the people, whose medium is the press. The modem Arjuna is a joumalist, a representative of the powers and weaknesses of the Indian press. Arjuna has to play the role 206

29 of savior and rescue the nation from pohtical tyranny and oppression. The Pashupatastra that he receives from Shiva symbolizes the power of the press in a democracy. It is the 'ultimate weapon', which has to be used with discretion not only for devastation but also for construction ( ). The value of the novel as a political novel can seldom be exaggerated. It is a post-colonial statement on the hideousness of the colonial ethics. Its ironic vision seems to serve a political standpoint which both indicts colonialist exploitation and craves for a truly viable democratic alternative to emerge in India. In certain parts of the work it even tends to give up the ironic tone and becomes a direct and scathing attack against the colonialist practice. In the way it exposes the wrong economic policies pursued after independence, the mismanagement of the country under Mrs. Indira Gandhi and the dark days of emergency and the later failure of the Janatha politicians to provide a successfiil alternative, the novel becomes a document of manifest sociopolitical criticism. The Great Indian Novel connects modem India with its ancient past, its traditions, cultural heritage and recording of history. It also emphasizes and highlights Indian tradition in the telling of Indian history and thus brings something of Indian heritage to Western readers. Indian history is told here not only from an Indian perspective but by utilizing India's cultural heritage in its structure and form. It is almost as if history repeats itself, for even though the 207

30 historical contexts change, the basic structures remain the same or at least occur repeatedly. It has been noted that one of the most striking trends in the Indian novel in English has been its tendency to reclaim the nation's histories. Mistry in his novels tries to express the fading glory of the Parsis on religio-cultural basis. He deals with the past and present of his community. He recounts the history of Parsi migration, their adjustment with the local rulers at different periods and their contribution in the development of the country, their tradition, religion, customs, spiritual performances and their holy place Fire Temple and the Tower of Silence. He has also incorporated ancient myths with a living condition of the Parsi as a community. He discusses minutely and realistically the ups and downs of an average Indian and also touches certain aspects of Indian politics and the three wars, the emergency, the birth of Bangladesh and atrocities of Shiv-Sena in Mumbai. Like Mistry, Tharoor also writes the history, myth and culture of India. In Riot he has incorporated the conflicts of Ram Janmabhoomi /Babri Masjid and Coca-Cola controversy in India. Through various characters Tharoor expresses the cultural conflicts of east and west, explains partition of India and the Hindu-Sikh riot of In The Great Indian Novel Tharoor has masterfiilly recast the two-thousand year old epic The Mahabharata with fictionalized but highly recognizable events and characters from twentieth 208

31 century Indian politics blending history and myth to chronicle the Indian struggle for freedom and Independence. Thus both the writers have employed their creative talents to explore the contemporary reality and they have re-narrated the stories of their own people, communities and regions through various characters in their novels through the different periods of time. 109