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Contents

1. The Culture of Silence: Construction of Women in the Manusmriti

Shelly Parul Bhadwal 49

2. To be or not to beis that the Question?

Sonal Biswas 1019

3. The Other Women in the Mahabharata

Ravi Khangai 2028

4. Fractured Narrative for Incest in The Blue Bedspread: A Reconsideration

Ketaki Datta 2934
5. Shape of the Desire : Shaping the Hunger in Poetry of Binay Majumder and
Falguni Roy
Abhishek Jha 3539
6. Representation of Women in Mainstream Bollywood Hindi Films : A Case Study
Pallav Mukhopadhyay 4064

7. Redefining the Body as a Cultural Signifier in Salman Rushdies Midnights

Children
Rosy Chamling 6577
8. The Influence of Cinema on Society and Culture: With Special Reference to
Tamil Films
Aruna Natarajan 7884

9. Anita Desais Cry, the Peacock: Deconstructing the Savitri Syndrome

Jaydip Sarkar 8591

10. De-stereotyping the Indian Female Body: A Feminist Reading of Rituparno

Ghoshs Films

Sreyashi Dhar 92104

11. In Search of a Story

Pragya Shukla 105111



 12. Who Framed Her? The Filmmakers, Fans, Fanatics?
D.Nivedhitha 112117

13. [Re]Configuring the Female Body: Transcending Lecriture Feminine in

Mahasweta Devis Draupadi and Beyond the Bodice
Purnendu Chatterjee 118126

14. Eves Discourse: The Story Between Body and Soul: A Comparative Approach
of the Poetry of Kamala Das and Carilda Oliver Labra in the Context of Ancient India.
Kousik Adhikari 127135

15. De- Mythifying Manu Smrithi : A Reading of Jaishree Misras Rani

Hycinth Sophia Paul 136141

Contributors 142




The Culture of Silence: Construction of Women in the Manusmriti
Shelly Parul Bhadwal

Representing women has primarily been a male endeavour, wherein the classification in
terms of the bi-polarities of the public and private woman, is done with patriarchal
convenience. The iconization that follows, is however, imbued with ambivalence and
presents grey icons as opposed to distinct black or white ones. This blurry identity has been
used by patriarchal agencies ever since to facilitate their own cause. The Dharma Shastras,
Vedas, Puranas and other Brahminical-Sanskritic texts within Hinduism also dictate
prescriptive roles to women, which benefit the ruling male elite. The representation is not so
much of what is but of what ought to be. Despite its problems, such iconizations are
religiously followed and any deviance from them is considered a social aberration.

It is explicit that the body of the female has a significant body of discourse around it,
which shackles her sexuality and self-expression and confines her identity within
claustrophobic stereotypes and icons or what may be called the frozen role models. Take for
instance, the female icons of Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara and Mandodari, within the Hindu
tradition. Eulogising these virtuous women, a verse states,

Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara, Mandodari tatha

Panchkanyam smarennityam sarva papa vinaashanam (Ramaswamy 17)

It means that by remembering these five women, namely, Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara and
Mandodari, all sins are destroyed. But who would account for the sins that the patriarchal
social order committed against them?
All of them are considered to be women whose virtue and sacrifice is worth emulating
by all women. They were women, who solely wished the best for their husbands and
complied with all their commands. While Ahalya bore her husbands curse for ages, waiting
for her redeemer Ram, (the mere touch of whose toe would turn her back from a stone to the
human form); Sita accompanied Ram during his exile and later left the royal palace to live in
the forest, when her husband commanded. Tara was sold as a slave by her husband Harish
Chandra, while the husbands of Draupadi lost her in a gamble. Mandodari too, gave in to the
whims of her husband Ravana, and agreed to welcome Sita into the family.

Each one of these women, despite their extraordinary stature, had no right over their
body and sexuality. These temporally frozen women were also frozen in terms of their
helplessness and inability to protest or defy the strongly held notions of their times. Every
decision in these matters was subject to the wishes of their male counterpart. The repeated
questioning and testing of their fidelity and awarding them punishments even at the slightest
hint of digression from the predetermined path, shows how inaccessible their own body and
sexuality was to them. There is hardly any surprise then, as for the reasons behind writing
such an implicitly prescriptive verse by its male authors. Beyond the eulogising veil of the



verse, lies an intelligently obscured patriarchal ideology, which aims at controlling the female
body and sexuality.

Some strong and direct prescriptions regarding female conduct are articulated in the
Manusmriti. Each of these prescriptions, though addressed to men, is implicitly directed
towards women. The ninth chapter of the Manusmriti, in particular, deals with the duties of
women and men towards one another. Here, the first few verses themselves set the tone for
the verses that follow. The second verse, for instance directs the husband to keep his wife
under his control:

Day and night woman must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families), and,
if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one's control.
(Buhler 9.2)

This control over ones wife is considered to be the foremost duty of the husband,
irrespective of the social strata, to which one may belong. It states,

Considering that the highest duty of all castes, even weak husbands (must) strive to guard
their wives.( Buhler 9.6)

Moreover, a women is subject to a life which is directed by men at every stage, as she is
considered unworthy of freedom as prescribed by the verse,

Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons
protect (her) in old age; a woman is never for independence. (Buhler 9.3)

In this way, the womans territory of action gets confined to the panoptic patriarchal
surveillance and her body and mind are sought to be operated in a mechanical way, like an
object. She is portrayed as fickle, indecisive, erratic, sensuous, and inclined towards infidelity
and therefore condemned to male control.

Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural
heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however carefully they may
be guarded in this (world) (Buhler 9.15)

Knowing their disposition, which the Lord of creatures laid in them at the creation, to be
such, (every) man should most strenuously exert himself to guard them. (Buhler 9.16)

As far as the role of women is concerned, it is primarily limited to the household and above
all, to procreation. She is seen as a mere source of the continuity of the race and clan as the
mother of sons who would carry the baton of the familys name and honour. It is interesting
to note, that the daughters find no mention in the designs of the male-order. There is hardly
any verse that mentions the putri as desirable or significant. The discourse thus created,
silences the daughter even before she is born, for it is only the putra who is desirable and
primary to the functioning of the society. This strangulated identity of the putri then gives



birth to a culture of silence, which continues throughout a womans life. It is this deafening
silence that fills the void of her existence.

This story of silence that began with a womans birth continues to persist, despite her
transition from one stage to another. Each of these stages has its own rules and at every step
these rules differ for men and women. What is all the more intriguing is the inconsistency of
these prescriptive arguments. For instance, a paradox is encountered within the parameters of
loyalty set for the woman. According to the Manusmriti, a loyal wife is the one who
persistently works towards the happiness and wellbeing of her husband. It is her duty to take
care of his likes and dislikes and be on his side and in his service, even if he is a man devoid
of morals and ethics. She is directed by the treatise not to even think of another man, during
or after the lifetime of her husband. She should worship her husband like God and therefore
every service towards him is equivalent to worship of the highest order. To sum it up, the
service towards ones husband is the way to heaven. But while the fidelity and purity of the
woman is paramount, the Manusmriti allows for a relationship with the brother of the
husband, or with any male of the same clan, in case of no (male) child. Once again, the
procreational function and the strengthening of the patriarchal order through the male child
and the male-favouring flexibility assured in this case are worth contesting.
In instances of praise for the women and in arguments voicing their superior position
within the household as well, the underpinning of patriarchal interests can be easily traced.
The Manusmriti, in enumerating the duties of the husband towards his wife, directs him to
keep her happy, by providing her with good food, clothing, ornaments and other material
comforts. The treatise also warns him of any disrespect towards the women in the family, for
it is their happiness that will ensure the happiness of the entire family.

Where women are honoured, there the gods are pleased; but where they are not
honoured, no sacred rite yields rewards. (Buhler 3.56)

The verse that follows these instructive verses explicitly reveals the purpose behind these
favours. It states that it is important for a man to keep his woman happy, for if she is unhappy
in any way, she will not feel like indulging into sensuous pleasures of any kind, which will
result in heirless-ness.

..but if she has no attractions for him, no children will be born. (Buhler 3.61)

The argument in terms of the role of the women, once again, boils down to the one and only
function of procreation, which has been assigned to women time and again. Moreover, such
eulogizing assures a safe and strategic upper-hand to men who use it to hush up any
dissenting voice and promote silence.

Some contention also lies in the stance of the treatise towards the widows a lot, most
silenced and cornered. While they are not allowed to remarry on one hand, they are permitted
to associate themselves with the brother of their deceased husband, if they are desirous of a
male child and may continue this relationship till the fulfilment of the same. This once again
reiterates the duty of women in terms of their primary social function that of procreation
as perpetuated by the patriarchal norms, rather than adhering to their desires. This time
around it is the benevolence of the patriarchal world that is used as a silencing tool.



 The rights given to men and women, with regard to the freedom within the marital
relationship also display visible disparity. For instance, a woman is directed to be with her
husband in every condition.

Though destitute of virtue, or seeking pleasure (elsewhere), or devoid of good qualities,

(yet) a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife. (Buhler 5.154)

The husband however has the right to abandon his wife if she is not dutiful and is permitted
to remarry in case his wife is ill or is unable to bear children or has given birth only to girls or
still babies.

A barren wife may be superseded in the eighth year, she whose children (all) die in the
tenth, she who bears only daughters in the eleventh, but she who is quarrelsome without
delay. (Buhler 9.81)

Similarly, while a widow is not permitted to remarry and a married woman is not allowed to
choose or even think of another man, who is better than her existing husband, a man is
permitted to do so in case his wife dies and at times even when she is alive. Here too, like in
the previous instances, the incentive is that of the male child and the urgency is that of the
male needs and desires.

It appears that according to this treatise on social conduct, the existence of women on
the whole then, rests only on their body. The identity and the function of the woman is
defined in terms of her body her reproductive ability, her virginity, her motherhood, her
loyalty and her falling. Within the society, her identity shifts with the changing male
protectors of and providers for, her body. She is a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother, but
never an independent individual. Moreover, she is not considered an individual apt for
rational, intellectual and cerebral activities. Her existence is regarded as one that can be easily
controlled by pleasing her with good food, clothing and ornaments, which are provided to
her, by her father, brother, husband or son. Her redemption solely lies in complying with the
decisions of the men in her life, in being the mother of sons and of course, in silence.

Observing the distinction between the social presence of men and women, John
Berger in his book, Ways of Seeing, makes a significant proposition, arguing that while the
presence of men is suggested in terms of their action, that of the women is indicated by their
appearance. In this way, a culture, hegemonized by patriarchal norms objectifies a womans
body as well as her sexuality. She is put under a constant gaze, where her only task is to be a
spectacle that gratifies the sexuality of her male spectator. She becomes a breathing work of
art and her function within the society is so well perpetuated that she ends up being her own
spectatoralways under her own gaze. Turning her into a spectacle also signifies her
silencing and her identity as a mere body.

In case of the Manusmriti, it appears that while the men are a presence in themselves,
the presence of the women is suggested in terms of their bonded sexuality which is subject to
the sexuality of the men. This function is so well indoctrinated and disseminated that the
women ends up dreaming of being the blessed wives of noble husbands and the blessed
mothers of noble sons. They stop thinking in terms of any other function and the purpose of
their existence. This facilitates the strengthening of such stereotypical prescriptions and in
making them all the more part of the collective unconscious of the society.



 This silencing of ages has turned women into the custodians of their own
enslavement. What Ayaan Hirsi Ali states with relation to Islamic women, holds equally true
for women subjugated by religion-approved patriarchal norms, all over the world. She
emphasizes that the women,
...have internalized their subordination, they no longer experience it as an oppression
by an external force but as a strong internal shield. Women who have mastered the
survival strategies derive a certain pride from living this way. They are like prisoners
suffering from Stockholm syndrome, in which hostages fall in love with the hostage
takers and establish a deep, intimate contact with them. But it is an unhealthy
intimacy, comparable to slaves who are subordinate not only in body, but also
psychologically, and who preferred the certainty of their existence in slavery to a
freedom that they perceive as treacherous. (Ali 31-32)

Therefore, in a situation where the victimized themselves willingly consent to further

victimization, the interrogation of mystifications, stereotypes and archetypes that exist within
a culture, becomes paramount and calls for an urgent redefining of gender roles by equally
privileging the desires of both sections of the society. It is high time, that the culture of
silence is ruptured and some amount of critical thinking is invested by women themselves,
into the examination of the naturalness of their everyday existence. As Vijaya Ramaswamy
says the recovery of the real women from these frozen role models is vital for the
creation of an emancipated space for women.

The distinction needs to be put forth effectively, not only for the men to realise but
also for the women themselves, to understand and differentiate between their natural and their
naturalised roles. For it is commonplace to notice, women turned against other women,
who raise a voice of dissent and assert their individuality. In this way, they contribute
towards sustaining their own subjugation. It is also interesting to observe that even educated
women and men have not been able to break free from the prison house of the patriarchal
ideology, which they were indoctrinated with, since childhood. Their internal sense of
tradition defies their modern exterior. The modernity they flaunt is not organic; it is rather a
mere hyper reality which they enjoy and do not wish to escape. Captivated by its apparent
bliss, they are not able to come to terms with their own traditional orientation.

The women and men need to own up their complacency and their reluctance towards
change and actively reinterpret scriptural sanctions to make the world a better place to live in
for all. What needs to be understood is that the traditional and religious texts like the
Manusmriti cannot be blamed for complete misogyny. While they are replete with remarks
that put women on the back foot, they also contain passages that support the position of
women, identify their rights and treat them as equal. For instance, the Manusmriti permits the
women to choose a husband for themselves, in case their father has not been able to find a
suitable match for long. Retracing the application of this right within history, the story of one
of the major Hindu icons, Savitri, serves as an apt example in this case. According to the
story, when Asvapati, the father of Savitri, was unable to find a suitable match for his
virtuous and beautiful daughter, he permitted her to choose a husband for herself. Savitri then
set out on a journey in search of a suitable match for herself, until she finally met Satyavaan,
the son of Dyumatsena, whom she chose for a husband. Moreover, organizing Swayamvaras
for princesses, by their fathers, also hint at the freedom women exercised while choosing
their spouse. These examples noticeably prove that women had the right to choose a man of
their choice and therefore exercise some influence over a major decision of their life.



However, with the passage of time, this freedom was taken away from the women and the
men took control of decision-making of every kind. What is also interesting to notice here, is
the selective representation of the icon, Savitri, by the governing patriarchs. While she is
eulogized as a woman who fought with Yama, for the life of her husband, the fact, that she
chose her husband by freewill is rarely spoken about. Another, element within her story, that
is highlighted, is her wish to bear a son. In this way, through the partial representation of
icons the male-order foregrounds the duties of women towards their husbands, focusing once
again on the importance of bearing sons, while pushing the rights of the women into the
background.

Displaying further flexibility, the treatise puts forth eight types of marriages namely,
the Brahma, Daiva, Arsa, Prajapatya, Gandharva, Asura, Rakshasa and Paisacha. Of these,
the Gandharva marriage is based on mutual consent of the two individuals. In this way, as
opposed to other types of marriage, where the girl is given away by her father or parents,
here, the girl has the liberty to give away herself to the man of her own choice. Reverting
back to the realm of mythology, the icon worth invoking here is Shakuntala. Her union with
Dushyanta is an appropriate instance of this form of marriage. Here, in the absence of her
father, she acts as her own master and agrees to unite with Dushyanta. The stance taken by
her is neither submissive nor apologetic. However, as time passed, such a union came to be
considered as sinful. Over the ages, in this myth too, the assertion of the right over ones
body and sexuality, by the woman, has not been projected in a light which strengthens the
idea of free choice.

It is therefore unfortunate that the dominant and the ruling male elite preferred and
propagated the verses that best served their interest. The partial representation of prominent
female icons was used as a tool to hegemonize and silence generations of women and men.
Thus the fault lays less in what was written and more in what has been read and represented.
Until this is realised, generations one after the other shall remain the custodian of their own
enslavement. With the changing social dynamics, the society at large needs to bear in mind
that rather than indulging in petty blame games, it should channelize its energies to reframe
and restructure itself, so that the best for all individuals may be assured. And for those who
are fearful of transgressing tradition and committing sacrilege against the sacred texts, it is
worth noting that these texts themselves, through their ambivalent stances, indicate flexibility
and a discarding of rules which no longer hold usefulness and relevance for the society as a
whole.

References
Ali, Ayaan Hirsi. The Virgins Cage. The Caged Virgin : A Muslim Womans Cry for
Reason. London: Pocket Books, 2007. Print.

Buhler, G.. Manusmriti: The Laws of Manu. Web.

http://www.hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/extra/bl-lawsofmanu9.htm

Ramaswamy, Vijaya. Re-searching Icons, Re-presenting Indian Women. Re-searching

Indian Women. Ed. Vijaya Ramaswamy. Delhi: Manohar, 2003. Print.

Saxena, Surendranath. trans. Manusmriti. Delhi: Manoj, 2011.



 To be or not to beis that the Question?

Sonal Biswas

Introduction

We refer to them by different names, eunuchs, chakkas, hijras, khusra, third gender and what
not. There are one million transgender in India today and god knows how many across the
world across the world. Because some countries do not think they are worthy of being kept in
records of census. Stryker describing about transgender says it refers to all identities or
practices that cross over, cut across, move between or otherwise queer socially constructed
sex/gender boundaries. Some countries have been trying to achieve and have achieved better
conditions for them. Through this paper we look into who all would come into the definition
of transgender (meaning types and can there be wholesome definition of the word), what are
the problems they face and how should we try to accommodate them and provide for their
rights as they deserve.

History

In the Roman times the Galli were transgendered priestesses of the Goddess Cybele who
voluntarily castrated themselves. There are also similar terms from many other African,
Asian and American cultures dating back thousands of years. Trans-sexuality and
intersexuality are naturally occurring conditions and although rare have been around as long
as humanity. In India also we come to know from ancient texts that transsexual existed. Not
just that, we worship ardhnarishwar (one of our gods) who is half male and half female.

Discrimination since the day not Born also

From the day we know that a woman has conceived and at times much beyond that we start
predicting that it would be a boy or it would be a girl depending on our personal preferences.
Nobody wants a transgender. So it is at that point that we start discriminating. Though it is
said that androgynous men and women are more flexible and more mentally healthy than
either masculine or feminine individuals; undifferentiated individuals are less competent



(Sandra bems theory). But if you tell any educated person that, still he/she would not prefer
to have androgynous kid.

Types and definition of transgender

One of the apt definitions I feel is Stryker describing about transgender says it refers to all
identities or practices that cross over, cut across, move between or otherwise queer socially
constructed sex/gender boundaries. Council of Europes Commissioner for Human Rights is
of the view that the sex of a person is usually assigned at birth and becomes a social and legal
fact from there on. However, some people do not feel that their correct sex has been assigned
to them at birth. This can also be so for intersex people whose bodies incorporate both or
certain aspects of both male and female physiology, and at times their genital anatomy. For
others, problems arise because their innate perception of themselves is not in conformity with
the sex assigned to them at birth. These persons are referred to as transgender or
transsexual people. They also include cross-dressers, transvestites and other people who do
not fit the narrow categories of male or female. "Transgendered" is a term that
encompasses a range of related phenomena.1 It includes transvestites, transexuals, drag
queens, drag kings, transgenderists, inter-gendered and polygendered people, "gender
outlaws", and others who relate to gender in unconventional ways. Also ones who had SRS
(sex reassignment surgery) are also called transsexuals, but a post- operative transsexual who
has not yet had the Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) are called pre-operative transsexual is a
transsexual.

Problems of being Transgender

Reality is that they have suffered or been discriminated. And we cannot understand that since
we have not been in their place. Inflicting pain is easy rather than undergoing. If not
discriminated they are viewed differently at one or the other point in their life. The whole
idea revolves around the fact that they are different from us. This us is the major part of
the society who are so called normal people. The idea of normalcy if you take into account
itself is vague. They suffer at the socially, economically, politically, culturally and in all other
possible ways.



Discrimination by machinery of law and administration-
Even they are born as humans and the humanity is shown to them in the form of- life of
humiliation, insult, oppression and neglect by the family, media and establishment given
legitimacy by the legal system. The law in India has criminalized the very existence of
eunuchs, making the police an omnipresent reality in their lives. One of the case is
Jayalakshmi v. State of Tamil Nadu, (2007) 4 MLJ 849, where Pandian, a transgender, was
arrested by the police on mere suspicion of charges of theft. He was sexually abused in the
police station for many days which did not stop. This ultimately led him to immolate himself
in the premises of the police station. Though finally the family if the victim was awarded Rs.
5 lakh as compensation after he died. But the facts of the case itself say how hijras are
treated. Eunuchs in India continue to be treated (although not currently listed) as a criminal
community and are deprived of the protection and special treatment accorded to other
oppressed classes. If you meet them in train giving blessings, you can ask them and they will
tell you their stories and encounters. If you go to blogs still you can find the same sad stories
of torture, cruelty. They also have to pay haftas to the police otherwise, they know well the
degrees of tortures that can be inflicted on them.

1897 Amendment to the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, subtitled: An Act for the Registration of
Criminal Tribes and Eunuchs, equating at one stroke, all criminal tribes with eunuchs who
are not criminals either by birth or by vocation. Under this law, the local government was
required to keep a register of the names and residences of all eunuchs who were reasonably
suspected of kidnappings or castrating children or committing offences under Section 377 of
the Indian Penal Code. This section itself gives the living example of law machinery
providing aid to commit violence on already violated people. S. 377 lays down that if, hijra
or a homosexual is engaging in carnal intercourse against the order of nature is against the
law. This makes the entire class one of the most marginalized communities vulnerable to
police harassment, arrest and torture by the police at any given time and place under any
excuse.

Discrimination on basis of chromosomes in sports-

They not only face the discrimination on the basis of general day to day happenings but also
in something as sports and that to due to genetic build up. International Olympic Committee
(IOC) has conducted genetic "gender-testing" on all women athletes to make sure that they
fall in category of "really female" (this was done to prevent "sex changes" from competing).



In quite a number of cases these tests turned up cAIS2 girls, identified them as "males", and
disqualified them from competition. These were truly tragic mis-identifications, since the
presence of the Y chromosome in AIS girls does not make them males either genitally or in
gender identity, nor does it confer any strength advantage to them. These mis-genderings
were often made public, resulting in total humiliation for the women involved.

One of the problems of being transgender is that they undergo castration themselves which is
not safe all the times since they are not given training like a surgeon, how to do it but learn
from their fellow community people. So there can be mishap. As they are struggling with
their identity so they want to undergo a sex change operation. For which they engage
themselves in flesh trade. They might not be paid well in sex business also so it can take ages
for them to collect the amount for surgery since, they do not have good financial standing and
limited job opportunity. The process is really lengthy.3 During this whole process they might
realize that there body is not compatible with the hormones being administered and they
might have adverse effects on body. At times people meet death also.

Solutions: How to bring TG into mainstream

-Firstly we need to have appropriate data so we need a proper census and that data should be
kept as proper records so that we can know how many people and in which location are trans
gender.

.-We need to actively involve all social and political classes in increasing the social,
economic and political strength of the eunuch community, as the means to their
empowerment. The process can be initiated by enabling the community to develop
confidence in their own capacities.
-We celebrate valentines day, mother day etc. Eunuchs too are living on the edge, exploited
and poverty stricken. To empower them and bring them into the mainstream of society,
Eunuch Solidarity Day should be celebrated with equal fervour, like any other festive day.
-Prime thing that Trans genders need is empowerment on all levels. Although eunuchs are
eligible for identity cards like Passport, Voter Card, PAN Card, Ration Card etc, like other
citizens of this country, most eunuchs have none of these identification documents. They do
not have bank accounts either, since one needs certain documentary evidence to apply for
such identification, which eunuchs generally do not possess. It is mandatory to fill in the date
of birth, fathers name etc in various application forms. Eunuchs, after leaving their homes,



discard their parental names. So government should formulate relax the standards for their
documents requirement or make laws to enable them to enjoy these rights as other citizens.
- Proper educational access to be given to them. Even they have the right to be educated and
have decent life by creating opportunities for them to earn livelihood. While we fight over the
quota increasing for various communities based on caste. On the other hand we ignore that
they are also the ones needing quotas. It can be a way of inclusion in society.
- Male and female gender awareness to be integrated into daily living. Identification of the
triggers for increased cross-gender yearnings and effectively attend to them; for instance,
develop better self-protective, self-assertive, and vocational skills to advance at work and
resolve interpersonal struggles to strengthen key relationships with society. We should have
campaigns to voice for their rights. Also separately an awareness campaign to let them know
their rights and how to execrcise them.
-We should interpret law in progressive manner and bring necessary amendments where
needed like S.377 of IPC. Strict action should be taken to teach police if they are found
torturing them. Every year, a few hundred trans genders lose life due to crimes of hatred and
prejudice perpetrated against them by gendered people which should be stopped by proper
functioning of all three organs of government.
-Their birth is a deviation of the natural reproduction process but they are discarded as
undesirable by unfortunate parents who fail to discharge their duty. Such parents need to be
properly educated and suitable deterrents implemented to prevent them from abandoning a
eunuch child. Under Section 317 of the Indian Penal Code, it is an offence to abandon the
child under the age of 12 years, punishable with rigorous imprisonment up to 7 years.
However, this is almost never invoked and mere publicity of its existence will cause several
erring parents to mend their ways.
-Health facilities to be provided for TG separately. Sometimes they do it themselves and
might get some disease because of unsafe and unhygienic conditions. There should be state
hospitals facilitating this and special surgeons to be appointed and then they should be
provided some extra incentive for that. Lesser the formalities of seeing psychologist,
gynecologist etc. more easy will it be for them to approach. So process should be made less
cumbersome.

-Media can play active role in this by trying to create positive environment for them. Like
there can be program to interview them about their life style and kind a discrimination they
face



-Films are a way of communicating so we can have all those films that depict their plight, we
could screen on such days of eunuch solidarity.
- We can have TG homes. There are families who might shun away all ties from their child.
At times there are parents or families whose behavior might cause a child to run away. There
should be shelter homes so that one could have somewhere to go to.
- We can facilitate Adoption of TG. A child is a child does not matter if third gender. There
should be more organizations to educate and counsel people for their adoption. Also there
should be machineries
-Vocational training may be provided to them, with a view to integrating them into the
mainstream of society in appropriate jobs. And seats in some jobs can be reserved for them.
- In US there is national centre for transgender equality, which we do not have it in India and
there are many more organizations. However more organizations to come up to fight for the
similar cause.
-In relation to sexual orientation and gender identity there was expertise meeting held in
Indonesia which for the first time laid down the broad principles of Yogakarta which should
be formulated into treaty or covenant to have somewhat binding effect so that parties to the
treaty should enact laws in accordance to that on domestic level.

- International obligations to be fulfilled. Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights states: "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person". Article 6(1) of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a party,
states: "Every human being has the inherent right to life. Law shall protect this right. No one
shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life". Article 4 of the ICCPR states that this right cannot be
waived "even in times of public emergency threatening the life of the nation". Indian
government ratified the ICCPR in 1979. By ratifying an international treaty which enshrines
the right to life, India is obliged not only to respect that right in principle, but also to ensure it
is not violated in practice.

Conclusion:

H.L.A. Hart was of the opinion that morality was a virtue left to own interpretation. So how
can one question their existence based on morality issue or for that reason their genetic make-
up also. If we provide biological justification, we see that some of the males have more
developed genital and some females have it less. Similarly the clitoris and penis grow out of
the same tissue in the womb4 . Then what is wrong with the transgender having the organs as



they have. How can we draw this differentiation based on something like that. The question
arises why should they be punished or discriminated for something over which they do not
have control. If it was in their hands, even they would like to be born as male or female. The
society questions their existence, not only existence but their dignity which in turn does not
let them live in peace. They themselves are facing identity crisis from the point they are
born since, they are at times prepared to act in one way but their inherent desire forces them
to act in different way. First the self-struggle then they struggle to live with society. Because
of the way we look upon them and treat them forces no other occupation but to engage in sex-
work or they earn money by giving blessings. We do not accept them as they are so they tend
to associate themselves with ones who are similar to them facing the problem of association
and disassociation. Even if they are born in so called normal family they tend to leave and
join their own community people which is because we are discriminating and in turn that is
causing self-discrimination in them. It is us who has to change and be accommodative to let
them live by being happy in accepting the way they are born. There's nothing wrong or sick
or evil about being transgender. There is something wrong with society's misconceptions
about what it means to be transgender.

Notes:

1.Transsexuals: This group of individuals was born into one gender but identifies emotionally
and psychologically with the other. The medical term often used to describe this situation is
"gender dysphoria" or "gender identity disorder." The complexities of this state are
numerous, and people in different stages of their "coming out as a transsexual" process may
refer to themselves in very different ways. Male transsexuals may choose to use hormones,
have surgery, or do neither in order to live as women. The point is, these are people who feel
that they were born in the wrong body and will often do anything they can to remedy it.

Auto-gynephile They are ones who find themselves aroused at the thought of themselves
being female. Term deals more with sexual arousal and fancying yourself as a woman is very
different from being a woman and can simply constitute a fantasy of supreme appreciation for
women (if the person having it is heterosexual) or of denial of one's latent homosexuality.

Cross-dressers: Previously known as "transvestites." This group of individuals is content with

their birth gender, but chooses to dress up as and use the mannerisms of the opposite gender
because they feel more comfortable dressed as such. Note that cross-dressers are NOT
necessarily gay, nor do they necessarily want to undergo sexual reassignment; it is purely a
choice they make about how to dress.

Drag performers: Drag performers, the male half of which is sometimes referred to as "drag
queens," are individuals who dress up as and use the mannerisms of the opposite sex for the



purpose of entertaining an audience. Some drag performers identify themselves as
transgendered, and some do not.

Intersexed: An intersexed person is someone who was born with ambiguous genitalia, so
doctors assigned him/her a specific gender at birth. Sometimes this assignment doesn't
correlate with the biological XX or XY gender. These children are socialized as a certain
gender, but as they grow older, they might not necessarily identify as they were assigned and
would want to switch to the opposite gender.

Gender-blenders, androgynes, etc.: This group is made up of people who identify as

transgender but do not fit themselves into any other category that we list above. They may
wish not to constrain themselves to these gender categories and will live with aspects of both
male and female genders. It's the mush pot. To be androgynous is to be on the borderline
between male and female. There are people who enjoy creating confusion this way (gender
terrorists) or just naturally look that way. One can be androgynous in thought or appearance.

She-males - A shemale is someone who takes hormones and may undergo feminizing surgery
but chooses to keep their male genitalia. Some do this because it allows them to earn money
in the sex industry which allows them to save money for their treatment as transitioning can
be very expensive with surgery alone costing thousands, not to mention the cost of hormones
which transexuals must take for the rest of their lives. Similar names include Chick with a
Dick and Ladyboy. Whilst Shemale is a word originating in the porn industry, Ladyboy is a
translation of a Thai word as Thai people have believed in the existence of a third gender for
thousands of years

Exclusively some of the terms are used specifically in India. Sometimes, the term 'Jogti
Hijras' is used to denote those male-to-female transgender persons who are devotees/servants
of Goddess Renukha Devi and who are also in the Hijra communities. Kothis are a
heterogeneous group. 'Kothis' can be described as biological males who show varying
degrees of 'femininity' - which may be situational. Some proportion of Kothis have bisexual
behavior and get married to a woman. But not all Kothi people identify themselves as
transgender or Hijras. Shiv-Shakthis are considered as males who are possessed by or
particularly close to a goddess and who have feminine gender expression. Usually, Shiv-
Shakthis are inducted into the Shiv-Shakti community by senior gurus, who teach them the
norms, customs, and rituals to be observed by them. Shiv-Shakthis cross-dress and use
accessories and ornaments that are generally/socially meant for women.

2. Child's genes are something more complex than just XX or XY, and the child's gender
identity and physical gender trajectory as they mature may be difficult to predict in advance.
Children having these genital and/or genetic variations are called "intersex". Intersex babies
are produced in about one in every 1000 births. For example, in about one in 13,000 births an
XY (genetic male) foetus is unresponsive to fetal male hormones, and develops genitals that
look like a girl's, except for a lack of internal reproductive organs. These XY "complete
androgen insensitivity syndrome" (cAIS) infants are simply declared to be girls and are raised



as girls. Although they cannot bear children, they often develop into slender, attractive
women who have a female gender identity. It's rumored that a number of beautiful models
have been cAIS girls. In other births, a "partial androgen insensitivity syndrome" (pAIS)
results in the external genital appearance may lie anywhere along the spectrum from male to
female.

3. 1st they are given hormone replacement therapy. It can be either MTF (male to female) or
FTM (female to male) change. There can be changes depending on which hormone is
registered. There can be Muscular, voice breaks or less hair, feminine look. MTF use anti-
androgen drugs, which wipe out male hormonal and genital function; as an alternative, some
undergo orchi-dectomy (castration) at this stage or later. MtF transsexuals also require
electrolysis treatment to remove facial hair. During this period the person is likely to start
living more and more in their desired gender role, as their appearance changes towards that of
their true gender. Once the transsexual and their psychiatrist feel that they are ready, they will
'transition' --- that is to say, legally change their name and official documents to match the
target gender, and start to live and work full-time in that gender role. At this point the person
is on 'Real Life Test' (RLT). Sympathetic treatment by management is also vital.

4. Clitoris is a female genital organ that includes erectile tissue, glands, muscles and
ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels. Although the parts are placed differently, the clitoris is
matches to the male penis. Most of the clitoris is hidden inside the body and only a small part
can be seen from the outside. Adding the outside and inside parts, the clitoris is similar in size
to the penis. So when females have similar organs as males, meaning every female is male to
some extent in this strict biological sense or has one same organ as them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chakrapani, V, Babu, P, Ebenezer, Hijras in sex work face discrimination in the Indian
health-care system. Research for Sex Work (2004)

Foucault, Michel, Sexual Choice, Sexual Act: An Interview with Michel Foucault,
Salmagundi, No. 56-59

Jennifer L. Levi, Transgender Jurisprudence: Dysphoric Bodies Of Law, Faculty Scholarship

Faculty Publications (2003)

Lukianowicz, D. P. M., "Survey of Various Aspects of Transvestism," J. Nervous & Mental

Diseases, Vol. 128, (1959)

Maynard, Mary, (Hetero) Sexual Politics, Taylor and Francis, London, (1995)

Pannick,D., Homosexuals, Transsexuals and the Sex Discrimination Act, (1983)



United Nations: Theoretical concepts of social exclusion. New York, NY: United Nations,
(2007)

Worden, F. C., Marsh, C. T., "Psychological Factors in Men Seeking Sex Transformation,"
J.A.M.A., (1955)

Whittle, S., Transsexuals and the Law, Ph.D thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University
(1995)

URLs

www.transsexual.org

www.genderPAC.org

www.PFLAG.org

www.tgforum.com

http://www.danistroom.com/inspirations/help/transgendered-terms-definitions.htm

http://whosoever.org/v12i4/sheridan.shtml

http://humanrightstoday.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/-transgender-rights-in-india/

http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlg/vol28/chow.pdf

http://www.drpiyushsaxena.com/life_of_a_eunuch/13.pdf

http://www.soyouwanna.com/soyouwanna-sex-change-1344-full.html

http://www.humanrightsdefence.org/eunuchs-of-india-deprived-of-human-rights.html

http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/06/justice-for-eunuchs--a-quest-for-dignity.html

http://ajws.org/who_we_are/news/archives/features/human_rights_day_2010.html

http://digitalcommons.law.wne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1133&context=facschol&sei
-
redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.in%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q
%3Djurisprudence%2Bof%2Btransgender%2Brights%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D2%26ve
d%3D0CDEQFjAB%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fdigitalcommons.law.wne.edu%252
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w#search=%22jurisprudence%20transgender%20rights%22



 The Other Women in the Mahabharata
Ravi Khangai

Epics play an important role in shaping attitude and value of the people. The Mahabharata,
earlier known as Jaya with eight thousand verses, was enlarged to be Bharata with twenty
four thousand verses and finally emerged as The Mahabharata with nearly one lakh verses.
Though the historicity of the events narrated in the Mahabharata is questionable, as a popular
literature it is a reservoir of the values and ethos of the Indian society, its inspirations and
conflicts. One of the interesting areas of study in indology Aryan and Non-Aryan interaction.
In the Mahabharata we come across many references to the people, who could be termed as
Non-Aryans in the racial and cultural-linguistic sense1. One of the natural way of
acculturation is marriage or co-habitation between the males and females of different cultural
traditions. There are many incidents of this kind of alliances in the Mahabharata. However,
the man and women relation across the culture is always a tricky issue.

Confusion about handling sexuality of women- Sexual relation is a very important

component of man-women relations. As men had been traditionally dominating, in sexual
relations also, the rules of the games are in favor of men. Man wants to possess the body of
women and makes varies attempts to confine her to monogamy. Any assertion of sexual
desire by women is also considered as a challenge to mans libido. It is taken as an indicator
that man is not in a position to keep women sexually subdued. Similarly if a woman have
more than one sexual partner, it will be uncertain whose child a women is carrying in her
womb. This will also hurt the ego of men! As a result, patriarchal society put various
restrictions on women and makes various attempts to desexualize them with the intention of
minimizing the possibility of sexual transgressions on the parts of the women. But this also
limits the sexual freedom of heterosexual men, as they cannot put their wild promiscuous
fantasy into practice in the absence of women. Probably we all have a polygamist tendencies,
but our social conditioning tries to control these primitive instincts.

However, patriarchy gives some space to men, where they can satisfy their promiscuous
tendencies. This unsatisfied fantasy of men for multiple sexual partners gets reflected in the
popular literature like the Mahabharata. However women are mostly borrowed from the
other community. Because our own women are not allowed to have their own sexual desires!
After all how can they? Any assertion of sexuality from our women is considered a proof of
sexual incompitability of men! As the authors/interpolators of the Mahabharata were men, the
portrayal of image of women in the epics are projection of mens mind.

Desexualizing our own women and portraying other women as practicing unrestrained
sexual relation had benefitted men as they can have best of both the words. They have a
cowed down, docile women often referred as as poor as cow, (gayki tarha garib) in their
house, who will remain faithful, take care of house and children and inculcate good values in
them. Man on the other hand can go out, have a tempestuous sexual encounter with other
women, who is not able to control her infatuation. It is fine so long he does not bring her
home! And who is to be blame for this, of course the other women. Our the Aryan heroes
are otherwise faithful, it is the other women who seduces them! The attitude of shifting the



blame on the other women is reflected in the Mahabharata, through the writing of Vyasa
and interpolators of the Mahabharata.

Hidimba, the Rakshasi princess- Hidimba makes her entry in the Adiparva, the first
book of the Mahabharata. She belongs to the tribe who were termed as Rakashasas. The
tribe was probably cannibal and was despised by the Aryans. She was sent by her brother
Hidimb to kill the Pandavas and their mother Kunti who were moving from place to place in
the forest. His intention was to eat the flesh of the Pandavas and their mother. Hidimba came
to the place where four of the Pandavas i.e. Yudhisthir, Arjuna, Nakula , Sahadeva and their
mother Kunti were sleeping and they were being watched over by mighty Bhima, the second
Pandava prince.

Instead of killing them and enjoying their flesh as Rakashasas are supposed to, she is
infatuated by the strong and handsome Bhima. Here she is being portrayed as someone being
disloyal to her own brother. The poet describe her feeling in monologue,

This person (i.e. Bhima) is worthy of being my husband, I shall not obey the cruel
mandate of my brother. A womens love for her husband is stronger than her affection for
her brother. If I slay him, my brothers gratification as well as mine will only be
momentary. But if I slay him not, I can enjoy with him forever and ever (Adi Parva,
Section CLIV)2

Seduction of Bhima- Hidimba assumes an appearance of a beautiful young girl, as

Rakashasas are supposed to know the art of assuming different forms. The poet describe her
beauty as,

Her head decked with garland of flowers and her face like the full moon and her
eyebrows and nose and eyes and ringlets all of the handsomest description, and her nails
and complexion of the most delicate hue, and herself wearing every kind of ornament and
attired in fine transparent robes( Adi Parva, Section CLV)

She cautions Bhima of impending danger from her brother and proposes him, I would have
none else for my husband save thee!--- My heart as well as my body hath been pierced by
Kama (Cupid). O, as I am desirous of obtaining thee, make me thine ( Adi Parva ,Section
CLIV) She also gives an assurance that she will protect him from the flesh eating Rakashasas
and tries to seduce him by offering other allurement.

O sinless one, be thou my husband. We shall then live on the breasts of mountains
inaccessible to ordinary mortals. I can range the air and I do so at pleasure. Though mayest
enjoy great felicity with me in those regions ( Adi Parva Section CLIV)

In contrast to Hidimba, who is willing to betray her own brother for the sake of her carnal
desire, Bhima is being portrayed as someone who is loyal and dedicated to his brothers and
mother as he replies,

O Rakshasa women, who can like a muni3 having all his passion under control, abandon
his sleeping mother and elder and younger brothers? What man like me would go to
gratify his lust, leaving his sleeping mother and brother as food for a Rakashasa?( Adi
Parva Section CLIV)



To please Bhima, Hidimba is even willing to rescue all of them as she says,

I shall certainly rescue you all from my cannibal brother ( Adi Parva Section CLIV)

Bhima, though dutiful towards his brothers and mother seems to have been charmed by the
approach of the young women in the lonely forest as is natural for a young man. He seems to
have noticed her feminine beauty as is obvious in his address to her. In the dialogue that
follows, he addresses her as being amiable, of delicate shape, of fair hip, of handsome eyes
and of slender waist. He also boasts about his physical power, as young man generally tries to
impress a young girl that he fancy,

O though of fair hips, fear not anything..O beautiful one, thou shalt today behold
my prowess like unto that of Indra. O though of fair hips, hate me not thinking that I am a
man ( Adi Parva, Section CLV)

While addressing her in the same dialogue, Bhima uses the adjective fair Hip twice.
This is indicative of the infatuation on Bhimas side as well. Reference to hips is obviously
having sexual connotation. The dialogue between the two becomes almost similar to
romantic drama, as Hidimba says,

O tiger among men, o though of the beauty of the celestial, I do not certainly hold thee in
contempt ( Adi Parva ,Section CLV)

Killing of Rakashasa Hidimb- When the Rakashasa Hidimb saw that his sister is soliciting
man, he became indigent and accuses her of sacrificing the good name and honour of all the
Rakshasas. He rushes to kill Hidimba but is stopped by Bhima who now assumes the role of
the protector of the damsel in distress. He even justifies her carnal desire. Addressing
Hidimb, Bhima says,

This girl is scarcely responsible for her act in desiring intercourse with me. She hath, in
this been moved by the deity of desire that pervadeth every living form. thy sister
came here at thy command. Beholding my person, she desireth me. In that the timid girl
doth no injury to thee. It is the deity of desire that hath offended. It behoveth thee not to
injure thee for this offence. O wicked wretch, though shalt not slay a women when I am
here ( Adi Parva, Section CLV)

What follows is a dialogue between two, at the end of which a dual is fought and finally
the Rakashasa Hidimb was killed by Bhima.There is no intervention from Hidimba to stop
the fighting between her brother and Bhima, neither she makes any attempt to save her
brother when he was killed by Bhima.

After this, Hidimba follows the Pandavas and their mother Kunti. Bhima here now shows
anger and is ready to kill Hidimba. This was in contrast to the tenderness that he had shown
for her few hours back. Either he was very excited or out of control after his fight with the
demon or it was a show off to prove his loyalty to his mother and brothers. However he was
stopped by Yudhishithir in his attempt.

Assertion of carnal desire by Hidimba- Here the portrayal of Hidimba, is in contrast to

the Aryan damsels, who are supposed to be shy and not to assert their sexuality. Hidimba is



portrayed as asserting her sexuality not only to Bhima but also later to Kunti (Bhmas
mother) as well. She addresses Kunti,

Though knowest the pangs that women are made to feel at the hands of deity of love.,
these pangs, of which Bhimsena hath been the cause, are torturing me.unite me with
this thy son ( Adi Parva, Section CLVII)

She also gives assurance of the safety and security of not only Bhima but also promises to
help the whole family in distress. She entertain Kunti by all her means and says,

O, be gracious unto me and make Bhima accept me ( Adi Parva, Section CLVII)

Kunti was aware of her precarious position. She was fugitive along with her children
escaping from the assassination bid and was badly in need of shelter and comfort. She
approved of the alliance of Bhima and Hidimba.

After getting approval from Yudhishtithira, Bhima and Hidimba leaves for the deep
forest with the condition that she will bring back Bhima everyday at nightfall. There is no
mention of any marriage ceremony. So probably it was a mutually agreed cohabitation. Here
the usual precedent of elder brother marrying before the younger one is also done away with.
Bhima makes it a precondition that he will only stay with her till the time a son is born to her.
After this the poet describe the romance between Bhima and Hidimba in a very beautiful
words,

On mountain peaks of picturesque scenery and region sacred to the Gods, abounding
with dappled herd and echoing with the melodies of feathered tribes, herself assuming the
handsomest form decked with every ornament and pouring forth at times mellifluous
strains. Hidimva sported with the Pandava and studied to make him happy.(Adi Parva,
Section CLVII)

A son was born to them whose head was bald like a Ghata (water-pot) and he was named
Ghatotkacha (the pot-headed). Away from the restrictive gaze of the Aryan society and living
in seclusion as the people have taken the Pandavas and their mother as dead, they had no
inhibition in mixing freely with the Rakashasi Hidimba and her son. As the poet writes,

Ghatotkacha who was exceedingly devoted to the Pandavas, became a great favorite
with them, indeed almost one of them (Adi Parva Section-CLVII).

After this Hidimba leaves the Pandavas abruptly, without any regret for separation. Here
the treatment given to her by the poet is rather inhuman. She was dismissed without any
regret,

Then Hidimva, knowing that the period of her stay (with her husband) had come to an
end, saluted the Pandavas and making a new appointment with them went away
whithersoever she liked. (Adi Parva Section-CLVII).

She is portrayed as without any attachment. She do not express her desire of spending her life
with the husband as expected of a faithful women. She makes an exit without any remorse.



There is only one aspect of her personality that is made known to the readers of the
Mahabharata i.e. sexual assertion. As epics plays an important role in shaping the attitude,
one can imagine the effect this kind of portrayal will have on the young impressionable
minds. No wonder that the other women are considered as sex objects.

Ghatotkacha also departs after making a promise that he would come when wanted on
business. Though Kunti and the Pandavas were helped by Hidimba, they probably realized
that if they stay there for a longer period, they are doomed to the life of seclusion and will be
deprived of their rightful share in the kingdom. They decided to leave Hidimba and went
ahead. Probably Kunti and other Pandavas were feeling apprehensive that if Bhima grows
too fond of Hidimba, he may choose to stay permanently there. There was also a possibility
of a loss of face if the Aryan world came to know that the Aryan prince Bhima had married a
Non-Aryan Rakashasi girl and she is a first daughter-in-law of the Pandus family or even in
the whole younger generation of the Kuru princes, as Duryodhana was yet to be married at
that time. So there was a possibility of Kunti and the Pandavas being accused of spoiling the
name and reputation of the whole Kuru linage. So probably Kunti pulled Bhima out of the
domestic bliss and went ahead along with her sons to another place.

Portrayal of Hidimba in the Mahabharata- In the union between Bhima and Hidimba,
Hidimba takes initiative and Bhima reluctantly aggress after his elder brother orders him to
do so. The portrayal of an Aryan prince and a Rakashi princess also highlights the contrast in
which the Aryans and the Rakashasas are perceived. Bhima is shown as devoted to his family
and for them he is even willing to kill a woman who had given her heart to him. In contrast
Hidimba not only conspired against her own brother but also marries a person who kills him.
She is being portrayed as someone who is lusty and devoid of affection for her brother. It has
a negative and a positive aspect both. Negative is obvious that by conspiring against her own
brother she had brought his ruin. She could not control her infatuation for Bhima! But this
fact itself brings out her individual identity. She asserts herself and does not blindly supports
whatever her brother does. She is open and comfortable about her carnal desires and asserts
it. As she decides that instead of killing and eating such a strong and handsome man like
Bhima, why not to have him as her husband?

Why Hidimba was forgotten?-After the Pandavas departure from the forest Hidimba is
forgotten forever. One thing about which the Mahabharata is silent is that why the Pandavas
did not go to Hidimba during their period of exile after losing the game of dice? Was
Hidimba very violent that she could not tolerate Drupadi and the Pandavas decided not to
take the risk or could it be fiery Draupadi who was not willing to accommodate with one
more wife? It was Hidimba who was the first daughter-in-law in the generation of
Yudishthir, and Kunti was probably afraid that she may claim her position of chief queen
which will make the position of Kunti and her sons embarrassing. To avoid all this she
preferred to dump Hidimba.
It is also possible that the Pandava princes had avoided contact with her because now the
situation was different. On earlier occasion they were a fugitive princess hiding secretly with
the world taking them as dead, but now Yudhishtira had been a Samrat who had performed
Rajsuya Yagya. He was also accompanied by a Brahmin priest Dhaumya. During his period
of exile many sages visited him. In this situation they probably thought it beneath dignity to
seek shelter with the Rakashasa tribe of Hidimba.

Use of Ghatotkacha- Though Hidimba was forgotten, her son Ghatotkacha is remembered
and used by the Pandavas whenever they need him. He was used as a cannon fodder in the



great war. He was sent against Karna, the mortal enemy of Arjuna and was killed. After
Ghatotkachas death Krishna dances with joy as he knew that now Arjuna is safe. Bhima
also do not seems to be anyway affected by the death of his son. There is no oath of taking
revenge like Arjuna has done for Abhimanyu.
In Stri-Parva also women were described as crying for their dead husbands and sons, but
here also we do not come across any women crying for Ghatotkacha. Neither Bhima nor
Draupadi, who was carried on his shoulder during exile, shed any tears for him. People who
are regarded as being others receive a discriminatory treatment. Their values, emotions and
life is treated as inferior that those who are considered as our own. Absence of lamentations
and absence of any Rakashasa women crying for their dead husbands and sons indicates the
attitude of indifference towards them by the authors of the Mahabharata.
However Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava appears to more human and accommodating.
He also performs the last funeral rites of Ghatotkacha. Some consolation to the inferior
Rakashasa from the great, moral and pure Aryan.

Ulupis desire- Adi Parva describe the episode of the Naga princess Ulupi. Here Ulupi
makes entry like a bang! The poet describes,

..the mighty armed hero (Arjuna) was dragged into the bottom of the water by Ulupi,
the daughter of the king of the Nagas, urged by the god of desire (Adi Parva, Section
CCXVI)

There is no mention of any familiarity between Arjuna and Ulupi, but she is being portrayed
as someone who is so much under the sway of sexual desire, that she pulls a man, whom she
is probably meeting first time. How unrealistic portrayal! No sane women will pull an
unknown man and ask him to satisfy her carnal desire. This kind of women probably exist
only in the fantasy of men. In the conversation that is followed she openly confesses about
her carnal desire for Arjuna. She says,

.beholding thee descended into the stream to perform thy ablutions, I was deprived
of reason by the God of desire. O sinless one, I am still unmarried. Afflicted as I am by the
god of desire on account of thee, o though of Kurus race, gratify me today by giving
thyself up to me (Adi Parva, Section CCXVI)

Faithful Arjuna?- At this time Arjuna was leading a life of Brhamacharin for a period of
twelve years as a penance. He was in a dilemma weather to accept the solicitation of Ulupi
and break his vow of remaining Brahmacharin, or remain faithful to his vow and reject the
solicitation. But the utterance of Arjuna indicates that he was not willing to let the chance go
if he can find out any way out that will reduce his feeling of guilt. He says,

O amiable one, I am undergoing the vow of Brahmacharin for twelve

years., I am still willing to do thy pleasure.. Tell me therefore, o Naga maid,
how I may act so that, while doing thy pleasure, I may not be guilty of any untruth or
breach of duty (Adi Parva, Section CCXVI)

So here we see the attempt on the part of Arjuna /authors/interpolators of the Mahabharata
shifting the blame of transgression on the shoulders of Ulupi. Arjuna needs assurance from
Ulupi that what he is doing is not wrong and Ulupi obliges. She says,



 The exile is only for the sake of Draupadi. Thy virtue cannot sustain any
diminution (by acceding to my solicitation) (Adi Parva, Section CCXVI)

Going further, Vyasa/interpolators of the Mahabharata had made Uliupi to plead for the
union with Arjuna.

..it is a duty to relieve the distressed. Thy virtue suffereth no diminution by relieving
me. Or, if O Arjuna, thy virtue doth suffer a small diminution, thou wilt acquire great
merit by saving my life. Know me thy worshipper, O Partha! Therefore yield thyself up to
me! If thou do not act in this way; know that I will destroy myself..I woo thee,
being filled with desire. Therefore, do what is agreeable to me. It behoveth thee to gratify
my wish by yielding thy self up to me (Adi Parva, Section CCXVI)

Further the authors of the Mahabharata says,

Thus addressed by the daughter of the king of the Nagas, the son of Kunti did everything
she desired, making virtue his motive (Adi Parva, Section CCXVI)

So the union of Arjuna was a virtuous act for Arjuna as he relieved Ulupi of her distress, so if
anybody is to be blamed, it is Ulupi!

Justification of philandery- At the time of union between Arjuna and Ulupi, Arjuna
needed an assurance from Ulupi that he is not doing anything wrong. But after this Arjuna
forms union with two more women, i.e. Chitrangada of Manipur and Subhadra, the Yadava
princess. Here there is no mention of any assurance given by the any of the two women
mentioned above. In both the cases the initiative is taken from the side of Arjuna. His
infatuation for Subhadra was so strong that he even risked enmity of the Yadavas, the
powerful clan of the period. Now where the hesitation about breaking of vow of
Brahmacharya had gone! Once Ulupi had convinced him that the vow of Brahmacharya was
only limited for Draupadi, it had opened the way of philandering for Arjuna. He can go on!
And how easily he was convinced that the vow of Brahmacharya was limited to Draupadi
only! Arjuna seems to be following what Mahabharata says,

It is not sinful to lie, in respect of women sought to be enjoyed (Adi parva Section
LXXXII)

Discrimination against Ulupi- Ulupi was not brought to the Pandavas capital,
Indraprasatha immediately after the marriage, but Subhadra, Krishnas sister whom Arjuna
married after his romantic encounter with Ulupi was brought to the Panadava capital
immediately. Arjuna will not dare to abandon Subhadra as he had done to Ulupi. Subhadra
had a backing of her powerful brothers, Krishna and Balarama and she was from the
respectable royal family!
Arjuna also did not feel any necessity to bring his son Iravat, begotten on the Naga
princess to Indraprastha. Only he was called to fight in the Great war to be used as a cannon
fodder like Ghatotkacha. Having physical relation with a woman and abandoning her alone
to shoulder the responsibility of the consequences without feeling guilty about it indicates the
contempt that the dominating group carried for the women from other community.
From the description given in the Bhishma Parva, we get some glimpses of the childhood
of Iravat. The poet writes,



 Abandoned by his wicked uncle from hatred of Partha, he grew up in the region of the
Nagas, protected by his mother. (Bhishma Parva, Section XCI )

So this child of Arjuna and Ulupi faced discrimination in the Naga kingdom and it was Ulupi
alone who shouldered the responsibility.

Other women and our women- Portrayal of Other women like Hidimba and Ulupi as a
seductress also highlighted the so called virtues of the Aryan women. In contrast to
sexually assertive Hidimba and Ulupi, the Aryan women like Draupadi is being portrayed as
docile and passive in their interaction with men. During the period of the Pandavas exile,
when she was approached by Kotika, the messenger of Sindhu King Jayadratha, Draupadi
says,

Being alone in this forest here, I should not speak unto thee, remembering the usages of
my sex (Vana Parva Section CCLXIV)

What a contrast! Draupadi will not even speak to other men, but Ulupi can pull Arjuna. The
patriarchal influence is obvious in Draupadis attitude. In comparison the Non-Aryan women
like Ulupi and Hidimba appears to be much freer and earthly when it comes to dealing with
the opposite sex. The women in the patriarchal society led almost a mechanical existence.
They are to be won at the Swyamvara, put as bait at dice, possessed and protected. All
attempts are made to suppress their sexuality but the other women are allowed to have
assertive carnal desire as they serve the purpose of satisfying the baser instinct of the men.
After the Great Mahabharata war, Ulupi and Chitrangada were brought to Hastinapur, the
Pandavas capital (Ashwamedh Parva, Section LXXXVIII), but here also nobody seems to
remember Hidimba. This symbolizes the traditional discriminatory attitude towards the
women with dusky complexion. Good looking and fair Naga and Manipuri princess can be
accepted, but not Hidimba with dusky complexion.

Conclusion- The pre-Aryan society and culture in Indian history had remained so far very
less explored area. When the Aryan civilization was expanding throughout the length and
breadth of the country, There were many people who continued to thrive outside the
periphery of the so called Aryan civilization. However their history by and large still
remains mystery. This paper is not conclusive but only an indicator of the possibilities that
life of these people and their interaction with the Aryans can be a very interesting area of
study. One of the interesting chapters of this progress is to study how the women belonging
to the Non-Aryan tribes were treated. There are many like Hidimba and Ulupi whose
presence is acknowledged. Yet, there are many who were thrown into oblivion. Deciphering
their lives will be an interesting challenge to the researchers interested in Indology.
The epical attitude is not a thing of the past, but similar attitude continues to shape our
behavior even today, one has to just remind ourselves about the treatment given to the girls
from the North East by the civilized citizens of the national capital. As they look different,
dress up in a different manner, they are perceived as others and treated as easily available.The
attitude of treating other women as a sex object also finds its place in the Hindi cinema as
well. Usually, women wearing saris i.e. our own Indian dress are portrayed as homely,
motherly figures. On the other hand women who seduce the otherwise faithful heroes are
portrayed as wearing western outfit.

Explanatory notes-



 1. The term Aryan meaning noble, represented a particular racial group who invaded
India and are considered as the authors of the Vedic civilization. However in the
process they assimilated many pre-Aryan socio-cultural practices and later on the
term Aryan denotes a linguistic-cultural group, having different racial groups or of
mixed blood.
2. All the quotations are taken from The Mahabharata Translated by Kisari Mohan
Ganguli, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi,2008.
3. Muni-Sage who is having control over himself. The word is originated from Sanskrit
word Maun means silence. The Hindu and Jain sages had a practice of observing
silence for particular days. This was their attempt of obtaining self-control. Here
Bhima calling himself Muni is indicating that he is having firm control over himself.

References-
1. Srimanmaharashi Vedvayasapranit Mahabharata (Hindi) (In six parts), Gitapress,
Gorakhpur.
2. The Mahabharata Translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, Munshiram Manoharlal,
New Delhi,2008.



 Fractured Narrative for Incest in The Blue Bedspread: A Reconsideration
Ketaki Datta

Incest in line with the Occidental origin evolves as Oedipus and Electra complex to
originate from the Greek Mythology. Yet, the West did not readily approve of it, though it
crept into its literature since ages. Websters The Duchess of Malfi, John Fords Tis Pity
Shes a Whore have tales of incestuous relationship in their folds. In the modern times,
Lawrences Sons and Lovers contains a hint of the same in the matrix of novel itself. In the
Romantic era, incest however took a narcissistic hue. The lover looked for a replica of his
own self in the beloved to reciprocate the passion. Many had suspected an unusual sort of
love between William Wordsworth and Dorothy Wordsworth. Though, nothing has yet been
proved by the researchers till date. Shelley had dealt with such a theme in his The Cenci. In
Gabriel Garcia Marquezs One Hundred Years of Solitude, there are several references to
sexual union between more and less close relatives, including that which occurs between a
nephew and an aunt. In his last book, published before Heinleins death To Sail Beyond the
Sunset, Maureen Johnson, the mother, encourages her husband, Brian, to sleep with their teen
daughter, Nancy, and is with him when he actually does so. Maureen later discovers that her
two youngest children get involved in heterosexual incest, which irks her to see that the sister
would not let her brother see another girl.

Incest is a frequent theme in the work of V.C. Andrews. In Flowers in the Attic, the first
book of the Dollanganger series, the main character Cathy Dollanganger, develops an
incestuous relationship with her elder brother, Chris, after being locked up in the attic for
over three years, even living with him as a wife. Vladimir Nabokovs Ada or Ardor: A
Family Chronicle, deals with incestuous relationships in the family of Van Veen who had
incestuous bonding with his sister Ada, who in turn had a lesbian attachment with her sister
Lucetta.

Incest plays a pivotal role in George R. Martins A Song of Ice and Fire, Linda Howards
Shades of Twilight and Mario Puzos The Family. Anne Rices Mayfair Trilogy, dealing with
a family of witches, who are heavily inbred, concentrates upon a character who had fathered
children with his sister, daughter and granddaughter. In fantasy fiction, Guy Gavriel Kays
Tigana, JRR Tolkiens The Children of Hurin deal with incestuous relationship between
brother and sister.

If we veer our attention to the Indo-Anglian authors we find Khushwant Singh depicting the
sexual escapades of his hijda[eunuch] hero in his novel Delhi. Arundhati Roy in support of



such unusual bonding leaves sufficient hints in The God of Small Things[between Rahel and
Estha] while Sobha De writes,

We have been reading reports galore in the media, documenting tragic case studies of
victims have been scared for life by those they loved and trusted the mosttheir own flesh
and blood. Incest holds such terror for most societies it is rarely discussed. In fact it is such
a taboo subject, many cultures pretend it doesnt exist. But we know it does. [Speedpost,
N. Delhi, Penguin, 1999, p.197]

David Daiches in his Critical History of English Literature, however, comes up with a
completely new kind of reason behind such writing while opining on John Fords Its a Pity
Shes a Whore:

The normal love between the sexes had been so thoroughly explored that the only way to
contrive a tragedy with a new interest was to concentrate on incest. [p.343]

It is quite interesting to find that Jha employs various narrative modesmetafictional,

singular tries to win the attention of the readers. The very opening is quite startling:

I could begin with my name I could begin with the way I look

Then, after a pause he begins:

I shall begin with the phone ringing at night. The police officer telling me that you have
come into the city, unseen and unheard.[p.5]

Again, sometimes the narrator goes straight into the fractured narrative imagining that he
had been narrating the story to his sisters daughter. The way he talks to the sisters daughter
is begotten of fantasy and again sometimes he appears to be quite candid:

I shall hold your hand, open all these rooms that need to be opened, word by word,
sentence by sentence. I shall keep some rooms closed until we are more readyand
sometimes without opening a door at all, we shall imagine what lies inside

In Rajkamal Jhas The Blue Bedspread , incestuous bond between the sister and the brother
serves as the central theme of the novel. Jha swings between the past and present and again
jumps forward to the future in his narration. The time frame is so flexible that it is somewhat
confusing what the writer is actually aiming at. The narrator has lost his memory and when
he gets it back sporadically he tries to talk about the birth of the girl-child who was born of
his love for his sister and the cremation of his sister when the girl steps into her adolescence.
However, the symbol of the blue bedspread intensifies the metafiction at the base on which
lies the perverse relationship.

Jumping from past to present again to the future is really remarkable in this novel. He starts
the chapter Cremation Ground with:

Before we make our first trip to the past let us go to the future, to a day, many years from
now, when you are in a room with several people.[15]



Rajkamal Jha brings to the fore the epigrammatical twists in his narration to give vent to his
suppressed desire and his love for the body. It may be asked, - how? While the newborn
girl-child lies in the adjacent room, Jha traces various stages of development of the baby and
he refers to the incidents that transpired in his and his sisters life. Again, on the day of her
mothers cremation he writes about the baby:

You begin to walk on your own.youre tall enough to stand on the floor and reach the
washbasin.

But the girl when she grows up asks, Who am I? At times the narrator feels like going out
with her but again he considers it more important to attend to the call of Mr. M.K. Chatterjee.
The narrator at many points of the novel, thinks of putting an end of the novel, and feels like
discussing the matter with readers. Just after expatiating on his fathers violence towards his
mother, he says,

I could end the story here but that would leave it forever trapped in the past and
purposeless.[53]

He invites us to think of a fancy ending:

So lets imagine.[53]

And again the narrator keeps talking about his fathers love for his mother, and, the
consequent exploration of a world in which his family is posited,

And this time, Father gets up, puts the book on the table, his shadow on the table, his
shadow on the wall, walks first to his wife, kisses her on the nose, she makes a face,
smiles, and then he walks to the windows, calls out to the child, putting his little family
into a world he has only now begun to explore.[54]

The narrator is really moved by her sisters turbulent married life, How should we end this
story?

He comes to the aid of the readers saying that it can end in sundry ways, two of them
being, continuing to endure the life of oppression or pushing her husband down the balcony
and being free to go to what was once her home in . the neighbourhood where the pigeons
lie sleeping in their cage.[138]

Again another ending is suggested in this story, in the chapter titled The Highwayman:

But it doesnt happen that way at all. It cant happen that way at all. It cant happen that
way, he will not be able to wipe her slate clean. Hell try hard, he will dot the bathroom
floor every night but one night she will discover and run away.[218]

The writer/narrator twists the facts to fiction and thus the narrative turns to be self-reflexive,
with the multiple beginnings and endings. But in the section Dead Pigeon, he comes up



with facts and fills them out with fiction. Here he adds a stylistic touch to the story, italicized
portions state the bare facts and the text with normal print the well-rounded story. In fact
throughout the novel, Jha uses this stylistic device. In the chapter with the title Straight
Line, the narrator wonders if it is a coincidence that the white washbasin, black iron
hook and the brown hinge of the bedroom door are all in a straight line. He says
jocundly:

Or maybe its nothing; just a storytellers twists to the facts that are to the rest of the
world of no consequence at all.[147]

The narrative is fractured, disjointed, unorganized and is a labyrinth of confusing lines,

straight lines dots and even arcs and circles. The story has been narrated in words, phrases as
well as gestures and glances. [5]

Though the theme of incest hardly is stated through the novel, it stands covertly hinted at,
quite often. There are no interior monologues to point to the latent bedspreads to bring to the
open the psyche of either the narrator or his sister. Perhaps the recurrent image of the
bedspread stands for a refuge against loneliness,, harshness and violence of the world
outside. Perhaps the body finds its fulfillment in desire whatever perverted the way is!
Instead of perverted, its better to name it as unusual, rather de-stereotyped way! And
perhaps, in order to get along with the de-stereotyped way, the mode of narration is also
innovative, somewhat experimental.

The treatment of incest in the novel is not just metafictional but metaphorical. The blue
bedspread is metonymically related to the covert joys and fears of the brother and the sister
but it is a metaphor for something more. Again the story of incest lies hidden behind this
bedspread which was taken to be the sky above the heads of the brother and the sister,
boundless in its own bounds. The bedspread stands as a metaphor for imagined freedom,
for hope which stands lost under the pressure of the drab yet horrifying realities of the
loveless, self-obsessed world. It is under this bedspread that the brother and the sister play
the game of love which is a sin to the world, but for them it was a hope for their existence.
While lying on it the brother and the sister used to feel as though they were on the top of the
world, nothing seemed to matter to them, neither Father sleeping in the adjacent room nor
Mother staring at us from a giant photograph behind the lamp, two dead cockroaches trapped
in its glass frame. Just the stars caressing our bodies. Lying still in the darkness the only
sound our two hearts make and sometimes a Bengal-Bihar cargo truck rumbling by.[57]

It was the space beneath the bedspread, which they enjoyed and felt to be the only refuge in
the world. Though the narrators sister is dead, her daughter, the new-born, the replica of his
sister is lying on it and the narrator is writing stories for her. The bedspread is just ten feet
by nine feet dark blue almost purple but faded over the years.[55]

When the bedspread got soiled, it was put in the red, plastic bucket and the narrator and
his sister visited the bathroom to find their sky crumpled and wet jammed into the bucket so
hard that they are afraid the clouds would crack[56]. Again, the sisters newborn gets a
promise from her mothers brother [who is again her father] to be brought by himself. The



narrator thus admits to the world that the baby is a fruit of the incestuous relationship he had
with his sister. On the one hand, they had a fear-evoking father and on the other hand, a
feeling of insecurity. Naturally the sister craved for love and togetherness which was
assured by her brother, the narrator. Can it thus be stereo-typed as something profane,
vilified?

As the world looks upon such unusual human bondage as something uncertified, the
offspring begotten of this uncharted relationship will of course be looked down upon,
ostracized. But, the narrator, with courage in his veins, with resolve in his heart assures:

All I know is that, in this city of twelve million, if six or seven or even ten people say
words that hurt, they are a speck in the ocean. Wait for a while, the mom will slide into the
right place, the clouds will gather, there will come a tide and with it a wave which will
wash this speck.[15]

If incest could come out of its stereotypical role, then why should the narrator cringe in self-
criticism before his unloving father? He creates an image through which the fear comes to the
fore:

At the dining table, I tried to hide behind the glass of milk watching Father and sister eat
silently, I wanted to shrink, climb up the glass and dive down to its bottom, swim in
circles, let the milks whiteness fill my body, wash the stickiness and some blood
away.[60]

Why does the mutually assuring relationship evoke guilt feeling in the narrator? Why does
he have to recourse to the milk-imagery and pray for its whiteness alias purity to wash off
the error he committed? How then is it being de-stereotyped? Through the play of words,
through play of emotions, through breaking away from the conventional narrative mode, or
what exactly?

Lastly, postmodern metropolitan existence is what we should blame as it breeds

loneliness, frustration, boredom and marring of healthy emotions. Because of the drunken,
cruel father, the demise of the mother, the dinginess of the room they stayed in, the sense of
being left in the lurch drove them to fall back on themselves, seeking love in each others
arms, beneath a long bedspread. This love is furthered because of the casualness and sterility
of love that is offered by a girl to the brother and the insensitivity and possessiveness of the
husband of the sister. [198] Thus, both the causes join hands together to make the child see
the light of the earth.

It is really shocking to hear the narrator reason:

For if she had said yes that night, if we lived in a house with a garden in front, I might
never have been in this neighbourhood I wouldnt have been here when your mother came
on that April night, you wouldnt have come to this city.[198]

Thus, the brothers sense of guilt makes us conclude that even the postmodern society is
inimical to anything unusual or other than the ordinary. It is transparent in the brothers



way of narrating the story in a disjointed manner, jumping hither and thither in the linear
frame of time, mingling past present and future; it is implicit in the primary hesitancy to
acknowledge fatherhood and also in the queer dream scene at the end, in which the brother
comes up with the truth.

However, Jha goes beyond the barriers of the sense of sin and guilt and proclaims that the
power of human love can purify everything and all. Thus, the narrators courage to face the
reality is nothing but the affirmation of life itself in this postmodernist world. According to
Jha, living life in love responsibly, without inflicting harm on others is the ideal life we all
dream of. Despite that life being solitary, uninteresting or boring!

Its worth quoting Ingmar Bergman in conclusion:

Sometimes I have to console myself with the fact that he who has lived a lie loves the
truth.

References
1 Shukla, Sheobhusan. Indian English novel in the nineties, Sarup Books, N.Delhi,2002.

3. Jha, Rajkamal. The Blue Bedspread , Penguin, N. Delhi, 2000.



 Shape of the Desire: Shaping the Hunger in the Poetry of Binay
Majumdar and Falguni Roy
Abhishek Jha

As the starter, I want to serve a very simple appetizer: Does the hunger (in any sense) shape
the form of the desire? Or, is it desire that creates the feeling of pain or discomfort or (in
extremes) an exhausted condition, caused by lack of any kind of food (in any sense)? The
first possibility which emphasizes that the desire is a product of lack certainly tries to desire a
zone where it can imagine that there is no lack, and the second possibility is certainly
Deluzeian as according to Deluze, desire does not begin from lack, desire begins from
connection; life strives to preserve and enhance itself and does so by connecting with other
desires. In this process desire shapes up a hunger that metaphorically connects the different
bodies to form the whole of an ideology just like the desire of an individual separated body
finding its meaning through society of the bodies. This connection has certainly a phantom
like fantastic tangent that creates a force whose vector is always toward the utopic dystopia
and- or dystopic utopia. In this paper I try to find that very destereotypical shape that is the
product of the very stereotypical male hunger concerning sexuality and society through the
poetry of two apparently different Bengali poets of the Hungry Generation (though we
should keep in mind that if the paper will be able to find that very shape; at that very moment
that very shape will become stereotypical). But before I enter into the thrust area of my
theoretical problematization concerning the hunger of the poetry of Binay and Falguni , I
should give a synopsis of the poetic movement called Hungry. In between 1960s-1980s a
particular group of Bengali poets known as Hungries desired to demolish the meta-
narratives of society, culture and, even, literature through the shape of their desire which is
political beneath the skin of sexuality. In this group, arguably, Binay Majumdar is considered
as the origin point and Falguni Roy is considered as the extreme expression. To be more
particular Born in 1962, with an inspirational assist from visiting U.S. Beatnik Allen
Ginsberg , Calcuttas Hungry Generation is a growing band of young Bengalis with tigers in
their tanks. Somewhat unoriginally they insist that only in immediate physical pleasure do
they find any meaning in life, and they blame modern society for their emptiness. On cheaply
printed paper, they pour forth torrent of starkly explicit erotic writings, most of them on their
own exploitsor on dreams. My theme is me, says Hungry poet Saileswar Ghose, a school
teacher. I say what I feel. I feel frustration, hunger for love, hunger for food.[Time
Magazine (U.S.A.) , November 1964]. Though it is not at all necessary here to mention the
names associated with the Hungry Generation; but to avoid any kind of debate I want to
state that I consider that this movement had three phases : The first phase was like an
earthquake under the calm ocean when Shakti Chattyapadhya with the assistance of
Sandipan Chattyapadhya, Utpal Kumar Basu, Basudeb Dasgupta and Malay Roychowdhuri
produced booklets entitled Hungry Generation where Shakti Chattyapadhya in the time of
reviewing Binay Majumdars Phire Eso, Chaka [ Come Back, Chaka , Translation :
Sreedhar Mukhopadhyay] considered Binay as the creator of this generation ; the second
phase was the obvious tsunami of 1964 -1965 when state took direct action against Saileswar
Ghose, Subhash Ghose, Debi Roy, Malay Roychowdhuri, Samir Roychowdhuri,and Pradip
Chowdhuri , and indirect action against Subo Acharaya, Utpal Kumar Basu, Basudeb



Dasgupta and Subimal Basak ; and the third phase was the aftermath of that tsunami where
along with Saileswar Ghose, Pradip Chowdhuri , Subo Acharaya, Basudeb Dasgupta,
Subhash Ghose, Falguni Roy became the sensation.
Now let us proceed to the main course. If we study the poetry of Binay
Majumdar and Falguni Roy side by side,it may seem that they are the
products of two binary poles. Falguni Roy in his poetry uses his desire in the envelop of
sexuality to attack the emptiness of an endiscoursed, hypocrite, consumerist society as we
find his Glossy Day in Cock (OndoKosh-e JholomoloDin) sketches such a dystopia in which
the wings of the butterfly, rainbow, the breast of beloved, the batting of Patoudi, Sartres
existentialism, Christs blood become meaningless in the backdrop of the so called
meaningful Rabindrasangeet , huge dam of D.V.C., somber library of the university. And the
poem finds the only protest through the identification of the power of the penis of the poetic
persona : My own identification is the identification of the universe / It is the centre of my
penetration--- i.e. PENIS. This identification leads Falguni to contextualize his dystopia
through myth, history and psyche of humanity as we find his Here (Eikhane) finds such a
space where a horny penis crossing the boundary of history and religion can forget the rape
by a Greek warrior in 323 B.C., the metaphorical polygamy Sri Chaittanya who moved from
a particular Bishnupriya to the general women. This certainly reminds us of Rabelaiss A
Season in Hell : Ill return with the limbs of iron, dark skin and furious eye; people will
think to look at me that I am of a strong race. I will have gold: I will be idle and brutal.
Women nurse those fierce invalids, home from hot countries. I will be mixed up in politics.
Saved. In both cases we find the painful desire(or that may be desired pain) is formed due to
the sociological nature of the concept homo duplex which is nicely explained by
sociological determinist Durkheim : Man is double. There are two beings in him : an
individual being which has its foundation in the organism and the circle of whose activities is
therefore strictly limited, and a social being which represents the highest reality in the
intellectual and moral order that we can know by observation I mean society.
[Durkheim,1961,p.29]. And paradoxically Falguni with the very stereotypical notion of penis
and masturbation attempts to create a destereotypical system through his desire as we find in
his Last Statement (Shesh Bibrity) tries to find a world where one can know the root of the
telepathic communication through the horny dick and as we find in his other poem I Can
Write No More ( Kichhu Likhte Parchhi Na Aar ) sketches a crisis where his destereotypical
masturbation in the time of reading The Gita seems to him a very stereotypical process of the
moksha . In this point the suicidal nature of the desire should not be overlooked as both
suicide and masturbation are formed in the mechanism of release and relief. So certainly
libido is there and it is inevitably the result of the suppression of male desire which is
metaphorically political in the case of Falguni and if we look at a comment of Freud the
nature of libido becomes quite clear : Indeed if were able to give a more definite
connotation to the concepts of masculine and feminine, it would even be possible to
maintain that libido is invariably and necessarily of a masculine nature, whether it occurs in
men or women and whether its object is man or a woman.[Freud, 1986, p.355]. And Falguni
metaphorically uses this libido politically to show the impotent nature of a self-obsessed
society as we find in The Television of the Fucked Soul ( Noshto Atmar Television) : I felt



the Oedipal Complex long before I know any Freud but I do not enjoy with my mother but
many times I desire to taste the motherly figures one day in my fevered adolescence I went to
suicide but feeling the horror of death through the repeated bombing in the streets I made a
retreat I felt the violent revolution long before I know any Das Capital. So the desire of
Falguni through the desire of his expressive sexuality establishes a dualism and opposition
between the self and the other through the concept of abstract masculinity: the power of
men is first a metaphysical assertion of self, and I am that exists a priori ,bedrock, absolute,
no embellishment or apology required, indifferent to denial or challenge. It expresses intrinsic
authority. It never ceases to exist. [Dworkin, 1981, p. 13].

Now if we look at the poetry of Binay Majumdar we find that the hungers
nature, here, is very different in its appearance as Binay always presents a world beyond
Falgunis world of brutal civilization. Binay presents a utopia where human sexuality is
continuously mingled with the pattern of nature from micro to macro. In his most celebrated
Come Back, Chaka (Phire Eso, Chaka ) Binay starts to weave that world where the tangent is
of concealed whispering unlike Falgunis revealed shouting as we find that the no.9 poem of
Come Back, Chaka states that coming close to fleshly portraits everything could have been
forgotten, / Like alcohol or no.13 expresses the suppressed desire There are plenty of
foodstuff here on the earth, / but tell me, how much taste a cats foiled tongue could relish?.
Binay very consciously takes this shape to the sphere of unconscious as the poem no 29
realizes Curiosity is blended with blood, thick curiosity; / the core of the seed contains the
lustful fluid of the cave, or the poem no.71 desires They will ask us to feed in darkthat
the desire of all./ Who knows what fruit or sweetmeat will be served--/ middle-aged,
unmarried or plump; and then establishes the pattern in the connection with the very pattern
of geographical nature as we find in no.69: Youve got secrets. My heart gets engrossed / in
dream and bathes alone in the scented lake / of the wonderful delta, hidden in the dark
forest. In Binays Feelings of the Autumn( Aghraner Anuvutimala ) we find that Binays
sexuality tries to find a shape through suggestive of bridge, chrysanthemum , bokul ( one
kind of off-white scented flower of Bengal), estuary etc.. And with this utterance it
becomes quite clear that Binay tries to create a utopia not of the personal, but of the private
I. The difference between personal and private, loaning the private words of one of my
personal relationships, I can say that the difference is like bedroom (the personal) and
bathroom (the private). Binays poetry creates this private world by creating a wall between
him and his contemporary world which is not Falguniesque. In this utopia Binay can certainly
be the husband of Ishworee(Sorry, I cannot translate it because the impact of this word is
something like Godot) as he claimed concerning his volume Of Ishworee (Ishworeer )
When I was Composing Of Ishworee I really believed that 1) I am the husband of Ishworee
2) Ishworee told me the whole book and then transformed it to me and then I composed. [
Letter to Tarun Bandhyopadhya, 20th January,1992, Binay Majumdar, 2002, p.82]. What can
be the best stereotypical process of transforming the wifes essence to the husband? It is one
and only sexual intercourse, the poems of Of Ishworee certainly follows this dictum as we
find in the poem Always the True Request ( Sorboda Sottyo Anurodh) the poet realizes



through Ishworee that man is a half-living being who has the power of penetration but has no
soul; and it is beneficial for the poet as then he can only be with Ishworee eternally. Similarly
Being Beauty and Nature ( Roop o Prokiti Hoye ) feels that Someones heart sounds in my
ears/ When Im lying, so I think, naturally Ive to think--/ were lying together through love:
Ishworee and I and Time. This stereotypical desire gradually moves to such a zone where
Binay indicates that this typicality is existentially inevitable when one is in the ring of
anguish, and how one can reach it without desterotyping his desire? Notice what the poem I
and Flower Karabee ( Ami ar Karabee Kusum ) tries to convey : When the doing is over,
shadow like the shadow provides a swift slumber;/ Lie in the arms I and flower Karabee./ In
the time of crisis of thinking word like this, image like this are safe and good./ Only then you
are adored by Time, Sky, Fire, and the Starlight. Certainly Nietzsche with his I, think
and it comes to our mind : In fact, the assertion I think presupposes that to ascertain
what my current state of mind is, I compare it with other states of mind which are familiar to
me.It is falsifying the facts to say that the subject I is a condition of the predicate think.
A thought comes when it wants, not when I want.. Itthinks but this it is identical with
the good old I is at best only an assumption. [Nietzsche, 1973, pp. 16-17]. And this I of
Binay needs such an it that helps him to release and relief : the good old masturbation by
imagining a partner that can be particular and general at the same time, may be Ishworee.
This exclusive Binay leads to create a fantastic zone of erotica in his poems concerning maize
(the shape of male organ), cave (the female organ) and moon (?)) in the volume Poems of
Balmeeki ( Balmeekir Kobita). In this poems the desire is full of so called perversion which
denies the sexual expression of urban civilization as we find that the poet says that in the
earlier days he cleans his male organ after the intercourse is over as his partner cleans her
organ, now he realizes that he feels more pleasure when his organ contains the smell of his
partners; so he does not clean his organ now. Look at the expression: Earlier after the
sitting I cleaned my maizeafter the moon/ cleaned the cave using water/ Then I think it is
good if the fluid of cave remains unwashed on my maize/ Thatll be more pleasant/ So I dont
wash it now. So the whole mechanism of this desire is based on the mysterious identity of
the moon; it is the easiest and the most bogus way to explain moon as the female partner.
As Binay is a Bengali poet we may look at the significance of this sexual expression in the
context of the Baul( a special religious group who believes to attain divinity through
different sexual and pathological practices). In the tantra practice of the Bouls moon is a
very important factor due to its symbolical significance as moon gradually attains its whole
shape from nothingness, and then from the totality goes to the nothingness again suggesting
the whole sexual process of man. We should keep in mind that Lord Shiva is a master of
tantras ,he is at the same time a conventional, if not in origin, symbol of male sexuality, and
moon is at His head. So moon in Binay is the metaphorical tandava of self-sexuality
which refuses its surrounding by the most private I of a man. And to be utmost private is the
most political activity. I do not want to convey my opinion concerning this innermost effort
by Binay, I just want to present some historical documents: 1) After the publication of
Poems of Balmeeki in 1976 Lalbazar directly ordered the publisher to stop the book-sale. 2)
The editor of Binays collected poems himself believes that Binays poems in Poems of
Balmeeki are obscene. 3) Binays painfully shouts in his Self-introduction : Part-
2(Attomoporichay :Deetiwo Parba ) : The Bengali has to forget that once I composed more



than sixty poems concerning maize , cave and moon. Can you identify the same identity
which feels I am lying in the drawer of the morgue nowa dead body/ My living part is
snatched by some foolish fucker like you.as we find in Falgunis I am a Beauty Monster(
Ami Ek Saundarjyo Rakkhas) and that voice which asks I can offer love, are you capable of
accepting it? through no.65 poem of Binays Come Back,Chaka ?

----------------------------------------------------

Except the translation of the lines of Come Back,Chaka , all the lines of Binay Majumdar
and Falguni Roy are translated by Abhishek Jha. The lines of Come Back,Chaka are taken
from Sreedhar Mukhopadhyas translation published in Kabitirtha , September,2011.

References:

Cohen, E. Talk on the Wilde Side Toward a Genealogy of a Discourse on Male Sexualities,
Routledge, 1993.

Durkheim,E. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life , New York, 1961.

Dworkin, A. Pornography : Men Possessing Women, Women Press,1981.

Freud,S. Three Essays on Sexuality,Pelican,1986.

MacInnes,J. The End of Mascuilinity, Open University Press, 1998.

Majumdar , B. Kabbya Samagra 1 &2 ed. by Tarun Bandyopadhya, Protivas,1993 & 2002.

Majumdar , B. Ishworeer Sworochito Nibondho o Anannya, ed. By Tarun Bandyopadhya,

Protivas,1995.

Nietzsche, F. Beyond Good and Evil, Penguin,1973.

Roy,F. Samagra ed. by Sameer Roychowdhuri, Hawa Unapanchas, Book Fair,1998

Sarkar,S. Jounatar Vasshya, Hawakaal,2011



 Representation of Women in Mainstream Bollywood Hindi Films : A Case
Study
Pallav Mukhopadhyay

Has the representation of the Indian woman changed over the years in mainstream Bollywood
Hindi films? Do they still represent the cultural myths or have they freed to fly where they
will, in keeping with the myths in our so-called rapidly changing mainstream Hindi film? In
the 1950s and 1960s, towards the end of the black and white era when the age of colour was
being ushered in, the Indian heroine epitomized by Meena Kumari was a silent, suffering
entity who believed she was to be seen and not heard; so deep was her feeling of
unworthiness, what the men in India wanted their women to be. The 1970s, which belonged
to Hema Malini at one end and Zeenat Aman at the other, reflected the two sides of the
Indian woman - one traditional and the other western but still a part of a mans world
fulfilling his needs for romance, sexual gratification and procreation. The films of the 1970s
were so simple. It began and ended with whether the man would marry her or not. They had
no connect with real life, yet they were so thoroughly entertaining, with their goody-goody
heroines yearning for the heros glance. The 1980s saw a change in the way the Indian
woman was viewed, which was not reflected in the mainstream. The 1990s swung in another
direction yet again. Although it was still about sex and romance, this time the woman was an
equal partner and not a human being who could not even think about her self-dignity.

Aims & Objectives :-

This paper has tried to investigate the representation of women in mainstream Bollywood
Hindi films. Earlier the good heroines catered to our pious aspirations and the wicked vamps
stoked our carnal fires; but now the wife and the whore were mixed up together in a cocktail
and this whetted the male appetite for more. This paper tries to enquire the status of women
in mainstream Hindi films over five decades.

Methodology :-

This paper follows the Historical Method. It tries to focus on the representative films of the
past decades. It tries to interpret the relationship between women characters, state, society,
family, times, events and narratives. The paper mainly depends on the articles, books,
magazines and also critical appreciation of the films. The paper has analyzed the films,
documents and records and has drawn inferences. The primary sources of data and
information lie on articles, newspapers, magazines, books etc. To follow this method, this
paper has tried to maintain the genuineness of the sources and the admissibility of data as
evidence. The paper has attempted to find out the meaning of the assertions contained in the
sources and the truthfulness of such assertions. It has offered explanations based on thorough
analysis of films.

Besides, the paper also follows the Method of Content Analysis. It has been done to study
diverse kinds of problems and crisis faced by the women in mainstream Hindi films. The
study paper has tried to analyze the messages, causes and antecedents of messages and the
effects of such messages in the films discussed. The paper has identified the five decades
1951-2000 as its time span of discussion and has selected purposefully certain films as
sample of study which represents the decades.



Actresses Representing Women in Mainstream Bollywood Hindi Films :-

The feminization of mass culture has been shown to be a feature of cultural theory in the
Modern West (Huyssen 1986).1 Thus, the gendered polarization of culture into a masculine
sphere of autonomous modernist works of art and a feminine sphere of heteronomous and
formally diffuse mass culture has led to an affirmation of melodrama as a feminine form and
its pleasures as the denigrated but real and valued pleasures of female audiences. On the other
hand, a study of Indian film melodrama shows that in its most fragmented, patchwork texture,
its most feminized appearance going by Huyssens argument, it was addressed to a wide,
undifferentiated audience. Thus womens melodrama appears to be a specific branching off
from a popular form but the question of the conditions of possibility of melodrama remains
unresolved.2

There were characters symbolizing a favoured theme that dominated Hindi films in the 1950s
and the 1960s, women playing the central characters, so strikingly portrayed by celebrated
actresses of the times, like Meena Kumari, Nutan and Nargis. They could adorn every frame
in a film with their grace and beauty, precisely what Meena Kumari accomplishes in these
classics that also is a treasure of melody. The soft melancholy look in the dark eyes of
actresses like Suraiya, Meena Kumari, Waheeda Rehman and Nutan released an ocean of
suppressed emotions among men and unveiled a mirror reflection of what women wanted to
be.3 The warmth of Nargiss smile and the protective embrace of her companionship conjured
up the ideal portrait of an educated woman as partner-cum-wife. The uninhibited openness of
Madhubalas laugh, the teasing abandon of her smile, the sensuous toss of the locks of hair
around her high cheekbones, her slim hourglass figure, all made her into a sublime sexy
human being. The films of 1950s, 1960s and 1970s gave a generation of actresses the perfect
platform from which to cast a spell over the audiences heart. Suraiyas look tugged at the
heartstrings of the audience. Meena Kumaris oval face with its near-perfect classical
features, glowed like a gentle lamp when the hurt of her sad scenes seemed to blow across it
like monsoon clouds. She exhibited her talent behind her beautiful face. In 1952, she charmed
the nation with her pensive look in Baiju Bawra and Tamasha. Her heavy dramatic
presence bounced off her style of casual naturalism. In Guru Dutts heart-wrenching saga
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), the neglected and latterly alcoholic wife on a debilitating
feudal estate, Meena Kumari came closest to her own loneliness. Perhaps Na Jaao Saeeyaan
Churhake Baeenyaan was the essence of her own life song. In fact her youth was spent in
depicting the various tragedies that befall Indian women. Waheeda Rehmans glances of
vulnerable girlhood, Nutans magical ability to silently swallow her tears, Nargiss sublime
portrayals of the pain of her passion - these are some of the unforgettable memories of
independent Indias years of adolescence. In all the naratives of Dhool Ka Phool, Chirag
Kahan Roshni Kahan, Dil Ek Mandir etc., we see an attempt to represent the womans
point of view or to centre the narrative on a woman caught between desire and an oppressive
tradition. The screen womans melodramas are male-centred. But at the same time they raise
the question of womens desire, and albeit with adequate patriarchal scaffolding, broached
questions connected with the emancipation of women from the oppression of feudal
orthodoxy. The contradictory attitudes to kissing (which is banned) and the erotic display of
the female body as spectacle (which is widespread) in the popular Hindi film is explained by
this very ideology of the public sphere. The female body as spectacle is a public
representation, a putting before the public of an erotic imagery that does not violate the code
that prohibits the representation of the private.



Even Madhubalas tragic defiance in Mughal-e-Azam rose above all moments of fun, frolic
and playfulness that had given her elfin romantic charm in other films. Nargis, Meena
Kumari, Waheeda Rehman, Nutan Geeta Bali and others often came up with acting
performances that arrested the attention of the audience in general and the critic in special.
The status of these actresses has not diminished to this day.

G. P. Sippys Andaz was a film obscuring the somewhat unorthodox plot involving widow
remarriage. In Ramesh Sippys Sholay (1975), the two petty criminals Veeru (Dharmendra)
falls in love with Basanti (Hema Malini) who drives a tonga and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) is
attracted to Radha (Jaya Bhaduri), the mysterious widowed daughter-in-law of Thakur
Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar).4

Nature of Heroines/Actresses :-

The gaze mobilized by the popular film is a national gaze which reads the woman-in-public
as a public woman and thus denies her subjectivity. It is a rule in mainstream Hindi films,
in particular, and Indian mainstream films, in general, that the heroine will be both good-
looking and sexy. Why does Indian film deal in beautiful women? It could be that since the
audience for popular film is disproportionately made up of young, desperate, thwarted men,
the heroines looks and sex appeal matter. Indian film favours good-looking women
because its audiences consist of good-looking women. If we cast our eyes over mixed
gatherings in classrooms, offices, weddings, literary festivals, fairs, cultural programmes
etc. Indian women are routinely better-looking. Before marriage the heroine usually sported
salwaar-kameez, after marriage, saris as a mark of her status as both womanly and adult
(Dwyer 2000 : 185).5 In the glory days of Bindu and Helen, the vamps were the only screen
women who were allowed to wear shocking costumes, gyrate erotically, drink whiskey
(Mehta 2004 : 363), Moorti (2003 : 355-376).6,7

Housewives in Mainstream Bollywood Hindi Films ;-

Majority of the housewives of mainstream Hindi films are decked up to their teeth in saris
and jewellery that might total up to the annual income of many lower middle class families.
All they do is backstabbing each other and manipulate relationships and property. These
women do not believe in housework either. Their kitchens are like the ultimate in
advertisements for modular kitchens. Their palms are soft, manicured revealing their
complete indifference to the kitchen and to housework and all that goes along. The
mainstream Hindi films represent women in a flawless complexion, an unwrinkled face, fair
skin, slim, lissome and tall figure wrapped alluringly and teasingly in a sari or salwar and
shapely figure that have become the metaphor for female success because attaining these
symbols of female achievement requires a great deal of sacrifice, hard work and control.8 The
impact is huge. The business of beauty parlours shoots up. Gold facials, fruit and herbal
facials, facials to tighten the skin find their way into middle class Indian homes. In fact, all
these films perform the dual duty of entertaining and advertising at the same time. Their
eyebrows are plucked, their make-up and lipstick in bed are intact, suggesting that the men in
their lives either probably believe in the celibate state of life. Critics argue that majority of
these mainstream Bollywood Hindi films have marginalized the space for intelligent
entertainment.9
Mother in Mainstream Bollywood Hindi Films :-



By and large our mainstream Hindi filmmakers have steered clear of all cultural and symbolic
references and have stuck to the straight and narrow while portraying the mother figure as a
weepy woman in white with a halo riding her shoulders. In Bollywood, she is typically the
widowed or abandoned woman who weathers many storms to keep the family together and
bring up her children. In return she expects them to be forever obedient and loyal. From Maa
to Mata-ji to Mummy to todays Mom has been a long journey for the screen mother with
several poster mothers lining the way. They include Durga Khote, Kamini Kaushal,
Sulochana Devi, Leela Chitnis, Rakhee, Dina Pathak and many others. Their endless puja
rituals and soft hullabies, the pain-filled eyes and quiet dignity with which they conducted
themselves rekindling memories of a bygone era. In between there have been the occasional
treacherous or manipulative mothers, best represented by Bindu and Shashikala, but more
often than not, the mother has stood out as a doting, almost divine being, incapable of doing
any wrong. Mothers slaving for their children have been a recurrent theme of Bollywood
tearjerkers for a long, long time. At times she is separated from one son. At other times, she
loses them all, only to be reunited in the films climax scene amidst fisticuffs and fireworks.
Waheeda Rehman in Trishul, Rakhee in Ram-Lakhan and Nutan in Karma excelled in
such situations. With the arrival of actresses like Reema Lagoo in Maine Pyar Kiya and
Farida Jalal in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, the reel mother started getting changed. She
now looks happy, even fun-loving, dances with her husband and family members at wedding
reception. The new age mother appears as a friend of her children. She dresses smart and
offers smarter advice in crucial matters like making career opportunities and finding love in
life. These mothers do not like to appear as an epitome of goddess and is rarely seen in
crumpled white saris. Jaya Bachchan, as the regular NRI mother, is often seen bedecked in
gorgeous silk saris and gold jewellery.10 To many, these exaggerated representations have
totally destroyed the halo accompanying the mother figure, reducing her to a caricature of her
defied predecessors on screen. On the other hand, a section of the critics find nothing wrong
in such women who have freed themselves from the shackles of stereotyped femininity while
continuing to be power centres in the family as mother, nurturer and often as bread-earner
keeping her inner strength, sense of values and virtues intact.
The screen mothers are the master chefs. They are the empresses of tailoring machines on
which they sew the neighbours clothes to pay for their sons college fees. They are so
adorably huggable, full of human kindness, their foreheads are coloured with so many worry
lines, specks and blotches. Mothers were once dominant and dominating figures in
Bollywood film. Screen mothers taught the viewers to obey traditional rules, sacrifice herself
for the larger good and to combat every sort of calamity be it in the time of any disease or
clashes between family members.
The following actresses have achieved popularity for portrayal of their mother characters in
mainstream Bollywood Hindi films :-

Durga Khote
Khote was identified with a heartbreaking smile. She used a white sari often to convey her
widowhood, head covered. Her stride would be snail-paced to convey a hint of arthritis. As
Jodhabai, her joy on meeting her son after years is one of the most emotionally powerful
sequences in K. Asifs Mughal-e-Azam. This women character exhibited torn between
motherly affection and wifely duty. Her tear-inducing act in Bidai is also memorable. Other



memorable starrers include Charnon ki Dasi, Mirza Ghalib, Bawarchi, Abhimaan,
Bobby etc.

Leela Chitnis
On screen, Chitniss eyes reveal like papyrus-thin, her voice would earthquake under stress.
Her lungs were damaged due to smoke of choolahs. Her saris were almost torn. Her forte was
coughing. For many years, she played the long-suffering nurturer, sometimes widowed and
abandoned in the face of grinding poverty. Her most notable films are Awara, Maa,
Ganga-Jamuna, Guide etc.

Lalita Pawar
Pawar excelled as the wicked busy-body. She was Bollywoods most dreaded mother who
had an uninterrupted run of 300 odd films. Some of her most successful films are Anari,
Dahej, Mr. and Mrs. 55, Shri 420, Nau Do Gyarah, Professor, Sujata, Junglee,
Love in Tokyo, Sangam, Parvarish etc.

Amir Banu
Banu was the self-sacrificing mother as well as the ideal caregiver of the family of the films
of 1940s and 1950s. Her popular films include Sharda, Ratan, Anmol Ghadi, Dillagi,
Bazaar, Andaaz, Jaan Pehchan, Aar Paar, Chori Chori Dhool ka Phool etc.

Achala Sachdev
Sachdev was the upmarket mother who wore chiffons and jewellery. One of her last
performances was in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge not as a mother but as a grandmother.
One of her memorable films is Waqt.

Mumtaz Begum
Begum had a mega-morose expression which would make the viewers eyes water. The film
Kaala Paani begins with a tense sequence showing her running helter skelter down the
streets at night.
Leela Mishra
From mother to aunt and later grandmother, Mishra has done it all. Of the 150-odd films to
her credit, the well remembered ones are Chitralekha, Khamoshi, Bahaar, Sholay,
Daag, Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaye, Prem Rog etc.

Kamini Kaushal
Kaushal, the heroine of the early 1950s turned to motherly roles in 1965 with Shaheed. She
was the mother of Bhagat Singh, played by Manoj Kumar. Promptly, she got typed as
Manoj Kumars mother through films like Upkaar, Purab Aur Paschim, Shor, Roti
Kapda Aur Makan, Sanyasi Dus Numbri etc.

Nirupa Roy
The film Maa, Roy projected a vulnerability which inspired the nations protective instincts.
She used her eyes, mouth and voice to become the quintessential mother who would kill like



a lioness to protect her cubs. She could gun down her son too if he went astray. Yash
Chopras Deewar put her up on a pedestal giving her an almost divine status. Her popular
films include Amar Akbar Anthony, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Suhag, Mard etc.

Dina Pathak
Pathak, Mrs. Nirmala Devi in Khubsoorat made her mark as a mother. A few of her most
notable appearances are Thodisi Bewafai, Umrao Jaan, Arpan, Jhoothi, Yarana etc.

Rakhee
As Amitabh Bachchans mother in Shakti, Rakhee had a sensational start of screen mother
which have had an inordinately high quota of melodrama. As a mother her popular films
include Khalnayak, Ram Lakhan, Baazigar, Karan Arjun etc.

Jaya Bachchan
Bachchan acquired the tag of new age mother with films like Fiza, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie
Gham, Kal Ho Na Ho etc.

Farida Jalal
Jalal has appeared on screen as an adorable mother. She can make the absurd come across as
plausible. Her popular films include Henna, Raja Hindustani, Dilwale Dulhania Le
Jayenge etc.

Representation of Women in Films Women Directors Views :-

Though Bollywood has traditionally been a male dominated industry, women have always
managed to make their presence felt. From Kalpana Lazmi to Tanuja Chandra and Farah
Khan, female film directors have been breaking new barriers and creating a niche for
themselves. Farah says the audience has become more urbane. The audience has opened up
to smart, clever and intelligent films. They arent biased towards directors of any gender.
Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar seconds the thought of Farah being a woman with the eyes of a man.
It makes no difference whether the director is a male or a female. Farah gives her film
womanly touches when she feels the need to do so. Another Director Alankrita Srivastava
comments, As a director, I will always make women-centric films because I am here to
explore women and delve into their lives and minds. So when I start writing a script, its
naturally about women.11
Representation of Women in Mainstream Hindi Films A Few Case Studies
Jogan (1950)

Jogan, a melodrama with tragic overtones has an agnostic Vijay (Dilip Kumar) attracted to
a woman mendicant Surabhi (Nargis) who lives in the precincts of a village temple singing
religious songs. Despite her protests and forebodings, Vijay pursues her relentlessly and at
one point implores her to spell out her reasons for rejecting his overtures, since she seems to
be making desperate efforts to suppress her own emotions. She reverts to her past through a
largely musical odyssey that shows her lost in a world of fantasy waiting for her lover. But
her reverie is broken by a sudden twist. On the advice of a hanger-on, her alcoholic brother
fixes her marriage to an older man in return for a large sum of money. But Surabhi runs away
and finds refuge in an ashram of mendicants under the patronage of Maha Mai (Protima



Devi) who puts her through rigorous tests of devotion and celibacy. She then comes to a
village where the city lad Vijay is temporarily residing. He is instantly attracted first to her
voice and then to her physicality. The narrative moves forward through short intense
dialogues to reveal the jogan painfully resisting Vijay's overtures to a point of sheer
helplessness from which the only escape is to return to the sanctity of the ashram. But she
finds no peace there and eventually succumbs to her doom. Before leaving the village she
bids Vijay not to pursue her beyond a particular tree. Finding no peace, Vijay does succumb
in a brief interlude to a nameless friend's (Rajendra Kumar) persuasions and starts visiting a
courtesan (Poornima) but returns to the village in pursuit of peace of mind. Years later,
another jogan comes to the village and hands over Surabhi's diary to a waiting Vijay, telling
him that he can come face to face with her only at her samadhi, which he does to end the
film.

Jhanak Jhanak Payel Baje (1955)

Old-timers tell that when Rukmini Devi Arundale began performing Bharatanatyam, which
she learnt from the devadasis and nattuvanars, and became the first Brahmin woman to
perform it, a lecture by her husband, the well known scholar, educationist and Theosophist
George Sydney Arundale, was always included. This was considered necessary for the
audience to develop due respect for the art, since the idea of using the body as an instrument
is hard to filter away from the sensual beauty of a woman. Sandhya as Neeladevi, appeared as
fetching in the bazaari (commercial) sequences as later when she comes under the tutelage
of Mangal Maharaj (Keshavrao Date). Like when Neela realises what she has been missing in
her training, accusing her first guru of teaching her bazaari nritya. The film portrays the
girls cymbals and a portion with lighted lamps.

Seema (1955)

Nutan as Gauri in Seema is divine. She lives the role impeccably and leaves an imprint on
viewers mind. Gauri rebels against the society and her transformation into a pleasant soul is
the essence of the film. She lives with her uncle and aunt, who ill-treat her, and works as a
domestic help. She also has to spurn the advances of a lecherous Bankelal (C.S. Dube) who
then successfully conspires and frames her on charges of theft. She is promptly sacked. Gauri
is then packed off to an orphanage where she encounters a different world. It is the test of his
life for Ashok Babu, an elderly and compassionate warden. He pursues his resolve
relentlessly to reform Gauri and changes her attitude towards people around her but not
before she manages to escape from the orphanage to give Bankelal a sound thrashing. The
fact that she returns to Ashok Babu's care and silently begins to love him adds a significant
chapter to the latter part of the film. The happy ending is predictable with Ashok Babu
walking into a new horizon with Gauri. The ailing Ashok Babu discarding the walking stick
is symbolic indeed, for Gauri is his support now. The message of protecting women from
social ills like rape and domestic violence is conveyed in an effective manner. The subject
deals with the sufferings of women. The film was known to give women the respect they
deserved.

Mother India (1957)

The film reflects the odds and aspirations of an emerging nation. Relating the story of a
dogged woman faced with adversity on all fronts, including poverty, possible widowhood,
the film was able to blend the colours of patriotism with romance, good old velour with the



problems of development in an emerging nation. It was the source for the thematic of the
mother-son relationship. There the mother herself killed the rebellious son, who had turned
into a bandit, and was rewarded with a symbolic role at the opening of a dam. Her sacrifice
thus made her a contributor to the progress of modern India.12
Sharda (1957)

The film revolves round the love story of Shekhar (Raj Kapoor) and Sharda (Meena Kumari)
who meet at a naturopathy centre where Shekhar brings his friend Mohan (Om Prakash) for a
cure for alcoholism. Sharda's saintly devotion to patients as naturopathy practitioner makes
her everyone's favourite and Shekhar too loses his heart to her innocent charms. Their vows
of undying love are interrupted by Shekhar's cultural tour to China, but not before he
promises to marry her after his return. Unfortunately, his aircraft crashes and the tragic news
about no survivors, adversely impacts his father Kashiram (Raj Mehra); a rich yet sick
widower with three other children (one of whom is a crippled girl). In a tragic twist of fate, a
devastated Sharda is sent to look after Kashiram and remains oblivious of the fact that she is
serving Shekhar's kith and kin since the doctors banish all of Shekhar's photographs from the
house so as not to aggravate Kashiram's heartache. Sharda not only nurses the old man to
good health but also develops kinship with his kids, and when her father (a loyal servant of
Kashiram) pleads with her to marry Kashiram for the children's sake, she accepts it as fait
accompli. Soon after, Shekhar returns home to the horrible reality of having his beloved as
his stepmother, and the revelation turns him into an alcoholic. But on learning the bitter truth,
he accepts Sharda as his godmother and marries his classmate Chanchal (Shyama) on her
insistence. Unfortunately, a friend poisons Chanchal's mind against the pious mother-son
relationship, and the resultant showdown with her husband leads to Shekhar abandoning
home and family. After several strenuous efforts, though Sharda is able to bring back an
ailing Shekhar and also nurses him to normal health, the excessive grind takes her life.

Chirag Kahan, Roshni Kahan (1959)

The film exhibits the brooding Meena Kumari (Ratna) endowed with rare grace and poise,
being pitted against the prince of heartbreak, Rajendra Kumar. The role of a brooding,
sacrificing doctor, Anand (Rajendra Kunar), who becomes a widower when his wife dies in
the labour room after giving birth to a male child, was tailor made for him. The story takes
off from there, as the bereaved, but large-hearted doctor, in a proof of his commitment
towards his patients, gives the child to a widow, who has delivered a still born baby at the
same time, to save her from certain death. Meena Kumari as Ratna, the widow who
unknowingly rears Anand's son as her own, is as dependable as ever in these sorts of roles
that demand histrionic skills. Caught in the web of suspicion by her in-laws who frown over
her purported closeness to Anand, she repeatedly seeks solace and guidance at the feet of
deities in the temple. She wards off the aspersions, while harbouring a secret desire in her
bosom for the dapper doctor, who meanwhile gets hooked by a devious and spendthrift nurse
in the hospital he works in. The secret of the child, Raju's, (Honey Irani), parentage would
have remained buried in Anand's heart were it not for his greedy wife who to get his father's
inheritance spills the beans. The end is a predictable happy ending with the two suffering
leads finally getting married with the concurrence of all and sundry.

Anpadh (1962)



Anpadh, a movie much ahead of its times, was a stirring tribute to a woman's fight for
identity, self-respect and existence. It has a strong social message for a nation trying to keep
pace with the rest of the world. The significance of education for girls was the theme of the
film that revolved around Mala Sinha. Her doting brother (Balraj Sahni) showers her with
affection but deprives the young child of education. Her illiteracy leads to various
complications and challenges that dictate the course of the film. The role allowed the leading
actress to essay the life of a pampered sister, a graceful wife and finally a gritty mother. The
film reflected the life of a once wealthy village girl who, backed by her affectionate brother,
opts out of school after being reprimanded by a teacher. Thereafter, how lack of education
changes the course of her marital life is the core of the story. Significantly, the importance of
education is highlighted in a very subtle manner.

Bandini (1963)
It was a feminist film like others, a rare film that centred around the woman and told the story
from a womans viewpoint. A memorable shot is of a prison cell where Nutan is lodged with
other inmates. She had fallen in love with Ashok Kumars freedom fighter, who later leaves
her in the village promising to come back. Circumstances conspire to make her poison her
lovers wife.
Dil Ek Mandir (1963)

Dil Ek Mandir revolves around the tragic romance of Dr. Dharmesh (Rajendra Kumar) and
Sita (Meena Kumari). They vow to get married after Dharmesh returns from abroad on
completion of higher studies. By a quirk of fate, Sita is married to a caring businessman, Ram
(Raaj Kumar) and accepts her new role in stoic silence. Traumatized on return by Sita's
marriage, Dharmesh dedicates his life to serving cancer patients in a far flung nursing home.
One day, unaware of Dharmesh's whereabouts, Sita brings forth her cancer afflected husband
to the nursing home and the sudden encounter disturbs the rhythm of their lives. Petrified that
Dharmesh may not provide Ram with a fair treatment, Sita wishes to take her husband to
another hospital, but is dissuaded by Dharmesh as he promises to do his best to save Ram.
Meanwhile, convinced he wouldn't survive for long, Ram worries about Sita's future and
when he overhears the conversation of the two friends, he suggests they get married after his
death. But this proposal is promptly rejected by both as preposterously immoral. Seized with
an overwhelming burden to prove his integrity, Dharmesh concentrates on the complicated
surgery ignoring food and rest. After a successful operation, an elated Dharmesh runs out to
convey the good news to Sita but stumbles and dies out of sheer exhaustion. The film ends
with Ram and Sita leading Dharmesh's mother to the inauguration of a hospital built in his
memory. The issue of widow remarriage is introduced in the form of a pact between two
men about the future of a woman. The films narrative structure is especially designed to
allow for the celebration of the thematic of love as a relation of mutuality in conflict with the
compulsions of marriage. The husbands legitimacy is restored only after a full
acknowledgement on his part of the legitimacy of his wifes relation with the doctor.13

Chitralekha (1964)

Meena Kumari's role of the protagonist Chitralekha, nautch girl of the royal harem, seduces
kings to doom with her overpowering physical attraction. The film is about the love story
between Chitralekha (Meena Kumari) and Prince Beejgupt (Pradeep Kumar) and how she
renounces the world when she realises how her love is hindering him from his administrative
duties. However, when she goes for spiritual enlightenment to Guru Yogiraj (Ashok Kumar),


who had criticized her earlier for her indulgence in sensual pleasures, she is shocked to
observe the learned Guru lusting after her physical charms. Admonished by Chitralekha, the
Yogi commits suicide while she settles in matrimony with Beejgupt since he has abandoned
the throne in her favour.

Teen Devian (1965)

The story revolves around Dev Dutt (Dev Anand) a handsome, educated and gifted poet who
works as an assistant in Merry Music Store of Kolkata (then Calcutta). His boss, I.S. Johar is
hard and rude from outside but has a truly soft corner for Dev Dutt and understands his
talents well. In due course, Dev comes across Nanda (Nanda) who is a steno-typist at a
corporate office. Both are tenants at the same residence, owned by Harindranath Chatterjee
and Ruby Mayers. Dev's creative abilities and straightforward attitude towards life draw him
close to Nanda and a sweet emotional relation develops between them. As Dev moves from
strength to strength as a poet, he comes across a celebrated actress Kalpana (Kalpana) to
whom he proves in their first confrontation that he is not overwhelmed by glamorous women
and does not allow them to dominate him. In the course of a series of meetings, Kalpana also
starts liking Dev. The debonair Dev comes across his third beloved in the form of Radha Rani
(Simmi), a socialite who is intelligent and an ardent music lover. Torn between his three
beloveds, Dev has a tormented life which is a mixture of uncertainties, pathos and
restlessness. He ultimately opts for the simple middle class Nanda in whom he finds his real
love and life partner. The various facets of womanhood i.e. love, sacrifice, ambition,
ruthlessness and possessiveness are effectively depicted through the characters of Nanda,
Kalpana and Radha Rani.

Teesri Kasam (1966)

The blooming of the bond between Hiraman (Raj Kapoor) and Hirabai (Waheeda Rehman) is
interspersed with affection and melancholy. What draws the nautanki dancer to the rustic cart
driver is his simple philosophy of life which he expresses through his moving songs Duniya
Bananewale Kahe Ko Duniya Banayi. A lasting image of the film is after parting as
Hiraman prepares to go back and is about to hit his bullocks he overhears Hiras voice -
Dont hit them (earlier when he was transporting her to the fair and tried to hit the bullocks
she had stopped him with the same words) and as he looks back through the fluttering
curtains of the bullock cart is seen the train in which Hirabai has left. The poignancy of
Teesri Kasam is rooted in Hira Bais difficult position summed up in the scene where the
local zamindar (Ifthikar) tries to solicit her. You think Im a prostitute, he thinks Im a
goddess. Youre both wrong. In contrast to typical Bollywood heroine, it is heartening that
Hirabai chooses her own destiny.

Mamta (1966)

Mamta is about a poor girl Devyani (Suchitra Sen) and her jinxed love affair with a
wealthy lawyer Mohnish (Ashok Kumar). After he goes abroad for higher studies, Devyani's
father suffers a stroke and needs urgent medical attention. Unfortunately, Mohnish's mother
plays spoilsport and surreptitiously drives her to despair whereby she reluctantly agrees to
marry a much older businessman Rakhal (Kalipada Chakraborty), as a compromise, for the
sake of her father's treatment. But Rakhal turns out to be a habitual drunkard and womanizer,
forcing Devyani to not just submit to his lust but also become a nautch girl. After giving birth
to a girl, Devyani alias Pannabai resolves to save her daughter from meeting a similar fate



and entrusts the young daughter Suparna (also Suchitra Sen) into the custody of her lover-
turned-barrister Mohnish and he brings her up as his doting daughter. Several years later,
when Pannabai is charged with Rakhal's murder and Suparna guns for her prosecution, the
relationship and the cause of murder is revealed in court in a sensational manner but it leads
to the death of the mother in the arms of her bewildered daughter.

An Evening in Paris (1967)

The heroine in this film invoke Indian custom to refuse the heros demand for a kiss. It is
significant that the threat posed by a transgression of custom is not only to the family or the
institution of marriage, but to the nation itself, as if the expansion of the sphere of sexuality
threatened to break open the national borders and destroy its identity.14 As such it raises the
question of the nature of the relation between sexuality and national identity and reminds us
of Fanons assertion, in the course of a discussion of the contestation over the veil in Algeria,
that the phenomena of resistance observed in the colonized must be related to an attitude of
counter assimilation, of maintenance of a cultural, hence national, originality (Fanon 1965 :
42).15 This need for counter assimilation as a guarantee of national originality focuses on
womens cultural behavior. It is women who are regarded as the guardians of the national
culture, it is womens appearance that becomes the mark of distinction.

Aradhana (1969)
It is a film that was way ahead of its times with an expression of premarital love and
motherhood. It was a film that packed it in without needing a sermon on morality. It is a film
that talks of aspiration, a lonely womans ambition, a mother finding fulfillment in her sons
dreams, a woman overcoming her own fears even as she maintains poise and calm in public.

Dastak (1970)

The film was known for its unusual story line set in a red light area, where a newly-wed
couple Hamid (Sanjeev Kumar) and Salma (Rehana Sultan) unwittingly rent a flat, and thus
begins their daily turmoil at the knocks (Dastak) on their door, as the previous occupant of
their home was Shamshad Begum (Shakeela), a famous mujrewali (nautch girl). Her
customers, unaware that she has moved, come and knock on the door and disturb the young
couple. The panwala in front, who owns the apartment, expects to persuade or force the
young woman to become a courtesan. Two youth living in an opposite apartment watch
Salma as she bathes and dresses. It appears to signify the absence of privacy, the difficulty of
maintaining a zone of intimacy. When Hamid goes away to work, Salma is alone, and
unaware that she is being watched by the men across the street, enacts her fantasies. She
plays cards with an imaginary partner, smokes a cigarette and dresses up as a man. Hamid
protects her from the world and orders her to stay indoors. A caged bird which he brings
home for her symbolizes her condition. When Salma tells Hamid that it is a crime to keep a
bird in a cage, Hamid replies that the alternative is worse, because the bird would be
devoured by animals if it were set free. For Salma, it is a reminder of an aspect of herself that
the protocols of domestic space prohibit. Listening to a song being sung by a courtesan in the
neighbourhood, Salma sings the same song to a different tune indicating that the courtesan is
also a part of her being. Hamid appreciates the performance for its elevating artistic qualities
but does not hear the expression of desire. The film upholds the non-acknowledgement of
womens desire by her husband, forcible confinement of woman within the walls of the
home. By confining her in the apartment, Hamid treats Salama as essentially a sexual object.
The film exhibits the two spaces in which a womans sexuality is distributed-the home and



the brothel. On the one hand, a womans sexuality is reduced to its reproductive function and
the repression of excess is achieved by the erection of impenetrable walls. On the other hand,
a woman is pure sexuality, her quarters open to all corners, but she is also an independent
subject, capable of self-expression. Hamid tries to erect a barrier between the world and his
own domestic space but he does not realize initially that the intrusion is not purely external.
Salmas sister whom the impoverished family is unable to marry off, runs away from home.
The sister falls into the gap between feudal honour and bourgeois domesticity, a gap created
by the decline of the feudal order and the fragmentariness of the new bourgeois patriarchal
order. In Hamids office, the Christian typist Maria represents another example of female
subjectivity. Maria once types out a little love note and leaves it in front of Hamid. When he
looks up, she does not return the look. She remains a sympathetic but silent colleague,
coming to his aid but making no demands. For Hamid, she represents female subjectivity, a
person whose actions and words are not always reactive or response-seeking.16

Anubhav (1971)

The film attempts to deal the question of private space, the problem that threatens the
family is defined by the heroine as the lack of attachment between husband and wife. The
wifes pre-marital romance with the man who has now re-entered her life as her husbands
employee, consisted in no more than a few hours of conversation in which the subjectivity
denied to her in her parental home found a space to emerge. Having resolved to restore the
space of intimate exchange between herself and her husband, the heroines first act is to
dismiss all the servants who have occupied and fully control the domestic space, who stand in
for a traditional overseeing authority penetrating the conjugal space with the inspecting
glance.17 While in the eyes of overseeing authority the marriage is a spectacle which retains
the external features of conjugality-cohabitation, economic co-operation etc. where the
internal substance i.e. love or attachment that guarantees a nuclear familys autonomy is
absent.

Guddi (1971)

In this film, Guddi is the pet name of Kusum (Jaya Bhaduri), a charming school girl who is
obsessed with the film star Dharmendra, who plays himself in the film. Gradually this fans
admiration to the superstar turns into a serious sublimated love for him which is modeled on
the medieval saint Meeras love for the god Krishna. Kusums changing mind is registered by
Kusums adoption of the popular film dialogue. This love threatens the reality within which
she has been marked out as the future wife of Navin (Samit Bhanja), an engineer from
Bombay who is in search of a job. Later Kusum is being introduced to the reality behind the
images seen on the screen. These revelations direct the girls desire towards the legitimate
object, provide opportunities for Navins courage and masculinity to be revealed in a
dramatic form. By means of the process of demystification of the filmic image and re-
mystification of the legitimate males image Kusum at last expresses her love for Navin of
her own will. The film shows as Kusum matures into responsible middle-class womanhood
she becomes rational, intelligent filmgoer.18 In this film, Kusum and Navin set out to go to the
film but Navin changes plans and takes her to an archaeological site. Kusum offers to sing a
film song but is persuaded to sing a classical song instead, reinforcing the withdrawal from
filmic fantasy.

Abhiman (1973)



Subir Kumar (Amitabh Bachchan) is a professional singer whose career is soaring. He does
not plan to marry until he meets Uma (Jaya Bhaduri), a sweet village girl who also sings.
Uma is the daughter of a traditional brahminical scholar and herself a singer in the classical
style who only sings for her own pleasure. Subir falls in love with Uma and marries her. He
returns to Mumbai with his new bride. Subir continues as a singer and also fosters Uma's
singing career. His career falters, however, just as Uma's singing career begins to thrive.
Eventually, she becomes more famous than her husband, sparking jealousy from Subir. His
pride and jealousy tear the marriage apart. Uma gives up her career, but as the relationship
deteriorates, she goes back to her fathers house. The film reaches a very sensitive situation
when the couple separates and Uma has a miscarriage and enters into a state of deep shock.
Subir, now repentant and trying to save his wife, agrees to plan that is aimed at making her
cry and break out of the state of shock. At a public gathering Subir sings a song which he
wrote in happier days, expressing their longing for a child. Uma breaks down and the couple
comes together again in an emotional reunion and they sing together. Domestic harmony is
broken when, in his desire to display Umas talent to the world, Subir urges her to sing with
him in public. Her singing thus acquires an addressee other than herself and the members of
her family.19

Deewar (1974)

The film begins with a traumatic childhood event, the humiliation of the father and his
disappearance and the fight of the mother with two children to the city to escape the
communitys insults. The father (Satyen Kappu) is an upright trade union leader who is
forced to sign an agreement detrimental to the workers interests when the mineowners
threaten to destroy his family. Unable to bear the opprobrium, he disappears. The mother and
two children go to Bombay and become part of the unorganized working class, living on the
streets. The mother Sumitra Devi (Nirupa Roy) working at a construction site loves Vijay, a
leader of smuggling gang (Amitabh Bachchan) more than Ravi, a police inspector (Shashi
Kapoor), nevertheless opposes Vijays criminal activities and goes to live with Ravi. Vijay,
for whom his mothers love was the sole justification for living, despairs. His mother hands
Ravi his gun and wishes him success in his mission to step up the anti-smuggling operations
where his elder brother Vijay is one of the prime target. Finally Vijay, fatally wounded by
Ravi, dies in his mothers arms. The narrative is framed by an awards ceremony at which
Ravi is receiving a medal for bravery. He asks his mother to receive the medal on his behalf.
The mother, escorted to the dais, receives the medal but is distracted by a memory. Her gaze,
directed at a point outside the frame, prompts the flashback which tells the entire story.
Thus the story of Vijay is confined to the depths of a mothers memory, remaining her secret,
not to be recounted in the public space of the awards ceremony. The flashback structure
codes the narrative as a mothers memory hidden from public view. The 'flashback
concludes with Vijays death and we return to the official assembly where the mother is still
standing on the dais and the hall resounds with applause. Sumitra Devi serves as the link
between the world of the citizen, of law and the rule of merit, and that of the poor, the
victimized and the unreconciled. As a woman, she is firm in her submission to the law, she
takes Ravis side and leaves Vijay when his smuggling activities are disclosed. As a mother,
she is equally firm in her love for Vijay, the elder son, the one who has borne the permanent
mark of his fathers dishonour. By thus splitting the woman into two functions, the film
offers the spectator the pleasure of a secret liaison with the mother as a surrender to the
political power of matriarchy. The martyred rebel has achieved a reunion with the mothers
body suggested not only by the concealment of Vijays story in the mothers memory but also
by the image of Vijay resting his head in her lap at the end asking her to put him to sleep.



Vijays tragic destiny is ensured by his attempts to place his mother in the position of the
Father, as the authority whose desires he seeks to fulfill. After joining the gang, Vijay buys a
skyscraper as a gift for his mother, who had worked as a coolie when it was being
constructed. This phallic offering, an invitation to occupy the position of dominance, is
rejected by the mother. Instead she punishes him by serving as the vehicle of the Fathers
law. Before the final confrontation, handing Ravi his gun, she gives him her blessing-May
your hand not tremble when you shoot. After his departure, she declares, The woman has
done her duty, now the mother will go and await her son. It is the enactment of mythical
reunion with the oral mother. The subject desires such a reunion, a return to the state of
infancy, but [t]he promise of blissful reincorporation into the mothers body and re-fusion of
the childs narcissistic ego with the mother as ideal ego is also a threat. Only death can hold
the final mystical solution to the expiration of the father and symbiotic reunion with the
idealized maternal rule. The masochist imagines the final triumph of a parthenogenetic
rebirth from the mother. (Studlar 1992 : 780)20 Frustrated, Vijay boasts of his achievements,
his worldly possessions, beside which Ravis sub-inspectors salary is a pittance. I have all
this, but what do you have? he asks, to which Ravi replies, I have mother. This scene
prefigures Vijays tragic destiny. It is here that we learn the difference between the new
figure, that is representative of the law, and the old one. One is possessed by the past and
seeks to be possessed and dominated by the mother, who is a figure from that past. The other,
emancipated from the past, is able to have the mother, to possess her as a part of his familial
affective realm. Through the metonymic link to the world provided by the narcissistic son,
the mother who also comes to stand for the marginalized, the working classes, as well as the
minorities.

Rajnigandha (1974)

The story centres round Deepa (Vidya Sinha), a researcher looking for a teaching job and her
boyfriend Sanjay (Amol Palekar), a clerk awaiting a promotion as officer. The impending
Ph.D. which signifies Deepas independent ambition, her job search, which threatens to take
her away from Delhi. The possible negative outcome of her transgressive desires is
prefigured in a nightmare with which the film opens. In her college days she insists on
breaking the strike and going to classes. The film exhibits Deepas apolitical subjectivity. In
her visit to Bombay for appearing in an interview, Deepa meets her college boyfriend Navin
(Dinesh Thakur) who once a student radical is now an ad film maker. Deepas forgotten
fascination for Navin resurfaces almost instantly. Navin takes her to see his ad film unit, in
action, filming a beach scene. Watching the two models come running out of the water,
Deepa fantasizes herself and Navin in the same roles. This fantasy transforms her revived
emotions into a consuming desire to hear Navin speak the words of love that she is sure are
on the tip of his tongue. Deepa continues to be haunted by Navins image, which is
irresistible like the images of the film. Deepa becomes obsessed by the continued fascination
with screen image of Navin. Navins letter arrives informing Deepa of her success in the
interview. The letter appears a formal look with no touch of any other emotion. The screen
image of Navin finally fades and Deepa decides not to take the job in Bombay. The title song
, which is heard as Deepa paces her home and arranges the tuberoses, speaks of her longing
for the mans love to flourish in her heart as the flowers do in the vase. The films spotlight is
turned on the transgressive nature of female desire that takes its own undiscriminating route
to fulfillment, threating to establish undesirable contact with the lower classes and disruptive
political movements.21 The polymorphous sexuality of Ira (Deepas former college friend and
host in Bombay) reveals when she whispers in Deepas ear on her return from Bombay to
Delhi that she will miss her in bed.



Kora Kagaz (1974)

Professor Sukesh Dutt (Vijay Anand) and Archana Gupta (Jaya Bhaduri) happen to meet
each other in a chance encounter while traveling by best bus service in Bombay. Their
meeting again results in formal introduction to each other. Both get attracted to each other
and get married. Archana's mother does not like of Sukesh due to his modest income. She
makes up stories about their affluence, which offends Sukesh. This result in acrimony
between Archana and Sukesh, and are separated. Archana goes to live with her parents, while
Sukesh relocates. Archana's family asks her to forget Sukesh, and re-marry which Archana
finds difficult since she still has feelings for Sukesh. In this film, the wifes rich family tries
to compensate for her husbands meagre salary by providing modern amenities. The woman
is at the centre of bourgeois narrative, the journey towards the recognition of womans
subjectivity stands as the proof of the arrival of bourgeois conjugality.22

Aandhi (1975)

In this film, J. K. (Sanjeev Kumar) is a Hotel Manager who one day gallantly comes to the
rescue of a drunk daughter, Aarti (Suchitra Sen), of a politician. Aarti falls in love with J. K.
and both get married in a small marriage ceremony. Few years into marriage differences arise
to such an extent that they decide to separate. Arati feels suffocated by the dullness of
domestic life and longs to return to public life. Aratis father (Rehman) is a man with great
political ambitions for his daughter and is impatient with her for wasting time in romantic
frolic instead of pursuing a political career. For a while Arati tries to balance the two lives but
ultimately decides to sacrifice family life for her political career. Arati Devis political career
serves as a narrative device to symbolize a threat to the middle-class family. Years later Arati
Devi, the popular politician goes to a town for campaigning and stays in the only hotel there
which is owned by her husband J. K., from whom she has been estranged for many years. J.
K. and Aarti meet again and a series of flashbacks cover the previous history of their
relationship. They both feel the closeness between them but she does not want her name to be
tarnished and jeopardize her career. Arati Devis election campaign is jeopardized by gossip
about her relationship with the hotel owner. At a public meeting where her rival is exploiting
the gossip for political gains, she makes a confession of her true relationship with the hotel
owner. Arati is an idealist in politics, and is oblivious to the shady dealings of her own
supporters. She is thus represented as a pawn in the hands of male politicians, who exploit her
sincerity and honesty. After winning the election, she decides to subordinate her political
career to her renewed domestic life.

Umrao Jaan (1981)

In the year 1840, a girl named Amiran (Seema Sathyu) is kidnapped from her family in
Faizabad, Oudh by their neighbour, Dilawar Khan (Satish Shah), and sold to Madam Khanum
Jaan (Shaukat Kaifi) who owns a brothel in Lucknow where she trains courtesans (tawaif).
Amiran, renamed Umrao Jaan, learns to read, write, dance, sing, and charm wealthy men. She
is a cultured woman trained to captivate men of wealth and taste. A grown-up Umrao Jaan
(Rekha) catches the eye of Nawab Sultan (Farooq Shaikh), and the two fall in love. But
Nawab must marry to please his family, and Umrao's heart is broken. She meets a dashing



bandit chieftain, Faiz Ali (Raj Babbar), who woos and wins her. She flees with her dacoit,
hoping to marry him and leave the world of the courtesan far behind. But her lover is killed
by local police and she is left alone, with no choice but to return to her old life. Soon, the
British attack the city of Lucknow and the residents are forced to flee. Umrao's party of
refugees stop in a small village near Lucknow. The residents ask the courtesan to sing and
dance. Umrao, looking about her, realizes that this is her town, Faizabad, her family, the
place from which she was kidnapped. She had been so young when kidnapped that she had
forgotten, but now it all returns to her. She sings the song, "Yeh kya jagah hai doston?"
(What kind of place is this, friends?) a veiled reference to her feelings of dismay at being
treated like a pariah entertainer by her very own people. After, she meets her mother and
younger brother, who had thought that she was dead. Her mother would be happy to welcome
her back into the family, but her brother forbids it she is tainted by her profession and must
not return to embarrass them. At the end of the film, Umrao returns to the now-deserted and
looted brothel in Lucknow and finds she is left alone, with nothing but her profession and her
poetry.

Agar Tum Na Hote (1983)

Ashok Mehra, played by Rajesh Khanna, is a wealthy industrialist, whose business produces
cosmetic products. He is happily married to Purnima, (Rekha), but she suffers complications
after giving birth to their daughter, and the doctors are not able to save her life, leaving
Ashok devastated. He is able to pull himself together and rediscover his will to live only
because of his obligation to his daughter, Mini. Several years passed, and Ashok is able to
resume his life as normal, except that he is unable to handle Minis (Baby Shabana) envious
pining for a mother to love her the way other childrens mothers love them. He is forced to lie
to satisfy her, saying that it is possible that her mother will return from Gods house.
Eventually, Mini becomes frustrated with waiting for her mother to return to her, and her
behavior degrades severely, to the point that no school is willing to teach her, nor is any
governess willing to deal with her. Meanwhile, Ashoks business, while fairly successful, is
unable to adequately compete with foreign cosmetics companies, because of their general
superiority to Indian companies in the way of advertising. He hires Raj Bedi (Raj Babbar), a
successful photographer in the modeling industry, to run his new advertising campaign. Raj
willingly accepts, as Ashok is one of few Indian businessmen willing to pay his steep prices.
Raj finds a beautiful woman, named Radha, (Rekha) while scouting for model at the beach.
At first, Radha is reluctant, but eventually Raj is able to convince her to model for him in the
Ashok Mehra campaign. Over the course of the project, the two fall in love, and eventually
wed. Because Ashok Mehras model has now become his wife, Raj is unwilling to give him
the photos, and sells all of his personal possessions to arrange for the cost of backing out of
the contract. Rajs reputation is ruined by Ashok as a result of this incomplete project, and his
career takes a nosedive. In time, Raj is able to build a modest, but decent life for Radha and
himself by taking on small jobs. However, even this modest life is threatened when Raj, in
going to extreme lengths to take the best photos possible for a particular project, suffers a
crippling fall. Radha decides to take on a job in order to run the house and save money for her
husbands treatment, but no one is willing to hire a married woman, whose primary focus will
be her husband rather than her job. Eventually, she decides she is willing to lie about her
marital status to get a job. Her job search leads her to Ashok Mehras office, where his
associates are looking for a governess for Mini. She is offered the position instantly based on
her uncanny resemblance to the late Mrs. Purnima Mehra, although this fact is hidden from
her; his business manager, Shakur Ahmed, (Madan Puri), simply tells her that he has a great
feeling about her. Unwilling at first, holding Mr. Mehra responsible for her and her husbands



current situation, she is forced to accept the position, because Ashoks associates are offering
her far more money than she can make anywhere else. At first, Mini displays her usual poor
behavior, but after watching Radhas perseverance through her antics and devotion to her,
and finally realizing that her mother will never return, Mini comes to feel that the void left by
her mother has been filled. Even Ashok begins to feel that the void in his life is similarly
being filled, and, being unaware that Radha is married, falls in love with her. As the relation
between Radha and Mini grows beyond a professional one, and as Radha continues to keep
her bedridden husband in the dark as to the details of her job, Raj begins to suspect his wifes
marital integrity. Ashoks attempts to grow closer to Radha, and Rajs interloping friend
Chandu, (Asrani), only serve to add to his suspicions. After a heated confrontation between
Ashok, Raj and Radha, her and Minis relationship comes to an abrupt end. Ashok is unable
to handle his obligation as a father to quell Minis obvious frustration with being deprived,
once again, of a mothers love, and sends her to live in a hostel. Another confrontation occurs
between Radha and Ashok, and the two parties officially sever all ties. Feeling guilty for
judging Radha as selfish, and feeling a sense of obligation to her for giving his daughter a
mothers love, Ashok learns that a lottery ticket that Radha had purchased through him has
won the jackpot, and sends Shakur Ahmed to deliver her prize on his behalf. The lottery
winnings are enough to pay for Raj to be treated in America. Ashok meets the couple at the
airport, and misconceptions between the three are cleared up. The movie ends with Ashok
taking advantage of a delay in the Rajs flight to arrange for the adoption of Mini by Mr. and
Mrs. Bedi, as he is unable to give her the love she desires and deserves. The last line of the
movie is delivered painfully by Ashok Mehra, directed at both of Rekhas characters: I
Loved you once, but lost you twice.

Khoon Bhari Mang (1988)

Aarti Verma (Rekha) is a widow with two children. She is an unattractive woman with a
large birthmark on her face. Aarti's husband died in a car accident under mysterious
circumstances, and her father (Saeed Jaffrey) is one of the richest and most famous
businessmen in the city. However, when Aarti's father is murdered by his worker Hiralal
(Kader Khan), Aarti's world is completely destroyed. She does not find any sense for her life,
except bringing up her children. Hiralal pretends to be a friend, and takes care of her like a
father. He brings his poor nephew Sanjay (Kabir Bedi) from abroad, who is also the lover of
Aarti's best friend Nandini (Sonu Walia). Although Nandini loves Aarti, she is intensely in
love with Sanjay, and after he requests her to help him, she finally agrees to help him rob
Aarti of her wealth. Slowly, Sanjay gets close to Aarti's children. Nandini and the rest of the
family convince Aarti to marry Sanjay and finally, she marries him. The day after the
wedding, Aarti, Sanjay and Nandini go on a short trip, in which Sanjay pushes Aarti from the
rowboat into crocodile-infested waters, so that she dies, and he inherits her wealth. The
crocodile mauls Aarti and mutilates her body and face. However, Aarti's body is not found
and Sanjay cannot inherit the legacy until her body is found and her death is established
beyond any doubt. As a result, the family is in a hysterical situation. Sanjay starts to abuse the
children and the family. While all of this is occurring, Aarti is found adrift by an old farmer,
who rescues her. A few months later, the horribly-disfigured Aarti decides to return to her
city and avenge herself and her family. She exchanges her expensive diamond earrings for a
huge amount of money, using the money to pay for extensive plastic surgery, and becomes a
stunningly beautiful woman, very different from her earlier self. Aarti then changes her name
to Jyoti and finds a job as a model in the same agency where Nandini works as well. Now a
new person with a new identity, her goal is to conquer Sanjay as a stranger, and kill him in



the same way as he had tried to kill her. Aarti, now "reincarnated" as Jyoti, goes on a
dangerous journey of murder and revenge, and she regains her home, family and dignity.

Beta (1992)

Beta is the story of Raju (Anil Kapoor), the only child of a widowed multi millionaire. Raju's
father can provide him anything he wants but Raju's only desire is to get mother's love. In
order to please Raju, his father gets married to Laxmi (Aruna Irani), thinking that she will
take care of Raju more than his real mother would. Raju becomes completely devoted to his
stepmother, doing whatever she wishes. Raju refuses education for his mother as she explains
that despite education, man can only achieve a job for others but he should work for his
ownself. Time passes by, Raju grows up and Raju's father is banished from the family in a
dark room of the family home being labelled as mentally unstable. Raju, meanwhile meets
Saraswati (Madhuri Dixit) and the two fall in love after Raju sees her being abducted, slapped
and assaulted at a fair. After Raju saves her from being assaulted, the two fall in love and
Raju marries Saraswati after everyone in the village believes that she is no longer chaste.
Saraswati discovers that Laxmi's motherly love for Raju is fake and all what Laxmi is
interested in, is capturing Raju's wealth. She is horrified to find Raju's father being treated as
a mentally ill patient. Only after speaking to him does she realizes that the reason for Raju's
naive nature and uneducated status is because his stepmother manipulated him to keep him
uneducated so that she can take advantage of him. Laxmi already has another son from the
father who is being educated but also seeks Raju's wealth which his mother Laxmi intends for
him to inherit. And thus begins a battle within the household between daughter-in-law and
mother-in-law which involves Saraswati trying to outdo Laxmi. Initially, Saraswati allows
Raju's father to come out of his prison and insists that there is nothing wrong with him.
Initially Saraswati voices her concerns to Raju about his mother, resulting in Saraswati being
slapped repeatedly around the courtyard of the house in front of all the family members.
Saraswati is ready to leave the house at this point but wisely decides to apologies to her
mother in law, only to take an oath to protect her husband and her house from Laxmi's
immoral intentions. This humiliation does not deter Saraswati who cleverly starts exposing
Laxmi's every step in a dignified manner for the sake of her husband. She publically exposes
the fact that Raju's younger step brother has not received a degree in Medicine, rather that he
has bought a fake one, she decides to give Laxmi a taste of her own medicine by causing her
to slip which leads to an over-protective Raju to look after her and not allow her to do
anything but lay down; scuppering any future plans Laxmi intends to execute. Upon
discovering that Saraswati is pregnant, Laxmi finally decides that enough is enough and tries
to poison Saraswati by mixing poison with saffron which she knows that Laxmi will mix with
her milk before she drinks it. However, when Saraswati discovers this, she approaches Raju
and tells him the truth once again. Raju refuses to believe Saraswati, even when she takes an
oath upon her unborn child's life and decides to prove Saraswati wrong by offering to drink
the poisoned milk himself. Only when Raju begins to cough up blood, does he realise that
Saraswati was telling the truth after all. He confronts his mother in his usual innocent manner
and asks her why she had forsaken him and tells her that had she simply asked him for his
wealth, he would have happily agreed to give her all he had. He tells Laxmi that his last dying
wish will be that he would request his mother to at least once with a clean her to call him 'her
son', so that he may now die in peace. His words touches Laxmi deeply and she realizes the
cruelty that she has shown her son who has only ever loved her. There is a brief altercation
between Laxmi and her real son who still wishes to procure Raju's wealth. Raju, in his
deteriorating state still manages to save his mother from his step brother. The film concludes
with Raju recovering following treatment and agreeing to give up his worldly possessions to



his mother and leaving home with his wife and father. However, at the last moment, his
mother Laxmi begs him not to leave, claiming to have learnt the error of her ways; she tears
up all the property papers and tells him that she does not want his wealth, all she wants is 'her
son' and nothing more. Laxmi and Raju are united with Laxmi realizing the importance of
loving her stepson back as much as he loves her. In this film, the heroines female
companions singing in chorus, ask her to explain a series of marks on her body-the smudged
bindi, the crumpled clothes etc. This form of eroticism, which displays the female body for
communal inspection, consists of a retreat of the sexual act itself to a zone of privacy while
exhibiting the evidence of its consummation.23

Roja (1992)

In Kashmir, a Kashmiri terrorist, Wasim Khan is arrested by a team led by Colonel Rayappa
(Nassar). In South India, Roja (Madhoo) is a simple village girl born and brought up in
Sundarapandianpuram in Tirunelveli district in southern Tamil Nadu. Roja fervently wishes
that her sister's (Vaishnavi) marriage proposal with Rishi Kumar (Arvind Swamy), a top
cryptologist working with the Indian government, goes smoothly. Unknown to her and her
family, Rojas sister is in love with the son of her father's sister. When Rishi wishes to speak
to Rojas sister alone, she gathers enough courage to convey this and politely asks him to
reject her in front of her parents, to which he obliges. To everyones surprise Rishi requests
Roja's hand in marriage instead. Being unaware of her sister's love affair, Roja is not willing
to accept Rishi's proposal as she believes that he is the best match for her sister. She is
married to Rishi, and the couple goes to live in Madras while her sister is married to her
aunt's son. Initially Roja does not like what Rishi did, but when she learns of her sister's love
affair and consequent rejection of Rishi, she apologizes and starts seeing him in a new light.
Love blossoms, and life is blissful for the couple for a short while. Meanwhile, Rishi is
assigned a posting at an army communication center in Kashmir. The couple find themselves
in a beautiful yet alien land. Roja's world turns upside down when Rishi is abducted by
terrorists whose agenda is to separate Kashmir from India and to free their leader Wasim
Khan from judicial custody. Faced with the daunting task of rescuing her husband, Roja runs
from pillar to post, pleading with politicians and the military for help. Further complicating
matters is the communication gap. She can't speak their language, and they can't speak hers.
Meanwhile Rishi, held captive by a group of terrorists led by Liaqat (Pankaj Kapur), tries to
reason with them. Liaqats sister shows a little compassion towards him. Initially, when
Rojas efforts fail, the Indian government denies any negotiations with the terrorists for the
release of Rishi in the media. The angered terrorists burn an Indian flag. Rishi risks his life to
put out the fire and shows the terrorist how much the country means to him, a regular citizen.
When Liaqats younger brother, who with few other youths from his village are sent across
the border to Pakistan for training, is shot down by the Pakistan Army, Liaqats strong belief
is shaken, but he still manages to convince himself of the cause. Consequently, Rojas efforts
to apprise the politicians of her suffering and pain are successful as a minister pities her and
offers to help. Much to the chagrin of Colonel Rayappa, the government decides to release
Wasim Khan in exchange for Rishi. Rishi, not wanting to be used as a pawn to release a
dangerous terrorist, gets help from the sympathetic Liaqats sister and escapes with Liaqat
and his men chasing him. Colonel Rayappa, Roja and other Army officers get to the hostage
exchange spot with Wasim Khan, but Liaqat doesnt show up. This leads Roja to think that
Rishi is dead. Rishi has managed to get close to the exchange spot on his own after evading
the terrorists. Liaqat catches up with him and holds him at gun point. Rishi reasons with
Liaqat further and convinces him that his war is immoral. Liaqat lets Rishi go and he goes to
the exchange spot. Rishi and Roja are united once again. The film shows Rojas encounter



with the state. The women of the village are figured as castrating, as phallic mothers who
jealously guard their domain. Roja demonstrates that she participates in this collective
protection of phallic authority when she stages the ambush. Roja transfers her loyalty from
her personal village deity to the state. She explicitly names the state as her saviour during her
meeting with the central minister. Roja actively provokes the state to respond her call. As a
demanding woman, her role is to provoke the state into existence. The film manifests the
object of the female figures crusade.

Damini (1993)

Shekhar Gupta (Rishi Kapoor) is the elder son of Mr. and Mrs. Gupta (Kulbhushan
Kharbanda and Rohini Hattangadi). He sees Damini (Meenakshi Sheshadri), a poor young
woman who is an upcoming dancer. The duo fall in love and get married without a hitch. It is
only when Damini enters the Gupta household that the problems starts. She learns that her
mother-in-law wanted Shekhar to get married to the daughter of Mr. Bajaj (Paresh Rawal), a
wealthy acquaintance. Her world turns topsy-turvy when her brother-in-law rapes a servant's
teenage daughter, Urmi. The girl is later said to be missing. Damini decides to testify, much
against her in-laws' wishes. Even Shekhar seems to be reluctant to aid her. The case stands in
court, but Indrajit Chaddha (Amrish Puri), a corrupt lawyer fighting for the Guptas,
embarrasses Damini by asking her uncomfortable questions in front of the court. When
Damini's father Chandrakant (Anjan Srivastav) gives false testimony that she had mental
problems, Damini is declared insane and sent to a lunatic asylum. Her confidence is crippled,
but she soon recovers. Soon, Damini stages an escape. Govind (Sunny Deol), an ex-lawyer,
gives her shelter. It is revealed that Govind's girlfriend was a victim. When Govind failed to
give her justice, he left his practice and took to drinking. On Damini's insistence, he
reluctantly agrees to see into the case. When Chaddha meets Govind personally, Govind
decides to come out of his retirement. The case is reopened. However, this time, Govind turns
the tables and methodically thwarts all the pressure tactics of the villains. Things again take a
turn for worse, when Urmi commits suicide, now disgraced as a rape victim (although it is
hinted that the police murdered her). Without Urmi's testimony, the case seems lost.
However, Bajaj decides to kill Shekhar as he might buckle under the pressure. He also sends
his goons to kill Damini. Damini escapes and counter-attacks the goons. Here, the judge is
tired of waiting and is about to give a decision in Gupta's favour. Damini enters just in time to
declare that she wants to withdraw the case. Govind tries to talk her out, but she vents her
anger on Chaddha and the others for the things that happened. Shekhar, who is thoroughly
ashamed of himself, steps in and testifies. He tells the truth and asks Damini's pardon. On
basis of his testimony, the villains are arrested while Shekhar is given a lighter sentence.
Govind leaves happily, while Urmis father is seen thanking him and Damini. The opening
fragment shows a woman in a state of absolute terror, in a nightmarish sequence in which we
see her running away from unseen pursuers and finding herself trapped.24 Damini announces
publicly the dishonesty of a merchant. She is a compulsive truth-teller. Her sister runs away
with a boyfriend just before Shekhars family arrives to see Damini. In front of the guests,
Damini, against her parents wishes, reveals this incident and wins Shekhars fathers heart
with her honesty.

Rudaali (1993)

The film is set in a small village in Rajasthan. It tells the story of a woman named Shanichari,
who was abandoned by her mother shortly after her father's death. Bad fortune follows as she
marries an alcoholic, who leaves her with little hope of a brighter future for herself and her



mentally retarded son. Throughout Shanichari's lifetime of misfortune she has never cried.
This creates great difficulty once she is called to become a rudaali until Bhinkni, an
experienced mourner, enters her life. Shanichari and the local landlord's son fall in love with
each other, but Shanichari is reluctant to ask the rich lover for money as she does not want to
lower her love even for the sake of getting out of poverty and misery.

Pardes (1997)

Pardes is a story that revolves around Ganga (Mahima Chaudhary) and Arjun (Shah Rukh
Khan). Ganga is a Indian girl, brought up by her conservative family, living in a village.
Kishorilal (Amrish Puri) is a wealthy and successful businessman who lives in Los Angeles,
America but is still deeply attached to his motherland India and adores the values and culture
of India. On a visit to India, he meets his old friend Suraj Dev (Alok Nath) and stays at his
house. During his stay, he gets to know Suraj Dev's family and becomes very attached to
Ganga, Dev's eldest daughter, who is the epitome of Indian culture. He hopes to find an
Indian girl for his westernized, American son, Rajiv (Apoorva Agnihotri) and feels that
Ganga is just right. He proposes marriage between Ganga and Rajiv, Dev's family accepts.
Kishorilal knows he will have a tough time trying to convince Rajiv, who has never even
visited India. But Kishorilal has a plan. He sends his foster son, Arjun (Shahrukh Khan) to
play cupid and convince Rajiv to meet Ganga in India. Arjun arrives at Dev's house and
arranges to make the place suitable for Rajiv. Then, Rajiv arrives and initially does not like
the idea of the marriage. Arjun spends many days trying to get Ganga and Rajiv to like each
other and, in the process, becomes a close friend of Ganga. Eventually, Rajiv and Ganga
agree to the wedding. The engagement is set in India with the wedding in America. Ganga
excitedly leaves for America with her new family. In her new surroundings, her only friend
and confidant is Arjun, with whom she begins to form a special bond. As time goes on,
Ganga realizes that Rajiv isn't the person Arjun portrayed to her. She goes through many
culture shocks when she sees Rajiv smoking, drinking and partying; later, she finds out that
he has had sexual affairs in the past and is still seeing his former girlfriend. She confronts
Arjun about why he lied to her, and Arjun realizes that he has fallen in love with her. Rajiv's
family member notices the closeness between Ganga and Arjun and warns Kishorilal. He tells
Arjun to leave the city. Ganga goes on a trip to Las Vegas with Rajiv. She misses Arjun and
his companionship but tries to get on with Rajiv. One night, in a drunken state, Rajiv tries to
rape Ganga. She manages to knock him unconscious and runs away. Arjun finds out Ganga is
missing and looks for her. He finds her crying at a train station with her clothes torn. As she
explains what happened, Arjun promises to protect her and help her get back to her family in
India. Suraj Dev is misinformed about the circumstances in which Arjun brought Ganga to
India. Believing Arjun ran away with his daughter, Dev tries to kill him. He mistrusts his
daughter and locks her up in a shed. Ganga realizes that she is in love with Arjun. By this
time, Kishorilal has come to India with Rajiv, who is ready to kill Arjun. After a lengthy fight
between Arjun and Rajiv, Ganga reveals to her family and Kishorilal what Rajiv had tried to
do to her. Shocked, both families realize their mistake. In disgust, Kishorilal disowns Rajiv
and accepts Arjun as his real son. The families unite Ganga and Arjun; the two are finally
married and live happily ever after.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999)

Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) is the daughter of Pandit Darbar (Vikram Gokhale), renowned
proponent of Indian classical music, living in the Rann of Kutch. Nandini has been brought
up with more freedom and education than her siblings, as she is the most beloved of Pandit



Darbar. Into this carefree life enters Sameer (Salman Khan), a boy of Indo-Italian parentage
who wants to learn Indian classical music from Pandit Darbar. Sameer stays with the Darbar
family, and Nandini is asked to vacate her room to give the guest the nicest room in the
manor. Nandini takes a dislike to Sameer, and the two keep playing pranks on each other, but
soon realise they are in love. Their love blossoms in the Darbar household around weddings,
festivals and family get-togethers. One day the pair are caught rehearsing their wedding vows
and dreaming of their future together by Pandit Darbar, who becomes furious with them. He
has already planned Nandini's wedding. Sameer is kicked out of the house and asked never to
contact Nandini again. Sameer does not leave India immediately. He stays in town and writes
letters to Nandini asking her to join him, but his letters do not reach her in time. Nandini's
parents have arranged to get her married to Vanraj (Ajay Devgan) who had fallen in love with
Nandini during her cousin's wedding. On the wedding night, Vanraj realises that Nandini is
not herself and tries to ask her why she is not responding to his love. He asks her for the truth,
promising he will help her no matter what. Nandini stays quiet but is later caught reading
Sameer's letters. Vanraj is very angry at first as all he had asked was the truth from her. When
he realizes that his wife is in love with another man, he shows the ultimate love by taking
Nandini to Italy and helps her search for Sameer, much to the dislike of his own parents.
Nandini and Vanraj arrive in Italy and start searching for Sameer but always come up against
dead ends. During their search, they face many problems and dilemmas and slowly Nandini
gets to see what Vanraj really is like. She sees Vanraj selflessly devoting himself to caring for
her during her stay in hospital after an incident. Eventually they get news about Sameer
through his mother (Helen) and Vanraj arranges for Nandini to meet Sameer on the night of
his debut concert. He does his job. Vanraj says goodbye to Nandini and walks away. Nandini
and Sameer meet, but the matured Nandini's feelings for him have changed. She reflects on
the unwavering love and devotion that Vanraj showed her throughout their whole
relationship, and realises that Vanraj was her true soul mate. She leaves Sameer and catches
up with Vanraj

Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000)

Preeti Virat (Aishwarya Rai) is a young, vivacious and naive girl. She once comes forward as
a witness to heinous assault carried by Bhavani Choudhry and his men on a person who owes
them money. Her testimony angers the Choudhry family, and as a result, Choudhry's brother
rapes her. Subsequently, she becomes a disgrace even to her own family. Disowned by her
own family and secluded by society, she leaves her house. However, she finds shelter with a
courteous man called Avinash (Anil Kapoor). Avinash, who had met her once before, takes
her to his apartment. This act invites a social opprobrium and strong uproar over both of
them, and there is no other solution but marriage. They soon fall in love with each other, and
Avinash decides to ask Preeti for marriage, but she refuses as she considers herself unworthy
of him. After some time, Avinash's childhood friend Khushi (Sonali Bendre) returns from
America, and she is seemed to be very much in love with him. This is followed by couple of
troubles, the main of them being Preeti's police arrest under the charge of prostitution, which
is a complaint filed by Avinash's dad. At the end Avinash and Preeti finally realize that they
love each other.

Observation and Findings :-

A close observation on the mainstream Hindi films of the last five decades has helped the
paper to identify the following characteristic features :-



The In-Law Turned Outlaw
In popular mainstream Bollywood Hindi films, one of the female versions of the villain is the
truly evil mother-in-law, best played by Lalita Pawar. One look from her and even the
toughest daughter-in-law collapsed in a heap. Constantly scheming against the daughter-in-
law the wicked mother-in-law was always humbled at the end and begged for forgiveness -
Mujhe maaf kar do beti. Todays filmmakers create an evil mother one who runs a
business empire, plots the takeover of the world.
Group of Girls
In the sixties, heroines always went for picnic with a gaggle of their girl friends on bicycles,
singing all the way. The girlfriends, of course, were never as good looking as the heroines.
Surrounded by a group of his friends (also in bicycles), the hero always followed the heroine.

The Village Belle

Many of the films of yesteryears had its village belle. Invariably dressed in a short ghagra
with a really tiny choli, she usually wandered around the village at will, saucily chewing on a
song. The village belle played by from Asha Parekh, Mala Sinha to Mandakini in Ram Teri
Ganga Maili was pert but chaste and innocent. The village lecherous moneylender usually
lusted after her. But her heart was always set on the city man. Mera intezaar karna he
would say and she would wait but the city man would never return, leaving the village belle
with a broken heart.
Power Without Glory
Villains simply to prove they were men of power, tried to rape every woman in sight. The
rapists almost invariably reply was to disregard the dignity of women. The women in these
scenes were often sisters of heroes used as pawns in the hero-villain conflict, but sometimes
heroines as well. The rape victim was usually dressed in a saree and her pallu, blouse and
petticoats would be ripped off in that order.

The Woman in White

Long before the Ramsay Brothers made horror films with distorted faces famous, the only
kind of phantom we knew was the woman (often, she had been raped and had committed
suicide) who draped herself in a white saree and candle or lamp in hand, wandered around
abandoned house with a completely blank expression on her face. Long, loose hair was a
must. Bees Saal Baad, Woh Kaun Thi and Mahal are good examples.

Conclusion ;-

Mainstream Bollywood Hindi films are male dominated over five decades starting from
1950s. The women characters were looked down upon. The birth of a female child has been
regarded as a disaster in the Hindi films especially in family melodrama. There is also the
disgusting practice of dowry in majority of the family films. The decade of 1990s exhibit
some progress in womens education. The female protagonists of the urban oriented
narratives of the films of 1990s are educated. The films of this period exhibits that women are



doing a variety of professions even. However, in many other respects the representation of
women is as bad as it was before. The films exhibit that most women characters do not have
real freedom. In many cases, the female characters are guided by superstitions. The male
dominated narratives cast women driven by remnants of feudal and medieval practices and
mentality. The mainstream Bollywood Hindi films need a complete revolution in its thinking
and attitude towards women. Bollywood as a means of popular entertainment and mass
culture must strive and contribute to this goal. There is need for much greater gender equality
and sexual liberalization. Women utilizing every opportunity to advance their rights, resisting
all attacks on them this types of characters should get priority in mainstream Hindi films.
Bollywood should desist from objectifying women for its commercial outlook. Mainstream
Bollywood Hindi films should uphold the rights of the oppressed and exploited sections of
women in our society.
References & Bibliography :-
1. Huyssen, Andreas, After the Great Divide, Bloomington : Indiana University Press,
1986. Print.
2. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 56. Print.
3. The women that a young India fall in love with. The Asian Age 24 January 2009,
Print.
4. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 154. Print.
5. Dwyer, R. Bombay Ishtyle. Fashion Cultures : Theories, Explorations and
Analysis. Ed. S. Bruzzi and G. P. Church. New York : Routledge, 2000. 185. Print.
6. Mehta, S., Maximum City : Bombay Lost and Found, New York : Alfred A. Knopf,
2004. Print.
7. Moorti, S. Desperately Seeking an Identity : Diasporic Cinema and the Articulation
of Transnational Kinship. International Journal of Cultural Studies 6 (3) (2003) :
355-376. Print.
8. Chatterjee, Shoma A. Picture perfect unreality. The Statesman 2 December 2006.
Print.
9. Ibid.
10. Bose, Derek. Mother figure in Bollywood. The Statesman 4 October 2010. Print.
11. Bhagat, Shama. Bollywoods got its women on top. The Asian Age 26 January
2011. Print.
12. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 152. Print.
13. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 81. Print.



 14. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 91. Print.
15. Fanon, Frantz, A Dying Colonialism, New York : Grove Press. 1965. Print.
16. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 183. Print.
17. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 99. Print.
18. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 171. Print.
19. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 179. Print.
20. Studlar, Gaylyn., Masochism and the Perverse Picasures of the Cinema. Film
Theory and Criticism. Ed. Gerald Mast et al. New York : Oxford University Press,
1992. 780. Print.
21. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 178. Print.
22. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 186. Print.
23. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 91. Print.
24. Prasad, M. Madhava, Ideology of the Hindi Film : A Historical Construction, New
Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1998. 224. Print.



 Redefining the Body as a Cultural Signifier in Salman Rushdies
Midnights Children
Rosy Chamling

My paper attempts to analyze the notion of the body as a cultural signifier through Rushdies
much acclaimed novel Midnights Children. Down the ages, post-colonial subjects have
been looked at as objects of difference or otherness; and one of the principal ways in
which this otherness has been perpetuated has been through the most visible sign of the
body. The body therefore becomes a kind of a literal text through which the suffering of the
colonized is rendered. However, Rushdie in Midnights Children defies the colonized idea of
the body as a means of perpetuating this difference. Instead this paper will attempt to show
how the post-colonial subject will use his body as a site of resistance and celebrate his
otherness, stripping it off its pejorative associations. The other issues that will be discussed
are why is there a need to redefine the western notion of body as a cultural signifier; and
finally, how the image of dismemberment which is so predominant in Rushdies text now
calls for the reassembly of dismembered colonial subject to achieve reintegration.

During the past twenty years, theories of embodiment have become common within the
humanities, (Brian Turner, The Body and Society; London and Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1996,
1-34 and Dalia Judovitz, The Culture of the Body: Genealogies of Modernity (Michigan:
Michigan University Press, 2001), and the body as a cultural text becomes an all-pervasive
subject of research. Again Chris Shilling notes in his book The Body and social Theory: We
have now discursive and material bodiesconsumer and medical bodiesindividual and
social bodiesand medicated, sexualized, disciplined and talking bodies. He claims that
within postmodern discourse the body is viewed simply as a blank screen or sign
receiving system ever open to being constructed and reconstructed by external texts or
discourses. (Chris Shilling, The Body and Social Theory, London and Thousand Oaks:
Sage,1993, 39) It is therefore clear that the social construction and cultural representation of
bodies has serious consequences for bodies in general and those individuals traditionally
marginalized in terms of medical health, ethnicity and everyday behavior. Theories which
look at discursive embodiment cannot account for the narrative representation of the
experience of the subjugated body. Hence the theme of silence in Rushdies Midnights
Children wherein the narrative voice is often subjugated as the experience is indescribable
and thus non-discursive in terms of narrative continuity. The influence of Foucault is here, for
Foucault modernity has seen the production of a discursive body, a body politic objectified
by the power and knowledge relations that invest human bodies and subjugate them by
turning them into objects of knowledge. (Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth
of the Prison, Trans. Alan Sheridan, London and New York: Penguin, 1977, 28) The



opposing view is put by Laura Boyle. Boyle says modern philosophy has bracketed bodies
as those things which words merely manipulate and displace ( Laura Boyle, Bordering on
the Body; The Racial Matrix of Modern fiction and Culture. Oxford and New York: OUP,
1994) For Rushdie, the body becomes a signifier signifying not just a gender artifice but a
medium of voicing ones difference in a sea of cultural meaning production. The body is
therefore a condition of culture and it is time we project the authenticity of this other
culture.

Rushdies second novel Midnights Children published in 1980, won the Booker Prize for
fiction in 1981. The novel is generally regarded as a discourse on nation, nationalism and
postcolonial theory. What makes it unique is the way the author has handled the interplay of
fiction, history and autobiography through the body-politic. In the novel Rushdie takes a lot
of liberty with chronology although the thirty chapters of the novel corresponds to the thirty
years of the narrator. Hence Rushdie attempts to reconstruct the past with the help of
memory. The history of the country from its Pre-independence period to Emergency (1915-
1977) is virtually written on Saleems body and there are continuous parallels drawn between
the growth, maturity, decay and disintegration of individuals with the political history of the
Indian Nation. Saleem Sinai, the narrator of the story, narrates the history of his family which
is intricately linked with the history of the nation. The novel maps the history of the nation
from the moment of its inception in 1947. But history in Midnights Children is not based
on a logical pattern of cause and effect with a linear narrative; instead it is a fragmented
narrative because he felt human beings are capable of only fractured perspective. Rushdies
narration is an attempt to seek out truth out of this fragmentary notion of history by the
process of recollection through memory. In the novel Saleem is both a victim of fate and
history. He continues to suffer for the crime committed by Mary Pereira who exchanged him
at the moment of his birth with another of Midnights Child Shiva. As a result of which
Saleem can never free himself from the guilt of having taken over Shiva life of affluence and
condemning Shiva to a life of poverty. When Saleem talks of his birth in the opening chapter
I had been mysteriously handcuffed to history, my destinies indissolubly chained to those of
my country(9), Saleem Sinai himself becomes a text upon which the history of the nation
will henceforth be narrated. Saleem carries the burden of history as he takes upon himself the
task of translating the meaning of his life. Barely thirty, already impotent, Saleem finds time
running out of his crumbling, over-used body saying: I must work fast, faster than
Scheherazade, if I am to end up meaning- yes, meaning- something. (9) It is reminiscent of
the comment expressed in Imaginary Homeland where Rushdie writes: When I began the
novel (as Ive written elsewhere) my purpose was somewhat Proustian. Time and migration
had placed a double filter between me and my subject, and I hoped that I could only imagine
vividly enough it might be possible to see beyond those filters, to write as if the years had not
passed, as if I had never left India for the West. But as I worked I found that what interested
me was the process of filtration itself. So my subject changed, was no longer a search for lost
time, had become the way in which we remake the past to suit our present purposes, using
memory as our tool. Saleems greatest desire is for what he calls meaning, and near the end



of his broken life he sets out to write himself, in the hope that by doing so he may achieve the
significance that the events of his adulthood have drained from him ( IH, 23-24). However,
more than Proustian overtone, the novel has a Foucauldian overtone because of Foucaults
emphasis upon

genealogy in the tracing of history. Foucault refuses to see history as a unified whole, instead
the disintegration of history is exposed through the decay of the body. In his essay
Nietzsche, Genealogy, History, Foucault writes: the pretext ofinsurmountable
conflict the inscribed surface of events (traced by language and dissolved by ideas), the
locus of a dissociated Self (adopting the illusion of a substantial unity), and a volume in
perpetual disintegration. Genealogy, as an analysis of descent, is thus situated within the
articulation of the body and history. Its task is to expose a body totally imprinted by history
and the process of historys destruction of the body. (148) ( Michel Foucault, Nietzsche,
Genealogy, History, Language, Counter-Memory, Practice, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press, 1977). In Midnights Children, genealogy plays an important role in voicing the
history of the nation. Saleems literally disintegrating and fissured body from which
history pours out is the result of socio-political and psychological fragmentation. The
Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Hindu-Muslim riots, the language riots, the Chinese
aggression, the theft of the sacred relic from the Hazratbal Mosque, the Language Riots of
1957 and Partition of the State of Bombay to the creation of the states of Gujarat and
Maharashtra, two Indo-Pak war in 1965 and 1971, the secession of Bangladesh, the
Emergency are all historical images of fragmentation. The theme of fragmentation is
introduced from the first chapter entitled The Perforated sheet, when Saleems grandfather,
the German educated doctor Aadam Aziz is called upon to treat the illness of Naseem Ghani
in a piecemeal fashion, while she remained in purdah. He was to examine the lady through a
perforated sheet with a hole seven inches in diameter; until ..gradually Doctor Aziz came to
have a picture of Naseem in his mind, a badly-fitting collage of her severally-inspected
parts. (25), with whom he falls in love with and subsequently gets married to. This image of
the hole refuting the construction of any wholesome identity is carried forward throughout
the text from now onwards.

The hole in the postcolonial psyche becomes a kind of an identity marker; and hence
Rushdies characters in Midnights Children relentlessly try to fill in the hole through
forging a new identity. Edward Saids Orientalism attempts a systematic study to construct
postcolonial identity by dismantling the given colonial notion of identity as the other. For
Said, the orient signifies a system of representation framed by political forces that brought
him into western learning and consciousness. The Orient exists for the West, and is
constructed by and in relation to the west. Orientalism discloses the means by which the
colonized is constructed by the colonizer, whereby the orient becomes something exotic,
strange, the land of the snake charmers. India, is negatively represented, so knowledge which
is disseminated by the West perpetuated the dichotomy between the superiority of the



colonial over the colonized people and their culture. Similarly Saids Culture and
Imperialism (1993) is all about maintaining imperial hold by means of culture. Imperial
culture reigned based upon the civilizing mission. Alternatively, culture also becomes one of
the powerful agents of resistance in post-colonial societies. Edward Said further confronts the
issue of the deceptive centering of identity and subjectivity, both individual and collective, as
it relates to language, narrative and other such cultural Othering. He shows how the binary
construction of the Orient and the occident breaks down as the machinery of colonialism and
imperialism impedes. Like in Lammings reading of Shakespeare, Caliban is a mythic figure
of postcoloniality who is trapped forever in language and history. When Caliban voices back
to Prospero, he is not merely claiming a different identity. Said suggests we should be able to
see that Caliban too has a history of his own, capable of development, as part of a process of
work, growth and maturity to which only the Europeans had seemed entitled. Seen from this
perspective Saleems story-telling may be interpreted as voicing his personal history which is
closely entwined with the greater history of his country. But the monolithic portrayal of the
culture is challenged by Rushdie as he feels a nation as diverse as India cannot afford to lose
its hybrid flavor.

Stuart Hall in his seminal essay Cultural Identity and Diaspora suggests two different ways
through which one can build the notion of identity. The first would be by defining identity in
relation to a shared culture, because identity reflects shared historical experience, political
oppression, and cultural constructs, which gives us a stable frame of reference amidst socio-
political and historical shifts. But such identity is also based upon individuality because
everyone is unique and different. So post-colonial subjects belong to historical identiy as well
as become something new; as they ineteract with other cultures. Hall calls it cultural mixing
or diasporization. In this way cultural values are constructed and negotiated, such
negotiations are at the centre of building self and identity. Again Elleke Boehmer in her book
Colonial & Postcolonial Literature defines the process of othering as fundamental in
colonization: The colonized made up the subordinate term in relation to which European
individuality was defined. Always with reference to the superiority of an expanding Europe,
colonized peoples were represented as lesser: less human, less civilized, as child or savage,
wild man, animal, or headless mass. (Page 75-76). Thus cultural stereotypes of the colonized
being slothful, incestuous, diffident, ugly and grotesque abound in literary representation. It is
what Frantz Fanon calls the inescapable fact of blackness and it is this fact that causes a
heightened level of self-consciousness. The colonizer, according to Fanon, will never let the
black to forget his self because of which the Negro will always be a slave to his past; and the
white feels the need to recall the times of cannibalism. But again in Rushdies Midnights
Children, one character who refuses to abide by the white code of conduct is the boatman
Tai. He is the only man who defies the erosion caused due to history and time through his
body. Nobody could remember when Tai had been young; it seemed that he has been rowing
the shikhara since ages. Even his wife had no idea of his age-he was, she said, already
leathery when they married.(14) Smug in his world of self-complacency, he eyed with deep
suspicion the foreign returned doctor Aadam Aziz and his medical bag which he abused with



no remorse: Sistersleeping pigskin bag from Abroad full of foreigners tricksThat bag
should fry in Hell with the testicles of the ungodly. (20) No matter how hard Dr. Aziz tried
to make peace with Tai, the Heidelberg bag turned them into antagonists: To the ferryman,
the bag represents Abroad; it is the alien thing, the invader, progress.(21) Tai is the typical
colonized subject who is resistant to change and refuses to follow the decorum set by the
departing Whites. He rebels through his body: Meanwhile, the boatman, Tai, had taken his
unexplained decision to give up washing. In a valley drenched with freshwater lakes, where
even the very poorest could (and did) pride themselves on their cleanliness, Tai chose to
stink. For three years now, he had neither bathed nor washed himself after answering calls of
nature. He wore the same clothes unwashed, year in, year out; his one concession to winter
was to put his chugha-coat over his putrescent pajamas. The little basket of hot coals which
he carried inside the chugha, in the Kashmiri fashion, to keep him warm in the bitter cold,
only animated and accentuated his evil odors. He took to drifting slowly past the Aziz
household, releasing the dreadful fumes of his body across the small garden and into the
house. Flowers died; birds fled from the ledge outside old Father Azizs window. Naturally,
Tai lost work; the English in particular were reluctant to be ferried by a human cesspit. (27).
In this way a lot of profanities referring to bodily parts are used abundantly in the novel. One
of the effects of such embodiment is that the post-colonial body has been repeatedly
misrepresented in ethnographic maps as primitive or exotic.(David Richards, A History of
Interruptions: Dislocated Mimesis in the Writings of Neil Bissoondath and Ben Okri in
From Commonwealth to Postcolonial ed. Anna Rutherford; Earldon and Sydney: Dangaroo
Press, 1992,78) Such cultural stereotypes assigning a superior identity to the whites as against
the other is also seen in the novel. In the chapter called Many- headed monsters, Amina
Sinai slyly meets the soothsayer Ramram Seth. On her way she is appalled to see street
urchins turned into monsters by poverty and disease: Look, my God, those beautiful children
have black teeth! Would you believegirl children baring their nipples..sweeper women
withcollapsed spines,and cripples everywhere, mutilated by loving parents to ensure
them of a lifelong income from beggingyes, beggars in boxcars, grown men with babies
legs, in crates on wheels. (81) And most of all she is appalled to see a white beggar an
oddity while she looks with embarrassment into a white face with long eyelashes and a
curved patrician nose- embarrassment, because he was white, and begging was not for white
people. (81-82) Thus cultural stereotypes resulting from the representation of the body result
in such fractured perspective; white skinned people as superior and class apart from the
other.

In this context, Homi K. Bhabha in The Location of Culture writes that identities cannot be
credited to pre-given, irreducible, scripted and ahistorical cultural characteristics features that
define conventions of ethinicity. Nor can the colonizer and the colonized be viewed as
separate entities who define themselves independently. Instead Bhabha suggests that the
negotiation of cultural identity involves the continual interface and exchange of cultural
performances that in turn produce a mutual and mutable recognition or representation of



cultural difference. This liminal space is a hybrid site that witnesses the production of
cultural meaning- rather than just its consumption and reflection. But Bhabhas claim for a
third space; a hybrid site is fraught with ambivalence. In his article Of Mimicry and
Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse, Bhabha explores the ways in which
identities of the colonized and the colonizer are constantly in flux. They are always hybrid,
rejecting the essentialist, purist notions of culture. He disavows the exchange of language and
the ways in which the colonized subjects mime colonial culture. Bhabha differs from other
critics when he argues that appreciation of the colonizers language is not a means of
resistance but an unavoidable result of colonial impact. But when the colonied use the
colonizers language, their identities are split. Against such apolitical leaning, a postcolonial
writer or critic has to forge strategic essentialism in order to create his own identity. After
all identity politics is all about such strategies and counter-strategies through differences and
recognition, thus allowing people to use politics not just to advance their interests, but also
to define their identity. Perhaps this is reflected in Rushdies use of the English language
which is heavily Indianized. Profanities referring to sexual organs, almost like the
carnivalesque element of Bakhtin, proliferate in the text; which is one way of resisting
colonial authority; and to subvert the decent, standard or correct usage of the English
language. Any attempt to sanitize Rushdies language results in the failure of conveying the
essence of hybrid complex reality of the Indian Subcontinent.

Thus it is through various forms of representation that the colonizer creates stereotypes. The
Colonizers has always attempted to create colonized men like them as stated in Macaulays
Minutes (1835): to create men who will be Indian in blood and color, but English in tastes,
in opinions, in morals and in intellect. ( Macaulay, T.B., Minute in Education, Sources of
India Tradition, Vol. II Ed. William Theodore de Barry, New York: Columbia University
press, 1958, pg 490) To resist colonial discourse, Bhabha speaks of adopting or adapting to
the colonizers culture, in other words mimicry. Bhabhas understands mimicry as not just
servile copying but mimicry also as a form of mockery. This comic element of mimicry is
important because the colonial discourse is supposed to be solemn and serious, while
mimicry aims at exposing such pretension: Colonial mimicry is the desire for a reformed,
recognizable Other, as a subject of difference that is almost the same, but not quite. Which is
to say, that the discourse of mimicry is constructed around ambivalence; in order to be
effective, mimicry must continually produce its slippage, its excess, its difference. (
Location of Culture: 86). Thus mimicry is also a strategy of resistance. Doctor Aadam Aziz
represents the foreign educated progressive Kashmiri who after having studied medicine in
Germany for five years returns to his native land to realize that a severe gap had been built
between him and the conservative Kashmiris. Foreign education had made him learn how
India-like radium- had been discovered by the Europeans (11); and his religious fervour
suffers a setback when he attempts to pray in the conventional manner and he accidentally
hits his nose against the earth making him resolve never again to kiss earth for any god or
man, leaving a hole in him, a vacancy in the inner chamber, leaving him vulnerable to
women and history (10). He therefore becomes the true mimic man; a comic figure, a man



with a hole. Other men characters in the novel like Saleem Sinai, Nadir Khan, and Ahmed
Sinai are described as impotent. The writer says when Ahmed Sinais assets are frozen by the
govt., the narrator describes his genitals as frozen for which he drowns himself in his
drinking habits. Saleems real father, Methwold, a departing colonist, almost Samson-like is
also undergoes a transformation when he realizes that the sun has really set down upon the
British Empire and it was time for them to leave India. This historical event is again alluded
to with the help of a bodily metaphor: Samson-like, William Methwolds power had resided
in his hair; but now, bald patch glowing in the dusk, he flings his thatch through the window
of his motor-car,and drives away. (114)

If the men are physically weak and impotent, women in this novel are threateningly
menacing. Unlike Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness where the two mistresses of Kurtz,
one white, the other black, but both silenced and frail is in sharp contrast to Rushdies women
characters in Midnights Children. We notice the muscular women like professional
wrestlers holding the perforated sheet that separated Naseem from Aadam Aziz. But after
marriage the same delicate Naseem transforms into the figure of Reverend Mother; She had
become prematurely old, wide woman, with two enormous moles like witchs nipples on her
face; and she lived within an invisible fortress of her own making,

an ironclad citadel of traditions and certainties. (40) Likewise another woman character, a
wet- nurse of Aadam Sinai and washerwoman called Durga is characterized as a woman
whose biceps bulged; whose preternatural breasts unleashed a torrent of milk capable of
nourishing regiments; and who, it was rumoured darkly had two wombs( 445). The apparent
silence of the women figures in the novel is voiced through these bodily disfigurements. The
narrative would remain incomplete without the most important woman character, Padma. If
Saleem is the narrator of the countrys history Padma is the narratee. Although Padma is
described as ignorant and superstitious, she provides the necessary counterweight to
Saleems miracle-laden omniscience. She checks his flights of fancy and resists
fragmentation. As Padma is vociferous in her demand for physical fulfiment while Saleem is
narrating his tale, the whole event is reminiscent of Schererazade s telling of tales to King
Shahriyar in Arabian Nights to avert a sexual encounter. Timothy Brennan regards Padma as
a plebian commentator. (Brennan, 100-9) Seen against such reading, then Saleem becomes
the central/bourgeois/ male agent dominating over the liminal/plebian / female identity. Yet
Padmas desire to know, her inquisitiveness over what-happened-next, her thirst for
knowledge, makes her superior to the men around her. Although confined to the domestic


realm of cooking and taking care of the impotent Saleem, she exudes an identity of her own.
Saleems story would have remained incomplete without Padma. Brenan argues: Padma is
not only a passive receptor, or disembodied voice of the national conscience, but a literary
critic. ( Timothy Brennan, Salman Rushdie and the Third World, London: Macmillan, 1989)
101) Padma is plump; Padma is thick of waist; Padma is somewhat hairy of forearm;
Padma snorts; Padma gesticultes; poor Padma; a bitch in the manger are various
expressions used in the novel to describe Padma. Her name in the Hindu Mythology means
the lotus goddess, which is similar to the Goddess Aphrodite in the Greek Mythology,
associated with desire and fertility. Most critics have studied Padma as a figure of gaps and
absences as nothing is told to the reader about her history, her family, her social background.
This is because women are barely made visible in such critical discourse. Kirsten Holst
Peterson and Anna Rutherford use the phrase a double colonization to refer to the ways in
which women have simultaneously experienced the oppression of colonization and
patriarchy. Spivak maintains the idea that a trace of something non-present and pre-discursive
remains when considering the socio-political representation of the female body. ( Ellen
Rooney and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, In a Word: Interview, Differences 1 (1989) ; 148-
9.) The interview is in fact an attempt in part to resolve the difference between oppositional
essentialist and anti-essentialist views of the human body. Spivak acknowledges the possible
need to find a non-essential essence of the female body upon which to base a critical
discourse. Spivak says even when women speak; men are unable to decode their voices. The
silence of the women as a subaltern is a failure of interpretation and not a failure of
articulation. Padma unabashedly exudes carnal desire; she articulates her desire to love and to
be loved in return. Sonia Kruks has rightly said: The demand is not for inclusion within the
fold of universal humankind on the basis of shared human attributes; nor is it for respect in
spite of ones difference. Rather, what is demanded is respect for oneself as different.
(Sonia Kruks, Retrieving Experience: Subjectivity and Recognition in Feminist Politics,
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2000, Page 85) Padma, in this sense, demands to be
respected for being different. Similarly, if Saleems narrative employs the deferment of
closure; and is impatient with Padmas demand for a linear narrative; Padmas desire to
reveal is again expressed with a bodily metaphor: .And certainly Padma is leaking into
me. As history pours out of my fissured body, my lotus is quietly dripping in, with her down-
to-earthery, and her paradoxical superstition, her contradictory love of the fabulous-so its
appropriate that Im about to tell the story of the death of Miah Abdullah. (38) Padma is
therefore not just a necessary ear(149), but a co-creator of the narrative. It is as much her
story as it is Saleems. Here the creative urge of writing is akin to the unleashing of the
libido.

Similarly a lot of birth images have been used by Rushdie to suggest the painful evolution of
the Indian nation after Independence. Saleems birth coincides with the birth of the
Independent India on the stroke of midnight August 14-15, 1947. All one thousand and one
children born on the midnight of Indian independence are promised with plentitude. All these



children are supposedly blessed with miraculous powers. Saleem is referred as the nose due
to his sensitive olfactory powers and Shiva, another of Midnights child with whom he is
exchanged at birth, is referred as the knees due to his

physical prowess. Apparently Ramram Seths predictions at Saleems birth to his mother do
come out to be true: a son, sahiba, who will never be older than his motherland-neither
older nor youngerThere will be two heads-but you shall see only one- there will be knees
and a nose, a nose and knees. Newspaper praises him, two mothers raise him! Bicyclists love
him-but crowds will shove him! Sisters will weep; cobra will creepWashing will hide him-
voices will guide him..He will have sons without having sons! He will be old before he is
old! And he will die before he is dead. (87-88) Saleem is born rightly at the moment of
Indias Independence and therefore he is as old as his country. If Saleem is the nose; Shiva is
the knees. Saleem is actually the son of the departing colonialist Methwold and the low caste
Vanitha; but he is exchanged by nurse Mary Pereira with Shiva who is actually the son of
Amina and Ahmed Sinai. Saleem is monstrous because of his ability to change shapes and
size. As a baby he is gargantuan, growing at an enormous speed, with blue alien eyes that
never blink, monstrous nose, eating and defecating in monumental amount. His physical
grotesqueness makes him stand apart from others: I was not a beautiful baby. Baby-snaps
reveal that my large moon-face was too large; too perfectly round. Something lacking in the
region of the chin. Fair skin curved across my features- but birthmarks disfigured it; dark
stains spread down my western hairline, a dark patch colored my eastern ear. And my
temples: too prominent: bulbous Byzantine domes. (124) He is further mutilated by his
sadist teacher Zagalo in school. In the 1971 war, Saleem suffers from amnesia as a result of
shock after hearing about the death of his parents, he is enrolled in the dog unit of the army.
This is the lowest point (man-dog) in Saleems life as he virtually reduces himself into an
animal. Later he is rendered impotent by the forced sterilization camp imposed by Smt. Indira
Gandhi during the Emergency period between 1975-76 when all civil liberties were
suspended to curb dissension. Sanjay Gandhi s act of forcibly castrating the people as an act
of population control is the worst bestial act perpetrated on the individual body. Similarly, the
progress of Parvatis pregnancy is paralleled with the growing power of the Janata Party.
Parvatis thirteen day labor coincides with the thirteen days of political tumult when Indira
Gandhi refused to resign after the verdict of the Allahabad High Court: come on Parvati
push, push, push and while Parvati pushed in the ghetto, J.P. Narayan and Morarji
Desai.were forcing Mrs. Gandhi to push.. so on the midnight of June 25, 1975, Parvati
brings forth her child, Aadam Sinai; Indira Gandhi brings forth her child in the form of a
declaration of a National Emergency.

Both the child and the nation suffer from birth pangs and the trauma of adolescence with a
holed psyche. We find such gaps and hole not as an aberration; rather it is an intrinsic
part of the colonized make-up. The filling of the hole is needed in the creation of a whole
perspective. The narrators urge to encapsulate the whole of reality is similar to Lifafa Das,
the peep show man, who promises to capture the whole of reality in his box. Rushdie fills
such holes and gaps in the story with fantasy and myth. In the last section of the novel,



Saleems son , Aadam Sinai is described as the true son of Shiva-and-Parvati- the elephant-
headed Ganesh. Likewise Shiva in Hindu Mythology is the God of destruction; the Shiva in
the novel creates havoc in the lives of people around him. The rivalry between Saleem and
Shiva in the novel echoes the Hindu mythological rivalry between between Shiva and
Brahma. Similarly Padma, meaning the lotus goddess; is somebody who born in mud and
slime but capable of rising to the higher things of life. She is in fact the mix of the sordid and
the beautiful. Mythicizing personal and political history, Saleem seeks his individual identity:
Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I
have seen done, of everything done to me. I am everyone everything whose beingin the
world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after Ive gone which would
not have happened if I had not come. Nor am I particularly exceptional in this matter; each,
I, everyone of the now-six-hundred-million-plus of us, contains a similar multitude. I repeat
for the last time: to understand me, youll have to swallow a world. (Page 383). The birth of
Aadam Sinai, born at midnight of the day when Indira Gandhi had clamped emergency to
control dissension, is actually the real son of Shiva, and therefore the real great-grandson of
Doctor Aadam Aziz, replaces the genealogy in order. Aadam Sinai is everything opposite to
that of Saleem. If Saleem is known for his verbal verbosity, Aadam Sinai refuses to speak
out. What marks him different is his large flapping ears, perhaps ingesting all that is going
around him and a protruding navel, reveals his determination to resist evil The euphoria that
marked the birth of midnights children is beset with despair and disillusionment; but through
the birth of strong-willed Aadam Aziz, Saleem hopes for a restoration of a new world order.
Being the biological son of Shiva and Parvati, he is the elephant-headed Ganesh, the Hindu
Mythological God of good fortune. The birth of Ganesh during the period of Emergency
suggests that good will be borne out of evil. As the novel draws to a close around 15th august,
1978, we see Saleem hanging up his shoes in anticipation of new myths.

Bibliography:

Rushdie, Salman. Midnights Children.Vintage. UK, 1995

Afzal-Khan, fawzia, Cultural Imperialism and the Indo-English Novel, The Pennsylvania
State University, USA,1993

Ray, Mohit K. & Rama Kundu (eds.) Salman Rushdie: Critical Essays. Atlantic Publishers
& Distributors, New Delhi, 2006.



Ghosh, Ranjan. (In)Fusion Approach- Theory , Contestation, limits: (In)fusioning a Few
Indian English Novels. University Press of America.USA, 2006.

Shilling, Chris. The Body and Social Theory (London and Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1993.

Richards, David. A History of Interruptions: Dislocated Mimesis in the Writings of

Neil Bissoondath and Ben Okri in From Commonwealth to Postcolonial. Ed. Anna
Rutherford. Earlsdon and Sydney: Dangaroo Press, 1992) P. 78.

Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish; The Birth of the Prison. Trans. Alan Sheridan
(London & New York: Penguin, 1977. P.28.

Ghosh, Tapan K. Salman Rushdies Midnights Children: A Readers Companion. Asia

Book Club, New Delhi, 2004.

Komalesha, H.S. Issues of Identity in Indian English Fiction: A Close Reading of

Canonical Indian English Novels. Peter Lang Ltd., Bern, 2008.

Chatterjee, Partha. Nation and its Fragments, OUP New Delhi, 1986 P.77

Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the origin and Spread of

Nationalism, second edition, (London& New York: Verso, 1991)

Mukherjee, Meenakshi. The Perishable Empire: Essays on Indian Writing in English,

New Delhi,OUP, 2000, P. 174

Parameswaran, Uma. Handcuffed to History: Salman RushdiesArt. Ariel. Vol.14, No.4

(1983), 38.

Kumar, T.Vijay, Meenakshi Mukherjee, Harish Trivedi & C. Vijayashree (eds.), Four India:
Postcolonial Narratives of the Nation. Pencraft International,New Delhi,2007.



Rushdie, Salman. Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-91.London: Granta
Books, 1992.

Said, Edward. Orientalism, New York: Vintage, 1978.

Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. London: Chatto& Windus,1993.

Luckhurst, Robert and Peter Marks, Ed. Literature and the Contemporary: Fictions and
Theories of the Present . Longman, Pearson Education Inc. USA, 1999

Innes, C.L. The Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures in English.

Cambridge University press, UK, 2007.

Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth, trans. Constance Farrington (New York: Grove
Press, 1968), P. 211

Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture (London: Routledge, 1994)

Bhabha, Homi. Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse,

Modern Literary Theory: A Reader, Eds. Philip Rice& Patricia Waugh, London:
Arnold,2002,381.

Macaulay, T.B. Minute on Education, Sources of India Tradition, Vol. II, Ed. William
Theodore de Bary. New york: Columbia University Press, 1958. p.49

Sarangi, Jaydeep. Ed. Presentations of Post Colonialism in India: New Orientations.

Authors Press, New Delhi, 2007.



Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. Eds. The Post-colonial Studies Reader.
Routledge, London & New York, 1995.

Smale, David. Salman Rusdie, Palgrave Macmillan, New York,2001.



 The Influence of Cinema on Society and Culture: With Special Reference
to Tamil Films

Aruna Natarajan

Movies reflect the customs of the society. It affects and has an influence on the opinions of
the viewers. People persistently pursue cinema and take it with them in their daily lives
through facilities like the movies on websites and the mobile phone widgets. There are
several things that we pick up from movies and incorporate them in our lifestyles,
intentionally or unintentionally. Lots of people use a specific brand of toiletries, cell phones,
vehicles or garments just because their favorite Movie actors advertise them. We even like to
imitate the stars' fashion statements and styles from their popular movies. Popular films have
even been changing people's dress and hair styles; even shoes would be branded after a box-
office hit film.

Since its beginning with the film Raja Harish Chandra (1913), the cinema has remained the
most powerful medium for mass communication in India. Cinema has the ability to combine
entertainment with communication of ideas. It has the potential appeal for its audience. It
certainly leaves other media far behind in making such an appeal. As in literature, cinema has
produced much which touches the innermost layers of the man. It mirrors the episodes in
such a manner that leaves an impact on the coming generations. Cinema presents an image of
the society in which it is born and the hopes, aspirations, frustration and contradictions
present in any given social order.

Considering today's way of life, we would be lying if we didn't admit that media is not an
influential entity in our culture. Lately the media theories that regard the audience as a
passive entity have been discarded and advanced media theories that take into account the
audience response have been formulated. It is still a fact that despite cognitive abilities of the
audience, the media has been successfully ingraining several values and elements into a large
section of our society.

We need to realize that although media is a reflection of the society we live in but at times,
the media needs to do much more than reflect the surroundings - it has to exaggerate,
sensationalize and at times even trivialize the matters of utmost importance to make way for
entertainment. The media creates celebrities; it creates idols - celebrities who thrive on fans,
followers, and groupies! Tamil Nadu has gone a step further; it has built a temple for the
Actress kushboo. The glorification of violence, drug abuse and other unhealthy habits has a
major role in the outburst of unfortunate incidents where children have gotten extremely
violent and out of control. Majority of the films today comes under the category, which
portray violence, sexually explicit content and use of abusive language. There are music
videos and rock bands that give out the message that alcohol; drugs and sex are an inevitable
part of life. These ideals created by the media might not be necessarily appropriate.

The culturalist theory, developed in the 1980s and 1990s, claims that people interact with
media to create their own meanings out of the images and messages they receive. This theory
sees audiences as playing an active rather than passive role in relation to mass media.

Apparatus theory explains that cinema maintains the dominant ideologies of the culture



within the viewer. Ideology is not imposed on cinema, but is part of its nature. This kind of
treatment misguides the viewers to come to an assumption whether this is the ideology of
Tamil culture.

Cinematic apparatus or technology has an ideological effect upon the spectator. The
cinematic apparatus presents an experience to the viewers senses that seems to be real while
disguising the fact that it is actually an artificial construction. In the simplest instance the
cinematic apparatus purports to set before the eye and ear realistic images and sounds.
However, technology disguises how reality is put together frame by frame. It provides the
illusion of perspective space. This double illusion conceals the work that goes into the
production of meaning and in so doing presents as natural what in fact is an ideological
construction, that is, an idealistic reality. In this respect, a plot or a story is presented to an
audience in such a way that the movie reflects reality and the society. The spectator is
positioned as an all-knowing subject because he is watching everything, even though he is
unaware of the processes whereby he becomes fixed as such. Thus the omniscient spectator-
subject is produced by, the effect of the filmic text. A contiguous, simultaneous ideological
effect occurs as a result of the way in which the spectator is positioned within a theatre (in a
darkened room, the eyes projecting towards the screen with the projection of the film coming
from behind the head). Because of the positioning, identification occurs with the camera (that
which has looked, before the spectator, at what the spectator is now looking at). The spectator
is thereby interpellated by the filmic text, which is the film constructs the subject; the subject
is an effect of the film text. That is, the spectator as subject is constructed by the meanings of
the filmic text.

Cinema has become part and parcel of the life of Tamils. It has taken a central place in the
life and culture of the Tamil society. In fact, it did not vanish with the arrival of the TV;
rather the small screen lives at the mercy of cinema, with programs broadcasted based on
cinema along with few other soaps and news. The number of film goers in India is highest in
Tamil Nadu in spite of illegal VCDs and DVDs. It is not a surprise therefore that people in
the cities and towns hardly have a clear idea on information like the population in the city or
the number of temples or schools and hospitals but exhibit fairly accurate statistics on the
number of theaters and the film titles along with details of the number of shows, timings, etc.
Even the bus stops are named after the names of the theaters. In fact, people in Tamil Nadu
identify addresses and places using cinema theaters as their reference point (Chettiyar, 2001).
Oral communication has been completely monopolised by the colloquial language which is
very much used in the cinema (Andronov, 1965).
In the history of cinema there is a distinctive place for the Tamil cinema with regard to its
political and social nature, which covers the entire lives of the people (Govindan, 2001). The
Tamil cinema as an art form gives importance to the social life that explains the various
aspects of daily life. In fact the study of Tamil cinema opens the window to the understanding
of Tamil psychology, Tamil culture, and its consequences (Chokkalingam, 2000). Cinema
serves a valuable role since by their cultural tradition the people of Tamil Nadu tend to learn
more by audible knowledge. Children are no exception from this cinema culture. They play
cards with the image of the movie star printed on them. They learn to dance, fight, and speak
dialogue like the film stars and entertain themselves and others with the songs and dances
from their favorite cinema. Babies are named after the famous film titles or with their famous
star's name (Subarav, 1992). Martial arts like Karate and Kung Fu are famous among children
after the release of 7aum Arivu.



An example illustrates the popularity and power of Tamil cinema and its impact on
audiences. Since 1967 five chief ministers, all democratically elected, have governed Tamil
Nadu and all of them are associated in one way or another with the film industry (Baskaran,
1996). Till today, even the opposing party TMTK leader, Vijayakanth is an actor. These
socio-cultural and political factors associated with Tamil cinema mirror the different strands
of society and help us to understand its multi-role as propagator, entertainer, educator, and
guardian of ideas, mores, traditions, and culture. Tamil popular cinema not only reflects
social reality but also constructs it. It is fused into the polity and sensibility of citizens
(Kazmi, 1999).
Tamil cinema is a powerful medium of cultural expression and it functions as a social,
cultural, political, and economic institution (Pendakur, 2003). It has a tremendous impact on
the lives of people by shaking and shaping the foundations of the society. Through cinema
one can enter and study the cultural traits of the society: for example the caste system, its
origin, its structure, and its function and influence can be understood just going through the
Tamil cinema (Gokulsing & Dissanayake, 1998). A critical study of the Tamil cinema
industry will support the connection and its impact on socio-cultural, religious, and political
values (Sivathamby, 1983). Dickey has rightly observed that the Tamil cinema has much to
do with the life of the Tamil people in all its aspects (Dickey, 1993).

Different people go to cinema for many reasons like to while away the time, to get change
from the monotonous life, to satisfy their emotional needs, watch pleasurable images of all
sorts, to experience a different kind of emotion that cannot be experienced in real life, to see
many so close to life incidents, to see different parts of the world, to see the stars and
superstars and satisfy their egos, and now-a-days going to cinema hall itself has become a
prestigious thing due to introduction of many INOX theatres and multiplex complexes.

Watching commercial films have many kinds of perception. But Tamil commercial films
though include all the above perception exploiting women for sex and romance is very high
and crude. One could see many controversies. Filmmakers are not Film literates to
understand the controversies; even the audience is not very shrewd to understand the logic.
They get carried away by the gimmicks of the dialogue, rich and attractive visuals (whether it
suits the context or not), complicated camera works and editing gimmicks without
understanding the significance of the technology. High tech visual treatment is generally
given to song and dance sequences and action sequences. From imagination viewpoint almost
all the songs are visualized. The filmmaker keeps dream and imagination as the logic to work
out visual extravaganza sequences. If the films are deconstructed, the narrative structure is
built based on the contemporary market trend of hit films. Fans associations also play a vital
role for the success of the films, so certain kind of treatment, opening of the film, and ending
of the film will be constructed to satisfy the fans. Action sequences also are constructed to the
satisfaction of fans and also the personal whims and fancies of the star.

Characterization of women has double standards. A woman who plays a traditional role will
appear in extreme western appearance in song sequences which is very contradictory. (In the
movie Shivaji, the hero of the film Rajini Khanth, wants to marry a woman, who is very
traditional, who abides the values of Tamil culture. So he goes to temples to find such a kind
of traditional woman, assuming that traditional woman will be coming to temples on Fridays.
And he finds a woman, Shriya who according to him has all values of Tamil culture. Right
from the way of dressing, to the language and behavior, she is portrayed as she is a typical
Tamil cultured woman. But during the song sequences, she is shown wearing western



costumes and makeovers, western dance movements, and so on...). Many young girls are
attracted to such a type of costumes and makeovers which they want to follow and wear.
Marketing of such things happen as soon as the hit of any movies, which are titled after the
name of the movie or after the name of the heroine of the movie.

Excessive vulgarity in song picturization is promoted as business tactics. Vulgarity in lyrics,

body language, and paralanguage, selection of sexy body, sexy voice, and selection of shots,
angles, lighting techniques and art direction are constructed purely for the commercial
purpose. Often close-up of the breasts are shown with jiggling movement, breast profile
uncovered and top angle shot of breasts cleavage, slow motion in showing breast shakes and
hip jerks; showing women in swimming suits, wearing shiny stretch fabrics, close shots of
navel, handling it in a different way by making a top to run on the navel region, making egg
omelet, doing massage, wearing an ornament, painting on navel etc Recent days
commercial films for the past one decade gives pleasure to female audience by using certain
kinds of action like heros doing exercise, showing the close ups of arms, well built chest,
low angle that establish height, pelvic jerk shots, transparent shirts, wearing dhothi and
exposing the thigh regions. And some of the symbolic actions like pull-ups, pumping water
from the hand pump and push up which signify intercourse (Nivedhitha 2009). This leaves an
impression on the youth audience especially and they also experiment and involve in such
kind of activities.

In many recent Tamil movies, violence is congruent with certain castes and regions.
Prominent film historian Theodere Baskaran says that over the seventy-nine years of its
existence, Tamil cinema has grown to become the most domineering influence in the cultural
and political life in Tamil Nadu.
Sundar Kaali and Ravi Srinivas in an article titled On Castes and Comedians: The Language
of Power in Tamil Cinema in Ashis Nandy (ed) book Innocence, Culpability and Indian
Popular Cinema' say that Tamil cinema as a secondary modelling system with highly
developed and conventionalized codes has over the years evolved particular modes of
representing configurations of caste, class, and gender. And it is no surprise that only a few
castes and occupational categories are represented and these representations hardly ever
correspond to actual social categories.

According to Gopalan Ravindran both Paruthiveeran (Directed by Ameer) and

Subramanyapuram (Directed by Sasikumar) have also been labeled as exemplars of violent
narratives. In Subramanyapuram, The star is missing along with his unrealistic narrative
accompaniment, the comedian. The high altitude aerobic fights also are absent. The songs
that exist in the film are not made to lack their narrative functions. In the place of the missing
elements, what looms large in Subramanyapuram is a seemingly realistic representation of
the feudal and casteist violence that befalls a group of youngsters during 1980s. It is not the
violence of the filmic kind, but looks real. As it mimics strongly the violence that gets
reported in gory details even today in the pages of Tamil newspapers in southern Tamil Nadu.
One scene shows a man being hacked inside a moving auto rickshaw and the bone chilling
sounds of the sawing of the head hit many in the audience, who were not used to such
examples of extreme cinema, really hard. It looks real because it is extreme. Films like
Kathal, Gilli, Thiruppachi, Sanda Kozhi, Thimiru, Goripalayam, Madurai Sambavam,
Thittakudi, Maathiyosi, Milaga, virumaandi etc., all have references full of violence.



Abusive language is used frequently in recent films. Gone are the times when beeps filled the
auditorium whenever there was cuss word spoken on screens. With Censor board giving
some liberty to filmmakers and allowing them to express themselves in the way they wish,
there is marked change in the way dialogues are being mouthed by actors. It is not just men
who are indulging in some cuss words today; even women are going the whole hog as can be
seen in some of the recent releases or the award ceremonies.

Films releases are mostly dated on festival seasons like New Year, Diwali and Pongal.
Usually majority of the commercial films are planned to get released during Diwali and
Pongal festivals. Producers and the distributors consider that releasing films during festivals
brings out good collection. Youths celebrate festivals with the release of a new film of their
favorite film star rather celebrating the festival for its purpose. This is very common in the
lives of the youth. They get prepared for their favorite film releases rather knowing about the
cultural sentiments of the festivals, which in future is a problem. During festivals, both the
public and the private television channels telecast programs by the cinema stars. People sit in
front of the TV sets for hours together to watch out the new releases information and the
interviews of the film star, and screening of the scenes and songs from the new releases,
instead of sharing and visiting friends and relatives on festivals.
Even government functions can not have a celebrative mood without cinema stars (Editors,
2004, pp. i-iii). In family gatherings like weddings, cinema songs blare from horn speakers
and from cassette players. People, irrespective of age, follow the life style in dress, hair
dressing fashions, and mannerisms promoted by popular films and film stars.

However, owing to the mass-acceptance and popularity hype created - most of the people
accept these as a part of today's culture. Bulimic girls striving to be like the size zero models
on the ramp or the excessively aggressive videogame-playing children who think guns and
weapons are cool - we have reached a stage where media literacy is the dire need of the hour.
After the release of the Tamil movie Alaipayuthey, there were many teens who made
register marriages without the knowledge of their parents.

There is no doubt that the trend of presenting sex and violence in our films has been
increasing. New methods of house breaks, robbery and murder are devised and shown in
them. The young and unemployed people use these methods sometimes in actual life.
Sometimes, crimes are glorified. Robbers, smugglers and murderers are projected as heroes,
helping the poor and the down trodden. In some cases, such things are introduced in films to
prolong them when actually the story of the film does not call for it. This is used as an
inducement to attract more viewers. It is nothing less than commercial exploitation of sex and
violence. Those people who go to films regularly and have no source of good earning may
begin to imitate film villains, heroes and heroines and start taking part in violence and thus
causing serious law and order problems.

The effect of the cinemas trash is being rediscovered by the children and the lower
categories of our population. Once they are out of the hall, they try to recollect what all they
saw and try it out in their own lives. The cinema is teaching the two very important things
which are ruining the fabric of our society. The two things most common to almost all
movies are vulgarity and violence. When the young see all this they are very naturally
tempted to copy all, and the result is here for all of us to see. Bare bodies, vulgar pelvic
movements and violence have a very negative impact on the children, who copy it all and
thus destroy the traditional Indian culture of shyness and goodness.



Thus, the influence of the Indian cinema on our people is enormous. Our budding generation
is getting wrong notions of what life is and can be. Violence and vulgarity are making space
for itself in every home. The influence of the Indian cinema is absolutely disastrous for the
future generation. They love to achieve all that their heroes and heroines have, and in the
bargain they lose track of even a simple happy and satisfied life.

The cinema and all those working in this line must take it as their responsibility to help
generate human values rather than unethical standards. The Indian cinema must owe
allegiance to India and its future generations. Movies teaching and depicting what India was,
what it has become and what it should be in the future would be clean themes for movie
stories. Just as this visual aid is corrupting the people, that neat and clean cinema will surely
enhance our ethics and morals.

The filmmakers here need to be informed about the dangers of stereotyping and the
limitations of representative practices of cinema, particularly given the salience and
circulation of cinema in Tamil Nadu. The idea of the valour in Tamil cinema is nothing but
violence which has been unduly glorified thus transporting the other achievements on the
literary, cultural and social to the oblivion.

References:
Andronov, M. S. (1965). The Tamil language. Moscow: Nauka Publishing House.
Baskaran, S. T. (1996). The eye of the serpent: An introduction to Tamil cinema. Madras:
East West Books (Madras) Pvt. Ltd.
Baudry, Jean-Louis. .Ideological Effects of the Basic Cinematic Apparatus.. In Film Theory
and Criticism: Introductory Readings, Fifth Edition. Ed. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen.
NewYork: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Braudy, Leo. The World in a Frame: What We See in Films. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2002.
Chakravarthy, S. S. (1996). National identity in Indian popular cinema, 1947-1987. New
Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Chettiyar, A. K. (2001). Cinema cindanaikal [Reflection on cinema]. Chennai: Snadhya
Pathippagam.
Chokkalingam, C. (2000). Tamizh Thiraipadangal Kattamaippum Kathaiyadalum [The
structure and the function of Tamil cinema]. Nagarcoil: Thinai Veliedu.
Dickey, S. (1993). Cinema and the urban poor in South India. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press
Gokulsing, K. M., & Dissanayake, W. (1998). Indian popular cinema: A narrative of cultural
change. New Delhi: Orient Longman Limited.
Govindan, K. (2001). Tamizh Thraipadangalil Saathi, Matha Pethangal [Discrimination of
caste, religion in Tamil cinema]. Chennai: Kumaran Publishers.
Nivedhitha, D (2009). Gender Identification in Award winning Tamil Films.
Kazmi, F. (1999). The politics of India's conventional cinema: Imaging a universe, subverting
a multiverse. New Delhi: Sage Publications.



Pendakur, M. (2003). Indian popular cinema: Industry, ideology, and consciousness.
Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.
Sivathamby, K. (1983). Tamil camugamum athan cinemaum [Tamil Society and its cinema].
Madras: Chennai Book House.
Subarav, N. V. (1992). Tamizh Cinema [Tamil Cinema]. Penang: Consumers Association of
Penang.



 Anita Desais Cry, the Peacock: Deconstructing the Savitri Syndrome

Jaydip Sarkar

In his discussion on the right of death and power over life Foucault (1978 trans. 1990, pp
135-37) observes that the father of the Roman family was granted by the ancient patria
potestas the absolute right to dispose of the life of his children and his slaves. Just as he had
given them life, so he could take it away. In classical period, the sovereign also enjoyed the
same power over his subjects, though not in an absolute and unconditional way, but only in
cases where his very existence was in threat. In course of time, suicide has come to be used as
a private right that limits the political right that assigns itself the task of administering life.

With the publication of her first novel, Cry, the Peacock (1963), Anita Desai broke
new ground in Indian English fiction, by presenting, for the first time in it, a heterosexual
woman who condemns her husband to death when she is denied love and sexuality, and thus
deconstructs the cherished notions of Indian womanhood which is still designated by Savitri
metaphor. After killing her husband, the woman herself commits suicide, and thus exercises
the right of death over her own life also.

Hindu legend of Savitri, as told in the Mahavarata, relates to worthy tests of social
ideals for women. Princess Savitri fell in love with Satyavan, the son of a blind, exiled king.
Although a holy man told Savitri that the prince would die within a year, she married him
anyway. After a year, Satyavan went into the forest to cut wood, followed by his wife. There
they met Yama, the god of death, who began to take the prince away. Touched by Savitri's
devotion to her husband, Yama told her that he would grant her anything she wished. First
she asked that Satyavan's father recover his sight and his kingdom. Then she asked that she
might become the mother of 1000 children. After Yama agreed, Savitri argued that she could
not have children if her husband was dead. Impressed by the way Savitri had tricked him,
Yama restored Satyavan to life.

In India, even today many women are named "Savitri". There are many films with the
story even from the beginning of Talkies itself. In eastern India, married women
observe Savitri Brata on the Amavasya day in the month of Jyestha every year. This is
performed for the well-being and long life of their husbands. A treatise named Savirti Brata



Katha is read out by women while performing the puja. It is believed that Savitri got her
husband back on the first day of Tamil month Panguni. So, this day is celebrated as
Karadayan Nonbu in Tamil Nadu. On this day, married women wear yellow robes and pray
to Hindu goddesses for long lives for their husbands. And all these point out how Indian
womanhood has still been designated by Savitri metaphor.

In the triptych structure of Desais novel, Part-I and Part-II occupy very small space,
covering only three and eleven pages respectively, and both are in third person narrative,
focusing on the death of the Protagonist Mayas pet dog and Mayas suicide. However Part
II of the novel is in the first person narration, covering a long space in which the discursive
I allows Maya to take the subject position for articulation of her repressed voice through the
construction of a confessional discourse which provides in its narrative a variety of situations
for her to confront and negotiate to modify the pattern of her existence both as a woman and
as an individual, and challenges the validity and stability of hegemonic patriarchal
assumption of woman who has been denied the right of death and power over life on the
ground that they cannot produce life, though they have reproductive power.

In her childhood, Mayas father used to build fairy tales for her as he hoped to
compose [her] dreams for the night, for it [was] the doctors orders that [she] must be
permitted to no anxieties, no excitements (Cry, the Peacock, 89; hereafter abbreviated as
CP). But once she fell asleep, such a dream dissolved quickly into a nightmare (CP 89). In
her confessional discourse, Maya gains a sort of consciousness even of that stage of her life
too:

Yes, now that I go over it in my mind, my childhood was one in which much
was excluded, which grew steadily more restricted, unnatural even, and in
which I lived as a toy princess in a toy world. (CP 89).

As Karen E. Rowe observes, Fairy tales are not just entertaining fantasies but powerful
transmitters of romantic myths which encourage only aspirations deemed appropriate to
[womens] real sexual functions within patriarchy (Cited in K.K. Ruthven:1985:80). Not
only that, they are the training manuals for girls which serve to acculturate woman to
passive culture, like the princess who waits patiently on top of the glass hill for the first man



to climb it. She also learns that she must except to drift from one kind of dependency to
another without ever exercising her autonomy (Marcia R. Libesman quoted Ibid: 80):

Pita raksati kaumarye, bharta raksati youvane, raksati sthavire putrali, na stri
svatantryam arhati (Manu Smriti) : the father looks after her during childhood,
the husband protects her during youth, and the sons take care of her when she
becomes old. The woman is never fit for freedom(Cited in S.Singh
(ed):1991:98).

Rightly, Mayas brother Arjuna could free himself from the dominance of their father, but
she could not, because she, like average Indian girls, internalized a life of submissiveess in
such an ingrained way that it became her second nature. As a result she began to depend
more and more on her father, and that is why she could not but accepts her fathers decision
regarding her marriage with Gautama, a man of his choice:

That I marry this tall, stooped and knowledgeable friend of his, one might
have said that our marriage was grounded upon the friendship of the two men,
and the mutual respect in which they held each other, rather than upon
anything else.( CP.40).

It is after her marriage that Maya realises that temperamentally, she and her husband are polar
opposites of each other. An average evening for her is hardly more than a quiet formal
waiting (CP 7). Their married life is punctuated all along by matrimonial silences (CP 12)
:

He knew nothing that concerned me. Giving me an opal ring to wear on my

finger, he did not notice the translucent skin beneath, the blue flashing veins
that ran under and out of the bridge of gold and jolted me into smiling with
pleasure each time I saw it. Telling me to go to sleep while he worked at his
papers, he did not give another thought to me, to either the soft willing body,
or the lonely wanting mind that was waiting near his bed. (CP 9).

She achieved her only sense of wholeness through her relationship with her pet dog, and with
the demise of the dog that sense is also shattered. Reacting to the untimely death of her pet
dog, she rushes to the garden tap to wash the vision from her eyes (CP15). But her husband



remains completely unaffected and shrugs her words off as superfluous, trivial (CP 19).
She is pained by a total lack of communion or jouissance which can only retrieve the
fragmented feminine self.

Jouissance, according to Lacan, is a mysterious state of sexual joy, an erotic

satisfaction which dissolves the boundaries of self and other (Cited in Anthony Elliot,
1994:135), and Maya is denied that first by her husbands cold intellectuality and then by his
ageing. Her longing for sensual enjoyment is repressed by Gautamas tactical preaching of
the philosophy of Gita:
From attachment arises longing and from longing anger is born. From anger
arises delusion; from delusion loss of memory is caused. From loss of memory
the discriminative faculty is ruined, and from the ruin of discrimination, he
perishes (CP 112).
Gautamas tact can be analysed by a reference of Kate Millet and Germain Greer:
The males sexual antipathy provides a means of control over a subordinate
group, and a rationale for that groups inferior status (Quoted in Charvet,
1980:123).

Restlessness boils within Maya, and strangeness holds them apart. She feels defenseless and
utterly alone in the company of the bleak, comfortless figure passing as her husband (CP
146). Ultimately her psychic problems, aggravated by her infantilism, drive her to a kind of
schizophrenia. She describes herself as body without a heart, a heart without a body ( CP
196).

However, the cultural set up in which Maya has been born and brought up does not
allow her to cross the bounds of marital morality. Nor she is able to sublimate her powerful
biological urge. Hence, she burst into a rage by giving herself up to a fit of furious pillow
beating, kicking everything, but crying ( CP 9). Of course, there are plenty of images in the
novel that suggest Mayas erotic desire and its starvation .Mayas repeated references to the
frenzied dance of the peacock for its mate, the cooing and mating calls of the pigeons, the
heavy silk cotton trees, etc. reflect her sexual desires. On the contrary, the word chaste,
virginal and the moon, which are repeated several times, emphasize her erotic starvation.
She ultimately experiences symbolic gratification of her sexual desire through some



hallucinatory vision of lizards and birds copulating in weird setting ( CP 127). As observed
by Frued, such a fantasy is obviously nothing but the fulfillment of a wish, a correction of
unsatisfying reality (Frued: 1908:146, Cited in Patracia Waugh: 1989: 168).

Mayas proposal to Gautama To take her to Darjeeling whose scenic beauty and cool
weather, she still belives, may soothe her tormented mind, is her last attempt to negotiate. But
Goutama squashes her proposal. Moreover, the most humiliating experience that she
undergoes is in Goutamas male party, where charmed by the vibrating rich urdu poetry
recited by the cultural wine drinking gentlemen, she breaks an age-old tradition and joins
them, and Goutama subtly drives home to her the truth that she does not belong there. This is
what she confesses about her humiliation:

Turning his back to me, he stood talking to a friend, a glass in his hand, and
his voice rose, in order that I might hear, when he said, Blissful, yes, because
it is unrelated to our day, unclouded by the vulgarity of illeducated men, or
of over bearing women. (CP 104).

It is, in fact, in this life of supreme humiliation and neglect from her husband, the fear of
death, as predicted by the albino-astrologer, surfaces in her mind. But the question that she
now faces is, whose death her husbands or hers? Before deciding the question, she wants
to understands other womens attitude to their respective families. And what she observes is
that all those women have almost willingly surrendered to the oppressive structure of male
hegemony. She pathetically feels for Leila, who has accepted her fate.

Had she raged, revolted, I should have rushed to her now. ( CP 59).

On the other hand, Pam, her other friend, has the typical problem of an Indian housewife
living with her in-laws. Pam is fed up with her in-laws, but not with her husband. Maya feels
that her situation is quite contrasted by Pams. She craves the company of her mother-in-law,
but does not get it. She finds herself alone with them after all ( CP 64).

In her aloneness, Maya finds two options: to accept everything as inevitable and
surrender to fate, or to revolt against the oppressive patriarchal power, exercised by



Goutama. During the dust storm, through a dance in a pent-up house, she seems to celebrate
her release from bondage , from fate, from death, dreariness and dreadful dreams (S. Indra :
1994 : 25), and with this newly found consciousness of freedom she resolves to kill Goutama.

The man who had no contact with the world, or with me, what would it matter
to him if he died and lost even the possibility of conduct? What would it
matter to him? ( CP 175).

The sight of the dancing Shiva appears to her as a symbol of destruction of evil and of
liberation, and she assigns herself the Gods other role, and breaks the constraints of the
pativrata ideology.

However, in Part II of the novel, Maya is found to commit suicide. Obviously, it

draws our attention to its ideology. P.K. Pandaya argues :

Being a Shankari Hindu woman she suffers from guilt and remorse for killing
her husband and in the end she kills herself. (Pandaya in R.K.Dhawan (ed)
Vol. 3: 1991: 92)

Here, Pandayas argument appears to be andocentric. No doubt, Maya is a Hindu woman, and
her religious root is so deep that when she approaches to murder her husband, she accepts
Gods dual powers and thereby constructs herself as a devout subject of Hindu religion. But
in the text nowhere we find any sense of guilt or remorse from Mayas part for murdering her
husband. If there is remorse from Mayas part, it is because of her seeing that her discourse is
challenged by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, from whom she expects support, because
both of them have their experience of repression. But her mother-in-law dismisses Mayas
discourse by labeling it as that of an insane woman. She rather produces a counter-discourse:
It was an accident (CP 213). Hence, Mayas suicide is nothing but an expansion of her



discourse of resistance to the patriarchal power. She refuses to be identified as an insane
woman only because she has violated the standard patriarchal norms.

Works Cited/ Consulted

Desai, Anita. Cry, the Peacock, Orient Paperbacks, New Delhi, 1963 (1980).

Dhawan, R.K. Indian Women Novelists, Set 1, Vol. 3, Prestige, New Delhi, 1991.

Eliott, Anthony. Psychoanalatic Theory: An Introduction, Blackwell, Oxford, U.K., 1994.

Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Vol. 1, trans. By Robert Hurley,
Vintage Books, New York, 1978.

Rahaman, Sk Lutfar. The Woman Question in Anita Desai: A Study of Her Novels,
Unpublished Thesis, NBU, 2OO2.

Ruthven, K.K. Feminist Literary Studies: An Introduction,Cambridge University Press,

NewYork and Melborne, 1984 (1990).

Waugh, Patriacia. Feminine Fictions: Revisiting the Postmodern, Routledge, London and
New York, 1989.



De-stereotyping the Indian Female Body: A Feminist Reading of Rituparno
Ghoshs Films
Sreyashi Dhar

Rituparno Ghosh is one of Bengals most successful contemporary directors, having received
both national and international acclaim for his films. Ghosh follows in the legacy of Satyajit
Ray and Shyam Benegal, creating art house films, many of which revolve around the status
of women in Indian society, as he considers the complexities of relationships, the intricacies
of emotion and the often silent struggles that are inherent in everyday family life in India.

This paper sets out to examine the politics of female representation in Ghoshs films in
relation to a more general portrayal of women in Indian art house and commercial cinema.
This paper will attempt a feminist reading of four select films of Rituparno Ghosh namely,
Chokher Bali (2003), Antarmahal (2005) Titli (2002) and Unishe April (1994).

Cinema and the Performance of Women

In India, commercial film caters for a vast heterogeneous audience and therefore lacks
generic differentiation as it needs to incorporate visual pleasure into a something for
everyone project (Kasbekar 20). During the nationalist project and after Independence,
showcasing stereotyped heroines from popular mythology, cinema became a site for the
nations reinvention by offering an occasion for India to differentiate herself from her
colonial past and westernised values, becoming more modern but without being any less
Indian (Gokulsing & Dissanayake 45, Thomas 165).

The ideal woman played an important role in the nationalist prerogatives and commercial
cinema soon became the most significant agent in disseminating this image by indulging in
hyperbole and tumescent rhetoric on the subject of Virtue and Honour (Kasbekar 293).
Thus heroines were always represented as chaste, submissive, modest and self-sacrificing and
were stereotyped as either the virtuous all giving mother, or long-suffering wife. These
stereotypes were emphasised and affirmed through particular bodily practices and dress. In
more recent films the heroines wardrobe has expanded to incorporate more western style
clothing but none the less she is still very traditional because the moment she gets married
she switches to wearing a sari (Banerjee & Miller 73).

One other important theme of popular cinema that relates to the female ideal is the split
between good sexuality (dharma) and bad sexuality (desire) (Uberoi 142) that is
demonstrated through specific social roles and behaviour. The heroine is the embodiment of
good sexuality and is opposed to the vamp who is the prototypical wanton woman with
overt sexual displays of lust. The erotic spectacle of women is notably one of the central
pleasures of commercial cinema viewing. Clothing is used strategically in revealing and
emphasising the female body.

Commercial cinema visualises women as stereotyped characters, reacting to and participating

in conventional social situations in ways that uphold social norms. Patricia Uberoi has
claimed that by portraying women in this way the media serves to make dominant gendered



roles and behaviour appear natural and therefore any space for the exploration and
demonstration of female subjectivity is rendered redundant.
Parallel cinema on the other hand follows quite a different trajectory. Rather than
disseminating a unified picture of utopian Indian culture, parallel film sought to generate
some kind of insight into Indian life by capturing the experiences and contradictions of a
society in transition by focusing on small segments of Indian reality but explore their
complex layers of meaning (Datta 84, Valicha 158). In particular a new type of woman
emerged that contrasted strongly with the dreamy traditional heroines of popular film as she
was placed in many different contexts, confronting a multiplicity of social problems in which
all areas of Indian social life were exposed, examined and questioned.

Film Analysis: Negotiating the Female Ideal

The four films Chokher Bali (2003), Antarmahal (2005), Titli (2002) and Unishe April (1994)
revolve around the politics of home and the struggle of women within the domestic space to
negotiate the traditions of conventional joint family and work through the everyday
intricacies of martial and/or mother-daughter relationships. Ghosh draws upon the term body
work used by Irene Gedalof at strategic moments to represent the women within an
alternative visual framework. He effectively evokes the widely recognised notions of body
work to demonstrate how women can simultaneously symbolise and uphold social values, as
well as strategically undermine them. In the paper I will examine both character and narrative
in combination with a focus on corporeal acts and bodily practices that are constructive of
womens body work. To reiterate, this form of analysis draws upon ideas of (a) privileging
the primacy of the lived body as a medium of agency and (b) considering clothing as an
embodied practice mediating the boundary between the individual and the society.

This analysis has drawn insights from the readings of various philosophers, thinkers and
critics namely, Foucault, Susan Bordo, Derrida, Cixous, Irrigaray, Laura Muvey and Judith
Butler.

Chokher Bali: Blurring Boundaries

The ensuing story is a complicated web of love and forbidden passions, freedom and
confinement, of the female protogonist Binodini who is firmly enmeshed, struggling to make
sense of her identity as a beautiful, educated and spirited young woman who is trapped within
the confines of widowhood.

The two themes of this film are the constraining nature of social roles assigned to women and
the lack of socially sanctioned space for the expression of feminine subjectivity outside of
these roles. Binodini is a multilayered character. She is intelligent, witty, confident and
educated yet she is also sensitive and longs to be loved. Her personality and struggle are
made even more potent and rebellious in contrast to Ashalatas character, which is
uneducated, nave, immature and girlish. Moreover the audience is in tune with her desires,
frustrations and emotional struggles because the whole film is narrated from Binodinis
perspective which is emphasised by the opera-glasses that she uses to peek through a window
into Mahendras and Ashalatas bedroom as well as later on when she observes the funeral
wake of an elderly widow at the Ganges. I think here Ghosh wants Binodini to use them
voyeuristically. Unlike commercial cinema, where women are represented in such a way that
they become objects of the male gaze (Mulvey 2186), Ghosh displaces this gaze by



presenting the female gaze so that Binodini becomes the voyeur; it is through her eyes and
from her gaze that we become involved in her struggle.

Fig. 1. Binodini.

When we first meet Binodini she is wearing the mandatory dress of a widow- a plain white
cotton sari, with no jewellery except a widows rosary with her hair modestly tied back (see
Fig. 1). Her social position is highlighted further through her juxtaposition with Ashalata,
who, being a newly wedded bride, wears a beautiful decorative red and gold silk sari (red is
an important signifier here because it is traditionally the symbol of fertility in India and
therefore an appropriate colour for a new wifes sari). She is adorned in jewels, her hair
ornately styled, bangles cover her wrists and her beauty is enhanced by cosmetics (see Fig.
2). Binodini, however, in accordance with codes of modesty covers her head with the pallu of
her sari and spins her body round away from men when Mahendras mother is present as a
gesture of humility. By wearing the prescribed social dress and conforming to bodily
practices associated with the social conventions of widowhood, Binodini is performing, in the
Butler sense of the word, social regulatory norms.



 Fig. 2. Binodini (left), Ashalata (right).

However as the film progresses this representation of Binodini changes. In particular there is
a scene in which Binodini is trying on jewellery with Ashalata in the secrecy of Ashalatas
bedroom. Jewellery must not be worn by widows as it has particular connotations at
marriage. Women receive jewellery at marriage from their own and their husbands family
and, since a widow is in eternal mourning for her husband it is considered inappropriate to
dress up in this way. However, Binodini flouts this by dressing and adorning her body.
Unknown to Binodini, Ashalata calls for Mahendra and Behari and when they arrive to find
Binodini adorned in jewels, an awkward conversation ensues where although Behari states
that Binodini looks beautiful, there is an air of discomfort at the forbidden but beautiful
image of Binodini still in her widow sari but covered in Ashalatas marriage jewellery.
Significantly, this act conflates sterile widowhood (indicated by the white sari) with the
possibilities and passions of marriage and youthful femininity (the jewellery) thus blurring
the boundaries between socially demarcated roles. Binodinis body, the site of her lived
experience of being a woman grappling with the norms of society, articulates her
dissatisfaction with the confines of her social role as a widow and subverts it.



 Fig. 3. Binodini and Behari.

This is seen again when Binodini goes to Beharis house to ask him to marry her. Binodini,
still wearing her widows sari but adorned in jewellery which is hidden under her shawl,
performs the role of the archetypal seductress dressing up to seduce her lover. As Behari
closes the door, she unveils herself to him (see Fig. 3). Again Binodini is crossing the
demarcated spaces of social identity via the strategic use of clothing and adornment. In doing
this she expresses elements of her own self that is not ruled by social convention. This is
emphasised by Binodinis assertion- I have three identities- I am a young woman, educated
and a widow but all have eclipsed my real identity I am also flesh and blood. Although
Binodini is a widow she is also a young woman, she has passion for life and lustful desires
yet she also desires a family and motherhood and it is this intermingling of all conflicting
aspects of femininity that stands to question the purity and homogeneity of the female
ideal. Through her body work Ghosh shows Binodini actually engaging with and
challenging the moral and sexual social codes that repress her and thus establishes Binodini
as a complex and rebellious character who is struggling to transgress what Ghosh has
described as the shackles of the norm in her search for freedom and for life. Her body, as
we have seen, is not maintaining the correct body of society, it is not in the service of
docility and gender normalization (Bordo 28), rather her body work, her manipulation of
her clothing and jewellery allows her to negotiate these values and express herself.

The final point I want to raise with regards to Chokher Bali concerns the ending, which is
different from Tagores happy ending in which Binodini goes on to lead a life as an ascetic
because that was, at the time, the right thing for a widow to do. However at the beginning of
Ghoshs film he quotes Tagore who said: ever since Chokher Bali has been published I have
always regretted the ending. Rather than have Binodini suddenly return to the structures of
social institutions and conform to cultural conventions Ghosh has made her completely



disappear. This is in fact quite an emancipatory act, a fleeing gesture which suits Binodinis
character- she is a woman who cannot and will not conform to the structures of patriarchal
conventions imposed upon her. Her fight for freedom coincides with the countrys freedom
struggle and in her letter to Ashalata, Binodini speaks of her own country, a world beyond
the kitchen, courtyard and shutters and petty rules of home life. The country that Binodini
speaks of is better interpreted and understood as space. Ghosh did not specify what this
space signified as he wants to leave this interpretation open for the viewer to decide. For me
this space is freedom. A woman like Binodini, questioning herself, her identity, relationships
and the nature of her whole existence finds no place in socially sanctioned spaces in which to
live. In Tagores ending, in order for her to be able to return to social life she must lose her
sense of passion and thirst for life, which is perhaps what Tagore soon led to regret. But in
having Binodini disappear, Ghosh is making a statement not only about the state of society in
the early twentieth century but also commenting on contemporary society. Women can be
independent, they can find this space but it means breaking free of restrictive and unitary
homogenous identities.

Antarmahal: The Sexual Heroine

The one scene to be discussed in this film deals with issues of female sexuality in a
particularly interesting way and therefore must be mentioned. Set in the colonial era of 1878,
the film is about Bhubaneswar, a wealthy yet grotesque man who has an obsessive desire for
an heir and a greedy lust for power. Having been unsuccessful in fathering a child with his
first wife, Mahamaya, he marries a younger and more vulnerable girl named Jasomati.
Having still failed to make Jasomati pregnant, Bhubaneswar enlists the help of a Brahmin
priest who is ordered to sit in the bedroom chanting mantras during the act of sex itself
because Bhubaneswar believes it will improve the chances of fertilization. Although Jasomati
is extremely uncomfortable and unhappy about this situation, Bhubaneswar forces her to have
sex with him. In an act of defiance against this Mahamaya sneaks into the bedroom and,
sitting in front of the priest, she starts to titillate him. Lifting up the bottom of her sari to
quickly flash her knee, she smiles and laughs as the priest starts to stammer over his words.
After repeating this a few times and with the priest increasingly distracted, she starts to pull
her sari off her shoulder and play with it slowly. The viewer, watching this scene from behind
Mahamaya, suddenly sees her pull her sari right down, revealing her bare back to the
audience but her bare breasts to the priest. The priest astonished, stops reciting abruptly, but
Mahamaya just throws her pallu back round her body, gets up and leaves the room laughing.



 Fig. 4. Jasomati.

The central point of interest here is Mahamayas sexual use of her body and sari to challenge
male power and dominance. Just as Binodini does a type of bodywork in negotiating social
values, Mahamaya strategically uses her body and sari in a sexualised manner that ridicules
and undermines the domination and exploitation of Jasomati by Bhubaneswar. Furthermore
this scene is symptomatic of the issues that pervade society at large. Bhubaneswar and the
priest symbolise patriarchal society and religion and Mahamayas body, in an ironic move, is
transformed into a site of resistance in which she uses the very medium that women are
subjugated by, her body, and arguably her sari, the traditional symbol of chastity and virtue,
to confront and criticise rigid dominant moral values of society. Viswanath (132) has stated
that the majority of Indian women experience their bodies as shameful. This is not surprising
seeing that sexual female desire has become a social taboo in Indian society and has been
relegated to the sphere of fantasy in mass media or locked away within the depths of the
home in a space that is reserved for the husband and family. However in this scene the
relationship between the body, desire and the selfhood is re-figured as Mahamayas body
work becomes empowering as female sex is retrieved from patriarchal clutches and re-
inscribed to the female body and control.

Demythologising the Mother

Cultural concepts of motherhood were subjected to a process of idealisation and

mythologizing to create a metaphor for the nations traditions and strength and the resulting
image became an iconic sign in the media. However, this idealized maternal identity has
never really been questioned or challenged and as Shama Chatterji (56) has noted, the notion
of a monstrous or bad mother is in many ways an alien concept in Indian society. In terms
of visual representation, Rosie Thomas states that one of the tenacious rules of commercial



cinema is that it is impossible to make a film in which the protagonists real mother is
villainous or semi-villainous (Thomas 164). However the two films I want to explore here,
Titli and Unishe April, portray motherhood alternatively. In both films Ghosh articulates the
complexities of motherhood through the also relatively unexplored relationship between
mothers and daughters. Just as Indian feminists have critiqued the idealised and abstracted
identification of mothers with goddesses, both C.S.Lakshmi (90) and Uma Chakravarti (citied
in Gedalof 64) have stated that of the few child mother relationships that do exist in
mythology they only occur between mothers and sons, such as Yasodha and Krishna.
Therefore it would seem that Ghosh works with a double move here. On the one hand he tries
to demythologise the mother from her iconic social status by portraying motherhood as a
complex and problematic role that women must negotiate along with their other identities.
Yet he does this by opening up the domestic sphere and exposing the politics of the private
by showing the intricate emotional workings of relationships between women as they struggle
to find their identity and place within domestic roles of mothers and daughters.

Titli: Complexities in Motherhood

Titli is a story about a relationship between a mother and her daughter. Titli is a teenage girl
who is infatuated with a famous (fictional) film star Rohit Roy, and tells her mother, Urmila,
how much she would like to marry him. The plot gets under way as mother and daughter go
to the airport to pick up Titlis father. During the journey, a car ahead has broken down and,
by pure luck, the passenger is Rohit Roy and he hitches a ride with Urmila and Titli to the
airport. Titli is ecstatic but her fantasy is soon shattered as it becomes clear that Urmila and
Rohit have a secret past. When they make a pit stop in a village for Titli to buy some supplies
for the journey, the past relationship between Urmila and Rohit is revealed as they take a
walk and reminisce. Urmila was forbidden to marry Rohit by her parents because at that time
he was a struggling actor with no prospects or security to offer. Back in the car, Titli notices a
flower in her mothers hair and she realises that they had a romantic past. Once back at home,
having met Titlis father from the airport, relations between Titli and Urmila are strained.
Unable to sleep Urmila goes out on the veranda to contemplate the days events when she
sees Titlis light on. She goes into her bedroom and once again we see mother and daughter
working through the new uneasy territory in their relationship because both mother and
daughter love(d) the same man.



 Fig. 5. Urmila (bottom left), Titli (top right).

What is pertinent about this film is that it subtly proposes the concept of the sexual mother.
Social conventions and representations concerning the female ideal have continuously
separated procreative sex and dharma associated with marriage and motherhood, from
individual sexual passion and lust. In this film Ghosh tries to integrate these themes as we see
the two lives of Urmila, her domestic life and role as mother and wife juxtaposed against her
flirtatious and loving conversation with Rohit, in which she sings love songs and recites
poetry, all things associated with the courting of a betrothed young couple. This concept is
further affirmed by one fleeting moment that occurs at the climax of the scene. As a thunder
storm rages outside, Urmila deep in conversation with Titli, looks out the window with her
shawl covering her shoulders. Suddenly her shawl slips to reveal a silk night dress that is cut
away close to the breast. The camera moves to rest on Titlis shocked face at this exposure of
her mothers sexualised body and then we see Urmila cover herself up quickly. It is at this
moment that the two seemingly irreconcilable facets of female sexuality are united. By
mobilising sexual connotative meanings associated with the silk night dress, Ghosh
strategically uses Urmilas body work to unite sexual desire and motherhood which serves
to demythologise the idealised chaste virginal body of the all giving mother, the body of
Mother India, and its concomitant ideal values and norms.

Unishe April: Motherhood in Transition

Unishe April (April 19th) is about Adithi, a doctor whose father (Manish) died when she was
a young girl. The film, now many years later, centres on the day of the anniversary of his
death, April 19th and Adithi is visiting her mother, a highly successful classical dancer. The
film focuses on the troublesome relationship between mother and daughter and is interjected
with flashbacks that emphasise the fact that Adithis mother was absent on the day of her



fathers death and was in fact frequently absent during her upbringing, which serves initially
to build up a negative picture of her. When we finally meet her she is extremely beautiful,
dressed in an elegant sari which contrasts sharply to Adithis baggy t-shirt, flowing ankle
length skirt and loosely tied back hair. Adithi and her mother talk to each other in a manner
that is curt and irritable and we see that communication between them is very strained,
especially as Adithis mother has forgotten its the anniversary of Manishs death. To make
matters worse, Adithi receives a phone call from her boyfriend in which he states that he
cannot marry her because not only is she a doctor and his mother wants a homely wife for
him but also that she doesnt approve of her mothers dancing profession. Adithis mother
does not understand, nor have the time to ask why her daughter is upset and, after receiving a
letter informing her of an award she has won for her dancing, leaves immediately to catch a
flight.

Fig. 6. Adithi (right), her mother (left).

Adithi is completely distraught and as a storm breaks out, we see her sitting at her desk as she
starts to write what would seem to be a suicide note. Time passes very slowly and there is no
dialogue. The camera lingers on her tear stricken face, the pills that she taps on the table top,
the drip drip of the bathroom tap and squeaking of her chair as she rocks herself. Here the
viewer is completely engulfed by Adithis emotions. We are included in her struggle as she
laments the social injustice of being an educated woman but not a suitable wife, and being a
lonely and grieving daughter excluded from her mothers life. Then her mother returns home
unexpectedly because her flight was cancelled and this marks the beginning of a long and
emotional process in which mother and daughter begin to work though their troubled
relationship. Challenging her mother about her relationship with her father and her seemingly
indifferent attitude towards her, her mother replies that Manish was angry with her, she
earned more money than he did and was highly successful which seemed to be a source of
tension for him. She offered to leave dancing for the sake of the family but this he refused.
She says he felt small somehowhe would have been happy if he had married an ordinary



girlI should never have married at all. As the conversation ends, they begin to feel some
warmth towards each other and we see the beginning of a possible resolution. The film ends
with another possibility. A phone call from her boyfriend indicates that their relationship, like
that with her mother, may not be over after all.

There are several points to consider from this brief synopsis with regards to the negotiation of
the female ideal. Firstly, we meet the bad mother who is portrayed as unfeeling and absent
from her daughters life. She doesnt know about her boyfriend, she has forgotten the
anniversary of her husbands death and she seems completely self engrossed with her dancing
and her award. As she says herself, motherhood and marriage was not necessarily a natural
progression for her. This representation of motherhood thus stands to challenge the idealistic
and universalised image of motherhood perpetuated by society and it critiques the one size
fits all paradigm in which all women are assumed to marry and slip into motherhood with
relative ease. Sangeeta Datta (23) has described this perception of motherhood as an
ideological burden and I suggest that this is clearly the problem at hand here. Ghosh
demonstrates that motherhood is not only something that needs to be worked at but that
traditional expectations made of women in modern society are unrealistic in this respect.

Secondly, Ghosh demonstrates the problems that women still face on a daily basis. For
example, the conflict between tradition and individual desire is still very much at the fore of
these womens lives as we see Adithi is not considered a proper wife because of her
profession. Ghosh has claimed that domestic life is about adjustment and compromise in
trying to maintain the status quo. Good family relations grow from negotiation and
discussion and Unishe April is a pertinent example of this. Women may be daughters,
mothers and wives but they are also individuals who have to integrate their different roles
within a society, which is both traditional and modern, where stereotypes conflict with
individual needs and desires. As already described, the traditional ideal woman presented in
the media is in many ways at odds with the lives of women today because the conflict of
tradition and modernity is denied (Sunder Rajan 74). Rather than represent his protagonist as
conforming to these social traditions and thus disavowing this tension, Ghosh portrays
women challenging dominant social codes.

Conclusion

Ghosh shows female subjectivity as operating within the social structures and situations that
constrain them. The moral and social codes of the female ideal exist in varying social
processes, practices, situations and contexts and the ways in which women respond to these
situations on a day to day basis should also be thought of as suitably complex. One of the
strengths of Ghoshs films is that he effectively evokes widely recognised notions of body
work to demonstrate how women can simultaneously symbolise and uphold social values, as
well as strategically undermine them. Through the use body work, apt clothing and
dialogue/discourse of the women characters; Ghosh brings out both the temporal and the
transitional dilemma that the women characters face in day-today life. The women characters
in Ghoshs films are placed in socially uncomfortable situations which are embraced, rather
than denied, as they openly and directly negotiate their own experiences of personhood with
the more rigid identities of the female ideal such as wifehood, motherhood and widowhood
in viably social ways. To conclude, Ghoshs protagonists constantly re-interpret restrictive
traditional ideologies and thus challenge the fact that traditional expectations made of women
in modern society are unrealistic and in many ways at odds with the modern lifestyle that
places women into new and contradictory situations.



Keywords: female body, female ideal, body work, Rituparno Ghosh, Chokher Bali,
Antarmahal, Titli, Unishe April, Indian commercial cinema, Indian art house cinema,
martial/mother-daughter relationships, primacy of the lived body, clothing .

Works Cited

Banerjee, M. & D. Miller. The Sari. Oxford: Berg. 2003. Print.

Bordo, Susan. The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity: A Feminist Appropriation of
Foucault. Gender, Body, Knowledge: Feminist Reconstructions of Being and
Knowing. New York: Rutgers. 1989. Print.
Butler, Judith. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. London: Routledge.
1993. Print.
---. Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and
Feminist Theory. The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader. Ed. Ann. Jones. New
York: Routledge. 2003. Print.
Chatterji, Shama. Indian Women: From Darkness to Light. Calcutta: Parumita Publications,
2000. Print.
Datta, Sangeeta. Relinquishing the Halo: Portrayal of Mother in Indian Writing in English.
Economic and Political Weekly (1990): 84-93. Print.
Foucault, Michael. The History of Sexuality: The Will to Knowledge, Volume 1. Australia:
Penguin, 1978. Print.
---. The Use of Pleasure: The History of Sexuality: Volume 2. London: Penguin, 1985. Print.
Gedalof, Irene. Against Purity: Rethinking Identity with Indian and Western Feminists.
London: Routledge, 1999. Print.
Gokulsing, K. & W. Dissanayake. Indian Popular Cinema: A Narrative of Cultural
Change. London: Trentham Books, 1998. Print.
Kasbekar, Asha. Hidden Pleasures: Negotiating the Myth of the Female Ideal in Popular
Hindi Cinema. Pleasure and the Nation: The History, Politics and Consumption of
Public Culture in India. Eds. C. Pinney & R. Dwyer. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2001. Print.
Lakshmi, C. S. Mother, Mother-Community and Mother-Politics in Tamil Nadu.
Economic and Political Weekly (1990): 72-83. Print.
Leitch. Vincent B. ed. The Norton Anthology: Theory and Criticism. New York: W. W.
Norton, 2001. Print.
Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. The Norton Anthology: Theory and
Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001. Print.
Rituparno Ghosh. dir. Antarmahal. Perf. Soha Ali Khan. Eagle, 2005. DVD.
---. Choker Bali. Perf. Aishwariya Rai, Raima Sen and Prosenjeet. Big Pictures, 2003. DVD.
---. Titli. Perf. Aparna Sen and Konkona Sen. Eagle, 2002, DVD.
---. Unishe April. Perf. Aparna Sen and Deboshree Rai. Eagle, 1994. DVD.
Sunder Rajan, Rajeshwari. Real and Imagined Women: Gender, Culture and Post C
Colonialism. London: Routledge, 1993. Print.
Thomas, R. Melodrama and the Negotiation of Modernity in Mainstream Hindi Cinema.
Consuming Modernity: Public Culture in a South Asian World. Ed. C. Breckenridge
London: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. Print.



Uberoi, Partricia. Dharma and Desire, Freedom and Destiny: Rescripting the Male-Female
Relationship in Popular Hindi Cinema. Embodiment: Essays in Gender and Identity.
Ed. M. Thapan. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print.
Valicha, K. The Moving Image: A Study of Indian Cinema. London: Sungam Books Limited,
I988. Print.
Viswanath, K. Shame and Control: Sexuality and Power in Feminist Discourse in India.
Embodiment: Essays in Gender and Identity. Ed. Mahesh Thapan. Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 1997. Print.



 In Search of a Story
Pragya Shukla

The Thousand Faces of Night (1992), the debut novel of Githa Hariharan, was awarded the
Commonwealth Writers Prize for the best novel written in the Eurasian region. It is a
sensitive saga of women struggling to survive in a world of shattered dreams and fettered
lives. The author narrates stories of women imprisoned in the dungeon of patriarchy. In
todays world of education and modernization, the gender roles assigned by patriarchy
remains the same. Damodar Rao points out that

... the inner consciousness of the Indian psyche and the social relations are based on the
traditional image of ideal womanhood even in the changed context.1

Through this novel, Githa Hariharan seeks to turn the table around and disrupt the existing
order. Devi, the protagonist successfully walks out of love and marriage to breathe and live
on her own terms. Like a cyborg, she makes her way back to her mothers house; in search of
her own story which is firmly rooted and did not cling helplessly on male shoulders.
Widowhood blesses Sita with a similar gift. The author clearly pursues the project of writing
beyond the bildungsroman marriage plot, emphasizing the female characters aim to develop
as individuals and not as wives or daughter-in-laws, thus destereotyping the image of an ideal
Indian woman as laid down by the patriarchy.

Commenting on the theme and structure of this novel, Vijyashree writes:

a remarkable rendering of the collective struggle of women for self-liberation through

the authors play with narrative structures-framing texts within texts, with texts
overlapping in curious ways, her carnivalesque accumulation of intertexts ranging from
the tales from Mahabharata to folk stories and her deft interweaving of these with the lives
of real women.2

The womenSita, Devi, Mayamma, Parvati and Pati or Grandmother are separated by the
gulf of time and caste but share the same fate due to the reductiveness of their own gender.
Each of them finds themselves confined within metaphorical dungeons and each tries to tear



apart and break free.Githa Hariharan lays bare in her novel the history of gender injustice in
society by linking womens lives and struggle across generations and barriers of caste and
class.
In the course of the novel stories are retold in different ways from gynocentric
perspectives.Pati or Grandmother is not present in the novels action and events, she makes
her presence felt through her treasure of myths and stories, which Devi recollects throughout
the novel. The way Devis Grandmother handles old tales, the burden of traditional beliefs is
shifted. So old stories change whenever they are narrated and passed on from one generation
to another. Considering the condition of women in those times, the Grandmother seems
surprisingly individualistic and modern in her outlook. She interprets the myths and legends
in her own way asserting the individuality of women as human beings, and therefore
appreciating and endorsing their resistance to oppression. It is generally believed that
Gandhari in the epic Mahabharata, blindfolded herself because her husband was blind. Being
a dutiful wife, this was the right thing for her to do. The Grandmother views the story
differently. According to her, Gandhari first becomes aware of her husbands affliction only
after marriage, when she meets him after marriage and sees his pupils glazed and useless. The
old woman sees Gandharis action of blindfolding herself as a sign of protest and an
expression of seething rage:

In her pride, her anger, Gandhari said nothing. But she tore off a piece of her thick red
skirt and tied it tightly over her own eyes. She groped towards her unseeing husband, her
lips straight and thin with fury.3

In contrast to Gandharis silent protest, the myth of Amba is more vocal. Devi was amazed to
hear of a woman avenger who could earn manhood through her penance. These stories sow
the seeds of individuality in Devis psyche. When she grows up, she tries to maintain it.

Devis mother Sita has lived in total self denial ever since she married. She had brought a
Veena as a part of her dowry to her in-laws place. After finishing her chores, she played the
Veena. One day, she sat engrossed, when her husband roared: Put that Veena away. Are you
a wife, a daughter-in-law?

Sita hung her head over the Veena for a minute that seemed to stretch for ages...then she
reached for the strings of her precious Veena and pulled them out of the wooden base.



 They came apart with a discordant twang of protest. She looked up at her husband, her
eyes dry and narrowed, and said in a clear, stinging whisper, yes. I am a wife, a daughter-
in-law4

From that day onwards no one saw Sita play the Veena again. Sitas protest was silent too,
like Gandharis.

With a grim resolve to keep her thwarted dreams and desires at bay, Sita built a wall of
reticence around herself. Her entire focus lay in playing the roles assigned to her deftly. She
took up the challenges that life threw her way, one after another, and dealt with each one of
them successfully. When her husband had a brief fling with Annapurna, a young orphan, she
crushed the entanglement by banishing away the girl from the house. Again, after the death of
her husband:

...her neighbours on the seafront ran to their windows to watch the tearful home-coming
of a widow.Sita emerged from her taxi, a slim, graceful figure, the hair greying a little
about the temples, but still beautiful, and impeccably dressed, in a deep blue Kanchipuram
silk sari that picked up the glare of the midday sun.5

The bitterness remains closeted in her inner being while she goes about the business of living
in a prosaic manner, without tenderness though. Her simmering, silent anger had led to the
evaporation of all feelings of love and affection. Sita channelized her own seething rebellion.
She assisted her husband and guided him at times. Slowly they became rich. Towards the end
of the novel, Sita emerges like a phoenix, unfettered, embracing her real self without any fear
in her mind. With no roars of fury to disrupt her practice sessions and plenty of money left
behind by her husband, Sita had given up clipping budsshe was not a bonsai in the garden
of patriarchy anymore.

Mayamma, the housekeeper of Maheshs household was abused by her husband, mother-in-
law and son alike. She was Devis constant companion in the absence of her husband and
mother in law. She readily supported Devis decision of walking out of Maheshs life, even
blessed her and wished her luck. It is commonly observed that old suffering women rarely
give motherly advice to the young sufferers. They usually wish to see them suffer as they



have done so far. But Mayamma was different: She had coveted birth, endured life, nursed
death...but she has no bitterness.6

Parvatiamma, Devis mother-in-law, was a loving, gentle and feminine lady whose goodness
led her away from her own family. Like any other saint, she stripped herself of the
householders role assigned to her and she set out in search of salvation. All that her helpless
husband could say of her sudden departure was:

She has made her choice. For a woman who leaves her home in search of God, only death
is a home coming.7

Parvatiamma had however set an example by crossing the threshold in search of the almighty.
If men can renounce their worldly life, so can a woman. She also defiled the law that
announced that a woman who surrenders completely to her husband get salvation. She did not
have faith in its authenticity and hence she chose to pave her own path to the Supreme
Beings abode.

Years later, Devi entered Parvatiammas household as her daughter- in- law to take charge
but the same loneliness and restlessness began to stir within her. Devi is a modern Indian
woman, educated abroad. She had grown up amidst stories, some real, other fabled and
mythical, related to her by Pati, Baba, Mayamma.She reconstructed the stories of her
childhood with her own experiences and shakes the fetters of the clinging stories in an
attempt to frame a story of her own.

Devi clearly remembered Patis version of marriage:

When you marry, Devi, your heart moves up to your shoulder and slips down your arm to
the palm of your hand. The hand that holds yours tightly as you walk round the fire
receives it like a gift. You cant do anything about it: when you marry, it goes to him and
you never get it back.8

Her husband Mahesh, however, is no prince, but a regional manager in a multinational

company that makes toothpaste and detergents.9 For him marriage meant nothing more than
a necessity and a milestone. He believed that talking about feelings was un-Indian and a self



indulgence. Devi begins to drift away from Mahesh. She now understood what marriage was
all about:
The end of ends, two or three brief encounters a month when bodies stutter together in
lazy, inarticulate lust. Two weeks a month when the shadowy stranger who casually strips
me of my name, snaps his fingers and demands a smiling handmaiden. And the rest? It is
waiting, all over again, for life to begin, or to end and begin again.10

To drive away her loneliness, Devi sought refuge in Baba, her father-in-laws company and
listened to his stories. His stories were always strictly functional, an exacting touchstone for
a woman, a wife.11 His was the voice of Manu and his stories uncovered the functions
decided upon by society for women and the ways by which they can motivate men to walk on
the path of Dharma. In spite of the power to motivate and guide, women were rendered
powerless by patriarchy.

Devi was left behind with her stories once again when Baba moved away to New York. She
found respite in Gopals ragas that floated in from across the garden and she fell in love with
him. She decided to elope with him.Gopals music mesmerised her and promised her a
liberating space from the imprisonment of her wifely role. Like Parvatiamma, Devi renounces
her house for love and she tells herself that if her decision proves wrong in future, she will
not give up. She will then set ahead in search of a goddess who is not yet made.12

Devi took this flight as her first real journey. Disappointment descended soon after and she
realized that her life with Gopal was a farce. Her role in Gopals life was a little more than
the tiny reflections in the mirror studded buttons of his kurta.She feels miserable then, like an
island floating aimlessly and detached from the concrete world. She realised that she had
stumbled on-stage alone, greedy for a story of her own.13

In this darkness of despair, Devi begins to ponder on different roles and faces she has
inherited:

My Grandmother fed me with fantasies, my father a secretive love. My mother sought me

out with hope, and when disappointed, pushed me forward in the direction she chose...I
have mimed the lessons they taught me, an obedient puppet whose strings they pulled and
jerked with their love. 14



In order to seek her own story, Devi decided to retrace her steps, back to the warmth of her
mothers embrace. Perhaps that was the best place to unlearn and begin afresh. Here she
could stay and give a new meaning to her life. As she opened the gates of her mothers house,
hesitant and childlike, she saw the unkempt garden and sounds of the Veena floated up to her.
Her spirits rose. This time Devi could relax and let things be. Questions and accusations
would not hover around. Sita, after tasting the honeyed flavour of freedom from the chains of
patriarchy was in a position to respect Devis decisions. This was not a patriarchal household
but a haven for cyborgs to live in and be themselves.

Bibliography

1. Rao, K. Damodar. 1995. Penance as Multiple Response in Githa Hariharans The

Thousand Faces of Night in Indian Women Novelists Set III: Vol. 4, ed. R.K. Dhawan. New
Delhi: Prestige Books

2. Vijayasree, C. 1990. Revisionist Myth Making: A Reading of Githa Hariharans The

Thousand Faces of Night, in The Postmodern Indian English Novel Interrogating the 1980s
and 1990s. Bombay: Allied Publishers Ltd.

3 The Thousand Faces of Night, Penguin Books, 1992; Women's Press, 1996,p.29

4. ibid

5. ibid p.30

6. ibid p.99

7. ibid p.136

8. ibid p.64



9. ibid p.37

10. ibid p.22

11. ibid p.52

12. ibid p.51

13. ibid p.95

14. ibid p. 136-137



 Who Framed Her? The Filmmakers, Fans, Fanatics?
D.Nivedhitha
Introduction
What is framing itself? Who framed the women in films? Why they are framed? Where they
are framed? (public space or private space, secret space, and intra space), Which are the
portions of hers are framed? How are they framed? The study is to frame the ones who
framed her.
Framed to Feminise (What is framing?)
Answering the first question of what is framing in film language, it is the way the visual
elements are arranged. Picture making is not about beautiful pictures it is about appropriate
pictures. The pictures you choose and arrange are expressing your point of view; how you
have interpreted a situation; what you want to say about it ( Millerson, 1987). The way in
which subjects and objects are framed within a shot produces specific readings (Hayward,
2004). Women has been always framed for a specific reading , which means, women is
framed to feminising and to carefully fix her in her role
Male centered view point (Who framed her?)
Answering to the second question of who framed the women in films the answer is, the male
filmmakers, fans and fanatics who wants to gain name , fame and wealth through the
exposure of women in a saleable way. When cinema has gone into the hands of business
man womans body has been shaped and framed. I use the word framing instead of
composition because composing is to project positive facets of an image, composition of the
society is socialization, composition of nature is civilization, composition of words is poetry,
prose, drama and dialogue, composition of relative musical notes is music, and composition
of hands and body gestures rhythmically to the tune is dance. The word composition sounds
aesthetic. But the word frame sounds falsity in framing a women and framing is composing
an image in a negative mode, as if framing an innocent as criminal, from the level of
composition to the level of framing. The patriarchal world has framed women from the
patriarchal perspective which is reflected in every aspect of life and it also reflects in films.
Aristotle defines that tragedy, must have six elements, they are plot, character, diction,
thought, spectacle, melody.
Characters has the second place in importance and it should have the following qualities--
1.good or fine: Aristotle relates this quality to moral purpose and says it is relative to class ;
even a woman may be good, and also a slave ,though the women may be said to be an
inferior being, slave quite worthless.2. fitness of character e.g valor is appropriate for a
warrior but not for a woman. 3.True to life (realistic) 4.Consistency (true to themselves)
once a characters personality and motivations are established, these should continue
throughout the play, 5. necessary or probable . character must be logically constructed
according to the law of probability or necessity. That governs the action of the play,6.
true to life and yet more beautiful (idealized, ennobled). Aristotle declares that valour is not
appropriate for women and also claims that women is inferior (Andrews, 1976) And also
Aristotle argues that women are naturally lacking in intelligence and rationality. Their bodies
lack the necessary warmth that makes for human intelligence. Being natural fools, women do
not deserve to be citizens who participate in public affairs (Geetha, 2006 ).



Manu, author of the Dharmashastra, argues that at the moment of creation itself, women are
allotted the habit of lying, sitting around, with an indiscriminate love for ornaments, and
qualities such anger, meanness, treachery and bad conduct. Islam too believes that men were
created to rule over and manage the lives and affairs of women. About Christian thought
about women, English poet John Milton writes that God created Man in his image, He for
God only, while woman was created as an after thought, from Adams rib. Not being in
Gods image, woman was to realize God in him, that is Man. When ancient scriptures to
great philosophers have considered women as inferior, film industry also reflects these
thoughts.

At that time the Hero comes (during the climax) to save the heroine, or save the country or to
save the society. This is a very successful and great formula which is practiced by
commercial films in many countries. The filmmakers as patriarch consciously or
unconsciously and orchestrates the male oriented stories. Happily lived for ever- The End-
full stop. Almost all the fairy tales which is written for the children has a closed structure
promising to end the story with happily lived for ever. Very popular fairy tales snow
white, beauty and the beast, princess and the frog are patriarch in nature. In all these three
tales the females were put under test. Snow white is gifted to the Prince who saves the
country from a magical crises, beast becomes handsome Prince when a few drops of sincere
tears of love falls on the beast, and frog becomes Prince when a Princess kisses the frog with
love. Making a women to love a beast and a frog very sincerely and appreciating the gestures
is very patriarchal in nature.

I dont think you should feel about a film, you should feel a woman, not a movie. You
cannot kiss a movie, says Jean-Luc-Godard a great New wave filmmaker. He believes in the
concept of appealing to the intelligence of the audience which is against the Classical
Hollywood narrative structure which emphasizes emotional appeal to the audience. The story
should be constructed in such a way that audience should be able indentify with the character
which means empathise and sympathise with the characters. Godard who supported
alienation theory in film and who is considered as a rationalist has compared film with
woman is a shocking attitude.

The debate around what Mulvey called the male gaze is of central importance to
contemporary film studies. What happens to the female spectator? And how does she derive
pleasure? For these questions Mulvey says that she must either identify with the passive,
fetishized position of the female character on screen (a position of unpleasure, her lack of a
penis signifying the threat of castration) or, if she is to derive pleasure, must assume a male
positioning (a masculine third person) (Hayward 2004)

In Laura Mulveys ground-breaking essay (Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, 1975),
she examined how the woman are looked at, from male point of view within the film and, the
spectator who identifies with the male character or protagonist. She describes this process of
viewing as scopophilia-pleasure in viewing. Feminist film critics examined Hollywood
cinema for their male-centred point-of-view and objectification of women.

The silver screen is the mans world:

The silver screen is the domain of men and he screens women as he would love to look at
her. On the screen the man (the spectator) sees her, looks at her, sights her, glares her, stares
her, gaze at her, glance at her, glimpse her, peep at her, peek at her, squint at her, gape her,
goggle her, scan her, scrutinize her, study her, survey her, view her, and watch her through


the looks of the filmmaker and cameraman in different distance, different angles, different
lighting condition, the duration of the look is determined by the filmmaker and the editor.
Mainly the stories are the stories of men, emotions, actions and reactions of men,
intelligences of men, politics of men, philosophy of men, perspective of men like motherland,
mothertongue, mother earth etc, which is based on Oedipous complex.
Thayillamal naannellai ( I dont exist without mother), petha manasu pethathilum
pethamada (mothers mind is mad of love), thayir chirantha kovilum illai (there is no great
temple than a mother), ammavendrazhikatha uyirilaye(there is no life without uttering the
word mother), china thayaval thantha rajave ( young mother who has begotten a King), are
very popular Tamil songs in feature films. The Tamil filmmakers has presented more than
hundred songs which establishes the love and affection between son and mother. But there is
very less songs or no songs written to establish love and affection between father and
daughter. This attitude typically establishes the mans world.

Construction of dream world and dream girls

In every part of the world dream girls are very popular, highly hailed, and pampered by the
public. Most of the films survive only due to their appearance. They market the picture,
market themselves and also market the character they portray. Throughout the world the
female artistes are either portrayed as virgin or as whore. Concept of virginity or whore is
told very effectively through her sex.
Dream girls get themselves involved not only in the film industry but also in many public
activities. The film industry is empowered, public activities are empowered by glamorizing a
girl, and thereby the woman is disempowered.Cinema not only objectifies woman but also
gives the license for the male audience to contemplate a woman as sex object in the day as
well as in the night dreams. And the horrible part is that the dream girls are not sensitive to
realize that they are tarnished in the mind of many men. The concept of creating a dream girl
for the dream world is only for men, a woman doesnot have the right to dream about a man.
In Hindu mythology, a saint named Jamathagnis wife Renuka is a woman of chastity and
virgin. She has the power of making pot out of raw mud, with that she used to bring water to
her husband to do his prayers. One day while doing so on a river bank she happened to see
the reflection of Indira on the water and admires the beauty, the next minute she loses her
chastity and was not able to make pot out of raw mud. The husband who was waiting to do
his prayers learns the happenings, becomes very angry and asks his son to cut off the head.
Such was the punishment a woman has to undergo even if she admires a man within herself.
But even today the concept of dream boys has not become very popular. And the cinema
follows the same old tradition.

Masculinity in Censorship

Our constitutional culture itself perpetuates inequality of women before law along with the
social and political factors responsible for the subordination of women (Jaising and Wolfe
2006). In the essay The Ignoble Servility of Pati Parmeshwar: Towards Equality for
Women, Jaising and Wolfe argue that women are treated like animals in reality but in the
Constitution of India and in front of the law they are given a good position. Jaising and
Wolfe argue that Indian constitution is male chauvinist and treats woman in different manner
and women servility and survival are polar opposites. Until equality is understood in a
feminist perspective, the jurisprudence of the Indian Constitution will continue to be male.

Cinema is gendered: Why they framed her?



With respect to the film world, film inventors, film producers, film makers, film theorists,
film critics, film technicians, film fans, film spectators are mostly men and it is a male
dominated film world. Women is seen as sex object and to satisfy a mans pleasure she has to
live. As a sex object they should look attractive and beautiful. So cinema is gendered.
Film Inventors : During the ancient age, Ptolemy of Alexandria wrote on the laws of
reflection and phenomenon of persistence of vision during130AD.1500 Leonardo Da Vinci
articulated the camera obscure in his painting, the dark room inside the room viewers can
see a projected image of the sunlit world outside, got through a petite hole. Cinema was not
invented by a single person. Over a period of time, every portion of cinema was invented by
many personalities of different times. The most basic and very essential inventions were
invented by men. The pre history of cinematography begins in the year 1832 with Plateaus
Phenakisticope and Stampfers stroboscope. Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateaus published
his first research on persistence of vision in 1829. In 1836 he established the laws of
stroboscopic effect. He also created a device proving the illusion of movement. Zootrope was
invented in 1834 by William George Horner. Praxinoscope was invented by Emile Reynaud.
Magic lantern by Father Althanasius Kircher. This is the forerunner of the cinema projector.
Phantasmagoria-Magic Lantern was invented by E. G. Robertson. Panoramawas invented by
Robert Barker in 1792. The Diorama was invented by Daguerre. Thaumatrope was invented
in1825 by Dr.John Ayrton at Paris. Nicephore Niepce and Parisian painter Louis Jacques
Mand`e Daguerre during 1831 and 1835 founded a procedure which yielded clear picture on
a silver copper plate. Robert Paul, British pioneer of the motion picture, invented a cine-
camera and also devised a projector in 1895 which was called as Theatrograph. William
Henry Fox Talbot invented many positive prints on silver- chloride paper. Edward
Muybridge he put his photographs together into a moving picture.The success of this series
pictures was international.
Photograghy Gun- Chronophotography (Strip Films) Rifle shaped camera is the first
portable motion picture camera designed by the physiologist E. J. Marey
chronophotographic camera using rolls of paper film instead of glass plates, which took a
series of forty pictures. He succeeded in taking up to a hundred pictures a second. Mareys
camera was portable.
George Eastman, An American is the promoter of roll film and he invented the Kodak in
1888. The Edisons kinetoscope, is the advanced cinematographic apparatus, an individual
viewing system which is a form of peepshow. He invented gramophone and perforated his
film stripes with four holes per frame, the frames kept equidistance and kept moving
smoothly. Edisons perforations set the standard of size for film which has remained the
norm. Till today all kind of technical advancements are made mostly by men with very less
contributions towards the technical advancement by female inventors.
Prominent and world famous Filmmakers: The first film workers leaving the factory was
shown by Lumiere brothers on December 28,1895 at grand Caf, Paris for one franc to 35
members. The first projected photographic picture, the Lumiere cinematograph combined
cine camera, printer and projector. D.W.Griffith (The Birth of the Nation- Classical
Hollywood Narrative style) who founded the grammer of filmaking popularly known as
Father of world cinema, Edwin S. Porter, George Melies (A trip to the Moon- Mise-en-
scene),Sergei Eisenstein ( Battleship Potempkin-montage theory), Robert wiene (The cabinet
of Dr. Caligari-Expressionistic film) Orson Welles (complex and alternative narrative
structure), Alfred Hitch cock (Murder Mystery genre), Ingmar Bergman, Charlie Chaplin
(slapstick and satirical comedy), Satyajit Ray(Indian new wave), David Lean epic style),Cecil
B.DeMille (biblical dramas), Robert Flaherty ( father of realistic Documentary), Abel Gance


(Impressionistic film style-Napolean), Lui Buneul and Sarvador Dali (An andalusian Dog-
french surrealistic film), Akira Kuosawa, Vittorio-de-Sice (Italian Neo realism),
FrancoisTruffaut , Jean-Luc- Godard, Fredrico Fellini (French New wave), Fritz lang (terror
of technological society), Frank Capra, John ford, Howard Hawks, John Huston, Spiel Berg
etc (Sinyard 1985) are all males and knowingly or unknowingly they have been framing
women from males view point of view.
Film Theorists: Great classical film theorists are of two categories, one are those who believe
in formalism and the others are those who believe in realism. Eisenstein, Podovkin, Christian
Metz, Hugo Munsterberg, Rodolf Arheim, BelaBelaz are formalists and Andre Bazin and
Siegfried Kracauer are realists. All those film theorists did not have any consideration about
feminists film but only during the post structural period post modern period, feminist film
theory came into existence.
Christian Metz explains Spectator as [S]pectator-fish taking in everything with their eyes,
nothing with their bodies: the institution of cinema requires a silent, motionless spectator, a
vacant spectator at once happy, acrobatically hooked up to himself by the invisible thread of
sight. And to make the audience seated, females are used as sex objects and that to very
attractive object.
Beauties for the feast of the Beasts-Which are the portions are framed?
It is very obvious that the parts that are helpful to provoke the sex desire within man are
highly exposed in all angles.

Combination of fetishism and vouyeurism-How are they framed?

Some shots are very daringly composed and some are vouyeuristic in nature. Many kind of
fetishisms are exploited in the films like breast fetishism (often close-up of the breasts are
shown with jiggling movement, breast profile uncovered and top angle shot of breasts
cleavage, slow motion in showing breast shakes and hip jerks); aquaphilia fetishism (showing
women as swimming or in swimming suits, introduction of the character in the rain,
waterfalls, river, sea etc to emphasis the body contour, foot fetishism (close shots of feet,
buying and wearing anklets, tickling and handling); spandex fetishism (women wearing shiny
stretch dress, navel fetishism (close shots of navel, handling it in a different way by making a
top to run on the navel region, making egg omelet, doing massage, wearing an ornament,
painting on navel etc); stripping fetishism (dress removal shots and expanding of this action
through various cuts); and tickling fetishism (through a play or game). These are the common
kind of fetishism which is used in almost all commercial films showing romantic scenes. For
this a well built woman with proper shape, good shining fair skin texture without any
blemishes are chosen. Not only the visuals but also the sounds were chosen to be beautiful,
attractive and sexy.

References:
Andrew, Dudley. The Major Film Theories: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1976.
Ceram, C.W. Archeology of the cinema. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1965.



Geetha, V. Theorizing Feminism, Calcutta: Stree, 2006.

Hayward, Susan. Key Concepts in Cinema Studies, London and New York: Routledge, 2004.

Jaising, Indira, and Andrea Wolfe. The Ignoble Servility of Pati Parameshwar. Brinda
Bose, ed. Gender and Censorship. New Delhi: Women Unlimited, 2006.

Metz, Christian. Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema. Translated by Michael Taylor.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.
Millerson,Gerald. Video Production Handbook. London, Focal press: 1987.

Mulvey, L. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Screen, vol, 16 , no.3, 1975.



 [Re]Configuring the Female Body: Transcending Lecriture Feminine in
Mahasweta Devis Draupadi and Beyond the Bodice
Purnendu Chatterjee

At the center of a half-century of tumultuous change, the lifetime of Mahasweta Devi has
spanned the British period, Independence, and fifty years of postcolonial turmoil. Her writing
has given Indian literature in general and Bengali literature in particular a new life and has
inspired two generations of writers, journalists, and filmmakers. A celebrated writer and
tireless activist, Mahasweta Devi has, for the last two decades, battled on the behalf of the
De-notified tribes of India indigenous groups who were branded natural criminals by the
British Colonial State and who face discrimination to this day, despite being de-notified.
Her battle against the atrocities and oppression faced by the De-notified tribes has been as
relentless as Nietzsches proclamation of the primacy of life over death. Indeed, the De-
notified tribes, their many sufferings and their heroic protests form the corpus of Mahasweta
Devis writings:

The reason and inspiration for my writing are those people who are
exploited and used, and yet do not accept defeat. For me, the endless
source of ingredients for writing is in these amazingly, noble, suffering
human beings. Why should I look for my raw material elsewhere, once
I have started knowing them? Sometimes it seems to me that my
writing is really their doing.

The present paper seeks to explore the manner in which the two central female characters
in Draupadi and Beyond the Bodice, Draupadi and Gangor respectively, abrogate and defy
the male hegemonic discourse. In doing so, the paper will highlight that in both the stories
Mahasweta goes beyond the concept of l'criture feminine as a strategy of abrogation and
defiance. Both Dopdi and Gangor use their bodies as a means of protest. They, in fact, write
off their bodies to send shivers down the spines of the dominant male. Senanayak with his
anti-Fascist handbook in Draupadi and Upin with his camera in Beyond the Bodice, in spite
of difference in characters, are shocked to find the known world-order crumble as the two
women stand naked and defiant in front of them. Draupadi and Gangor are newly born
woman (Helen Cixous, 1975) who live in the Realm of the Gift (Cixous) and, therefore,
frighten and shock Senanayak and Upin who belong to the Realm of the Proper (Cixous).
Moreover, this paper will argue that both Draupadi and Gangor, in eschewing their bodies not
only transcend the social construct of gender and become archetypal figures of womanhood,
but also retain their characters of flesh and blood.

Free from the Bondage We are in

The social category generally known as the De-notified and Nomadic tribes of India covers
a population approximately of 60 million1. There are about 198 De-notified tribes in India.
Traditionally the tribes wander and therefore have not integrated into Indian society, as well
as being a tradition it is also due to the tribes not having any livelihood production. De-


notified tribes are distinguished in relation to their ancestry, their race this discrimination
prejudices their benefit of many human rights the right to life, liberty and security, the right
to equality before law, and the right not to be discriminated against.

Since these tribes remain outside the periphery of the politically structured societies, they
are not influenced by the power structures that lie embedded within the social matrix. Every
society, communal, feudal and bourgeois, follows a hierarchal power configuration where
one group or class vested with power dominates other groups or classes. The De-notified
tribal groups are, however, conspicuous, as Partha Chatterjee (1983) suggests, by the absence
of segmentary lineage systems and centralized political structures or ranked and specialized
holders of political authority.

Therefore, the members of De-notified tribal groups are allied, unlike the members of
structured societies that we live in, not by any coercive political agenda or social norms
forced into operation from the top, but by natural sympathy towards one another. Obviously,
within such groups the categorization of one class of people as the subaltern or women as the
gendered subaltern does not operate.

Both Dopdi and Gangor the names, as Gayatri Spivak (1987) suggests, are significantly
germane to Indian mythology are not relegated to secondary positions within their
particular groups. Dopdi enjoys an equal share with her husband Dulna and the men folk of
her tribe in the ritualistic killing of Surja Sahu who had denied them access to water:

Dopdi had said, His mouth watered when he looked at me. Ill put out
his eyes.

Dopdi acts as an important comrade of her group in their unequal fight against a politically
structured society and its machinery that does not have the heart in the right place. When the
cops start tracking Dopdi to get hold of the fugitives, she sends the signal of danger to her
comrades by an indigenous means that the state machinery does not understand ululating:

Now Dopdi spreads her arms, raises her face to the sky, turns toward
the forest, and ululates with the force of her entire being. Once, twice,
three times. At the third burst the birds in the trees at the outskirts of
the forest awake and flap their wings. The echo of the call travels far.

Gangors crowd traveled to Jharoa looking for work. As a part of the group, she had equal
license with the men to work under contractors and earn money. She was not a puppet in the
hands of the males of her group. Even when she decided to live life in her own terms after she


fell a victim to the state machinery, no hindrance or protest issued from her own group.
Indeed, both Dopdi and Gangor, in spite of their poverty and sufferings seem to be far better
of than the paper-mache women who decorate the upper-middle and elite social strata.

We like to be in a Pattern

The French feminist Helen Cixous, who along with Julia Kristeva and Monique Wittig
challenged in different ways the theoretical conceptions of Freud and Lacan, suggested that
man lives in the Realm of the Proper where all gifts are regarded with suspicion for they
are bound to be a disguised threat to ones power for the moment you receive something you
are effectively open to the other.

The Realm of the Proper, as Toril Moi (1986) points out, is closely akin to the Derridean
concept of the metaphysics of presence and it is characterized by mans desire for
domination through the refusal to give without expecting something in return and his
penchant for emotional shortchanging.

The Senanayak in Draupadi and Upin in Beyond the Bodice, belonging to the Realm of
the Proper, are part of a well-structured society. Both of them are successful men in the
world. The state regards the Senanayak as an invaluable part of its machinery in maintaining
its status quo by ruthlessly demolishing puny voices that dare stand up against authority.
Upin is a famous photographer whose snapshots find places in national newspapers and
international magazines.

Senanayak, the scholarly army officer, is introduced as a specialist in combat and left-
wing politics. He prides himself on his intimate knowledge of the tribals. He understands
them, theoretically, by becoming one of them. However, there is a wide hiatus in the
Senanayak between theory and practice his reading of the anti-Fascist paperback
(italics translators) is an ironical commentary on his inhuman actions. He cannot and does
not practice what he professes. In writing, he claims to support the struggle from the point of
view of the tribals. Dopdi was a tribal, yet he ordered a brutal gang rape to make her speak.
Gayatri Spivak saw in the Senanayak the closest approximation to the First World scholar in
search of the Third World.

However, in the context of the present paper, I wish to extend the domain of Spivaks
allegorical reading of the Senanayaks character, for I am not reading Draupadi and Beyond
the Bodice as postcolonial texts. Such Senanayaks, intellectual impostors who would


equivocate loyalty to both state and the other and be clearly aware of their material goals,
have moved across the canvas of conflict between authority and the other, down the annals
of history. For instance, when the Israeli Ashkenazi charged down mercilessly upon the
marginalized Mizrahim, people like the Senanayaks have played major roles in chastising the
marginalized while displaying pseudo-sympathy for them. Such ambivalent behaviours are
caused because people like the Senanayaks want to flaunt their virtues while, at the same
time, they are frightened of abrupt and sudden fissures appearing on the edifice of authority.

Though Upin is not a villainous character like the Senanayak, yet he is only comfortable in
lending out a helping hand to Gangor as long as he remains safely couched in the shell of his
familiar upper-middle class society. Upin understands that he must pay Gangor for
photographing her because, as he reasons to his friend Ujan,

I will sell these pictures why shouldnt she take money. They are not
dumb beasts Ujan, they understand that even when the gentlemen
distribute relief, they have some hidden agenda.

In spite of sympathizing with Gangor, he can never dream of breaking the status quo of his
life by attempting to spend a whole lifetime with the tribal woman. However, he is thrown
beside himself on seeing Gangors breasts. Accustomed to the liquid silicone breasts of his
athletic, Himalaya climbing wife Shital, Gangors breasts overflowing like pitchers sets
Upins mind on fire. For Upin, Gangors breasts are beckoning of the mysterious, the elusive
and the enchanting a thing unknown to him in his familiar world and hence, his mad
and reckless pursuit of the tribal woman through the sand-belching lands of Jharoa and
Seopura.

Loosening of the Gyre, When the Subalterns Speak

The gyre that binds the structured societies is often loosened, whether the social gods
accept it or not, by sudden, unpredictable forces. It is evident that moral panics occur in
complex societies when deep-rooted and unresolved social anxieties become focused on
symbolic agents that can be easily targeted. Over the past century, sexuality has been a potent
focus of social panics. In both Draupadi and Beyond the Bodice, the female body, which is
used as a means of protest, creates panics in the heart of the hierarchical society.

Helen Cixous (1981) pointed out:



 A womans body, with its 1001 thresholds of ardour once, by
smashing yokes and censors, she lets it articulate the profusion of
meanings that runs through it in every direction will make the old
single-grooved mother tongue reverberate with more than one
language.

These multiple languages shock the males out from the patterned world in which they like to
live. In uttering these languages, women enter the Realm of the Gift that is underlined by
an infinite capacity of giving without worrying about how to compensate for the giving. The
Realm of the Gift closely corresponds to the Derridean definition of writing and the
language of a woman inhabiting this deconstructive space of orgasmic interchange cuts
across the spatial-temporal barriers. As Toril Moi, quoting Cixous, points out:

She [the woman inhabiting in the Realm of the Gift] lets the other
language speak the language of 1000 tongues which knows neither
enclosure nor death.

Both Dopdi and Gangor speak in the other language, which is not sanctioned by the
patriarchal authority, by utilizing their bodies to destabilize the daily, routinized, grooved
existences of the Senanayak and Upin. In speaking the other language, the two De-notified
tribal women go beyond l'criture feminine and eschew their bodies.

After Dopdi is arrested and put through the ordeal of gang rape, she is presented before the
Senanayak in the morning. Dopdi walks naked towards him in the bright sunlight with her
head held high. The sunlight reveals her naked body, but the fact that she held her head high
signifies an attitude of pride in her naked self. Draupadi has smashed the yoke and censors
of the female body and has become, what Cixous terms, the newly-born woman. When she
is asked to cover her naked body, she refuses outright to do so. She does not need the
appendages that highlight the social construct of gender for she has rejected her body. In
refusing to act, as Gayatri Spivak points out in her characteristic dense style, Dopdi is
abrogating and defying authority:

she is in a place where she will finally act for herself in not 'acting',
in challenging the man to (en)counter her as unrecorded or
misrecorded objective historical monument. The army officer is shown
as unable to ask the authoritative ontological question, What is this?



She challenges the Senanayak and all his men to counter her, for the female body has lost
all its significance for her. At the end of the story,

Dopdi pushes Senanayak with her two mangled breasts and for the first
time Senanayak is afraid to stand before an unarmed target, terribly
afraid.

The hunted Dopdi is a potent source of fear and threat to the hunter Senanayak. The
Senanayak is frightened because as an integral part of the gendered power structure, he has
always viewed the figure of the womans body as a site of male domination. Once Dopdi uses
her body as a means of resistance by rejecting it, the coordinates of the gendered power
structure, to which the Senanayak is accustomed, shift and the scholarly army officer cannot
map the action of this tribal woman. She seems to the Senanayak a strange and mysterious
figure who is beyond his ken and, therefore, a veritable cause of fear.

Gangor, like Dopdi, is also a victim of gang rape. When Upin finally meets her at Seopura
she has been already forced by society to become a whore in order to earn her livelihood. As
the fact that Gangor has become a whore dawns upon Upin, his deep-rooted civilized middle-
class mentality is revolted as is expressed in the ontological question, You are doing whore
work, Gangor? As the famous photographer wants to have one look at Gangors beautiful
Elloraesque breasts and she throws her bodice at him, the sight shocks him out of his senses:
No breasts. Two dry scars, wrinkled skin, quite flat.

This is the premature death of a natural beauty under the bludgeons of a brutal, hierarchical,
pseudo-civilized society. The authorial comment, marked with a clinching litotes, is
significant:

There is no non-issue behind the bodice, there is a rape of the people

behind it (italics translators).

However, Gangor is not ashamed of her mutilated body because, like Dopdi, she has also
rejected her body her body is of no importance to her. Upin cannot come to terms with the
fact that she has not only used her body as a means of resistance the female body is a site
for male domination and female subjugation but also she has eschewed her body. The
sight of this new female who has rejected her body crumbles the world that Upin knows and
is confident of. Astonished and distressed, Upin deliriously run on the railway tracks to be
crushed under the wheels of a train.



 Gayatri Spivaks (1983) question Can the Subalterns Speak? is a question of possibility,
which as such functions as a transcendental question, akin to Kants (1787) famous question:
what can I know? That is, what we take to be the subaltern speaking may in fact be
determined to be only the appearance of their speaking, if our theory deems it impossible for
them to speak. Spivak answers her self-styled question in the negative asserting that the
subalterns are not given a chance to speak. Bhabha, on the other hand, suggests that the
oppressed, minority groups can not only speak but also subvert the authority of the
hegemonic power. However, in the present paper, I veer from both Spivak and Bhabha,
because Spivaks subalterns and Bhabhas oppressed, minority groups are germane to
postcolonial studies. Draupadi and Beyond the Bodice describe the pitiful plight of two De-
notified tribal women and their heroic resistance against the ruthlessness of an indigenous
power. Dopdi and Gangor not only speak their language of defiance is, of course, different
from the codified language of civilized society but also shatter the structured, hegemonic
discourse.

The Flesh and Blood Archetype

Both Dopdi and Gangor in rejecting their female bodies no more remain as women who
can be dominated by the phallocentric regime. By traversing the domain of their bodies and
thereby transcending the social construct of gender, Dopdi and Gangor apotheosize
themselves from hapless and helpless tribal women to an insuperable, massive and vast
power that is inscrutable to men living within the folds of a civilized, hierarchical society.
They become representatives of archetypal womanhood in front of whom the dominant male
discourse cringes and crumbles. Such apotheoses are not beyond the bounds of probability
Raja Raos Javni or Edwin Markhams Man with the hoe are cases in point especially in
the De-notified tribal societies that are not bound by straitjacketed, strict and socially
sanctioned codes of roles for its inhabitants.

In spite of becoming archetypes, Dopdi and Gangor do not become unearthly figures.
Dopdi must undergo the trials and Gangor must attend the court hearings. True, the trials and
hearings would not have much effect on them mentally; yet they must physically go through
the grist. Thanks to Mahasweta Devis profound sense of realism and fidelity to her art,
Dopdi and Gangor become archetypes who retain their qualities of flesh and blood.



Notes:

1. I have used the data provided by the following source:

INFORMATION FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

IN REVIEWING INDIAS FIFTEENTH TO NINETEENTH PERIODIC REPORTS

February 2007, held at Kalamati Chhak, Raigurupur, Puri, Orissa-752019, India

Works Cited:

1. Bhabha, Homi K. Unsatisfied: Notes on Vernacular Cosmopolitanism, Text and Nation:

Cross-Disciplinary Essays on Cultural and National Identities, eds, Laura Garcia-Morena
and Peter C. Pfeiffer, (Columbia, SC: Camden House, 1996), 191-207.

2. Chatterjee, Partha. More on Modes of Powers and the Peasantry, Subaltern Studies II:
Writings on South Asian History and Society, ed, Ranajit Guha, (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1983), 314-349.

3. Cixous, Helene. The Laugh of Medusa, New French Feminisms: An Anthology, trans.
Keith Cohen and Paula Cohen, eds. Elaine Marks and Isabelle de Courtivron (New York:
Schocken, 1981), 245-264.

4. Devi, Mahasweta. Draupadi, Trans. and Critical commentary, Gyatri Chakravorty

Spivak, In Other Worlds: Essays in Cultural Politics, (New York: Methuen, 1987), 179-196.

6. , Beyond the Bodice, trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Breast Stories, (Calcutta:
Seagull Books 1997).

7. Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason, trans. Norman Kemp Smith, Etext, (Oxford:
Palgrave Macmillian, 1985), www.hkbu.edu.hk/~ppp/cpr/toc.html.



8. Moi, Toril. Sexual/Textual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory, (New York: Methuen,
1986).

9. Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty, Can the Subaltern Speak?, eds, Cary Nelson and Larry
Grossberg, Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1988),
271-313.

10. wikipedia/Mahasweta Devi.



 Eves Discourse: The Story Between Body and Soul: A Comparative
Approach of the Poetry of Kamala Das and Carilda Oliver Labra in the
Context of Ancient India.

Kousik Adhikari

The role and position of woman in the ancient India was much fixed ,determined and
nevertheless discussed widely as a negative subversive and retarded by more or less repeated
projections and assigning more importance to Manusanhita [1] than others. The menhir of
male centric projections could be somewhat disassociated if not utterly demolished in a way
of myths, legends, religious books and other type of texts and practices of early Indian
religions ,both in the Vedic and Buddhists course of thought are not always adding vitality to
the maeistrom of that menhir .

The pre-Vedic era [2500bc-800bc] that is the Indus civilization attests the goddess worship
possibly for fertility and regenerations that adds distinction from the Greek civilization where
Dionysus the male god was worshiped for the same reason.

The sacred literature of the Aryans was the Vedas [1200bc-400bc] although more or less
authored by the males and of the concerns addressed in the Rig-Veda is woman as stated
by Wendy Doniger O Flaherty; The Rigveda [2]is a book by man about male concerns in a
world dominated by men; one of those concerns is woman. Female voice and their distinct
aesthetics engage themselves in ancient texts as will be demonstrated thorough the much
highlighted debate between the female ascetic Sulabha [3] and king Janaka [4] .The two
other very prominent women of Upanishads namely Maitrayee [5] and Gargi [6] who are
engaged in a dialogue about the nature and existence of atman .

Many historians argued that Buddhism was in fact a giant step towards for formulating a new
concept for women. As Ann Klein aptly concludes, when Buddhism appeared in the 5th
century BC, the sanction of the female clergy was itself a radical departure from the centuries
of patriarchal tradition. A proportionate text quoted from Therigatha [7] will reveal
adequately the delight that it could generate in the tradition tied woman where a Buddhist
woman records her almost ecstatic delight of the emancipation to be free from both house and
husband:

O woman will set free! How free am I

How thoroughly free of kitchen drudgery!

Me stained and squalid among my cooking pots

My brutal husband ranked as even less

Than the sunshades he sits weaving always



Purged of all my former lust and hate

Musing at ease beneath the shade

Of spreading boughs oh but tis well with me.

It is noteworthy that the emancipation is welcome not only for the

spiritual revelation that the assimilation with the divine order may prosper but also
undoubtedly as a recluse from the uneasy synthesis of house and husbands.

So despite the predominant male-centric attitude and view, there are of course distinct and
specific voices of woman present and expressed sternly in pre-Vedic Indus civilization and
also in extra-Vedic Buddhist outlook and culture.

Mahabharata remains a breeder of some good example of this discourse towards projection of
distinct voices in ancient Indian civilization or if we call it Vedic and post Vedic era and
civilization. In Shantiparva [8] of this acclaimed epic we come across a young female ascetic
Sulabha, who decided to visit the renowned king Janaka, known widely for his knowledge of
asceticism called the saint king or Rajarshi. Taking the shape of a beautiful and charming
mendicant she arrives in the court and is welcomed by the king .She examines the king
thoroughly by her power of yoga and the process of her examination remains on the one hand
a direct and emphatic challenge and on the other hand that quietly specifies her greater
strength, observing that the king is thoroughly embarrassed by the fact that it means a woman
dares to contest him as equal even if not by other means superior.

King Janaka interrupts her to state that he is thoroughly capable of properly educating her to
attain salvation and revelation of the knowledge of union between Atman and Paramatman
[oneness of individual and divine universal] and then rather deteriorating himself to the level
of common, stoops to state that she is rather too shapely and beautiful and youthful to be thus
subverting her senses and instincts. The resuscitation is common and clear connoting a lady
like her could not have the capacity for salvation (as perhaps he as a man could have) or of
controlling the desires of the body and predominating senses. He concludes his retrospection
on not only Sulabha as a individual but also the whole female race by saying womans power
is in her physical appearances, marital positions, thus understating the supremacy of Sulabha
and her hard earned knowledge and her yogic power and attainments which is equally hard
earned. Sulabha answered that if Janaka truly were emancipated he could not emphasize on
gender difference nor term it a sinful act on part of Sulabha.

So the basic point as we can safely harbor from these specific examples one from
predominantly female point of view where a woman progressing towards the way of
salvation and attainments cannot but mention of the retrospection of her liberation from
husband and house also and on the other hand a woman who has much progressed towards
that attainment of divine knowledge and revelation of her selfhood is being dubbed and also
reminded of her female attribution by one who is very much known and revered for his
wisdom in ancients texts and who records himself as one knows the specific knowledge of



union or oneness of soul(thus should have been over the distinction of sex). It follows that the
idea of self revelation in woman do not necessarily excludes the female itself but as a matter
fact the archetypal residues of womanhood always lingers even in the spiritual salvation that
is emancipation of soul. So, there is but a shallow space between body and soul and thus the
conclusion of spirituality and females distinct voices were always present in the ancient
India either in the Buddhist era or the extra Vedic era and pre-Vedic and post Vedic era, if we
are allowed to use the terms.

and then my hunger for a

Particular touch waned
And one day I sent him some roses and slept
Through the night, a silent
Dreamless sleep and woke up in the morning free.

Kamala das (1934-2009) undoubtedly overshadows the hitherto female voices that unveiled
themselves and their progeny in the arena of Indian English literature. Her status as a
producer of womens text is acclaimed, fortified and respected also. Dass poetry, soliloquy
and monologues determines the post independence womanhood who are ready to unveil and
yearns to set a footprint of their own, das perhaps the best known woman poet in the post
independence era ,wrote autobiographical novels. Numerical essays on society, womanhood
culture, social ethics and a few short stories in the mother tongue Malayalam and some well-
recognized appreciated, accepted as well as hotly debated anthologies of poetry in Vrinda
Nabar acknowledges her as the first indo-English woman poet to write convincingly of her
femaleness. In fact her poetry remains the unending monologues of self-conscious
womanhood and celebration of her femaleness.

Even since the publication of her first anthology of poems Summer in Calcutta (1965) she
has been regarded for her unflinching honest expression of that womanhood and female
sexuality and role of woman in traditional Indian context. Dass strength lies in the
spontaneity with which she records her most intimate responses an uninhibitedness which
even now is more or less unique in the Indian society with her making private memories
public.

Her volume of poems like summer in Calcutta [1965] published by the Everest press in new
Delhi, second volume The Descendants published by writers workshop, third volume The
Old Playhouse and Other Poems published by orient Longman in 1975.The Annamalai
poems [1988]. Only the Soul Knows How to Sing [1996] published by DC books and her
last collection Ya Allah [2001] all more or less deals with the journey of her womanliness
through tireless waiting to someplace where she can pronounce and claim herself I too call
myself I. It has been often claimed that das writes autobiographical sagas in an attempt to
mythologize her personal life. She was sixteen when first of her three sons was born and at
the age of eighteen, she was a mother and at the same time a disgruntled wife. Dass
somewhat unhappy marriage (her autobiography controversially describes her husbands
homosexual liaison, emotional torture and neglect) makes her seek and speak of intensely
personal experience her growth into a self proclaimed womanhood .Her unsuccessful quest
for love both in and outside the marriage bond with the frustration on the tradition bound
society, that jointly compel her for a journey towards spiritual revelation, at least an attempt



towards where love together with the connotation of bodily desire and sexual hunger merged
subdued and made one into a singled whole. Virginia Woolf was of the opinion that any
woman in the profession of author compelled to take two enterprises,two duties. The first is
of course to kill the angel in the house and the second one was to tell the truth about her own
experience as a body. she claim to have been successful in the first while failed in the second.
Harish concludes that das is perhaps the only Indian writer in English to tread the untrodden
challenging area exploring and sharing ones experience as a body; by discarding the
superficiality of other who try to grapple with the acute problems of their experience while
avoiding any talk about their own specific bodies. Thus while in the poem like An
Introduction that is an introduction of the post-independence Indian feminism thoroughly
imbibed with western education and a desire to liberate herself, creating her own nation,
traverses the whole area of womanhood the ultimate genuine female experience like

...he drew a youth of sixteen into the

Bedroom and closed the door. He did not beat me
But my sad woman body felt so beaten.

Das discloses the agony and anguish of woman body in sex, shrinking pitifully recognizing
her inner self atonce l am everywoman who seeks love, coming to the ultimate realization
I am a sinner
I am a saint I am the beloved and the
Betrayed I have no joys which are not yours,
No aches which are not yours I too call myself I.
These brightly illuminating and rightly calls the famous lines of Chandogya Upanishad [9]:
The I below, the I above, the I behind ,the I before.the I alone is all this, that
proceeds from the spiritual revelation of oneness of soul. The amalgamation of atman, the
individual soul with the divine soul or Paramatman is fused into one, in the lines of The
Sleepers of Whitman
I dream in my dream
All the dreams of the other dreamers
And I have become the other dreamers.

This similarity projected through the vast arena of her poems. Dass sensitive soul always
longs for that divine embrace dissatisfied and rejected from the physical one. Her spiritual
migration from lust and hunger lies in the understanding that amalgamation of body and soul
makes one complete. She knows very well that death of ego alone can lead towards a
veritable spiritual rebirth. But it is the hardest thing one can possibly aspire to do. Her Radha
[10] becomes so absolved and intimate with her Lord Krishna [11] that she goes to merge
with him.

The important aspect of her bhakti poetry is that she gives a mythical framework to her
restless souls quest for the true and genuine love, identified in
both the Radha-Krishna syndrome and Mira-Krishna relationship. She is devoted seeker of
Krishna and tried to possess Krishna as friend, companion, lover, husband and also God. She
says clearly in My Story;

The only relationship that is permanent is the love which we form with god, my
mate, he should come to me in myriad shapes, in many shapes shall I surrender,I shall be
fondled by him, I shall be betrayed by him, I shall pass through all the pathways of this



world, condemning none understanding alone then became part of Him. It makes us
remember the ancient Baishnab poetry [12].
b
The poem Radha from the anthology of her poems [Only The Soul Knows How to Sing]
expresses Radhas total surrender to her Krishna;

Everything in me

Is melting
Even the hardness at the core
O Krishna, I am melting, melting, melting
Nothing remains but
You.

Or in Ghanshyam, You have like a koel built your nest in the arbour of my heart. The
spectral flame relates itself to the flame of the prayer lamp, symbol of the shining devotion.

The whirlpool of sex, nudity and the story of the sad woman body being beaten behind the
closed door is expulsed from the horizon and tranquility sets in. Das has accompanied this
throughout her life. The ambiguous flickering of identity between love and sex appears,
disappears and reappears throughout her poetic arena like a notional identity. The
systematized soliloquies spears through;

.his limbs like pale and

Carnivorous plants reaching out for me and the
Sad lie of my unending lust

And she could find out the strong lacing of moonlit night in;
..for behind the burdwan
Road, the corpse bearers cry bol
Hari bol. It is sex in love? or love in sex? The fearful sympathy of this unending saga where
two primary passions of human beings melts into one makes her identity.

In the The Suicide she expresses her frank desire to die when she is unable to find true
love. She says;
O sea, I am fed up
I want to be simple.
I want to be beloved
And love is not to be had, I want to be dead.

The culmination of woman as author and woman as subject regarding sensuality is not an
unexplored subject in the field of literary criticism. In Latin America it has been more or less
a matter of vivid presentation since seventeen century. Beginning with Sur Juana Ines de la
Cruz, Through the first half of the 20th century, the female erotic sensuality made its
expression mainly through the substantial work by such poets like Delmira Augustini [13],
Alfonsina Storni [14], Gika Machado [15], Clementina Suarez [16], Carilda Oliver Labra
[17] and Rosario Castellanos [18] to name a few of them. The eroticism in the text of Latin


American writers means to portray womens encounters in the world that is at the core of
distinct narration. Their experience traverses from intellectual realization and self-knowledge
to sexual fulfillment in the patriarchal society, and they are voiced nonchalantly through the
signs, encounters, words of the female body and its experience of sexual dissatisfaction and
disillusionment.

Erotic women literature was not welcome during the 1960s and 1970s in Cuba. Prompted by
the women poets themselves, especially by the younger generation of the land, poets born
after the 1950s have written a liberated type of discourse that opened fissures in Cuban
revolutionary ideology, the frank and at the same time delicate poetry of Chely Lima [19] and
Zoe Valdes [20].

Latin American feminism is distinct from the North American or even European feminism.
Critics as Edda Gaveila Artigas and Cisstte Ganzalez Martinez in the books like
Feminismos en America Latina 2001 have pointed out that tradition of Latin American
women writing is different from the tradition of patriarchal society and system based on the
paradigms of machismo [21] and marianismo [22] are those specific characteristic pattern
that create another different but equally viable Latin American feminism that is distinct in its
own right from its European and North American counterparts. Eroticism for Latin American
that was reinforced during the dictatorship, that was inflicted upon much of the Latin
America.

Labras poetry is unique in many senses. In the poem Declaration of Love, written during
the Cuban missiles crisis in October 1963, she juxtaposes the patriotic favor for her homeland
and also the open frank wish to be loved. The poet opens with
I ask if Im wise
When I awaken
The danger between his
thighs.

The awakening of love and even if we call it bodily desire wisely argues for the prevention of
destruction and she wishes fondly;
and I have not had time
enough to love.

The poet is confident in her approach to the man and nonchalant not to conceal:

I want to search your

depths.
The antithetical attitude that is perhaps no secret to every human being is also regular and
open, frank in the lines like;
I love you,
But I dont love you
I gamble with these words
And the winner shall be the
Liar.

The opinion that the autobiographical approach of writing and first person narrative technique
helps to bring into focus the search for self delineation through lifelines that manifests itself
poetically into and through the bold assertion of selfhood. Eves Discourse in all the senses
is a never ending continuous dialogue with the self, the depiction of the self by the writer,


establishing her womanhood, celebrating it. Her dialogue with the self reveals her urges,
yearnings, and her inner longings. The womans longings and wishes in a manly way that is
asserting it sternly without any shade remains a characteristic mark in the poetry of Carilda
Oliver Labra.

Latin American critic Naomi Lindstorm considers in this respect referring the influence of
European mode of feminism as started by Simone de Beauvoir and the like of them, says that
these writings drastically transformed and influenced women by expressing profound
dissatisfaction with the way in which our society apportions what is powerfully male and
what female. This remains a typical biological trend and term in the poetry of Labra. The
habitual tradition of reader and the author write and think like the male is thoroughly
challenged by the poet. Sex-role analysis and the debate of it assumed an important role in
her poetry. The female identity is in perpetual state of crisis as the social image through
which women are to establish their social identity
is constantly being presented in the poem. Labra as a representative of Latin American
woman with their distinct identity has definitely broken free from the patriarchal assumptions
and bond by constructing a through going positive version and vision in production of
womanhood. The key achievement of her poetry in the Cuban or Latin American literature is
that it had driven a sort of cultural revolution, a radical proposal. As Guilia Tamayo
suggested that to turn womens discomfort into something political, is the key motive of
Latin American women literature applies to her poetry powerfully well, as has been done in
Bengali literature by Ashapurna Devi [23] and the like. The word sexo in Spanish language
might also denote some different meaning as constructed in culture that has not been fully
appreciated by North American or European feminist writings for whom the cognate sex
has seemed irredeemably tied to biology. The assumption that women have always been the
conservative force in society counted on not to produce but to reproduce, to maintain what is
the maintaining in the culture-serves the masculine agendas. Women are expected to maintain
the home and of familial responsibility as alike in the ancient Indian culture that we have
cited in the reference from the Buddhist text of Therigatha, that is presented earlier where that
lady, turning into a monk is seen very much elated that she is free now from the house and
husband. The connotation is clear and alike in this context also where the situation is not
changed much. But the eves desire to build both the home and the identity of selfhood
remains a dichotomy and antithetical, that also remains a focus in the poetry of Labra. For
intellectual and spiritual sustenance women insist on controlling their own sexuality, is
represented as anything from to perversion to selfishness, where the eves voice says;
today I brutally greet you
With a grunt
Or a kick. It is this brutal greeting with kick for that wild box full of hearts and for that
stream of gunpowder creates that imprudent affair in her poetry. Despite the fact that
Latin-American textual studies have been slow to legitimate female selfhood and its
expression as critical scholarly practice, it is difficult for a critical analysis of literary texts
and social formations to justify ignorance an organizing metaphor as pervasive as gender.

Eves discourse is prophetic in many senses. Carildas antithetical approach to man, love
and sex admixes with one another when she asks;
when are you going to
Murder me with your spit
Hero ?
And again
when are you going to call
Me your little bird,


Your whore?
The little bird, Whore of the poem wants to be murdered by the hero, represents the
typical eve the archetypal womanhood in the traditional male point of view but this eve can
also mock him as hero or just it is the womans wonder and admiration for the capacities of
male? And even
if you dont return now,
Infidel, idiot dummy fool
But spiritual revelation appears soon in the mist of self projection which is also a form of
knowledge of self in the lines like;
everyday, I become more
Honest with myself,
Magnificently noble..
The politics of love appears in discourse of power. The eternal Eve appears in the discourse
when she lures the archetypal Adam in male;
bring me that unfaithful
Nape of your neck,
The blow of your ..
Show me I havent died
My love. And I promise you
the apple.
The sternness of modern Latin American poetess merges with the sternness of expression and
depiction of selfhood in the poetry of her Indian counterpart. The persona identifies herself
whether in dialogue of love and whether in spiritual identification is unique in itself. The
postmodern female psyche presenting at once the ancient womanhood in Eve, the luring
enchanting female who is at once submissive in attending her feminine duties and also
revolting, self identifying in disobeying Adam. Eve always promises apples to Adam.

Works cited:
I. Lang Karen: 1999, Women in Ancient India, In Women Roles in Ancient India, Westport
Connecticut Greenwood press.
2. A critique of The Early Buddhist Texts: The Doctrine of Womans Incapability of
Becoming An Enlightened One, 2002 Asian Journal of Womens studies 8.
3. Sharma Arvind 1987 Women in World Religions: New York, State University of New
York Press.
4. Das Kamala My Story, Sterling Publishers New Delhi 1988.
5. Das Kamala 1965 Summer in Calcutta New Delhi Everest Press.
6. Das Kamala 1967 The Descendants Calcutta Writers Workshop.
7. Das Kamala Only The soul Knows How to Sing Kottayam DC Books 1996.
8. Kohli Devender Kamala Das New Delhi Arnold Heinemann 1975.
9. Blackwell F. 1977 Krisnha Motifs in The Poetry of Sarojini Naidu and Kamala Das
Journal of South Asian literature 13.
10. Nabar V. 1984 A View of Kamala Das In Perspective On Indian Poetry in English New
Delhi Abhinav.
11. Woolf V. Profession of Woman in Hunt D ed. The Dolphin Reader Boston MA
Houshton Mifflin.


12.Debra A. Castillo, Talking Back: Towards A Latin American Feminist Literary Criticism
Ithaca and London Cornell University Press.
13. Women, Self and Writing womens Writing In Latin America: An Anthology ed. Sara
Castro Klaren Sylvia Molloy and Beatriz Sarlo Boulder Westview 1991.
14. Beverly John The Neoconservative Turn In Latin American Literary and Cultural
Criticism Journal of Latin American Studies vol 17.1 march 2009.
15. Translations by Daniela Gioseffi on Prejudice: A Global Perspective a Multicultural
Anthology of World Literature Anchor books New York.

Webliography: www.drunkenboat.com

End notes:
1. Also known as Manav Dharmasastra, is the most important and earliest work of the
dharmasastra textual tradition of Hinduism, first translated in English by Sir William Jones in
1794.
2. An ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is also one of the extant
texts in any Indo European language, written between 1700-1100BC.
3. Woman ascetic and philosopher, featured in Mahabharata.
4. A renowned king known for his saintly knowledge featured in both Ramayana and
Mahabharata and also in different Puranas.
5. Woman seer and philosopher, featured in upnishadic texts.
6. Woman seer and philosopher, featured in upnishadic texts.
7. An ancient Buddhist text, often translated as the verses of the elder nuns, is a collection of
short poems, written during 600BC.
8. A chapter of the epic Mahabharata written by Vyasadeva, written probably during 400BC.
9. A mukhya upnishad written by Uddalak Aruni.
10. Incarnation of goddess Lakshmi in Krishna avatar depicted in Haribansha and
Mahabharata.
11. Incarnation of Lord Bishnu depicted in Haribansha and Mahabharata.
12. Tradition of devotional poetry dealing with Lord Krishna.
13. Poet and writer of Uruguay,[1886-1914].
14. One of the most important Latin American poets in modern era, [1892-1938], born in
Switzerland.
15. Brazilian poet [1893-1950].
16. One of the greatest poet of Honduras [1906-1991].
17. Cuban poet born in Mantazas, known as one of the most influential poet, won several
awards like National Poetry Prize [1950].
18. Mexican poet [1925-1974], writes eloquently about gender issues and oppression.
19. Born in 1957, a Cuban poet.
20. Cuban writer born in 1959.
21. Word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited masculinity.
22. Societal perception that marriage and child bearing are womans ultimate destiny, gives
emphasis on virginity.
23. Bengali woman novelist, known for her writings on woman perception and role in
society.



 De- Mythifying Manu Smrithi : A Reading of Jaishree Misras Rani

Hycinth Sophia Paul

Jaishree Misra is the best-selling author of Ancient Promises, Accidents like Love and
Marriage, and Afterwards. She lives in London and works at the British Board of Film
Classification. Indias most celebrated warrior queen comes alive in Jaishree Misras
historical novel Rani (2007), which is rich in history, heroism and romance. In this paper, an
attempt is made to show how Jaishree Misras Rani becomes a de-mythified version of the
concept of an Indian woman. To every Indian, Rani of Jhansi is the brave queen of Jhansi
who fought so hard, and bravely sacrificed her life for her country. Manikarmika, who later
became Rani of Jhansi, was only thirteen years old when she leaves her fathers court-in-exile
to marry the king of Jhansi and be his second wife. Then did she little realize the burden of
greatness awaiting her. The novel describes how she de-mythifies the Indian concept of
womanhood, which is mainly based on Manu Smrithi, in which there is reference to Pitho
rakshithi kaumara/ Bharthoo rakshithi youvana / Puthro rakshithi vardhakya/ Na sthree
swathantryam arhathi.
The laws of Manu attributed to women can be documented as follows:
1. Every woman must be loyal, faithful, obedient and honourable to her husband
even if he is blind, deaf, dumb, old, physically handicapped, debaucher or,
gambler and neglects his wife and lives with his concubines. If the husband
develops any bad qualities that would be due to the fault of his wife . . . . If the
husband dies she should burn herself to death on his funeral pyre and accompany
him to the other world and serve him there in the same manner. (Padma Purana)
2. Women are fickle minded. Never believe them. Friendship with a woman is just
like friendship with a wolf. (Rig Veda 8-33-7)
3. A virtuous woman is one who dies on the funeral pyre of her dead husband and
avails the privilege of serving her husband in the other world. (Atharva Veda 18-
3-1)
4. Woman is the source of sorrow. At birth she makes her mother weep. At the time
of puberty she makes her parents weep. At the time of marriage she makes all her
family members and relatives weep. During her youth she commits lots of
blunders and brings bad name to her family, relatives and varna. She tortures the
hearts of her parents, husband and other family members. She is called
DARIKA because she is the source of sorrow to all. (Aithareya Brahmana)
5. A girl, or a young woman, or even an aged one, must not do anything
independently, even in her own house. (Manu IV. 147)
6. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband,
when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent. (Manu
IV. 148)
7. She must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband or her son; by
leaving them she would make them both hers and her husbands family-
incompatiable.(Manu IV. 149)
8. Sacrifices performed by women are inauspicious and not acceptable to God.
They should therefore be avoided. (Manu IV. 206)
9. She must be always cheerful, clever in management of her household affairs,
careful in cleaning her utensils and economical in expenditure. (Manu V. 150)



 10. She shall obey the man to whom her father gives her in marriage, as long as he
lives and when he is dead, she must not insult his memory. (Manu V. 151)
11. She should be always the source of happiness to the husband whom she has
married with Sacred Mantras, both in good times and bad times, in this world and
in the next. (Manu VI.53)
12. Women have no right to study the Vedas. (Manu IX. 18)
13. Wives are considered to be tools of sexual enjoyment of their husbands and the
wives are to be kept under their control.
14. The highest duty of all husbands even if they are weak is to protect their wives.
(Manu XI. 6)
Gender, a cultural construct, has to negotiate with age-old practices and traditions as
well as to work at the frameworks that have been internalized by women themselves from
generation to generation. The question of gender has become a troubled dimension of
contemporary life. Gender disturbs our lives, and our life has been shaped by this gender
difference. It is the aesthetic avenue through which the human self is being expressed,
human relationships explored, and dilemmas of human living revealed. As a human being
grows up these ideas are absorbed and the personality of each being is shaped by his
culture. The system of enculturation plays a major role in deciding what it is to be a
woman and what it is to be a man. Part of the trouble we anticipate begins when we
consider this dimension. Our own becoming of engendered persons within our cultural
expressions needs to be examined, challenged, and questioned. In the question of gender,
we are forced to be reflective about who should be women and men within our common
cultural life. When the cultural phenomena of gender representations are examined in
depth and critically, we encounter a tangled, multilayered and dense complexity of issues.
Any culture is shaped by its history, geographical locations, the workings of its
ideological persuasions, the formations of its distinctive institutions and the functions of
its economy.
The Indian culture has been much influenced by Manu the author of Dharma Shastra.
Dharma Shastra is unique because the social theory propounded in it takes cognizance of
all the various branches of study like philosophy and psychology that have to say about
the various aspects of individual and social life. Kewal Motwani in his book Manu
Dharma Shastra opines:
It is not a mere grand theory of social relations spun out by a clever mind, with no
relevance to the contributions of sciences and humanities dealing with the life of man.
The social theory of Manu lays under obligation all these subjects which are implicit in
the Vedas and which have been woven into the texture of his social thoughts. (7)
According to him a woman is not expected to enjoy freedom, on the other hand it is
expected that during her childhood she has to depend on her father, during her youth her
husband and during her old age her son. Manikarmika is portrayed as a woman who does
get any protection or concern that is expected by an Indian woman from her husband ,
Raja Gangadhar , the King of Jhansi. The novelist describes her first day at Jhansi:
But, left on her own for the first time in the day, she told herself on sudden
panic to stay alert. . Perhaps the raja would choose this moment to walk in.
Perhaps this was when he would demand his conjugal rights. . Like lines



 from a poem, the music of their names lulled Mani until the mirrors started to
fade slowly and she fell into an exhausted sleep. (7)
This was the beginning of many nights when she, in vain, expected her husband. The Raja,
who was much interested in theatrical arts, loved to play the role of a woman and it suited
him well. Rani could not understand why her husband did not show any desire to exert his
conjugal rights, though he showered her with costly gifts and jewelry. The readers are de-
mystified to read how Rani takes an upper hand to realize her conjugal rights, which is
against the postulate of Manu, who considers woman just as a tool of sexual pleasure for the
husband. He does not recognize that woman has a heart and a body of her own. Rani Lakshmi
could not get the answer to her question as to what was the obstacle in their becoming one
after so many years of marriage. Moreover she was troubled by the problem of not having a
direct heir for Jhansi. All this made her take an upper hand in this matter. One night she
decided that it was time for her to share full conjugal life with her husband and, for the first
time ever, Lakshmibai was going to make that decision for both of them (127). She forced
herself into his bedchamber in spite of the resistance from the guard who had been instructed
by the King not to let anyone in. Naturally it surprised Gangadhar to see his wife in his bed
chamber. It was the husband who would go to his wifes chamber when he wanted her, but
here it was the other way. This would have even unsettled a 21st century husband! We read
what happened later thus:
She now kicked off her silk slippers and climbed onto Gangadhars high silver four-
poster, causing him to have to make room for her. Oh dont look so bewildered.
She laughed, it is only a wife trying to sleep next to her husband, thats all, nothing
out of the ordinary . . . . I just wanted to spend some time alone with you and find out
how you were. . . . is that so unusual from a wife? (128)
It is unusual for an Indian wife shaped by the laws of Manu.
She had to wait for eight long years to consummate her marriage to Gangadhar. A son
was born to them, but she lost the child when he was hardly two months. This was a toll on
the health of Gangadhar, who in a short time joined his son; Jhansi was now left without a
direct heir. Though Rani adopted a child from the family and named him as the heir of Jhansi,
Damodar the adopted son was not accepted by the British, who were waiting for a chance to
snatch the Indian Kingdoms. Lakshmibai tries her best to retain Jhansi. She had
correspondence with the British officials in Calcutta, and she hoped they would favour Jhansi
which had always been friendly with them. She was distressed to see how they were eager to
bring Jhansi under their rule. Her strong reaction to it is read as:
Lakshmibai swung around from the window out of which she was gazing as her
prime-minister had been speaking. Main Jhansi nahin dhongi, she declared slowly
and defiantly, her diamond nose-pin gleaming in the sunlight from the windows. She
said as though it was the easiest thing in the world. Sunlight was pouring in through
the window behind her, making her look as though she were surrounded by an angry
glow. (230- 231)
These and several other incidents in the novel describes Rani as a woman, out of her
purdah, acting more bravely than a man to save her kingdom from being snatched away by
the British, who tried to impose unlawfully on her the Doctrine of Lapse. Lakshmibai, in the
company of her comrades-in-arms and childhood playmates Tantia Tope and Nanasahib is
inexorably drawn into the vortex of the Great Mutiny of 1857, with catastrophic



consequences. The voice of a strong and confident woman is heard in these words of
Lakshmibai :
If we are to offer our people any future prosperity at all, that can only be achieved by
vanquishing the British completely and taking their possessions. I can see that our
soldiers have many good reasons to want to fight the British and two very important
ones- pride and control of their own prosperity. . . . I had sworn myself that I would
lead my people into war only if I absolutely had to. That time has come. We will
fight. (365)
This goes against Manus postulates which describes woman as a creature of God, which
is of no worthiness or individuality. Through all these events Jaishree Misras portrait of
Rani, is a de-mythified version of Manus definition of the place of a woman in the Indian
society. When Manu insists that a woman should depend on her husband during her youth,
here we read how an unhealthy and frail husband depends on his wife, rewriting Bharthoo
rakshithi youvana as Bharthoo na rakshithi youvanna.
When he reflects on women Manu states, Pitho rakshithi kaumara/ Bharthoo rakshithi
youvana /Puthro rakshithi vardhakya/ Na sthree swathantryam arhathi. This has placed
Indian women to an inferior position. Indian wives are expected to be submissive, mere toys
in the hands of their husbands. The sacrifices and the silences which marriage demands
require almost a superhuman ability to ignore the self. Simon de Beauviour in The Second
Sex writes:
The category of the other is as primordial as consciousness itself. In the most
primitive societies, in the most ancient mythologies, one finds the expression of
duality- that of the self and the other. The feminine element was at first no more
involved in such pairs as Varuna-Mitra, Uranus- Zeus, Sun- Moon and Day- Night
than it was in the contrasts between good and evil. Otherness is a fundamental
category of human thought. (17)
Indian culture is patriarchal. When women challenge patriarchy, they come up against
biology, experimental psychology, anthropology, history and the concept of productivity.
Both culture and fundamentalism which are rooted in the external world seeks to construct
femininity, virtue and morality, circumscribe a womans social role, prescribe dress code and
control her body. In fact through history, one finds an over concern with the female body,
which both attracts and threatens the male. Man has not only been viewed as the master but
also as the protector and the bread earner, a belief, which in a large measure, is a myth. Epics
and folk tales alike throw up examples of how women have been abandoned or left
unprotected either because of the turn of events or because of male rejection, persecution or
authority. In the novel we find Manikarmika in such a situation many a time. Her husband
the King of Jhansi , is described as a man who is often interested to dress as a woman, and
interested to play such roles in dramas. He was a weak and frail king. He could never be a
protector or a master. On the other hand we find Rani (Manikarmika) taking up the role of a
mistress and a protector of her husband and his kingdom, for which she even sacrificed her
life. There are sufficient examples in real life, almost in every society, of women struggling
to support their families - orphaned women, single or widowed women, abandoned wives,
persecuted or rejected women, and those who support sick husbands and many who earn the
bread while the men spend their hard earned money in drink or self-indulgence. These are
realities and compel one to discern between the prevalent myth and its social face. When
Manu insists that woman is an inferior being , like the Sudras, who are not supposed to gain
knowledge, we find that Manikarmika was lucky enough during her childhood itself to have


access to knowledge along with her cousin brothers. We read how she enjoyed an equal place
with them. She did not suffer from any sort of gender discrimination. It really de-mythifies
one to read that the mango tree was Manikarmikas usual hide out.
Through the lattice of branches, the summer sky looked like butter melting onto the
parched earth below. Mani could not feel the heat, crouched as she was in the cool
dark heart of her giant tree. She was safe nestled in these branches because nobody
else was nimble enough to climb as high as she could . . . . From the day Manis
mother had suddenly gone, transformed from a warm smiling presence to a waxen
faced doll stretched out on a funeral bier, it was the womb of this tree, fragnant with
riping fruit, that had become her sanctuary. (6)
The Raja, her husband, was large hearted to consider his wife as an equal, which goes
against Manu. He used to discuss with her all matters including matters of his kingdom and
gave importance to her suggestions. The novelist says :
Sometimes Raja Gangadhar would join her on the balcony and they would talk like
old friends, stories of her rough and tumble childhood with Nana and Tantia always
bringing a smile to his lips. Often the days business awaiting them would be
discussed, matters about irrigation, crop rotation, sanitation and of course, British
policies for Jhansi. (108)
Readers are wonderstruck to read, in that age, how a woman was permitted by her
husband to partake in matters concerning the court, and how she was encouraged by her
husband to develop the equestrian skills he knew she loved. Rani Lakshmi Bai turns the
postulates of Manu Smriti upside down, when we read how she was encouraged by her
husband to be a part of his conversation with the English man Ellis. He instructs the
attendant:
Please request Rani Lakshmibai to grace us with her presence in the Diwan-i-Khas.
Remind her to be in the purdah as Captain Ellis is in the court. So it looked like the
new queen attended the court regularly, quite unlike the previous queen whom Ellis
had never once set eyes on in the court. It was interesting that she was being trained in
administrative affairs. (109)
Lakshmibais shrewd planning of the battle is ample proof that a woman can be equal or
more than equal to a man. In the Battle, in spite of the advantageous position of the British,
she could taste victory, though it was short lived. Their victorious entry into Gwalior city is
described thus Nanasahib and Lakshmibai entered Gwalior city in triumph and its citizens
turned out in full strength to cheer them, waving date palm leaves and mango branches to
signify their admiration of such brave and fearless warriors (392). She was an amazement
even for the English.
General Rose, taken by surprise, had admitted watching in vain as his men fled for
cover behind buildings and temples. Against the backdrop of a burning building, he
had caught the sudden glimpse of the figure of a petite young soldier, eerily beautiful,
silhouetted against glowing fires as her chestnut horse reared up against the flames.
The jeweled scabbard of the talwar she was brandishing looked like molten gold, the
expression on her face full of fearless hauteur. (373)
The English called her Warrior Queen. She lived up to that title. It would surprise
one to find a young woman, at that time, capable of taking quick decisions in critical
situations where even men would have faltered. There are occasions when she shouts


 at men for their foolishness: What is wrong with Tantia, Lakshmibai opened up,
unable to hold her patience this time, again he has done this, leaving the battle field
without communicating anything to me (389).
The death of Rani befits a brave soldier. The greatest achievement for a soldier is
to die while fighting against the enemy. Jaishree Misra gives a graphic description of
Lakshmibais action in the battle and the brave way she faced death. Still, as her
brave horse carried her forward, she kept her talwar pointing before her, hoping she
could take one more of the enemy before she fell (399). Even the English
acknowledged her fearless.
Here we have a woman, who makes men rethink before they describe the female
sex as the weaker sex. Rani lived and died to prove that Manu was wrong when he
said Na sthree swathantryam arhathi. Freedom is a quality that can be enjoyed only
by a strong individual, who has a clear outlook and vision. Lakshmibai/ Manikarmika
was such a personality, who had clear vision of life and an opinion of her own, which
force us to rewrite Manu as sthree swathantryam arhathi. When Manu describes
woman as darika - source of sorrow we have here a woman who proves to be the
opposite - a cause of pride and happiness.

Works Cited
Beauvoir, Simon de. The Second Sex. Qtd in Women in Patriarchy: Cross-Cultural
Readings. Ed. Jasbir Jain. New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 2005.
Misra Jaishree. Rani. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2007.
Motwani, Kewal. Manu Dharma Shastra. Qtd in Manu, Marx and Gandhi. Meerut:
Jai Prakash Nath &Co., 1967.



 


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