Freedom, women and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay ::: "Something is not true simply because many people have said it" "

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (Chatterjee)

Time really runs fast. In circa 2011, I wrote a couple of pieces on Sarat Chandra. Now its 2022 and I am back again with almost similar themes about Sarat Chandra's protagonists and the plots he handled.

His female characters had always left me in utter bewilderment! This could happen to any Sarat Chandra fan.

The Maestro

But I would try to deal in this piece with some deeper elements in his writings. Sarat Chandra truly depicts Indian women as an exploited class. In practically, all his works, the women protagonists are more often left in tears – often secluded and isolated.

My wife Swati Deb, a more genuine student of Bengali literature and Sarat Chandra’s works than me, readily agrees and argues eloquently that in most cases, the characters like Saudamani (Swami), Parvati (Debdas), Rajlakshmi (Shrikant) either died or withdrew themselves from any affair/relation.

Strikingly, she opines Sarat Chandra hardly showed widow marriages unlike other contemporary Bengali writers of his time. At one point, my wife, said, “Caste divisions remain a dominant feature is Sarat Chandra’s writings. He hardly showed smaller and neglected caste characters getting justice from zamindars and Brahmins”.

So does it mean, Saratchandra lacked the revolutionary fire unlike say Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay of ‘Ananda Math’ fame?

Let me not speculate any debate on this.

But it goes without stating that his 'Shesh Prashna' (The Last Question) remains a master piece. There were few striking differences between the chief protagonist Kamal and other female protagonists not only in this novel but also in other works of the maestro.

For instance Madhabi in Bordidi (The Elder Sister, 1913) is a suffering child widow. Similar is the case of Biraj in 'Biraj Bou', 1914. 

Probably Sarat Chandra had no strength to dissociate himself from the bondage of tradition – the feudal structure and crystal clear male domination of the then Bengal.  

But Kamal in 'Shesh Prashna' - does not believe in 'destiny'. Another character in the story, Ashu babu goes onto say that even "past memories don't block" Kamal's path.

'Shesh Prashna' was published much later in 1931.

Sample this. Character Nilima says Kamal - has "no guardian to control her" and no community to frown on her. Look at the powerful building up of the plot and narratives, Sarat Chandra suggests that Freedom as such does not come as an unit by itself.

Freedom is pre-conditioned and well guarded by issues such as gender, culture, family background and caste. Nilima calls Kamal 'utterly free'.

Ashu babu again says - "Life means something different to her, it has nothing in common with our view".

At a much later stage, Ashu babu realises - freedom is in fact linked to knowledge and not mere imitation.

Sarat Chandra's powerful narration takes the reader and the characters including Kamal in front of Taj Mahal. 

  

Her question is somewhat an out of box query. For Kamal, Taj is not a monument of love. It is rather a monument of artistic self indulgence of the polygamous king, Shah Jahan.

Here comes a most poignant pointer from Sumitra (in Pather Dabi) who possibly anticipates what's in Kamal's mind. A question that actually should all women or the entire humankind. It's not merely about Taj or the story.

It's universal. Sumitra waxes eloquently: "Something does not become true simply because many people have been saying it". 

 

There are scholars such as Amitava Das, who says, the spirit of these questions as raised in Shesh Prashna have actually evolved over the years. 'Pather Dabi' again has another oneliner - 

 "Woman must overcome the fascination of a futile married life".

Similarly, Kamal does not quite disapprove of divorce or separation from the husband. This was in Bengal of pre-1947 era. Kamal also sees love or man-woman relationship as free and natural as light and air.

What way these were not revolutionary thinking on the part of the story teller?

Kamal again sees marriage as a morgue, and not a bedchamber! 

Sarat Chandra 'fan' : Swati 

In ‘Baikunther Will’, Sarat Chandra portrays a jewel-hearted-step mother, whom the middle class world and the then Bengal society had always seen with a jaundiced view.

Thus far, while portraying the character of the step mother, he highlights a new sense of humanism among the female protagonists. The portrayal simply challenges the established beliefs that a step-mother can be no do good.

Similarly in other characters also, Sarat Chandra was able to spin out intriguing situations often depicting conflicts between conservatism and social change; idealism and pragmatism and superstitions and rebellion.

But in doing so he ensured in a steadfast manner that no protagonist of his would flout the established moral basis of then Bengali Hindu society.

Typically, this characteristic is unlike other writers including Bankim Chandra Chatterjee though critics largely agree that in his initial years Saratchandra was definitely influenced by Bankim among others.

But having said these, one ought to state that however, Saratchandra’s women would be known for courage, tolerance and devotion to the social values. But hardly the women characters could attain happiness for them.

Some of his memorable women characters were - Rama in 'Polli Samaj' where widow cannot be united with Ramesh. "Two great soul  thus end up crippled and frustrated" - tells the story teller.

In his quartet Srikanta published in 1917, 1918, 1927 and 1933, he typically exemplifies in sketching the characters dealing with conflicts between their individual and social perception of profanity and piousness.

So the next question is why did he do so? As someone brought up in poverty, did commercial compulsions dominated overwhelmingly?

ends