chapter-three the project of acculturation in...
TRANSCRIPT
Srinath
76
Chapter-Three
The Project of Acculturation in Divakaruni's Children’s Fiction
Printed children’s book in India has a history of 150 years. It plays a vital role
in shaping the individual’s personality in the formative years. The child looks
around the world and acquires understanding and insight. The literature they read
or listen to acts as a source of values to be imbibed.
Radhika Menon while reading a paper presented at Trivandrum shares the
comment made by a Professor of English Literature in England on Children’s
fiction as “the imaginative creation of a cultural space in which writers find ways
of exploring what they want to say to and about children: an arena in which
children and adults can engage in various kinds of shared and dynamic discourse”
[Menon].
India is considered the ‘cradle of children’s literature’ with its rich oral
traditions and children’s classic Panchatantra. Illustrations have always been
equally important. C.S.Lewis observes “Writing a children’s story is the best art-
form for something you have to say” [Lewis 32].
Traditional fairy tales, nursery rhymes and other voyages of discovery are
considered problematic by parents because they remove the adult influence,
leaving the central character to learn to cope on his/her own. This isolation of child
Srinath
77
characters from adults proves an incentive in the “necessary preparation for the
transition of adulthood”. For example, life begins for Tom Sawyer and
Huckleberry Finn (1876-1888) in Mark Twain stories after the influence of Aunt
Polly is shaken off.
Children’s literature can be categorized into six:
1. Picture Books-teaching alphabet or counting
2. Traditional literature consisting of folktales that conveys episodes in
adaptation from our puranas and classical literary texts, myths, fables
and fairy tales.
3. Culture oriented- exposure to tales of other cultures and countries.
4. Fantasy and realistic fiction
5. Moral fiction- Exposure to the ways of the world and behavior
patterns of good, evil etc.
6. Graphic literature.
Words and pictures go hand in hand along with simple stories drawn from
childhood in picture books. Children’s literature ranges from old staple of retold
folktales and myths to concept books, animal stories based on childhood
experience, information books and fantasies, detective, horror, and comic. There is
a shift of focus in children’s literature in recent times from mere fancy to
rationalistic, scientific, knowledge-enriching fiction.
Srinath
78
Adventure and mystery is the popular genre. Deepak Dalal’s Ranthambore
Adventure and other series set in Ladakh and the Andamans are the better
examples of adventure fiction. Shashi Deshpande’s The Hidden Treasure, A
Summer Adventure and The Only Witness are detective books. Chitra Divakaruni’s
Victory Song belongs to the genre of historical adventure.
Realistic fiction dwells on the problems and dilemmas children face in their
everyday life. Themes like sibling rivalry, bullying in school, peer pressure are
often neglected. Sigrun Srivastav’s Grin and Bear it Abhy (Puffin; 1994) is about
a boy’s adjustment problems in a joint family narrated with humour and empathy.
Devika Rangachari’s Growing Up (2000) depicts the contemporary middle-class
existence where the young girl comes to terms with the painful truths of life.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Rudyard Kipling’s The
Jungle Book-collection of stories about a boy who lives in the jungle with animals
was made into a film. Both these and the Harry Potter series are considered popular
genres of fantasy. Others include Nilima Sinha’s Rishabh in the Land of Flying
Magicians (2002).
Despite new books and genre emerging, Chandamama, Amar Chitra Katha,
Hitopadesha and Panchatantra continue to hold the attention of young readers,
and are published in many Indian languages, as they teach expedience tempered
with moral sense.
Srinath
79
Shashi Deshpande’s The Narayanpur Incident uses Quit India Movement of
1942 for its backdrop. Protagonists Babu and Manju are swept in the fury of this
campaign, relocating in the small village Narayanpur, after their father’s arrest and
brother’s disappearance.
Subhadra Sen Gupta in Dear India, Give Us Freedom: Diary of Keya
Ganguly, 1942 uses the same theme but in a diary format exploring the Quit India
Movement. Twelve year old Keya is exposed to a raging war within her family –
between her father, a civil servant and supporter of the British and her
revolutionary student activist brother, Arjun. It gives information on Delhi in 1942
and throws light on Keya’s bewilderment to choose between two sets of family
members.
Deepa Agarwal’s Caravan to Tibet talks about the dangerous journey of a 14
year old Debu to Tibet, in a caravan, in search of his missing father. He has to
struggle against odds as he is caught between nature and malevolent humans i.e.,
between harsh climate and his brutish cousin and a gang of thieves. The book
introduces the customs and traditions of the hill tribes in Tibet – their food, politics
and their lives in general.
Experimentation and innovation in historical fiction is produce new voices.
Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990) opens in a typically children’s tale
gambit, “There was once in the country of Alifbay a sad city”. Haroun a small boy
Srinath
80
lives with his father, Rashid Khalifa, a master story-teller. But he loses his powers
of story-telling after his wife’s elopement with another man. After several
adventures and war between the fighters of freedom of expression and their
tyrannical oppressors he regains his power. The story is filled with allegorical
characters – Prince Bolo for “speak” and Princess Batcheet for “dialogue”.
Partap Sharma’s popular series on Dog Detective Ranjha appeared in the
children’s magazine-Tinkle.
Neelima Sinha ‘s The Chandipur Jewels (1981) and The Yellow Butterfly
(1986), Deepa Agarwal’s Adventure in the Hills (1996) and Geeta Dharmarajan’s
Super Brat and Other stories (1989) are a few examples of the works of women
who write specifically for children.
Folklore is the oldest of stories including rhymes, folktales, myths, legends,
songs, and ballads passed down by thousands of story tellers to enlighten and
entertain generations of listeners.
Anne Frank wrote a novel and many short stories in addition to her diary. It
documents her underground experiences during the German occupation of the
Netherlands in World War II which was published by her father after her death.
Children’s literature is climbing over the walls of taboo where it shakes off
the didacticisms of looking for the moral that eliminates the reading pleasure of the
Srinath
81
young. Despite that many regard moral stories as the staple for reading/listening of
the young. One has to see the world through a child’s eye, re-enter the childhood,
‘resurrect the sights, scents, sounds, the delights and heartaches of your own
childhood’ in order to be a good children’s writer.
The idea of writing children’s books came to Divakaruni because her sons
wanted her to write on something magical. Being an Indian writer with an
exposure to magical literature, she sets her novels in India. After 9/11 the
increasing numbers of hate crimes against people of Indian origin made her write
in order to expose children in America to Indian characters. She wanted them to
learn about our community and culture – to enjoy and admire the exploits of the
heroes and heroines of these books which in turn might hopefully minimize
prejudice and suspicion between cultures, and lead to a better understanding of
each other.
Neela: The Victory Song (2006) is set during the Indian Independence
struggle in 1939. Divakaruni wants Indian-American children to read and become
aware of their history and culture and relate to characters that come from the same
ethnic background. It is the story of a twelve year old girl caught up in the Indian
Independence Movement. In 1939, while her family is preparing for her sister’s
wedding, her father is jailed following a march against British rule. Neela Sen
becomes interested in the world around her. She takes matters in her own hands
Srinath
82
and goes to Calcutta in quest of her father. The story of Neela becomes an allegory
of the heroism of India’s freedom fighters.
The Victory Song is taken from “Girls of Many Lands” series. Chitra
Divakaruni’s mother throws light on life in Calcutta, the epicentre of India’s
Independence movement and village weddings in detail. Chitra Divakaruni was
fascinated with two great leaders – Gandhiji and Subhash Chandra Bose “men
whose goals were the same but whose paths were different” [Author’s Note] – non-
violence and violence respectively to attain freedom from the British. These two
men and the British rulers are the only historical figures in the novel and the rest is
the author’s imagination.
To authentically portray Neela’s life Chitra Divakaruni read Bengali novels of
1930’s by Sharat Chandra, Tagore and Bankim Chandra who composed Vande
Mataram, the song that inspired Neela and the entire nation in the novel. All the
above three authors wrote about the lives of girls and women describing the little
education they got and their place at home and care of the household. The
impatience of Divakaruni at these descriptions paved way for Neela’s character.
Divakaruni uses words from her mother tongue-Bengali as she enjoys the
flavor and sound of these words. Neela meaning ‘blue’ in Bengali symbolized
“infinite possibilities-both for Neela herself and for India” [Author’s Note].
Srinath
83
Neela’s father, Hari Charan wanted the wedding to be simple as the war had
broken out and the struggle for India’s independence had started. He feels lucky
for growing rice because many cotton growers had suffered as the British imported
machine-spun thread from Manchester.
Neela questions the institution of traditional marriage and wonders why one
can’t choose one’s own husband. Neela feels that the demand for dowry is
unreasonable as her father has to struggle inordinately to arrange for money selling
their two cows. She feels unfair that the girl’s parents should pay so much. “After
all, aren’t Usha’s in-laws gaining a new and valuable family member, someone to
help them at home, for free, for the rest of her life?” (21).
The projection of the two sisters Neela and Usha in the novel appears quite
glaring in contrast. If Usha is pretty, fair-skinned and obedient, Neela is notorious
like a tom-boy either climbing a tree or bathing her cow, Budhi. The same contrast
is reflected in the attitude of the parents when the father supports her competence
in studies, the mother thinks otherwise and expects her to be a homemaker
developing culinary and tailoring skills to turn out to be a good daughter-in-law in
future.
The clash of duties is not apparent to Neela. Firstly, she pays attention to
Budhi, her cow and neglects the duty prescribed by her mother. Secondly, she is
Srinath
84
guilty of the pain and worry she causes her mother by giving away the necklace.
Thirdly, the shoes, made in Great Britain, purchased by her family suggests their
betrayal of the freedom fighters, though not buying it would have caused trouble
for Usha at her in-laws.
Neela finds the sari an obstacle as it put an end to her tree climbing and
swimming across the pond. Neela wore her first sari for her sister’s wedding. Neela
in the sari is surprised at her own beauty. Though she would by nature admire her
own image, by training and custom she is forced to pretend at being a grown up
woman. Her cousin says, “The cow girl has been transformed into a princess” (18).
Neela wonders “Is this really me, this pretty girl with sparkling black eyes lined
with kajal, hair neatly braided down her back, and a small orange bindi in the
middle of her forehead?... And the sari! Why, it’s gorgeous! It makes me look at
least fifteen!”(18).
After wearing the gold bangles and earrings her mother gave, she was
surprised to receive a long gold chain and promised to be careful with it
The do’s and don’ts of the adults are questioned by Neela who names them as
“The Conspiracy of the Adults’. She instead of lying bored on the mat, wanted to
visit the baoul-a saffron clad wandering ministrel who is regarded as a holy man.
Srinath
85
Neela learns music from he who had given up both family and worldly affairs,
knew about the happenings in the world and had large repertoire of songs.
Vandemataram sung by baoul, describing India’s rich heritage - beautiful
with green fields, cool breezes, sweet voices of her people, “She was an ideal to be
loved, a goddess to be admired, a cause to give up one’s life for” (15) - was learnt
by Neela from the baoul.
The freedom fighters, with their faces blackened with soot and oil, barge into
the wedding seeking money and jewelry in order to purchase proper ammunition to
fight the British thereby providing liberty and a life of dignity. Neela is surprised to
see enormous strength in a 16 year old boy who wore a turban of three colours-
orange, green and white. Despite her mother’s warning to keep it carefully, she
gives her gold chain to him.
The leader tells the crowd not to purchase British goods but wear cotton
woven by natives and to throw away the imported glass bangles. One can see a
similar situation in Tagore’s Home and the World, Raja Rao’s Kanthapura where
Nationalism is expressed through rejection of foreign goods which is part of
Swadeshi Movement. Sandip in Home and the World is against the sale of foreign
goods- “Sandip laid it down that all foreign articles, together with the demon of
foreign influence, must be driven out of our territory” [Tagore 97]. The
Srinath
86
contradicting views of Nikhil and Sandip are similar to that of Hari Charan and
Samar in The Victory Song. Hari Charan supports non-violence whereas Samar
applies the means of violence in attaining freedom for the country. He gives the
turban to Hari Charan and says that this is the colour of the flag of new India and
he wishes Hari Charan to join them as the Motherland needs men like him. Neela
wanted to perform the duties of men-she pictures herself as a freedom fighter with
a turban and blackened face combating with the British soldier.
Her father tells Neela about his decision to go to Calcutta to accompany the
leaders in the march against British and tells that if he doesn’t return she should
reveal the secret to her mother saying that he died for our country.
Samar, the boy to whom Neela had given her necklace is given refuge at
Neela’s home. He tells Neela about the freedom fighters. There were 20 of them
and their leader was Biren who was a staunch follower of Subash Chandra Bose.
Neela compares him to “one of the heroes out of an old tale like the Ramayana!”
(49). The Ramayana is a text that teaches the principal themes, struggle for justice
that is necessary for the exercise of ethical sovereignity and struggle for trust that
is necessary for the flourishing of any relationship,especially marriage. One can
witness various versions of the story in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions in
various languages all over the world. Samar had to run away from his pro –British
uncle’s home but he was always cared for by his cousin Bimala.
Srinath
87
One had to undergo a tough training in order to become a freedom fighter: to
walk without shoes from city to city during summers, remain in wet clothes in
monsoon, practice wrestling and martial arts with staffs, live in the countryside
without food and money, disguise as old peasants, women, etc., and teach
constructing bombs and guns.
Neela dreamt of a face of the mysterious and beautiful woman, with the sad
eyes and the crown of jewels time and again. The thesis will at a later point explain
the symbolism of this dream. Neela’s mother told her about Sarojini Misra, the
wife of a rich businessman in Jal Gram whom Neela had met, at the wedding and
in the temple, who wanted Neela to be her daughter-in-law. Neela felt that
engagement was a serious thing and she couldn’t back out. Here too we find the
clashing of duties – she had to choose between the search for her father and
engagement. She feels that “Engaged girls are kept under strict supervision and
expected to behave properly at all times. It would be the end of whatever freedom I
have!” (69). She feels sad for not seeking Samar and not rescuing her father from
jail. She wears the outfit of a long saffron robe and a turban that the baoul had sent
through Ramu, the servant. She takes the money and writes to her mother about her
mission of bringing her father back.
Neela compares Shona Gram with Calcutta, which is big and crowded. She
describes life in Calcutta - vendors selling cloth and food, the transportation -
Srinath
88
buses and trams, “two train cars joined together and connected to wires that
crackled overhead” (73) and carriages. There were factories which emitted black
smoke and there was garbage piled all over. She wished to be back in the familiar
safety of her village. She wonders “How many people, rich and poor, must live in
such a huge city, the capital of British India!” (74). Shona Gram emerges as a
welcome metaphor of order and cleanliness.
A series of questions and thoughts hover over her mind about her father,
Samar, mother and Budhi making her wonder whether the step she had taken was
not a mistake.
It was difficult to identify her father in the jail by Bimala’s attendee as the
prisoners were identified only through numbers. But the V shaped old scar on the
back of the left hand was a clue to identifying her father.
Neela wonders at both the ruthless and kind behavior of Bimala’s father.
Though she wanted to hate him, she couldn’t. “How many sides there were to
people!” (88).
Samar visits them in the guise of a monkey man. There is mockery and
teasing even in dire circumstances. He says he has no intention of dying and
missing the wedding feast of Bimala but is surprised as to who will marry this ugly
duckling.
Srinath
89
Bimala takes Neela to the drama club where Neela feels that women are little
aware of the outside world. “There was more to life than fancy jewellery and
French perfume” (99). After the fight between the police and Biren’s men the
three- Neela, Neela’s father and Samar escape to Howrah station. Her father talks
about Dandi March – the British have no right to tax Indians for salt. The argument
between Samar and her father, supporting Subash Chandra Bose and Gandhiji
respectively, distressed Neela as she cared for both. She was tired and confused.
“There were so many conflicts in the world, so many choices to make. It was
difficult to know what was right” (121).
When the constables searched the train, Neela was in a dirty frock, Samar
acted as a crazy boy, who talked and slapped himself and with the help of Bimala’s
make-up kit Neela painted the red boils all over her father’s body. This made the
constables fear that he had the ‘pox’ and asked them to get down at the next
station. Neela feels happy to be home.
Images from Nature are employed to advantage by Divakaruni. The village is
filled with colours-dark green mango leaves, bright green banana leaves, silvery-
blue ponds, reddish brown earth suggesting richness. Shona Gram is named after the
gold of mustard flowers. Now there is no sadness in the eyes of the woman Neela
dreamt often. Maybe she was the motherland, looking down on Neela, blessing her
Srinath
90
(130). The usage of neem stick for toothbrush, palm-leaf for fan and earthen pitcher
to store cold water are but a few examples of things derived from Nature.
Divakaruni introduces Bengali customs and traditions, as well as Gandhiji and
Subash Chandra Bose. The debate of the relative philosophies of the two
luminaries encourages the readers. The life in colonial India is depicted seamlessly.
The story of a courageous girl and her misgivings and hopes as well as her
convictions and hope of bringing her father back is narrated powerfully. True
courage is the ability to stand up and face one’s own fears. The story is set in
1900’s where the British banned national dances and national songs such as
Vandemataram. Neela learns Vandemataram that praises India and her lush green
fields and her cool breezes on hot days. Neela and her family lead a traditional life.
Neela is brave and courageous who risks her own life to seek her father, with the
help of Samar and his cousin Bimala. The strong character of Neela is depicted
successfully by Divakaruni.
Divakaruni’s The Conch Bearer (2003) blends action, adventure, magic in the
form of fantasy. The story opens in the poor section of Kolkata, Calcutta renamed
in 2001. Twelve-year old Anand is given a conch shell imbued with mystical
power. His job is to return the shell to its rightful heir in the mountains.
Srinath
91
Accompanied by a mysterious stranger and a resourceful street urchin, Nisha he
encounters good and evil both in himself and in those around him.
The adventure of young Anand’s trials while trying to retrieve an
irreplaceable conch shell is narrated in a manner that can engage the readers’
minds from first to last.
Ilene Cooper in Booklist opines, “The slums are so richly created that readers
can almost smell them, and the pure beauty of Anand’s destination is a shimmering
Shangri- La come to life” [Cooper].
It is the story that races across contemporary India to a dramatic climax in the
Himalayas. The journey begins on the teeming streets of Kolkata across arid plains
and turbulent rivers to a secret valley in the Himalayas.
Readers feel the emotions of hope, fear, joy, trepidation, sadness, wonder
along with the main characters:
“… fresh and riveting with details of India’s smells, sights and tastes, with
characters that possess both good and evil, and with her exploration of the fine line
between faith and magic” [Publishers Weekly].
Anand is a believer in fairy tales and magic. He worked in a tea shop owned
by Haru. Anand wishes for his miserable life to change. Anand’s father left for
Dubai two years back. Abhyadatta narrates the story of the Healers, known as
Srinath
92
Brotherhood, in the Silver Valley in Himalayas. The conch stolen by Surabhanu is
retrieved by Abhyadatta. He cures Meera, Anand’s sister who was weak in the
mind because of the murder she witnessed. Anand’s belief in magic and his desire
to enter its secret domain made Abhayadatta come to him. Anand gets a chance to
do “something amazing and brave, to break through the despair and ugliness that
surrounded him!” (33). He is glad to escape from the “dull grind of his everyday
life into a world of adventure and mystery” (46). Nisha who “plays hopscotch with
danger everyday” wants to join Anand in his quest as she says “I’ll probably save
your life several times along the way”.
Abhyadatta tells about the three trials they have to pass and hands over the
conch to Anand. The conch converses with Anand and helps only when human
solutions have been exhausted. The first trial is the crossing of the raging river. It
appears differently to each person based on their inner qualities. They could cross
the river with the help of a mongoose, which is Abhyadatta in animal form. The
second was the rocky pass where Surabhanu takes the form of a red snake and
attacks them. Nisha, who was under his control since their encounter on the train,
acts according to his orders and tries to smash Anand’s head with a rock but the
mongoose comes to his rescue. Nisha and Mongoose are hurt. Finally with the help
of the conch they defeat Surabhanu and pass the trial.
Srinath
93
The third trial was difficult for Anand as he had to choose between the glorious
life in Silver Valley and his friends. Anand’s kind nature is seen emerging to the fore
when he says that he will suffer with Nisha and the mongoose when the Healers
reject them. He says, “I wouldn’t have it otherwise, not for all the magic in the
world” (210). He chooses the path of righteousness with love by putting aside his
own desire. He had to choose one virtue out of three-honesty, loyalty and
compassion. Anand replies that honesty, loyalty and compassion are like the colours
on the conch-the way the pink and white blend to make a beautiful whole like the
three of them together-Abhyadatta, Anand and Nisha. All the three are welcomed
and Nisha becomes the female member of Brotherhood. But Anand had to choose
between his own family and Silver Valley. Anand chooses the latter. Though his
family forgets their past lives thanks to Abhyadatta - master of forgetting and
remembrance, Anand has to remember pain and what he has sacrificed for the
Brotherhood. Anand is accepted as a novice and titular conch bearer.
Chitra Divakaruni wanted to write a book of heroic characters in order to
share India and its culture with young readers, to spread cultural diversity as there
is “a really dangerous tendency to close down the borders” [Krishnaswami].
India is evoked with words like ‘petrol’, ‘lorry’ with reference to Pathankot
Express and the description of food with white radishes and rice, sheem beans
Srinath
94
fried with chillies, alu pakoras and rasogollahs as well as spices like cumin,
cardamom and cloves.
Chitra Divakaruni is inspired by the mythical tales of Bengal and magical
fiction where one imagines the grandeur and heroism in a special way.
Divakaruni talks about the marginalized children – children who lived in the
slums of Kolkata in the first book of the trilogy. In the second book The Mirror of
Fire and Dreaming the characters were Muslim. In the final trilogy, Shadowland,
she talks about illegals- people without papers and without rights.
Divakaruni unlike in Neela: The Victory Song doesn’t italicize foreign words.
She feels “Part of the experience of reading this book shouldn’t separate the Indian
words. Italics arrest the reading… set up a visual fence” [Children’s Literature]
Divakaruni uses nature imagery by describing the tiny villages with thatched
huts and mud walls amidst emerald rice fields and bamboo thickets and ponds.
Surabhanu sends birds and animals to bring fear among children. “Black as crows
but much smaller, with beady orange eyes that glittered” (93). Apes are not
carnivorous in reality but the children are frightened that they would attack. The
novelist blends both reality and nightmare in the novel. Anand dreams of a
mysterious inky-ocean in which silver waves rise and fall. He conjures up the
enchanted forest where magical beings welcome him, “unicorns, speaking birds,
Srinath
95
gnomes to play tag with him in clearings of four-leafed clovers, jinns to obey his
slightest wish” (106). However, in actuality it is part of the plan of Surabhanu to
tempt Anand to kill the Healer.
As the ocean protects a country’s boundaries likewise ocean weed protects
one’s mind. It “cleanses your thoughts, blowing away old, stagnant impressions”
(124). Similarly Anand too is rescued from the evil force which tempts him to
commit evil things.
The description of the Silver Valley is extraordinary: the silver flowers on
Parijat trees, the lakes and paths, mangoes, vegetables and animal yards, the neat
disciplined life showered with peace, joy and unconditional love of the Brotherhood.
It was a self-contained community. Anand is astounded at “the unexpected ways in
which magic and learning intersected” (222) in the Silver Valley.
The various places and their importance in the Silver Valley are beautifully
imagined by the author. In the Arbour of Water, the breathing of the woods is
compared to the breathing of an elated person. The sound of water is “like the whisper
of rain on feathery leaves on tamarind tree”, “droplets falling into the pool”, roar of a
waterfall, etc. Even though the evil was destroyed it still managed to survive as the
“roots of weeds sometimes reach deeper than the gardener thinks” (231).
Srinath
96
The moonlight looked paler compared to the luminescence from the conch,
according to Anand whose heart is filled with gladness as “deep and sweet as the
ocean of milk that the old tales say exists in the sky” (231) signifying the close
affinity of Anand and the conch throughout the novel.
One can see a hall made of life, leafy tree branches in the Hall of Seeing.
This is the place where Anand faces conflicting loyalties as he had to give up all
relationships and loved ones to become a member of Brotherhood. Asking a human
not to worry is like asking a fish not to swim. But “in order to gain something
great, one must release his hold on something else equally beloved” (252).
Anand comes across seven stones, in the Garden of Stones, in a circle which
shone white in the moonlight, “colour of frozen milk, of crushed opals” and they
seem to grow as Anand goes near. He is stopped from stepping on the stone by
Abhyadatta as they are stones of memory sent centuries ago from the other side of
Black waters and if others touch them it would absorb their memories and leave
them without any past.
Anand, Nisha, Abhyadatta and the conch are referred to the Company of the
Conch. The story of the trio continues with Anand having nightmares of the
obstacles he had to overcome to reach the Silver Valley in the sequel, The Mirror of
Fire and Dreaming. Anand dreams of the bitter freezing cold, gibbering apes,
Srinath
97
Surabhanu’s servants, guardian in the river who almost drowned them, avalanche of
rocks that broke Nisha’s leg, giant red snake with its seductive, hissing voice (3).
Anand is surprised as to how people pretend to be happy when feeling
irritated or nervous or miserable. “Such mental dexterity seemed as difficult to
achieve as controlling physical pain or translating the wind’s words, and he was
afraid he’d be equally unskilled at it” (15). He had heard the words “Evil Stirs”
while reading the winds.
Anand, the keeper of the conch, while practicing the art of prophesying
receives the vision of a terrified wise-woman pleading for help. She tells him that
the people in her village, Sona Dighi meaning golden lake, disappear into the forest
“and when they come back, they are changed. Often they don’t remember who
they are” as the wicked magician is sucking the souls of the helpless villagers.
Abhyadatta along with Raj Bhanu, senior apprentice goes to solve the problem by
handing Anand a strand of pearls and telling him that if it grew dull or dark then he
and Raj Bhanu are in danger.
There was no discrimination of class or caste in the Brotherhood. All those
interested in helping fellow human beings were welcomed. One was not to reveal
one’s true name to a stranger as names had power and the enemy gained advantage
through knowing the true name.
Srinath
98
Anand has a disturbing vision. His mentor and spiritual guide is in danger.
The boy-magician Anand, his sassy partner Nisha and beloved teacher Abhyadatta
reunite for new adventure in folkloric Indian fantasy series Brotherhood of the
Conch. Anand convinces the conch to create a magic portal to reach Abhyadatta.
Unfortunately, the metaphysical hurtle separates Anand from Nisha and the conch
and they are thrown back in time to an ancient kingdom, of Nawab Nazib and its
Chief Minister Haider Ali ,where an evil jinn plans to ruin the royal family. He
travels along with Nisha and the conch in contemporary India- several years back,
past the time of Moghul rulers. Anand encounters powerful sorcerers, haughty and
arrogant prince and jinn capable of unspeakable magic. Nisha as Paribanou is short
of her memory and is now the niece of Haider Ali. Abhyadatta was the mahout and
Raj Bhanu the assistant mahout in the Hathi-Khana of the palace.
Anand and Nisha land in the past of Bengal where the Nawabs and the rival
princes battle for power and land and the East India Company is petitioning for
extension of treaties.
The description of the durbar with its rich pillars of coloured stones, gold and
silver throne, its seat covered with thick silk quilts, marble and granite walls,
Persian carpet in jewel colours covering the dias is beautifully depicted by
Divakaruni. Punkahs made of silk with iridescent peacock feathers were stitched
Srinath
99
into the two silver doors in the centre. There were three railings- iron, bronze and
silver suggesting separate spaces for each dignitaries depending upon their status.
Anand possessed a special gift to converse with the objects of power- conch,
pearls and mirror. It also transformed Anand from a timid boy who felt sorry for
himself into someone who was ready to dedicate his life to help others.
Divakaruni weaves a vibrant tapestry of action, suspense and rare beauty. It’s
all about commingling of old and new, real and magical. Divakaruni uses Bengali
terms while describing food or showering words of endearment and while
depicting the terraces and courtyards which are considered female spaces in Indian
culture. There is evidence throughout to show that she is deeply influenced by our
epics and puranas and other myths. She was also influenced by the Harry Potter
series with some of its twists and magic and Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman
Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts.
The era of the Muslim nawabs in Bengal with the lush beauty and pageantry
of that world is beautifully depicted. The description and aroma of food takes the
readers back in time to an era in India when shahzadas ruled; their breathtaking
finery and endless courses of food brought by servants in turbans is portrayed in
detail.
Srinath
100
The mirror acts as a key link between past and present and Anand’s gradual
self-realization can also be seen. There is depth in Anand’s character. In order to
find the missing conch and rescue the court from vengeful magician he has to
“sharpen his senses until they are keener than the keenest knife” resulting in his
mental growth. Epic figures are drawn from a multiplicity of traditions. One comes
across relationship as tender and unexpected as Anand’s connection with the
elephant Matangi.
Divakaruni explains Hindi words used according to context and reveals the
flavours, sights, sounds and stories of past and present Bengal. The values stated-
“Don’t run away, think for yourself; don’t expect to be good at everything: use
kindness and humility, not force” are thought provoking.
There is much of the exotic flavor: the journey from the crowded Indian city
through rural villages and high mountains, a magical background from traditional
Indian tales and description of food which is rich, luscious and savory.
It is hard to believe that the arrogant prince Mahabet changes too quickly but
his emotion and care for Nisha is poignant.
The combination of fantasy and travel into the past is continued in
Divakaruni’s next book, a sequel to The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming,
Shadowland. Anand goes in search of the hermit to advance his knowledge on
Srinath
101
powers of the object and Nisha goes to the gorge to wander and see the trees with
strange shapes that appeared like old people. Anand returns after four days, and is
shocked to see a barren stretch of rock and snow frozen in the wasteland as
everything and everyone has disappeared. The conch is missing leaving a
devastated Silver Valley, while both Anand and Nisha travel into the dystopian
world to retrieve it. It is a world where air and water are polluted while the upper
class live in luxury under ‘hermetically sealed domes’ and the lower class s truggles
to survive. With the help of the Mirror, “one of the three looking glasses forged in
the Age of Truth from the sands of the Great Northern Desert”, both of them
journey through the abyss where everything including the very air is brown, “The
air tastes funny, like rusted metal” (32). In the Rehabitation 39 people were
compelled to wear masks to breathe, and metal collars with their voice-sensitive
devices prevented people from communicating with each other. The exposure in
the City of Coal led to loss of memory as the air was poisonous. There were ruins
all around, “Ruined housing complexes, market plazas, or spired structures that
may have once been places of worship” (44) resulting in brown air and barren
earth. It was the farm alone which was filled with greenness – trees of luscious,
ripe fruit, crops and grass all around. Anand was amazed at the profusion of
colours and smells because of usage of enhanced fertilizers and the growing of
Srinath
102
hybridized fruit like banana. He calls it a paradise. But little does he know that the
wire contraption around the workers prevented them from eating too!
Anand learns that in this city there was an ongoing clash between the
magicians and the scientists. They were given numbers so as not to reveal their true
names. Anand and Nisha are hired by a scientist, Dr.S to help her in hosting a
banquet in Futuredome, the place where the conch was kept. With the help of the
mechanization there was pure air in the dome. Gazing at the illusionary sun they
had created, Anand feels that they had wasted their abilities by providing frivolous
luxuries to rich but wonders about the living condition of the poor. The colours of
the buildings- pink, green and palest mauve- were selected in order to discourage
the inhabitants from asking questions. Anand feels that Kolkata was better than
this dome as beggars were at least given the leftovers but here they were denied of
entry and food.
Anand learns that Dr.S is in charge of the restoration of the X-Converter,
which senses objects of power from other worlds, as it was destroyed by the
magicians (House of Fine Spirits). Dr.S who was interested in outer worlds, feels
guilty and sad as removing the objects of power from other worlds would cause
problems. They escape from Dr.S and reach the House of Fine Spirits where they
had to overcome the barrier spell–river of dejection, by the magicians. It is Nisha
again who saves Anand from this spell. There were no breathing masks and with
Srinath
103
the help of the magicians they find the mirror but the avarice of the magician Vijay
who wishes to grab the power of object made their mission difficult. By using
persuasion, Nisha takes the help of a truck driver to transport them to Futuredome.
She says to the truck driver “my hope is that it will change this Shadowland into a
place of light” (119).
They see the fake day, fake stars in the laboratory. As per the order of the
conch, Anand tells their story to Dr.S. Anand at this point of time learns that it is
the same city of his birth- Kolkata where he had spent his childhood. It’s a great
disappointment to him with its “unbreathable air and sunless sky, its extravagant
domes that separated the fortunate few from the desperate masses, [it] was not a
different world as he had assumed” (125). He had sweet memories of river Ganges,
Howrah Bridge, Rabindra Sarobar Lake and feels furious learning that it was his
own people, out of greed, who had devastated the Valley. He remembers the Silver
Valley with parijat trees and the Great Hall of hundred pillars and crystal roof
through which stars shone. The Hall of Seeing and Watchtower Tree were the
places where one communicated with different parts of the world, ready to help
those in need.
Dr.S was made to remember her past through the mirror. Scientists took the
children to futuredomes and drove their families to outer lands where they were
left to die. They destroyed the Terraces and many of the families were in hiding.
Srinath
104
Dr.S- Sumita, Lila’s granddaughter, in reality was reliving the incidents she had
forgotten for this long.
They arrange a meeting at the Maidan to bring together magicians and
scientists. The maidan where there once was a park full of greenery, trees and
flowers which Anand visited as a child was replaced by dry earth. The Maidan
“was barren, its earth so dry that it had cracked into deep chasms that Anand had to
navigate cautiously” (171). With the blowing of the conch Anand creates a frozen
atmosphere among people where they ceased to perform any activity. The magical
objects took the two leaders into the past where the scientists and magicians
worked together without any distinction as they ate and worked together and were
dressed in white. “The magical objects create situations and opportunities, but
ultimately humans must make their own choices” (185). Finally, they decide to
work together to find a solution, send a rocket to seed clouds and take the help of
the conch, and the mirror would stay with them till it was needed elsewhere. Dr.X
despite all this manages to steal the mirror and the conch that was kept in the vault
and wants to misuse the conch by converting it in the X-converter. Anand offers a
solution to Dr.X to start his life afresh somewhere in a different world and he steps
into the mirror which transforms Dr.X into a child and lands him in the Silver
Valley as an apprentice. Anand introduces the Silver Valley to the new apprentice
Srinath
105
who has lost his long term memory. Anand wondered as to how “intricately they
were woven, the threads that made up this mysterious universe” (231).
Ecological and class issues are dwelt upon in this novel. One travels to the
cold and forbidding world of Shadowland. Chitra Divakaruni says “If you are
living an existence devoid of wonder it’s very flat. One needs to seek out the
magical” [Children’s Literature]. Magic and creatures share the journey. It is
different from other fantasy quest as the tests undergone are allegorical, the lessons
have spiritual meanings. There are echoes of Eastern religions, though it may be
lessons towards striving to be a better person. The story of a one-eyed deer told by
Abhyadatta acts as an allegory emphasizing on the need not to yield to any
temptations and cause harm to the near ones. Similarly, the initial test of Anand, in
the first book, is reminiscent of Jesus as Anand cares for a helpless old man who
turns out to be a miracle worker. The transformation of Anand from a tea-boy to
the conch bearer can be considered as the message and hope of Easter according to
George Bryant Wirth “that God transforms suffering into the promise of salvation”
[Wirth 363]. The disappearance of the mentor, time and again, suggests the trial
Anand had to undergo alone in order to become strong and potent. Nisha emerges
as a good counterpoint to Anand’s constant goodness. There is vivid descrip tion of
India’s landscape, food and culture in Divakaruni’s children’s novels.
Srinath
106
Works Cited
Agarwal, Deepa. Adventure in the Hills. ANB Publishers, 1996.Print
---. Caravan to Tibet. New Delhi : Penguin, 2007.Print
Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. Macmillan, 1865.Print
Children’s Literature. N.p.28 January, 2011.Web. 14 Nov. 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/children%27s-literature.>
Cooper,Ilene. Booklist. The Conch Bearer by Chitra Divakaruni. Web.
Sep.15, 2003.
< http:www.booklistonline.com/The Conch Bearer-Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni,Sep 15,2003.>
Dalal, Deepak. Ranthambore Adventure. Westland Books Pvt Ltd, 1998 ; Navneet,
2007, Tarini Publishing, 2012.Print
Gupta, Subhadra Sen. Dear India , Give Us Freedom : Diary of Keya
Ganguly,1942. Scholastic India, 2002.Print
Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Book. Macmillan, 1894.Print
Krishnaswami, Uma. Author Interview Children’s Literature. “Meet Chitra
Srinath
107
Banerjee Divakaruni”. October 23, 2003. Web. 16 July 2010.
<http://www.childrenslist.com/childrenslist/mai-divakaruni-chitra.html>
Lewis, C.S. On Stories and Other Essays on Literature. ed. Walter Hooper. San
Diego: Harcourt Brace Javanoich, 1982.Web. 5 Jun 2011.
<www.aiias.edu/ict/vol-14/014cc_147-163.htm.>
Menon, Radhika. An Overview of Indian Children’s Literature in English.
Conference organized by National Book Trust, Trivandrum, 2000.Print
Publishers Weekly. The Conch Bearer by Chitra Divakaruni.Aug 8,2003. Web.
<http://www.publishersweekly.com/The Conch Bearer-Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni,Aug 8,2003.>
Rangachari, Devika. Growing Up. Children’s Book Trust, Penguin India, 2000.Print
Sinha, Nilima. The Chandipur Jewels. New Delhi: Children’s Book Trust, 1981.Print
---. The Yellow Butterfly. New Delhi: Children’s Book Trust, 1986.Print
Srivastav, Sigrun. Grin and Bear It Abhy. South Asia Books, 1993;Puffin,1994.Print
Tagore, Rabindranath. The Home and the World. n.d.Web. 2 July 2010.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.Php:The_Home_and_the_World 532546753.>
Wirth, George Byrant. Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 2.p363.Print