Koi and the Kola Nuts (Rabbit Ears: A Classic Tale (Spotlight))

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She treats Ewa unfairly and wants the community to keep a deaf ear and a blind eye on her atrocities. My daughter is not Morah and she is not a slave Chief: Then treat her well and the girls will stop calling her Morah, slave. You have taken sides. Have you seen any woman in this village who treats her child in the same way as you treat Ewa? This is paradoxical for this is reaffirmed with the fact that the chief is beforehand aware of the ill-treatment Ewa is facing in the claws of her mother.

But the authority of the chief is questionable and to a greater extent ambivalent in the sense that he is aware of the dehumanising treatment and the Vol. He however does nothing to stop this although he is the highest authority in the community. He is the custodian of tradition. Such an escapist attitude is predominant in the contemporary society.

Moreover, female domination is further heightened when parents have to choose husbands for their girl children. This reveals that the rights of the children have been trampled upon. She is quite brilliant but her father does nothing to send her to secondary school. This is underscored in the following dialogue thus: Everyone knows that Ewa is a very intelligent girl. We have decided that she should marry. We have already chosen a husband for her.

We are merely waiting for her to reach puberty. Have I answered your question? This explains why Tiku is against the view that Ewa should be sent to a typing school. He still holds strong to the patriarchal idea that the domestic is the place of the woman while the public sphere is meant for the men. He rather prefers that Ewa should be sent to a marital home instead of going to school.

It is for this reason that Nyango equally opposes the idea. Who asked her to sponsor Ewa in the typing school? There is something wrong with Vol. The patriarchal domination perpetuated on the woman is also linked to the fact that the women themselves are consciously not fighting against their male counterparts, this to their own detriment and to the benefit of the male.

Simone de Beauvoir If Nyango is able to understand that the consideration she has internalised vis-a-vis her daughter is detrimental to her, then she will be able to know that she too is the cause of female domination that has almost become popular culture. There is no reason why Nyango should put up a stiff fight against Ewa. To further dominate and subjugate her, Nyango denies Ewa the right to education.

Of course, he is aware that this is the weapon that she will eventually use to empower herself.

Koi and the Kola Nuts

Sent to secondary school. Have you worked and saved money for your education? Secondary school is for your sisters and step brothers. Yes, it is clear. She torments Ewa and even threatens Granny on the issue. Nyango informs Ewa that she is not worth having the meanest facilities or advantages from either her or her husband, Tiku. It is to this effect that her forceful marriage is arranged with Ajoh against her wish. It is noted thus: Normally, Ewa has to say whether she likes this man or not.

Are you suggesting that we should find out from her whether she likes this man? We are talking about my daughter. She will marry the man we have chosen, irrespective of what she thinks about him. In fact Ewa has no choice or voice on whether to give her point of view on the matter or not. He is unable to distort societal considerations with regard to forceful marriages. The Chief has rather played a passive role within the community but the questions I may be asking could be as follows: Or is it that he is unable to take fair decisions and resolutions?

It should also be emphasized that the issue of bride price also contributes to the oppression of the women in their marital homes. The heavy burden of the bride price has become a matter of insult and complete disobedience of the woman towards the man. Other men have indebted themselves heavily just because they want to get married to their loved ones. However, such debts and sacrifices do not just go gratuitously for many men resort to holding their wives as solely responsible for their impoverishment.

At another level, the young people cannot meet up with their obligations which sometimes lead to an atmosphere of tension and gloom. This is reminiscent of Ewa when she gets married to Ajoh. This is noted thus: This dress is a bit tight. Please can you purchase material? Purchase material for you?

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You are a fool Feeding you is not enough, you want clothes. Your family was solely interested in the bride price? I thought that by marrying you, I would enrich myself, instead, I have impoverished myself. Ajoh overtly insults Ewa because of the grudges he has for the bride price that was given to her family before getting married to her. Ewa has now been reduced to a slave who must work for him so as to reimburse his long saved earnings which he used to pay for her bride price. The behaviour which Ajoh puts on shows that he rather bought a slave for his house chores rather than a wife that he loves.

In total frustration, Ewa remarks thus: From slavery to prisoner. If this is what marriage is, I hate it. What shall I do? At least he gives me food and has never beaten me. Besides I must obey him. My baby is the only precious gift from God. To portray that women are generally maltreated by men, Mutia Because of men,women are commodified into mere objects of sexual pleasure She is mistreated in both contexts. Women are therefore at the threshold of effacement. In commenting on this issue, Anwadha Sharma It should be noted however, that the ideas of domination, mistreatment and brutality are very close to power and power was in the hands of men in the past.

The spread of education gave rise to the individual awareness and monetary freedom to the true individuality of women Anwadha However, when matters get worst, Ajoh sends her out of the house to fend for herself and her baby. This explains why postcolonial feminist criticism has come in to make an attempt at shaping female identity.

It should be noted that it is not reclaiming history but looking ahead to achieve a position to stand upon. Women have generally undergone unfair criticism in literature and in the public spheres too. Their trepidations and troubles are relegated to the periphery. This falls within the feminist standpoint. Although feminism, which became one of the most important forces in twentieth-century politics and thought, can take many different forms, its common core is the thesis that the relationship between the sexes is one of inequality or oppression.

All forms of feminism seek to identify the causes of that inequality and remedy it. The idea of empowerment has become necessary because Ewa has undergone some kind of double oppression. Her struggle to resist this domination is in vein because she is continuously oppressed upon. She has to prepare herself for eventual challenges imposed on her by her patriarchal society and this can only be done through empowerment, which is, going beyond the patriarchal roles imposed on her by the society.

This is part of the feminist scholarship. To concur this idea, Audre Lorde Advocating the mere tolerance of difference between women is the grossest reformism. It is a total denial of the creative function of difference in our lives. For difference must not merely be tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic.

In a conversation between them Ngong and Ewa Ngong decides to assist her. This is made clear in the following dialogue: Learning a trade Ewa: That will be after I have put to birth Ngong: Yes, in a few months. The author is in one way intervening here to show the importance of education which can help sensitise the masses in taking rational decisions which will go beyond ascribed taboos.

This is because she has understood that the only way to assert and empower herself is by gaining financial independence. It is thanks to this that she gets acquainted with Tua the social worker who decides to help her start a business. Still in support of this initiative, Lorde It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our lives that we must draw our strength to live and our reasons for acting.

Racism and homophobia are real conditions of all our lives in this place and this time. I urge each one of us here to reach down into that deep place of knowledge inside herself and touch that terror and loathing of any difference that lives there. See whose face it wears. Then the personal as the political can begin to illuminate all our choices. Lorde 28 This is part of the awareness that has led to the deconstruction of the dichotomy between the male and female in the new dispensation as demonstrated by Tang.

To make Ewa more aware of her status and what she could embark on to improve on her living conditions, Tua in a conversation Vol. In this way you will be able to provide food for yourself and for your baby. Start a small business. A woman should not rely on her husband for everything Ewa: How much will you need? Two thousand francs Tua: What will you do with two thousand francs?

I will sell puff-puff and beans. She gives Ewa ten thousand francs to start up a business, but this business which has to give Ewa financial independence, is opposed by Ajoh who wants to maintain his domination over his wife. This is the act that, if taken, will illuminate Ewa and by extension the women folk. In reinforcing this idea Adrienne Rich Wherever people are struggling against subjection, the specific subjection of women, through our location in female body, from now on has to be addressed. The necessity to go on speaking of it, refusing to let the discussion go on as before, speaking where silence has been advised and enforced, not just about our subjection, but about our active presence and practice as women.

Let us pay attention now, we said, to women: Rich 32 Women should definitely seek to move from the margin to the centre. This is what men do not want to understand. This is what Ajoh fails to understand.

He thinks that his authority is dangling given that Ewa will become less dependent on him and his money. He decides to frustrate her way Vol. Every day, you ask for money. The landlord has been here several times. I have been paying rents, feeding you and providing provisions ever since I started this small business Give me the five thousand frs. Snatches a five thousand note from Ewa. Back to square one. I thought I have become financially independent. I have returned to financial dependency. Lord Jesus, what is my offense? Sobs 29 The idea of becoming independent is halted by Ajoh.

He is against the fact that his wife should do petit commerce. Again, he does everything to seize her small savings and even warns her against selling puff-puff and beans in his house. He tries as much as possible to maintain his authority over her. This shows that she has moved from a difficult situation to a more difficult one but the distinction here is that Ewa is able to demarcate herself from patriarchal bondage.

To herself what shall I do? Will I die with my baby? Perhaps, I should go to Granny. I will go to Aunty Angoh. She is a kind woman. Ngong who was very dull in primary school is already in form two. If I have a bit of money, I will be selling food in the morning and attending classes in the evenings. In the monologue above, she is aware of the situation she has been facing because of male dominance. What are you doing here? You have not returned the bride price I paid, have you?

I want the money before the end of the month. To Ewa Does he give financial support? After returning the bride price, will he have any claims over the child? The child is his. Bride price should be abolished. It serves no purpose Ewa: Forget about him and the bride price Instead of holding her family responsible, she is the one to suffer for a crime she did not commit. Monica who is aware of the bias pertaining to bride price condemns it vehemently saying that it gives room for psychological and physical imprisonment as it impedes female emancipation and empowerment.

Her struggles and hardship are blessed with success during the GCE results reading. We gave her moral support 1st customer: They are approaching our centre. Listen-passed in five papers five two I will enrol in a university. Still, Ewa becomes more determined and engages to go to university because she believes that education is her second husband which will not be able to dominate her or oppose her and also because she knows that complete emancipation must certainly Vol.

It identified and examined the ways in which female genre or the girl child is dehumanised and animalised by the patriarchal society and paradoxically supported by some women who are unable to go out of the web of archaic taboos.

Informed by feminist and postcolonial theories, this study has underscored the need for isolating and completely eradicating constructs of oppression and female domination. This paper has above all espoused, argued and emphasized that female empowerment could be possible if women take the initiative and explore specific strategies to empower themselves socially, economically and politically. Works Cited Ashcroft, Bill et al. The Postcolonial Studies Reader. Blunt, Alison and Gillian Rose.

Writing Women and Space: Colonial and Postcolonial Geographies. Lewis Reina and Sara Mills eds. Allen and Unwin, The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory. Cameroon Literature in English: Critical Essays on Fiction and Drama. Reflections on World Literature. Lilanshu Kumar Agarwal eds. Spender, Dale and Kramarae Chris. Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Ewa and Other Plays. There is the pleasure in the recognition of an enlightened moment in poetic creation followed by a heightened awareness and sensibility.

The poet is an ardent artist of words and phrases. Words have ceased to arrive at your doorsteps, as they used to. The poet shows us the steps of a ladder of time. Time flies around these poems: Mundane wishes come and go. A poet has a sensitive heart to feel all these arrivals and departures of wishes and dreams: Thought is a mental act. The poet wants to sign in the peace accord of minds with a whirlpool of images of varying nature. Man lives with dreams, dreams for a better tomorrow. For the poet, absences stay in the midst of dreams resulting in attitudes and actions: The smell of salt and lime rolls over the sand and the sky Vol.

There are some long poems in between. Poems in this collection are not just the experiences and realizations of life, the poet rather moves towards aesthetic celebration, not just physical, but spiritual. The poems are to be appreciated for their rhetoric. The poet uses a variety of linguistic devices to convey his reflections: I shall not call you now, when the erratic February rains here. For Padhi, each small rain drop sings. Rain binds myths in coastal Odisha. All leading poets of Odisha write about rain and rivers. Most of his poems are collage of ideas effortlessly streaming from lived moments of creative pulls.

Padhi is a psychological poet for whom each touch is different, more than the objects: You can feel how the touched words pulsate within you. It is noontime in the old town. This is where everything ends, Love. Jagannatha in a local legend was a tribal deity who was co-opted by Brahmin priests. The theology, rituals and nuances associated with the Jagannatha cult combine Vedic, Puranic and tantric themes. The sap of history of the land of Odisha is a long pedigree: Such are the turns of history that what is forgotten by most is what troubles the mind.

Multicultural India is ethnological wonderland. Threads of Indian ways of life and society are the reservoir of poetic inspiration. Creativity is an aroma of human heart. There is the pleasure in the recognition of a shared moment in poetic creation followed by a heightened awareness and sensibility.

Malsawmi Jacob is a member of that rare and wealthy heritage. Ranging from the lyrical and sensual to the harsh and plucky, from the personal to the political, to poems about nature, the poems in Four Gardens and other poems are infused with rich mosaic of imagery, cultural nuances, social ethos, group laments, angst and reconciliation that confront both particular and imaginary circumstances in the daily acts of life. Her earliest exposure to poetry was in Mizo language, her mother tongue.

Today Indian literature reached at the apex of creation with the contribution of regional and national writers. As an adult she grew to like Emily Bronte, G. The insurgency affected every Mizo, whether in or out of Mizoram.

Zorami ends with a prophetic note of hope and renewal of humane feelings: Titles of sections are loaded with meaning. She blurs territorial engagements with the state and looks at the stars. A writer is a global citizen these days. Experience of a writer determines her range of subjectivity. If the experience is varied, it helps. We cannot deny the intermingling of thoughts, contexts, engagements and concepts of these writers, which make them unique. They are aware selves who can think beyond a definite territory and geographical plane. Malsawmi is an avid lover of territorial peace and in-group fraternity: No hurting no killing in this country the place only for lovers of peace.

Malsawmi Jacob is aware of her literary and cultural roots. She is a socially committed artist, and she refers to her land and people, trauma her people experienced Vol. Love is a companion of the poetic soul. Ah, wonder of wonders! Identity of a person is a marker for the part of one's overarching self-concept and identification. It is an affiliative construct. The image of self we develop from membership of social groups.

Many poems in the collection are rich in aesthetic responsibility towards life, contexts and manners of the time. The river has a soul. Malsawmi,like many other poets from the North East India digs out magic in Nature, verdant with myth and dense with longing. Her poetic sensibility navigates on hearts that comes out of the rains to the sunshine, in search of poetry of the world: Cleansing river will wash her wounds healing balm will soothe her sores she will be renewed restored.

Small towns always remind me of death. My hometown lies calmly amidst the trees. For Mamang, each small rain drop sings. Malsawmi, an ardent lover of rain and rivers which bring a promise of renewed vitality , wants to purify the inner psyche of her people. Her aim is to achieve cleansing of the minds by purgation of pent-up emotions. The poet registers her faith, hope, dreams, and cultural memories again and again by subtle imagery, metaphors and folk myths of her homeland.

Gem of rarest beauty calls in waking dreams morning sunset moonlight still black night so I must set out in quest leaving all I own. She is all set to blaze the trail of splendour and majesty with her poems ,which move the keys of human hearts, hard hitting and ethereal. Works Cited Padhi, Bibhu. Zorami, Malsawmi Jacob, Morph Books, Abstract Memory is at its best both fatal and enlivening.

The memory of the familiar is outrageously courageous in filling the void of the human heart that is continuously been created in the expanse from childhood to the adult life. The undulating life of ours finds permanency and stoicism in remembrance. The familiar memory is warm, oozing and lucid unlike the raw, rasping ones of the competitive adult life. It engenders within a sense of loyalty, a bond truly stronger than the forces of nature and creates a niche to every heart that longs home.

The memory of a familiar or childhood space is encumbered with the sensuous experience of the soul which resonates deeply at every point of life. The memory so treasured is an act of emulation which follows all eternity. Thus the one who remembers and the thing or place or nature remembered becomes truly immortal then. Here, the symbol of tree becomes an agency of change, of positivity, of hope and of values once cherished by mankind.

The tree symbol becomes a force to reckon with in the face of adversity. This paper thus attempts to depict the long term relation between memory and environment and how this psychological dependence would aid in the conservation of nature, a dire need of the hour. Memory, Ecological Consciousness, Eco- criticism. The spirit in the pine trees. As a comeuppance for the deeds of previous life perhaps, I am destined to be a teaching in a college which is literally in profusion with trees.

The picturesqueness of the campus does help people alleviate their day to day grievances. The tree becomes a sentiment; a symbol with the college is identified with. Lodged on a scenic and comfortable hill, away from the maddening crowd of the city, the campus changes colors with seasons which has paved way for innumerable artists, poets and writers. As a student too in the college, I was more attracted to these leafy-beings and dreamt like Keats or Coleridge in search of the nightingale and the solitary reaper.

They thank the democracy for the roads and bridges and what not and mock me for using the facilities provided despite my derision. Loss is a tragic yet powerful word. Almost all my memories have trees in them. I still remember holding the branches of a banyan tree and swinging to and fro till my mother came from our house a few meters away and took me home. I looked back at the tree wishing for the next evening. The neem tree in front of my home was a gift, its leaves glistening in the sun is something I wish I had now.

Every time I visit my ancestral home, I long to see my long-lost friend, the nutmeg tree, which was cut down for making an inconvenient extension to our house. Pondering over this for quite a while, I was led to the impression of the role of memory in shaping our perspectives. Was it a vital tool that could Vol. Can ecological consciousness thrive if we furnish it with our memory? But, today as we witness this dramatic climate change with the disappearance of almost all the major species of the world with the world at the verge of ecological imbalance.

There is an immediate need to sit back and retrospect. We always place a lopsided account of our memories. If I look at development as a tree cutting massacre, another person may look at it in terms of the buttery asphalt roads. There is always a progress at the expense of another where the another is always at the losing end. From time immemorial, the people who had the narrative power wrote according to their prerogatives which propelled massive stereotypical representations and left a scar of contorted images. It is only until the last decades that suppressed nations started using the language of the colonizers to resist such misrepresentations.

Likewise, the voice of the voiceless need to be heard, in this case, the flora and fauna that inhabits this planet Earth. They have had occupied this earth longer than us which justifiably makes them the rightful owner in terms of the law of succession. We have enforced ourselves upon them leaving behind large scales of deforestation and habitat destruction. In fact, it does so because we have taken away their habitat. Hence, our narratives should be their tongues, our perceptions their ideas.

Human beings have always marveled themselves with their exquisite ability to surpass and create a world of their own. But what we have significantly lacked is the ability to assess what we are leaving for posterity. This evolutionary process which has seen greater progress is turning into the greatest impediment the earth is yet to witness. When did man become so selfish and self-centered? Or is it because technology has gained precedence over nature Vol.

If we talk to the newer generations about the efficacy of ecological conservation, there is observed albeit there are always exceptions. What could be the plausible reasons for them? Out of the many, the cardinal one might be what the previous generation has contributed to their memory. Our concept of progress and development is solely based on our perceptions of them which is later manifested into cultural productions.

These cultural productions are accountable in understanding how nature was treated in particular generations. Our world is run by exploitative capitalism which ideally suits the stalwarts who run the economy of various nations. Money is our new motto. Everything in life which is worthy of upholding is devalued by money. Human beings as a race are neglecting their prime supporter and wishing to procure something totally futile and fleeting as money.

Money rules over everything and the government, bureaucracy and all the institutions that we have developed has caved under the monetary deity. It carefully analyzes the human culture- nature interaction and almost always is mutually influential. As we look around at concrete forests Vol. As an English literature student, I had the fortune to read and enjoy the Romantics, the writings of Indian writers like R. Their memory was colourful, strong and sensual. Truly, we have had poets, writers who could take inspiration from the luscious nature around back then and engage us.

It is not a surprising fact at all that surrounding oneself with plants or nature can leave us with a better state of mind. Nature in itself is filled with positivity. There is no room for despair or being negative. Though we are the most developed in comparison to our older generations or centuries perhaps, in terms of technology, we are the worst or most poorly linked in all the other facets of life. There is dwindling economy, wars, famine, droughts, bio-war, and antipathy towards fellow human beings.

Who should take the blame? The blame is in lack of awareness. Education which should foster values is adulterated. There is a fault in imparting values and also there is a lack of discipline in following them. It is nature that drives this whole system and like any system it has a containing capacity. Once, it gets saturated nature explodes. Hence, the need for action is imminent which can only be brought by perseverance.

Our actions speak louder than words.

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The children of the future will learn from the actions of their adults. Our actions will become memory and our memory, their value. So it is the duty of every previous generation to act smarter and take greater responsibility. Socialism and environment Nature therefore is a repository of knowledge, of knowledge that is everlasting and fulfilling and empowering everything and everyone that comes to its aid. The poems discussed here takes into account how trees affect human kind at the personal, societal and also at the spiritual level.

For him, the fig was everything that he has left behind, the fig was his identity and all the good things that had happened to him in his life When he puts a fig in his mouth and closes his eyes, it is magic. The fig tree was his past that he reminisced and wanted to go back to and how figtrees always became a partner in crime.

They were his connection to his childhood presumably, to his wants and needs, to his laughs and worries and to his memories. A mystical and secret connection that only the fig tree and the father shares is evident here. The tree becomes a symbol of his prayer, a symbol of his continuity and of his existence on this earth. The sentiments of a blossoming friendship and the need to invite an intimate stranger are rampant in the poem by Risha Ahmed.

The tree is always many things to many people and this pluralism will always exist despite the efforts taken by mankind. It is like she wants to let the tree not to condone her for the wrongdoings of mankind. Trees are inarguably the best teachers for any person. According to Native American belief, God bestowed trees upon us to learn the quality of strength from an oak, flexibility from birch, to stand tall as a redwood, to live gracefully as a willow. The need to give sanctity to trees was the first step in conserving these species on the earth.

They are inarguably the harbingers of biodiversity. When the trees purpose is served, it changes but still proves useful to mankind. He propounds that a toy fashioned from the left over tree will always contain the memory of the tree, a power in itself. The vintage quality upholds their status and always act as a connecting link among generations. Here, the cedar tree becomes synonymous to the life of a man himself. Richard Walker at the beginning fosters a spiritual sentiment by pointing out how the people in the northwest still respect the canoe made from the cedar tree.

The canoe in itself becomes a message of selflessness as Vol. Hence, the canoe becomes synonymous to their ancestors to be treated with reverence. The cedar tree becomes the memory of the traditional songs and the songs of the ancestors that the people can relate with and continue. The tree becomes the continuance of tradition. The tree becomes a constant reminder of our frivolous existence on this earth and kindles within us the message of being useful to people during life and after death.

The cedar tree evokes the quintessential existence of the spirit over body. It focusses on the interconnectedness of life on its sacredness thus establishing within us the message of divinity within which is a reflection of divinity outside. It reaffirms the fact the cosmic universe is within us as much as we are in it. This was one such poem that prompted people to plant trees as part of ecological conservation.

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He regards people like himself as fools in only composing poems advocating the merits of the trees. But the tree which is truly a wonder can only be created by God, the supreme. The tree never complains but becomes a symbol of hope for the people who think that there is no way out of their bleak future.

The tree becomes a reflection of mankind both of them more or less sharing the same physiognomy. The poem written after the wake of the First World War has had desired effect on the poet. It teaches mankind that to create out of love and out of pride and arrogance never have the same results. One of the ways is to integrate Vol. One it may sustain our life on earth and our economy from dwindling. Human Beings should consider a proactive empathetic approach to flora and fauna alike to make this world a better place to live in. It is at its best both fatal and enlivening.

It can either create or destroy. One can either learn or re-learn from the memory that acts as storage units of all our actions of the past. Therefore, our spirit can only be revived by going back to nature. We have risen from mud and it is to the mud that we return.

It is a seldom reminder that unless we check our practices and completely transform our measures, we solely would be responsible in destroying the past, present and the future of coming generations. It is the dire need of the hour that we move from our anthropocentric constitution to eco-centric positioning.

Penguin Random House, Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory. Karna, an able warrior deprived of his identity and dignity fights against social discrimination and gradation to prove his potential. He is aided in his revolution by his trusted friend Duryodhana and his supportive wives.

The great warrior is however gender insensitive. Kane seeks to unravel the silence regarding the personal life of the enchanting personality Karna and examine the contributions of the women of great warriors. She explores the plight of marginal women in the epic hitherto neglected and unrecognized. This paper addresses the issue of marginality in the novel and comment on the characters misinterpreted and popularized through numerous representations till date.

Outcaste, silence, class, gender, bonding. Epics are the earliest documents of Indian society, its structural framework and network of operations. The numerous stories and multiple characters allow readers to have an extensive view of human life and its complexities. The readers can hardly contain their urge to delve deeper into human psychology and unfold the myriads of emotions and conflicts which find their parallel in life.

Time and again, it has been repeatedly pointed out that social hierarchy, social foundation, social interest carry greater value than individual life and justice. The novel revisits the epic Mahabharata from the theoretical perspectives of post-structuralism and feminism to explore the mental turmoil, consciousness and thought processes Vol. Re-engagement with epics is not a new phenomenon.

Scholars and writers are jointly venturing into these ancient realms with greater interest and vigour in recent years. Karna, the most appealing and mysterious but damned character in the Indian classical epic has always been examined in comparison to his arch-rival Arjuna or with respect to his friendship with Duryodhana, both of them central characters. The creation of Uruvi replenishes this gap by not only illuminating the character of Karna but also by the imaginary contemplation and depiction of the predicament of the wives of a socially ostracized, determined and aspiring man.

Her advantageous royal belonging, association, intelligence and sensitivity to social and cultural processes are designed to play the eternal and ever- seeing human conscience. In pursuit of unraveling the abominable patriarchal, discriminating and exploitative nature of society, scholars are aiming at the roots of cultural dissemination. The repeated reproductions of the epic knowingly and unknowingly consolidate and perpetuate insensitivity towards gender and humanity. Hence, there arises the need to re-interpret and re-analyze the text which archetypes ideal Indian society.

The epic has ceased to be solely a religious text about the eternal war between good and evil, right and wrong. Her creation of the imaginary character, Uruvi becomes a part of the prevalent refashioning and recreating exercises in literature to suit the temperament and needs of a particular era. As a result, the text is prevented from being essentialized as literature from the ground. This paper will read the novel from both the gender and class margins in order to elucidate the center as well as the periphery. It will consider the lived experiences of a female outcast by choice, and her power and grit in accosting society.

Mahabharata has often been read as a class narrative from the stand-point of Karna, who had lifelong suffered the brunt of low birth in a society hell bent on class preservation. We zoom in our lenses on Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas or on Kunti or Gandhari when we talk of gender. But, have we ever cared for the inconspicuous female characters within the epic?

Pre-occupation with the center often provide a partial knowledge or even distorted view of circumstances and characters. A character requires to be measured by all standards of relationships and situations before coming to any conclusion. By throwing the spotlight on the private realm, Kane tries to depict the interconnections between the two worlds: How the politics of the former affect the peace and serenity of the latter. Discussion on how his wives reacted to his lack of sense of belonging, misplaced loyalty, and most significantly his role in the molestation of a woman, will shed light on marginality and enable better scrutiny of the characters.

The honest, inquisitive, tongue in cheek Uruvi probes and prods the characters into self-introspection and confession. In this paper, I would like to analyze the experiences of a subject doubly sub-altern by class and gender. In the novel, Uruvi, the princess of Pukeya, daughter of king Vahusha, was brought up amidst all sorts of lavishness, extravagance that one could imagine of.

As a playmate to the Kauravas and Pandavas, Uruvi enjoyed Vol. While, she was contemptuous about Duryodhana for his evil ways, she sided with the Pandavas like everybody else. Bhishma Pitamaha, Gandhari, and every other person doted on the charming, intelligent, loving princess. However, with the appearance of Karna in the royal precincts, the facades, treachery and tyranny of society became blatantly exposed.

She sensed her world changing, people whom she have known for years becoming strangers, when she challenged social norms by declaring love for a lower class, a sutaputra and proposing to marry him. Uruvi fought the entire world to win him. Although, she had to pay an exorbitant price of incurring the rage and rivalry of neighbouring rulers, she managed to have a swayamvara in its truest sense.

She enjoyed the chance of choosing the person she loved as her life partner instead of being carried away as a trophy by the ablest Kshatriya warrior. It rarely happened that a woman could marry the person she loved. Karna was married and was a father to sons when Uruvi gained admittance into his life. She also emphasizes the sort of relation that existed between Karna and Uruvi through her choice of expression. Howsoever, in the course of this paper, I would consider the peril of both the wives: Vrushali and Uruvi, each antithetical to the other. Karna points out to his brother, Shona: Whatever happens to meor whatever I do, I shall never disappoint her.

Brian Gleeson

Vrushali, his first wife was mature, calm, cool, tolerant, adjustable and wise. She belonged to the same class of adhiraths as that of her husband. Karna and Vrushali shared happy, contented conjugal life and were devoted to each other till the appearance of Draupadi between them. Vrushali was docile and compliant in everything her husband did. She had no rights over her Vol. The father decided the fate and future of his children. So, Vrushali was powerless and failed to save any of her children from getting slaughtered in the fateful war of Kurukshetra.

She also was bound to resign to her fate without protest when he unexpectedly married Uruvi and brought her home. Vrushali was in no way different from the other royal ladies in the past and present who had no right to voice their disagreement and decision over their lord. Before Vrushali, women like Amba, Ambika, Ambalika, Gandhari and Kunti were also victims of deception and exploitation but were powerless to confront society. The practice of Polygamy was acceptable and recognized in society so women had no option other than sharing their husbands with other women.

Draupadi, who had dared to question the court on rights and duties of a husband, morality, dharma and justice, also happened to be the second wife of her husbands. Vrushali was pleased to perform her duties according to social expectations. She had no aspirations for herself or for her husband but was content to have him by her side. On the other hand, Uruvi was diametrically opposite to Vrushali. Younger by many years, she was willful and rebellious.

Her marriage was only a beginning to a series of trials. She remained honest to her own self throughout and took responsibility of her decisions. A woman has no caste, class of her own. Her identity depends on the family she is born into until her marriage into another family. She is then identified through her belonging and liability to her marital household.

Nonetheless, a woman is not above class or caste. The Royal clans never let him forget his lineage and his true place. Karna, ignorant of his actual identity, identified himself through his foster parents Radha and Adhirath, who belonged to the class of sutas. He was the unwanted, illegitimate son of an unwed Kshatriya mother who abandoned him in a river, in desperation to save social status and reputation.

All through his life, Karna had to bear the yoke of low class identity and suffer the social ills Vol. He was treated as an outcaste when he attempted to learn archery, a skill which was reserved for the privileged Kshatriya class, from Guru Dronacharya, the Kshatriya guru himself. He underwent public humiliation for the second time when he dared to compete with other Kshatriya princes for the hand of the Kshatriya princess, Draupadi in marriage.

Karna was rudely reminded of his ineligibility and ambition in dreaming of marrying a Kshatriya princess being an outcast. She had to share his turbulent past, fretful present and tormenting future. But, she never became dispirited or regretted her decision. In tough times, she consoled her mind by saying that she married the love of her life, a privilege enjoyed by very few women in her society.

By stooping below her caste to marry Karna, Uruvi lost her friends, relationships, and society. She and her family turned into an outcast overnight. Uruvi relinquished the comforts of her palace, fineries, most importantly her respect, prestige, position, influence in order to become the companion of the sutaputra.

Her trial did not end here. In the adopted new home, unlike Vrushali, she was greeted as an unwelcome guest forcibly intruding into the lives of a well-knit family. And finally, Karna, for whom she left everything, idealized her like the Petrarchan lover. He idolized her for fighting the whole world for his sake. She was yet miles away from becoming his soul-mate. Uruvi, about whose incisive wit Kane never lets her readers forget, was quick to notice the malice, bias and flaws in the actions of the people she revered and considered to be just.

She constantly harped on the human conscience, and pestered her elders with questions whenever they had taken a biased decision. She enquired Bhishma of his partiality in rejecting Karna but accepting Satyavati, a daughter of a fisherman as Vol. Uruvi also unhesitatingly declared Kunti to be responsible for making Karna a pariah, an outcast within his family and society.

She reasoned that it was desertion, opposition and neglect of the good and righteous that led him to befriend evil. Duryodhana, in spite of being malicious, was the only person who came to his rescue and treated him with due respect when he was being subjected to ignominy. Uruvi was a perfect blend of rationality and emotion. Uruvi fell in love with Karna at the moment when he challenged Arjuna in the competition ground. She dreamt of becoming his true companion, his counselor, and his protector. She wanted to share his feelings, pain and even ambitions. Through her effort, Karna could find himself a confidante with whom he could discuss every matter from political to personal.

However, despite her persistent effort, Uruvi failed to counsel Karna against forming alliance with Duryodhana. The hunger for identity, social acceptance and dream of living like a warrior pushed him towards his doom. If Duryodhana had used Karna for self-interest, Karna too had utilized Duryodhana to realize his dream of competing with Arjuna. Duryodhana was his only chance and Kurukshetra the only place to prove his potential and win the honour and dignity he truly deserved. It was he who pestered Duryodhana for face-to-face combat with his cousins Pandavas instead of resorting to mischievous means.

In aiding Duryodhana in expanding his kingdom to whole of Aryabharta 3 , he not only re-paid his debt and gratitude, he also demonstrated his potential as a warrior. Karna, even participated in the heinous crime of abducting women from their swayamvaras just like Bhishma in the past to gratify his friend.

Karna desired acceptance and recognition for Vol. Nonetheless, the companionship of Duryodhana and Uruvi with Karna friendship between the privileged and unprivileged or rather between two differently marginalized people continue to be exemplarily redemptive and restitutive. Karna too returned his heartfelt gratitude and pledged to protect them. Uruvi was much inexperienced, impetuous and expressive in comparison to Vrushali. Nevertheless, her emotional succor was haven for him. He was ready to die for his cause. She left no stone unturned yet like Vrushali she failed to save her husband from certain death.

There existed a complex love-hate relationship between Karna and Draupadi. Draupadi symbolized power, position, honour and bewitching beauty; everything that the deprived, disadvantaged Karna lusted after. He wanted to deflate her pride of class and beauty. His wounded male pride desired to triumph over that woman who dared to abase him in public. The dice game on that ill-fated day gave them the opportunity to humble her haughty pride. Visit our Beautiful Books page and find lovely books for kids, photography lovers and more.

Other books in this series. The Elephant's Child Rudyard Kipling. The Tailor of Gloucester Beatrix Potter. Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter. The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher Beatrix Potter. Annie Oakley James Howard Kunstler. The Tiger and the Brahmin Brian Gleeson. East of the Sun, West of the Moon D. Book ratings by Goodreads. Goodreads is the world's largest site for readers with over 50 million reviews.

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