SARATCHANDRA : AN EVALUATION by G V SUBBAYA

SARATCHANDRA : AN EVALUATION

G V SUBBAYA

“The teacher, in his gracious benevolence, had given me the cue—education that is confined to the school is not real. True education is the outcome of wide travel after school. I followed this advice, and returned to the town, but did not leave the school till I completed the course. There I learnt of Bankimchandra’s novels. I never even suspected that there could be any literature outside Bankimchandra. By reading his novels over and over again I got them by heart. Perhaps this is a mistake. I began to follow him blindly. Considered from a literary angle, all that was sheer waste ; but considered from the angle of practice, it proved very profitable for me.

“After this, my contact with the journal ‘Banga-Darshan’ inaugurated a new era for me. Rabindranath’s Chokher Bali began to be serialised in this journal. The language and style were of a new order, and I felt very happy. I never even dreamt that an author could delineate reality so picturesquely. After such a long time, I had the taste of realistic literature. The saying that ‘the more you read, the wiser you become’ is not true. I have not the language to express my gratitude to that great master who gave me an invaluable treasure in those few pages.

“Thereafter I lost connection with literature. On many occasions I even forgot that I too was a writer. I was a wanderer. During this period I was not even aware of the Bengali literature’s progress wrought by the achievements of the ‘Biswakabi’. I had not had the good fortune of acquaintance with him, nor had I the fortune of having lessons in literature from him. This is the truth. But I have been an ‘Ekalabya’ ( A disciple in absentia). I even carried his stories, poems and other publications abroad. I read those books several times, but I could not pick up his mastery in the majesty of his language and expressions. I had the deep conviction in mind that there could not be any creation more complete than this. I strongly feel that his works became my literary stock-in-trade.

“I spent my youth in wandering. The body was tired, energy had diminished ; though I was staying abroad, far off from the motherland, enthusiasm and strength still had not left me.

“My childhood and youth were passed in great poverty. Consequently, I had not had higher education. From my father I inherited his restless spirit and his keen interest in literature. I had not inherited anything else. The former made a tramp of me and I toured the whole of India even in childhood. The latter turned me a long dreamer. Unfathomable was the depth of my father’s knowledge. He had tried his hand in drama, story, poetry, etc., but never could he complete anything. I do not have any of his writings. I do not even remember how, when and where I had lost them. I remember how I had spent hours together reading those incomplete works. I felt sorry for he had not completed them and I used to think of completing them. But I could never complete them. Probably this led to my writing short stories when I was merely seventeen.” So said Saratchandra about his childhood and beginning of his literary career.

For a morsel of food Saratchandra had to flee his own country and go to Burma. For fourteen years (1903-1917) he remained there. This period was described by some critics as as the ‘dark period’ in his life ; but this description is either hasty or thoughtless.

He was born at Debanandapur (in the district of Hooghly in West Bengal) ; he started his writings in Bhagalpur ; but it was in Burma that he developed his third (inner) eye which justified his name Saratchandra—’the moon of Autumn’.

He returned to Calcutta as a story-writer for the journal ‘Bharatbarsa’ on a monthly remuneration of a hundred rupees and all through his life he remained a writer.

His greatness can be measured by the demand for his books. On the very first day of the publication of his novel Father Dabi a thousand copies were sold out. Not only then, but even now no such phenomenal demand is heard of in our country. The first print of three thousand copies was sold out in a month and the second print of five thousand copies was sold out in three months.

There is hardly an Indian who has not heard of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das. He was not only a great political leader, but was a Bhogi, Tyagi and Yogi (accustomed to luxurious living, but, at the same time, capable of renouncing his all when required, and a sage unswayed by his environment). He was also a writer of eminence—he wrote the Sagar Sahgit and he was also the editor of the literary journal ‘Narayan’. At his request Saratchandra sent him a story Swami. Highly pleassed with this story, he sent a blank cheque by return post along with a letter stating : “I have got a great story from a highly eminent author ; I dare not evaluate its worth. So I send you this blank cheque which may please be drawn for any amount you wish.” Deshbandhu was not merely the owner of a journal ; he was the most eminent lawyer of his day in Bengal, earning fabulous fees. But Saratchandra took only one hundred rupees.

Bengalis are the most respected amongst Indians. They have risen to this height by assimilating the Western culture and showing the illuminated path to others. Socially, politically and culturally, they are our trail blazers.

Sri Aurobindo once said : “As for Bengali, we have had Bankim and still have Tagore and Saratchandra. That is an achievement enough for a single century.” Sri Aurobindo called Bankimchandra a ‘risi’. Bankimchandra had composed the noble national song ‘Bande Mataram’ (Anandamafh ). He brought ‘Mother India’ before our eyes. It was he who had developed Novel into its present form. He was a good writer, but not a great one. He wrote even after he retired from Government service.

After him came Rabindranath, who wrote of himself as ‘Kalidasa, arrived late’. He trod every branch of literature, visited foreign countries and became famous as an ‘International Poet’. Then came his disciple Saratchandra. There was no honour that was not heaped on him. Even the world of women honoured him.

All of us have read Tagore’s novel Chokher Bali. The desire for marital happiness of the widow Binodini in this novel has been delineated with extreme sympathy. Tagore was the first writer who so naturally portrayed ‘forbidden love’. After Gurudeb ( Tagore ) it was only Saratchandra who developed this theme with subtle and skilful artistry and captured the heart of Bengal and the world. No more need be said than quoting from Tagore’s appraisal of Saratchandra : “Saratchandra focussed his attention into the depths of human heart—of happiness and sorrow, at meetings and partings, he presented us an unexpected picture of artistry and nuance. The proof of this is the never ending pleasure of the Bengalis in his writings. With no other writer have they felt such deep inner satisfaction as with Saratchandra. Others have won more fame by their meritorious works, but few have attained such mastery over the hearts of his readers.”

Nevertheless, it is necessary to understand the philosophy of Saratchandra. I discuss here a few points. Some consider Saratchandra as a pragmatist, and some consider him as an idealist—the differences and contradictions depending upon their own culture and understanding, as the proverb goes, ‘as he is, so he sees’. But very rarely we come across critics who have studied him deeply and thoroughly. He appreciates nature and he bestows the same appreciation on the unforunate who have either fallen morally, or have sinned against society and been cast out. He does not blindly follow the old traditions and inhibitions of society, and brings to bear on every one of the social issues an entirely new and original outlook and lays down his own moral values.

He is the divine herald of a new social order. Rooting out the artificial and outmoded social customs and values, he established his own human and humane values. Into the hearts of people following centuries-old traditions which in some cases had resulted in pain and anguish to the poor, the weak and the down-trodden, he brought a new vision by his mercilessly realistic portrayal.

He was the great humanist who helped people to regain the souls they had lost by adhering to effete traditions. He was a great revolutionary, and the elite of the youth of India have accepted his revolutionary tenets.

Shocked and moved by the ignominy and travail of the down-trodden and the socially ostracized, this deeply sympathetic sage made a supreme effort to stem the tide of injustice masquerading as social tradition by preaching his ideals of humanism.

Inspired by high idealism, Saratchandta developed an inordinate sympathy for the victims of social injustice. No earlier Indian author ever handled such causes in literature. They were hide-bound by tradition, and wrote only of the rich, the powerful, the pleasure-loving and the heroic. Idealism and pragmatism did not find much of a place in their writings, only money and the moneyed found. By dint of his insight into the hearts of common man, he instilled vibrant individualism into his characters. Casting aside blind idealism, he established humanism.

Whatever has been conventionalised as ‘bad’ by society has been only the off-shoot of social circumstances. Just as a hungry man eats even inedible food, a social outcast, bereft of any remedial measures, is prepared to subject his body to indignified brutalities. Such a man is worthy of forgiveness. Even though his body becomes impure his mind remains free of taint. Just as the lotus is pure and lovely despite its birth in mud, even so the outcast shines in his weaknesses. Like an earth insect that is born out of mud but remains free from mud, he would never allow his mind to be soiled. The characters of Debdas, Satis and isrikanta are examples. It is only those that are impure in mind that are soiled by mud. Until society rids itself of its ghastly mistakes, the unification of body and mind of the individual cannot be ensured.

Society considers only bodily purity as virtue ; but this is an incorrect and superficial idea. The doctor can see bodily ailments ; the literary artist can go further and visualize mental ailments. Just as the Geography teacher and the nature-lover differ, so do the poet and the doctor. Saratchandra looked at history with the object of mental transformation. It is from this angle that he delineated the noble aims and the high ideals among the youth, and pinpointed the outcome of misused conventions.

The humanism of Saratchandra moves the heart ; man can be saved only by the realisation of his inner light, and so the gross materialistic picture isrendered useless.

“Society moves with all the paraphernalia and fanfare as if it had been endowed with humanism, but it has lost the basic roots of understanding, sacrificing  spirit and sympathy” said Saratchandra in a paradoxical vein.

Social customs and practices belong to the rich. Just as the philosophy of money devours money, so it has devoured ‘society’. If man’s basic values were to depend on money, all the conventions, both good and bad, belong to the rich. It is this stratum of the rich that had created the systems of marriage alongside that of harlotry—such of the individuals as have transgressed these conventions have been cast out of society and been called immoral (‘Charitrahin’). In reality they are being victimised by society.

Woman is a weakling. Married or unmarried, she has to drown herself in her own tears like a widow. It is because of this that cultured ladies are revolting against this barbarous tyranny. The character of the revolutionary Kamal belongs to this category.

The ‘do’s’ and ‘don’t’s’ have been laid down by society with a view to establishing traditions which make living easy within the social framework. He gave them a new dimension. Just as the true poet transgresses the norms of grammar to emphasise his new point, so also Saratchandra transgressed the norms of society to grant a new charter of freedom to the individual.

Just as he had disapproved and disproved the undesirable traditions of the older society, so also he could have disproved the economic order like a socialist, but he was not a moralist of Gandhiji’s type. He was not a worshipper of beauty like Tagore, nor was he an economist of the type of Marx. His chief object was to bring to the fore the terrible injustices to the women of society. His revolutionary fervour was intense but it was not for the betterment of the world as a whole.

He carried on an unceasing fight against the shackles imposed by society. In one word, he was an intense humanist. This humanism is dominant in Ses Prasna. Before he wrote this book, he was only alluding to injustices to womanhood, but in this book he openly took cudgels against the issues. Here Saratchandra pioneered a new social order.

Of all the problems, those relating to women are more important. Men usually view these problems not from the social angle but from their own individual selfish angle. Society is not made up of men only, but of both men and women. It is said that to attain salvation, one must give up both money and women. This implies that women do not need salvation. In the eyes of man, woman is only an object of enjoyment. Along with gold, she is only meant for decoration. Just as he secretes gold, he secreted women in his dwelling or palace.

Men and women are not merely flesh and blood ; they are beings with souls of their own. In the recognition of their separate entities lies the welfare of society.

It is only in the reciprocity between man and woman that life attains its full culture. Lord Siva, is not merely a male ; he is half-female. For the well-being of the world, the virility of man must be conjoined to the forbearance and resilience of woman ; this is the secret of ‘Ardha-Nariswara’— the Lord who is half woman. Man without understanding and

forbearance is inanimate. It is only woman, who by her own individuality, makes man a live being. The basic issue — the proper appreciation of women — deters man from becoming a beast ; it is the insignia of humanism. Since woman is not inherently dynamic, man has become a creature of passions and desires, and he degenerates into a beast, using woman as an instrument, and cannot attain manhood. Beastly masculinity thus became the order, and this is what led to the evaluation of woman as a plaything. Instead of being a noble member of society, he became a wild savage. It is this line of thought that led to the social morality of unrestrained enjoyment. It is only by elevating woman that he can get rid of his mean and arrogant selfishness.

One critic who had delved deep into Saratchandra’s literature said that he could find only seven tons of dust of bare feet (‘pada dhuli’) mixed with ten tons of tears. To another great critic this literature seemed futile ; yet another found it propagating immorality and unnatural pessimism of social traitors.

The general impression is that Saratchandra brought out picturesquely the defects in our marriage customs, the distress of young widows and the harshness of the married life of incompatible couples ; but it is very few that understand the humanism and the universality at the back of this delineation. Without this magnificient ability he could not have been the recipient of the love and respect of countless readers.

He is the great artist who portrayed, with rare insight, the play of emotions in humaa progress. He is the exponent of the inner conflicts in the Bengali society of his time.

Even though he did not conform to the straight-laced conventions of literary effort, he was the supreme artist who brought into the open the hidden, unspeakable inner trials and tribulations of man and woman. His colourful pictures of the lives of people, castigated and spurned by society, have evoked our pity and protest.

He was the champion of the socially outcast and drowntrodden mutes, whose sufferings, anguish, and lacerated hearts he so sympathetically turned into mellifluous literature that touched the heartstrings of his readers.

He was a fine realist in depicting human nature and actions in their correct perspective. He converted the ‘gall’ of their sufferings into the ‘manna’ of literature by his extremely delicate and sympathetic handling.

His artistry mesmerises us and fills us with admiration. There are authors who are more skilled than he, but the fine sympathy with which he treats his subject is rarely found elsewhere.

The physical chastity of woman is not a social convention ; it is her own training and discipline. If this discipline were to exist even in the unmarried, the security of society will not be affected—this is his conviction.

Man is not a weakling ; if an opportunity were to present itself, he can rise to great heights—this is his message.

Love is greater than the body and the individual nobler than society—this is his proclamation.

Good and bad are both inherent in every individual ; casting out the bad and developing the good would lead man from humanism to Divinity—this is his theme.

“I do not grieve for the death of man ; I grieve only for the death of humanism in man”, thus cries out Saratchandra.

He was the social Knight-at-arms who fought against the social injustices on the women and the weak.

By his great writings he tried to demolish the prejudices of caste, to establish universal brotherhood and to propagate the basic human values of sympathy, understanding, and love.

He was the sculptor of letters who, by his literature, established the importance of love and humanism.

Translated by J. V. L. Narasimham

Curtsy : The Golden Book Of Saratchandra.