rabindranath's "gora" and the intractable problem of indian patriotism - sarkar

8/11/2019 Rabindranath's "Gora" and the Intractable Problem of Indian Patriotism - Sarkar

1/11

Rabindranath's "Gora" and the Intractable Problem of Indian PatriotismAuthor(s): Tanika SarkarSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No. 30 (Jul. 25 - 31, 2009), pp. 37-46Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40279311.

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2/11

Rabindranath's

Gora and the

Intractable

Problem

of

ndian

Patriotism

TANIKASARKAR

For arious

easons,

nmodern

ndia,

atriotism

as

found

t

very

ard o

establish

convincing

ocus

for

itself.n he ate 19th nd

early

0th

enturies,

ndian

patriotism

as

projected

s Hindunationalism.

Rabindranath

agore's

Gora,

ublished

n

1909

n

he

immediate

ftermathf

he

anti-partition

wadeshi

movementf

1903-08,

vercomes he ethnocentricities

that ed to such distortion,ut, n t, heparticular

comes

too close

to the

universal

patriotism

issolves

into ovefor

ll

he

helpless eoples

of he

world,

offering

radically

ew

way

of

being

n

Indian

atriot.

essay

s

organised

s

follows:

irst,

argue

that,

or

various istorical

easons,

thas

been

xceptionally

ard

or

modernndian

patriotism

o find

sure

footing

ortself.

thendiscuss ome of

the

ways

n

which

hese

difficulties

ere

sought

obe resolved n

the ate

19th

nd

early

0th

enturies:

y

variants f

Hindunationalist

esolutions hich

quated

ndian

patriotism

ith

Hindu

nationalism,

alling

he

ountry

land of

Hindus

lone.

n

the

final

ection,

discuss

distinctivendian

patriotic

maginary

hat

Rabindranath

agore

elaborated n

Gora, novel ublishedn1909. Itwaswrittennthe mmediate

aftermathf the

first

majorpopularupsurge

n

Bengal

gainst

colonial

governance:

he

anti-partition

wadeshimovement

f

1903-08.

conclude

with

ome

observationsn the

ignificance

of

he

fforts

well s on the

fragility

f

ts esolution.

The

novel

was written

100

years go.

Many

f

the critical

questions

hat

t

had asked

at that

imeremain

nresolved

nd

contentious atters ven

oday;

aste,faith,

reedom f

ountry

and of ndividual

elf-determination,

ocially

orbiddenove nd

patriotic

ove. t

reproduces

nd then

horoughlyroblematises

certain

rguments

f

Hindunationalism: irst

laborated

y

ate

19th

entury

evivalistsnd

then,

n a

different

ay,

owerfully

developed

n

Bankimchandra

hattopadhyaya's

ovel

nandamath,

writtenhree ecadesbefore ora.2n a

contrapuntal

ode,

Gora

thenoffers

radically

ew

way

of

being

n Indian

patriot.

l-

though

ndian

patriotism

ad

already

ecome

pervasive

ord,

especially uring

heSwadeshi

movement,

thad not

lways

on-

ceptually

eparated

tself ut fromHindunationalism:n

fact,

themovement

ad

remained

mortgaged

o

the

ymbols

nd

ritu-

als

that

elonged

o Hindunationalism.

ora, herefore,

ashio-

ned

significantly

ew

political

maginary.

Some

of the late

19th

entury

Hindu revivalist-nationalists

located ndian

patriotism

na

commitment

o Hindu

ocial

nsti-

tutions

n he

resent

hich ad

upposedly

escended

nchanged

from

n

ancient

ast:

n

family, onjugality,

aste

and

widow-

hooddiscipline. heycontended hatcolonisationmadethese

institutions

nd traditions

oth

hreatenednd

precious,

bjects

that

equire

he

oyalty

f

ll

patriotic

indus.3 nandamathook

a

different

oute. t dissolved

he

and

and

people

of ndia nto

the

mage

f

freshly

oinedGoddess

f

he

Motherland.herei-

fied

ivinity

laims he

primary

oyalty

f

ll

Hindus

f

he and.

She

also commands

hem o turn heir ove

for

er

nto n act of

violence

gainst

Muslims f ndia.4

Gora

rejects

oth

ersions.

t

rejects

he dentification

fthe

country

ith

Hindu

disciplinary

institutions

nd it

refuses

o

transvalue

he andas

a

goddess.

With hese

wo

moves,

t

breaks

pen

the ock betweenHindu

Tanika arkar

[email protected]),

historian

f

modern

ndia,

s with

heCentre

or

Historical

tudies,

Jawaharlal

ehru

niversity,

ewDelhi.

Economic

Political

eekly

003

JULY

5, 2009

vol

xliv

no

30

37

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3/11

SPCIAL RTICLE

^^- ^ ^ ^ ^^r^^^=r^i

^

nationalismnd ndian

patriotism

nd

it

clears

space

that e-

longs

o

patriotism

lone.

n

a later et f

Englishssays ublished

in

1917

nd

entitled

ationalism,

abindranath ould

develop

passionate ritique

f he

deology

fnationalism

tself,

ot

nly

of the Hindu variant.5 o

him,

nationalismwas

invariably

project

f

power

nd

self-aggrandisement,

f

exclusion

nd

in-

cipientmperialism:

hereas

atriotism

rthe oveof hecoun-

trysa projectf areandnurture,f ovefor eople, and, nd

for

he

arth tself.

I

returno Gora

n

ts

entenary

ear

with

sense

of

profound

identification

ut

not

n

a

commemorative

pirit.

am

struck

y

the

elevance

f

ts

oncerns 100

years

ater,

nd

by

he

ntensity

and

honesty

f Rabindranath's

ngagement

ith

uestions

nd

problems

hat

were

particularly

ifficulto address

n

times

f

politicalubjection.

hat

movesmemost

n

the

novel, owever,

s

its ventual ailureo secure reliable

nd

convincing

oundation

for

atriotism.

n ts wn

way,

t sa heroic ailure.

I

should dd

here

that

ven

though

Hindu nationalism

nd

Indian

patriotism

re

unquestionably

he

dominant

hemes

nd

concerns f

Gora,

henovel xceeds narrow

olitical

efinition

andhorizonmost riumphantly.ttalks,most fall, of oveof

various

kinds:between

riends,isters,

mother

nd

son,

father

and

daughter,

f sexual

and romantic ove between

man and

woman. ove

s, ndeed,

keyword

or he

novel,

t

s theunifv-

ing

principle

hat

rings

ocial,

motionalnd

patriotic roblems

together

n

the

ame

plane.

t

s

a

positivity

hat

s

set

gainst

he

hatred f

the

Other

hatmarksHindunationalism.

ove,

more-

over,

as to

be willed

n

freedom,

t

cannotbe mandated

r

en-

forced. he

domain f

ove,

most

emarkably,

s

not

restricted

o

the

ountry

lone.

Unless

atriotism

lso

accepts

hefreedomo

love

n ll

kinds f

relationship

so the

novel

rgues patriotism

is not

enough.

Tfyere

ustbe

freedom,

orboth

country

nd

people,

romhe

isciplines

f

aste,

ommunity

ivisions,

omestic

authorities.hevision sa ratherncharacteristicne for ndian

patriotism

hich

sually

eserves he

phere

f

freedomnd ove

for

ountry

lone,

while

-

with few

exceptions

subjecting

individual

onduct o everal

isciplinary

ontrols.

Gora thus

onnects arious

kinds

of

freedom nd

love.

The

space

of

novel an often

voke

he

ntricately

nterwovenreas

of

human

oncerns,

hereas

olitical

reatises reat hem s dis-

junct

nd

ncommensurable.

recisely

ecause iterature

mudges

the

boundaries

etween ifferentrders f

xperience

hat t

an

both

apture

nd

refashion

historicaltructuref

ensibilities

so

successfully.

n

my ssay,

unfortunately,

will

focus n the

theme f

patriotism

lone.

1

Let

me

numeratend

explore

ome f he

mpediments

o ndian

patriotism.

atriotism

equires,

bviously, single ountry

s its

first

ondition.t

denotes ove

for

specific

erritory

hich,

o

patriots,

s more

meaningful

nd

valued

than ll

other

ands

n

theworld.

Why

hat

and s

valued

nd

what

he

and

represents

are,

however,

ontentious

uestions.

o

secular ndian

patriots,

land s

birthplace,

s the

ource f

he

elf. n

Hindu

nationalism,

a

la

Savarkar,

and

is

birthplace

ot

only

of the

people

and

of

their

ncestors ut f

faith:

ence ndian

Muslims nd

Christians

do

not

ualify

s

full-fledged

ndians ince

heir aiths ere

orn

outside

he and.6

That

patial ntegrity

as to

be

underpinnedy

stable

map,

fairly

ontinuous

cross

long

ime

pan.

Patriots nd

nationa-

lists

nsist

hat hemodern

map

n the

present

ad

been

roughly

the ame

even

n the

remote

ntiquities.

he

effort

hus eans

upon

both

ime nd

space, geography

nd

history:

he

ountry,

as we know tnow,must lwaysalreadyhavebeenthere. he

temporal-spatial

dentity

as

to

be

culturally

einforced

s

well.

And

that

demands

identifying

trong

hreads

of

unity

nd

sameness,

unning

hrough

he entire

and

mass,

nd

impart-

ing

a

common

spect

to

the

people

who

inhabit

t. Claims

to

unity

ave

n

ideological

unction:

t

makes

he

ountry

ppear

as

a

natural

rganism,

self-evident

ingle ntity.

ery uickly,

then,

patriotism

lides

nto

omething

more

han

politics

f

place:

a

certain efinition

f he

culture f he

and

becomes

ts

defining

ssence.

Problems

with

Necessary

Ingredients

of

Patriotism

Unfortunately,

ormodern

ndians,

ll

three

necessaryngredi-

ents geographical ntegrity,istoricalontinuityndcultural

unity

ran nto

problems.

When

they

irst

egan

to discourse

urgently

bout

patriotism,

hey

had the

map

of

Britishndia

before

hem,

map

which

panned

n

entire ubcontinent.

t

s

very nlikely

hat he ubcontinental

eography

ad

a real

pres-

ence or

a

vivid and shared

meaning

n the

affective

orld

f

Indians

n

pre-modernays.

There

never

eally

ad been

a

his-

tory

f

comprehensive olitico-administrative

nification

ill

well into the colonial era.

And

here,

contrast

an be made

with China

whose

physical

mmensity

nd

variationswere

counterpointed

y

an

old

history

f

mperial-bureaucratic

nd

linguistic

nity.

herehave

been,

nstead,

mpires

nside

ndia,

several

t

a

time.

ndian

dynasties ought gainst

ach

other,

conquered

nd ruled one another.Atno

point

f

time,

efore

British

onquests,

ad the modern

map

of ndia

been enclosed

within

single

oundary.

Shared ulturalraits

ould

have

verlaid

olitico-administrative

divisions.

ut

therewere far oo fewof

them.

Apart

rom

he

classical

language

of

Sanskrit,

ollowed

by

Persian

n later

times,

herewas no

single

anguage

that

people

from ifferent

parts

f he

ountry

ouldunderstand

r use.

Sanskrit

nd Per-

sian,

oo,

were lite

anguages,

sed for

igh

iterary,

acred

r

bureaucratic

eeds,

by

select

groups

f

people.

Live

inguistic

traditions,

n theother

hand,

were

plural

nd

mostlymutually

incomprehensible.

o were ivedcultural raditions

nd

styles

ofworshipwhichwere ustas radically ifferentrom ne an-

other: ot

only mong

different

eligious

ommunities,

ut

lso

often

harply

ifferent

or

differentonstituents

f

the

same

community.

f

course,

herehad

been,

in the

past,

points

f

continuousontact:

pilgrimage

ircuitxisted

romncient

imes,

connecting any

ifferent

arts

f

he

country.

ut

pilgrimages

wouldbe

specific

o a

particular

ommunity

r

ect,

hey

would

not

rovide

common

oint

f eference

or ll

people

nhabiting

the and mass.

Therehad also been

a

widespread

irculation

f

commodities nd

traders.

But

such

movements

f

goods

and

people

were

restrictedo

specific

roups.

Most

people

would

3o

july

25,

2009

vol.

xliv no

30

HBO

EconomicPolitical

eekly



4/11

Jf::rE^:zr^^rr^~5^z::Er:;ir:E::E:^

r_=_r=r==rzf_^-j_r-^^^

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~

~

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-

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-

_-_

have

neither

familiarity

or

strong

motional ondwith if-

ferent

arts

f he

country.

he subcontinent ould

not

ppear

tothem s

a beloved

country

f their

wn,

all

parts

of which

belonged

o them

n an

intimate

elationship.

In

pre-modern

imes,

opular oliticaloyalty

as

expected

o

be directed

owards he

overeign

nd

his

realm,

not

owards

land nd

a

people.

he

word

Ramrajya

ouldbe

a

good

example.

The emotionsffamiliaritynd loving ntimacyhatwe associ-

ate

as the

typical

eatures f

patriotism

ere

actually

eserved

for maller

nd ntimate

laces.

The

Ramayana

ad

declared

hat

themother

nd the

birthplace

re

superior

o heaven.The

birth-

place,

n this

ase,

would

iterally

e

that the ancestral ome-

stead

where

he

person

was born.The associations

f

personal

history,roperty

nd

pace

were

he lements hich

ave

piece

of

and ts

peculiar

ffectivelaim.The same resonances ffelt

closeness

were

conveyed

y

the word

desk,

wordof Sanskrit

origin,

ommon

o

many

ndian

anguages,

nd also

by

he

Persian

word

mulk

hat s

yet

notherword

for he

country

n

others.7

Both

originally

meant one's

personal

address.

Both

came to

acquire

highly

eified

spect

when

enlarged

nd

strenuously

reinscribedpon subcontinenthich ouldonly e abstractly

imagined

s

one's own. One of the

characteristics

f

modern

patriots

ikeSwami

Vivekananda nd

ater,Gandhi,

wouldbe to

try

ndtravel cross he

ength

nd breadth f he

country:

he

first

tep

owards

eing

n Indian

n thetrue ense of he

word.

Obviously,

eing

an

Indian

involved

ffort.t was

acquired

knowledge,

ot

n

nstinct.

A

regional atriotism

ad

emerged

imultaneously

ith

pan

Indian

r

ubcontinental

atriotism

n the

19th

entury.

his,

n

fact,

ould

ncorporate

he earlier

meanings

f

desh

more

uc-

cessfully,

region

eing

more

familiar

and and

people,

ften

unified

y

at least

a

shared

anguage.

Certainly

n

Bengal,

ut-

pourings

f

patrioticongs

rom he

ate

19th enturyxpressed

love

more

mmediately

nd

vividly

or he and of

Bengal.

ndia,

in

ontrast,

ppeared

n

Bengali atriotic

magination

s

a

project

of

power

nd

glory,

more

difficult

o

clasp

as an intimateove

object.

We

may

ontrast

ere

wo

patriotic

ongs

f

Rabindranath

himself.

n one

he

evokes

he ncient

and

ofBharatbarshas

the

cradle

f

human ivilisation:

...The awn

first

ppeared

n these

skies,

ere

he

first

oly

hants

were

recited/From

hese

forests,

for

he first

ime,

aith nd

knowledge pread

cross

he

world

along

with

oetry

nd tales.

" The civilisation

s

quite

unmistak-

ably

Hindu

a

problem

hich

we discuss

ater.The other s

a

song

about

the

and of

Bengal

which

has been

adopted

s

the

national

ong

f

Bangladesh:

My oldenengal,do ove ou o/Forvernd ver, ourkies, oui

winds,

akemusic

n

my

oul.

Mother,

n

prirg our

mango roves

enchant

e

with

heir

ragrance.

ate utumn

ills

our addy

ields

with

sweetly

miling

ounty...

all

translations

nthe

ssay

re

mine).

The

song

is

about

a familiar

andscape,

the love that its

beauty

vokes.8

If he

patial

magination

bout

region

was

both

precise

nd

sensual,

he

ubcontinent,

n

contrast,

as

best

conceptualised

as

history

ather

han

as

familiar

and.

When

a

strong

arto-

graphic

magination

merged

rom

ate colonial

imes,

t

was

the

shadowy, aguely

eminine

hape

ofthe outer ontours

f the

map

that

was made familiar n

popular

representations.

ndia

was

preferred

s an

idealisedform ather han

s

concrete,

en-

suous

geography.9

Unintended

Product

Things

o

change,

however,n

1888,

John

trachey,

senior o-

lonial

fficial,

ad

confidently

ssured

Cambridge

niversity

n-

dergraduatesn a speech:

Theres

not,

nd

never as n ndia

..no ndian

ation,

o

people

f

India fwhich

ehear o much

hatmen f he

unjab,

engal,

he

North

est rovincesndMadrashouldver eel

hat

hey elong

o

one ndian

ation,

s

mpossible...10

This can be

classified s

a

remarkablenstance

ffamous

ast

words. ven

s

he

spoke,

he

very

hing

e

strenuously

enied

n

existence,

as

already

n

the

making, rovoked

nto

ife

argely

by

he

ystem

f

governance

hathe

himself as a

part

f.The

Indian

Empire,naugurated

ith

much anfare

littlemore han

a

decade

back,

was

transfiguring

ast nto nation

f

ndian

eo-

ple

who came to feelwith

ncreasing

onvictionhat

hey

e-

longed

o shared

ountry,

hey

wereone

people.

That

hiswas

a

modern eginningnnowaysubtractedromherapidgrowth

and

ntensity

f

his onviction.

istory,

fter

ll,

s not

destiny.

Indian

atriotism,

s

a

felt

motion,

as the

unintended

roduct

of colonial

ule

whichbestowed

olitical nity,

nd which ied

up dispersedgeographies

nto

a

singular

whole. And

which,

moreover,

hrough

argely

imilar

acial,

conomic nd admini-

strative

olicies,

tirred

p very

imilar

rievances,

spirations

and

emotions

mongpeople

who were scattered round sub-

continent.

t

was,

finally

nd

supremely,

nti-colonial

opular

movements

hat

melded

ery arge, isparate

umbers f

people

into

strong,

ffective

ommunity.

he sense

of

ubcontinental

belonging

hat

consequently

eveloped,

was

powerful,

eal,

personal.

ven

though

f

relatively

ecent

rowth,

t,

nonethe-

less,

remains n

important

ommitmentor

arge

numbers f

Indians

ven n

post-colonial

imes.One

may

ven

ay

hat t

was

patriotism

hat

gave

birth

o

ndia as

a

country.

ut he

problem

was

that

his

rigin

s

generally

ot

onsidered

nough:

t

s

too

recent

nd

contingent,

ot

rganic,

ot structural

ecessity

r

long-standing

istorical

ompulsion.

t

became

necessary,

here-

fore,

o

magine

ther,

more

nduring

nd

nnate

ases,

n

order

to

ustify

nd

propel

he

mergentatriotism.

2

All

this

uggests omething ery

urious or

ur

modern

imes:

strong atriotic

motions

n

search

of a

country.

hat meant

inventing single ountryalled ndia,beyond, ver ndabove

the

relatively

ecent

history

f colonial unification

nd the

strongly

elt

unity

hat came out

of the

freedom

movements.

India must

ppear

s

an

enduring

rganism,

ot he

contingent

outcome f

particular

istorical

onjuncture.

utwhat

an

we

find

n

our

history

hat

s

old.

nough,trong

nough

nd

general-

ised

enough

o

provide

persuasive

asis for subcontinental

felt

nity

nd

historical

ontinuity?

For

large

number fmodern

indus,

ngaged

n the

problem

of

defining country

nd a

history,

he answerwas

simple

nd

obvious,

ne

that ad

been formulated

nd embellished rom

he

Economic

Politicalweekly

CEC3

JULY

25,

2009

vol

xliv

no

30

39



5/11

SPECIAL

RTICLE

19th

entury.

or

hem,

induism lone couldbear

the

weight

f

that

equirement.

indus,

hey

laimed,

re themostnumerous

of ndian

people,

nd

they

lone

provide

n

unbroken istorical

continuity

hat

s older hanwhat ther ndian ommunitiesan

offer.

What

s

dangerous

boutthis

majoritarianism

nd

claims

to

antiquity

s

that

here re

very

ld and

extremely

opulous

non-Hindu

ommunities

n

the

country

hose

contributionso

culturalndpoliticalraditionsrerich, iverse,massive. ocall

IndiaHinduwould

e

to

exclude hose riticalmasses:

not

nly

t

the cost of

crippling

nd

impoverishing

ur

ives,

ultures

nd

histories

nimaginably,

ut lso

by eaving

hese astnumbers f

Indians

tranded

n

their ncestral

homelands

without real

entitlement.

indus,moreover,

re

stratified

mong

hemselves

by

divisions

f

aste,

egion,

anguage

nd sect.The

practice

hat

most f them

have held

n

common,

n some

shape,

has been

somevariant f

aste

hierarchy.

here

was,moreover,

range

f

upper

astedomestic

rescriptions

hat

upwardly

mobile lower

castes" tended o follow.

hese

commonalities, owever,

ad

comeunder ritical

crutiny

romhe

19th

enturymong arge

sections f Hindus.

They

could

hardlyprovide

consensual

ground or nity mong ll modern indus,et lone ll Indians.

Scriptures

nd Customs

Undeterred

y

hese

roblems

hat

eset heir laims o thenatu-

ral

unity

f ll

Hindus,

9th

entury

indu evivalists ost ften

located

ultural

ontinuity

nd civilisational

ingularity

orHindu-

Indians n ancient

rahmanical extswhich

ncluded he

mytho-

logical,

hilosophical

nd

metaphysicalystems,egal

statutes,

and

classical anskrit

iterature. hese had

been

compiled

nd

published

y

19th

enturyndologists,

ndian nd

western,

nd

had

become

nternationally

nown nd renowned.n

fact,

he

colonial

tate

tself ad

bestowed

ponparts

f

t

great isibility

and

sanction. t

had declared hat n all

areas of

belief,

itual,

marriage,

ivorce,

ower,

doption,

uccession,

nheritancend

caste,

Hindus nd

Muslimswould

be

governedy

heir

cripture

and

custom nd

the state

ould

only

ntervenef t was

shown

that

resentractice

ontravened ore ncient

nd

pristine

ra-

dition. art

f heir

ecision

was,

no

doubt,

ictated

y

calcula-

tions f

political

xpediency:

on-interferencen intimatend

private

pheres,hey

hought,

ouldreconcile

nd

pacify

sub-

jugated

people.

But

herewas also a

genuine

dmiration or he

systems

f

custom,

tatutes

nd

traditions. hen

compilation

was

made from

arious

scriptural

raditions

hat

dealt with

Hindu elief

nd

usage,

Bentham,

he

great

Utilitarian,

ead t n

translationnd

decided hat

spects

of t

shouldbe

included n

theuniversalegal ode that eplanned owrite.11

These

beliefs nd

practices

onstitutedn

area

where

he

o-

lonial state

brogated

tsown

sovereignty.

his,

n

turn,

meant

that n

this

domain

ndians were

still not

entirely

olonised.

Hindu

cripture

nd custom

hus

were

transfigured

s

precious

vestiges

f

past

freedom

nd

as nuclei ffuture

elf-governance.

Throughout

he

19th

century,

iberal

reformers

nd Hindu

orthodoxy

uarrelled

boutwhat

uses

shouldbe

made of this

freedom:

hould

t

be a

source

f

ntrospection

nd

self-reform,

especially

or aste nd

gender?

r

should

t

reinforce

radition,

preserved

rom ll

corruption

nd

change

that

accrued from

foreign

nfluence?hould

ne revere

t

ltogether

s

thatwhich

made

the

country,

r

should

ne

alter

t to remake

country

n

lines

f ocial

nd

genderustice?

Coming

lose

to ideas

that re

associated

with

heconserva-

tive

arliamentarian

dmund

urke,

utwhich

ctually o

back

to atemedieval

nglish

ritings,specially

f

Fortescue,

ndian

conservatives

reatively

ransfigured

ertain

cornerstones

f

western onservatism.heirargumentswentthus: f certain

institutions

nd traditions

ad survived

hrough

he

ges,

nclud-

ing

ras

of

onquests

nd

foreign

omination,

hen heir ontent

was

axiomatically

ood.

That ven

foreign

nvaders ad

notdis-

turbed

hem,

oubly

roves

heirworth.

ven ftheir

ogic

or

ethical

roperties

re

no

longer

lear,

heir

istorical

ontinuity

and

persistence

emonstrate

heir

elevance

nd

utility

ormod-

ern imes. eformersannot

udge

hem

y

heir wn

ime-bound

fragile

eason

hat s

the

product

f

a

single

eneration's

hink-

ing:

whereas

he aws and customs

hat

had

survived

enturies

contain

the wisdom

of

past

generations.

hey

stand

on the

bedrock f

very

ld

historical onsensus.12

n

its wn

way,

he

argument

nvoked

hatPocock

as described

or notherontext

as thedemocracyf hedead.13

There

was

a

second

string

o the

argument.

o not

these

apparentlyroblematic

raditionsbout aste nd

gender

ome

enfolded

withinwhat even the

west admits

o be

great

nd

civilised?

ur

profoundly

eep

and

complex hilosophical

ys-

tems,

urwonderful lassical

literature?

f we now

question

them,

o we notundermine he

entire

radition,

he

obviously

great

nd

the

good,along

with those few

lements

hatnow

appear

o be

problematic?

These were insistent

nd

persistent rguments,

ehearsed

again

and

again,

in

novels,drama,

tracts,

olemical

ssays,

throughout

he olonial

eriod.

ome

of

hem,

evised

ndrecon-

textualised,

avebeen

recently

esuscitated

n certain trands

f

post-colonialcholarship. hey

recur

ery

ftenn Gorawhere

we find ome

f heir

trongest

nd most

assionate

rticulations

as

well s

theirmost ffectiveefutations.

If ll

patriotic rojects

emand

doration,

he

patriotism

f

colonised

eople

demands t n

ways

hat

re more

han

usually

fierce,

ompelling

nd

poignant.

freformsre

allowed,

would

they

not

dent

that

pride,

dmitof

faultlines nd

injustices?

f

fallibility

s

acknowledged,

hen

how can

patriotismope

with

the

question

of self-esteem

hich s

already

o

damaged

by

colonialracism?

nd,

finally,

f

raditions

hat

roved

o

unjust

to low castesand women could notbe an

adequate

basis

for

patriotism,

hen

what

lternativesouldHindu r ndian

istories

allow?14 ora ried o clear n alternativeath.

3

To thisHindunationalist

rgument,

nandamathadadded

yet

another

wist. t

sought

o short ircuit

roblems

f

ocial

njus-

tice and

divisions

with he

resolution f

a

nationalist ar.The

self-divided indu

people

weremadewhole nd one when

hey

confronted

hat the

noveldescribed s their istorical

nemy,

theMuslims.

ommunity

nd

country erged

o

create

he

body

of

goddess

who

ought engeance gainst

Muslims.

ow astes

and

upper

astes

fought

ogether,

or s

long

s the

nemy

uled,

40

jui.Y

25,

2009

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CEO

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Politicalweekly



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Fr Special

article

caste

hould

e

suspended:

ven

though,

otfor

ver,

nd even

though

eaders

were

nvariablypper

astes.

Tagore

and

Swadeshi Movement

The violent

ogic

f

Anandamath esolved he

problems

f

frag-

mentation nd

discontinuity

n a

way

thatwas coherent nd

complete

ithin

tsown

terms.

his,however,

as

a

resolution

thatRabindranatheeply eared. ankimchandraad eschewed

many

fhis

own arlier enunciationsf

lass,

aste nd

gender

injustices

o reach he

point

fHindunationalism.

abindranath,

too,

had

gone through

ifferent

hases

of social and

political

thinking

ikeBankimchandra.15

n

his

case, however,

he

rajec-

tory

moved

n

thereverse irection. ust efore e wrote

Gora,

between

1905

and

1908,

the

country

ad seen

a

widespread

popular

gitation gainst

he

colonial

tatewhichhad

recently

and

very rbitrarilyartitioned

he

province

f

Bengal.

There

had been

boycotts

nd

burnings

f

British

loth,

ocial avoid-

ance

of ndianswho

occupied

fficial

ositions

r were

oyal

o

the

state,

huge

demonstrationsnd

picketing

f

foreign oods

shops. Eventually,

here

began

assassinationsof

individual

British fficials.

Rabindranath

ad

been

deeply

nvolved

with

he

early hase

of

the movement

nd

had fashioned

many

f ts cultural

igns

and

symbols.

long

withothernationalist

eaders,he,

at this

point

f

ime,

ad used Hindu

ituals ormass

mobilisation,

nd

he

defended

indu ocial nstitutions

nd

statutes,

venrecon-

figuring

aste as

a consensual nd rationaldivision f

abour

that ecured ocial

harmony.

n the

ame

vein,

he also endorsed

brahmanical

ender ractices

ike widow

mmolation s con-

sensual.16

e

wrote n Swadeshi

amaj

in

1904:

Will otHinduisme able

o

bring very

ne

ofus

day yday

nto

bondsf

ffinity

nd evotion

o his haratbarsha

f

urs

the bode

of

our

gods,

he

hermitage

f our

rishis,

he andof our forefa-

thers?..."17

There

re such

trong

ecurrencesfthese

hemes nd even

thesewords

n

Gora,

hat t eemsundeniable

hat

Rabindranath

of

he

wadeshi ra

provided

hemodel

or he

patriotic

anguage

of

he

arly

Gora

n

the novel.

The novel

s,therefore,

utobio-

graphical

n a

split

mode.

The

early

nd the aterGora reflect

the

wodifferent

olitical

moments

n

Rabindranath's

ife.

Even

in

this

phase,

however,

Rabindranath

emained,

n

many mportant

ays,

uite

different

rom

therHindu

nation-

alists.

The differences

rew

over

time,

ncreasingly

solating

him rom he

movement ntil

e

turned

nto

tsmost

utspoken

critic.

e saw Muslims

s

equal

compatriots.18

iolence

orrified

him,whethert was directed gainst tateofficialsr against

Muslims.He was

insistent

hat ndian civilisation

ad

always

been

nourished

y

many

ultures.

omeof

hem

nitially

rrived

with

oreignonquests

ut

hey

hen ound

home

nthis

ountry.

This

ncluded he

west

whose

ntellectual

nd cultural

esources

cannot

e

spurned

ven n the

ge

of

olonialism

ithout

fatal

cultural

elf-denial.19

bove

ll,

he valued

rural

uplift, easant

welfare,

nly

oo

acutely

ware of

perennialpeasant poverty

and

ignorance

or

which ndian landlords

were

to

blame

as

much

s colonial

revenue

ettlements. s

the

movement

ro-

gressed,

e became

ncreasingly

ritical f

the

upper

lass and

upper

caste Hindunationalist

eadership

which

unthinkingly

commanded nd

coerced ow

caste and

Muslim

peasants

to

burn

heap foreign

lothwhile t

the same

time

doing

ittle r

nothing

or heir

welfare.20

In

the ourse f

heSwadeshi

movement,

ow castes nd Mus-

lims had

protested

gainst

enforced

oycott

f

foreign

oods

and

this

got

extended

ntoviolent ommunal

lashes.At that

point,Rabindranath ecisively urned way from hemove-

ment.He reviewed is ocial

and

political

eliefs nd

concluded

that

untouchability

nd

communalism ere no less

mportant

problems

han

olonial

njustice:

hat s

long

s the

problem

f

peasant

poverty

nd

exploitation

emained,

he elite

nationa-

list

eadership

ad

no

right

o

command

illagers

o

conformo

the

movement.21

Gora:

Expression

of New Political Turn

Gora

was the first

iterary xpression

fthenew

political

urn

which

would

deepen

over ime. t

was also

one

of he

first

ovels

that e

wrote n modern

omestic,

olitical

nd

ocial

ituations,

the

very

irst fthem

eing

Chokher ali and

Noukadubi.More

than ts redecessors,ora raverses ultipleocialworlds hich

are

repeatedly rought

nto

nterfaces,

ollisions nd reconcilia-

tions. t s

also more

densely

opulated

han

Chokher

ali,

filled

with everal wisted

ubplots, any

oices,

peeches

nd cultural

signs:

men

and

women from

iberal,

orthodox

nd

revivalist

backgrounds,

rom

olonial,

ural nd

metropolitan

ocales,

rom

modern uclear amilies

nd from

arge

nd

intricately

nterre-

lated

ointfamily

ouseholds. he

anguage

s chaste nd

classi-

cist,

hough

heeven tenors often roken

p by

diverse

erna-

cular

peech

nflections.

With sort f

fairly

echanical

ymmetry,

henovel

ounter-

poses

one

good

and one bad

Brahmo

gainst

ne

good

and one

bad

Hindu:Paresh

nd Haran

represent

he two

Brahmo

aces

while

Anandamoyee

nd

Krishnadayal

re the twodifferent

Hindus.

he two duos sum

up,

between

hem,

he

trength

nd

the

roblems

f he

faiths

nthe

present.

he

novel s

enormously

dialogic

nd

every

tance s allowed xtensive

elf-representation

and differenthetorical

tyles.

n its

heteroglossia

nd

dialogic

organisation,

s well as in

many

f ts

rguments,

t

nticipated

much f

the

ater

Ghare

Baire,

the novel

that

reflected

n the

Swadeshi

xperience.

t

s

curious

hat

ven

hough

ora

s

written

just

fter

he Swadeshi

xperience,

henovelisticime s

pushed

back nto

he

19th

entury.

hare

aire,

written

early

decade

later,

eflects

n the

Swadeshi times.

Perhaps,

Rabindranath

waited ill hemuch

bhorred

artition

f

Bengal

was rescinded

beforehe would articulatehis critiqueof the anti-partition

movement.

earer

n time to the

experience,

e withheld is

immediate

esponses

nd searched

or

ntecedents

f

ts

prob-

lematic

spects

n

the

past.

Though

he

brought

ntoGora

many

f he

nsights

hat

ame

from is

own

involvement

ith he

movement,

e located he

fictional ituation

n the

1870s,

when

a

conservative indu

nationalism

tridentlypposed

iberal

hinking

nd

social eform

in thename of he cultural istinctivenessfHindus.22

ora

s

a

patriotic oung

man from n

educated,

orthodox

rahman

family,owering

verhis friends nd

familyy

he

passion

nd

Economic

Political

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DQQ9

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25, 2009

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30

41



7/11

snail

arj\q&':^^

power

fhis

patriotic

ision,

his

uncompromising

nd

fearless

opposition

o

colonial acism.

He loves

ll

Indians,

Muslims nd

untouchables

ncluded,

ut he

one

category

f

ndianshe can-

not tand re liberal

eformers.

hey

re cultural

enegades

o

him,

pale

mimics

f their olonial

masters,

rying

o

destroy

something

n

the

name

of

reform

or

which

hey

have neither

understanding

or

ympathy.

o declarehis own distance rom

them,he demonstrativelydheres to all orthodox orms f

behaviour,

specially

n

areas of

gender

nd caste

pollution

taboos.Hedoes not at thefood ooked

by

hismother homhe

loveswith

ll

his

heart ecause she

takes

waterfrom hehand

of low caste

domestic

elp,

Lachhmia.

It

has been

said

by

Bengali iterary

istorians

hat

Swami

Vivekananda

rovided

he

model

for

Gora's haracter. here s

some truth n

this,

lthough

think

hat

Rabindranath's

wn

ideas

at

two different

hases

constitute

he

two

phases

of Gora

more

ccurately.

oth

Vivekananda

nd

Gora tried

o

improve

lower aste

onditions ith

pper

aste ocialwelfare

ork,

oth

developed powerful

atriotic rose,

both

organised

middle

class Hindu

youth

o form andsofHindumissionariesnd both

equatedpatriotismithHindupride.Theremaybe yet nother

sharedtrait.Gora has

to

constantly

epress

his doubts bout

Hindu

ocial

nstitutions

n

order o

nculcate

indu

ride.

umit

Sarkar

rgues

that

there

was

a

split

between Vivekananda's

private

tterances

nd

correspondences

n theone

hand,

where

he

wouldbe

sharply

cerbic bout Hindu

norms,

nd his

public

speeches

nd

writings

n

the

other,

herehe

concerned imself

exclusively

ith

he richness f

Hinducivilisation. herewere

also

momentsf

oscillation

etween elf-confidencend

despair

about

heHindu

missionary

roject.23

There

re

several

ounterpoints

o Gora.

His mother

nada-

moyee

s a

remarkably

lear-eyed erson

who

refuses o

accept

any

itual

hat

ividesman

fromman.

She

cannot

espise nyonebecause fbirth rfaith ndher ove

goes

out,

asily

nd rresist-

ibly,

o all human

eings.

Gora comes

n

touchwith liberal e-

formist

amily, rgues

with

the

gentle,

ntrospective

ather,

Paresh,

nd falls n

ovewith is

dopted

aughter

ucharita

ust

as

his

friend nd

disciple enoy

omes o

ove

Sucharita's

dop-

tive

ister alita.

here

re

nteresting

ivergences

n

heir

peech

patterns.

nandamoyee

peaks

with

great

motional

epth, p-

pealing

o

thereason f

universal uman

ove nd

worth. aresh

speaks

gently

ut

ogically,

n

measured

ntellectual

adences.

Lalita,

who

would

ater

marry

ora's

riend

enoy,

eshapes

er

father's

ogicality

nto

sharp

rgumentativeness.

ora

himself

speaks

n

hyperbolic

hetoric,

he

passion

f

his

anguage,

meta-

phors nd images verridingnd sweeping waytheeffects f

calm

reasoning, ogical

arguments,

he

gentle

words of ove.

Sucharita

avers

etween erfather

nd Gora as

does

Benoy

her

ntellect

esponding

o

the

social and

historical

rguments

that

Paresh

ssembles

o

reply

oGora'sHindu

nationalism. t

the

ame

time,

Gora

conjures

p

with

his

memorable

hetoric,

vision f

ountry

nd

oveof uch

force hat

he s enchanted:

or

her,

he

ountry

s

entirely

n

effect

f

he

words fher

beloved.

She

falls

n

ove with

both t

the same time

when,

for he

first

time,

Gora

turns o her

nd

weaves,

Othello

ike,

he

powerful

magic

fhis

words.

Source

of Power

of

Hindu

Nationalism

Rabindranath ad

put

his

finger

n

a

very mportant

ource

f

the

power

f Hindu

nationalism henhe

showed

he

ffects

f

Gora's

rhetoric: hen verbal

mages

can defeat

historical

vi-

dence

and the

mperative

f

ustice:

imultaneously

isplacing

the

iving

with n

abstraction,

reifkation,nd,

n the same

move,

nvesting

he abstract

with

ompelling

uman

ualities,

making tmorereal than the experienced r the historical.

Hindu

nationalism Rabindranath

ould

say,

ll nationalisms

-

transacts

n

the

currency

f the

imagined

made

real

with

words: he

magined

nd the dealised

thenoverwrite

nd ob-

scure

the world nwhichwe live.

Strangely

or

poet,

he dis-

trusted

he

transfiguring

ower

of

words,

he

ease

withwhich

they

reate felicitous

orldwhich

ppears

s more

eal

than

the

ctual.

Hating

himself orhis

un-Hindu ct

-

pre-marital

ove

being

anathemafor non-consensual

Hindu

marriage

ystem

nd

Sucharita

s a woman rom

nother

ommunity

he

hardens

is

orthodoxy,arshlyepresses

is ove

for

ucharita

ndhisown

doubts bout astedivisions

nd

domestic

aws.Asthe

ifts

about

to becomefinal,Gora discovers hathe is actually n adopted

child,

f

rish

arentage,

is

parents

erekilled

uring

he

mutiny

of

857.

he

discovery,

t

one

stroke,

emoves

im

rom

is

family,

his

Hindu

nd brahmanical

ncestry.eing

n

European

y

birth,

anda

Mutinyrphan,

e also loseshis ffiliation

o the

ineage

f

anti-colonial

psurges.

The brahmanical

Hindu

patriot

Gora

represents past

of

Rabindranathhat he author ad

onlyrecently

iscarded.

ut

Rabindranathnew ts

ompelling

ower.

Gora,

ven

s a Hindu

hardliner,

epresentsbrightight,

e articulates

he

majesty

f

subjugated eople risingup

to confront

njustice

nd racism.

Some

spects

fHindu

atriotism

id

embody

he

proud

efiance

of

people xpected

obe

cowering

nder

olonial

misrule,

u-

miliated nd

stigmatised.

ora s ts

elf-expression

t ts

trong-

est

point.

Whatmakeshim

specially onvincing

nd

compelling,

however,

s

that

he himselfs torn: e admires

he

Muslim,

e

s

furious henhe

sees the

ow

caste

Hindu

xploited

nd

nsulted

by

the

high

aste Hindu.

Despite

hat,

he feels

hat n

colonial

times,

atriotism

ust e based on total ove

nd

respect

or

ll

that

Hindu ndiahas or s. There s

no

other

omparable

ultural

resource

ith

whichwe can

approach

nd

confront

he acism

f

foreign

ule.

Early

n

the

novel,

is

friend

enoy

sks

him:Tell

me,Gora,

s

Bharatbarsha

omething

eal o

you?

Do

you

ee her

learly?

ow

do

you

ee her?

Benoys uncertainbout herealityf he con orwhose ake

Gora skshim o turn

way

from Brahmo

irl

who

ttracts

im.

Whereiniesthe

ntoxicating

nd

compelling ower

f he oun-

try

hat

must e worth he

sacrifice? nless

he, too,

an

experi-

ence

the

reality

s

an

actual

presence

he

way

Gora

an,

he can-

not

part

rom isnewromanticmotions.

Gora

ays:

My

ountry

s real nd lear ome ll the

ime,

ut

ou

will ot ind

her

n

Marshman

ahib's

istory

f

ndia,

he ives nside

my

eart...

I

may

ose

myway, may

rown nd die...

ut hat lessed

efuge

still

xists,

my

ountry,lways

illed

ith

wealth,

nowledge,

aith.

42

july

25,

2009

vol

xliv no

30

CDE3

EconomicPolitical eekly



8/11

^^ÊEEÊEÊEEÊEEZZZZI==IEE^=^ Z===EEIEEEEE^^^^

Falsehood surrounds s and what we seem to see is no

reality...

thisCalcutta

f

yours,

hese

mercantile

ffices,

hese

courtrooms,

these concretebubbles... can this

be

my

Bharatbarsha? ere

we

live false

ives,

do

meaningless

work,

hisBharatbarsha

s

a

magi-

cian's

trick,

t has no real

life... here s a true

Bharat,

we

need to

searchher

out,

go

there,

raw

out our

ifeblood,

ur

souls,

our wis-

domfrom hat

lace...

We have weakened

ourselves

with

elf oath-

ing,

nce we embrace

ride

or he

ntire

ountry,

he ruth f ndia

will

becomemanifest.24

Gora sserts

hat he

reality

f he

country

s

something

iffe-

rent rom

nd

opposed

o its ctual

appearance.

ts

nner ruth

must

e

seized

as an

act

of

faith,

mystical

ealisation,

s a

project.

t s

really

future hat

must

masquerade

s a

past

nd a

present

n

order

o

come nto

eing.

He also

admitshat he

pparent

ndia s suffused ith

misery.

But he s still

goddess

nd we must

pproach

er s such.He

feels onfident

hat movement

ill

arise to confront umilia-

tion.

But

hatwill

ariseout

ofour faith

n

the

goddess: Benoy,

see

my oddess,

he s not athed

n

beauty,

find er nthe

midst

of

famine,

overty,

uffering,

he is insulted. he is not to be

worshipped

ith

ongs

nd

flowers,

ut

with

ives nd blood.

cansee against hebloodshot ky, he birth f a new,radiant

dawn of freedom".25

Political

Necessity

The

goddess,

hus,

s

a

political

ecessity.

he

present

misery

f

India

s

simultaneously

nvoked

nd abolished.Atone

level,

t

must e seen as

a

false

cover,

masking

he

real with

maya

or

divine

nchantment,

illedwith

the

fleeting

nd the false

that

overwrite

ruth hich s constant.

ut,

t

another,

imultaneous

level,

t

s also

a

necessary

dornment

f he

goddess

ecause he

perception

fher

misery

s

also

a

call for

attle.

n

Gora's

escrip-

tion f

he

goddess,

wodistinct istorical

ayers

use.One s the

time f he

goddess

ofAnandamath

ho manifested erself

o

Hindu

patriots

n the midst f

devastating

amine ndwar n

the

ate 18th

entury

hen colonial

rule

had

just

been estab-

lished.The

other s

the

mmediate

ast

of the Swadeshimove-

ment

with tsExtremist

hetoric

fbloodand

thunder,

fbattle

like

onfrontations,

nd the

beginnings

f

revolutionary

erro-

rist ction

f

political

ssassinations.

When ucharita

resses

im o

clarify

he

precise

ocation f

the real

country,

ora

nvokes

he

ancient

past,

the historical

continuity

f ts ulture

hich

ranscends

ccasional

erversions

of

ts ternal

ruth.

istory

s

destiny, istory

s

country,

he

past

is our eal

place.26

BenoyvsGora

Benoy

vacillates.

At

times,

he is

entirely ersuadedby

the

power

of Gora's

charismatic

resence,

his

words.

Away

from

the charismatic

eing,

however,

he

power

vanishes

nd he is

once

morebeset

withdoubts

nd

his own

transgressive

mo-

tions

and

needs.

Ultimately,

e decides

to choose

the

latter,

telling

Gora

hathe

must

defy

is

Hindu

nationalist

roject

s

he

feels

hathe can see

the

country

hatGorawantshim o see

only

hrough

ora's

peech,

not

through

is

own

experiences.

Before

e leaves

Gora,

however,

e

talksabout his own love

to

his friend.

He also

talks

about women

who

must ive in

freedom

o come into their

own,

to

acquire

an

independent

and creative

dentity

hat

Hindu

domestic aws

deny

hem.

His

words,

n

turn,

trengthen

nd

thrust

p

on

the

urface,

ora's

own need to

love,

his own

appreciation

f

the

potential

hat

womenhave and are

made

to hide.

Though

he

represses

hese

thoughts

mmediately,

enoy's

words

work

within

im,

oun-

terposing

he

mage

of

fulfilmento the bleak

aridity

hat

his

ownproject nvolves. xperience nd needs,thus,ultimately,

give

the

simple

wordsof

Benoy greater

ffectivity.

n a

simi-

lar

way,

oo,

we

realise

what

Anandamoyee

admeant

when

she

repeatedly

old

Benoy

and

Gora that

she, too,

had

been

orthodox

nce.

But

when she had held

the

nfant

Gora

n

her

arms,

she

realised the

falsehood and

inhumanity

f social

divisions. nce Gora's

parentage

s made

clear,

he

words tand

explained:

s when she

encountered

helpless

hildfrom n-

other

eligion

nd

community,

child

whose

touch

hould

be

considered

olluting,

erfelt

ove and her

xperience

f

mater-

nal

feelings

wept way

the

structure f

prohibitions

nd ex-

clusions he had

been reared

on. Once

the

beloved

baby

made

her feel that

ts caste or

castelessnessdoes not

matter,

he

grasped hat heprinciples fpurityndpollutionhemselves

were

untrue.

Sucharita,

imilarly,

leetingly

limpses

he

country

f

Gora's

visionwhen

he istens o him.

She falls n

ove with

Gora nd

withhis

words.But

her

own

clear

ntelligence,

efined

y

the

calm

logical reasoning

her father

as

taught

her,

makes her

question

the fundamental

oints

ofGora's

argument,

gain

and

again.

It

is

only

out of

her

great

ove forGora that

he

forces erself o

accept

the Hindu

discipline

hat

Gora

thrusts

upon

her as her

patriotism.

ut,

eventually,

he realises it

means that he must

kill

her ove forGora

and

accept

non-

consensual

marriage

with man

of the

proper

aste and

line-

age.

It

is,

finally,

er love forher

sister

Lalita

who

marries

Benoy,

defying

eligious

divisions and social

stigma,

hat

makes

her

turn

way

fromGora's

path.

She cannot

abandon

Lalita in

the cause of Hindu

nationalism.

Again,

t

s the ex-

perience

of ove

that

eads on to a

consideration f ocial in-

justice

and

tyranny.

t

triumphs

ver the

mystical

vision

which

wields

a

disciplinary ower.

Sucharita sksGora

why

he

ountry

hould e identifiedith

a

faith.sn't aith

arger

han

he

country,

he asks.

Goraretorts:

ourfaith

s

our

history,

t

s

what

he

country

as

always

had...

this

s true f

ll

countries,

ach of

themives

hrough

faith

hat

expresses

ts ssence.

or

ndia,

hat aith

s Hinduism. hat

lone

can establish

link

between ur

pasts

and

presents,

anmake

our ountrys one.27

"Whatever

xists

here,

we need to embracewithout

ualifica-

tions..

f

we are differentrom he

west,

hat

oes

not

matter..."

He admits hat aste

may

eem

pparently njust

nd rrational.

Manyproblems

o flow rom t.

Yet,

t

s still

part

four

faith

whichhas

produced

o much

that

s

eminently

ational,

u-

mane,

profound.

he whole

must

urpass

he

part

nd

ustify

it.28 aresh

rgues

withhim that ven f here s a

higher

ur-

pose

in

Hindu

aste,

we

cannot ee

it.All

we can see

are walls

of

oathing

orhuman

beings

who are not considered uman.

Gorarebuts:

fwe

see no reasonfor

ome elements ut an still

Economic

Political

weekly

B321

July

25,

2009

vol

xliv no

30

43



9/11

SPECIALARTICLE .f.::^.;y^

.77 "~;7

^^:^^^

see

that

he entire

hing

s, nonetheless,marvellous,

henwe

must

ccept

hewhole nd admit hat

hose

lements, oo,

must

have a

higher

eason

which

we

cannot see because

we have

mortgaged

urown

vision,

we now eewith

oreign

yes

which

are

critical

nd

sceptical.

nce

we takeon the ntire

hing

with

love,

he

meaning

willbemadeclear.

fwe

discard

nd

change

the

part,

we will

destroy

whole,

wonderful

ivilisation,

e

willkill urown elves, ur dentity.shesays,

Reform?hat ill ome

ater. he mmediateeed

sfor holehearted

love,

o adore he

ountry,

o be one

with

her.Once

you

ry

o

reform,

ou ull

her

own,

ou egrade

erwith

riticism,

ou

et

yourself

bove

er.29

So

what

s

past,

what

s

memory

nd

deal,

what s

hidden

nd

opaque

is more real

than

what

is

experienced,

resent

nd

visible.

his

ubstitution

ecomes

realneedas actual

experi-

ence

offers

o

real

resource.

What

he sees

always

etshimdown.

Gora

goes

othe

village

nd

admits

o

himself

hatMuslims ave

stronger

iesofmutual

elf-help

nd

solidarity

ecause

they

re

notdivided

y

aste.He himself reaks

rahmanical abocs nd

drinkswater rom hehandsof low caste as he

is incensed

y

high asteoppression. e comesbackdejected, e cannotnow

find

heBharatbarsha

e

loves

nywhere.

n the

city,

e loves

woman f differentaith nd knowshe hasto

give

her

up.

Far

worse,

e

must

dviseher o

kill

her

adiant

ndividuality

nd

ac-

cept

loveless

marriage

ith

n

incompatible

usband.He loves

his mother ut

he cannot at

what

he cooks.

He

parts

with

his

dearest riend

hen

he

marries

girl

rom nother

eligion

nd

caste.

He has

only

ontempt

or isorthodox

isciples

ho ove o

despise

nd

hate he

non-Hindu,

he ow

caste,

hewoman.

Yet,

he isdestined ohavethem s his

only ompanions.

e'realises

that

ove has

no

place

n his HinduBharatwheredivisions re

more

meaningful

nd

sanctioned.

Sacrifice orHindu ndia

His

dejection

nly trengthens

is conviction.

is

love for he

Bharat

fhis

magination

s

stronger

han ll

other ies.

He

must

ruthlesslyuppress

is

doubts

nd

needs to

reach

ut o her.

He

prepares

o build

cocoon f

high

rahmanical

ractices

round

himself.

t

s

sacrificehatHindu

ndia

deserves.

n

a

sense,

he

stands t the

crossroads ven

before

he

comes

to

discover is

origins.

He has

either

o

rethink rom

he

vantage

point

f his

actual

experience

r he

has to

invest

ll

in an act of faith.His

self-discovery

larifies nd Consolidates hat was

already

t

work n

him,

t

loses ff he ther

ptions.

The

self-discovery

tands or

wo

critical

epartures

rom

is

earlier ommitmentoHindunationalism. irst, ora s, n an

instant,

adebereft f

his

past.

f

he

past,

n

his

ase,

was

iving

out

lie,

hen is ife as

to reinventts

meaning

n

entirely

ew

terms.n his

arlier

aradigm,

owever,

hat

wouldbe

an

impos-

sible

elf-impoverishment.

s

it

possible

o

breakfrom

he

past

and

yet ay

laim

o human

dentity

hat s worth

iving

or? an

we

dispense

with

he

meanings

hat

ur

pasts

had

prepared

or

us?Can

patriotism

evelop

n

dentity

hat

s

not

ntirely

erived

from

he

past?

Second,

is

ovefor

haratbarshaad

been

a

very

eal

experi-

ence for

him,

he mostvivid

and

powerful

dentification

nd

emotion

hat

had

stood

higher

han his

more

mmediate

nd

personal

ommitments.

ven

f

t

had

beenbuilt nfalse

remises,

it

was,

nonetheless,

felt

motion,

true ove.

tremains

o even

after is

elf-discovery.

e knows

ow

hat t s

possible

or man

defineds

an

alien,

foreign

lement,

o

dentify

ith

ndia,

with

her

people.

ince

he knows

ow

hat

atriotism

s not

mortgaged

to

the

ccident

f

birth,

he

ompelling

ower

f

Hindu

national-

ism that hepast, hefaith,hebirth eedtobe locatednthe

soil

of

he

ountry

n

order

o function

s conditions

f

belonging

-

iscancelled ut

by

his

own

ife.

Goranow

chooses

o ove

the

country

nd

people

f

ndia. n

the

ame

measure,

e

develops

new

understanding

bout

reely

chosen

ove s

thebasis for

ll

commitments

nd dentifications:

personal

nd

collective.

fone

can love the

country

nly

n the

freedom

f

self-determination,

hen

freedom

hould

become

value

n

all

spheres

f ife: value

that he

country

erself

must

respect

nd which

t

must

ever

ry

o abolish

r

qualify

ven

n

the name of

patriotism.

e

turns

o Sucharita

nd,

for hefirst

time,

olds

uthishand o

her.

NarrativeDevice

In the

novel,

he

whiteness

fGorafunctions

lso as

thenarra-

tive

device

for

he

ncorporation

f western

raditions

nd re-

sources

which ndians

have chosen

o

dentify

ith nd

have

recreated

s their wn

-

within ndian

history.

n his subse-

quent

writings

ike

Nationalism,

abindranath

ould

warnur-

gently gainst

an

expulsion

of western

values from ndian

lives.Gora

can be both

n

European

nd an Indian.

n

fact,

he

naming

s

significant.

he

wordmeanswhite

nd

signifies

oth

the whiterace as well as

the beloved

Vaisnav aint

of

early

modern

Bengal,

the

great

Chaitanya

who

was also called

Gouranga

r

Gora.

Theaccident f

birth

eleases

him rom heburden

f

his aste

purity

hich ad

oppressed

im nd distanced im rom is wn

people.

He knows:

rom orth o

outh,

rom astto

west,

ll the

temples

f ndia

are closed to me.

can no

onger

ine

with

ny

caste.

n an

nstant,

y

whole

ife

as

disappeared,

am

eft

ith-

out n

identity.30

What

does

he make

of

his

oss,

he

disappearance

f

he

past

which,

n

his earlier

iews,

epresented

rue

dentity,

ndividual

and

collective? e

goes

to

Paresh

with

oy

n his heart

not

be-

cause he is

a

white

man,

butbecause he now

has

become

n In-

dian. t snothis ndian

dentity

hathe

must

oreswear,

t

s his

caste

dentity.

e can

choose

to be

an

Indian,

uthe

could

not

have

chosenhis

caste

which,

ruly,

s

a

function

f

birth,

rigin

and faith. ...I have tried o long nd so hard omergemyselfn

India

but

omething

ould

obstinately

tand

n the

way...

tried

to

reconcile

he obstacles

o

love

withwhat1 ovebut could

never o

it. That s

why

neverdared to ook

at Bharat s

she

is,

feared

o

do

that. built

up

a

perfect

deal

and enclosed

t

within fortress... ow

that

fortress as

disappeared

nd

I

have

escaped

nto he

ap

of

my

eal

country.

no

onger

eed o

gild

nd embellish

hat love

more

han

my

ife nd can

begin

my

eal

work t last

the

welfare f

25

crores

f

mypeople.

At

last

become

what

have

lways

wanted

o

be butnever ould

be

-

an ndian."

44 jui.Y

25,

2009

vol xliv

no

30

DBS

Economic Political

weekly



10/11

^^^^^^SgEdLARTIL

The real and the

actual,

the

experience

and the

desire

are reconciled.

ora s released

from

he

brahman nd

Hindu

identity

nd he is set free

mong

ll Indians.All

the divisions

thatHindu astehad so

inexorably

et

up

vanish

with

he oss of

that

dentity.

What bout aith

nd

country,

ow are

they

o be reconciled?

Gora urns

o

reformist

aresh,

ince

he

no

longer

eed to fear

change rreform: ow ntroduce e tothat odwhobelongs o

all, Hindus,

Muslims

nd

Christians,

hose

temples

re not

closedto

any,

who s

not the

god

of Hindus

but

s the

god

of

all Indians.

If a

particular

aith

no

longer

defines he

country,

hat s

the

country,

hen,

after

ll? Gora

returns

o

his

mother

n

the

vening:

Mother,

ou

re

hatmotherf

mine. searchedor er

verywhere

and ll he

imehe at

t

home,

aiting

orme...

ou

ave o

aste,

o

laws,

o

hatred,

ou

re he

mage

f

ove.

ou

re

my

haratbarsha.

Mother,

ow all

achhmia,

skher o

give

me

glass

fwater.31

As

he

returnso

hismother

nd

Lachhmia,

e returnso nother

definitionf

he

ountry:

t s

the

people

whomhe must

ove,

he

must ove hem s they re nall their qualor,miseryndcon-

tradictions.

he

goddess

isappears

s themother

eturns.

4

This s

a

very

ifferent

atriotic

esolution

hich s

immensely

morehuman

han the

Hindu nationalist

ne.

It

speaks

to us

today

n

manyways.

We

still

hear hrill

rguments

or n iden-

tification

etween

Hindu and

Indian;

for

herishing

ustoms

and

traditions

ndiscriminately,

ecause

they

re "our"

nd be-

cause

the

west

stigmatise

hem;

for

making

he

idea

of the

country

ore eal

than ts

people

and and: for

emanding

he

forced

bandonment

fbeliefs

nd

practices

hat renot Hin-

du-Indian,

e

they ublic

xpressions

f

romance,

ublic

rink-

ingby

women,

rthe

right

ohavea faithwhich snotHindu.

Whatremains

trikingly

hared

cross

a

100

years

s

the

per-

sistent

elief

hat he

country

an be called

freewhen

ts

peo-

ple

untouchables,

easants,

women,

he

poor

live

n

lavery.

Gora

problematises

nd

challenges

these

assumptions

nd

claims

na

way

that

emain,

ven

today,

he

most ffective

e-

buttals.

t,

moreover,

arries

n

implicit rgument

hat s ex-

tremely

roubling

or

mainstream

ationalism

nd

even

for

he

patriotism

f the secular

variety.

f the

country

ecomes

a

country

f

one's own

only

through

n

act

of love chosen

n

freedom,

an

patriotism

hendemand

unconditional

nd eter-

nal

love,

ffiliation

nd identification?

hat

happens

when

a

part f hepeopleno ongerdentify ith hecountrynd want

another

ne

of

their

own? Can

patriotism

orce

belonging,

command

ove?

But,

t

the ame

ime,

he

patriotic

esolution

n Gora

s not s

seamless

nd

nternally

oherent

s

the

Hindu

nationalistnes.

f

pride

n Hindu

history

s not

n

ingredient

f

patriot

rabindranath's "gora" and the intractable problem of indian patriotism - sarkar

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