We returned to Bhubaneswar early evening. The Car Festival in Puri had some incidents. Among the temples in India, the priests in Sri Jagnannatha temple are extremely protective of their premises. There are religious injunctions against activities that might defile the sanctity of the shrine. All food and rituals have to be redone in case of observations of slight impropriety. These restrictions are not well understood by all. Non-believers cry foul. During the Islamic time, there were many attempts to destroy the temple by creating such diversions. The Islamists were against the idol worship. The priests had hid the deities in a nearby lake. A few self-appointed temple guards monitor the entrance to the Temple. There is a big sign saying that only "Hindu"s are allowed entry. Most non-Hindus avoid entry not to create confrontation. Amidst such protocol there is the new group called International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). They are the followers of an Indian holy man who came to the US in his late '60s and talked about a loving Sri Krishna, the icon of Hindu mythology. Zealots in their own right, the followers of the movement create their own definition of Sri Jagannatha. Because they are not allowed to enter the Temple normally, they wish to ride the chariots when the deities are taken out during the Car Festival. Every year there are reports of clash between the local temple operatives and the ISKCON enthusiasts. This year was no different. The special event of "navakalevara" had elicited some novices from other parts of the world who wanted to exercise their privilege of religious liberty and "freedom of speech." In a primitive institution like Sri Jagannatha, the protocol is more like a cult. Apparently the clash this year was stronger. Religious rivalry in India exists. People do make efforts to disturb the Hindu festivities in the name of "religious freedom." Breaking the Hindu society or fragmenting it has been an old method of incursion. The locals get scared and become extra protective. I do not know if the customs in Puri would die in course of time by virtue of such unnecessary conflicts. Through its volunteers and with the help of the local Indian community ISKCON does host the Festival in various parts of the world as a part of their recruitment drive. The distance the chariots travel is a little more than a mile. They are pulled by throngs of people who use thick marine ropes. The technology is fairly refined, except the chariots have no brakes. The wheels are blocked by wooden obstacles. There are reports of accidental deaths under the wheels. Fanatic believers sometimes jump to die under the wheels. The mankind can be sick under the frenzy of wistfulness and romanticism. The deities stay in their aunt's house for nine days. Then there is a return festival. By the time we reached Bhubaneswar the chariots had reached the destination temple without any road accidents. My sister Aparimita and I walked up the stairs to get to their second floor apartment. Aparimita teaches English in a local college. My father was a student of English literature in college. Since college training in vernacular languages was poor, most literature minded students take solace in English while pursuing their vernacular work. My father appreciated my sister's entry into English literature. Her childhood and juvenile years were mostly spent in dance and voice training. I had left India by the time she entered college. Naming a child in India is a ritualistic event. The elder family members observe the child for the first three weeks. The astrologers put together a chart following the sky conditions at the time of birth. While the latter has no logical foundation, the astrologers do predict the baby's future from such cursory information. Many people buy into it. It is empiricism at its best. The letters for the prospective name are numerically derived from such charts. Out of a few choices, the parents extrapolate their fancy. Being a poet, my father was romantic in his thoughts. They chose the name "Aparimita" which literally meant a person who is unbounded. The English word "perimeter"is derived from the Sanskrit word "parimita."
I was happy that my sister was engaged in research. I had heard that she had gained reputation as a good teacher and was friendly to her students. While she had begun the doctoral work several years before, the family pressure had not been conducive. The task did move up in priority since her College was upgraded to run as an autonomous degree-granting institution. A doctoral degree is a requirement for the senior Faculty in such a set up. She was actively moving to fulfill the requirement.
She wanted to make a comparative study of a mother-daughter duo of Indian novelists who currently reside in the US. Anita Desai came to MIT to help create interest in the Humanities in the Engineering School. She had a German mother and an Indian father. I knew when she came to MIT, but did not take interest. She writes about the social issues around Indian women- disrespect, dowry, neglect and utter obeisance. She contrasts the Indian female characters with the western counterparts who could be freer, independent and self-centered. She has won awards for her writing.
Anita Desai's daughter, Kiran Desai, is more sympathetic to the India's cause. She tries to interpret the after-effects of colonialism and the longing of an Indian towards an Indian way of living. She talks about immigration and the shoddy living of people with under-the-counter wages. She has her characters emulate manners of the foreign land. The person transforms and abuses wife and family. In her novel, the social conflicts are more vivid. She has also won prestigious awards.
India has a culture of story telling. There is a cosmological view of cyclic nature of time. Every event is considered a moment that would have many occurrences in time. No event is complete in itself, each is a story as played out at a given moment. A storytelling has emotional value attached to it, but no judgement. Everything has a cause, and we respect the cause. We may take some lesson locally, but we have to understand the larger play always. This view is different that the momentary sociological view which could be overwhelming.
My sister was narrating the stories of simulated characters of immigration to her brother who has been abroad for forty years. I have seen the depicted characters in real life. The poverty of life in India has a transforming effect. Current India's social life is insecure and unstable. Once upon a time India was the richest nation on the earth. Now she is plundered, oppressed and her institutions are ravaged. With freedom, she is trying to place herself in the new world, but her bones have been ill-nourished. There is enormous material through the diversity in the country. Such material is read with pleasure abroad. Nobody understands the inner thinking of a widow in Benares.
Aparimita's thesis wanted to show that the mother and daughter have tried to portray the "indianness" in their characters. "indianness" and "indian identity" are undefined phrases. While forgiveness and acceptance can be strong Indian values, social dignity and community respect are also evolved values in society. A woman is the most respected institution enunciated by the Indian scriptures, and the woman could be most abused in the context of a family. The degradation has not been analyzed. A writer needs much deeper insight to understand the history.
I helped my sister in restructuring her thesis to make it more towards the discovery of Indian identity as attempted by the two authors. We worked together pretty late into the night. She was alert, understanding and quick. I loved her language and her way of expression. We tried to work such that a publication quality material could emerge. She would be one among very few of her peers who secures a doctoral degree in English literature. My father would have been extremely happy. My mother was joyfully looking from the sky!
