englishcircle - Unit-I Caste/Class

Deliverance by Premchand : Difficult Words of the Short Story:

Deliverance: sadgati in Hindi, has the sense of a death in a state of grace. The devastating irony of the Hindi word, in which the ‘sat’ (the first half of the word) means good, is difficult to convey in translation. The word literally means a ‘good death’ and conveys the idea of salvation (Mukti) achieved in death.

Dukhi: The name means ‘sorrowful’. Such names are often given in villages to avert the evil eye and keep the owner from misfortune. Dukhi comes from the untouchable community of Chamars whose task is to work with skins and hides and to remove dead animals.

Gond: The Gonds are mostly a settled agricultural tribe and one of the largest, concentrated in Orissa, Andhra, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Chikuri is a Gond. The story is set in an area where there seems to be substantial contact between tribes and castes. Chikuri’s attempts to help Dukhi show how in such areas tribes and lower caste communities have lived in a symbiotic relationship. Chikuri is relatively freedom from the Pandit. It is the difference between tribes and castes; tribes tend to be egalitarian whereas castes are intrinsically hierarchical. However, the relationship between castes and tribes is more complex. Tribal beliefs and practices have altered in the face of contact with Hindus and missionaries. As one study points out, ‘tribal society is not always more egalitarian than the rest of the rural populace; some of the larger tribes, such as the Gonds, are highly stratified.’ Moreover, tribal people, too, often end up doing unpaid work due to economic pressures.

Bhang: narcotic drink made from hemp leaves.

Plaster: to cover; plastered-past form

aggravating: irritating; adj. in sense

chaff: dry grass

Sacrilege: blasphemy: an act of disrespect (to gods)

flies off the handle: becomes angry very soon

in a rage: in angry mood

Rituals: rites: worship related acts

deck: decorate

Clients: customers

Suppressed: kept under control

drenched: wet

panting: breathless

exhausted: very tired

auspicious day: good day, sacred day

dizziness: giddiness

noose: a loop with a running knot, tightening as the rope or wire is pulled and used to trap animals or hang people

tanner: person who work with skins and hides and to remove dead animals

Deliverance by Premchand : Summary of the Short Story:

Munshi Premchand has written the story “Deliverance”

Or The story “Deliverance” has been written by Munshi Premchand. Premchand is the pen-name of the famous Hindi novelist and storyteller Dhanpat Rai. He was born on 31st July 1880. Premchand was a prolific writer and he has written a dozen novels and nearly 300 short stories. His famous novels include “Nirmala”, Seva Sadan, Rangmunch, Gaban and “Godan”. His famous short stories are Sadgati, Kafan Poose ki Raat, Shatranj ke Khiladi, Namak ka Daroga etc. Premchand is considered the first writer who wrote fiction with a social purpose. He believed in social reform and wrote about the poor and the downtrodden sections of the society. He is considered the pioneer of modernism in Hindi literature. He introduced realism in his writings.

The story “Sadgati” is translated as “Deliverance” in English. It is one of the best stories written by Premchand. It was published in 1931 and it tells us about a poor tanner Dukhi who belongs to an untouchable low-caste. Dukhi's life is made more difficult by the social and religious forces he does not fully understand and feels bound to obey the social practices.

The story begins with Dukhi and his wife Jhuriya preparing their house for the visit of a Pandit to get an auspicious date for the betrothal of their daughter. The first problem is where to get the Pandit sit because they are untouchables and a high-caste Brahmin will not use their utensils or their cot. They think about borrowing a cot from the house of an upper caste however they realise that no upper caste person will lend them a cot happily. So, they decide to make a mat of Mahua leaves for the Brahmin to sit on. Dukhi advises Jhuriya to get the food items for offering to the Brahmin but he strictly orders her not to touch the food herself because if she does so the food will be polluted. She must take an upper caste or another woman, possibly the Gond’s daughter who lives nearby, with her to fetch the food items they require.

After the necessary arrangements are made Dukhi leaves for Brahmin’s house with a bundle of grass as a gift.

Brahmin’s name is Pandit Ghasiram. As soon as Dukhi sees the Brahmin he at once falls prostrate before him on the ground. Brahman looks like a god in his full typical attire to Dukhi. Dukhi feels reverence for the Brahmin and requests him to visit his house and fix an auspicious date for his daughter's betrothal. Pandit Ghasiram however takes this opportunity to get some hard work done by Dukhi without any wages. Ghasiram orders Dukhi to first plaster the floor of the sitting room with cow dung then split a log of wood and finally carry the hay from the store to the barn. Dukhi, who is filled with awe and reverence, immediately starts carrying out the commands.

After plastering the floor with cow dung he works very hard at splitting the wood but fails to do so because of lack of experience to do it. Dukhi has not eaten anything since morning and it is already noon. He feels hungry and tired and thinks that if he can get some tobacco to smoke he will be refreshed. He finds a Gond called Chikuri and gets some tobacco from him but no light or fire. He asks for a light from Pandit’s wife. She abuses him for entering her house being a low caste tanner. Dukhi gets the burning coals by Panditayin but she does not give them to him but rather throws the burning coals at Dukhi and almost synges him. Dukhi however considers himself responsible for her behaviour and feels that he has been rightly punished. Dukhi and Chikuri both try to split wood after this but none of them succeed. Chikhuri, the Gond, advises Dukhi to give up this work and go home and take some rest. Pandit and Panditayin and discuss about giving Dukhi something to eat but Panditayin refuses to work in the hot weather and Dukhi gets nothing to eat.

Dukhi still feels that he has been given this difficult task by the Pandit Ji to test him. He wants to request Pandit Ghasiram to let him go home for now because he himself has so much work to do at his own house. He thinks that he can bring the hay to the barn and then leave by taking Pandit’s permission. Dukhi starts shifting the hay from the store to the folder bin. However, this task is also difficult because Dukhi cannot fill the basket to the full as there is no one to help put it on his head so each time he has to fill it half so that he can lift the basket himself and this makes the task cumbersome and lengthy. Tired, hungry and exhausted as Dukhi is, he falls asleep with the basket still on his head. When Brahmin comes out of the house after enjoying his nice nap instead of being thankful to Dukhi for all his work he starts cursing and abusing him. Pandit Ghasiram threatens Dukhi that if the work is not completed the marriage or betrothal of his daughter would not be pleasant. Dukhi is worried, thinking that if Pandit refuses to pick an auspicious day then the marriage of his daughter will be a failure. A mixture of awe, fear and respect makes Dukhi take up the axe once again and he forgets to make the request he thought about. He starts striking the axe so hard that after sometime the log is split into two but at the same time the tired and hungry Dukhi who was doing all this hard-hitting in a state of delirium or intoxication falls down dead.

The so-called holy Brahmin is so callous that he is not moved even by Dukhi’s death. His wife the Panditayin also is cold- hearted. It is just another problem for them how to remove the corpse. The loss of a low caste poor man’s life has no meaning for them. The Gond Chikuri tries to incite a revolt by asking the tanners not to take the dead body as there might be a police case. Dukhi’s corpse keeps lying in front of Pandit Ghasiram’s house and they are more worried about pollution than the burial or cremation of the dead body of a human being. It is ironic that Dukhi died while serving Pandit Ghasiram. However, the attitude of the Brahman is to get rid of Dukhi’s dead body as soon as possible. As no one is willing to touch his dead body it keeps lying in front of the brahmin’s house throughout the night. Tanner women keep wailing and weeping late into the night and the dead body begins to stink. The place with his body is on the way to the only well of this part of the village. If the body keeps lying there it will be impossible for the brahmins to get fresh water. The wailing of the tanner women, the spoiling corpse and the tension of disposing of the body make Pandit ghasiram take the matter into his own hands. He gets a rope and ties a noose around the dead man's feet and drags the corpse to the fields outside the village. After he returns home he takes a bath and performs the purification rites and sprinkles Ganga-water all around the house. The exposed stinking body of Dukhi becomes food for dogs, jackals, kites and crows. Premchand concludes the story with his bitterly ironic comment that “this was the reward of a whole life of devotion, service and faith.”

Deliverance by Premchand : Questions-Answers based on the Short Story:

1. What does the name Dukhi suggest?

Answer : The name Dukhi suggests "sadness."Dukhi is the main character in this story "Deliverance'' by Premchad. Dukhi belongs to untouchable low - caste. His job is to remove the skin , burn and sell dead animals. The name Dukhi must have been given by his parents to avert any evil that might come up in his life. However, as we find in the story, Dukhi's life becomes more difficult due to casteism in society. Dukhi holds very high regard for the Brahman. He is a kind of person who observes social rituals and customs truthfully. He respects Pandit Ghasiram like a devotee. Pandit Ghasiram on the other hand is a hypocrite who manipulates Dukhi into doing his household chores without paying him anything in return. Dukhi carries out the commands of the Brahman with all his sincerity despite the fact that he had eaten nothing since morning and had no experience to do the works assigned to him. Eventually Dukhi dies in tragic circumstances due to hunger, fatigue and exhaustion. When at last his body is thrown as food for jackals, kites, dogs and crows we realise that honest and poor Dukhi has died a very tragic death due to the callousness of Pandit Ghasiram and his wife in particular and due to caste-based discrimination in general.

2. What contribution does the first scene—where Dukhi and his wife plan how to receive the Pandit— make to the whole story?

Answer : The first scene shows Dukhi and his wife Jhuriya preparing their house for the visit of a Pandit to get an auspicious date for the betrothal of their daughter. The first problem is where to get the Pandit sit because they are untouchable and a high caste Brahmin will not use their cot. This scene at once brings our attention to the caste system present in a typical Indian society in which people of low caste are afraid of people of high caste. The problem is not only about the cot but also about the food offerings to be given to the Pandit. Dukhi seems a kind of person who observes social rituals and customs truthfully. He is alert about the caste-situation and strongly advises Jhuriya not to touch anything with her own hands otherwise the whole effort will be wasted. This panic in the hearts of a low caste couple shows the extent of caste-based mentality in a typical rural Indian society. The scene also sets the tone of the story and highlights the main problem that Dukhi needs to get an auspicious date for the engagement of his daughter from Pandit Ghasiram.

3. ‘How godly a sight!’ Dukhi thinks when he sees the Brahmin. How does Premchand ensure that the reader does not share this view?

Dukhi is the main character in the story "Deliverance" written by Premchand. Dukhi goes to the Pandit’s house to invite him to his house to fix an auspicious date for the betrothal of his daughter. He takes a bundle of grass with him as an offering. Pandit Ghasiram comes out after observing his daily routine of worship and is in his full regalia. As soon as Dukhi sees the Pandit he prostrates himself on the ground, stands up again and folds his hands in reverence. Pandit ghasiram is a short roly-poly fellow with a bald head, chubby cheeks and eyes beaming with Brahmanical energy. Sandalwood markings on his forehead, chest and arms make him look like a god. Pandit's glorious figure fills Dukhi’s heart with faith and respect. Dukhi is deeply moved and thinks that the Brahman is no less than a God; this is when he exclaims with wonder that it is a godly sight.

Premchand, However, does not approve Dukhi's point of view as a general point of view. In the story, Premchand gives several details to prove that Ghasiram is not like a god. He is not even a good human being. Ghasiram has been shown as the character who uses abusive language and has a loose temper. He has beaten his son so badly that the son still goes around with the broken hand. The Brahman is shrewd and selfish. He makes Dukhi do all the hard work and exploits the poor tanner without paying him anything in return. He and his wife do not give Dukhi anything to eat and when the poor man dies of fatigue and hunger Ghasiram does not feel even a bit of guilt. He is just worried about the removal of Dukhi's dead body as soon as possible. He has to drag the dead body like an animal out of the village. He throws the body into the field for jackals, kites, crows and dogs to eat it. So Premchand makes sure that the reader does not share the point of view of Dukhi that Ghashiram is godly. Ironically, it is Ghasiram, who is much respected by Dukhi, who is responsible for Dukhi's untimely and tragic death.

4. Find more examples in the story of this kind of irony, i.e. where there is a discrepancy between our view of events and Dukhi’s. Examine how Premchand uses both authorial comment and passages of ‘objective’ description to influence the reader’s reaction to the Pandit.

5. How skilled do you find Premchand at revealing character through dialogue?

6. Does this story bear out the truth of Jotirao Phule’s claim that Sudras are mentally enslaved?

7. Contrast the characters of Dukhi and Chikhuri.

8. What aspects of Brahmin life and attitudes are satirised in (a) the Pandit and (b) the Pandit’s wife?

9. What is ironic about the way the story ends?

The story “Deliverance” ends tragically with Dukhi’s dead body thrown in fields as food for the scavengers. Premchand writes, “Out there in the field the jackals and kites, dogs and crows were picking at Dukhi’s body. This was the reward of a whole life of devotion, service and faith.” The ending is bitter and stinging but very relevant. Dukhi follows the rules of the society with sincerity and devotion He believes in the holiness and spirituality of Pandit Ghasiram. Dukhi thinks that he is no less than a god. Dukhi has the faith of a devotee for the Pandit. Dukhi feels that Pandit Ji has given him some kind of test and does not want to invite his anger so he never disobeys him and keeps working despite hunger, exhaustion and fatigue. Pandit and his wife however exploit poor tanner and do not even give him anything in return, not even food. He has such a high regard for Pandit’s spirituality. In the end, Dukhi eventually dies of fatigue, exhaustion and hard work. Pandit Ghasiram is not even remotely remorseful; he is only worried about getting the dead body out of his house. Ironically, it is Ghasiram, who is much respected by Dukhi and he is responsible for Dukhi's untimely and tragic death. Original title of the story is “Sadgati”. “Sat'' means pure or good “Gati” means death so it simply means ‘a good death’. The idea is to achieve salvation in death. Dukhi’s death, however, is not good or pure. It is the result of an inhuman caste system present in Indian society.

10. What is the central theme of the story "Deliverance"?

A sample paragraph with explanation:

“After these……….far away.

Reference to the context: This passage has been taken from the story “Deliverance” written by Premchand. Writer tells about Dukhi, the tanner who is going to Pandit’s house to ask for a favour.

Explanation: Dukhi picked up his stick and took a big bundle of grass as a gift for the Pandit. He was going to ask a favour of the Pandit. So he was taking this bundle of grass. Also because Dukhi had nothing except grass to offer to Panditji. He also thought that if he went without any gift Pandit would become angry and would abuse him from far away.

Critical Comments: In this story Dukhi the tanner goes to Pandit’s/ Ghasiram’s house to get an auspicious date for the betrothal of his daughter. He takes a bundle of grass as a gift but still Pandit makes him do many difficult tasks that ultimately kill Dukhi.

Joothan by Omprakash Valmiki

Summary of the chapter:

Omprakash Valmiki was born in 1950 and he passed away in 2013. he was one of the first dalit writers in Hindi. He was a Valmiki by caste and he experienced torture and abuse everywhere in society starting from a young age. Valmiki's autobiography “Joothan” (1997) tells us about his horrible experiences, his struggles to overcome social situations and his eventual success.

In this particular chapter which has been taken from his autobiography “Joothan”; we are told about his experience of getting admission in a primary school in his village and the attitude of high-caste Tyagi or Taga people towards the education of a Dalit child. He also recalls the general practices of the people in the village. The word ‘Joothan’ literally means something that is left after one has eaten and this something is given to some pet animal or is thrown into the garbage bin. However according to Valmiki life of a common dalit person is no less than this ‘Joothan’. A common dalit faces humiliation at every step in his or her life. According to Valmiki, a dalit is often tortured, beaten and is made to work without wages or grain by the high caste people. The story begins by describing the poor living conditions of the Chuhra community in the writer's village. There is a complete lack of basic civic amenities. Omprakash Valmiki describes in the story that his house is near the cowshed of Chandra Bhan Taga. The houses of upper caste people are made of bricks and they are in the main village whereas the houses of the Valmikis are on the edges of the pond and they were made of clay. The name of the pond is 'Dabbowali' which is not more than an open latrine for the entire village. Parda-observing high caste Tyagi women relieve themselves out in the open here along the edges of the pond. Due to this there is a lot of stench in the air. Pigs roam in the narrow lanes along with naked children and dogs. There are daily fights in the narrow lanes. This is the environment in which Valmiki has been growing up since his birth. Human beings are no better than pigs as both live in the same streets. There are heaps of garbage all around. Chuhra people work for the Tagas, the upper caste people who mistreat them and do not even pay for the work. Untouchability is so dominant that while it is right to touch dogs and cats or cows or buffaloes but it is considered pollution if one touches a Chuhra. The Chuhras are not considered human beings.

Valmiki's family lives in this Chuhra basti. They are five brothers and one sister who live with their parents. Everyone in the family has to do some work. Still there is not enough food for a day. They work for the Tagas and often work without pay. The Valmiki are considered untouchable and they are more like things that are discarded after use.

A Christian Sevak Ram Masihi visits the writer's neighbourhood to teach the children of the Valmiki in his open air school. Valmiki is the only member of his family who attends primary school. He learnt his alphabet in Sevak Ram Masihi's school. Now, he wants to take admission in the basic primary school of the village.

The time is set in 1955 and legally the doors of the Government schools are open for all. However, the upper caste teachers discourage the low caste students from entering or attending school. His father takes him to the basic primary school and begs headmaster Har Phool Singh to teach the writer. After several days of pleading, the writer gets admission in the school. Om Prakash has to sit separately behind everybody else and sometimes right close to the door. He is frequently teased by the children of the upper caste Tagas. Muslim Tagas behave no differently. The government schools are open for everyone but the mentality of the teachers is such that they discourage the children of the Valmikis from attending schools. Upper caste boys tease the writer, laugh at his clothes and beat him often without any excuse. The behaviour of the teachers is no different . Teachers also ill-treat dalit children and shower them with abuses at the slightest excuse. Teachers make every effort to discourage the low-caste children from studies and keep them at a distance. Omprakash Valmiki recalls that he and his other two friends Ram Singh and Sukhan Singh were very good at studies but some teachers behaved like enemies to them. They are constantly humiliated, beaten and discouraged because of their background.

When the writer reaches 4th class things become more difficult after new headmaster Kaliram joins the school. He and his friends are now beaten almost daily at the slightest excuse. Low caste boys are abused and swore about mothers and sisters. Teachers even fondle and sexually abuse some good looking boys. Due to such horrible experiences the writer can never think of teachers as "gurus"

One day headmaster Kaliram calls the writer to his office and asks him if he is a 'chuhre ka'. When the writer replies that he is, the headmaster asks him to climb a teak tree, break some twigs, make a broom and then sweep the whole school clean as a mirror. After the writer has finished this job headmaster comes to him and tells him to sweep the playground. This continues for two days. Valmiki cannot go to the classroom at all and study anything. On the third day Valmiki fearfully goes and sits in his class and headmaster Kali Ram comes looking for him. He pounces upon him like a wolf on a lamb and grabs him by his neck and drags him out of the class and orders him to start sweeping the playground. Valmiki feels profound anguish and tears start rolling from his eyes as he picks up the three day old broom and starts sweeping. His father Chotan Lal is passing by and when he notices that his son is sweeping the playground he comes to enquire about it. Valmiki's father learns about the situation and goes to the headmaster and argues with him. The Headmaster insults him, calls him names and tells him to withdraw his son from school. The writer's father goes from one house of the Taga to another to seek justice and action against the headmaster Kali Ram. However the high caste Tagas taunt him by saying that a crow should not try to become a swan and it is wrong for a Chuhra to go for education. At last, he goes to the house of Seva Singh Tyagi the Pradhan of the village. When Pradhan learns that the writer is his son's classmate he gives his assurance that Omparkash can go to school without any problem. The writer goes to school the next day though he is terribly afraid of Kali Ram. Nothing happens for a few days and things calm down but he remains terribly fearful of the headmaster. We can observe that despite all the humiliation and exploitation, Omprakash Valmiki keeps fighting and ultimately gets admission and starts studying with the help of his father who stands beside him like a steady rock.

Difficult Words:

Valmiki: The author of Valmiki Ramayana; supposedly a criminal before his transformation into a sage. His name is derived from the Sanskrit word for ant-hill (valmika) which covered him during his long penance.

Joothan: Scraps of food left over after a meal. The title underlines the poverty, pain and

humiliation of Valmiki’s community which had to rely on joothan. The author later gives a

detailed description of collecting and eating preserved joothan.

Tyagi or Taga: This is the name of an upper caste in the western region of Uttar Pradesh where

Omprakash Valmiki grew up. One of the peculiar features of caste is that it is found among non-Hindus as well. The reference to the Muslim Tagas or Tyagis is to be understood in this context.

The isolation of the Dalits is foregrounded in terms of their experience of caste as a factor that

unites the Tyagis, both Muslims and Hindus, to perpetuate the most debilitating discrimination

against them.

Chuhra, Chamar, Jhinwar: Lower-caste communities.

Munshiji: A munshi is a secretary or language teacher.

Progeny of Dronacharya: Dronacharya was the guru of the Pandavas and instructed Arjun in

the art of warfare. When a tribal boy Eklavya came to Dronacharya and asked to be taught

archery, Dronacharya refused, saying he would instruct only Brahmins and Kshatriyas. However

Eklavya made an effigy of Dronacharya and, treating it as his teacher, practised archery in front

of it till he became proficient. When the Pandavas found out his skill and asked him who his guru

was, Eklavya answered ‘Dronacharya.’ Dronacharya heard of this, called Eklavya and asked for

his right thumb as gurudakshina, the gift from pupil to teacher. Eklavya gave it without

hesitation and thereafter trained himself to manage the bow using his left thumb, as certain

tribals in India do to this day.

Exposing : showing, disclosing, opening

Muck: scum, mud, filth, gloop

Environment : surroundings

Untouchability: practice of not touching someone or something Rampant : widespread uncontrolled

Contaminated : become polluted

Utility : use

Absurd: strange, ridiculous, tormented, tortured

Introverted : withdrawn

Stratagems: strategies, methods, tricks

Perpetrators: oppressors, doers in a negative sense

Unwarranted: unnecessary

Grab: catch hold of

Screamed: cried

Frightened: very much afraid

Spectacle: flight or seen

Anguish: pain mental or physical

Snatch: catch hold, take by force

Blazing: burning

Bowstring: the string or rope of the bow

Flattering: was moving here and there

Progeny: child or descendant

Fortitude : courage and determination

Decisive : critical turn, vital decision

QUESTIONS

1. The writer gives extensive details describing the village pond and its environment. How do these

affect the way the reader responds to the story of the later incidents in the school?

2. In what ways does this account show that ‘the mentality of ordinary people had not changed much’?

3. How do the schoolteachers fall short of the ideal image of the guru?

4. A child often views the adults around him as role models for his own behaviour. Did the young

Valmiki have any role models he could respect, or not?

5. What ‘decisive turn’ did Valmiki’s father give to the boy’s future?

6. Joothan ‘transforms an experience of pain into a narrative of resistance.’ Discuss.

7. Why does Omprakash Valmiki use ‘abusive words’ in his writing? How does this challenge

established norms of writing and middle class norms of linguistic decency?

8. Some writers attempt to win sympathy for the oppressed castes by highlighting their meekness and

innocence. Others write in a more angry style or show their characters’ rebellious rage. Which

approach do you find more effective? Answer with reference to writers in this section.

Kallu by Ismat Chugtai

General Overview

Kallu is almost seven years old. He is not a very good looking boy. Kallu gets up early in the morning and starts working when others are still resting. He puts water on the stove for tea and sets the table for breakfast. He also serves breakfast and does many rounds from table to the kitchen. In short, he is very busy doing all the small chores in the house. One day, in a jest, he is asked whom he wants to marry and when Kallu says that he wants to marry Salima then Dulhan Bi, lady of the house, gets very angry and beats him like an animal in front of his mother. Then Dulhan Bi expels both Kallu and his mother from her house. Kallu’s mother asks for forgiveness but no one listens to her.

After many years, this rich Muslim family has now changed. Its status has lowered and now the family is looking for a suitable match for Salima but they can not find it due to decline in status after the partition of India. Kallu has now become the Deputy Collector. Now he has power, money and high status. Although being a mother Mumani knows that Kalimuddin is perhaps the best match for Salima yet she refuses to accept his marriage proposal and has mixed feelings towards the boy. Mumani has no particular reason to reject Kalimuddin’s proposal and also everyone else in the family is ready to accept the proposal. So when all the family members persuade Mumani to tell the reason she has nothing specific but simply wants Kallu to call her Amma Bi. This shows that Mumani is conscious of her status and class. The central theme of the story “Kallu” written by Ismat Chugtai, is class- consciousness of people in Indian society. If a person is rich, he enjoys respect but if a person is poor he or she is considered inferior. The attitude of people changes if a poor person becomes rich and attains a high position. The story tells us about our money-centered society. Its values are based on money. This is clear from Mumani’s decision to marry Salima to Kallu who has now become Kalim Saheb.

Critical Appreciation/Summary of the Poem "Bosom Friend"

Bosom friend is a poem written by Hira Bansode and is taken from her collection of poems "Phiyad" published in 1984. Bosom friend is a critical and sarcastic poem which exposes the hypocrisy and caste-consciousness of the upper caste people in India. This poem is written in the form of a dramatic monologue. Its speaker is a Dalit women who addresses her upper-caste bosom friend. The poem tries to reflect the failed efforts of this upper caste close friend to rise above the traditional prejudice against low-caste people. She accepts the speaker's invitation for dinner and comes to her small humble house which is called pocket-size house. The speaker feels highly grateful and feels like she is touching the sky. The writer is elated at her friend's visit. The sky is a symbol of her state of joy and happiness. It is a symbol of her expectations from her friend. She compares her friend with lord Ram who accepted the already tasted berries from a humble low-caste woman, Shabri.

The prejudice of this close friend comes to the surface soon. When the food is served to this so-called bosom friend, she starts finding fault with the arrangement of food on the plate. Until now the speaker is thinking that her friend has abandoned the feeling of superiority of her caste and has come to her house bridging the chasm or divide of casteism. However, the facial expressions of her friend change upon seeing the plate laid in front of her. With a smirk she expresses her amusement upon the way chutney Koshimbir is presented to her and adds that the lower caste folks of the society still don't know how to serve food. She satirically comments that low-caste people will never improve. The utterance comes as a shock to the speaker because she considers the guest her bosom friend. The speaker feels ashamed and embarrassed and her spirits are ripped apart by the harsh words of her guest.

Towards the end of the poem, the guest expresses her disappointment that she is not served buttermilk or yogurt with the last course of rice as it is an integral part of the meal served in the civilized sections of the society. The speaker is reminded of her lower-caste, lack of table-manners and her poverty. The speaker recalls her childhood memories and times of adversity. There was not even enough food for the family during her childhood. Her mother would cook on sawdust brought from the lumberyard. They would not find tea or milk and would eat bread crumbs with water. The speaker and her family had lived in harsh poverty. She recalls that she had never tasted halva or basundi and Shrikhand was not even in her vocabulary in those days. But her friend can not understand all this because she has come to mock the writer; not to understand the writer or to spend an evening with the writer. The rhetorical question in the last lines of the poem reflects the disappointment felt by the writer at her friend's prejudiced and rude behaviour. She has lost all hopes of friendship with this person because she has realized that her friend has not been able to discard the caste based traditions of society .

The poem brings out the hypocrisy of the modern upper caste people who claim that they believe in social equality and justice. But in reality these people have not been able to rise above the boundaries laid down by the caste system. The poem is written in the form of dramatic monologue which is delivered by an educated Dalit women to her hypocritical friend. The poem is characterized by authenticity and intensity because it describes a personal experience of the writer.

Questions:

1. Comment on the conflict between expectation and reality with special reference to the title.

2. Identify the specific form of inequality being referred to in the opening lines of the poem.

3. What does the image of the sky suggest in the poem?

The poem “Bosom Friend” is written by Hira Bansode. The image of the sky has two meanings in the poem. The first meaning is in the fourth line where the poet compares the mind of her friend with sky and thinks that her friend is an open minded person/ open hearted person who does not believe in the caste system. The other meaning of the word sky is in the second part of the poem where the poet compares her happiness with the sky. She feels that she was flying in the sky due to happiness but her friend’s rude behaviour shocks the poet. The poet is heartbroken due to the fact that her friend has not removed the mental barrier of casteism yet. So we can say that the image of the sky has layers of meanings in the poem.

4. Comment on the use of the words ‘you folk’ by the guest to address her friend.

The poem Bosom Friend is written by Hira Bansode. The words “you folk” are spoken by the poet’s friend who belongs to a high caste. These words tell us about the difference of upper and lower castes in Indian society. These words also tell us about the mentality of the guest towards lower caste people. How can she tell her friend about her difficult childhood because her high caste friend will never understand her plight. Also that in the poet's childhood she never even smelled ghee and tasted sweets like halva and srikhand. But the speaker senses that her friend strongly believes in the caste discrimination and has come to just show her own status and hypocrisy. So the words “you folk” point out the difference between upper and lower castes in Indian society.

5. Can we generalize to say that the writers who have personally experienced oppression write differently from those who write only out of sympathy with the oppressed? Answer with reference to texts in this section.

Sample Stanza from the poem with Reference to the Context and Explanation and Critical Comments.

Ans: Today you…….really happy.

Reference to the Context: The poem “Bosom Friend” is written by Hira Bansode. Hira Bansode is a Dalit Marathi writer. The poem is about the visit of an upper-caste friend to the writer’s home for dinner. The writer is happy at the visit of her friend.

Explanation:The poet tells her close friend that she has come to the writer’s home for dinner that day. The writer’s friend has come after ignoring/forgetting all the boundaries of the caste system. She has come with an open mind as large as the sky. The upper caste friend has come to a Dalit friend’s small home for dinner. The poet feels that her friend has bridged the gap between them and has broken all caste related bonds. The writer is very happy to receive her friend. Her friend carries the message of true friendship.

Critical Comments: The poem is about the experience of an educated Dalit woman about the visit of her upper-caste friend to her home for dinner. The poet is very happy at first because she feels that her friend has come forgetting all the caste-based boundaries and has bridged the gap between the high and low castes for the sake of friendship. However, as we can see in the rest of the poem that this friend starts mocking the writer and her ways when the dinner is served. Her reaction makes the writer depressed. The writer then recalls her difficult childhood and feels betrayed by her friend.

Today………..improve

Reference to the Context: These lines have been taken from the poem “Bosom Friend” written by Hiran Bansode. These lines are spoken by the speaker/poet to her bosom/dear friend who has come to visit her for dinner in the poet's house. This poem is a dramatic monologue.

Explanation: The speaker/writer/poet says that she is very happy today because her friend has come to visit her for dinner today. The poet feels that her friend has left all the caste things behind and she has come to visit by bridging the great divide of caste-system. The speaker feels ecstatic like Shabari on seeing her dear friend in her small ordinary house.

Critical Comments: The friend visits this house to show that she does not believe in the caste system but her comments show her hypocrisy and break the poet’s heart.

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