Abstract
However good one was and however many attempts one made to unravel the difficulties of his life, it was not possible for them at all to get success in getting liberation and make progress on the platform of humanity if they were not free from the invisible negative power of blind belief. Ultimately, they were all bound to end up fighting a losing battle which made no sense. Tom and Bakha were obsessed with the blind beliefs. Hence, they could not manage to get a breakthrough in emancipation. Both Kamble and Pawar were born into the families of slaves. But the readers of Aaydan and Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha could see them encountering the crafty and inhuman oppressors and challenging the long-held beliefs. They surpassed their husbands in creating an egalitarian society. They succeeded in their individual lives. Their contribution to emancipating a number of Dalit individuals particularly women was remarkable. In the end, one could find the two Dalit ladies Kamble and Pawar to have become iconoclastic and revolutionary personalities in the Indian society. They were in a position to get success in liberation from the superstition because they were lucky enough to have organic intellectuals and the ideology of resistance.
Keywords: Novels, Autobiographies, Ideology of Dominance, Slaves, Failures, Organic Intellectuals, Ideology of Resistance, Successes
Introduction
Four books have been selected for a close analysis and a comparative study from two major genres of literature. The genres are novel and autobiography. The two novels are Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable. The autobiographies are Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha by Shantabai Kamble and Urmila Pawar’s Aaydan. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in 1852, and Untouchable was written in 1935. Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha was published in Marathi in 1983. It is also considered to be the first Indian Dalit autobiography by a woman. Urmila Pawar’s autobiography Aaydan was first written in Marathi in 2003. Later on, it was translated into English and the title of the English version is The Weave of my Life and the same was published in 2009.
This paper essentially relates to the oppressed and slavish life style of the Coloured masses in America in the nineteenth century and the similar way of existence of the Untouchables in India during the twentieth century. It also discusses the predicament and the persecuted world of the Dalit women in India in the twentieth century and their dogged determination to liberate themselves. It further provides an insight into the fact as to how superstition and stagnation go hand in hand no matter in which society the victims of blind belief live their lives and how awakening and emancipation go together. The researcher has made two different comparisons in the present paper: one, a comparative study between Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Untouchable; two, a comparison of Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha and Aaydan.
A Similarity between Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Untouchable
A number of similar situations and dissimilar ones between both Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Untouchable could be witnessed by the readers. First of all, it is essential to discover the fact that even though both the books were related to the most downtrodden classes of two different societies in two different centuries, their respective writers had belonged to exactly opposite sections of societies — i.e. Stowe was a white American woman novelist and Anand came from the non-Dalit Hindu community in India. In other words, both the books were not based on the first hand experiences of the writers as such.
Similarities between Tom and Bakha in Curse, Superstition, Ambition and the Lack of Organic Intellectuals
Both the protagonists Tom of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Bakha of Untouchable were accursed by the slavery system in America and the caste system and the practice of untouchability in India correspondingly. The slavery of the Coloured masses in America degraded them to the level of animals and human goods, and therefore, Tom was bound to have at least four masters in his life namely Mr. Shelby, Haley, St. Augustine Clare and Mr. Simon Legree. For instance, Tom was honest, good-natured, virtuous, hard-working, and dutiful. Consequently, he was able to win the trust of his master, Shelby, who states, “‘Well,’ said Mr. Shelby, ‘Tom is sincere, if anyone is, and completely trustworthy. I know that from experience. I shall be sorry to part with him, I must say.’” (1)
Likewise, the caste system and the practice of untouchability in India debased the Outcastes to such a level that they were considered to be lower even than animals of any sort. And as such Bakha was subjected to inhuman treatment, misery and deprivation at the hands of the non-Dalits, who strongly believed in the theory of rebirth and the theory of purity and pollution. Untouchable shows the caste-based belief system and value system destroyed the very existence and identity of Bakha forever.
Both Tom and Bakha were deeply superstitious and god-fearing. Although Tom along with his entire family was completely enslaved by white Americans by means of law, he was not been in a position to think out of the box, analyze the sorry state of affairs reasonably and make any efforts to escape the permanent misfortune called slavery. Instead, he quite meekly surrendered to the oppressive, dehumanizing and destructive system and began to believe blindly in the Christian belief system. Similarly, Bakha as well as his whole family was nearly always compelled to face ostracism, humiliation, ill-treatment and acute pain every time he came across caste conscious Hindus in all walks of life. Yet, Bakha’s family could be found having unwavering belief in the existence and greatness of Hindu deities such as Rama.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Untouchable present Tom and Bakha were highly ambitious. Tom honestly felt to master the skill of reading so as to be able to read the Bible and understand the teachings of Jesus. Yet, he could never do it as the circumstances in which he had been living his life were extremely unfavourable. Uncle Tom’s Cabin records the difficulty faced by Tom when he had to write and convey a message to his wife through mail, “In such a case, you write to your wife, and send messages to your children; but Tom could not write,— the mail for him had no existence” (69). Similarly, Bakha could never know how to read and write because the Untouchables were absolutely forbidden from going to public places and institutions like schools.
Lastly, what is more remarkable to find out is the fact that awakened, knowledgeable and committed leaders, especially from Tom’s and Bakha’s sections of societies are not found in the novels; the guides and leaders were completely missing from the lives of both the protagonists. That is why the struggles of Tom and Bakha to overcome the entrenched obstacles in their lives became utter failures.
Dissimilarities between Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Untouchable in Realism
Since the novelists, Stowe and Anand, did not belong to the victims’ sections of societies, they depicted the stories of the central characters as they had observed societies and imagined about them. It is fascinating to realize the fact that the point had been brushed aside by Anand that in reality a few great organic thinkers and revolutionaries such as Jyotirao Phule, Shahu Maharaj, Narayan Guru, Periyar and Ambedkar analyzed the societies of their times, became fully aware of their drawbacks, made attempts to awaken the masses from the deep slumber, and challenged the dehumanizing social system before the novel Untouchable was written. The novelist Anand had consciously shied away from making reference to the awakening movements of those great organic intellectuals in India. That is why Bakha was found absolutely ignorant of such personalities and was excited about Gandhi’s speech.
Dissimilarities between Tom and Bakha in Untouchability, Religion and Indoctrination
Then it is more interesting to discover the fact that for the white masters Tom was never untouchable. Even the houses of them both were not that far away. On the other hand, the caste conscious Hindus were invariably careful and strict in practicing untouchability with Bakha. And hence, their localities were quite far away from that of Bakha regardless of the fact of living in the same village.
When it came to religion, Tom automatically started to follow Christianity as his masters belonged to it and Christianity was a major religion in America. On the contrary, the life style of Bakha was forced on him by the dominant and manipulative non-Dalits in India. Untouchable further reveals how Bakha fell prey to both indoctrination and force and how non-Dalit Hindus with the help of these two weapons continued to maintain the status quo in society. The intoxication of indoctrination was too intense for Bakha’s family to think of conversion to any other religion.
Similarities between Kamble and Pawar in Caste Discrimination and Untouchability
Kamble belonged to the Western Maharashtra area. On the other hand, Pawar came from the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Interestingly, both Kamble and Pawar belonged to the same sub-caste of the Untouchables in Maharashtra — that was Mahar. Aaydan points out that the caste-based Hindu religion made its followers especially the non-Dalit Hindus to develop superiority complex and ill-will towards the Dalits. Pawar recollects in her autobiography she was not allowed to have access to drinking water, which was a natural gift. Pawar documents: “When I saw there, women were kept waiting with empty pots in their hands to take water at a Maratha’s well. They were entreating Maratha women, who were taking water at the well, ‘Oh madam, please give us water.’ I saw it and came back with the empty pot.” (Translation Mine) (169)
Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha exposes how Kamble was considered to be inferior to the non-Dalit Hindus; she was not given the status of a human being even when she had become a good teacher. Untouchability was practiced with her and she was subjected to ill treatment.
Suffering at the Hands of the Husbands
Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha points out Kamble’s irresponsible husband used to harass her. Her husband was indifferent towards her. He did not care for her at all though he was a teacher. He had a wife, yet he got married to another woman. Likewise, Aaydan shares Pawar’s story of suffering at the hands of her jealous, insensitive and insensible husband, who tried to stop Pawar from getting highly educated. He was opposed to Pawar’s progressive thinking and activities in society because he was a male chauvinistic person.
Dissimilarities Between Pawar and Kamble at Schools, Workplaces and Marriages
Aaydan portrays an episode in which the non-Dalit Hindu teachers made Pawar run errands for them at schools. Those teachers unhesitatingly forced her to do all kinds of mundane manual labour for them which was equal to capitalist exploitation. However, Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha does not have any episode in which the non-Dalit Hindu teachers at Kamble’s school were unnecessarily caste conscious and sadistic while dealing with her.
Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha exposes how Kamble as a Dalit woman was doubly marginalized — first as a woman and then as a Dalit. Kamble was an educated girl, yet she was not intimated about her marriage. In other words, she had no role to play in the process of her own marriage. However, Aaydan shows an opposite picture of Pawar’s life; whenever possible, Pawar managed to challenge the norms and practices of the patriarchal life style and even went to the extent of choosing her own life partner.
Emancipation and Uplift of Kamble and Pawar
Both Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha and Aaydan show the fact that thanks to Ambedkar’s revolutionary activities all the Untouchables got liberated and began to make progress in their lives. They got opportunities to get educated. Despite such situation, Kamble got educated. She was the only girl student in her class not only from the Dalit community but from the non-Dalit community also. Later on, she became a teacher and retired as an education officer. Kamble was a social activist with the Ambedkari consciousness. She tried her best to create awareness about education among the Dalits in the village where she had been working. Her eldest son, Arun Kamble, became a professor at Mumbai University.
Likewise, Pawar also pursued all her education by going against all odds. Later, she became a government employee and developed as a well-known litterateur. She worked as a determined social activist in Mumbai along with Meenakshi Moon, her fellow social activist. Along with her co-social activists she conducted a Dalit Women Literary Convention. In this connection, Pawar says, “The literary festival which we conducted at Vartak Hall in Mumbai in May 1987 was the first Dalit women festival in Maharashtra; also, it should be the first one in India.” (Translated Mine) (234) Pawar is a story writer as well. She is the co-author of the book called We Also Made History: Women in the Ambedkarite Movement.
Conversion
As both the autobiographical protagonists Kamble and Pawar were immensely influenced by Ambedkar, they renounced caste-based Hinduism and embraced Buddhism. When Ambedkar urged his supporters and followers to do so in order to get rid of discrimination, untouchability and deprivation of all sorts of opportunities, in 1956, Kamble converted to Buddhism when she was quite adult and Pawar’s family embraced it when she was twelve years old. They began to practice Buddhism. Their cultural activities changed. They started celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti and Buddha Jayanti for the first time in their lives.
Conclusion
To conclude the discussion, it is significant to note that the only difference between the failures and successes in the lives of slaves for emancipation and progress is the very absence and presence of the organic intellectuals like Jyotirao Phule, Shahu Mahraj, Narayan Guru, Periyar and Ambedkar. In other words, no organic intellectuals were present in the lives of Tom and Bakha to guide them to escape the slavery and attack it. However, Kamble and Pawar got enough and timely guidance and inspiration from the organic intellectuals to get rid of the clutches of casteism and patriarchy and uplift themselves.
Works Cited
Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. London: Hutchinson International Authors Limited, 1947.
Kamble, Shantabai Krishnaji. Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha. Pune: Sugava Prakashan, 1990.
Malagatti, Aravind. Government Brahmana. Chennai: Orient Longman, 2007.
Pawar, Urmila. Aayadan. Mumbai: Granthali Prakashan, 2006.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom’s Cabin. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Online: Gutenberg EBook, 2018. www.gutenberg.org