Sarat Chatterji's 'Shesh Prashna'

Sarat Chatterji's ‘Shesh Prashna’

BY KALIPADA MUKHERJEE

(Concluded from the March Issue)

AJIT BABU

Ajit Babu was the only son of well-to-do parents. Before he left for England, it had been settled that he should marry Monorama. On the marriage night, Ashu Babu’s uncle came from Benares. He had Monorama’s horoscope examined by great astrologers of Benares, who said that if she was married to Ajit, she would be a widow in three years and three months. Everything was upset. Ajit had an aunt, a widow who was his guardian. She became very angry. Ajit in offended pride went over to England on the pretext of undergoing training in Engineering. All were disappointed except Monorama who asked her father to wait patiently for three years, as she knew Ajit intimately. Ajit had firm faith in God; he was of an austere and devotional nature. He left only a little note to Moni; and did not write again to her. Monorama too adopted a life of austerity. Ashu Babu said that their love was unique in the world.

After returning from England, Ajit went first of all to Benares to see Ashu Babu’s uncle; and with his approval of his marriage with Monorama, came to Agra. Ajit was living at Ashu Babu’s house, and enjoying the company of Monorama, when something happened in the lives of both which put an end to their love.

One evening after a joy-drive with Kamal, though against his will, Ajit returned rather late; and was compelled by her to take tea in her house. He returned to Ashu Babu’s house late at night; and to his surprise found Monorama talking with Shibanath about the tune of a song, in a bush under the shade of a tree. She returned only after half an hour. That was enough for Ajit; a feeling of revulsion swept over him; and he gave up the idea of ever marrying Monorama. The disharmony that followed ended in his telling Ashu Babu that he was determined to leave his house, for some reason he did not like to divulge.

He again went to Kamal’s house and heard from her lips the story of her past life. This made him feel a great repugnance against the woman who had such a story behind her. He did not feel sorry when Akshoy Babu revealed Kamal in her true colours at a meeting of the Society for the Good of Women. But he felt pained at heart when he saw that Kamal’s prayer for the help of a few rupees had been scornfully rejected by Ashu Babu. He regarded her past life as extremely immoral; but he could not but admire her for her candour and rigid truthfulness. She knew from him that her husband had been living at Agra without her knowledge; but she did not make much of that. This also surprised him.

In Chap. 15, we again find Ajit taking Kamal to her house in Ashu Babu’s car. But he purposely left the right path and drove along an unknown one. When Kamal asked him the reason, he said: "If only you order me, I will return." This surprised her. She said: "As I did not ask you to drive thus, I can not ask you to return. My duty is to rely on you and trust that you will take me to my destination."

"But if I am mistaken in my idea of responsibility?"

"I cannot judge of possibilities. Let me first know that you are mistaken; then only can I judge."

Ajit reminded her of another such drive in the dark. She said: "Yes, that night also was equally dark." With this, she left her seat at the , and took her seat beside Ajit. The night was lonely and dark and perfectly still.

"Ajit Babu?"

"Yes?"

Ajit felt a storm raging within his bosom. About to reply he found no words.

Kamal again asked, "Won’t you please tell me what you’re thinking about?"

Ajit in a tremulous voice said:

"Do you remember my behaviour at Ashu Babu’s house? Till that day I thought that your past was the greater part of you. I asked myself how I could get reconciled to that. I dragged on the shadow from behind you to hide your face. I forgot entirely that the sun is not static, that it revolves. But, no more of that now. Can’t you understand what I’m thinking of just now?"

Kamal said:

"Am I such a fool that, though a woman, I can not understand even that? I knew everything when you drove along in an unknown path."

Ajit softly rested his left arm on Kamal’s shoulder and kept silent. After a while he said, "Kamal, it seems that I cannot restrain myself today." Kamal did not move aside. She felt neither surprised nor overwhelmed. Calmly she said:

"It is not at all surprising, but it is natural. Things are always like this. But you are not a man only, you are also a gentleman with a sense of justice. How can you fling me down your shoulders after this? You cannot be as mean as that."

Ajit in a voice deep with emotion said: "But, why do you fear that I must have to do so?"

Kamal smiled and said:

"My fear is not for me, but for you. I won’t fear if you could; but my anxiety is that you cannot. I feel pity to burden you with such a heavy punishment, in return for the error of a single night. No more now; let us return."

The words reached Ajit’s ears but not his heart. In the twinkling of an eye, his blood was set racing madly through his veins. He dragged her to his bosom and said like one mad, "Can’t you believe me, Kamal?"

For a moment she felt choked within his possessive arms; and said, "Yes, I can."

"Then why do you want to return, Kamal? Let us proceed."

"Very well."

While driving, Ajit stopped short and said, "But have you nothing to take with you from your house?"

"Nothing. But, you?"

Ajit could not but think. He put his hands into his pocket and said, "I have no money with me, but that is necessary."

Kamal said, "Why, you can get that easily by selling away the car."

Ajit felt amazed and said, "Do you advise me to sell it? But it is not mine; it is Ashu Babu’s."

Kamal said, "What’s in that? Ashu Babu in scorn will not mention his car any longer. You needn’t mind that. Drive on."

Ajit remained silent.

"Do you really and seriously think that I can steal others’ things? Can you yourself do anything like this?"

"In reply to your arguments, some one else would have asked you. whether you had felt any compunction in trying to appropriate Kamal as your own. But, I will not do that, because Kamal is no man’s property; she is absolutely her own…."

Ajit gasped and said:

"It is really hard to understand you. It is true that as woman’s love enshrouds the heart, so the illusion of her beauty makes one’s reasoning inert. But the one is as great a truth as the other a falsehood. You knew well that my passion for you is not a moment’s illusion; yet, how did you encourage it? Kamal, fog may shroud the sun magnificently; yet, it is false, while the sun is true."

For a moment Kamal gazed into his face and then said:

"That poetic comparison is neither true nor logical. Fog was created in the beginning of the world, and it remains as ever to this day. It has shrouded the sun again and again, and will do so forever. I do not know whether the sun is permanent, but it has not been proved that fog is false. It may be that both are evanescent or both permanent. Similarly, illusion may be momentary, but a moment too is not false. It returns again and again with its transitory pleasures, Who can reject the jasmine as false, simply because it is not as long-lived as the sun-flower? If I was ready to welcome the illusion of a single night, I was certainly not mistaken. Is only the durability of life so great a truth?"

Towards the close of the chapter, we read that when the car stopped at Kamal’s house, Rajendra came to inform that her huspand was seriously ill at Ashu Babu’s house and that he had come to take her there. It was 3. A, M.; and both Ajit and Kamal started to go. Ajit was afraid to think how people would view this excursion of his. Suddenly he thought that he hated Kamal; and cursed himself that he had been duped to possess her as his own. Entering the gate, he saw Ashu Babu standing at an open window. "There was no one else to nurse the patient," he said, "so, Moni has sent me to sleep, and is herself sitting up to nurse Shibanath," Ashu Babu was too simple to know anything of what was happening in his own house. He added: "I heard from Haren Babu that you were not at home. I guessed that Ajit must have taken you with him, as travelling is a passion with him. But, think what your trouble would be if any accident had happened in the dark night?"

Ajit felt relieved. Kamal asked Ashu Babu why he had not sent Shibanath to hospital. Ashu Babu guessed that there had been a quarrel between husband and wife. He said that Monorama should have sent him to Kamal. But Kamal said that it was due to his good fortune that he had come to Monorama, as she had no money for his diet and treatment. Ashu Babu said that nursing was far more necessary than diet and treatment. He asked Kamal to take charge of her husband; he would supply him with all diet and medicine. With this he led her to the patient’s room. Ajit too went in. What should they see but Monorama sleeping with her head on the bosom of the patient, and Shibanath sleeping with his two arms twined round the neck of Monorama! This was altogether beyond Ashu Babu’s wildest fears. He shuddered and left the room in haste. Ajit and Kamal followed silently.

Ajit said, "You should no longer remain in this house even for a moment."

"But, should you?" said Kamal.

"No, I should not. I will go off to some other place next morning."

Ashu Babu now saw everything clearly. The next morning, he bade good-bye to Ajit. Kamal understood later on that Shibanath had feigned illness simply to gain the favour of Ashu Babu and his daughter.

On page 268, Kamal says, "You came to Agra for Monorama. But when she eloped with Shibanath, all thought that you would not stay here even for a moment. Only I knew that

you would stay. Well, do you believe that I too love?"

Ajit said, "No, I do not."

He did not leave Agra; but became immediately an inmate of Haren Babu’s Ashram (Asylum).

Towards the end of Chapter 26, we find Kamal returning from Ashu Babu’s house. She found it difficult to go up to the upper storey, as the stairs were blocked with a large number of boxes and trunks. She was flurried. Somehow she made her way in and heard some noise in the adjoining kitchen. Peeping in, she saw Ajit boiling water on a stove, with the help of the Hindustani maid-servant. Ajit was seeking something here and there.

"How now?"

Ajit shuddered and looking behind said, "Do you keep tea and sugar in an iron chest? The water is boiling away."

"But how can you find out things in my house? Come now, and let me make tea for you."

Ajit stepped aside. Kamal said, "But what does all this mean? Whose are all those boxes, trunks and luggage?"

"Mine. Haren Babu has given me notice."

"Even in that case, he gave you notice to go away. But who gave you the wisdom to come here?"

"This is mine own. Up to now, I have been guided by other people’s prudence; but now I am using mine own."

Kamal said, "You have done well. But will those things remain downstairs? Somebody may take them away."

Ajit said, "Nobody has by now stolen anything, I suppose? A leather box contains a large sum of money."

Kamal nodded and said, "That’s all right. There are men who remain green-horns through life. They always want a guardian, which is God’s kind dispensation. Let alone tea; please come down. Let us carry the things upstairs."

In the next chapter, we read that they were both resolved to leave Agra for Amritsar where Ajit’s father, being a great admirer of Guru Govinda, had built a house. They decided to spend some time in that house. Their luggage would be taken there in a lorry; they themselves would start in a car towards the end of the night, as desired by Kamal, in memory of their first night’s joy-drive.

That day they were invited to an evening party in Harendra’s Asylum, in honour of Ashu Babu. Ajit was indisposed; so Kamal alone went in their newly purchased car. The Asylum had broken up; Rajendra had left it, and so had Satish. Harendra himself thought it advisable to bring up the boy inmates like other men and women. Ashu Babu attributed all this to the comments of Kamal; and wished all to thank her for this. He, however, added:

"Yet, there was no need for breaking it up. We all know that all religions are the same at bottom; but there is no harm in practising certain rites for the gaining of perfection. Some may not believe in or act according to these but should they discourage others? What do you say Akshoy?"

Akshoy agreed. When he looked at Kamal, she nodded her head and said:

"If I could think like you, I would not speak a single word against the Asylum. But, customs and institutions loom larger than religion, as officers than their king."

"It may be even as you say," said Ashu Babu, "but, why should I take as reasoning what you say by way of comparison?"

But Kamal said;

"Is all this a mere comparison, Ashu Babu? I believe that all faiths are the same in essence. In all countries and in all ages, faith signifies an impossible and steadfast pursuit of some unknowable thing. Men do not quarrel for light and air; they quarrel about the division of food which they can have under their control and leave for posterity. So, is that a great truth? All know what the primary motive of marriage is; but can they therefore admit that?…. I know it pains you; but I do not like to laugh away customs and ceremonies: what I want is their transformation. What today is not current, I want to make so, with repeated strokes…."

She stopped for a space and proceeded:

"Please think for a while of the days of the Renaissance in Europe. They were out to create something new; but they left all customs and institutions untouched. They dyed old things in new colours, and began to worship them. Their whimsicalities melted away in a short time. I was afraid Haren Babu’s ambition would be similarly frustrated. But he has corrected himself."

With this, she laughed.

After supper Kamal was surprised at Akshoy Babu’s attitude towards her. He respected her in his address, and told her of his truly devoted wife who considered no medicine so efficacious as the water with which she washed the feet of her husband. She was on her sick-bed then. But in spite of her devotion, Akshoy Babu admitted that at times he felt that he was all alone in the world, companionless.

Ajit came to take Kamal from the party. He told Harendra of their decision to go away. Ashu Babu calmly said, "I may not see you again. But you are both objects of my affection. I wish I saw you married before I go." This pleased Ajit greatly. He eagerly said:

"I have again and again requested Kamal to marry me, Ashu Babu, but she has all along refused. I have tried to give myself up to her by making a Will in her favour of everything I possess; but I could not make her consent. Today I again request you, Kamal, before all these gentlemen, please consent. Let me sigh the sigh of relief by giving over my all to you; and thus free myself from the stain of fraudulence."

Kamal looked up at him and asked, "Why? What is it you fear?"

"I may not fear anything today, but.…."

"Let that day of ‘buts’ come."

"If that day ever comes at all, I know that you will not accept anything."

Kamal laughed and said, "You know then that will be your greatest bondage."

She stopped for a while and said, "Don’t you remember that once I asked you not to build your house air-tight, in the hope of making it strong? That will make it fit only for the burial of a dead body, but not for the bed-room of a living man." Ajit said, "I know all this. I know that you do not want to bind me: but, I want to bind you. Otherwise, how can I keep you mine, Kamal?"

Kamal said, "But no force is necessary. Rather bind me with your weakness. I am not so cruel as to leave you alone and adrift in this world." For a moment she looked at Ashu Babu, and then she said to Ajit, "I do not believe in God; otherwise, I would pray that I may die keeping you out of harm’s way in this world."

Harendra came up to her and said, "I congratulate you on your having been blessed with a genuine blessing, Kamal."

She said, "Have I been blessed with one, then? At least, bless me so." She bowed to Ashu Babu in the Hindu style and was blessed by him. Kamal returned with Ajit, after hearing of the death in hospital of Rajendra as a result of self-sacrifice in trying to save from fire the famous idol of a village in Muttra.

THE MINOR CHARACTERS

These are the main characters in the novel. There are some minor ones. One such is Nilima, a young and beautiful widow who came to Agra to take charge of the household of her widowed brother-in-law Abinash Babu. After being deserted by Abinash Babu who shortly afterwards married again, she loved Ashu Babu who, however, rejected her love. She could not return to her father’s house: so, Haren Babu took charge of her. Her position in society presents a contrast to that of Abinash Babu. Bela, distantly related to Ashu Babu, and the daughter of a briefless lawyer, by her beauty and attainments, married a Bengali barrister, whom she soon after sued for divorce, as she believed in the equality of the sexes; and, by a compromise, extorted a handsome monthly allowance and a lump-sum payment from him. After six or seven years, reconciliation took place when her husband took her from Agra. Bela’s story has been introduced probably to show that even Ashu Babu could consent to a divorce suit. In Chap. XIV, is a description of Haren Babu, a moralist and rich bachelor, who spent lavishly on charity, and established an Ashram for poor students, to train them up with the help of Rajendra, a revolutionary, according to ancient Indian ideals. But the criticisms of Kamal and Nilima on the hard life of the inmates, led to its disruption. Haren was led to understand by Kamal that nothing great could be achieved through poverty.

CONCLUSION

The novel ends with the departure of Kamal and her husband from Agra. That it is a novel of purpose, a problematic novel, is clear from its very title. On pages 67 and 68, Ashu Babu talks with Monorama and Abinash Babu regarding Kamal and her views about his self-control in life.

Ashu Babu said, "What she said, in short, is probably this: that the truth we have gained in our blood through venerable and time-honoured traditions, is only one side of the question; but there is also another side."

Monorama said, "But has there been no man in India throughout the ages to notice and point out its other side?"

Her father smiled and said, "This only proves that you are angry. Otherwise, you also know that in no country have the predecessors of mankind given a reply to The Last Question. If that were possible, creation would come to a stand-still; its movement would be quite unmeaning."

It is clear that the novel owes its name to the above conversation.

All the new ideas current in the country and expressed in the novel have been put into the mouth of Kamal who with invincible logic brings these home to all. It is folly, she holds, to simply follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before us. About religion also she is dogmatic; and emphatically asserts that she does not believe in any religion as such; and would like to remain without any even to her death. But she refuted the idea that she was therefore a profligate in life. She laughed at those who believe in a golden age and try to take India to the ages of Ramchandra and Yudhishthira; as, in her opinion, the womb of the mother may be the safest of all places, but it is impossible to return to it. She asked her hearers to think of other countries outside India and to keep abreast of the times; as it is hard to live in these days self-centred, in the midst of the peoples of the whole world. The Puritans, she said, ran off to America in order to live in peace as in the golden age of the Bible; but they failed to do so. The people in the days of the Renaissance tried to recreate everything, but they left alone the prevailing manners and customs; so, their new fashions melted away. She referred to the Suttee; and said that though it has been repealed by law, yet its embers still turn into ashes the lives of many a widow. If what appears good today perishes, a newer and better state of things will certainly arise after its decay; and thus, mankind will progress to its destined goal.

Such is the book ¹ that is running the gauntlet of a section of our critics even today. But whoever judges the novel candidly, will admit that the Sarat Chandra of the decadence does not appear in this book at least. The novel is a branch of literature which leaves its author the liberty to bring in many things besides the painting of character and the introduction of actions and reactions. It is therefore that we have successful nautical novels, political novels, sporting novels, governess novels, sensational and detective novels, and even school novels. We have reason to believe that the greatest Bengali realist in literature, and the greatest contemporary painter of our manners, has written one of the greatest books of its special kind ever written.

We may shudder at the outspokenness of Kamal who delights in turning many of our sacred things into ridicule; but that does not prevent us from appreciating the novel. We shall be unjust if we do not admit that our novelist, as ever, takes his readers with him: even here no one can help being fascinated by his style.

Bengali life is as complex today as probably that of any other people in the world. The incidents related in the novel are, therefore, not grotesque; the characters are almost all true to life; and the ideas set forth here and there are not borrowed from Europe, but are all agitating the minds of thoughtful people in the land today. Looking into our daily newspapers we find that many writers are writing on both sides of the problems that are in the novel. One wrote that Government should take steps to compel widowers to marry widows only, and not girls with the white rose of virginity as they do even today. One of our best known leaders is preaching the hollowness of all religion, and openly declaring that he does not believe in any. Not only is there an asylum run according to ancient Indian ideals at Hardwar, but many such are in the land and many more are cropping up still. One of our most famous lawyer-politicians says: "I fully believe that if India is ever to attain freedom in the political sphere, we must be prepared first to liberate in the fullest measure our women and to do justice to them." It is to the credit of the novelist that he has given them form in a novel which, though creating a sensation, will give food for thought to many.

The orthodox among us will yet demur that Sarat Chandra has put his own words into the mouth of Kamal. But it is not so from the literary critic’s point of view. For, the novelist has given us Ashu Babu, Harendra and Rajendra too, who do not agree with Kamal, but remind her of her European extraction to which her ideals always reached forward. Belonging to the most potent and perilous branch of literature, the book is full of revolutionary ideas; but that is no reason why we should not say that Shesh Prashna will remain a marvelous and thought-provoking book to all who look at life from the realistic point of view.

1 There are in it two stories, Ajit tells a French story rendered into English as "The Day I was a Woman" in which a lovely lady doctor says how she was rejected by her lover after fifteen years of love-making, simply because at forty she was incapable of becoming a mother, Ashu Babu told of one of his English friends who after a long courtship refused to marry a highly accomplished Polish woman who, with the fine build of her frame, retained even at forty-five her full beauty, for the same reason and because he was much younger.