Fire on the Mountain: An Appreciation

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN: AN APPRECIATIONtc "FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN ; AN APPRECIATION"

Anita Desai, one of the most celebrated Indo-English novelists, widely known for her treatment of inner life in her novels, has made a significant contribution to the development of Indian novel in English by her psychological themes and characterization with poetic prose. Fire on the Mountain has won Winfred Holtby Memorial prize, Royal Society of Literature and 1978 National Academy of Letters award. Fire on the mountain, her fifth novel comprising three parts, is a psychological story of the agonized cry of Nanda Kaul, the widow of a Vice-Chancellor, once a well known figure in social circles, now an old woman who has had too much of world with her and so she longs for a quiet retired life. Now she desperately tries to avoid all familial relations. She voluntarily withdraws into Carignano, her hillside resort at Kasauli where she hopes to live apared, relieved and radiantly single life” (P-3). Nanda Kaul looks upon Raka, her great granddaughter as an unwelcome intruder, “a mosquito flown from the plains to tease and worry” (P-40). She does not go to welcome her to Carignano but sends her servant. Nanda Kaul and Raka are strangers to each other, though they live forcibly under one roof avoiding the presence of each other. The old lady prefers to be left alone, the young one desires the same but with a difference. Nanda Kaul was a recluse out of vengeance for a long life of duty and obligation, and her great granddaughter was a recluse by nature, by instinct. It is an awkward pair, neither of them belonging to each other. Raka’s arrival at Carignano has created a situation for Nanda Kaul which she cannot escape from.

Ila Das, a Piano teacher turned Social Welfare Officer neighbouring village, who once was her friend, also intrudes her placid world. She speaks, “as if a child had squeaked a pencil on a slate or slid a nail down a glass pane” (P-lll). Ila Das had suffered a lot in her life on account of her brothers who disowned domestic responsibilities. Despite her hardships she laughs heartily and has been trying to work hard against the customs and traditions of child marriage. Preet Singh, whose daughter’s marriage Das had stopped, assaulted and raped her under the cover of darkness. The telephonic news of Ila Das’s death conveyed to Nanda Kaul brings sudden shock which results in her death and leaves Raka alone. At this point of time, Raka’s face appears on window pane to inform her that she has set the mountain on fire”.  “Look Nani I have set the forest on fire. Look Nani, Look the forest is on fire” (P-145).

Anita Desai describes things and places with superb grasp and understanding. Her poetic prose reminds the reader of Keats’ pictorial quality.

“To the South, the plain Stretched endlessly raked by the shining flow of Punjab’s five rivers and Chandigrah’s lake set in its breast like a dull silver brooch. There was a breadth of space, a vast sweeping depth to the scene (P-61)”. She creates a word picture of enduring reality.

In her works, she dwells upon the eternal dilemma of existence and her characters try to unravel the mystery of human life, the basic reality of existence which she terms as “The essential human condition”. She is a subjective writer mainly concerned with the exploration of the inner life of her characters. Her heroines, Maya in CRY, THE PEOCOCK and Sita of WHERE SHALL WE GO THIS SUMMER, are sensitive individuals, dissatisfied with their passive, vegetative existence, struggle for an enduring harmony within. In a sense it can be said that they are in a quest of ultimate truth in life.

Nanda Kaul and Ila Das, over a cup of tea, attempt to revive the memories of the past. Ila Das, in the course of their discussion talks of Miss. David, the mathematics teacher with whom the Vice Chancellor had an affair. This reminds Nanda Kaul of the infidelity of her husband and both of them become silent.

Nanda Kaul is a typical character unlike Maya of Cry, the Peacock, who pushes her husband to death and Monica of VOICES IN THE CITY who commits suicide. Nanda kaul submits to the inevitable though she is utterly crestfallen.

The novel is well conceived and constructed which exemplifies Desai’s art of handling her material with utmost care. She often resorts to authorial comments. The character of Ila Das is most skilfully sketched. Nanda Kaul and Raka are both strange creatures. Nanda Kaul is a typical Anita Desai heroine in search of harmony, given to self analysis and acutely aware of her loneliness.