Real, in common parlance is what is discernible to human eye, can be felt, heard or experienced. This simplistic definition, undoubtedly, keeps aside the metaphysical and long-winded aspects of the word ‘real’. Nevertheless, there are certain inward human feelings, thoughts, experiences which cannot be detected with the five senses. Besides capturing the real life per se, writers have been focusing on the interior motives, psychological processes, and characters’ mental narratives instead of simply telling a story. Psychological realism as a genre which focuses on the mental processes of characters and their inner thoughts and feelings along with their motives for behavior that evolved in the late 19th and early 20th century in the West had a simultaneous emergence in Dogri literature and women writers made a significant contribution in the evolution of this genre.
Women’s writing in dogri
Vandhana Sharma
“Sui Taaga” (Needle Thread), the first collection of short stories by Lalita Mehta touched upon in the first article of this Series on “Women’s Writing in Dogri’, was followed by “Sur Te Taal”, the second collection of short stories by Krishna Prem Sharma, the woman writer writing iSn Dogri, who contributed to Dogri literature through her psychological realism. Born in 1948 in Simla, Krishna Prem, has been writing actively after completing her bachelor’s in sciences. As a precocious child, she was an avid reader and had keen interest in writing right from her childhood. The characteristic feature of Krishna Prem as a short story writer is her honest portrayal of human emotions with a simultaneous depiction of contemporary society. According to the writer, “The characters in my stories are the ones I am surrounded by”. The eminent academician, Dogri writer and critic Prof. Veena Gupta further opines that Krishna Prem as a writer peeps into the mind of character and explores the changing dynamics of family norms, relationships, and small-scale power struggles in painstaking detail.
“Sur Te Taal” was published in the year 1976 and is a collection of eight short stories which are, ” Issaldi Lo”, ” Kasondi Gand”, ” Gunjal”, ” Sukke Atharun”, ” Phullein Di Daali”, ” Raste de Morh”, ” Boal” and ” Sur te Taal”. Out of these stories, “Issaldi Lo” (Diminishing Light) and “Phullein di Daali” ( A Branch of Blooms) are thematically based on the issue of family planning, which has been a matter of serious concern in India since long. “Issaldi Lo” sheds light on a traditional belief among masses who see children as gift of God and portrays how neglect of family planning deprives children of quality parenting . “Phullein di Daali” has further developed this theme addressing the issue from a psychoanalytical perspective. With a vivid imagery, the writer conveys a strong message through the words of gardener when he says, “This wild rose occupies so much space and even causes fissure in the fence – so I’m sowing the seed of a sunflower now. Only a single flower blooms on one branch of a sunflower and this makes the plant rise its head in pride and sway in bliss.” These words jolt the protagonist making him come out of the life of self-complacency and realize that parenting is unjustifiable if it is not able to cater to the needs and desires of children. The other stories in this collection have also been written from a psychological perspective.
In addition to this collection, Krishna Sharma’s stories have also been published in various Dogri magazines and were being aired by Doordarshan. Out of the corpus of these stories, “Dhir Thuadi” ( Fie Upon You! ), is a very powerful and poignant story which not only delves into the mind of the protagonist but has strong feminist undercurrents. What makes this story insightful is its treatment of the question of men’s role in feminism? The feminist movement has always been understood to be a woman-led movement, as a movement for the liberation of women, as the oppressed gender in patriarchy. The protagonist of “Dhir Thuadi”, Hari Ram, nevertheless, champions the cause of feminism and questions the unjust, unfair and biased mindset of society which has separate yardsticks of morality for men and women. “Dhir Thuadi” is a story of isolation, loneliness and yearning for companionship which the protagonist confronts. Hari Ram as a lonely hero can also be seen as an angry young man who expresses his anger and disillusionment by uttering, fie upon you, umpteen times. His wife leaves him after a few months of their marriage making him undergo the pangs of loneliness and the agony of waiting. The return of his wife after thirty years, which creates ruckus in the village, makes Hari Ram unnerved. As a result, he questions the village Panchayat and their judgment suspecting the chastity of a woman who has been away for thirty years and the bigger question of should she be accepted when she returns after staying with another man for many years and more so after giving birth to his children.
Hari Ram as an archetypal feminist hero negates the double standards of society which always views things from a male’s perspective and asks the society to view the circumstances of a woman too, thereby, raising his voice about the prejudices deeply entrenched in the our mindset.
Hari Ram’s acceptance of the woman particularly with her children makes all of us to revisit the question of chastity, which is seen as a divine virtue of a woman, and has been resulting in her exploitation on many fronts. Krishna Prem’s creative acumen, thus, lies in her art of dealing with multifarious themes dexterously.
(The author is Director, School of Languages and Literature SMVDU)
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