After reading this letter Gora remained silent for a while. Then Binoy urged him:
‘Just as Poreshbabu has given his consent, so must you, Gora.’
‘Poreshbabu may give his consent, for it is their current that is eroding the rivershore,’ Gora countered. ‘I cannot give my consent for our stream preserves the shore. On this shore of ours are so many monumental creations, hundreds of thousands of years old, that we can by no means declare that only the laws of nature should apply here. We shall pave our shores with stone, whether you blame us or not. This is our sacred ancient city; from our perspective, it is not desirable that new layers of soil should be deposited upon it every year or that droves of peasants should plough this land, whatever we may stand to lose. This land is for habitation, not farming. Hence we don’t feel dire shame when all you people from the agriculture department condemn the hardness of our stone.’
‘So, in short, you will not recognize this marriage?’
‘Certainly not.’
‘And …’
‘And I shall part company with all of you.’
‘What if I had been a Muslim friend of yours?’
‘Then it would have been a different matter. When a branch breaks off, severing itself from the tree, the tree can never take it back as its own, as before. But it can offer shelter to a vine that approaches it from outside; in fact, if the vine is cast down in a storm, there is nothing to stop the tree from offering it support once again. When our own dear ones become alien to us we have no choice but to abandon them completely. Hence all the ritual prohibitions, all the desperate attempts to rein us in.’
‘That is why the reasons for separation should not have been so flimsy, nor the rules of separation so accessible,’ argued Binoy. ‘True, an arm once severed cannot be joined again but that’s why the arm doesn’t break off easily. Its bones are very strong. Will you not consider how hard it is for people to freely pursue their lives in a society where the slightest blow is enough to cause separation and where the separation becomes an eternal fact?’
‘Such considerations are not my responsibility. Society is collectively involved in thought processes so vast that I don’t even become aware of them. I survive on the belief that for thousands of years it has been thinking, and protecting itself as well. I don’t worry about whether the earth is following its proper orbit around the sun or not, whether it deviates from its path or not, and so far I have not been let down despite my oblivion. I feel the same way about society.’
‘Bhai Gora,’ laughed Binoy, ‘I too have been saying just such things in this fashion, all these days. Who could have known that I too would now have to listen to such words? I realize only too well that I must now pay the penalty for all my made-up speeches. But it’s no use arguing. For today I have seen something very closely, something I had not observed before. I have understood now that human life flows like a great river; by the force of its own current, in unimaginable ways, it travels in new directions which it had not taken before. That is the extraordinary quality of its movement, and its unforeseen transformations are precisely what the Maker of our destiny intends. It is not a manmade canal, we cannot keep it confined within a fixed channel. Now that I have witnessed this directly within my own self, you can’t beguile me with made-up arguments anymore.’
‘A moth about to fall into the flame uses the very same argument, so I too shall not try in vain to persuade you now.’
‘That’s a good idea,’ declared Binoy, rising from his chair. ‘I’ll be off then. Let me go and see Ma.’
After Binoy had left, Mahim slowly entered the room. ‘Didn’t make much headway, did you?’ he asked, chewing on his paan. ‘You won’t, either. I have been warning you since so long that you should be careful, that there are signs of his going astray, but you ignored my words. If we had somehow forced him into marrying Shashimukhi at that time, these problems wouldn’t have arisen at all. But ka kasya paribedana! And who am I speaking to? No amount of head-banging would help me convince you of something you fail to understand yourself. Now, isn’t it regrettable that a boy like Binoy should defect from your group?’
Gora made no reply.
‘So you couldn’t make Binoy change his mind?’ Mahim persisted. ‘Let that go, but the question of his marriage to Shashimukhi has created too many complications. Now we can’t afford to delay Shashi’s marriage any further. You know the attitudes of our community: if they get after a person they won’t rest until they have reduced him to abject misery. So we need a groom—no, have no fear, you won’t have to act as go-between. I have taken care of that myself.’
‘Who is that prospective groom?’
‘Your very own Abinash.’
‘Has he consented?’
‘As if he wouldn’t! He’s not like our Binoy is he? No, whatever you might say, in your group, it’s that boy Abinash who has proved truly devoted to you. He virtually danced for joy upon hearing that he would acquire a family connection with you. “This is my good fortune, my glory!” he cried. I asked him about money. He at once covered his ears and said: “Forgive me, but please don’t mention such things.” “Very well,” I said, “I shall discuss these matters with your father.” I went to his father as well, and found a big difference between father and son. The father didn’t block his ears at the mention of money, not at all. Rather, he started saying such things, I almost had to stop my own ears. The son, too, I found to be extremely devoted to his father in these matters—regards his father as absolute divinity—so it will be no use asking him to mediate. This time liquidating my company assets will not suffice. Anyway, you too must discuss a few things with Abinash. A word of encouragement from you …’
‘That will not reduce the sum of money to be paid,’ Gora interrupted.
‘I know that. When filial devotion proves useful, it becomes hard to control.’
‘Is the wedding fixed?’ Gora asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Have the date and hour been determined?’
‘Determined indeed, for the full-moon night in the month of Magh this winter. That’s not far away. The father has decreed he has no use for diamonds and gemstones but the gold jewelry must be very heavy. Now I must spend some days consulting the goldsmith on ways of increasing the weight of gold without adding to its price.’
‘But why such haste? There’s no fear of Abinash joining the Brahmo Samaj in the near future.’
‘No indeed, but you people haven’t noticed that Baba’s health has deteriorated a great deal recently. The more the doctors object, the more rigid he becomes about his ritual restrictions. The sanyasi who now keeps him company makes him bathe three times a day and to add to that, he has started Baba on such a course of hathayoga that his eyes, eyebrows, breath, nerves, are all precariously jumbled up. It would be convenient if Shashi’s wedding took place while Baba is still alive; I wouldn’t have much to worry about if we could accomplish the act before Baba’s pension savings fall into the clutches of Omkarananda Swami. I had even mentioned it to Baba yesterday, but found it was no easy matter. I have decided I must ply that rascally sanyasi with ganja for a few days to bring him under control and then get him to perform the rites. Know this for sure: middle class householders, who have the greatest need for money, will never get to enjoy their father’s wealth. My problem is that someone else’s father pressurizes me with demands for money and my own father takes to meditation at the very mention of money. Must I now drown myself with that eleven year old girl tied to my neck as deadweight?’
~62~
‘Radharani, why didn’t you eat anything last night?’ asked Harimohini.
‘Why,’ said Sucharita, surprised, ‘indeed I did!’
‘As if you did!’ persisted Harimohini, pointing out the food that still lay covered. ‘There’s your food, still untouched.’
Sucharita now realized she had indeed forgotten her dinner the previous evening.
‘These are not good signs,’ declared Harimohini roug
hly. ‘From what I know of your Poreshbabu, I don’t think he likes such excesses. He looks so calm and reassuring. Tell me, what would he say if he got to know all about your current inclinations?’
Sucharita was left in no doubt what Harimohini wanted to imply. At first, she felt momentarily embarrassed. She had never imagined that her relationship with Gora could be equated with an utterly ordinary man-woman relationship, bringing such false social aspersions upon them. Hence she was upset at Harimohini’s insinuations. But the very next moment, she sat upright, casting aside the chores at hand, and looked Harimohini in the eye. Instantly resolving not to be coy about her relationship with Gora, she asserted:
‘Mashi, you know Gourmohanbabu was here last evening. Because I was preoccupied about the subject of our discussion, I had utterly forgotten my dinner. Had you been present there last night, you could have heard us talk of many things.’
The things Gora had said were not quite what Harimohini wanted to hear. She wanted only to hear about devotional matters. But Gora’s words did not ring with simple and interesting feelings of devotion. It was as if he was constantly confronting an adversary, against whom he must struggle. He wanted to persuade disbelievers, but what could he preach to the converted, after all? Harimohini was utterly indifferent to the things that enthused Gora. It caused her no inner anxiety if members of the Brahmo Samaj retained their own beliefs instead of merging with the Hindu community. As long as there was no cause for separation from her own dear ones, she was quite content. Hence she had not found her discussion with Gora interesting at all. Subsequently, once Harimohini sensed that it was Gora who had captured Sucharita’s heart, she found his conversation seemed even more unappealing. Sucharita was completely independent, both financially and in her opinions, beliefs and conduct. Therefore, Harimohini had been unable to fully control her in any respect; yet Sucharita was Harimohini’s sole support in her declining years. It was for this reason that Harimohini felt deeply perturbed if anyone but Poreshbabu asserted any sort of claim over Sucharita. Harimohini was haunted by the feeling that everything about Gora was false, from beginning to end; that his real aim was to attract Sucharita by some ruse. In fact, she even began to imagine that Gora was chiefly tempted by Sucharita’s material assets. Identifying him as her prime enemy, Harimohini mentally braced herself to oppose him.
Gora was not expected at Sucharita’s house that day, nor had he any reason to visit. But he lacked diffidence by nature. When he chose a course of action, he did not pause to think about it, forging straight ahead like an arrow. Now, when Gora came to Sucharita’s room at dawn, Harimohini was at her prayers. Sucharita was tidying the books, notebooks and papers on the table in the sitting room, when Satish came in to announce Gora’s arrival. Sucharita was not particularly surprised. It was as if she had expected Gora to visit her that day.
‘So Binoy has finally abandoned us,’ observed Gora, taking a chair.
‘Why? Why would he abandon us?’ Sucharita asked. ‘He hasn’t joined the Brahmo Samaj after all.’
‘If he had gone to the Brahmo Samaj he would have been closer to us than he is now,’ declared Gora. ‘It is by clinging to the Hindu community that he is causing it so much trouble. Better if he had made a clean break.’
‘Why do you have such extreme views about society?’ demanded Sucharita, inwardly very hurt. ‘Is it natural for you to place such excessive faith in the community? Or is it self-coercion, rather?’
‘But it’s coercion that is natural in the present circumstances,’ Gora asserted. ‘When treading on shaky ground, one must step more firmly with every stride. Because we are in a hostile environment, our speech and behaviour are somewhat extreme. That is not unnatural.’
‘Why do you consider the hostile environment to be entirely unjust and unnecessary? If society obstructs the progress of time, it must suffer.’
‘The progress of time is like a series of waves; it keeps eroding the soil. But I don’t believe it is the soil’s duty to accept such erosion. Don’t imagine I have no consideration for the welfare of our community. It’s so easy to pass such judgements that today even a boy of sixteen presumes to be a judge. It’s harder by far to see everything as whole, and to view it with respect.’
‘Does respect always yield the truth? It also leads us to blindly accept falsehoods, after all. Let me ask you a question: is respect for idol worship allowed too? Do you believe such things to be true?’
‘I’ll try and tell you the exact truth,’ answered Gora after a short silence. ‘I have from the outset taken these things to be true. I did not hasten to challenge them simply because they contradict European traditions and because some lowly arguments can be deployed against them. I am not committed to any particular religious pursuit. But I cannot blindly parrot the idea that deism and idol worship are identical, or that idol worship does not represent the culmination of devotional philosophy. In art and literature, even in science and history, the human imagination has a place. I do not accept that relgion alone denies a place to the imagination. It is in religion that all human faculties find their ultimate expression. This attempt to fuse imagination with knowledge and devotion in the form of idol worship in our country—hasn’t it made religion more completely real for the people of our nation, compared to other nations?’
‘Idol worship was practiced in Greece and Rome as well.’
‘The human imagination that produced those idols relied more on aesthetic sense than on knowledge and devotion. In our country, the imagination is closely allied with knowledge and devotion. Whether you take our Radha-Krishna or our Hara-Parvati, they are not merely historical objects of worship; they contain elements of eternal human philosophy. That’s why the devotion of a Ramaprasad or a Chaitanyadev found expression through all these idols. When did the history of Greece or Rome produce forms of devotion of such a high order?’
‘You do not wish to accept any change at all in religious or social practices, in tune with changing times?’ Sucharita inquired.
‘Why would I not!’ protested Gora. ‘But change should not become a form of madness. Changes in human life follow a human course: a child grows gradually into an old man, but a human being doesn’t suddenly change into a dog or cat, does he? The transformation of Bharatvarsha should follow the path of Bharatvarsha itself; if we suddenly adopt the path of British history, the whole process will be ruined and rendered meaningless. The nation’s power and wealth are stored within the nation itself: I have dedicated my life to the task of making all of you aware of this very fact. Do you understand my words?’
‘Yes I do. But I have never heard nor thought of such things before. I am like someone who takes time to recognize even the most obvious things when she finds herself in an unfamiliar place. Perhaps because I am a woman, my comprehension is not very strong.’
‘Never,’ declared Gora. ‘I know many men, and have long been discussing these matters with them. Doubtless they have assumed that they understand me only too well. But I tell you for certain, what you see before your mind’s eye today is something not one of them has perceived at all. Within you is a depth of vision that I had sensed as soon as I saw you. That is why I have come to confide in you everything my heart has ever wanted to say, all these years. I have laid bare my entire life before you, without the slightest diffidence.’