Srinath

76

Chapter-Three

The Project of Acculturation in Divakaruni's Children’s Fiction

Printed children’s book in India has a history of 150 years. It plays a vital role

in shaping the individual’s personality in the formative years. The child looks

around the world and acquires understanding and insight. The literature they read

or listen to acts as a source of values to be imbibed.

Radhika Menon while reading a paper presented at Trivandrum shares the

comment made by a Professor of English Literature in England on Children’s

fiction as “the imaginative creation of a cultural space in which writers find ways

of exploring what they want to say to and about children: an arena in which

children and adults can engage in various kinds of shared and dynamic discourse”

[Menon].

India is considered the ‘cradle of children’s literature’ with its rich oral

traditions and children’s classic Panchatantra. Illustrations have always been

equally important. C.S.Lewis observes “Writing a children’s story is the best art-

form for something you have to say” [Lewis 32].

Traditional fairy tales, nursery rhymes and other voyages of discovery are

considered problematic by parents because they remove the adult influence,

leaving the central character to learn to cope on his/her own. This isolation of child

Srinath

77

characters from adults proves an incentive in the “necessary preparation for the

transition of adulthood”. For example, life begins for Tom Sawyer and

Huckleberry Finn (1876-1888) in Mark Twain stories after the influence of Aunt

Polly is shaken off.

Children’s literature can be categorized into six:

1. Picture Books-teaching alphabet or counting

2. Traditional literature consisting of folktales that conveys episodes in

adaptation from our puranas and classical literary texts, myths, fables

and fairy tales.

3. Culture oriented- exposure to tales of other cultures and countries.

4. Fantasy and realistic fiction

5. Moral fiction- Exposure to the ways of the world and behavior

patterns of good, evil etc.

6. Graphic literature.

Words and pictures go hand in hand along with simple stories drawn from

childhood in picture books. Children’s literature ranges from old staple of retold

folktales and myths to concept books, animal stories based on childhood

experience, information books and fantasies, detective, horror, and comic. There is

a shift of focus in children’s literature in recent times from mere fancy to

rationalistic, scientific, knowledge-enriching fiction.

Srinath

78

Adventure and mystery is the popular genre. Deepak Dalal’s Ranthambore

Adventure and other series set in Ladakh and the Andamans are the better

examples of adventure fiction. Shashi Deshpande’s The Hidden Treasure, A

Summer Adventure and The Only Witness are detective books. Chitra Divakaruni’s

Victory Song belongs to the genre of historical adventure.

Realistic fiction dwells on the problems and dilemmas children face in their

everyday life. Themes like sibling rivalry, bullying in school, peer pressure are

often neglected. Sigrun Srivastav’s Grin and Bear it Abhy (Puffin; 1994) is about

a boy’s adjustment problems in a joint family narrated with humour and empathy.

Devika Rangachari’s Growing Up (2000) depicts the contemporary middle-class

existence where the young girl comes to terms with the painful truths of life.

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Rudyard Kipling’s The

Jungle Book-collection of stories about a boy who lives in the jungle with animals

was made into a film. Both these and the Harry Potter series are considered popular

genres of fantasy. Others include Nilima Sinha’s Rishabh in the Land of Flying

Magicians (2002).

Despite new books and genre emerging, Chandamama, Amar Chitra Katha,

Hitopadesha and Panchatantra continue to hold the attention of young readers,

and are published in many Indian languages, as they teach expedience tempered

with moral sense.

Srinath

79

Shashi Deshpande’s The Narayanpur Incident uses Quit India Movement of

1942 for its backdrop. Protagonists Babu and Manju are swept in the fury of this

campaign, relocating in the small village Narayanpur, after their father’s arrest and

brother’s disappearance.

Subhadra Sen Gupta in Dear India, Give Us Freedom: Diary of Keya

Ganguly, 1942 uses the same theme but in a diary format exploring the Quit India

Movement. Twelve year old Keya is exposed to a raging war within her family –

between her father, a civil servant and supporter of the British and her

revolutionary student activist brother, Arjun. It gives information on Delhi in 1942

and throws light on Keya’s bewilderment to choose between two sets of family

members.

Deepa Agarwal’s Caravan to Tibet talks about the dangerous journey of a 14

year old Debu to Tibet, in a caravan, in search of his missing father. He has to

struggle against odds as he is caught between nature and malevolent humans i.e.,

between harsh climate and his brutish cousin and a gang of thieves. The book

introduces the customs and traditions of the hill tribes in Tibet – their food, politics

and their lives in general.

Experimentation and innovation in historical fiction is produce new voices.

Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990) opens in a typically children’s tale

gambit, “There was once in the country of Alifbay a sad city”. Haroun a small boy

Srinath

80

lives with his father, Rashid Khalifa, a master story-teller. But he loses his powers

of story-telling after his wife’s elopement with another man. After several

adventures and war between the fighters of freedom of expression and their

tyrannical oppressors he regains his power. The story is filled with allegorical

characters – Prince Bolo for “speak” and Princess Batcheet for “dialogue”.

Partap Sharma’s popular series on Dog Detective Ranjha appeared in the

children’s magazine-Tinkle.

Neelima Sinha ‘s The Chandipur Jewels (1981) and The Yellow Butterfly

(1986), Deepa Agarwal’s Adventure in the Hills (1996) and Geeta Dharmarajan’s

Super Brat and Other stories (1989) are a few examples of the works of women

who write specifically for children.

Folklore is the oldest of stories including rhymes, folktales, myths, legends,

songs, and ballads passed down by thousands of story tellers to enlighten and

entertain generations of listeners.

Anne Frank wrote a novel and many short stories in addition to her diary. It

documents her underground experiences during the German occupation of the

Netherlands in World War II which was published by her father after her death.

Children’s literature is climbing over the walls of taboo where it shakes off

the didacticisms of looking for the moral that eliminates the reading pleasure of the

Srinath

81

young. Despite that many regard moral stories as the staple for reading/listening of

the young. One has to see the world through a child’s eye, re-enter the childhood,

‘resurrect the sights, scents, sounds, the delights and heartaches of your own

childhood’ in order to be a good children’s writer.

The idea of writing children’s books came to Divakaruni because her sons

wanted her to write on something magical. Being an Indian writer with an

exposure to magical literature, she sets her novels in India. After 9/11 the

increasing numbers of hate crimes against people of Indian origin made her write

in order to expose children in America to Indian characters. She wanted them to

learn about our community and culture – to enjoy and admire the exploits of the

heroes and heroines of these books which in turn might hopefully minimize

prejudice and suspicion between cultures, and lead to a better understanding of

each other.

Neela: The Victory Song (2006) is set during the Indian Independence

struggle in 1939. Divakaruni wants Indian-American children to read and become

aware of their history and culture and relate to characters that come from the same

ethnic background. It is the story of a twelve year old girl caught up in the Indian

Independence Movement. In 1939, while her family is preparing for her sister’s

wedding, her father is jailed following a march against British rule. Neela Sen

becomes interested in the world around her. She takes matters in her own hands

Srinath

82

and goes to Calcutta in quest of her father. The story of Neela becomes an allegory

of the heroism of India’s freedom fighters.

The Victory Song is taken from “Girls of Many Lands” series. Chitra

Divakaruni’s mother throws light on life in Calcutta, the epicentre of India’s

Independence movement and village weddings in detail. Chitra Divakaruni was

fascinated with two great leaders – Gandhiji and Subhash Chandra Bose “men

whose goals were the same but whose paths were different” [Author’s Note] – non-

violence and violence respectively to attain freedom from the British. These two

men and the British rulers are the only historical figures in the novel and the rest is

the author’s imagination.

To authentically portray Neela’s life Chitra Divakaruni read Bengali novels of

1930’s by Sharat Chandra, Tagore and Bankim Chandra who composed Vande

Mataram, the song that inspired Neela and the entire nation in the novel. All the

above three authors wrote about the lives of girls and women describing the little

education they got and their place at home and care of the household. The

impatience of Divakaruni at these descriptions paved way for Neela’s character.

Divakaruni uses words from her mother tongue-Bengali as she enjoys the

flavor and sound of these words. Neela meaning ‘blue’ in Bengali symbolized

“infinite possibilities-both for Neela herself and for India” [Author’s Note].

Srinath

83

Neela’s father, Hari Charan wanted the wedding to be simple as the war had

broken out and the struggle for India’s independence had started. He feels lucky

for growing rice because many cotton growers had suffered as the British imported

machine-spun thread from Manchester.

Neela questions the institution of traditional marriage and wonders why one

can’t choose one’s own husband. Neela feels that the demand for dowry is

unreasonable as her father has to struggle inordinately to arrange for money selling

their two cows. She feels unfair that the girl’s parents should pay so much. “After

all, aren’t Usha’s in-laws gaining a new and valuable family member, someone to

help them at home, for free, for the rest of her life?” (21).

The projection of the two sisters Neela and Usha in the novel appears quite

glaring in contrast. If Usha is pretty, fair-skinned and obedient, Neela is notorious

like a tom-boy either climbing a tree or bathing her cow, Budhi. The same contrast

is reflected in the attitude of the parents when the father supports her competence

in studies, the mother thinks otherwise and expects her to be a homemaker

developing culinary and tailoring skills to turn out to be a good daughter-in-law in

future.

The clash of duties is not apparent to Neela. Firstly, she pays attention to

Budhi, her cow and neglects the duty prescribed by her mother. Secondly, she is

Srinath

84

guilty of the pain and worry she causes her mother by giving away the necklace.

Thirdly, the shoes, made in Great Britain, purchased by her family suggests their

betrayal of the freedom fighters, though not buying it would have caused trouble

for Usha at her in-laws.

Neela finds the sari an obstacle as it put an end to her tree climbing and

swimming across the pond. Neela wore her first sari for her sister’s wedding. Neela

in the sari is surprised at her own beauty. Though she would by nature admire her

own image, by training and custom she is forced to pretend at being a grown up

woman. Her cousin says, “The cow girl has been transformed into a princess” (18).

Neela wonders “Is this really me, this pretty girl with sparkling black eyes lined

with kajal, hair neatly braided down her back, and a small orange bindi in the

middle of her forehead?... And the sari! Why, it’s gorgeous! It makes me look at

least fifteen!”(18).

After wearing the gold bangles and earrings her mother gave, she was

surprised to receive a long gold chain and promised to be careful with it

The do’s and don’ts of the adults are questioned by Neela who names them as

“The Conspiracy of the Adults’. She instead of lying bored on the mat, wanted to

visit the baoul-a saffron clad wandering ministrel who is regarded as a holy man.

Srinath

85

Neela learns music from he who had given up both family and worldly affairs,

knew about the happenings in the world and had large repertoire of songs.

Vandemataram sung by baoul, describing India’s rich heritage - beautiful

with green fields, cool breezes, sweet voices of her people, “She was an ideal to be

loved, a goddess to be admired, a cause to give up one’s life for” (15) - was learnt

by Neela from the baoul.

The freedom fighters, with their faces blackened with soot and oil, barge into

the wedding seeking money and jewelry in order to purchase proper ammunition to

fight the British thereby providing liberty and a life of dignity. Neela is surprised to

see enormous strength in a 16 year old boy who wore a turban of three colours-

orange, green and white. Despite her mother’s warning to keep it carefully, she

gives her gold chain to him.

The leader tells the crowd not to purchase British goods but wear cotton

woven by natives and to throw away the imported glass bangles. One can see a

similar situation in Tagore’s Home and the World, Raja Rao’s Kanthapura where

Nationalism is expressed through rejection of foreign goods which is part of

Swadeshi Movement. Sandip in Home and the World is against the sale of foreign

goods- “Sandip laid it down that all foreign articles, together with the demon of

foreign influence, must be driven out of our territory” [Tagore 97]. The

Srinath

86

contradicting views of Nikhil and Sandip are similar to that of Hari Charan and

Samar in The Victory Song. Hari Charan supports non-violence whereas Samar

applies the means of violence in attaining freedom for the country. He gives the

turban to Hari Charan and says that this is the colour of the flag of new India and

he wishes Hari Charan to join them as the Motherland needs men like him. Neela

wanted to perform the duties of men-she pictures herself as a freedom fighter with

a turban and blackened face combating with the British soldier.

Her father tells Neela about his decision to go to Calcutta to accompany the

leaders in the march against British and tells that if he doesn’t return she should

reveal the secret to her mother saying that he died for our country.

Samar, the boy to whom Neela had given her necklace is given refuge at

Neela’s home. He tells Neela about the freedom fighters. There were 20 of them

and their leader was Biren who was a staunch follower of Subash Chandra Bose.

Neela compares him to “one of the heroes out of an old tale like the Ramayana!”

(49). The Ramayana is a text that teaches the principal themes, struggle for justice

that is necessary for the exercise of ethical sovereignity and struggle for trust that

is necessary for the flourishing of any relationship,especially marriage. One can

witness various versions of the story in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions in

various languages all over the world. Samar had to run away from his pro –British

uncle’s home but he was always cared for by his cousin Bimala.

Srinath

87

One had to undergo a tough training in order to become a freedom fighter: to

walk without shoes from city to city during summers, remain in wet clothes in

monsoon, practice wrestling and martial arts with staffs, live in the countryside

without food and money, disguise as old peasants, women, etc., and teach

constructing bombs and guns.

Neela dreamt of a face of the mysterious and beautiful woman, with the sad

eyes and the crown of jewels time and again. The thesis will at a later point explain

the symbolism of this dream. Neela’s mother told her about Sarojini Misra, the

wife of a rich businessman in Jal Gram whom Neela had met, at the wedding and

in the temple, who wanted Neela to be her daughter-in-law. Neela felt that

engagement was a serious thing and she couldn’t back out. Here too we find the

clashing of duties – she had to choose between the search for her father and

engagement. She feels that “Engaged girls are kept under strict supervision and

expected to behave properly at all times. It would be the end of whatever freedom I

have!” (69). She feels sad for not seeking Samar and not rescuing her father from

jail. She wears the outfit of a long saffron robe and a turban that the baoul had sent

through Ramu, the servant. She takes the money and writes to her mother about her

mission of bringing her father back.

Neela compares Shona Gram with Calcutta, which is big and crowded. She

describes life in Calcutta - vendors selling cloth and food, the transportation -

Srinath

88

buses and trams, “two train cars joined together and connected to wires that

crackled overhead” (73) and carriages. There were factories which emitted black

smoke and there was garbage piled all over. She wished to be back in the familiar

safety of her village. She wonders “How many people, rich and poor, must live in

such a huge city, the capital of British India!” (74). Shona Gram emerges as a

welcome metaphor of order and cleanliness.

A series of questions and thoughts hover over her mind about her father,

Samar, mother and Budhi making her wonder whether the step she had taken was

not a mistake.

It was difficult to identify her father in the jail by Bimala’s attendee as the

prisoners were identified only through numbers. But the V shaped old scar on the

back of the left hand was a clue to identifying her father.

Neela wonders at both the ruthless and kind behavior of Bimala’s father.

Though she wanted to hate him, she couldn’t. “How many sides there were to

people!” (88).

Samar visits them in the guise of a monkey man. There is mockery and

teasing even in dire circumstances. He says he has no intention of dying and

missing the wedding feast of Bimala but is surprised as to who will marry this ugly

duckling.

Srinath

89

Bimala takes Neela to the drama club where Neela feels that women are little

aware of the outside world. “There was more to life than fancy jewellery and

French perfume” (99). After the fight between the police and Biren’s men the

three- Neela, Neela’s father and Samar escape to Howrah station. Her father talks

about Dandi March – the British have no right to tax Indians for salt. The argument

between Samar and her father, supporting Subash Chandra Bose and Gandhiji

respectively, distressed Neela as she cared for both. She was tired and confused.

“There were so many conflicts in the world, so many choices to make. It was

difficult to know what was right” (121).

When the constables searched the train, Neela was in a dirty frock, Samar

acted as a crazy boy, who talked and slapped himself and with the help of Bimala’s

make-up kit Neela painted the red boils all over her father’s body. This made the

constables fear that he had the ‘pox’ and asked them to get down at the next

station. Neela feels happy to be home.

Images from Nature are employed to advantage by Divakaruni. The village is

filled with colours-dark green mango leaves, bright green banana leaves, silvery-

blue ponds, reddish brown earth suggesting richness. Shona Gram is named after the

gold of mustard flowers. Now there is no sadness in the eyes of the woman Neela

dreamt often. Maybe she was the motherland, looking down on Neela, blessing her

Srinath

90

(130). The usage of neem stick for toothbrush, palm-leaf for fan and earthen pitcher

to store cold water are but a few examples of things derived from Nature.

Divakaruni introduces Bengali customs and traditions, as well as Gandhiji and

Subash Chandra Bose. The debate of the relative philosophies of the two

luminaries encourages the readers. The life in colonial India is depicted seamlessly.

The story of a courageous girl and her misgivings and hopes as well as her

convictions and hope of bringing her father back is narrated powerfully. True

courage is the ability to stand up and face one’s own fears. The story is set in

1900’s where the British banned national dances and national songs such as

Vandemataram. Neela learns Vandemataram that praises India and her lush green

fields and her cool breezes on hot days. Neela and her family lead a traditional life.

Neela is brave and courageous who risks her own life to seek her father, with the

help of Samar and his cousin Bimala. The strong character of Neela is depicted

successfully by Divakaruni.

Divakaruni’s The Conch Bearer (2003) blends action, adventure, magic in the

form of fantasy. The story opens in the poor section of Kolkata, Calcutta renamed

in 2001. Twelve-year old Anand is given a conch shell imbued with mystical

power. His job is to return the shell to its rightful heir in the mountains.

Srinath

91

Accompanied by a mysterious stranger and a resourceful street urchin, Nisha he

encounters good and evil both in himself and in those around him.

The adventure of young Anand’s trials while trying to retrieve an

irreplaceable conch shell is narrated in a manner that can engage the readers’

minds from first to last.

Ilene Cooper in Booklist opines, “The slums are so richly created that readers

can almost smell them, and the pure beauty of Anand’s destination is a shimmering

Shangri- La come to life” [Cooper].

It is the story that races across contemporary India to a dramatic climax in the

Himalayas. The journey begins on the teeming streets of Kolkata across arid plains

and turbulent rivers to a secret valley in the Himalayas.

Readers feel the emotions of hope, fear, joy, trepidation, sadness, wonder

along with the main characters:

“… fresh and riveting with details of India’s smells, sights and tastes, with

characters that possess both good and evil, and with her exploration of the fine line

between faith and magic” [Publishers Weekly].

Anand is a believer in fairy tales and magic. He worked in a tea shop owned

by Haru. Anand wishes for his miserable life to change. Anand’s father left for

Dubai two years back. Abhyadatta narrates the story of the Healers, known as

Srinath

92

Brotherhood, in the Silver Valley in Himalayas. The conch stolen by Surabhanu is

retrieved by Abhyadatta. He cures Meera, Anand’s sister who was weak in the

mind because of the murder she witnessed. Anand’s belief in magic and his desire

to enter its secret domain made Abhayadatta come to him. Anand gets a chance to

do “something amazing and brave, to break through the despair and ugliness that

surrounded him!” (33). He is glad to escape from the “dull grind of his everyday

life into a world of adventure and mystery” (46). Nisha who “plays hopscotch with

danger everyday” wants to join Anand in his quest as she says “I’ll probably save

your life several times along the way”.

Abhyadatta tells about the three trials they have to pass and hands over the

conch to Anand. The conch converses with Anand and helps only when human

solutions have been exhausted. The first trial is the crossing of the raging river. It

appears differently to each person based on their inner qualities. They could cross

the river with the help of a mongoose, which is Abhyadatta in animal form. The

second was the rocky pass where Surabhanu takes the form of a red snake and

attacks them. Nisha, who was under his control since their encounter on the train,

acts according to his orders and tries to smash Anand’s head with a rock but the

mongoose comes to his rescue. Nisha and Mongoose are hurt. Finally with the help

of the conch they defeat Surabhanu and pass the trial.

Srinath

93

The third trial was difficult for Anand as he had to choose between the glorious

life in Silver Valley and his friends. Anand’s kind nature is seen emerging to the fore

when he says that he will suffer with Nisha and the mongoose when the Healers

reject them. He says, “I wouldn’t have it otherwise, not for all the magic in the

world” (210). He chooses the path of righteousness with love by putting aside his

own desire. He had to choose one virtue out of three-honesty, loyalty and

compassion. Anand replies that honesty, loyalty and compassion are like the colours

on the conch-the way the pink and white blend to make a beautiful whole like the

three of them together-Abhyadatta, Anand and Nisha. All the three are welcomed

and Nisha becomes the female member of Brotherhood. But Anand had to choose

between his own family and Silver Valley. Anand chooses the latter. Though his

family forgets their past lives thanks to Abhyadatta - master of forgetting and

remembrance, Anand has to remember pain and what he has sacrificed for the

Brotherhood. Anand is accepted as a novice and titular conch bearer.

Chitra Divakaruni wanted to write a book of heroic characters in order to

share India and its culture with young readers, to spread cultural diversity as there

is “a really dangerous tendency to close down the borders” [Krishnaswami].

India is evoked with words like ‘petrol’, ‘lorry’ with reference to Pathankot

Express and the description of food with white radishes and rice, sheem beans

Srinath

94

fried with chillies, alu pakoras and rasogollahs as well as spices like cumin,

cardamom and cloves.

Chitra Divakaruni is inspired by the mythical tales of Bengal and magical

fiction where one imagines the grandeur and heroism in a special way.

Divakaruni talks about the marginalized children – children who lived in the

slums of Kolkata in the first book of the trilogy. In the second book The Mirror of

Fire and Dreaming the characters were Muslim. In the final trilogy, Shadowland,

she talks about illegals- people without papers and without rights.

Divakaruni unlike in Neela: The Victory Song doesn’t italicize foreign words.

She feels “Part of the experience of reading this book shouldn’t separate the Indian

words. Italics arrest the reading… set up a visual fence” [Children’s Literature]

Divakaruni uses nature imagery by describing the tiny villages with thatched

huts and mud walls amidst emerald rice fields and bamboo thickets and ponds.

Surabhanu sends birds and animals to bring fear among children. “Black as crows

but much smaller, with beady orange eyes that glittered” (93). Apes are not

carnivorous in reality but the children are frightened that they would attack. The

novelist blends both reality and nightmare in the novel. Anand dreams of a

mysterious inky-ocean in which silver waves rise and fall. He conjures up the

enchanted forest where magical beings welcome him, “unicorns, speaking birds,

Srinath

95

gnomes to play tag with him in clearings of four-leafed clovers, jinns to obey his

slightest wish” (106). However, in actuality it is part of the plan of Surabhanu to

tempt Anand to kill the Healer.

As the ocean protects a country’s boundaries likewise ocean weed protects

one’s mind. It “cleanses your thoughts, blowing away old, stagnant impressions”

(124). Similarly Anand too is rescued from the evil force which tempts him to

commit evil things.

The description of the Silver Valley is extraordinary: the silver flowers on

Parijat trees, the lakes and paths, mangoes, vegetables and animal yards, the neat

disciplined life showered with peace, joy and unconditional love of the Brotherhood.

It was a self-contained community. Anand is astounded at “the unexpected ways in

which magic and learning intersected” (222) in the Silver Valley.

The various places and their importance in the Silver Valley are beautifully

imagined by the author. In the Arbour of Water, the breathing of the woods is

compared to the breathing of an elated person. The sound of water is “like the whisper

of rain on feathery leaves on tamarind tree”, “droplets falling into the pool”, roar of a

waterfall, etc. Even though the evil was destroyed it still managed to survive as the

“roots of weeds sometimes reach deeper than the gardener thinks” (231).

Srinath

96

The moonlight looked paler compared to the luminescence from the conch,

according to Anand whose heart is filled with gladness as “deep and sweet as the

ocean of milk that the old tales say exists in the sky” (231) signifying the close

affinity of Anand and the conch throughout the novel.

One can see a hall made of life, leafy tree branches in the Hall of Seeing.

This is the place where Anand faces conflicting loyalties as he had to give up all

relationships and loved ones to become a member of Brotherhood. Asking a human

not to worry is like asking a fish not to swim. But “in order to gain something

great, one must release his hold on something else equally beloved” (252).

Anand comes across seven stones, in the Garden of Stones, in a circle which

shone white in the moonlight, “colour of frozen milk, of crushed opals” and they

seem to grow as Anand goes near. He is stopped from stepping on the stone by

Abhyadatta as they are stones of memory sent centuries ago from the other side of

Black waters and if others touch them it would absorb their memories and leave

them without any past.

Anand, Nisha, Abhyadatta and the conch are referred to the Company of the

Conch. The story of the trio continues with Anand having nightmares of the

obstacles he had to overcome to reach the Silver Valley in the sequel, The Mirror of

Fire and Dreaming. Anand dreams of the bitter freezing cold, gibbering apes,

Srinath

97

Surabhanu’s servants, guardian in the river who almost drowned them, avalanche of

rocks that broke Nisha’s leg, giant red snake with its seductive, hissing voice (3).

Anand is surprised as to how people pretend to be happy when feeling

irritated or nervous or miserable. “Such mental dexterity seemed as difficult to

achieve as controlling physical pain or translating the wind’s words, and he was

afraid he’d be equally unskilled at it” (15). He had heard the words “Evil Stirs”

while reading the winds.

Anand, the keeper of the conch, while practicing the art of prophesying

receives the vision of a terrified wise-woman pleading for help. She tells him that

the people in her village, Sona Dighi meaning golden lake, disappear into the forest

“and when they come back, they are changed. Often they don’t remember who

they are” as the wicked magician is sucking the souls of the helpless villagers.

Abhyadatta along with Raj Bhanu, senior apprentice goes to solve the problem by

handing Anand a strand of pearls and telling him that if it grew dull or dark then he

and Raj Bhanu are in danger.

There was no discrimination of class or caste in the Brotherhood. All those

interested in helping fellow human beings were welcomed. One was not to reveal

one’s true name to a stranger as names had power and the enemy gained advantage

through knowing the true name.

Srinath

98

Anand has a disturbing vision. His mentor and spiritual guide is in danger.

The boy-magician Anand, his sassy partner Nisha and beloved teacher Abhyadatta

reunite for new adventure in folkloric Indian fantasy series Brotherhood of the

Conch. Anand convinces the conch to create a magic portal to reach Abhyadatta.

Unfortunately, the metaphysical hurtle separates Anand from Nisha and the conch

and they are thrown back in time to an ancient kingdom, of Nawab Nazib and its

Chief Minister Haider Ali ,where an evil jinn plans to ruin the royal family. He

travels along with Nisha and the conch in contemporary India- several years back,

past the time of Moghul rulers. Anand encounters powerful sorcerers, haughty and

arrogant prince and jinn capable of unspeakable magic. Nisha as Paribanou is short

of her memory and is now the niece of Haider Ali. Abhyadatta was the mahout and

Raj Bhanu the assistant mahout in the Hathi-Khana of the palace.

Anand and Nisha land in the past of Bengal where the Nawabs and the rival

princes battle for power and land and the East India Company is petitioning for

extension of treaties.

The description of the durbar with its rich pillars of coloured stones, gold and

silver throne, its seat covered with thick silk quilts, marble and granite walls,

Persian carpet in jewel colours covering the dias is beautifully depicted by

Divakaruni. Punkahs made of silk with iridescent peacock feathers were stitched

Srinath

99

into the two silver doors in the centre. There were three railings- iron, bronze and

silver suggesting separate spaces for each dignitaries depending upon their status.

Anand possessed a special gift to converse with the objects of power- conch,

pearls and mirror. It also transformed Anand from a timid boy who felt sorry for

himself into someone who was ready to dedicate his life to help others.

Divakaruni weaves a vibrant tapestry of action, suspense and rare beauty. It’s

all about commingling of old and new, real and magical. Divakaruni uses Bengali

terms while describing food or showering words of endearment and while

depicting the terraces and courtyards which are considered female spaces in Indian

culture. There is evidence throughout to show that she is deeply influenced by our

epics and puranas and other myths. She was also influenced by the Harry Potter

series with some of its twists and magic and Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman

Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts.

The era of the Muslim nawabs in Bengal with the lush beauty and pageantry

of that world is beautifully depicted. The description and aroma of food takes the

readers back in time to an era in India when shahzadas ruled; their breathtaking

finery and endless courses of food brought by servants in turbans is portrayed in

detail.

Srinath

100

The mirror acts as a key link between past and present and Anand’s gradual

self-realization can also be seen. There is depth in Anand’s character. In order to

find the missing conch and rescue the court from vengeful magician he has to

“sharpen his senses until they are keener than the keenest knife” resulting in his

mental growth. Epic figures are drawn from a multiplicity of traditions. One comes

across relationship as tender and unexpected as Anand’s connection with the

elephant Matangi.

Divakaruni explains Hindi words used according to context and reveals the

flavours, sights, sounds and stories of past and present Bengal. The values stated-

“Don’t run away, think for yourself; don’t expect to be good at everything: use

kindness and humility, not force” are thought provoking.

There is much of the exotic flavor: the journey from the crowded Indian city

through rural villages and high mountains, a magical background from traditional

Indian tales and description of food which is rich, luscious and savory.

It is hard to believe that the arrogant prince Mahabet changes too quickly but

his emotion and care for Nisha is poignant.

The combination of fantasy and travel into the past is continued in

Divakaruni’s next book, a sequel to The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming,

Shadowland. Anand goes in search of the hermit to advance his knowledge on

Srinath

101

powers of the object and Nisha goes to the gorge to wander and see the trees with

strange shapes that appeared like old people. Anand returns after four days, and is

shocked to see a barren stretch of rock and snow frozen in the wasteland as

everything and everyone has disappeared. The conch is missing leaving a

devastated Silver Valley, while both Anand and Nisha travel into the dystopian

world to retrieve it. It is a world where air and water are polluted while the upper

class live in luxury under ‘hermetically sealed domes’ and the lower class s truggles

to survive. With the help of the Mirror, “one of the three looking glasses forged in

the Age of Truth from the sands of the Great Northern Desert”, both of them

journey through the abyss where everything including the very air is brown, “The

air tastes funny, like rusted metal” (32). In the Rehabitation 39 people were

compelled to wear masks to breathe, and metal collars with their voice-sensitive

devices prevented people from communicating with each other. The exposure in

the City of Coal led to loss of memory as the air was poisonous. There were ruins

all around, “Ruined housing complexes, market plazas, or spired structures that

may have once been places of worship” (44) resulting in brown air and barren

earth. It was the farm alone which was filled with greenness – trees of luscious,

ripe fruit, crops and grass all around. Anand was amazed at the profusion of

colours and smells because of usage of enhanced fertilizers and the growing of

Srinath

102

hybridized fruit like banana. He calls it a paradise. But little does he know that the

wire contraption around the workers prevented them from eating too!

Anand learns that in this city there was an ongoing clash between the

magicians and the scientists. They were given numbers so as not to reveal their true

names. Anand and Nisha are hired by a scientist, Dr.S to help her in hosting a

banquet in Futuredome, the place where the conch was kept. With the help of the

mechanization there was pure air in the dome. Gazing at the illusionary sun they

had created, Anand feels that they had wasted their abilities by providing frivolous

luxuries to rich but wonders about the living condition of the poor. The colours of

the buildings- pink, green and palest mauve- were selected in order to discourage

the inhabitants from asking questions. Anand feels that Kolkata was better than

this dome as beggars were at least given the leftovers but here they were denied of

entry and food.

Anand learns that Dr.S is in charge of the restoration of the X-Converter,

which senses objects of power from other worlds, as it was destroyed by the

magicians (House of Fine Spirits). Dr.S who was interested in outer worlds, feels

guilty and sad as removing the objects of power from other worlds would cause

problems. They escape from Dr.S and reach the House of Fine Spirits where they

had to overcome the barrier spell–river of dejection, by the magicians. It is Nisha

again who saves Anand from this spell. There were no breathing masks and with

Srinath

103

the help of the magicians they find the mirror but the avarice of the magician Vijay

who wishes to grab the power of object made their mission difficult. By using

persuasion, Nisha takes the help of a truck driver to transport them to Futuredome.

She says to the truck driver “my hope is that it will change this Shadowland into a

place of light” (119).

They see the fake day, fake stars in the laboratory. As per the order of the

conch, Anand tells their story to Dr.S. Anand at this point of time learns that it is

the same city of his birth- Kolkata where he had spent his childhood. It’s a great

disappointment to him with its “unbreathable air and sunless sky, its extravagant

domes that separated the fortunate few from the desperate masses, [it] was not a

different world as he had assumed” (125). He had sweet memories of river Ganges,

Howrah Bridge, Rabindra Sarobar Lake and feels furious learning that it was his

own people, out of greed, who had devastated the Valley. He remembers the Silver

Valley with parijat trees and the Great Hall of hundred pillars and crystal roof

through which stars shone. The Hall of Seeing and Watchtower Tree were the

places where one communicated with different parts of the world, ready to help

those in need.

Dr.S was made to remember her past through the mirror. Scientists took the

children to futuredomes and drove their families to outer lands where they were

left to die. They destroyed the Terraces and many of the families were in hiding.

Srinath

104

Dr.S- Sumita, Lila’s granddaughter, in reality was reliving the incidents she had

forgotten for this long.

They arrange a meeting at the Maidan to bring together magicians and

scientists. The maidan where there once was a park full of greenery, trees and

flowers which Anand visited as a child was replaced by dry earth. The Maidan

“was barren, its earth so dry that it had cracked into deep chasms that Anand had to

navigate cautiously” (171). With the blowing of the conch Anand creates a frozen

atmosphere among people where they ceased to perform any activity. The magical

objects took the two leaders into the past where the scientists and magicians

worked together without any distinction as they ate and worked together and were

dressed in white. “The magical objects create situations and opportunities, but

ultimately humans must make their own choices” (185). Finally, they decide to

work together to find a solution, send a rocket to seed clouds and take the help of

the conch, and the mirror would stay with them till it was needed elsewhere. Dr.X

despite all this manages to steal the mirror and the conch that was kept in the vault

and wants to misuse the conch by converting it in the X-converter. Anand offers a

solution to Dr.X to start his life afresh somewhere in a different world and he steps

into the mirror which transforms Dr.X into a child and lands him in the Silver

Valley as an apprentice. Anand introduces the Silver Valley to the new apprentice

Srinath

105

who has lost his long term memory. Anand wondered as to how “intricately they

were woven, the threads that made up this mysterious universe” (231).

Ecological and class issues are dwelt upon in this novel. One travels to the

cold and forbidding world of Shadowland. Chitra Divakaruni says “If you are

living an existence devoid of wonder it’s very flat. One needs to seek out the

magical” [Children’s Literature]. Magic and creatures share the journey. It is

different from other fantasy quest as the tests undergone are allegorical, the lessons

have spiritual meanings. There are echoes of Eastern religions, though it may be

lessons towards striving to be a better person. The story of a one-eyed deer told by

Abhyadatta acts as an allegory emphasizing on the need not to yield to any

temptations and cause harm to the near ones. Similarly, the initial test of Anand, in

the first book, is reminiscent of Jesus as Anand cares for a helpless old man who

turns out to be a miracle worker. The transformation of Anand from a tea-boy to

the conch bearer can be considered as the message and hope of Easter according to

George Bryant Wirth “that God transforms suffering into the promise of salvation”

[Wirth 363]. The disappearance of the mentor, time and again, suggests the trial

Anand had to undergo alone in order to become strong and potent. Nisha emerges

as a good counterpoint to Anand’s constant goodness. There is vivid descrip tion of

India’s landscape, food and culture in Divakaruni’s children’s novels.

Srinath

106

Works Cited

Agarwal, Deepa. Adventure in the Hills. ANB Publishers, 1996.Print

---. Caravan to Tibet. New Delhi : Penguin, 2007.Print

Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. Macmillan, 1865.Print

Children’s Literature. N.p.28 January, 2011.Web. 14 Nov. 2012.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/children%27s-literature.>

Cooper,Ilene. Booklist. The Conch Bearer by Chitra Divakaruni. Web.

Sep.15, 2003.

< http:www.booklistonline.com/The Conch Bearer-Chitra Banerjee

Divakaruni,Sep 15,2003.>

Dalal, Deepak. Ranthambore Adventure. Westland Books Pvt Ltd, 1998 ; Navneet,

2007, Tarini Publishing, 2012.Print

Gupta, Subhadra Sen. Dear India , Give Us Freedom : Diary of Keya

Ganguly,1942. Scholastic India, 2002.Print

Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Book. Macmillan, 1894.Print

Krishnaswami, Uma. Author Interview Children’s Literature. “Meet Chitra

Srinath

107

Banerjee Divakaruni”. October 23, 2003. Web. 16 July 2010.

<http://www.childrenslist.com/childrenslist/mai-divakaruni-chitra.html>

Lewis, C.S. On Stories and Other Essays on Literature. ed. Walter Hooper. San

Diego: Harcourt Brace Javanoich, 1982.Web. 5 Jun 2011.

<www.aiias.edu/ict/vol-14/014cc_147-163.htm.>

Menon, Radhika. An Overview of Indian Children’s Literature in English.

Conference organized by National Book Trust, Trivandrum, 2000.Print

Publishers Weekly. The Conch Bearer by Chitra Divakaruni.Aug 8,2003. Web.

<http://www.publishersweekly.com/The Conch Bearer-Chitra Banerjee

Divakaruni,Aug 8,2003.>

Rangachari, Devika. Growing Up. Children’s Book Trust, Penguin India, 2000.Print

Sinha, Nilima. The Chandipur Jewels. New Delhi: Children’s Book Trust, 1981.Print

---. The Yellow Butterfly. New Delhi: Children’s Book Trust, 1986.Print

Srivastav, Sigrun. Grin and Bear It Abhy. South Asia Books, 1993;Puffin,1994.Print

Tagore, Rabindranath. The Home and the World. n.d.Web. 2 July 2010.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.Php:The_Home_and_the_World 532546753.>

Wirth, George Byrant. Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 2.p363.Print