Abstract:
While writing the history of the genre of the biography Sisirkumar Das observes one of the reasons behind the emergence and development of the genre of biography in nineteenth century India was religious and moral instructions. This observation is well applicable to the biography of Parvati Kunwar written by her husband Mahipatram Nilkanth and Lilavati written by her father Goverdhanram Tripathi. This paper selects these two biographies of these two women Parvati Kunvar and Lilavati written by two stalwarts of Guajarati literature. The paper questions the position of both the writers whose academic, literary and social lives flourish in the background of social reforms and nationalist fervor in nineteenth century India. How both of these biographers aim to create ideal womanhood for women of the society by projecting the suffering of Parvati and Lilavati as their sacrifice and living the life given to them by putting themselves aside.
Key-Words: Biography, Women’s lives, Social Reforms, Nineteenth Century Gujarat, Projecting ideal
Introduction:
This paper aims to study two biographies Parvati Kunwar Aakhyan (1881) by Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth (1829-1891) and Lilavati Jeevankala (1905) written by Goverdhanram Tripathi (1855-1907). Mahipatram was a leading educationalist and reformist who published a small biography of his wife Parvati Kunwar, titled Parvati Kunwar Aakhyan, one year after her death at the age of forty-nine in 1881. Lilavati was an elder daughter of renowned Guajarati writer Goverdhanram Tripathi. She died at the age of twenty-one due to tuberculosis. Goverdhanram published the biography of his daughter in 1905 titled Lilavati Jeevankala. By close analysis of both these life-writings this paper makes an attempt to understand the positions of both the writers Mahipatram and Goverdhanram who earned great credential in 19th century Gujarat socially, academically, intellectually and literary in the backdrop of social reforms and nationalist fervor. It also tries to comprehend how Mahipatram tries to fit the character of Parvati Kunwar into the reformist model of womanhood and how Govardhanram put his daughter as an ideal and appropriate for the nationalist model.
There is a wide scholarship on social reforms and women in 19th century India. Scholars like Partha Chatterjee, Tanika Sarkar, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Mrinali Sinha, Malvika Karlekar etc. have studied this issue from various perspectives. In her article Sonal Shukla discusses major three stands of new emerging intelligentsia of the 19th century; social reformers, cultural revivalists and nationalist who wanted to educate women and prepare them according to their negotiation with colonial modernity and the model they aspired to (Shukla 63). As a result of it, Women’s magazines and journals started emerging around the 1850s in regional languages to “cultivate women’s mind” on the moral and the virtual ground. Streebodh is one of the prominent journals in the nineteenth century Gujarat which played a significant role in this direction. The first generation of Guajarati writers, critics, journalists and educationalists were mainly social reformers. The reforms were usually targeted women’s sphere which includes women’s education and issues like widow re-marriage, child marriage etc. Therefore, this paper attempts to understand the lives of both these women through the position of both the biographers.
Positions of the writers:
Mahipatram Nilkanth was among the leading reformists group of Karshandas Mulji, Durgaram Mehta and Narmad of the period called Sudharak Yug (1850-1885). He is also known for his book England Ni Musafari Nu Varna (1864) after he came back from Britain. Goverdhanram Tripathi (1855-1907) was an important writer of Pundit Yug or era (1885-1915); the period is also known as GoverdhanYug after his name. He is famous for his magnum opus the Gujarati classic Saraswatichandra. Both of these are stalwarts in Gujarati Literature who clearly stated their objective of writing these biographies. In the end of the biography of Parvatikunvar, Mahipatram says, “I have written this biography to give moral lessons to the young girls of this country hence to fulfill that aim I depicted events of the life of Sati (good wife) Parvatikunvar whose memory I have” (Mahipatram Granthvali, 383, my translation). In Lilavati Jeevankala Goverdhanram declares his aim, “the derived mystery of Lilavati’s life can become a moral lesson for parents and their daughters of the world” (6). Thus, the motive of narrating the lives of Parvati and Lilavati is to project idealism and give moral lessons to womenfolk of the society.
Biography as a genre and the Structure of Parvati Kunwar Akhiyan and` Lilavati Jeevankala:
“Biography is a genre usually deals with ‘the history of men’s lives. The eighteenth century England is the age of the full scale biography, and also of theory of biography as a special genre” (Abraham, 22). In his volume of History of Indian literature SisirKumar Das discusses the emergence and the development of biography as a genre in Indian languages. He finds certain motivations behind the development, one of them he observes is: religious and moral instruction and general interest in history (107). Das posits biography as a “sub-genre” of history and its connection with hagiographies written in verse (107). Partha Chatterjee writes, in nineteenth century the hagiographical traditions of writing lives abdicated in the modern form of biography, “the idea of the Charit as the life of an illustrious man, told other by himself or by others, clearly persisted even in its modern sense” (138-9). Both Mahipatram and Goverdhanram followed the definition given by Das and wrote a biography for moral instructions.
In Guajarati literature Mahipatram is credited to explore the form of biography. Before him, Narmad and Dalpatram had tried their hands in writing biographical essays (Ramesh Shukla, 6). He wrote biographies of Emperor Akbar, Karshandas Mulji, Durgaram Mehta and his wife Parvatikunvar. The term for biography in Gujarati is Charit or Charitra and Jeevan Charit (bio-sketch or life writing), however Mahipatram titled the biography of his wife as an ‘Aakhyan’ which is a preprint genre in Guajarati literature. As Sujit Mulkherji defines, “A popular genre in medieval Gujarat, it was mythological and religious story, in verse and set to tune, recited by professional storytellers known as Mana-bhatts or Gagri-bhattas. The receipt also acted out parts of the story” (Mukherji 11). Gujarati poets like Bhalan (1434-1514) and Premanand (1636-1734) explored this form in the period of medieval Guajarati literature. Bhalan wrote Nalakhyan and Chandiakhyan whereas Premanand wrote Abhimanyuakhyan. The nineteenth century witnessed flourishing of genres like, Novel, biography, autobiography and history. Dipesh Cahkrabarthy observes that these four basic genres helped to express the modern self (34).
Following the above definition of Aakhyan; the title Mahipatram gave, shows his desire to make the biography popular and circulate largely like mythological and religious tales. Parvati should be worshipped like mythological heroines for her characteristics as an ideal wife. He also describes some important events of his life like, his visit to England and the banishment from his caste as a consequence and the support of Parvati in his each and every act and critical time. In British rule Mahipatram earned good credentials as an academician, writer and social reformer. Parvatikunvar also accompanied him in the social activities like Women’s education and meetings regarding widow marriage and abolition of child marriage etc. She also joined a group of British women who were active in promoting education for their Indian counterparts. There was also an exchange of letters between Parvatikunvar and British women (370-72). Mahipatram included some of these letters in this biography.
On the other hand the well known novelist Goverdhanram gives the title Jeevankala to his daughter’s biography. The term can be translated as ‘art of life’ or ‘artful life’. So the interpretation runs like this, the author wants to suggest the life of Lilavati presents ‘art of life’ and is worth following by other daughters of the society. Goverdhanram divided the life of Lilavati the four phases: The first two phrases of her life she spent at her natal, the third phase at her in laws and the last phase of her life again at her father’s home when she was ill. The Lilavati Jeevankala has an uncommon structure like its title. Goverdhanram calls it “a tribute of a loving father to his daughter”. The text is divided in three parts: 1. Lilavati Jeevankala (the artful story of Lilavati) in prose, 2.Sanskarkala-Sodshi (the long narration about Lilavati’s life in poetic form) and, 3.Parlok (the other world) in poetic narration. These parts are also divided into chapters and chapters are divided in sub topics. Chapter six includes two letters written by Goverdhanram to Lilavati and letters of condolence from friends and relatives to Goverdhanram on the death of Lilavati. Goverdhanram’s letters to her daughter show the pouring of virtues in her. Both Goverdhanram and his wife sent letters to Lilavati advising her to satisfy her in-laws' demands, not to gossip with other women about her in-laws etc. And letters from the relatives also followed the same narration that the death of Lilavati is a great loss to the society because a daughter like her is a boon to parents (123-130).
Parvati and Lilavati:
Gayatri Spivak states, “between patriarchy and imperialism… The figure of a woman disappears… into violent shutting which is the placed figuration of the third-world woman caught between tradition and modernization (Spivak qtd in Kanchna Mahadevan 102). The lives of Parvati and Lilavati are also placed in the binaries of patriarchy and imperialism, tradition and modernization. Parvati adopted the life given by her reformist husband and fulfilled his dream of ideal companionship by keeping herself aside. Lilavati was a creation of his nationalist father; he also wants to project her as a woman's ideal.
Mahipatram addresses Parvati as ‘Baai’ in his narration, which reflects a kind of detachment from his subject. He portrayed her as a woman of virtues; like tolerance, satisfaction, pity, piousness, hardworking, ideal wife and daughter in law. He also emphasized on Parvatikunvar’s religious understanding that she is religious but not superstitious which makes her more matured in comparison with her womenfolk. She always supported him, even never complaining about any adverse condition in their life. As he says, “I did not believe in respecting wife before my thoughts regarding women changed. I was a tyrant like other men, however, she never complained about my injustice to her to anyone till her death. She was really a good woman” (359) (My Translation).
What he conveyed here is, his attitude towards his wife changed after his thoughts about women got changed. He justifies his position by saying that he never imposed his thoughts on her but she changed in his company and proved herself as an ideal wife (Pativarta). The narration tries to prove that Parvatikunvar was a true follower of his husband’s footsteps, having no desire of her own than her husband’s wish. She perfectly fits in the characteristics provided by Mahavir Prasad Drivedi, “she wears sari, puts on a bindi and decorates herself with flowers. She goes to temple, prays for her husband, is educated, goes to sabha-meeting and wins the heart of her husband” (Qtd. in Charu Gupta, 44).
Contrary to Parvati, born after a year of her death, Lilavati does not believe in widow remarriage. Here the role of her father in her upbringing is very complex to comprehend. The dilemma between modernity and tradition is reflected in Goverdhanram’s fictions and real world and Lilavati is his real world creation. When the author of Saraswatichandra was yet to write the end his classic, he asked Lilavati about her suggestion on Kumud’s (the heroine) remarriage with Saraswatichandra (the hero), Lilavati said, “Kumud should not remarry to Saraswatichandra” (25). As Mahipatram introduced the family of Parvati Kunwar, she inherited thoughts of her father against caste hierarchy and ill practices in society. Therefore she could join her husband in social activities. But Lilavati was educated in such a way that she could not go beyond the thought that ‘the suffering of life is given by god and human being should not complain against it and tolerant it with smile’ (39). About Lilavati, Sonal Shukla aptly observes, “Lilavati Jeevankala provides the first account of manmade woman or daughter created by a father to be an ideal woman in a modern society. The ideal women created by Govardhanram remained popular in fiction and real life” (Shukla 65). Therefore, what Govardhanram wants to portray the ideal womanhood through his fictions, he taught Lilavati in such a way that she is a real life example of Goverdhanram’s creation. His women got education of classical and religious scriptures, imbibed virtues which make them ideal wives and daughter in-laws but could not go or think beyond the boundaries of four walls. He established the moral which trapped women into prevailing beliefs that women are naturally virtuous and set an example in the form of his daughter Lilavati. She is trained to be an ideal wife who does not have any desire of her own. She says, “if someone speaks badly about your husband, the person should be beheaded” (25).
In the biography Govardhanram focuses on the dutiful nature and virtues of Lilavati rather than her suffering at her in-laws home. She prepared herself for the deprivation at her natal which she would have at her in-laws place (18). Here the position of Govardhanram as a father and intellectual of the 19th century is questionable. He defines his decisions he took for Lilavati’s life. Why did she not continue her schooling? Why was she married in an economically bankrupt family? Why did she not study English but Sanskrit? Lilavati got educated in Shastra and Upnishad omitting description of shringar from Sanskrit literature because her father did not wish any question in his daughter’s thoughts (64). What Goverdhanram thinks for women, “women are the very source of happiness, one of the principle means of improvement of society, the centre of our domestic bliss and easy delight of the human heart” (Goverdhan shatabdi granth 17). So the contradiction in his thoughts also reflected in his role in bringing up Lilavati. In his Scrapbook Goverdhanram repent a lot on the death of Lilavati, however, when he started writing this biography he had overcome the sorrow and in the mood of preaching. In pages he goes on discussing about education, travelling, values, society and defining shastras (67-75)
Conclusion:
Both these women are victim of child marriage. Lilavati dies because of tuberculosis; Parvati also suffers ill health and dies at the age of forty-nine. Lilavati had severe attacks of hysteria and she babbles about human sufferings in her hysterical attacks.. Her hysterical state shows the suppression of her pain and dissatisfaction from her life. She is in true sense a socially constructed woman who keeps herself aside at each and every minute of her life. There is not a single word about the desire of both these women in any of these books. Both the writers glorified the “inherent” virtues of women. In her article Usha Thakker aptly observes, “the whispers of women can be heard in temples other than home, they are just puppets on the periphery” (50). They played well as an ideal daughter, wife, mother etc. but they were women without any wish or desire of their own.
Work Cited: