SIGNIFICANCE OF DALIT LITERATURE FOR SOCIAL UNIFORMITY
WITH REFERENCE TO THE NOVEL
CHOMANA DUDI
by Shivram Karanth (Kannada)
- Kiranmayi M
R19MAE12
MA English, 2nd semester
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Untouchability: A Social Evil
The advent of 20th century brought many reforms to Indian society. The arrival of
English education let people to question their age-old beliefs and practices. One such
archaic practice put under scrutiny by the reformers was the inhuman custom of
untouchability.
The caste system existed in Indian society right from the time of recorded history. It
was an integral part of the Hindu society. The system was not just strange and irrational,
it also gave rise to many
coldblooded beliefs, superstitions and practices in society. One
such wretched offshoot of the caste system was the practice of untouchability.
The traditions followed in the name of untouchability were all horrifyingly brutal and
inhumane. People who belonged to the so-called untouchable castes were treated little
worse than cattle. They had to live on the outskirts of the village, eat leftovers and eke
out a living by doing menial jobs for the so-called upper caste people. They were subject
to several restrictions. They had
no right to live a decent and dignified life. Far from
living, it was considered blasphemy for them to even dream of living a good life!
Many reformist writers took upon the task of presenting the disturbing realities of
untouchability through their plays and novels.
Though untouchability pervaded all across
the country, the customs and traditions associated with it varied greatly with each region.
So, each writer brought forth
new facets of the horrendous custom.
About the author
One such writer was
K. Shivram Karanth from Karnataka. He was a multi-faceted
talent. Apart from being a writer, he was also a social thinker, reformist, dramatist, social
activist, filmmaker and several other figures package into one. In the literary front, there
is hardly any genre he has not worked upon. Be it a novel, short-story, drama, satire,
humour, travelogue and other forms, Karanth has shown his expertise in every kind of
literary expression. He was, in fact, compared to Rabindranath Tagore in this regard. His
contribution to the Kannada Literature is an all-time record, as he wrote, apart from his
forty-seven novels, thirty-one plays, four short story collections, six books of essays and
sketches, thirteen books on art, two volumes of poems, nine encyclopedias, and over one
hundred articles on various issues.
Shivram Karanth is considered
one of the most influential novelists in the Kannada
language. Most of his novels are widely read and have received critical acclaim. In the 47
novels which he penned, Shivaram Karanth has explore a plethora of themes. The themes
include social, political, spiritual, anthropological and other relative issues. One such
powerful and popular novel of Karanth is
“Chomana Dudi”.
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The Novel
Chomana Dudi revolves around the life of Choma, who is a bonded laborer from an
untouchable caste. The novel traces the life of Choma till his death – taking one through
his dreams and difficulties, trials and tribulations, humiliations and heartbreaks. It deals
with the series of injustices heaped on Choma, the resultant pain and anguish leading him
to the inevitable tragic end- all this because he belonged to a down trodden community.
The novel artfully brings out the
multi-faceted nature of untouchability and its
consequences through Choma and his family.
The story has a central theme of untouchability. While doing so, it covers
the entire
scope of oppressive and exploitative practices which result out of untouchability. It
shows how the concept of untouchability has both immediate and far-fetching effects on
the lives of people.
Background and Setting
The time setting of the novel is the early part of the
20th century.
The place setting of the novel is a fictional village called Bhogana Halli in
Dakshina
Kannada district or South Canara. In the preface of his book, the author gives details of
the treatment meted out to untouchables in this region. He says that, “In South Canara,
the slaves were treated as untouchables. They had to erect huts at a distance from all
other inhabitation and were not allowed to approach the houses or person without certain
prescribed distances. The
holeyas (so-called untouchable castes) of the district were
divided in to various sub-castes such as
Mera, Byra, Ajila, Mari, Mundala and others.
The treatment meted out to them also varied as per the practice prevailing from region to
region.
Only Mera holeyas were allowed to undertake cultivational activity. But the society
did not allow the Mari holeyas, treated as the
‘lowest of the low’ caste, that opportunity.
There are people who say even their shades are to be avoided. They had to survive by
eating the left- overs, or the dead cattle, or undertaking despicable menial jobs. In the
northern parts of our district, they are not called for daily labor even to this day. In the
southern parts, they are however called for daily labor.
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This description makes it clear that the practice of untouchability is a web of
complexities. It is not simple or uniform. It varies greatly all through the country, from
state to state, district to district, region to region. Furthermore, there are a number of
divisions or sub-castes within the so-called lower/untouchable castes. So, Dalit
Literature plays a significant role in bringing out and highlighting all the subtle
complexities of the untouchability issue.
Choma: A Bonded Labor
The protagonist of the novel is
Choma, who is a
holeya belonging to the
Mera sub-
caste in the South Canara district. He is a
bonded labour serving the house hold of
Sankappayya, a land lord of the village named Bhogana Halli. The bondage has run
through several generations. Choma’s forefathers in the past, Choma now, and his
children in the future were, is, and are going to be tradition bound to serve the lineage of
Sankappayya. The bondage was unbreakable as the former cannot desert their lord /
Master and the latter is obligated to keep them under his tutelage.
This indicates that untouchability had given rise to another social evil i.e., bonded
labour. This was another inhumane practice, wherein generation after generation of one
family (from the so-called untouchable castes) was “bonded” to be slaves of one family
from so-called upper castes. This practice was hindered the hope of a better life for the
slaves and constrained them from even thinking or dreaming of a better life! Thus, Dalit
Literature plays an important role in bringing to light the social issues which have
branched out from the root cause i.e., untouchability.
The service offered by the bonded labourers were mostly is manual and menial labour
and is usually compensated with meagre allowances. In the novel, the payment of Choma
for his service is with 2 quarter seers of rice and 5 quarter seers of paddy a day. This is
too little to maintain a family of six, and therefore, the life of Choma and his family
members is characterized by abject poverty, hunger and misery.
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Choma: His Dreams and Difficulties
Despite his
poverty, Choma spends most of his earnings on
toddy and tobacco. These
are his vices, which he simply couldn’t get rid of. He squandered all of his money on
these two, leaving little to no money to take care of his household.
Due to his vices, Choma is pushed to take loans from his master. As he would never
repay his loans on time, his family is caught in an acute
cycle of debts and interest.
Another important passion of Choma was
beating ‘dudi’ - a small hand drum beaten
with bamboo sticks. Choma compulsively involves himself on beating the dudi,
whenever he felt happy, sad, furious or miserable. or happy and elated. Beating dudi
was like giving his feelings an outlet vent.
Choma had one major dream in his life i.e. to become a farmer. Tilling a strip of land,
even a small one, was his dream. But it was unattainable as the customs and traditions
prohibited a holeya becoming a farmer. His keen requests for a small strip of land were
repeatedly rejected by his landlord, much to the despair of Choma. Moreover, the mother
of the landlord curses Choma for ‘having the audacity to even think of tilling land’!
Choma would have got a piece of land from the government, but the, where would he
get seeds from? How would he sustain himself till his crops grew? His landlord had made
it clear that his daily wages would be stopped the day he dared to till a piece of land for
himself.
Conversion to Christianity is also an option open for Choma, but he is too proud of his
faith to leave it. Missionaries try to lure him with promises of land and money. But even
though he is ill-treated because of his faith, Choma refuses to abandon it and embrace a
new faith. He accepts everything thrown his way as his
fate and God’s Will. This shows
the amount of indoctrination of blind beliefs and superstitions.
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So, the untouchables had not even the
right to dream and have ambitions. They had no
right to cherish
hopes and desires within their heart, because tradition would ensure that
they would remain unfulfilled. Also, they dare not think of rebelling against society or
religion as everything that happens is due to their fate and God’s Will.
Choma’s life ends in misery as he loses all his children. On his last day, he shuts himself
in his home, drinks heavily and beats his drum till his last breath.
Choma’s Family
Choma’s family consists of six members – himself, his 4 sons and a daughter.
• Two of his elder sons work in a distant coffee estate trying to pay off their family
debt. One of them
dies of cholera and the other one
converts to Christianity by
marrying a Christian girl.
• His daughter, Belli works in the plantation and falls for the charm of Manvela, the
estate-owner's contractor. She is
raped by him and the estate owner, who then
writes off Choma's debt. She returns home and tells everything to Choma. Choma
later finds his daughter in a compromising position with Manvela in their home.
With anger, he beats her and kicks her out of the house.
• His youngest son
drowns in a river, with nobody coming to save him because of
him being an untouchable.
So, it is clearly seen how
untouchability affects the lives of people in such diverse ways
that it tears Choma’s family apart.
•
Lack of food, hygiene and basic health facilities leads to the
death of one son
from cholera.
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•
Lack of basic human rights and dignity in his own faith leads another son to
convert to Christianity. He is lured to the
new religion as it promises him a life of
dignity and civic liberties in his new faith.
•
Being underprivileged in society leads to the exploitation of Choma’s daughter,
Belli. She is
sexually exploited, and then lured away by manipulative men with
promises of writing off her family debts. Men of power demand sexual favors
from her in return to writing off her family’s debt; taking advantage of her social
and economic backwardness. This is a case of
caste, class and gender abuse.
• Finally, the last son of Choma is
left to die by onlookers due to his caste. People see him drowning, but on one comes forward to help him, because he is an
untouchable. The insensitivity of people can be realized in this case. People are so
clouded by their rigid beliefs and superstitions that they turn a blind eye to a
fellow human being in trouble. The cries of the young boy fall on deaf ears, only
because of his caste.
All these cases show how untouchability leads to various forms of abuse and neglect.
Literature as a step towards Social Uniformity
Summing up, it can be said that
Chomana Dudi is an excellent example of how Dalit
Literature can lead to social uniformity. The novel throws light on the
denial of basic
human essentials and dignity to people like Choma and highlights the immorality of
society. It is able to tear up the eyes of the readers and tear open their hearts towards the
suffering of the downtrodden. The author’s purpose to
create an awareness among the
public as regards to the evils of untouchability has found adequate success through this
novel. So, it can be said that novels like these can prove to be invaluable in spreading
awareness and sensitize the public towards the suffering of the so-called lower castes.
This would lead to
concern, mindfulness and social uniformity in the long run.
