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CHAPTER-III

TRANSLATING FEMALE PROTAGONISM

(MAIDANAM - THE PLAIN)

The Western or the Indian non-Telugu readers observe that the

depiction of the awakening of women through Rajeswari, the female

protagonist of Maidanam who strives to subvert the phallic centric social

order by re examining patriarchal canons and founding an alternative

semiotics of the body and beyond is most significant in Telugu literature.

The efforts of the writers in Telugu to restructure the male dominated

world of violence would be brought to their focus. Chalam attempts an

alternative for a gender free community through his work that goes

beyond the section of Telugu readers by the translated work in English as

a result of which the perception of the reading community and the scope

of their concerns as well has been broadened. The actual interpretive

consequences of the slow and steady structure of attitude and reference

articulated by the translation are diverse. Maidanam is as unique in

translation in English as it is in Telugu literature. Most interestingly the

translation version is a successfully sustained piece of fiction. No less

than India itself, Chalam was a historical being as well as a major artist

and vital to both provincial and international frameworks. It is the

background of Chalam that made him to pen the novel Maidanam. The

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theme of Maidanam goes In live with Marxist beliefs and the lives of

women. It is a towering sensation in raising the perception of Indian

society and making them to realise the existential problems of women.

For the first time the idea of inner and social liberties of women were

focused. When the novel is translated into English, people could realise

the foresight of Chalam. They have understood the continental theme of

Maidanam with philosophic, epistemological and wider critical reception.

The applicability of existing feminist criticism is feasible only with the

translation into English. The typical notion of academics is that the

feminist theoretical framework is inapplicable to the context of regional

novel. Chalam’s Maidanam proved it wrong because the translated work

is more or less in tune with the western collected works of feminist

literature.

"Woman too has a body; it needs exercise. She has a brain; it

needs knowledge. She has a heart; it needs experience." (Praiaa Saahiti,

May, 1979) This has been the fundamental premise that was repetitively

expressed tenderly, earnestly, vehemently and inventively in quite a lot

of Chalam's creative writings. Chalam was an inspiring, intellectual and

progressive artist who brought about remarkable changes both in the

language and in the outlook of modem Telugu literature that started with

Veeresalingam. Chalam began his literary career when feudal ideas were

leading in the institution of Indian family. During the fifty years of his

legendary life as a creative writer that started in 1921, Chalam mainly

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depicted the societal life of man and woman. While doing so he raised

and discussed several serious questions. He depicted equally the force

and the flaw, the power and the precincts of the individual struggles of

those women who tried to set free themselves from torment and

tribulations created by the present-day family system with his

extraordinary ability and amazing creative flair.

Chalam detested both the ignorance-ridden feudal way of life and

the mendaciousness of the colonial culture that hindered the

development of egalitarianism, camaraderie and enlightenment in the

man-woman relationship. He outrightly condemned the traditional

orthodox marriage system that precludes mutual understanding and love

between man and woman. He opposed the existing education system

that does not contribute to a minimum thinking capacity. He advocated

the bringing up of children without the undue exercise of authority and

negligence by parents and society. Chalam had got out of the influence

of orthodox Hindu religious dogmatism and was attracted towards the

Brahmo Samaj movement in his student days. However, Brahmo Samaj

could only reform the dogmatic aspect of Hindu orthodoxy but did not

operate differently in matters concerning the family structure and the

man woman bond. This naturally caused frustration in Chalam. Even the.

Nationalist movement which had attracted quite a lot of people at that

time did not attract Chalam. Because in the Nationalist movement he

mostly found the public who were narrow minded and perfidious with

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regard to their outlook towards family life, women and social morals;

who did not give up their casteism and communalism; and who were

individually fraudulent and opportunistic. Chalam was not attracted by

the political affairs of the Nationalist movement. Chalam, who belongs

to a colonial country with a leading feudal way of life, was not satisfied

with the progressive ideas of the Bourgeois countries either, though they

influenced him to an outsized extent. The sway of Communist politics

in Andhra was not sizeable during 1921-36, the period during which

Chalam's most important writings came out. Marxism, which provides

the scientific outlook in accepting society, was not at that time present

either in the form of working class movements or literary movement in

the Telugu land. Chalam heard about the Communist set-up in Russia of

1917 as a child would listen to fairy tales in moonlit nights. On one

hand, he wished that those fairy tales would turn into veracity but

doubted such a possibility. On the other hand, the world-wide

propaganda conducted by the capitalist powers in opposition to the

Communist set up in Russia of 1917 influenced and politically reserved

intellectuals like Chalam as it did throughout the world. As a result,

Chalam, in the dearth of a well-built working class movement, was not

drawn towards communism in the context of the fact that an academic

like Tolstoy remained aloof even from the Great Russian working class

movement led by Lenin owing to several misconceptions he had about

communism. Chalam's own fighting against existing man-woman

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relations; against the institution of marriage; against the. education

system and against everything which he condemned had driven him into

a sort of psychological quandary as he conducted his struggle without

knowing the social laws that govern those troubles. In such a

psychological state Chalam was drawn under the influence of 'Ramana

Maharshi's philosophy' in 1936. Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-/950), the

sage of Arunachala and profounder of Advaita Vedanta philosophy,

influenced him. Then Chalam moved from Andhra Pradesh to

Tiruvannamalai, the abode of Ramana Maharshi where he spent the rest

of his life practicing the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. Ramana

Maharshi was a living example of the teaching of the Upanishads. His

life was at once the message and philosophy of his teachings. Maharshi

spoke to the hearts of men. The great Maharshi found Himself within

himself and then gave out to the world the splendid but plain message of

his great life "Know Thyself. It is the practice of discriminating

between the undying, unchanging, all-pervading, infinite Atma and the

ever-changing, phenomenal, perishable universe and body. According to

Maharshi man’s real nature is happiness which is inborn in the true Self.

Man’s search for happiness is an unconscious search for his true Self.

The true Self is imperishable; therefore, when man finds it, he finds

happiness which does not come to an end. Chalam who went to

Tiruvannamalai during the life-time of Maharshi saw in him a sage

without the least touch of worldliness, a saint of matchless purity, a

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witness to the eternal truth of Vedanta. Though Chalam came under that

influence he did not change any of his 'social' ideas like man-woman

relationship etc although that influence led him into an unproven school

of thought because of which he could not accept any other theory.

Chalam was one of the most influential personalities in the modem

Telugu literature, for, most of his writings were regarding women

especially the kind of physical as well as psychological difficulties

women encountered in the society, in the family life and from their near

and dear ones. Chalam discussed how the women should encounter them.

The themes of his writings with philosophical tinge blended with his

writing style brought in him unenviable place in Telugu literary world. He

was bom on 18th May, 1894 in Madras, called Chennai now, in India. His

mother was Venkata Subbamma and Father was Kommuri Sambasivarao.

In his childhood days his maternal grand father adopted him and then his

surname was changed to ‘Gudipati’ from ‘Kommuri’ and ultimately, he

became very famous as ‘Gudipati Venkata Chalam.’ He was used to

practice all Hindu rituals like Sandhya Vandana, a religious worship of

Divine Power three times a day performed by Brahmin Caste Males after

getting preaching and blessing from father very religiously. As a high

school student he studied all the Hindu Mythologies. The way his father

was to pester his mother made an indelible impression on his young mind.

Besides this, the manner in which his sister, Ammmanni was married off

against her will also made him to concentrate on women issues. Chalam

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joined Pithapuram Maharaja College in 1911. At that time, he was

attracted by the preaching of Raghupati Venkata Ratnam Naidu (1862-

1939), a Social Reformer and founder of Brahma Samaj in Andhra.

Afterwards, Chalam went to Madras for studying Bachelor of Arts (BA).

Before joining the College itself, he was married with Chitti

Ranganayakamma. While he was studying for Degree in Chennai, he got

his wife admitted into Convent for her Education and he was used to drop

her at School on his bicycle. This was. a spectacle for the people to see

husband dropping wife on his cycle for her school as in those days wife

and husband going together on the road itself was a social taboo, while

Chalam and his wife were riding on the same cycle. Besides, Chalam

stopped wearing the Sacred Thread (Yagnopaveetam), started eating non

vegetarian and was used to mingle with all castes. This infuriated all his

relatives and more so his father - in - law who banished him from entering

his house. By that time, the age of Chalam's wife was merely thirteen.

When his mother-in-law died, Chalam went to his in-law's house for the

funeral along with some of his friends. But neither he nor his friends were

allowed to come inside the house and they were served food outside the

house. Chalam joined as a tutor in Kakinada after completing his studies

in Madras. Again he started participating in the Brahma Samaj activities.

He also became busy with his friendship with a fine-looking girl named

‘Ratnamma’ who happened to be his friend's wife. He worked as Teacher

in Hospet also. Then he joined in a profession with Teachers' Training

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College in Rajahmundry. Afterwards he became the Inspector of Schools.

Chalam wrote in his famous book as follows about his job: “I am a Stone,

Slave of Government and School Inspector and for the poor mice like

Teachers, I.am the Cat.” (Musings. 1976, 72).

Chalam, an incomparable writer, started writing in 1920. When Ms

opening novel was published, the Andhra people made out the condition

of society at that point of time. Chalam spoke about women's lives, their

miseries, their sexuality, the house-work they do, the degraded lives they

live and such other revolutionary things. Unfortunately, his writings have

not been able to reach people of other languages in India as they were not

translated. Chalam lost faith in the philosophy of Brahma Samaj and was

very revolutionary. He wanted to make women understand their rights.

He thought he must create awareness among women. As there were not

many people then to write about feminism, he wrote a lot. He spoke about

women's lives, their tears, their unequal status, crimes against women and

so on. He worked really hard to propagate the idea of female equality and

was involved intensely. However, there were contradictory comments and

criticism on Chalam and on Chalam’s writings in contemporary society

and literary’ world as well. His life style and creative works were the basis

to such conclusions. When his creative writings were the only

considerations, he may be misunderstood for some extent. Chalam’s

Maidanam, Stree. Musings, Premalekhalu, Atma katha form a basis to

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evaluate the freedom that Chalam wanted to bestow on women through

his writings.

The British rule in India made certain economical reforms. The

feudal system paved way to the capitalist society during the period of

British rule as a result of which certain economic reforms took place but

no social reforms were possible. Moreover, the status of women in the

society was lowered as a consequence of which their position became

wretched. The women spent much of their time in kitchens if not in

bedrooms and were not permitted to education, knowledge or wisdom.

The male egotism had been the sole reason and people like Raja Ram

Mohan Roy (1774-1833) felt the condition of women more and more

painful. Raja Ram Mohan Roy struggled hard for the upliftment of

women in Indian Society. He was the father of not only the reformative

movement but a pioneer to every social reformer. His arena extended

from social matter to academic, economic and political issues. His

contribution towards Indian Feminine Groups was appeasable. At that

time the Brahma Samaj expanded influencing the elite people. The impact

of Brahma Samaj on writers, especially Chalam, turned them against

conventional set patterns. Chalam’s literary writings mainly focused on


*

the emancipation of women. The Brahma Samaj shaped his thoughts to

examine the condition of the women. The western culture and literature

polished Chalam’s views about the institution of marriage. He read Sex

and Psychology and Sex love by Hevlock Ellis (1859-1939) and these

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works updated his thoughts regarding morality and moral commitments

between men and women.

Chalam’s creativity, tenderness, pity and pain at the position of

women on one hand, the BrahmaSamaj inputs and western education on

the other hand, made him to revolutionise his writings. Chalam viewed

the whole situation existed between male and female from a different

angle of thought and tried to explain in his literary writings. The

persuasive tone tuned the reader to the voice of the writer atleast

temporarily allowing a smooth flow till the end. This was the uniqueness

of his writings. He set aside the traditional creative and free writings and

thus the limitations of contemporary literary world were overcome and he

presented in articles in such a way that the whole society were under the

spell of writings. He pointed out how women, being in the conventional

frame, were exploited by the society. It was total disrespectedness

prevailed towards the women in the society. The miserable, wretched life

that women led was known through his writings. The plight of women

was realised by him and became the life current in all his writings that

became his life breath sometimes and life death some other times. He

challenged men’s outlook towards women. In the robe of modernity they

practiced no morality. He tore them off proving how weak they were

morally. He revolted against male dogmatism and felt the existed system

a need to be cleansed. His writings created awareness renewing a fresh

moral system which was to be healthy too. The critics and the readers

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with the conventional perception did not agree with what Chalam had

claimed in his writings. They expelled him literally. Chalam became

aggressive and harsh and his writings were filled with the reaction of a

tender artist. His realistic outlook was dominated by the emotional or

impulsive self. Women became an obsession to Chalam. The whole of his

heart felt pain for the condition of women. Andhra Pradesh could not put

up such a futuristic and he became disenchanted with Andhra. A friend

suggested Tiruvannamalai. Each of the spiritual centers of India has its

own character and its own line of tradition; and among them all it is

Tiruvannamalai (Arunachala) that represents the most direct, the most

formless and the least ritualistic of paths, the path of Self-enquiry, whose

first step is silent commencing. Tiruvannamalai, at the foot of

Arunachala, is a town of medium size, 120 miles southwest of Chennai,

an ancient village with a huge and prominent temple. Chalam's daughter

Souris, who was religiously inclined, lived there. He moved to

Thiruvannamalai. The people of Andhra Pradesh have understood his

greatness at last. In 1994 his centenary was celebrated in a big way. Some

friends got together to celebrate the event and to set up a statue in just one

place in Andhra Pradesh. It was not a government function because the

government, the communists and the other parties still did not accept his

ideas. The movement of Telugu novel towards modernity and social

relevance was given comprehensiveness, depth and variety during 1920-

40 by the efforts of Chalam and also by the other two writers, Sri

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Viswanatha Satyanarayana (1895-1976), Adivi Bapiraju (1895-1952).

With his uncompromisingly modem and revolutionary ideas on the life

and art, Chalam virtually created a literary cyclone in Telugu cultural

milieu. Social inequalities, particularly the plight of women in the rigid

Hindus social structure, were the objects of his fictional critique in novels

such as Daivamichina Bharya (1923), Maidanam (1927), Amina (1935),

and Arana (1935) etc... Chalam, thus, represents the complex polarity of

modernity and deserves our attention. He has produced Maidanam and

other novels giving vent to his theories like sexual freedom, some of

which may appear outrageous or eccentric since it is the first time that the

Telugu readers came across untraditional stories and characters. But his

prose, foil of vigor, makes his novels as enjoyable reading.

European novelists have their own impact on the Telugu

counterparts. Chalam is a writer on whom this influence is significant.

When Chalam wrote novels like Daivamichina Bharya, Maidanam,

Amina, and Arana he was very much under the influence of foreign

writers like D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930), Walter Scott (1771-1832) and

Dumas (1802 - 1870) etc... Chalam, while pleading for justice for women

in Indian Society, mostly delineated sex to give realistic picture. His

novels, though short, reflect a tradition-bound society in which woman

had no place of respect. Perhaps Chalam wanted to liberate the woman

through his powerful writings using an effective, colloquial language with

penchant on Freudian theory and free love among men and women.

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\

According to Vavilala Subba Rao, Chalam has made his own life the

source material for his works: “...burning in the flames of adversity,

tormenting him in the process of cleansing his own soul off the dirt of

stagnation and the silt of tradition.” (The Hindu, 18th May, 2007). Chalam

experimented with his own body, mind and soul in his quest for the

eternal bliss from his childhood days to the days of rebellion to the

heights of spirituality. Seeking answers for human suffering and the role

of religion, Chalam joined the Brahmo Samaj but left it on finding its

principles rigid despite the nobility of its purpose followed by a real

struggle of an artist with himself on one side and with the society on the

other. The search for the eternal was yet to begin under the supervision of

Souris, his own daughter and spiritual Guru. All through the 25 years of

his spiritual journey at Arunachalam - his association with people like

Major A.W. Chadwick, one of the ardent followers of Sri Ramana

Maharshi, encounters with God, men, disappointments and severe illness

- Chalam never surrounded from the path of exploration and at last

became one with Nature in Arunachalam, God or no God. Chalam in his

later life came under the powerful influence of Bhagavan Ramana

Maharshi. In Atmarpanam (1956) Chalam praises the sublime nature of

the pleasure spirituality oriented people experience God or no God. In

Jeevithadarsam (1948) of the same period, the heroine exhibits the same

three-fold evolution physical, psychological and spiritual. By now

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Chalam’s characters developed from the noble savages of Maidanam to.

those of non attachment and renunciation.

All most all his protagonists exhibit a three-fold development of

character. In Maidanam, his most popular novel, Rajeswari, the heroine,

deserts her husband who is a worldly person lacking an aesthetic sense

and elopes with Amir. Rajeswari lives with him in poverty and in a barren

land devoid of any conventional beauty. The third and the toughest phase

comes with the entrance of an adolescent Meera to whom she gives

herself as a token of gratitude, motherhood and a love beyond all earthly

reasoning, thus, her character accomplishing the three phases of evolution

- physical, psychological and spiritual. His blood was inked into the pen

and he penned the agony of women that became his agony. The real self

of the Stree was deliberately marred by the male chauvinism. She was

totally chained .from all comers in the conventional society. She was

chased by the quality of chastity. Chalam roared against the marital

violence. He tried to shock the conventional minds by criticizing

vehemently differentiating love and sex. Lust could not be considered as

love. The illegal relationship between man and woman that was not

accepted by conventional society had pervaded much of the Chalam’s

writings.

As a literary and social cmsader, Chalam left a permanent mark on

Telugu literature. He strongly advocated women’s rights and is rightly

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considered the leading feminist in Telugu literature. He wrote novels,

short stories, plays and essays all of which were critical of social evils

such as the caste system, dowry and gender inequality. Daivamichina

Bharya (1923), Maidanam (1927), Aruna (1935) and Amena (1942) offer

a critique of patriarchal power structures including family and marriage

that reduce women to a subordinate position. These novels celebrate

female sexuality and arouse resentment in orthodoxy circles. His Aame

Pedavulu (1955) is an anthology which contains ten stories in all. The

title story projects a fifty years aged old lady longing for fresh

experiences challenging the male passion acceptance. His other work

Brahmaneekam (1937) is a unique and special story with Sundaramma, a

Brahmin Telugu girl, as the main character depicting the tragic shade of

Brahmin houses. Sundaramma married to his aunt’s son went to in-laws

house in her fifteenth year. After two years his sick husband died. Then

her troubles were started. When she reached his uncle’s house with his

mother, Chandra Sekhar, a music teacher, made love with her and she was

pregnant. The incident gave new twists to her. Chalam can express any

complex idea in colloquial language and in a conversational style and as a

research student, I feel that the live quality of his language is the essence

of his ideas. Aa Ratri (1963) is an anthology of stories. Rajayya and

Syamala Rao were good friends. They met once in their later stage of life.

They woke up the whole night to gossip their romantic life. Rajayya

shocked his friend with the incidents he had narrated. There were five

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stories in the anthology. All the stories hold his trend mark and would

provoke the reader. Amina (1928) is a novel which deals with the world

beyond conservative frame is depicted naturally, really and truthfully.

Rammurthy, Taatha and Satya were the chief characters. In Anasuva

(1969); Anasuya devoted her life to the doctor, Prakasarao, though they

were not married. Prakasarao only enjoyed her but did not take care of

her. In such a situation Chalam showed how the inner love of the woman

outpoured successfully. There was another novella in the book.

Chukkamma’s husband Seenayya was in jail, she had a relation with

Sarvabhadram. The husband, meanwhile, returned and took a decision to

shift to Nizam for living. Chukkamma’s pathetic condition to decide one

of the two was well projected by Chalam. Bidda (1976) is an anthology

that includes eight stories - Bidda, Cinima Sayam, Hamko Mahabbath,

Usharanitho Interview, Manohara Prajna, Lancham and Sitayya. Bidda

was Maupassant’s story translated by Chalam into Telugu changing the

proper names. Lancham (1957) was another story modeled on an English

story. Chalam who looked upon biographies with contempt made his own

biography as Chalam (1973). The work was in two parts. The book

speaks about his writings, the influences worked on him to write these

books and also about at Ramanasthan. Daivamichina Bharva (1923) is the

most controversial novel of Chalam had a unique place among his works.

Padmavathi was the major female character and the entire story revolved

around Padmavathi, her friend Radha Krishna and her lawyer-friend.

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Janaki (1954) is the title story about a Christian woman who was

outcasted by her own people. This anthology contains four stories in all.

Jealousy (1957) is an anthology with the title story. Chalapathi Rao who

married a widow willingly tormented her later in their married life. This

book contains ten stories in all. In Jeevithadarsam (1968) Lalasa,

Lakshman Singh, Maiwankar and Desikachari made the story progress.

Chalam painted the personality of Lalasa majestically. In another novel

Kalyani (1975), Rukmini was a very active girl who was married to an

old man and failed to fit into that frame. She returned to her parents’

house but didn’t get the real support there. Nagamani, a prostitute,

supported her. When everyone pressed Rukmini to go to her husband’s

house, Chalam showed her taking a bold decision. Musings (1976) deals

with the general topics from Gandhism to Communism; from male-

female relationship to the union of Jeeva-Brahma; from Veeresalingam to

Srisri were covered by Chalam here. Sasirekha (1972) shows the heroine

Sasirekha not as an ordinary lady. She was a goddess of love. That’s why

she did any kind of sacrifice for her lover sake. In her search to find out

selfless love she moved from her husband to Krishnudu to Ramarao. The

book has a high reading quality that compels the reader to complete in a

single spell. In Seetha Thalli (1960) Sita started making love when an

attraction seeded in. Her mother came there and shocked to see the two.

Chalam narrated the story in a breathtaking style. There were some other

stories too in the same fashion. Chalam’s Stree (1975) has dealt with

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feminine issues in a period when it was sin to talk even about them in the

society. Lust, chastity, monogamy, passion, venereal diseases, pregnancy,

abortion, infertility, romance and divorce were the topics discussed by

him thoroughly. Vidakulu (1938) establishes the bondage between male

and female is love but not marriage. The theme of the work which is

highly relevant in the present scenario established divorce as the solution.

When his novel Maidanam was being serialized in a Telugu

magazine in 1931, its publication was stopped midway after a section of

readers protested against the brazenness of the story. It was in Maidanam

that Chalam sought to bring to center stage several key themes that were

of concern to him. The novel was a scathing onslaught on and indictment

of the rigidities of caste, religion and the institution of marriage.

Moreover, Chalam attempted to explore the possibility of non exclusive

man-woman relationships and the question of women’s right to sexual

pleasure and reproductive freedom. These were also his rejection of what

he perceived as a brahmanieal system of values that warped female

selfhood. By presenting sexuality as an arena both of oppressive

inequalities and as a strategy towards women’s liberation Chalam

anticipated several crucial feminist concerns. He showed that sexuality,

gender and reproduction can be separated into distinct systems of power.

Chalam exposed not only the double standards of sexual morality but

attempted also to go beyond a critique of patriarchal sexuality. His effort

was to raise basic questions about the status of sexuality, power and

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control in man-woman relations. In a way, he was posing a social critique

and Chalam was the first in Telugu literary and social circles to question

traditional definitions of women’s sexuality, of women’s nature, of sexual

satisfaction and of health. Chalam’s women characters like Aruna and

Rajeswari would appear sexually liberated. He was not interested in

proposing a new prescription for sexuality but attempted to expose male

duplicity. The women characters created by Chalam are extraordinary

beings. Women like Rajeswari (Maidanam); Aruna (Aruna); Sasirekha

(Sasirekha) are middle class Brahmin women who dare to come out of the

confines of the family. Their stories reveal the exalted heights they reach.

When such extraordinary characters enter ordinary lives, the resultant

confusion, crisis and absurdities plunge the reader into a self-reflective

questioning of basic value and assumptions. His women characters cause

a grater shock to the upholders of middle class virtues. However, the

recognition and remembrance was only because of Maidanam.

Chalam’s Maidanam is a masterpiece with a vibrant voice of

feminism as well. The story revolves around Rajeswari, Amir and Meera.

Her lawyer-husband, her uncle and the skin vendor’s daughter made the

story progress. One more powerful character that would draw the reader’s

attention was ‘you’. The story was told by the lady protagonist in first

person narration observing the reaction of the listener at every turn. The

book consists of nine units. Rajeswari was happily living with her

husband, a practising lawyer. Amir, his Muslim client, came to talk about

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some law- suit. When she walked in with coffee she felt the glance of

Amir on her back. His regular visits disturbed her a lot. One afternoon he

came straight into the house and hugged her passionately. In Rajeswari’s

words: “What a passion! ... that passion made me breathless, robbed me

of my entire struggle, stopped the flow of my blood and wrung my

heart. ”(3) Rajeswari was no longer the same person. The sweet waters of

passion flowed out of her. The old Rajeswari died that day. He was all her

and all of her was him. Every noon she waited breathless. Amir ruled her

thoughts. She hugged her husband with a desire for Amir on a night. Her

husband enquired if she had a nightmare. She felt pain, for, her husband

did not distinguish between fear and desire. She was just a status symbol

to him. He who was authoritative in law-suits was found casual when it

comes to love. Rajeswari thought: “Could there be any injustice done to

Manmadha, than sleeping in the same bed with one who could not tell the

difference between fear and desire?”(5) All these years she was cooking

for him, handing him the wet clothes, scrubbing his back, helping him to

wash his hair and spending all the nights with neither pain nor joy. It

would not be similar with Amir. He asked her to “come away with me”

(6) in urdised Telugu. She postponed the discussions to their later

meeting. A week later, she asked Amir to come on the night when her

husband was out of town. They decided to go to Nizam. There was

immeasurable sweetness in her heart. She decided to go with him out of

love, though people would label it lust: “Just to serve him, share both

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pains and pleasures, dedicated my life, obey his orders, accept his mercy,

worship him as my religion, dharma and happiness, whether he loved me,

killed me, ruled me or left me in return.” (11)

Rajeswari felt like a child. The sky, the hills, the tamarind trees,

their small hut, the breeze, the big plain, the stream and Amir’s comp'any

made her to remember her childhood days that was filled with joy and

laughter. It was difficult for her initially cooking in earthen pots, then-

eating without curries and ghee and sleeping on a mat: “Yes, it was quite

difficult for me to get rid of my old habits”. (13) When they would feel

hungry Amir would start a fire in the hearth while she cleansed the rice in

the water of the stream. They would grind an Onion or Gongura adding a

Chilli and salt. That was their meals. Finality was lacking their life that

has strength, youth and warm blood. They would spend many hours in the

stream. They lay down on the silver sand in the cool waters of the stream

whether it was rain, sunshine, darkness or cold weather. It was all

wonderful to them. Amir was so jealous that he could not bear a single

favorable word about her husband. For him, her husband was a round fat

man, a pig and a rotten vessel. He wanted her exclusively. Hence he

decided to take her to his Muslim Heaven whereas his hell included

Hindu lawyers and cowards. They would swim in the stream, their new

world of water. He took pride in her beauty: “The strong breeze that

blows at nights in Arabia took the form of your hair.” (20) Amir’s touch

meant differently in the nights and in the day. The former was desire and

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the latter was just a play. For her, he could become friend, brother, father,

child, teacher, husband, lover and her boss. She would show too much of

liberty, too much of obstinacy, bashfulness, intense mercy, pretense of

anger, the affection of a mother, the coyness of a mistress, the impetuous

temper of Satyabhama and her fighting spirit. For her Amir would look

like some Gandharva-Prince. They lived on happiness. They would

spread a blanket and look up the white clouds floating over the brilliant

blue roofs of the sky. Birds of varied colours would sit among the

branches and exchange love, peep in, whistle and chirp from the leafy

caves. Rajeswari would feel some friendship, some bond between the

birds and her. Amir would catch fish,, light a separate fire and cook fish

on it. The smell churned her stomach. Gradually he stopped eating fish as

he realised her plight. Snuff-taking was never stopped by her husband in

spite of her crying. For her fishing was wonderful but not eating fish.

Amir was the first person who was struck by her beauty. Running

playfully trying to catch each other, escaping, hiding and pretending

unfamiliarity, reluctance and ignorance, playing like beautiful kittens or

animals led them to a magic -world. The whole open place would become

a milky ocean on a moonlight night. He was so passionate that frightened

her. And yet she was like a Vishnubhktha. The hills, the sky, the river, the

open plain, the fresh air appeared like a stage set up for their sport.

Time had stopped for them. One evening, her uncle came. He

noticed change in her and surprised at her courage at the same time when

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she reported: “I live like a queen here and I’m happy.” (32) She asked

him the reason for his coming. He, in turn, started cursing their shameless

life. Rajeswari referred to her husband: “My lawyer husband was also like

this for a week when we married. He turned a holy man later when he lost

his competence and desire. Why don’t you call him something?”(34) Her

uncle rage doubled: “You dare make a comparison between sacred

marriage and this immoral life! May you lose your speech?”(34) He

argued a lot. She answered every question. Neither of the two reasoned

the other. When Amir who was away till then purposefully came back,

they stopped their argument. She enquired about her relatives. She

compared her present life to her petty, silly past life that was filled with

the boredom, courtesies, formalities and cruelties. Her uncle could not

bear the sight of their eating from the same plate. They started for a walk.

Her uncle warned her again: “Look here, ! may not get the chance to talk

to you again. Listen to me and come home. Such a rotten and depraved

life ...!” “It’s no use, uncle. You don’t need to worry about me.” “It

surprises me .... You take such pride in what you have done as if it were

something great ... May be, you think all this is great love! Love! Love!

Beasts and dogs are better-running in the nude in this jungle, shedding at

shame, without any thought of morals... you call this love? Love! It’s

nothing but lust. The blind lust of a beast! The beastly lust that makes one

lose ones senses....mad, frenzied lust...” “That’s enough, uncle.” (44)

Rajeshwari responded. Amir warned him the next day against any other

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relative’s visit. She felt like inviting Narasubava but was silent. Amir

started calling a fox “Narasubava’ that made all kinds of mischief.

Amir fell ill and grew very quiet. He didn’t take anything and

remained in bed. Rajeswari felt lost. She watched someone, Meera, by

name coming to her Amir. Both of them were talking and going into town

sometimes. She liked Meera and wished to have a son or a brother like

him. But their secretive approach made her suspicious. Asking Amir was

of no use. She reached the other bank and waited. She met Meera after a

while and tried to enquire. Meera did not tell. He weighed between Amir

and Rajeswari and finally decided not to tell her. Rajeswari persuaded

him sweetly. The secret was revealed. Meera was a mediator between

Amir and a skin vendor’s daughter. Rajeswari lost in thought: “Amir,

without any morals or restraint, had desired me when I was someone

else’s wife. So what is surprising if he desired someone else and wanted

to leave me? Marriage is disgusting sometimes but it still has some ties

which are protected by society and strengthened by time. But in love..?

Have I lost my mind? Was my uncle finally right?” (50) When she

reached the hut and saw Amir, she cursed him heavily with her hurt pride,

agony, despair and humiliation. Amir was silent for a longer time and

then started weeping. She was melted and decided to help him. The next

day she followed Meera. He noticed her only after reaching the town.

Fear and fury enveloped him when he came to know that she wanted to

meet the skin vendor’s daughter: “She was beautiful. There was more of

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solemnity than beauty in her. She was quite tall. I looked like a little girl

before her. There was stateliness in her wide eyes and chubby cheeks. I

told her why I was there. I pleaded on behalf of Amir. She was surprised.

At first she did not believe me. Gradually I convinced her... At first she

was frightened that I might create unpleasantness and raise a hue and cry.

But when I myself pleaded with her on behalf of Amir, most of her

reluctance disappeared,”(53-54) The next eve Rajeswari took Amir to the

other woman’s house and sat in the same room in a comer with her head

turned away. Pain, envy, torture were experienced by her. She knew that

loveship would be temporary. Amir did not refer to it again. Meera held

her hand calling her a great woman. The episode went on that way for ten

days. Rajeswari had so much love growing in her heart that makes her

thinking: “What other sacrifice can I make for him and for his happiness?

What more can I do? Which other woman can I bring him? My life, my

ehastity-what else shall I offer him? In what other ways can I make him

happy?”(55) On the twelfth day he rejected going to her house. The girl

came to their place after four days on a night. Rajeswari left them there.

She rose to the level of forgetting her own happiness. When she decided

to sacrifice for the sake of his happiness all hatred and pain had turned

into sweet nectar and she experienced the divine love. She forgot her own

self. No longer had Amir any desire in that woman. Rajeswari, however,

was cursed finally by that woman: “That woman came in that darkness,

crying, cursing and threatening me. She was good. Amir too remained

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good in her eyes-only I had become bad for her! Poor woman! I felt so

sad when I watched her going back alone on the same way she had come.

But what could I do?” (59)

It was an autumn night. They were in the world of moonlight.

Seeing the ruined fort she imagined her and Amir as queen and king who

had come out while every other one was sleeping in the fort. She shared

the thought with him. They started conversing in Urdu. Her Urdu was

quite bad whereas he used Urdu that befitted only Royal court. He gazed

at her with eyes full of joy. He talked like a great poet: “I have seen the

moonlight dancing on the waves of the Godavari. It is dancing on your

hair now... That lock, when it falls on the fair forehead, is like the waves

at high tide. It is threatening to drown me.”(63-64) Chatting so, he placed

his hand on her stomach and noticed it bulging. Rajeswari announced the

happy news expecting him to shower all his love. Nothing so happened.

Moreover, she was shocked to see him lifeless. He asked her to get it

aborted. She replied: “It’s your baby, Amir!” He responded: “That devil,

it’s not my baby. I don’t want that child. Kill it” (65) She did not answer.

Although she had come away with him for the sake of love, the very

thought of getting the baby aborted trembled her. She felt like killing

someone. All the gods would punish her and Amir. Besides, she found a

new love for the unborn. The protective, possessiveness which is common

to a mother made her strengthened with a new power. She had decided to

save the baby at any cost even if it meant Amir leaving her. Amir was in

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dissatisfaction,, anger and moving away from her. He got drunk, beat her

up, repented and showed immense love. However, he made it clear that

there would not be any relation between them unless she got it aborted.

She was furious. One noon, he declared for the remaining six months of

her pregnancy, he would go away. There was a big row. He gritted his

teeth, took a stick, thrashed her and wept loudly. She did not respond but

her respect for him grew seeing him like Rudra: “Won’t we feel respect

when we meet someone who can become so angry and strike without

hesitation when he is angry... Some people will ask you to commit

anything- a suicide or even a murder for the sake of love. They will also

be ready to do the same for you. No fears, no doubts or no thoughts of sin

will restrain such people. They remain angels whether they show love or

hatred. The soul has to be offered to them like we offer it to those gods.

The body, life, even children should be offered at the altar of their

feet.”(67) There was a big downpour in the night. It had been raining and

she called out for him. There was no respond. When she moved closer

and closer he asked him again: “Won’t you listen to me?” She could not

speak. He asked: “That you love me is a lie. Ask me to die for you, shed

my blood, behead my father ...Will I hesitate?” He asked again: “Is this

all? Are you trying to get rid of me because you are bored with me?” He

said: “Rani, is this to be the end? Is it all over between us.” (69-70) She

was frightened to observe the hot drops rolled down his cheeks. She could

not endure it any longer. But she felt that an innocent, helpless baby begs

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her for its life. She realized it Amir’s baby! She was frightened of what

was in store for her and answered: “I can’t do it Amir”. He responded:

“I’m leaving...”

“Where?”

Somewhere. What is it to you? I’ll be back after six months”

“Amir, how can I live here alone, without you?”

“Meera will provide you rice and other things that you may

need.”(71) She wept, pleaded and begged but Amir walked away without a

word or a glance in that dark rainy midnight.

Rajeswari was furious with Amir as she was pained by his unjust

behaviour. Several thoughts were pondered. Meera spent his time with

her and was going-to home only to eat and sleep. He was a lad of sixteen.

He was a sensitive boy and looked like a beautiful statue. He would keep

talking and the moment he detected a trace of sadness, he would make

mischievous attempts to treasure her smile. He got her- vegetables,

eatables, milk, fruits and a string of flowers every evening. She wondered

how the nawab had come to her lap. Inspite of Meera’s companionship,

she remembered Amir, felt his absence and it was all painful to her. All

Meera’s efforts to cheer her up at such moments would become fruitless.

One day when they sat in the branches of a mango bush she felt like

teasing him and was away. He found her, approached her and placed both
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his hands on her shoulders. His fingers on her shoulders were trembling.

A new kind of possessed frenzy could be seen with him. He was

searching for her lips. When she shouted in fear and fury, his grip slowly

loosened. There was shame. He suddenly left her and ran away. He came

again in the evening with his head bent and fell on her feet: “FH never do

it again.” (75) There were men who had an eye on her. When the news

was spread that Amir left her in the town, one among them came to her on

one night. He introduced himself as a stranger and wished to sleep there

for the night. When he moved closer to her, she aimed the knife. He

screamed in pain and ran away cursing her. Meera brought a woman who

looked as masculine and put her as guard. On the moon lit night after

Deevali, she was haunted by the memories of the time she had spent with

Amir the previous year. She became painfully aware of the

meaninglessness of the time she was uselessly and emptily spending

without Amir. She was nodding absently to Meera. She was trying to

drown herself in the sweet memories of Amir and dream about him and

Meera was disturbing her. She uttered: “Wait, Meera!” (77) She

recollected how while she hung on to his neck in a tenacious grip, Amir

embraced her and said: “Amnia! Will I part from you, my life, even for a

second?” (77) Thus, she was in her thoughts and spent some time. After a

while, she tried to call out for Meera who was not found anywhere. She

saw him crying. She tried to console him. But he was in the same mood.

She was vexed with helplessness and anger. Life had become unbearable,

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no joy and no hope. She felt sorry for her life and started sobbing. Meera,

in turn, came to her and asked her the reason for her present state. Meera

did not know why Amir had deserted her. She narrated the whole issue.

He did not comment anything but made her forget all that with his

playfulness. The pangs of separation, the nausea, the vomiting, the

loneliness, the grief of separation and the emptiness killed her motherly

instincts. She understood how tough to bring up a child. The child would

come in the way of their joy, their freedom and their love. She realized

that Amir was more farsighted than she. His anger was, thus, justified.

Hence when a woman came next day she said: “Yes!” (81) and it was

followed by a three days torture. She lay groaning in pain. Meera went to

the stream to fetch water. She noticed the same bearded man coming near

to her. He was drunk and hence did not notice her pain. He fell on her and

made her helpless. She closed her eyes in all weakness. She saw that man

dragging Meera by his neck. Her head reeled and she suffered a lot:

“What had happened? The more I thought of it, the more it frightened

me.” (83) Rajeswari struggled to know the state of Meera: “If only I could

get someone! Strangely. I hoped that Amir would come. So that I could

send him.” (83) “... I prayed to God. I begged their Allah...” “He is

yours. Please save Meera.”(84) Rajeswari felt thirsty and she sat up with

great effort. She noticed her clothes wet with blood: “A tiny innocent

baby, her tiny eyes closed, tiny feet, stomach”. (84) She fainted again as

she could not bear the sight. She thought she was going to die. Every

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sound made her startled and trembled. Meera came like a morning star

and cleaned everything and helped her in lying down again. The small

baby was made bundled and placed into a basket. There was blood all

over his teeth as he kept biting the ropes with which he was tied to a tree

by the bearded man. Rajeswari questioned fondly: “How did you wear all

that, my boy?”(86)

Meera sent a word for Amir. Surprisingly Rajeswari felt that it

would be better if he did not come. She did not like to wake up from the

sweet dream with Meera. She suffered so greatly for Amir just a week

ago and longed for his return. But the hell-like torture brought Meera

closer to her. Meera had entwined himself all over the tree of her life. The

great flow of his love which Meera showered on her endeared him. She

wanted the same flow of love to drench her again. She felt like repaying

her debt. One night, she asked: “Meera, do you want me?” (88) He looked .

at her and asked so tenderly: “Do you need me? Do you want me the way

you want Amir?”(88) She moved at his tender heart and his tender

thoughts. She hugged him, kissed him and answered: “I cannot lie to you.

I feel I’m still Amir’s. I don’t say that I’m very particular about virtue or

chastity, but I don’t like it” (88) He asked the reason for such an offer

then and got her reply: “I wanted to make you happy, though I’m Amir’s,

I care more for you.” (88) He changed the topic. He was frightened what

would come to their long meetings if Amir would come back. He may not

accept their friendship. Rajeswari promised him that she would protect

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him from Amir. Meera said simply: “Me? He will not do anything to me.

I’m not afraid for myself. Let him do whatever he likes to me, it does not

matter. It’s you” ... “He won’t do anything to me”. “You don’t know

about men.” (89) They sat thinking. He also doubted if he would allow

him to continue his visits to her. Seeing her silent, he stood up saying: “I

won’t come after Amir’s return.” (90) She reacted immediately: “if

you’re not going to come after his return, Amir need not come back.” (91)

He expressed the doubt whether Amir would do something to her out of

anger. Rajeswari postponed seeking the answer for it: “Meera, let that

danger come, we’ll think about it then.”(91)

Meera was not at home when Amir came. He placed his arm

around her waist, looked into her face and said: “You look more beautiful

than before! A new light glows in your eyes now.” (91) He did not refer

to the pain she had undergone. She tried to forget about it although the

thought had troubled her a lot. They lived in happiness as in the past for a

week. In all that happiness Rajeswari was thinking of Meera. She saw

Meera after a week when Amir went into the town for rice. He explained

that he could not bear the pain of their separation. He blamed her at the

same time that had no thought of him in Amir’s presence. He was hurt for

having no place either in the house or in her heart. She made him calm.

They plucked Thangedu flowers. He adorned her hair with the flowers.

She noticed a change in Meera’s behaviour. Amir had come back, greeted

Meera and went in. Meera stopped talking. Silence was unbearable to her.

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Amir sat at a distance glancing them. Finally, Meera left. Amir was silent

for two hours. Rajeswari felt the calm before the storm. Somehow, Amir

did not create a scene except ridiculing Meera’s addressing Rajeswari as

Didi: “Didi... Dadi... (95) He constrained from saying something. Meera

did not turn up from then. Rajeswari forgot everything in Amir’s new

love. Amir was disturbed and it was quite visible. He was as if battling

with some inner enemy. Rajeswari felt sorry for him. Somehow she did

not dialogue with him. The very thought of Meera troubled her: “Where

was he? What was he doing? Was he hiding behind the bushes without

food and sleep? Why didn’t he come again?” (95) One day when Amir

and Rajeswari were going for a bath in the stream, she had seen Meera’s

red upper garment across the path. She tried to locate Meera. She heard

him saying from the bushes: “I’ll wait here until you come alone.” (96).

She felt like weeping for his hidden-state and met him later:

“What is it, Meera?”

“Come, we’ll go a little farther and talk.”

“I should get back fast. Otherwise, Amir will come searching for

me.”

“Let him. That’s why let’s go away from here.”

“But he will ask me.”

“Aren’t you frightened?”


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“What?”

“Didn’t I tell you before that it would happen this way - that he

would and you would get frightened and stop talking to me?”

“But why the secrecy near Amir? Why should we make him feel

needlessly suspicious?”

“Why should he suspect? Tell him that you went with Meera.”

“But, what secrets do we have that should be kept away from

Amir’s ears and eyes?”

“... Why should we not meet in private when there are no

secrets?”...

“Say you don’t like to come.”

“Meera!”

“Fine. Say he doesn’t like it and you’re frightened.”

“Meera! I don’t know how to talk to you. Why did you hide in the

dark as if you had committed some crime? . . . Come, talk and play. Be

normal and free as before. Could you be friendly with both Amir and me?

... ” (98) Her inability to leave any of them and the greed not to part from

either of them and her pride in her ability, prompted her to try to bring

them together. She had love for Amir and compassion for Meera. Thus,

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she had thrown herself into a new plight. Meera silenced his fears,

wisdom and natural instincts and stood there silently. He went on

sobbing. She knew well his tender heart, his innocence, his confidence in

her, his dependence on her and his readiness to sacrifice even his life for

her. She wanted to comfort him. Instead, she too wept. Her tears were not

false. She felt the same pain. The only thing was she did not know what

she had to do. There was utter darkness and she could find no way. She

asked Meera: “Shall I leave Amir? Shall we both go away?” (101) Her

readiness to sacrifice for his sake melted Meera’s heart. There was an

understanding between the two that they would be intimate as they were
\

earlier. The next day Meera came changing his entire attitude. She looked

at Amir and smiled. She looked at Meera and smiled at him too. For her,

it was like walking on a thin rope between two oceans. It was just like

playing with fire. Amir was quiet and sharpening the big knife. Meera

talked about the news in the town. She sat beside Meera. The silence

among the three was not bearable. She proposed a bath and invited

Meera. Amir did not join. Rajeswari and Meera started for the stream. On

the way Meera said: “It’s no use, Didi!” (103) expressing his despair.

Rajeswari questioned: “Tell me, is it so necessary for the kind of love we

have that you should touch me while you talk?” (104) He gave a

thoughtful answer: “Not that it is necessary that I should touch, but the

fact that it has become objectionable to our love destroys our bond of

love.” (104). She started back for the hut. Meera followed her. She was

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hungry and asked Meera to stay for dinner. There was only one plate

-which she shared with Amir and later with Meera. She mixed the

cucumber chutney and rice saying: “Come, let’s all three eat together.”

(105) Amir snapped without lifting his eyes: “I’ll eat later” (105) Meera’s

stay made Amir angry. When Rajeswari placed her hand on Meera, Amir

went out. Rajeswari grieved deeply for the two men. Meera worried that

she would die unable to bear the tussles between them. Her struggle was

to make both of them happy. When Meera went into the town Amir came

and sat silently. They ate in silence. They started for a walk. When they

reached the top of the hill and they heard Meera slipping down into the

valley. She ran mad with fear. She was aware of nothing: “Amir ... how

can I live without Meera?” (109) Meera wished them love-life. Amir

jumped into the valley to save him and brought out Meera who was

hanging on lifelessly and asked her to attend to him. Rajeswari was struck

by Amir’s sacrifice.

Rajeswari and Amir had got back to their previous moods

successfully and started enjoying each one’s company. Meera came

meanwhile. Seeing him, Amir lost his mood. Rajeswari did not

understand Amir saving Meera from death with that much anger in store.

Amir went out on a stroll. When Rajeswari and Meera sat there, Meera

expressed his inability to lead life without her. Rajeswari moved close to

him and pressed his head to her breast. Her pallu was fanning him. She

was in a trance. She came into senses with Amir’s voice which revealed

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the kind of battle that must have taken place in him. It was a struggle for

him to be an onlooker. She got released from Meera and fell asleep in

Amir’s hug. At midnight she saw Meera sitting at her feet, touching her

feet, placing her head and tearing on her feet. Rajeswari’s heart had

turned into a stone after much struggle and agony. Amir gave her two

blouses asking her to start wearing them from then. His abuse or thrash

would be better than his silences. It was horrifying. The silence

continued. All of a sudden she felt Amir’s tight embrace. He crushed her

as if it would be their final union. She slept hugging him. Meera came to

her. She separated herself from Amir and went with Meera. Meera’s

breathe, his silence, the haste in his footsteps and the movement of his

arms revealed his love towards her. He decided to spend his life with her

and asked her to come away with him either to Mecca, Banaras or Lahore.

He hugged her and fell to the ground with her. He made her his own that

night, in that darkness, in that sand, in those waters. She had neither the

strength nor the power to stop him or pain his heart. They fell asleep. She

woke up all of a sudden and felt someone beside them. It was Amir.

There was a knife in his hands. He lifted Meera by his hair. She was

frightened for Meera and at once covered Meera totally. She waited for

the blow. It did not happen. She got up only to see Amir without a

movement. Meera was sent to get a doctor. She sobbed running her arms

over Amir’s body: “... How can I live without you? Amir! You should

have killed me instead.”

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“I did not want that. Either Meera or I - only one should be alive.

You wanted Meera..

He could not live without her and hence stabbed himself.

“Oh. darling, why should you live without me?”

“Did you think that I, a son of a Muslim, would share you with that

Meera? Come, come near.”

“Amir Amir! Please believe me, my love for you has never

changed... I want you. I am always yours.”(l 19)

She wept uncontrollably for a long time. Amir did not speak. His

breath gradually weakened and lost. Amir was no more. She looked

around and felt miserably alone. She was afraid of Amir’s body that had

become stone cold. She fell to the ground like a block. It was an endless

night. Gradually the day broke. She was all alone. She saw the doctor,

police and Meera in handcuffs. When Meera went for the doctor, the

police were informed. He owned the crime to rescue her. Meera declared

that he killed Amir. Rajeswari told: “You? No, Meera, he stabbed

himself.” (121) Meera was shocked by the news. The police showed

disbelief at her statement of Amir’s attempt to kill himself. She grasped

the situation by that time. Rajeswari realised her mistake at once and

declared: I stabbed him.” (122)

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A theme which keeps recurring in Chalam’s writings is the issue of

female sexuality. Throughout his life he was condemned and ostracized

for what people considered to be his advocacy of promiscuity and

licentiousness. Undoubtedly, Chalam was a trailblazer in Telugu literature

that unraveled the dynamics of female sexuality and desire and

recognised women’s right to sexual pleasure. Chalam condemned and

attacked the structured Hindu woman’s femininity. Through his women

characters Chalam sought to female sexuality as a normal and natural

phenomenon and attempted to exercise the complex fears and stigmas that

the theme had so far invoiced. Chalam can be considered as an

inspirational movement to motivate and empower primarily women and

also people of all backgrounds - culturally, emotionally, politically and

sexually. His primary contributions have been his works in the field of

feminist fiction and criticism. He is one of the first writers or activists

referred to as a sex-positive feminist in India. Sex-positive feminism

centers on the idea that sexual freedom is an essential component of

woman's freedom. Sex-radical feminists in particular come to a sex-.

positive stance from a deep distrust in the patriarchy's ability to secure

woman's best interest in sexually limiting laws. Naomi Wolf (b. 1962)

writes, "Orgasm is the body's natural call to feminist politics.” (Wolf,

Naomi. Feminist Fatale. The New Republic. March 16, 1992) Chalam

was best known for his Marxist and anarchist beliefs and his writings on

radical, political and feminist themes. Themes of both feminine and

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sexual ambiguity are apparent throughout his works. He continues to

create narrative form that is provocative, sexually charged and highly

experimental. As a storyteller and a feminist, his re-visioning of feminine

consciousness expresses women's hunger for personal, sacred truths about

their maternal and erotic powers. Most reviewers commend Chalam's

ability to make complex thought both readable and intriguing. This

achievement lies partly within Chalam’s literary talent for writing with a

‘liquid’ style. Reviewing almost all his writings the researcher applauds

Chalam's ability to create a ‘stunning word-portrait of women’. After

enthusiastically offering praise, the researcher adds that for the first time,

Chalam succeeded in getting women as men to question effectively on

behalf of male authority over women, on behalf of a hierarchy in which

women are subservient to men, on behalf of women as the rightful

property of men, on behalf of religion as an expression of transcendent

male supremacy. As a feminist writer and thinker, many of his

publications have contributed to current understanding of gender issues

and the circumstances of women throughout the world at present and

historically each of his work is an insightful exertion to reconcile the

claims of feminism with complete observance of social order. His

writings argue that women have often been reared under an ideal of

womanhood which was outdated and restrictive and largely

unrepresentative of women's true inner lives and that openness about

women's hidden lives could help women to truly feel, to enjoy beihg

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themselves. He asserts that this is not due to deliberate malice but due to

social expectation and that for women's and men's benefit alike it is

healthier that both be able to be equally open, participatory and free to be

accepted for who and what they are. Some feminists have therefore

concluded that the Chalam’s tradition is so implacably anti-man.

Chalam’s works are significant for the willingness to acknowledge ties to

feminist theology, to link up with the history of religious thought. These

works serve to express both the tensions and promise of relations between

male and female. Thus, he is able to provide a richer and more

sophisticated picture of the religious past than has been available in either

traditional historiography or previous feminist overviews. The traces of

liberal feminism and eco feminism in his writings would equate him with

the western feminists; Liberal feminism asserts the equality of men and

women through political and legal reform. It is an individualistic form of

feminism which focuses on women’s ability to show and maintain their

equality through their own actions and choices. Liberal feminism uses the

personal interactions between men and women as the place from which to

transform society. According to liberal feminists, all women are capable

of asserting their ability to achieve equality; therefore it is possible for

change to happen without altering the structure of society. Issues

important to liberal feminists include reproductive and abortion rights,

sexual harassment, voting, education, equal pay for equal work,

affordable childcare, affordable health care and brigning to light the

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frequency of sexual and domestic violence against women. Karl Marx

(1818-1883) felt that when class oppression was overcome, gender

oppression would vanish as well. On the other hand, Eco feminism argues

that there is a connection between women and Nature that comes from

their shared history of oppression by a patriarchal society; this connection

also comes from the positive identification of women with Nature. This

relationship can be argued from an essentialist position, attributing it to

biological factors or from a position that explains it as a social construct.

Because it is feminist, it must promote the elimination of gender

inequality and take into account the multiplicity of human bodies, desires

and differences that are mapped onto the site of religion. Gender bias in

religion has been neither accidental nor superficial. When all these points

are kept in view, the contribution of Gudipati Venkatachalam, the

champion-of-free-love-tumed-saint, to modem Telugu literature is

voluminous and memorable. In a way, Chalam's life was a rare

combination of thought and literature. He treaded the bolder path of

women's rebellion against social customs. He was an atheist and had a

fair share of fan following, especially among the radical-minded student

community. Chalam was considered a taboo by the conventional Andhra

community. Later, he turned to spirituality and breathed his last at Sri

Ramana Maharishi's Ashram in Tiruvannamalai. The objectives, with

which Chalam produced his works of art fifty years ago, are not yet

fulfilled. The past social situations of his time have not undergone

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fundamental changes. The male domination over women continues

unhindered. Mutual understanding, love, equality and friendship do not

constitute the basis of marriage. Matrimonial life continues to be horrible, i

Neither child care nor the educational system is free of past evils. Money

relations and hypocrisy are rampant both in the family and in social life.

The reason for all this is that there occurred no changes in the

fundamental character of our social system. Even for present day society,

Chalam's writings cannot be considered superstitious or negligible. Nor

does their significance cease with changes in the present day society.

There are several progressive features in Chalam which may be relevant

for future generations too. We should all understand Chalam's criticism of

several important aspects of social life. All people should know these. His

limitations and inadequacies should be rectified and improved. The

literary works of writers like Chalam contribute positively to. such a

society and to the emergence of such a society in which

• women are not subservient to men;

• male chauvinism vanishes totally;

• men and women live like equals;

• education imparts real knowledge;

• unhypocritical and friendly relations exist among people.

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Chalam is a people's writer and a friend of the society in the sense that

he sincerely desired the welfare of the humanity in general and general

social progress.

Fiction and film interrelate closely to each other, and the specially

commissioned film considers different aspects of relationship and the

depiction of women in contemporary fiction and film. These days the

written word is coming under a great deal of pressure from visual media.

Increasingly we feel the need to refer to films that everyone knows or

contemporary mass culture in order to explain theories and discuss the

pattern of a text. Photography, television and films have taken over a

large share of information exchange, education and entertainment. The

flow of images reaches us via the ever-changing forms of new

technologies and the medium is the message. Visual media talks of a

world view and this reflects the fact that the public space and therefore

our culture, is becoming more visual by the day. Visual media is the most

power tool today to influence and train common man to work for a social

cause so that he looks at positive aspects of life and sees how he can

contribute to the society around him shaping the society great. The film

Grahanam. based on Chalam’s short story Doshagunam, won director

Mohan Krishna Indraganti top honors at the 2005 Indian National Film

Awards. The film focuses on how superstition, mysticism and misogyny

affect its central characters: Saradamba, the generous wife of a village

landowner, and Kanakayya, the teenaged boy she has taken under her

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wing. With this background it is exciting to see works like Grahanam

being made in Telugu. This film is important since it is based on a literary

work of a Giant in Telugu Literature, who in his time was shunned for his

extremely hard hitting stories with provocative themes championing

freedom from marriage and such anachronistic institutions and also

vigorously advocating women’s rights. How society will conspire to

question a woman’s chastity time and again, how there is no respite from

such horrendous onslaughts on ones honour is what this film explores.

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