Of free spirits and fettered souls
Shahid Alam loses himself in the tale of a bohemian
Standard Chartered Bank has generously sponsored The Reading Circle's venture of translating Kazi Nazrul Islam's Bandhon Hara into English. The result is Unfettered, where eight members of The Reading Circle, a group made up of aficionados of literary works, combine to translate the letters that constitute Bandhon Hara. As those familiar with the novella already know, Bandhon Hara is made up of stories told through letters. Niaz Zaman, in the preface to the translation, identifies Bandhon Hara as probably the first epistolary novel in Bengali, while preferring to categorize Rabindranath Tagore's Strir Patra, also composed in epistolary form, as a short story. Unfettered was inspired by Nazrul's experience as a soldier of the British raj, although it is not exactly reflective of his life episodes during that period. There are elements in it that are strongly recognizable as having been taken from occurrences in his life, but much of the rest is left tantalizingly open to speculations of whether those episodes had actually happened to him or not. Unfettered is the first of Nazrul's three novels, and although scholars have not thought highly of it (and one can understand why), Niaz Zaman finds it interesting on several counts, including that of historical significance: “It portrays what life was like in the British Indian Army for Indian soldiers, but also for him particularly, a Bengali in an unfamiliar environment.†Unfettered is a story of a strange love triangle, of love felt by the chief protagonist Nurul Huda (Nuru) for two women, Mahbuba and Sophia, and of theirs for him. The twist given here is that Mahbuba and Sophia were close friends, but neither knew that the other loved the same man. Niaz Zaman provides more insight into the narrative: “While narrating an unhappy love story of a man torn between two women, of misunderstandings, of unspoken feelings, the novel also describes Hindu-Muslim attitudes, the growing rise of reading and writing women, and of a few exceptionally brave women who did not get married but devoted their life to teaching.†One of those brave women, Shahoshika Bose, a devotee of Brahmo Samaj, understands the compulsion of Nuru to express his innate free spirit that led to his escapist turn of events. He joins the army, on the face of it, to get out of his impending marriage to Mahbuba, but, as the shrewd Shahoshika observes, Nuru is a natural free spirit who cannot be tamed, and who, even though born in Bengal, has “the Bedouin's craze for freedom, the stubbornness of the Arab, and the blood-thirstiness of the Turk flow in his veins.†He is a true Bohemian! Nazrul uses Shahoshika (the name itself was particularly appropriately chosen) to deliver some strong messages and profound observations. For instance, “Human beings are far superior to the deities. They have the superhuman quality to endure pain. Human hearts have to endure much more suffering than gods can endure.†Or, ponder over these lines: “All religions are true. If someone wants to realize the truth of religion, one has to go beyond man-made rituals…. Similarly to know a person --- to know a person's immortal soul --- one has to see within that person.†Shahoshika was a liberated woman expressing her frank views on society. And so does Rabeya, from within the confines of her social norms and strictures. Note the period when Unfettered was composed, and when they voiced their views. It speaks volumes about Nazrul's progressive outlook on life and society. Nazrul's wife, Pramila, belonged to the Brahmo Samaj, and the poet obviously had a soft corner for this particular form of belief and worship. Therefore, it was not outlandish to have him speak these words through Rabeya: “I've never seen such a profound expression of true femininity in any other society or religion or community as I have found among the Brahmo Samaj. All the women of the Brahmo Samaj…have such grace and sweetness….†Rabeya has much more profound observations that hit at the very heart of narrow-mindedness: “Nowadays, many Hindu gentlemen of the modern kind (both young and old) are openhearted and liberal enough to eat and chat with our [Muslim] menfolk, without any fear of losing caste through impure contact, but however well educated our Hindu sisters may be this obstacle they cannot cross. I do not really know if this is part of their religious beliefs, but I am convinced that no religion can be so narrow-minded or so straitlaced; this practice therefore must be a creation of the society they live in. Such a society must be cleansed of this evil, irrespective of class and gender, of nation or occasion.†Nazrul has some interesting, at times caustic or sarcastic or humorous, observations. He has Nuru complaining that others have viewed his joining the army as turning him into a katkhotta, as dry and insensitive as the English. Here is a classic case of cultural misunderstanding/insensitivity, but understandable considering the time when the novella was composed. The Anglo-Saxon is by nature rather reserved, different from the usually effervescent Bengali, and the cultural mores and traditions of the two are quite different from each other. But that is very normal, and absolutely all right. On the topic of “dryâ€, the English have a wicked dry sense of humour! And, in Robiul's letter to Nuru, there are instances of both wry humour and sarcasm, as indeed there are in several other letters. There are vivid and colourful descriptions of weather change and perceptive descriptions of children's behaviour. There is also this bit of truism, as I suspect, for at least a large number of people: “…there are no days as happy as our school days. And the sweet pain of the memory of those happy days manifests itself during one's unhappy existence.†Nazrul has a stricture on the Bengali persona that is both prevalent as well as shameful: “…these are the ones who secretly cannot refrain from revering Rabi Babu (Tagore) a million times --- but in the open, they must criticize him…we cannot tolerate that this familiar individual can become a world-famous personality.†And here are some amusing (others might categorize them as politically incorrect in these modern times) observations on women: “Women are the bane of life…. They are constantly squabbling. Because of them, thinkers lose the thread of their thoughts, poets lose their imagination and have to act like well-behaved primates for the sake of peace. A curse upon womenfolk!†And, “…when a woman sets her mind to something, even the strongest man melts like wax…women are fire and men are wax….†I am reminded of a more recent differentiation among the genders, made by a Westerner: that men are from Mars, women from Venus. Oh, well! Furthermore, “…we women have the reputation of being unable to keep secrets….†However, as Mahbuba's letter to Sophia attests, there are important realizations on women's rights, too. Mahbuba is bitter that “women have been created to suffer, and suffer silently.†This situation has come about because rules and regulations have been set down for women by “none other than our menfolk --- our lords and masters.†She continues: “I have also come to learn that heaven lies under the feet of men --- but of course all these books and laws were written by men! And, to think, our religion gave so much honour and respect to women!†This is as strong an indictment of religious distortion and bigotry and male chauvinism as any. Mahbuba takes the point further by indirectly espousing the awakening of women to pursue their rights, and not remaining docile: “Look at women themselves --- steeped in superstition and weird, illogical beliefs.†Nazrul does not fail in commenting on certain social habits that do not paint Bengali society in glowing light. The caustic barbs of relatives for kinfolk overstaying their welcome even when in dire straits, and the unkind attitude of uncles' wives towards their nieces staying with them are worth mentioning. As is the touching portrait of the Bengali mother eternally worrying about her offspring, whatever their age, although this is anything but discreditable. Unfettered has obviously been primarily meant for those readers who are not conversant with the Bengali language. The foreign reader would also likely be confronted with some sort of culture shock. The Westerner, for example, might be bemused by the Bengali penchant for self-pity and self-flagellation. Or be puzzled by some of the expressions. It would be asking too much of a non-Bengali reader, especially one newly introduced to Bengali culture, to be able to get all, or most, of the book's nuances, metaphors, and similes, but, from the standpoint of the story, he/she will understand that, at one level, it is one about a man's love for two women versus love for ones country in peril. But several will get more, much more. They will get a glimpse into the mind of a great poet voicing his progressive thinking through the pages of a novel. For that reason alone, Unfettered had to make its appearance alongside Bandhon Hara. ttered had to make its appearance alongside Bandhon Hara.
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