The travails of a bold woman
Saara Zabeen appreciates a no-holds-barred tale
Purusher Pritheebite Ek MeyeAkimun Rahman
Publisher Aneema Biswas Novelist Akimun Rahman has produced some very assertive pieces of work in her writing career that began in the late 1990s. Her research works and novels about the pathetic conditions of the women of the country are a significant part of Bangladeshi literature. However, among all her novels a true example of Akimun Rahman's courage would be the novel Purusher Pritheebite Ek Meye (A Girl in the World of Men). It is a bold attempt to depict a woman's life of tribulation in the world of men. Much has been written on the sufferings of women in a world dominated by the male but few have expressed sentiments on the issue in the way that Akimun has. The protagonist Shamima in the novel is a woman of the lower middle class community who narrates her life in the stream of consciousness form. Though she begins her story by talking of the present, very often she goes back to her past to let us know of matters which are integral part of her womanhood. Through Shamima we see how mercilessly different a woman's life is from the male's. Akimun tries to show that it starts from the beginning when everyone in the family is disappointed because of the arrival of a girl child. Since her birth Shamima has been looked down upon because she is a girl rather than a boy. She is constantly reminded by the treatment of the family members, including her parents, that she is unwanted and unimportant as she was not born as a son. And by the time Shamima has got used to this attitude of her close ones there comes another stage in her life which bewilders and makes her realize that her life is not like her brothers' or any other man's. With the start of her menstruation she understands that life has taken a new turn. She observes that, along with certain bothersome days every month, her body is changing too; and with that the behavior of the opposite sex towards her. She is baffled at the fondling of her breasts by her male cousin; she is shocked to see that her male teacher suddenly shows a lecherous desire to touch her. But perhaps the greatest shock is felt later when she has just stepped into her youth. In spite of loathing men's attitude towards her in her teen age Shamima falls for a man in whom she puts all her trust. This man, a young dentist, sweeps her off her feet, expressing his love for her and making her feel important. Shamima in return gives not just her soul but her body as well. But in spite of giving everything what she gets is betrayal. So the plot is nothing extraordinary. One will say that it is quite a common story in the real as well as in the fictional world. But one has to admit that though Akimun's novel might not include a story never heard of, it still can be considered as unique. The novel differs from numerous other writings on women in the way it presents, expresses and exhibits to its readers the persecution of women in a male dominated society. The strength of the novel lies in the writer's boldness in suggesting through Shamima what not every woman never dares to dwell upon. The striking feature of the novel is that the leading female character of the novel, who represents all those plain looking lower middle class women in society, has never experienced joy in life. Shamima's life from the start is full of miseries. It is noteworthy that the writer chooses not to spare even a small part of the book to show a delightful side to Shamima's life. Nothing but Shamima's sufferings on being a woman is what the writer wants us to know, feel, realize and thus acknowledge. An important aspect of Shamima's life is the love that she never gets. Though she has a thirst for love from her close ones, it is never quenched. While her father doesn't even find her worthy enough to sit with her and have his meal, because of her being a daughter, her mother is always there to remind her that she is nothing but a worry for the family. Unlike a lot of persecuted female characters of other literary works, Shamima is seen as a burden not just by her father but also by her mother. Her mother is not the loving figure who protects her daughter from the pains of being a girl child. From the very beginning of Shamima's life her mother lets her know that it was a curse to have a daughter. Apart from one or two instances Shamima's mother is never affectionate towards her daughter. It can be said that through the mother the writer actually wants to show how cruel a girl's life can be. A daughter who is also not attractive looking is nothing but an obligation for a mother in a lower middle class society because even now it is considered that a mother is to blame for bearing such a child. The presence of the daughter in her life reminds her mother that she had been born from her womb, and that her life would have been much better and respectable if she had a son instead. Through this cruel treatment of the mother towards her daughter the writer shows how pathetic a woman's state can be. Forgiving her mother and her family Shamima moves forward to come by love from elsewhere. She puts her faith in a man, believing he will love her with all his heart. But here too Shamima fails to get the much desired love. Shamima ends up in a situation similar to the state hundreds of women everyday find themselves in, by trusting their men. She becomes pregnant. But the worse part is when she is betrayed because of this by her own lover. Caught in a catastrophe like this Shamima does not know what to do. Time and again she goes to her lover and surrenders herself against her will to feed her lover's monstrous hunger for sex in the hope that he will sympathize with her in her predicament. But every time she comes back getting nothing from him but hatred and rejection. Shamima goes to her lover to inform him about her pregnancy in the hope that he will rescue her by marrying her. But her hopes get shattered when the lover becomes furious at the news. After the betrayals Shamima at the end thinks of committing suicide. But her desire to live wins over her decision to kill herself. Instead she decides to abort her baby. However, Akimun wants to say here that woman's adversities in life don't end so easily. She finds out after the painful process of abortion that she has to go through the process once again as it wasn't successful. The novel ends with Shamima lying on the bed of a clinic waiting for the doctor to finish what had been left undone previously. Whether Shamima could survive the last ordeal or not is not told to us by the author. Rather it is left to the readers to imagine Shamima's fate. Was she free of her unwanted embryo after all? Could she stand up again and move on? Or did she lose her struggle on the clinic's bed? We don't know. It is not just the image of oppression of women through the character of Shamima which is remarkable in the book. The excellence of the work also lies in the author's avoiding writing on the protagonist in a subdued or indirect manner. The whole book is an explicit projection of a woman's tormented and tortuous state. The book is proof that to Akimun menstruation in a woman's life is nothing but an unpleasant occurrence. Shamima in the beginning is shown to be at a loss when she has it for the first time. Trying to find out where the smell is coming from, Shamima goes from one end to another outside her house. After failing to get the source outside she finally realizes that it is coming from her. Shamima says: I understood that the source of the smell was my own body. Realizing this I grieved for myself. But I could not find any way to release myself from the burden of carrying the smell either. And gradually I learned that it was my fate to bear such queer smells. The book itself begins with Shamima's concern of not having her period on the due date. Shamima hates the particular time of the month but at the same time cannot relax until it really happens. Her fear that she might have conceived gives her no relief. It seems Akimun's aim at this stage is to make readers delve deep into the mind of a woman. It is obvious that Akimun's aim is to dwell on as deep as possible into a much concealed part of woman's life. These and other distinct and realistic descriptions of a very private world of women may shock her readers but at the same time they will admit that it is a fact of life whose existence is undeniable. And what women readers will appreciate more than anything is how Akimun has broken taboos related to the matter and delivered whatever she had to say through the character of Shamima in a straight forward manner. Purusher Prithibite Ek Meye is a novel not for those who seek interesting plots with dramatic twists and turns and which possess superfluous imagery and metaphors of great excellence. Puresher Pritheebite Ek Meye is beautiful because it has truth in it. Saara Zabeen is lecturer, Department of English, Independent University Bangladesh (IUB).
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