Tvamevaham* (You are none other than me)

This morning over tea and coffee and blissful drizzle and wind the colleagues and I discussed অন্তরমহল . Inevitably as I came back to my desk  the old mind wanted to go back to the mother of the goddess.

The story Antarmahal or অন্তরমহল by Tarashankar Banerjee is a vividly strong depiction of the plight of women of Bengal in the early 1900s. The impotent zamindar re-marries a young girl to produce an heir. The biggest religious festival of Durga Puja is right around the corner and to build the clay idol of the Goddess Durga, often reffered to as mother or Maa Durga ( as she is the mother of the universe) a young sculptor from Bihar is called in. There are many instances of  religious incarceration as the older wife of the zamindar is asked by her husband to fulfill the lust of religious leaders and priests as an action that will finally bring forth the heir that he has been waiting for. The young sculptor has a glimpse of the "antarmahal" of the zamindar one fateful day and ends up putting the face of the younger wife on the idol. It is a moving story, one that opens the eye of the reader to the feudal reality of Bengal. Tarashankar is a brilliant writer and  his portrayal of the brutal use of Religion is at once heart-breaking and enraging.

The movie adaptation has been done by one of the more controversial directors of India, Rituporno Ghosh. One would assume him being more sympathetic towards the story as he is not only a Bengali;himself but also for the fact that gender relations has always been (seemingly) his topic of interest. Much as I liked the lighting and art direction I could not say the same for the movie as a whole. There are moments when his empathy for the women comes through but sadly it is overshadowed by the overuse of sex and related activities. There are many I presume who would not be able to decipher the many symbolic incidents as attention is drawn (wrongly) elsewhere. Ghosh takes liberty with the plot but leaves the last or most important scene unaltered, the face of the clay idol of Durga being revealed as that of the young wife ( played by Soha Ali Khan). The directors obsession with mirrors , much as it may be symbolic, has left many of the characters underplayed.

Another story that links a Goddess with a mortal woman is the oh-so eerie দেবী set aorund the same time as the above mentioned story by Prabhat Kumar Mukherjee.  In his story a religiously fanatic(more like lunatic) wealthy father in law thinks his younger son's wife is a reincarnation of the Goddess Kali, the goddess of empowerment. He starts treating her as the goddess and the mindlessness quickly takes over the naive daughter in law Doyamoyee as she starts believing it herself. The story has a sad ending with Doyamoyee turning totally mad after the death of her 5 year old nephew ( who was not taken to a hospital , as the goddess herself was treating him) dies. The story again is a mirror of the society with constant struggle between formal or western education and ancient knowledge, between modernity and primitiveness;and asks the moral question of what one chooses to believe as religion.

This story was adapted for screen by none other than the maestro Satyajit Ray himself. Needless to say yet again it is another brilliant adaptation in black and white. What stands out though in comparison with Antarmahal is the brilliance of the actors. Every performance is stunning, starting from the Father in law played by ( Chhobi Biswas) right down to the younger son( Soumitra) who has rather a minor role in comparison. The hero of the film is Doyamoyee though, played ever so articulately by Sharmila Tagore ( who happens to be the mother of Soha Ali Khan). From the naive and young daughter in law , in fear of her father in law, through her transformation into the ever powerful goddess descending into lunacy- every stage is a marvel one simply could watch over and over again. 

Here is some rambling about and a picture of the goddess and the daughter.

Resonance

The movie

*Tvamevaham  - A well known phrase to students of Sankskrit meaning you are none other than me. This is from an interesting (and perhaps a mythic anecdote about the great poet Kalidasa which goes something along these lines : There arose a question on who was the best poet, Kalidasa or Dandi? After realising no Sanskrit scholar of their time was capable of evaluating their competence, they go to the goddess of knowledge: Saraswati. Upon being asked who was a great poet, goddess answers it was Dandi who was the best. Disappointed Kalidasa asks the mother goddess, "Am I nothing mother?". She replies "tvamEvAham" (You are none other than me).