Gandhi in 'Untouchable Spring'

 

Bezwada station, 1919

-Brian Mendonca

Towards the end of the novel Untouchable Spring (2010) by Kalyana Rao there is a flurry of activity owing to the arrival of Gandhiji on the scene. Gandhiji (1869-1948) comes to Vijayawada and significant characters in the novel make plans to meet him.

The encounter is framed against the backdrop of the vacuum created with the deaths of Yellana and Subhadra - the parents of Sivaiah / Simon, and the murder of Martin the proselytizer and the head of the Lone Star ashram at Valasapadu. (175) 

Reuben - Sivaiah's son - is spirited away by his father as the upper caste mob attacks the malas and the madigas. (176)  The grown-up Reuben recalls these events in his diary entries of November- December 1920. (177-80)

It is from Reuben's perspective that Gandhiji enters the novel. 'What do you think of Gandhi's word "Harijan"?,' he asks Ramanujam. (192) The mention of Gandhiji anchors the novel in a definite time/space dimension - something that readers would agree, was very hard to come by in the preceding pages.

The arrival of Gandhi also signals a shift in the narrative strategy of the novel. From a loose-leaved memory-text predicated on an oral narrative, suddenly dates and diary entries are flung at the reader. This is perhaps because Rao sees that he has only 70 pages left to tell his story. The result is that he gets didactic. But the peace in the novel is always ruptured. So the narrative cannot be an exception. 

Gandhiji's Harijana Seva Sangham workers descend on Yennela Dinni. (192) They are led by Lingareddy, a disciple of Gandhiji, and head of the Nellore District Harijana Seva Sangham. 

Gandhi

Andhra Pradesh was very much on Gandhiji's mind. Indeed, he visited Vijayawada (then Bezawada) many times between 1919 and 1946. Gandhiji came to Bezawada on 31 March 1919 to speak about a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act. The following year on 23rd August he spoke about the non-cooperation movement. On March 31 and 1 April 1921 Gandhiji was in Bezawada for a meeting of All India Congress committee meeting. It was at these meetings that the spirit of freedom was created among the masses notes Srinivas. 

Nevertheless as Chauhan observes, Gandhi's use of the word 'Harijans' to denote Dalits did not do anything to improve their situation. It actually favoured the status quo. This is because Gandhiji 'accepts the Vedas as sacrosant' (195) It is this disillusionment with Gandhi that is given expression by Reuben and Ramanujam in the novel.

The plan to enter the Siva temple turns only to be a pyrrhic victory for the malas and the madigas, since they are restricted to the compound. (199) In the night Lingareddy has the temple cleaned and purified. (200) These double standards are put down to 'a flexibility in Gandhiji's mode.' (200)

Phule and Periyar

When Gandhiji belies their hopes Reuben and Ramanujam invoke Phule (1827-1890) and Periyar (1879-1973). (201) Both were effective social reformers in their own sphere, Phule in Maharashtra, and Periyar in Tamil Nadu. 

Even though Gandhiji is often projected as the messiah of Indian resistance to British rule, Untouchable Spring chooses to disagree. The inclusion of Gandhiji in the novel makes the struggles of Yennela Dinni part of the national narrative of social subjugation of the oppressed classes. This is not to say that the malas and the madigas were always united. Inter-caste rivalry existed. In the 1920's the civil disobedience movements spear-headed by Gandhiji against the British were growing apace. At the same time caste violence divided Indians with entrenched assumptions of privilege from the less fortunate in the community.
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Page references from Untouchable Spring by Kalyana Rao. Translated from the Telugu by Alladi Uma and M. Sridhar. Hyderabad: OBS, 2010.  Pic courtesy South Central Railway imprints,  Updated 14/8/23