Jul 27, 2011 07:34 PM
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Novella SAMSKARA, the title, is the wholesome of rules, tradition, culture, rituals and funeral. SAMSKARA is hovering around the samskara of Naranappa, but encapsulated so many questions regarding the hypocrisy of false brahminhood.
SAMSKARA is the story of life in an agrahara, situated in a tiny hamlet called Durvasapura, somewhere in the Western Ghats of South India.The Brahmin of the agrahara are utterly narrow minded, selfish, greedy, and jealous. The purpose of their Brahmin hood is only fulfilling rules, following traditions which are thousands of years old. They do not understand the logic behind these rules they follow. They are afraid that if they do not follow the rules, disaster will fall upon them. They think their safety is lying in following these rules and traditions only.
Durvasapura and its agrahara are famous in the surrounding area, because of two Brahmins, who live there. One is Praneshacharya and the other one is Naranappa.
Praneshacharya is the local guru of all the Brahmins of Durvashapura and nearby villages. To attain salvation he undergoes all kinds of tests, and deliberately marries an invalid, sick woman. He leads a celibate life and is proud of his self-sacrifice. He thinks his life is pure and completely devoted to religion selflessly.
On the other hand Naranappa, who has rejected Brahmin hood, brought a woman‘Chandri’ from a nearby town to live with. His only ambition in life seems to do everything that destroys the Brahmin hood of the agrahara
SAMSKARA, actually, deals with the complications which arise due to Naranappa’s death. Here the question arises, ‘Who would cremate Naranappa?’, every Brahmin is afraid to volunteer for his Brahmin hood would thus be polluted .Neither they let a non-Brahmin to cremate the body, because Naranappa was theoretically a Brahmin when he died. The Brahmins look Praneshacharya to solve their problem, but in course of solving this problem he came across to Chandri, who overcame with compassion for this helpless Brahmin, and when he woke up in the midnight, he finds himself in Chandri’s lap, her fingers were caressing his back, his ears and head.
When Chandri goes back, she finds Naranappa’s dead body has started to rot. She gets hold of a Muslim, unknown to anyone, carries the body and cremates it in the dead of the night.
On the other hand, Praneshacharya first time realises the difference between beauty and ugliness. He does not have courage to speak the truth of Chandri and his, as he will fall the height of Dharma.
The novella ends, but does not answer so many questions which arise in the mind of the readers, such as, who should cremate Narappa?, Should Praneshacharya be courageous to say openly, what he did, and many more.
