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8/11/2019 Rabindranath's "Gora" and the Intractable Problem of Indian Patriotism - Sarkar
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Rabindranath's "Gora" and the Intractable Problem of Indian PatriotismAuthor(s): Tanika SarkarSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No. 30 (Jul. 25 - 31, 2009), pp. 37-46Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40279311.
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8/11/2019 Rabindranath's "Gora" and the Intractable Problem of Indian Patriotism - Sarkar
2/11
Rabindranath's
Gora and the
Intractable
Problem
of
ndian
Patriotism
TANIKASARKAR
For arious
easons,
nmodern
ndia,
atriotism
as
found
t
very
ard o
establish
convincing
ocus
for
itself.n he ate 19th nd
early
0th
enturies,
ndian
patriotism
as
projected
s Hindunationalism.
Rabindranath
agore's
Gora,
ublished
n
1909
n
he
immediate
ftermathf
he
anti-partition
wadeshi
movementf
1903-08,
vercomes he ethnocentricities
that ed to such distortion,ut, n t, heparticular
comes
too close
to the
universal
patriotism
issolves
into ovefor
ll
he
helpless eoples
of he
world,
offering
radically
ew
way
of
being
n
Indian
atriot.
essay
s
organised
s
follows:
irst,
argue
that,
or
various istorical
easons,
thas
been
xceptionally
ard
or
modernndian
patriotism
o find
sure
footing
ortself.
thendiscuss ome of
the
ways
n
which
hese
difficulties
ere
sought
obe resolved n
the ate
19th
nd
early
0th
enturies:
y
variants f
Hindunationalist
esolutions hich
quated
ndian
patriotism
ith
Hindu
nationalism,
alling
he
ountry
land of
Hindus
lone.
n
the
final
ection,
discuss
distinctivendian
patriotic
maginary
hat
Rabindranath
agore
elaborated n
Gora, novel ublishedn1909. Itwaswrittennthe mmediate
aftermathf the
first
majorpopularupsurge
n
Bengal
gainst
colonial
governance:
he
anti-partition
wadeshimovement
f
1903-08.
conclude
with
ome
observationsn the
ignificance
of
he
fforts
well s on the
fragility
f
ts esolution.
The
novel
was written
100
years go.
Many
f
the critical
questions
hat
t
had asked
at that
imeremain
nresolved
nd
contentious atters ven
oday;
aste,faith,
reedom f
ountry
and of ndividual
elf-determination,
ocially
orbiddenove nd
patriotic
ove. t
reproduces
nd then
horoughlyroblematises
certain
rguments
f
Hindunationalism: irst
laborated
y
ate
19th
entury
evivalistsnd
then,
n a
different
ay,
owerfully
developed
n
Bankimchandra
hattopadhyaya's
ovel
nandamath,
writtenhree ecadesbefore ora.2n a
contrapuntal
ode,
Gora
thenoffers
radically
ew
way
of
being
n Indian
patriot.
l-
though
ndian
patriotism
ad
already
ecome
pervasive
ord,
especially uring
heSwadeshi
movement,
thad not
lways
on-
ceptually
eparated
tself ut fromHindunationalism:n
fact,
themovement
ad
remained
mortgaged
o
the
ymbols
nd
ritu-
als
that
elonged
o Hindunationalism.
ora, herefore,
ashio-
ned
significantly
ew
political
maginary.
Some
of the late
19th
entury
Hindu revivalist-nationalists
located ndian
patriotism
na
commitment
o Hindu
ocial
nsti-
tutions
n he
resent
hich ad
upposedly
escended
nchanged
from
n
ancient
ast:
n
family, onjugality,
aste
and
widow-
hooddiscipline. heycontended hatcolonisationmadethese
institutions
nd traditions
oth
hreatenednd
precious,
bjects
that
equire
he
oyalty
f
ll
patriotic
indus.3 nandamathook
a
different
oute. t dissolved
he
and
and
people
of ndia nto
the
mage
f
freshly
oinedGoddess
f
he
Motherland.herei-
fied
ivinity
laims he
primary
oyalty
f
ll
Hindus
f
he and.
She
also commands
hem o turn heir ove
for
er
nto n act of
violence
gainst
Muslims f ndia.4
Gora
rejects
oth
ersions.
t
rejects
he dentification
fthe
country
ith
Hindu
disciplinary
institutions
nd it
refuses
o
transvalue
he andas
a
goddess.
With hese
wo
moves,
t
breaks
pen
the ock betweenHindu
Tanika arkar
historian
f
modern
ndia,
s with
heCentre
or
Historical
tudies,
Jawaharlal
ehru
niversity,
ewDelhi.
Economic
Political
eekly
003
JULY
5, 2009
vol
xliv
no
30
37
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SPCIAL RTICLE
^^- ^ ^ ^ ^^r^^^=r^i
^
nationalismnd ndian
patriotism
nd
it
clears
space
that e-
longs
o
patriotism
lone.
n
a later et f
Englishssays ublished
in
1917
nd
entitled
ationalism,
abindranath ould
develop
passionate ritique
f he
deology
fnationalism
tself,
ot
nly
of the Hindu variant.5 o
him,
nationalismwas
invariably
project
f
power
nd
self-aggrandisement,
f
exclusion
nd
in-
cipientmperialism:
hereas
atriotism
rthe oveof hecoun-
trysa projectf areandnurture,f ovefor eople, and, nd
for
he
arth tself.
I
returno Gora
n
ts
entenary
ear
with
sense
of
profound
identification
ut
not
n
a
commemorative
pirit.
am
struck
y
the
elevance
f
ts
oncerns 100
years
ater,
nd
by
he
ntensity
and
honesty
f Rabindranath's
ngagement
ith
uestions
nd
problems
hat
were
particularly
ifficulto address
n
times
f
politicalubjection.
hat
movesmemost
n
the
novel, owever,
s
its ventual ailureo secure reliable
nd
convincing
oundation
for
atriotism.
n ts wn
way,
t sa heroic ailure.
I
should dd
here
that
ven
though
Hindu nationalism
nd
Indian
patriotism
re
unquestionably
he
dominant
hemes
nd
concerns f
Gora,
henovel xceeds narrow
olitical
efinition
andhorizonmost riumphantly.ttalks,most fall, of oveof
various
kinds:between
riends,isters,
mother
nd
son,
father
and
daughter,
f sexual
and romantic ove between
man and
woman. ove
s, ndeed,
keyword
or he
novel,
t
s theunifv-
ing
principle
hat
rings
ocial,
motionalnd
patriotic roblems
together
n
the
ame
plane.
t
s
a
positivity
hat
s
set
gainst
he
hatred f
the
Other
hatmarksHindunationalism.
ove,
more-
over,
as to
be willed
n
freedom,
t
cannotbe mandated
r
en-
forced. he
domain f
ove,
most
emarkably,
s
not
restricted
o
the
ountry
lone.
Unless
atriotism
lso
accepts
hefreedomo
love
n ll
kinds f
relationship
so the
novel
rgues patriotism
is not
enough.
Tfyere
ustbe
freedom,
orboth
country
nd
people,
romhe
isciplines
f
aste,
ommunity
ivisions,
omestic
authorities.hevision sa ratherncharacteristicne for ndian
patriotism
hich
sually
eserves he
phere
f
freedomnd ove
for
ountry
lone,
while
-
with few
exceptions
subjecting
individual
onduct o everal
isciplinary
ontrols.
Gora thus
onnects arious
kinds
of
freedom nd
love.
The
space
of
novel an often
voke
he
ntricately
nterwovenreas
of
human
oncerns,
hereas
olitical
reatises reat hem s dis-
junct
nd
ncommensurable.
recisely
ecause iterature
mudges
the
boundaries
etween ifferentrders f
xperience
hat t
an
both
apture
nd
refashion
historicaltructuref
ensibilities
so
successfully.
n
my ssay,
unfortunately,
will
focus n the
theme f
patriotism
lone.
1
Let
me
numeratend
explore
ome f he
mpediments
o ndian
patriotism.
atriotism
equires,
bviously, single ountry
s its
first
ondition.t
denotes ove
for
specific
erritory
hich,
o
patriots,
s more
meaningful
nd
valued
than ll
other
ands
n
theworld.
Why
hat
and s
valued
nd
what
he
and
represents
are,
however,
ontentious
uestions.
o
secular ndian
patriots,
land s
birthplace,
s the
ource f
he
elf. n
Hindu
nationalism,
a
la
Savarkar,
and
is
birthplace
ot
only
of the
people
and
of
their
ncestors ut f
faith:
ence ndian
Muslims nd
Christians
do
not
ualify
s
full-fledged
ndians ince
heir aiths ere
orn
outside
he and.6
That
patial ntegrity
as to
be
underpinnedy
stable
map,
fairly
ontinuous
cross
long
ime
pan.
Patriots nd
nationa-
lists
nsist
hat hemodern
map
n the
present
ad
been
roughly
the ame
even
n the
remote
ntiquities.
he
effort
hus eans
upon
both
ime nd
space, geography
nd
history:
he
ountry,
as we know tnow,must lwaysalreadyhavebeenthere. he
temporal-spatial
dentity
as
to
be
culturally
einforced
s
well.
And
that
demands
identifying
trong
hreads
of
unity
nd
sameness,
unning
hrough
he entire
and
mass,
nd
impart-
ing
a
common
spect
to
the
people
who
inhabit
t. Claims
to
unity
ave
n
ideological
unction:
t
makes
he
ountry
ppear
as
a
natural
rganism,
self-evident
ingle ntity.
ery uickly,
then,
patriotism
lides
nto
omething
more
han
politics
f
place:
a
certain efinition
f he
culture f he
and
becomes
ts
defining
ssence.
Problems
with
Necessary
Ingredients
of
Patriotism
Unfortunately,
ormodern
ndians,
ll
three
necessaryngredi-
ents geographical ntegrity,istoricalontinuityndcultural
unity
ran nto
problems.
When
they
irst
egan
to discourse
urgently
bout
patriotism,
hey
had the
map
of
Britishndia
before
hem,
map
which
panned
n
entire ubcontinent.
t
s
very nlikely
hat he ubcontinental
eography
ad
a real
pres-
ence or
a
vivid and shared
meaning
n the
affective
orld
f
Indians
n
pre-modernays.
There
never
eally
ad been
a
his-
tory
f
comprehensive olitico-administrative
nification
ill
well into the colonial era.
And
here,
contrast
an be made
with China
whose
physical
mmensity
nd
variationswere
counterpointed
y
an
old
history
f
mperial-bureaucratic
nd
linguistic
nity.
herehave
been,
nstead,
mpires
nside
ndia,
several
t
a
time.
ndian
dynasties ought gainst
ach
other,
conquered
nd ruled one another.Atno
point
f
time,
efore
British
onquests,
ad the modern
map
of ndia
been enclosed
within
single
oundary.
Shared ulturalraits
ould
have
verlaid
olitico-administrative
divisions.
ut
therewere far oo fewof
them.
Apart
rom
he
classical
language
of
Sanskrit,
ollowed
by
Persian
n later
times,
herewas no
single
anguage
that
people
from ifferent
parts
f he
ountry
ouldunderstand
r use.
Sanskrit
nd Per-
sian,
oo,
were lite
anguages,
sed for
igh
iterary,
acred
r
bureaucratic
eeds,
by
select
groups
f
people.
Live
inguistic
traditions,
n theother
hand,
were
plural
nd
mostlymutually
incomprehensible.
o were ivedcultural raditions
nd
styles
ofworshipwhichwere ustas radically ifferentrom ne an-
other: ot
only mong
different
eligious
ommunities,
ut
lso
often
harply
ifferent
or
differentonstituents
f
the
same
community.
f
course,
herehad
been,
in the
past,
points
f
continuousontact:
pilgrimage
ircuitxisted
romncient
imes,
connecting any
ifferent
arts
f
he
country.
ut
pilgrimages
wouldbe
specific
o a
particular
ommunity
r
ect,
hey
would
not
rovide
common
oint
f eference
or ll
people
nhabiting
the and mass.
Therehad also been
a
widespread
irculation
f
commodities nd
traders.
But
such
movements
f
goods
and
people
were
restrictedo
specific
roups.
Most
people
would
3o
july
25,
2009
vol.
xliv no
30
HBO
EconomicPolitical
eekly
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http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
8/11/2019 Rabindranath's "Gora" and the Intractable Problem of Indian Patriotism - Sarkar
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have
neither
familiarity
or
strong
motional ondwith if-
ferent
arts
f he
country.
he subcontinent ould
not
ppear
tothem s
a beloved
country
f their
wn,
all
parts
of which
belonged
o them
n an
intimate
elationship.
In
pre-modern
imes,
opular oliticaloyalty
as
expected
o
be directed
owards he
overeign
nd
his
realm,
not
owards
land nd
a
people.
he
word
Ramrajya
ouldbe
a
good
example.
The emotionsffamiliaritynd loving ntimacyhatwe associ-
ate
as the
typical
eatures f
patriotism
ere
actually
eserved
for maller
nd ntimate
laces.
The
Ramayana
ad
declared
hat
themother
nd the
birthplace
re
superior
o heaven.The
birth-
place,
n this
ase,
would
iterally
e
that the ancestral ome-
stead
where
he
person
was born.The associations
f
personal
history,roperty
nd
pace
were
he lements hich
ave
piece
of
and ts
peculiar
ffectivelaim.The same resonances ffelt
closeness
were
conveyed
y
the word
desk,
wordof Sanskrit
origin,
ommon
o
many
ndian
anguages,
nd also
by
he
Persian
word
mulk
hat s
yet
notherword
for he
country
n
others.7
Both
originally
meant one's
personal
address.
Both
came to
acquire
highly
eified
spect
when
enlarged
nd
strenuously
reinscribedpon subcontinenthich ouldonly e abstractly
imagined
s
one's own. One of the
characteristics
f
modern
patriots
ikeSwami
Vivekananda nd
ater,Gandhi,
wouldbe to
try
ndtravel cross he
ength
nd breadth f he
country:
he
first
tep
owards
eing
n Indian
n thetrue ense of he
word.
Obviously,
eing
an
Indian
involved
ffort.t was
acquired
knowledge,
ot
n
nstinct.
A
regional atriotism
ad
emerged
imultaneously
ith
pan
Indian
r
ubcontinental
atriotism
n the
19th
entury.
his,
n
fact,
ould
ncorporate
he earlier
meanings
f
desh
more
uc-
cessfully,
region
eing
more
familiar
and and
people,
ften
unified
y
at least
a
shared
anguage.
Certainly
n
Bengal,
ut-
pourings
f
patrioticongs
rom he
ate
19th enturyxpressed
love
more
mmediately
nd
vividly
or he and of
Bengal.
ndia,
in
ontrast,
ppeared
n
Bengali atriotic
magination
s
a
project
of
power
nd
glory,
more
difficult
o
clasp
as an intimateove
object.
We
may
ontrast
ere
wo
patriotic
ongs
f
Rabindranath
himself.
n one
he
evokes
he ncient
and
ofBharatbarshas
the
cradle
f
human ivilisation:
...The awn
first
ppeared
n these
skies,
ere
he
first
oly
hants
were
recited/From
hese
forests,
for
he first
ime,
aith nd
knowledge pread
cross
he
world
along
with
oetry
nd tales.
" The civilisation
s
quite
unmistak-
ably
Hindu
a
problem
hich
we discuss
ater.The other s
a
song
about
the
and of
Bengal
which
has been
adopted
s
the
national
ong
f
Bangladesh:
My oldenengal,do ove ou o/Forvernd ver, ourkies, oui
winds,
akemusic
n
my
oul.
Mother,
n
prirg our
mango roves
enchant
e
with
heir
ragrance.
ate utumn
ills
our addy
ields
with
sweetly
miling
ounty...
all
translations
nthe
ssay
re
mine).
The
song
is
about
a familiar
andscape,
the love that its
beauty
vokes.8
If he
patial
magination
bout
region
was
both
precise
nd
sensual,
he
ubcontinent,
n
contrast,
as
best
conceptualised
as
history
ather
han
as
familiar
and.
When
a
strong
arto-
graphic
magination
merged
rom
ate colonial
imes,
t
was
the
shadowy, aguely
eminine
hape
ofthe outer ontours
f the
map
that
was made familiar n
popular
representations.
ndia
was
preferred
s an
idealisedform ather han
s
concrete,
en-
suous
geography.9
Unintended
Product
Things
o
change,
however,n
1888,
John
trachey,
senior o-
lonial
fficial,
ad
confidently
ssured
Cambridge
niversity
n-
dergraduatesn a speech:
Theres
not,
nd
never as n ndia
..no ndian
ation,
o
people
f
India fwhich
ehear o much
hatmen f he
unjab,
engal,
he
North
est rovincesndMadrashouldver eel
hat
hey elong
o
one ndian
ation,
s
mpossible...10
This can be
classified s
a
remarkablenstance
ffamous
ast
words. ven
s
he
spoke,
he
very
hing
e
strenuously
enied
n
existence,
as
already
n
the
making, rovoked
nto
ife
argely
by
he
ystem
f
governance
hathe
himself as a
part
f.The
Indian
Empire,naugurated
ith
much anfare
littlemore han
a
decade
back,
was
transfiguring
ast nto nation
f
ndian
eo-
ple
who came to feelwith
ncreasing
onvictionhat
hey
e-
longed
o shared
ountry,
hey
wereone
people.
That
hiswas
a
modern eginningnnowaysubtractedromherapidgrowth
and
ntensity
f
his onviction.
istory,
fter
ll,
s not
destiny.
Indian
atriotism,
s
a
felt
motion,
as the
unintended
roduct
of colonial
ule
whichbestowed
olitical nity,
nd which ied
up dispersedgeographies
nto
a
singular
whole. And
which,
moreover,
hrough
argely
imilar
acial,
conomic nd admini-
strative
olicies,
tirred
p very
imilar
rievances,
spirations
and
emotions
mongpeople
who were scattered round sub-
continent.
t
was,
finally
nd
supremely,
nti-colonial
opular
movements
hat
melded
ery arge, isparate
umbers f
people
into
strong,
ffective
ommunity.
he sense
of
ubcontinental
belonging
hat
consequently
eveloped,
was
powerful,
eal,
personal.
ven
though
f
relatively
ecent
rowth,
t,
nonethe-
less,
remains n
important
ommitmentor
arge
numbers f
Indians
ven n
post-colonial
imes.One
may
ven
ay
hat t
was
patriotism
hat
gave
birth
o
ndia as
a
country.
ut he
problem
was
that
his
rigin
s
generally
ot
onsidered
nough:
t
s
too
recent
nd
contingent,
ot
rganic,
ot structural
ecessity
r
long-standing
istorical
ompulsion.
t
became
necessary,
here-
fore,
o
magine
ther,
more
nduring
nd
nnate
ases,
n
order
to
ustify
nd
propel
he
mergentatriotism.
2
All
this
uggests omething ery
urious or
ur
modern
imes:
strong atriotic
motions
n
search
of a
country.
hat meant
inventing single ountryalled ndia,beyond, ver ndabove
the
relatively
ecent
history
f colonial unification
nd the
strongly
elt
unity
hat came out
of the
freedom
movements.
India must
ppear
s
an
enduring
rganism,
ot he
contingent
outcome f
particular
istorical
onjuncture.
utwhat
an
we
find
n
our
history
hat
s
old.
nough,trong
nough
nd
general-
ised
enough
o
provide
persuasive
asis for subcontinental
felt
nity
nd
historical
ontinuity?
For
large
number fmodern
indus,
ngaged
n the
problem
of
defining country
nd a
history,
he answerwas
simple
nd
obvious,
ne
that ad
been formulated
nd embellished rom
he
Economic
Politicalweekly
CEC3
JULY
25,
2009
vol
xliv
no
30
39
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SPECIAL
RTICLE
19th
entury.
or
hem,
induism lone couldbear
the
weight
f
that
equirement.
indus,
hey
laimed,
re themostnumerous
of ndian
people,
nd
they
lone
provide
n
unbroken istorical
continuity
hat
s older hanwhat ther ndian ommunitiesan
offer.
What
s
dangerous
boutthis
majoritarianism
nd
claims
to
antiquity
s
that
here re
very
ld and
extremely
opulous
non-Hindu
ommunities
n
the
country
hose
contributionso
culturalndpoliticalraditionsrerich, iverse,massive. ocall
IndiaHinduwould
e
to
exclude hose riticalmasses:
not
nly
t
the cost of
crippling
nd
impoverishing
ur
ives,
ultures
nd
histories
nimaginably,
ut lso
by eaving
hese astnumbers f
Indians
tranded
n
their ncestral
homelands
without real
entitlement.
indus,moreover,
re
stratified
mong
hemselves
by
divisions
f
aste,
egion,
anguage
nd sect.The
practice
hat
most f them
have held
n
common,
n some
shape,
has been
somevariant f
aste
hierarchy.
here
was,moreover,
range
f
upper
astedomestic
rescriptions
hat
upwardly
mobile lower
castes" tended o follow.
hese
commonalities, owever,
ad
comeunder ritical
crutiny
romhe
19th
enturymong arge
sections f Hindus.
They
could
hardlyprovide
consensual
ground or nity mong ll modern indus,et lone ll Indians.
Scriptures
nd Customs
Undeterred
y
hese
roblems
hat
eset heir laims o thenatu-
ral
unity
f ll
Hindus,
9th
entury
indu evivalists ost ften
located
ultural
ontinuity
nd civilisational
ingularity
orHindu-
Indians n ancient
rahmanical extswhich
ncluded he
mytho-
logical,
hilosophical
nd
metaphysicalystems,egal
statutes,
and
classical anskrit
iterature. hese had
been
compiled
nd
published
y
19th
enturyndologists,
ndian nd
western,
nd
had
become
nternationally
nown nd renowned.n
fact,
he
colonial
tate
tself ad
bestowed
ponparts
f
t
great isibility
and
sanction. t
had declared hat n all
areas of
belief,
itual,
marriage,
ivorce,
ower,
doption,
uccession,
nheritancend
caste,
Hindus nd
Muslimswould
be
governedy
heir
cripture
and
custom nd
the state
ould
only
ntervenef t was
shown
that
resentractice
ontravened ore ncient
nd
pristine
ra-
dition. art
f heir
ecision
was,
no
doubt,
ictated
y
calcula-
tions f
political
xpediency:
on-interferencen intimatend
private
pheres,hey
hought,
ouldreconcile
nd
pacify
sub-
jugated
people.
But
herewas also a
genuine
dmiration or he
systems
f
custom,
tatutes
nd
traditions. hen
compilation
was
made from
arious
scriptural
raditions
hat
dealt with
Hindu elief
nd
usage,
Bentham,
he
great
Utilitarian,
ead t n
translationnd
decided hat
spects
of t
shouldbe
included n
theuniversalegal ode that eplanned owrite.11
These
beliefs nd
practices
onstitutedn
area
where
he
o-
lonial state
brogated
tsown
sovereignty.
his,
n
turn,
meant
that n
this
domain
ndians were
still not
entirely
olonised.
Hindu
cripture
nd custom
hus
were
transfigured
s
precious
vestiges
f
past
freedom
nd
as nuclei ffuture
elf-governance.
Throughout
he
19th
century,
iberal
reformers
nd Hindu
orthodoxy
uarrelled
boutwhat
uses
shouldbe
made of this
freedom:
hould
t
be a
source
f
ntrospection
nd
self-reform,
especially
or aste nd
gender?
r
should
t
reinforce
radition,
preserved
rom ll
corruption
nd
change
that
accrued from
foreign
nfluence?hould
ne revere
t
ltogether
s
thatwhich
made
the
country,
r
should
ne
alter
t to remake
country
n
lines
f ocial
nd
genderustice?
Coming
lose
to ideas
that re
associated
with
heconserva-
tive
arliamentarian
dmund
urke,
utwhich
ctually o
back
to atemedieval
nglish
ritings,specially
f
Fortescue,
ndian
conservatives
reatively
ransfigured
ertain
cornerstones
f
western onservatism.heirargumentswentthus: f certain
institutions
nd traditions
ad survived
hrough
he
ges,
nclud-
ing
ras
of
onquests
nd
foreign
omination,
hen heir ontent
was
axiomatically
ood.
That ven
foreign
nvaders ad
notdis-
turbed
hem,
oubly
roves
heirworth.
ven ftheir
ogic
or
ethical
roperties
re
no
longer
lear,
heir
istorical
ontinuity
and
persistence
emonstrate
heir
elevance
nd
utility
ormod-
ern imes. eformersannot
udge
hem
y
heir wn
ime-bound
fragile
eason
hat s
the
product
f
a
single
eneration's
hink-
ing:
whereas
he aws and customs
hat
had
survived
enturies
contain
the wisdom
of
past
generations.
hey
stand
on the
bedrock f
very
ld
historical onsensus.12
n
its wn
way,
he
argument
nvoked
hatPocock
as described
or notherontext
as thedemocracyf hedead.13
There
was
a
second
string
o the
argument.
o not
these
apparentlyroblematic
raditionsbout aste nd
gender
ome
enfolded
withinwhat even the
west admits
o be
great
nd
civilised?
ur
profoundly
eep
and
complex hilosophical
ys-
tems,
urwonderful lassical
literature?
f we now
question
them,
o we notundermine he
entire
radition,
he
obviously
great
nd
the
good,along
with those few
lements
hatnow
appear
o be
problematic?
These were insistent
nd
persistent rguments,
ehearsed
again
and
again,
in
novels,drama,
tracts,
olemical
ssays,
throughout
he olonial
eriod.
ome
of
hem,
evised
ndrecon-
textualised,
avebeen
recently
esuscitated
n certain trands
f
post-colonialcholarship. hey
recur
ery
ftenn Gorawhere
we find ome
f heir
trongest
nd most
assionate
rticulations
as
well s
theirmost ffectiveefutations.
If ll
patriotic rojects
emand
doration,
he
patriotism
f
colonised
eople
demands t n
ways
hat
re more
han
usually
fierce,
ompelling
nd
poignant.
freformsre
allowed,
would
they
not
dent
that
pride,
dmitof
faultlines nd
injustices?
f
fallibility
s
acknowledged,
hen
how can
patriotismope
with
the
question
of self-esteem
hich s
already
o
damaged
by
colonialracism?
nd,
finally,
f
raditions
hat
roved
o
unjust
to low castesand women could notbe an
adequate
basis
for
patriotism,
hen
what
lternativesouldHindu r ndian
istories
allow?14 ora ried o clear n alternativeath.
3
To thisHindunationalist
rgument,
nandamathadadded
yet
another
wist. t
sought
o short ircuit
roblems
f
ocial
njus-
tice and
divisions
with he
resolution f
a
nationalist ar.The
self-divided indu
people
weremadewhole nd one when
hey
confronted
hat the
noveldescribed s their istorical
nemy,
theMuslims.
ommunity
nd
country erged
o
create
he
body
of
goddess
who
ought engeance gainst
Muslims.
ow astes
and
upper
astes
fought
ogether,
or s
long
s the
nemy
uled,
40
jui.Y
25,
2009
vol
xliv
no
30
CEO
Economic
Politicalweekly
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Fr Special
article
caste
hould
e
suspended:
ven
though,
otfor
ver,
nd even
though
eaders
were
nvariablypper
astes.
Tagore
and
Swadeshi Movement
The violent
ogic
f
Anandamath esolved he
problems
f
frag-
mentation nd
discontinuity
n a
way
thatwas coherent nd
complete
ithin
tsown
terms.
his,however,
as
a
resolution
thatRabindranatheeply eared. ankimchandraad eschewed
many
fhis
own arlier enunciationsf
lass,
aste nd
gender
injustices
o reach he
point
fHindunationalism.
abindranath,
too,
had
gone through
ifferent
hases
of social and
political
thinking
ikeBankimchandra.15
n
his
case, however,
he
rajec-
tory
moved
n
thereverse irection. ust efore e wrote
Gora,
between
1905
and
1908,
the
country
ad seen
a
widespread
popular
gitation gainst
he
colonial
tatewhichhad
recently
and
very rbitrarilyartitioned
he
province
f
Bengal.
There
had been
boycotts
nd
burnings
f
British
loth,
ocial avoid-
ance
of ndianswho
occupied
fficial
ositions
r were
oyal
o
the
state,
huge
demonstrationsnd
picketing
f
foreign oods
shops. Eventually,
here
began
assassinationsof
individual
British fficials.
Rabindranath
ad
been
deeply
nvolved
with
he
early hase
of
the movement
nd
had fashioned
many
f ts cultural
igns
and
symbols.
long
withothernationalist
eaders,he,
at this
point
f
ime,
ad used Hindu
ituals ormass
mobilisation,
nd
he
defended
indu ocial nstitutions
nd
statutes,
venrecon-
figuring
aste as
a consensual nd rationaldivision f
abour
that ecured ocial
harmony.
n the
ame
vein,
he also endorsed
brahmanical
ender ractices
ike widow
mmolation s con-
sensual.16
e
wrote n Swadeshi
amaj
in
1904:
Will otHinduisme able
o
bring very
ne
ofus
day yday
nto
bondsf
ffinity
nd evotion
o his haratbarsha
f
urs
the bode
of
our
gods,
he
hermitage
f our
rishis,
he andof our forefa-
thers?..."17
There
re such
trong
ecurrencesfthese
hemes nd even
thesewords
n
Gora,
hat t eemsundeniable
hat
Rabindranath
of
he
wadeshi ra
provided
hemodel
or he
patriotic
anguage
of
he
arly
Gora
n
the novel.
The novel
s,therefore,
utobio-
graphical
n a
split
mode.
The
early
nd the aterGora reflect
the
wodifferent
olitical
moments
n
Rabindranath's
ife.
Even
in
this
phase,
however,
Rabindranath
emained,
n
many mportant
ays,
uite
different
rom
therHindu
nation-
alists.
The differences
rew
over
time,
ncreasingly
solating
him rom he
movement ntil
e
turned
nto
tsmost
utspoken
critic.
e saw Muslims
s
equal
compatriots.18
iolence
orrified
him,whethert was directed gainst tateofficialsr against
Muslims.He was
insistent
hat ndian civilisation
ad
always
been
nourished
y
many
ultures.
omeof
hem
nitially
rrived
with
oreignonquests
ut
hey
hen ound
home
nthis
ountry.
This
ncluded he
west
whose
ntellectual
nd cultural
esources
cannot
e
spurned
ven n the
ge
of
olonialism
ithout
fatal
cultural
elf-denial.19
bove
ll,
he valued
rural
uplift, easant
welfare,
nly
oo
acutely
ware of
perennialpeasant poverty
and
ignorance
or
which ndian landlords
were
to
blame
as
much
s colonial
revenue
ettlements. s
the
movement
ro-
gressed,
e became
ncreasingly
ritical f
the
upper
lass and
upper
caste Hindunationalist
eadership
which
unthinkingly
commanded nd
coerced ow
caste and
Muslim
peasants
to
burn
heap foreign
lothwhile t
the same
time
doing
ittle r
nothing
or heir
welfare.20
In
the ourse f
heSwadeshi
movement,
ow castes nd Mus-
lims had
protested
gainst
enforced
oycott
f
foreign
oods
and
this
got
extended
ntoviolent ommunal
lashes.At that
point,Rabindranath ecisively urned way from hemove-
ment.He reviewed is ocial
and
political
eliefs nd
concluded
that
untouchability
nd
communalism ere no less
mportant
problems
han
olonial
njustice:
hat s
long
s the
problem
f
peasant
poverty
nd
exploitation
emained,
he elite
nationa-
list
eadership
ad
no
right
o
command
illagers
o
conformo
the
movement.21
Gora:
Expression
of New Political Turn
Gora
was the first
iterary xpression
fthenew
political
urn
which
would
deepen
over ime. t
was also
one
of he
first
ovels
that e
wrote n modern
omestic,
olitical
nd
ocial
ituations,
the
very
irst fthem
eing
Chokher ali and
Noukadubi.More
than ts redecessors,ora raverses ultipleocialworlds hich
are
repeatedly rought
nto
nterfaces,
ollisions nd reconcilia-
tions. t s
also more
densely
opulated
han
Chokher
ali,
filled
with everal wisted
ubplots, any
oices,
peeches
nd cultural
signs:
men
and
women from
iberal,
orthodox
nd
revivalist
backgrounds,
rom
olonial,
ural nd
metropolitan
ocales,
rom
modern uclear amilies
nd from
arge
nd
intricately
nterre-
lated
ointfamily
ouseholds. he
anguage
s chaste nd
classi-
cist,
hough
heeven tenors often roken
p by
diverse
erna-
cular
peech
nflections.
With sort f
fairly
echanical
ymmetry,
henovel
ounter-
poses
one
good
and one bad
Brahmo
gainst
ne
good
and one
bad
Hindu:Paresh
nd Haran
represent
he two
Brahmo
aces
while
Anandamoyee
nd
Krishnadayal
re the twodifferent
Hindus.
he two duos sum
up,
between
hem,
he
trength
nd
the
roblems
f he
faiths
nthe
present.
he
novel s
enormously
dialogic
nd
every
tance s allowed xtensive
elf-representation
and differenthetorical
tyles.
n its
heteroglossia
nd
dialogic
organisation,
s well as in
many
f ts
rguments,
t
nticipated
much f
the
ater
Ghare
Baire,
the novel
that
reflected
n the
Swadeshi
xperience.
t
s
curious
hat
ven
hough
ora
s
written
just
fter
he Swadeshi
xperience,
henovelisticime s
pushed
back nto
he
19th
entury.
hare
aire,
written
early
decade
later,
eflects
n the
Swadeshi times.
Perhaps,
Rabindranath
waited ill hemuch
bhorred
artition
f
Bengal
was rescinded
beforehe would articulatehis critiqueof the anti-partition
movement.
earer
n time to the
experience,
e withheld is
immediate
esponses
nd searched
or
ntecedents
f
ts
prob-
lematic
spects
n
the
past.
Though
he
brought
ntoGora
many
f he
nsights
hat
ame
from is
own
involvement
ith he
movement,
e located he
fictional ituation
n the
1870s,
when
a
conservative indu
nationalism
tridentlypposed
iberal
hinking
nd
social eform
in thename of he cultural istinctivenessfHindus.22
ora
s
a
patriotic oung
man from n
educated,
orthodox
rahman
family,owering
verhis friends nd
familyy
he
passion
nd
Economic
Political
weekly
DQQ9
JULY
25, 2009
vol
xliv
no
30
41
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snail
arj\q&':^^
power
fhis
patriotic
ision,
his
uncompromising
nd
fearless
opposition
o
colonial acism.
He loves
ll
Indians,
Muslims nd
untouchables
ncluded,
ut he
one
category
f
ndianshe can-
not tand re liberal
eformers.
hey
re cultural
enegades
o
him,
pale
mimics
f their olonial
masters,
rying
o
destroy
something
n
the
name
of
reform
or
which
hey
have neither
understanding
or
ympathy.
o declarehis own distance rom
them,he demonstrativelydheres to all orthodox orms f
behaviour,
specially
n
areas of
gender
nd caste
pollution
taboos.Hedoes not at thefood ooked
by
hismother homhe
loveswith
ll
his
heart ecause she
takes
waterfrom hehand
of low caste
domestic
elp,
Lachhmia.
It
has been
said
by
Bengali iterary
istorians
hat
Swami
Vivekananda
rovided
he
model
for
Gora's haracter. here s
some truth n
this,
lthough
think
hat
Rabindranath's
wn
ideas
at
two different
hases
constitute
he
two
phases
of Gora
more
ccurately.
oth
Vivekananda
nd
Gora tried
o
improve
lower aste
onditions ith
pper
aste ocialwelfare
ork,
oth
developed powerful
atriotic rose,
both
organised
middle
class Hindu
youth
o form andsofHindumissionariesnd both
equatedpatriotismithHindupride.Theremaybe yet nother
sharedtrait.Gora has
to
constantly
epress
his doubts bout
Hindu
ocial
nstitutions
n
order o
nculcate
indu
ride.
umit
Sarkar
rgues
that
there
was
a
split
between Vivekananda's
private
tterances
nd
correspondences
n theone
hand,
where
he
wouldbe
sharply
cerbic bout Hindu
norms,
nd his
public
speeches
nd
writings
n
the
other,
herehe
concerned imself
exclusively
ith
he richness f
Hinducivilisation. herewere
also
momentsf
oscillation
etween elf-confidencend
despair
about
heHindu
missionary
roject.23
There
re
several
ounterpoints
o Gora.
His mother
nada-
moyee
s a
remarkably
lear-eyed erson
who
refuses o
accept
any
itual
hat
ividesman
fromman.
She
cannot
espise nyonebecause fbirth rfaith ndher ove
goes
out,
asily
nd rresist-
ibly,
o all human
eings.
Gora comes
n
touchwith liberal e-
formist
amily, rgues
with
the
gentle,
ntrospective
ather,
Paresh,
nd falls n
ovewith is
dopted
aughter
ucharita
ust
as
his
friend nd
disciple enoy
omes o
ove
Sucharita's
dop-
tive
ister alita.
here
re
nteresting
ivergences
n
heir
peech
patterns.
nandamoyee
peaks
with
great
motional
epth, p-
pealing
o
thereason f
universal uman
ove nd
worth. aresh
speaks
gently
ut
ogically,
n
measured
ntellectual
adences.
Lalita,
who
would
ater
marry
ora's
riend
enoy,
eshapes
er
father's
ogicality
nto
sharp
rgumentativeness.
ora
himself
speaks
n
hyperbolic
hetoric,
he
passion
f
his
anguage,
meta-
phors nd images verridingnd sweeping waytheeffects f
calm
reasoning, ogical
arguments,
he
gentle
words of ove.
Sucharita
avers
etween erfather
nd Gora as
does
Benoy
her
ntellect
esponding
o
the
social and
historical
rguments
that
Paresh
ssembles
o
reply
oGora'sHindu
nationalism. t
the
ame
time,
Gora
conjures
p
with
his
memorable
hetoric,
vision f
ountry
nd
oveof uch
force hat
he s enchanted:
or
her,
he
ountry
s
entirely
n
effect
f
he
words fher
beloved.
She
falls
n
ove with
both t
the same time
when,
for he
first
time,
Gora
turns o her
nd
weaves,
Othello
ike,
he
powerful
magic
fhis
words.
Source
of Power
of
Hindu
Nationalism
Rabindranath ad
put
his
finger
n
a
very mportant
ource
f
the
power
f Hindu
nationalism henhe
showed
he
ffects
f
Gora's
rhetoric: hen verbal
mages
can defeat
historical
vi-
dence
and the
mperative
f
ustice:
imultaneously
isplacing
the
iving
with n
abstraction,
reifkation,nd,
n the same
move,
nvesting
he abstract
with
ompelling
uman
ualities,
making tmorereal than the experienced r the historical.
Hindu
nationalism Rabindranath
ould
say,
ll nationalisms
-
transacts
n
the
currency
f the
imagined
made
real
with
words: he
magined
nd the dealised
thenoverwrite
nd ob-
scure
the world nwhichwe live.
Strangely
or
poet,
he dis-
trusted
he
transfiguring
ower
of
words,
he
ease
withwhich
they
reate felicitous
orldwhich
ppears
s more
eal
than
the
ctual.
Hating
himself orhis
un-Hindu ct
-
pre-marital
ove
being
anathemafor non-consensual
Hindu
marriage
ystem
nd
Sucharita
s a woman rom
nother
ommunity
he
hardens
is
orthodoxy,arshlyepresses
is ove
for
ucharita
ndhisown
doubts bout astedivisions
nd
domestic
aws.Asthe
ifts
about
to becomefinal,Gora discovers hathe is actually n adopted
child,
f
rish
arentage,
is
parents
erekilled
uring
he
mutiny
of
857.
he
discovery,
t
one
stroke,
emoves
im
rom
is
family,
his
Hindu
nd brahmanical
ncestry.eing
n
European
y
birth,
anda
Mutinyrphan,
e also loseshis ffiliation
o the
ineage
f
anti-colonial
psurges.
The brahmanical
Hindu
patriot
Gora
represents past
of
Rabindranathhat he author ad
onlyrecently
iscarded.
ut
Rabindranathnew ts
ompelling
ower.
Gora,
ven
s a Hindu
hardliner,
epresentsbrightight,
e articulates
he
majesty
f
subjugated eople risingup
to confront
njustice
nd racism.
Some
spects
fHindu
atriotism
id
embody
he
proud
efiance
of
people xpected
obe
cowering
nder
olonial
misrule,
u-
miliated nd
stigmatised.
ora s ts
elf-expression
t ts
trong-
est
point.
Whatmakeshim
specially onvincing
nd
compelling,
however,
s
that
he himselfs torn: e admires
he
Muslim,
e
s
furious henhe
sees the
ow
caste
Hindu
xploited
nd
nsulted
by
the
high
aste Hindu.
Despite
hat,
he feels
hat n
colonial
times,
atriotism
ust e based on total ove
nd
respect
or
ll
that
Hindu ndiahas or s. There s
no
other
omparable
ultural
resource
ith
whichwe can
approach
nd
confront
he acism
f
foreign
ule.
Early
n
the
novel,
is
friend
enoy
sks
him:Tell
me,Gora,
s
Bharatbarsha
omething
eal o
you?
Do
you
ee her
learly?
ow
do
you
ee her?
Benoys uncertainbout herealityf he con orwhose ake
Gora skshim o turn
way
from Brahmo
irl
who
ttracts
im.
Whereiniesthe
ntoxicating
nd
compelling ower
f he oun-
try
hat
must e worth he
sacrifice? nless
he, too,
an
experi-
ence
the
reality
s
an
actual
presence
he
way
Gora
an,
he can-
not
part
rom isnewromanticmotions.
Gora
ays:
My
ountry
s real nd lear ome ll the
ime,
ut
ou
will ot ind
her
n
Marshman
ahib's
istory
f
ndia,
he ives nside
my
eart...
I
may
ose
myway, may
rown nd die...
ut hat lessed
efuge
still
xists,
my
ountry,lways
illed
ith
wealth,
nowledge,
aith.
42
july
25,
2009
vol
xliv no
30
CDE3
EconomicPolitical eekly
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8/11/2019 Rabindranath's "Gora" and the Intractable Problem of Indian Patriotism - Sarkar
8/11
^^^EEE^EE^EEE^EEEZZZZI==IEE^=^ Z===EEIEEEEE^^^^
Falsehood surrounds s and what we seem to see is no
reality...
thisCalcutta
f
yours,
hese
mercantile
ffices,
hese
courtrooms,
these concretebubbles... can this
be
my
Bharatbarsha? ere
we
live false
ives,
do
meaningless
work,
hisBharatbarsha
s
a
magi-
cian's
trick,
t has no real
life... here s a true
Bharat,
we
need to
searchher
out,
go
there,
raw
out our
ifeblood,
ur
souls,
our wis-
domfrom hat
lace...
We have weakened
ourselves
with
elf oath-
ing,
nce we embrace
ride
or he
ntire
ountry,
he ruth f ndia
will
becomemanifest.24
Gora sserts
hat he
reality
f he
country
s
something
iffe-
rent rom
nd
opposed
o its ctual
appearance.
ts
nner ruth
must
e
seized
as an
act
of
faith,
mystical
ealisation,
s a
project.
t s
really
future hat
must
masquerade
s a
past
nd a
present
n
order
o
come nto
eing.
He also
admitshat he
pparent
ndia s suffused ith
misery.
But he s still
goddess
nd we must
pproach
er s such.He
feels onfident
hat movement
ill
arise to confront umilia-
tion.
But
hatwill
ariseout
ofour faith
n
the
goddess: Benoy,
see
my oddess,
he s not athed
n
beauty,
find er nthe
midst
of
famine,
overty,
uffering,
he is insulted. he is not to be
worshipped
ith
ongs
nd
flowers,
ut
with
ives nd blood.
cansee against hebloodshot ky, he birth f a new,radiant
dawn of freedom".25
Political
Necessity
The
goddess,
hus,
s
a
political
ecessity.
he
present
misery
f
India
s
simultaneously
nvoked
nd abolished.Atone
level,
t
must e seen as
a
false
cover,
masking
he
real with
maya
or
divine
nchantment,
illedwith
the
fleeting
nd the false
that
overwrite
ruth hich s constant.
ut,
t
another,
imultaneous
level,
t
s also
a
necessary
dornment
f he
goddess
ecause he
perception
fher
misery
s
also
a
call for
attle.
n
Gora's
escrip-
tion f
he
goddess,
wodistinct istorical
ayers
use.One s the
time f he
goddess
ofAnandamath
ho manifested erself
o
Hindu
patriots
n the midst f
devastating
amine ndwar n
the
ate 18th
entury
hen colonial
rule
had
just
been estab-
lished.The
other s
the
mmediate
ast
of the Swadeshimove-
ment
with tsExtremist
hetoric
fbloodand
thunder,
fbattle
like
onfrontations,
nd the
beginnings
f
revolutionary
erro-
rist ction
f
political
ssassinations.
When ucharita
resses
im o
clarify
he
precise
ocation f
the real
country,
ora
nvokes
he
ancient
past,
the historical
continuity
f ts ulture
hich
ranscends
ccasional
erversions
of
ts ternal
ruth.
istory
s
destiny, istory
s
country,
he
past
is our eal
place.26
BenoyvsGora
Benoy
vacillates.
At
times,
he is
entirely ersuadedby
the
power
of Gora's
charismatic
resence,
his
words.
Away
from
the charismatic
eing,
however,
he
power
vanishes
nd he is
once
morebeset
withdoubts
nd
his own
transgressive
mo-
tions
and
needs.
Ultimately,
e decides
to choose
the
latter,
telling
Gora
hathe
must
defy
is
Hindu
nationalist
roject
s
he
feels
hathe can see
the
country
hatGorawantshim o see
only
hrough
ora's
peech,
not
through
is
own
experiences.
Before
e leaves
Gora,
however,
e
talksabout his own love
to
his friend.
He also
talks
about women
who
must ive in
freedom
o come into their
own,
to
acquire
an
independent
and creative
dentity
hat
Hindu
domestic aws
deny
hem.
His
words,
n
turn,
trengthen
nd
thrust
p
on
the
urface,
ora's
own need to
love,
his own
appreciation
f
the
potential
hat
womenhave and are
made
to hide.
Though
he
represses
hese
thoughts
mmediately,
enoy's
words
work
within
im,
oun-
terposing
he
mage
of
fulfilmento the bleak
aridity
hat
his
ownproject nvolves. xperience nd needs,thus,ultimately,
give
the
simple
wordsof
Benoy greater
ffectivity.
n a
simi-
lar
way,
oo,
we
realise
what
Anandamoyee
admeant
when
she
repeatedly
old
Benoy
and
Gora that
she, too,
had
been
orthodox
nce.
But
when she had held
the
nfant
Gora
n
her
arms,
she
realised the
falsehood and
inhumanity
f social
divisions. nce Gora's
parentage
s made
clear,
he
words tand
explained:
s when she
encountered
helpless
hildfrom n-
other
eligion
nd
community,
child
whose
touch
hould
be
considered
olluting,
erfelt
ove and her
xperience
f
mater-
nal
feelings
wept way
the
structure f
prohibitions
nd ex-
clusions he had
been reared
on. Once
the
beloved
baby
made
her feel that
ts caste or
castelessnessdoes not
matter,
he
grasped hat heprinciples fpurityndpollutionhemselves
were
untrue.
Sucharita,
imilarly,
leetingly
limpses
he
country
f
Gora's
visionwhen
he istens o him.
She falls n
ove with
Gora nd
withhis
words.But
her
own
clear
ntelligence,
efined
y
the
calm
logical reasoning
her father
as
taught
her,
makes her
question
the fundamental
oints
ofGora's
argument,
gain
and
again.
It
is
only
out of
her
great
ove forGora that
he
forces erself o
accept
the Hindu
discipline
hat
Gora
thrusts
upon
her as her
patriotism.
ut,
eventually,
he realises it
means that he must
kill
her ove forGora
and
accept
non-
consensual
marriage
with man
of the
proper
aste and
line-
age.
It
is,
finally,
er love forher
sister
Lalita
who
marries
Benoy,
defying
eligious
divisions and social
stigma,
hat
makes
her
turn
way
fromGora's
path.
She cannot
abandon
Lalita in
the cause of Hindu
nationalism.
Again,
t
s the ex-
perience
of ove
that
eads on to a
consideration f ocial in-
justice
and
tyranny.
t
triumphs
ver the
mystical
vision
which
wields
a
disciplinary ower.
Sucharita sksGora
why
he
ountry
hould e identifiedith
a
faith.sn't aith
arger
han
he
country,
he asks.
Goraretorts:
ourfaith
s
our
history,
t
s
what
he
country
as
always
had...
this
s true f
ll
countries,
ach of
themives
hrough
faith
hat
expresses
ts ssence.
or
ndia,
hat aith
s Hinduism. hat
lone
can establish
link
between ur
pasts
and
presents,
anmake
our ountrys one.27
"Whatever
xists
here,
we need to embracewithout
ualifica-
tions..
f
we are differentrom he
west,
hat
oes
not
matter..."
He admits hat aste
may
eem
pparently njust
nd rrational.
Manyproblems
o flow rom t.
Yet,
t
s still
part
four
faith
whichhas
produced
o much
that
s
eminently
ational,
u-
mane,
profound.
he whole
must
urpass
he
part
nd
ustify
it.28 aresh
rgues
withhim that ven f here s a
higher
ur-
pose
in
Hindu
aste,
we
cannot ee
it.All
we can see
are walls
of
oathing
orhuman
beings
who are not considered uman.
Gorarebuts:
fwe
see no reasonfor
ome elements ut an still
Economic
Political
weekly
B321
July
25,
2009
vol
xliv no
30
43
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8/11/2019 Rabindranath's "Gora" and the Intractable Problem of Indian Patriotism - Sarkar
9/11
SPECIALARTICLE .f.::^.;y^
.77 "~;7
^^:^^^
see
that
he entire
hing
s, nonetheless,marvellous,
henwe
must
ccept
hewhole nd admit hat
hose
lements, oo,
must
have a
higher
eason
which
we
cannot see because
we have
mortgaged
urown
vision,
we now eewith
oreign
yes
which
are
critical
nd
sceptical.
nce
we takeon the ntire
hing
with
love,
he
meaning
willbemadeclear.
fwe
discard
nd
change
the
part,
we will
destroy
whole,
wonderful
ivilisation,
e
willkill urown elves, ur dentity.shesays,
Reform?hat ill ome
ater. he mmediateeed
sfor holehearted
love,
o adore he
ountry,
o be one
with
her.Once
you
ry
o
reform,
ou ull
her
own,
ou egrade
erwith
riticism,
ou
et
yourself
bove
er.29
So
what
s
past,
what
s
memory
nd
deal,
what s
hidden
nd
opaque
is more real
than
what
is
experienced,
resent
nd
visible.
his
ubstitution
ecomes
realneedas actual
experi-
ence
offers
o
real
resource.
What
he sees
always
etshimdown.
Gora
goes
othe
village
nd
admits
o
himself
hatMuslims ave
stronger
iesofmutual
elf-help
nd
solidarity
ecause
they
re
notdivided
y
aste.He himself reaks
rahmanical abocs nd
drinkswater rom hehandsof low caste as he
is incensed
y
high asteoppression. e comesbackdejected, e cannotnow
find
heBharatbarsha
e
loves
nywhere.
n the
city,
e loves
woman f differentaith nd knowshe hasto
give
her
up.
Far
worse,
e
must
dviseher o
kill
her
adiant
ndividuality
nd
ac-
cept
loveless
marriage
ith
n
incompatible
usband.He loves
his mother ut
he cannot at
what
he cooks.
He
parts
with
his
dearest riend
hen
he
marries
girl
rom nother
eligion
nd
caste.
He has
only
ontempt
or isorthodox
isciples
ho ove o
despise
nd
hate he
non-Hindu,
he ow
caste,
hewoman.
Yet,
he isdestined ohavethem s his
only ompanions.
e'realises
that
ove has
no
place
n his HinduBharatwheredivisions re
more
meaningful
nd
sanctioned.
Sacrifice orHindu ndia
His
dejection
nly trengthens
is conviction.
is
love for he
Bharat
fhis
magination
s
stronger
han ll
other ies.
He
must
ruthlesslyuppress
is
doubts
nd
needs to
reach
ut o her.
He
prepares
o build
cocoon f
high
rahmanical
ractices
round
himself.
t
s
sacrificehatHindu
ndia
deserves.
n
a
sense,
he
stands t the
crossroads ven
before
he
comes
to
discover is
origins.
He has
either
o
rethink rom
he
vantage
point
f his
actual
experience
r he
has to
invest
ll
in an act of faith.His
self-discovery
larifies nd Consolidates hat was
already
t
work n
him,
t
loses ff he ther
ptions.
The
self-discovery
tands or
wo
critical
epartures
rom
is
earlier ommitmentoHindunationalism. irst, ora s, n an
instant,
adebereft f
his
past.
f
he
past,
n
his
ase,
was
iving
out
lie,
hen is ife as
to reinventts
meaning
n
entirely
ew
terms.n his
arlier
aradigm,
owever,
hat
wouldbe
an
impos-
sible
elf-impoverishment.
s
it
possible
o
breakfrom
he
past
and
yet ay
laim
o human
dentity
hat s worth
iving
or? an
we
dispense
with
he
meanings
hat
ur
pasts
had
prepared
or
us?Can
patriotism
evelop
n
dentity
hat
s
not
ntirely
erived
from
he
past?
Second,
is
ovefor
haratbarshaad
been
a
very
eal
experi-
ence for
him,
he mostvivid
and
powerful
dentification
nd
emotion
hat
had
stood
higher
han his
more
mmediate
nd
personal
ommitments.
ven
f
t
had
beenbuilt nfalse
remises,
it
was,
nonetheless,
felt
motion,
true ove.
tremains
o even
after is
elf-discovery.
e knows
ow
hat t s
possible
or man
defineds
an
alien,
foreign
lement,
o
dentify
ith
ndia,
with
her
people.
ince
he knows
ow
hat
atriotism
s not
mortgaged
to
the
ccident
f
birth,
he
ompelling
ower
f
Hindu
national-
ism that hepast, hefaith,hebirth eedtobe locatednthe
soil
of
he
ountry
n
order
o function
s conditions
f
belonging
-
iscancelled ut
by
his
own
ife.
Goranow
chooses
o ove
the
country
nd
people
f
ndia. n
the
ame
measure,
e
develops
new
understanding
bout
reely
chosen
ove s
thebasis for
ll
commitments
nd dentifications:
personal
nd
collective.
fone
can love the
country
nly
n the
freedom
f
self-determination,
hen
freedom
hould
become
value
n
all
spheres
f ife: value
that he
country
erself
must
respect
nd which
t
must
ever
ry
o abolish
r
qualify
ven
n
the name of
patriotism.
e
turns
o Sucharita
nd,
for hefirst
time,
olds
uthishand o
her.
NarrativeDevice
In the
novel,
he
whiteness
fGorafunctions
lso as
thenarra-
tive
device
for
he
ncorporation
f western
raditions
nd re-
sources
which ndians
have chosen
o
dentify
ith nd
have
recreated
s their wn
-
within ndian
history.
n his subse-
quent
writings
ike
Nationalism,
abindranath
ould
warnur-
gently gainst
an
expulsion
of western
values from ndian
lives.Gora
can be both
n
European
nd an Indian.
n
fact,
he
naming
s
significant.
he
wordmeanswhite
nd
signifies
oth
the whiterace as well as
the beloved
Vaisnav aint
of
early
modern
Bengal,
the
great
Chaitanya
who
was also called
Gouranga
r
Gora.
Theaccident f
birth
eleases
him rom heburden
f
his aste
purity
hich ad
oppressed
im nd distanced im rom is wn
people.
He knows:
rom orth o
outh,
rom astto
west,
ll the
temples
f ndia
are closed to me.
can no
onger
ine
with
ny
caste.
n an
nstant,
y
whole
ife
as
disappeared,
am
eft
ith-
out n
identity.30
What
does
he make
of
his
oss,
he
disappearance
f
he
past
which,
n
his earlier
iews,
epresented
rue
dentity,
ndividual
and
collective? e
goes
to
Paresh
with
oy
n his heart
not
be-
cause he is
a
white
man,
butbecause he now
has
become
n In-
dian. t snothis ndian
dentity
hathe
must
oreswear,
t
s his
caste
dentity.
e can
choose
to be
an
Indian,
uthe
could
not
have
chosenhis
caste
which,
ruly,
s
a
function
f
birth,
rigin
and faith. ...I have tried o long nd so hard omergemyselfn
India
but
omething
ould
obstinately
tand
n the
way...
tried
to
reconcile
he obstacles
o
love
withwhat1 ovebut could
never o
it. That s
why
neverdared to ook
at Bharat s
she
is,
feared
o
do
that. built
up
a
perfect
deal
and enclosed
t
within fortress... ow
that
fortress as
disappeared
nd
I
have
escaped
nto he
ap
of
my
eal
country.
no
onger
eed o
gild
nd embellish
hat love
more
han
my
ife nd can
begin
my
eal
work t last
the
welfare f
25
crores
f
mypeople.
At
last
become
what
have
lways
wanted
o
be butnever ould
be
-
an ndian."
44 jui.Y
25,
2009
vol xliv
no
30
DBS
Economic Political
weekly
This content downloaded from 128.232.244.221 on Tue, 29 Jul 2014 11:03:01 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
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8/11/2019 Rabindranath's "Gora" and the Intractable Problem of Indian Patriotism - Sarkar
10/11
^^^^^^SgEdLARTIL
The real and the
actual,
the
experience
and the
desire
are reconciled.
ora s released
from
he
brahman nd
Hindu
identity
nd he is set free
mong
ll Indians.All
the divisions
thatHindu astehad so
inexorably
et
up
vanish
with
he oss of
that
dentity.
What bout aith
nd
country,
ow are
they
o be reconciled?
Gora urns
o
reformist
aresh,
ince
he
no
longer
eed to fear
change rreform: ow ntroduce e tothat odwhobelongs o
all, Hindus,
Muslims
nd
Christians,
hose
temples
re not
closedto
any,
who s
not the
god
of Hindus
but
s the
god
of
all Indians.
If a
particular
aith
no
longer
defines he
country,
hat s
the
country,
hen,
after
ll? Gora
returns
o
his
mother
n
the
vening:
Mother,
ou
re
hatmotherf
mine. searchedor er
verywhere
and ll he
imehe at
t
home,
aiting
orme...
ou
ave o
aste,
o
laws,
o
hatred,
ou
re he
mage
f
ove.
ou
re
my
haratbarsha.
Mother,
ow all
achhmia,
skher o
give
me
glass
fwater.31
As
he
returnso
hismother
nd
Lachhmia,
e returnso nother
definitionf
he
ountry:
t s
the
people
whomhe must
ove,
he
must ove hem s they re nall their qualor,miseryndcon-
tradictions.
he
goddess
isappears
s themother
eturns.
4
This s
a
very
ifferent
atriotic
esolution
hich s
immensely
morehuman
han the
Hindu nationalist
ne.
It
speaks
to us
today
n
manyways.
We
still
hear hrill
rguments
or n iden-
tification
etween
Hindu and
Indian;
for
herishing
ustoms
and
traditions
ndiscriminately,
ecause
they
re "our"
nd be-
cause
the
west
stigmatise
hem;
for
making
he
idea
of the
country
ore eal
than ts
people
and and: for
emanding
he
forced
bandonment
fbeliefs
nd
practices
hat renot Hin-
du-Indian,
e
they ublic
xpressions
f
romance,
ublic
rink-
ingby
women,
rthe
right
ohavea faithwhich snotHindu.
Whatremains
trikingly
hared
cross
a
100
years
s
the
per-
sistent
elief
hat he
country
an be called
freewhen
ts
peo-
ple
untouchables,
easants,
women,
he
poor
live
n
lavery.
Gora
problematises
nd
challenges
these
assumptions
nd
claims
na
way
that
emain,
ven
today,
he
most ffective
e-
buttals.
t,
moreover,
arries
n
implicit rgument
hat s ex-
tremely
roubling
or
mainstream
ationalism
nd
even
for
he
patriotism
f the secular
variety.
f the
country
ecomes
a
country
f
one's own
only
through
n
act
of love chosen
n
freedom,
an
patriotism
hendemand
unconditional
nd eter-
nal
love,
ffiliation
nd identification?
hat
happens
when
a
part f hepeopleno ongerdentify ith hecountrynd want
another
ne
of
their
own? Can
patriotism
orce
belonging,
command
ove?
But,
t
the ame
ime,
he
patriotic
esolution
n Gora
s not s
seamless
nd
nternally
oherent
s
the
Hindu
nationalistnes.
f
pride
n Hindu
history
s not
n
ingredient
f
patriot