Two Angry Men (Cyrus Mistry)

 Introduction:

“Two Angry Men” like other short stories of Cyrus Mistry portrays the deranged conditions of the voiceless people. In this fiction, the author has brought out the division existing between the rich and poor. In the modern world, money plays a crucial role and man’s life greatly depends on it. There is no place for humanity in any form or sense. Hence the privileged people exploit and suppress the people who are living at the margin. In this story, Ashutosh though a friend to Prashant, yet suppresses him as he is the boss of the Advertisement Company at where Prashant is an employee. Therefore, the derangement of Prashant is the focal-point in this fiction.

Ashutosh - The Hypocrite:

Ashutosh and Prashant are friends from their schooldays. Though they are friends, they are jealous at each other because Ashutosh always exhibits his upper-class mentality.  Being an upper-class man, Ashutosh always treats Prashant as his inferior. But they pretend that they are good to each other. Hence most part of the story is written in form speaking out the mind-voices these men. In a sense, it looks like ‘Aside’ in Shakespearean plays. From the mind-voices of Ashutosh and Prashant, readers can understand the real-nature of them. When the story opens, it is found that Prashant is working on an advertisement about a new product called “Miracle Biscuit”. Prashant often shows the ‘ad’ to his boss, Ashutosh for the approval. After making corrections, Ashutosh finally approves it and asks Prashant to give it to Sumodh who is working in the computer section of the firm.

Ashutosh, in fact, is the “Creative Head of PFB - Perkins, Futehally and Barker”, Mumbai branch. The company ranks number two in India in the field of advertisement after Futehally made partnership with Perkins and Barker which hold offices in Madison Ave. The Managing Director of the company is old and bed-ridden and his son. J.A. Abbas, gives the entire responsibilities of the company in the hands of Ashutosh. Hence Ashutosh is the de-facto owner of the company. In fact, the company has reached the second position due to the meticulous service rendered by Ashutosh. He brilliantly knows to deal matters in the company as well as in personal life without any commotion. He is a hypocrite. He is a bulky fellow and a bachelor even at his forties.

Ashutosh’s father was a wealthy stock-broker and so he sent Ashutosh to Paris to study Fine Arts. For two years he studied paintings under the famous “Franco-Spanish” artist, “Bissot”. On his return his father arranged for an art exhibition but critics found that only a few paintings contain creativity. Unfortunately, Ashutosh’s father died, leaving Ashutosh to clear all the debts which were not known to the family members until his death. So Ashutosh took the responsibility of the family. He sent his younger brother, Avinash to the university for his higher education. Later, when the family property was sold, Ashutosh bought a flat in the heart of the city from the money but repaid it to his mother before her death. But Avinash who is well-settled with his wife and children in Bengaluru has some kind of resentment on Ashutosh and demands an equal share in the flat in which Ashutosh is now living. Their mother stayed with her sister, Madhumita until her death.

 

Ashutosh is too big and also losing his eye-sight slowly. So, he remains a bachelor even in his forties. According to Prashant, Ashutosh is a hypocrite and sadist and so he finds happiness from the pains of others. Even during the schooldays, he pointed out his classmates and friends to the Art Master when he was asked to monitor the class in the absence of the master. As a grown-up person, now he waits for opportunities to hit out the staff members unnecessarily, but he pretends to convey the impression of being thoughtful and well-organised person.  In fact, this psychotic condition has developed in him for the reasons such as he has faced the hardship of life after giving up his passion for paintings, taking the responsibility of the family at a very young age, and not being married even in his forties. When he comes to know about Prashant’s attraction for the receptionist, Pinki, he gets jealous at him. So, he orders Prashant to move to the Bengaluru Branch as its head which was a promise given to Prashant at the time of his appointment, three years ago. The real intention of Ashutosh is that he wants to separate Prashant from Pinki and this gives Ashutosh a strange kind of mental satisfaction.

 

Prashant - An Opportunist:

Prashant is a middle-class man. Like other middle-class people, he grabs the opportunities for his livelihood even though it stakes the life of others. The predicament of the middle-class and lower-class people is brought out by Cyrus Mistry through Prashant in this short fiction. The derangement associated with the life of Prashant is the microcosm and many people in India live in such life-condition. These people often become the victims in the hands of the so-called privileged or upper-class people. Though Prashant and Ashutosh are friends, yet they do not like the progress that take places in the life of each other.  When they were in the last year of their schooling, Prashant got jealousy at Ashutosh when he informed him that his father had decided to sent him to France to study Fine Arts. Prashant though not a good painter, yet had an attraction for it. But he opted to study Journalism. After his education he worked as a reporter, then as a sub-editor and finally as a copywriter in a local newspaper called “Tabloid” , before joining PFB.

It is from Ashutosh’s mind-voice, the readers understand that Prashant has recently been married to Prema. She has been pregnant for seven months. However, Prashant develops a love-relationship with the receptionist, Pinki who is half the age of him. When he expresses his love and attraction for her, Pinki like a matured woman, warns him against his nasty idea. She also adds that she looks at him like her elder brother. She says that his attraction for her is only an “illusion” and it will vanish like a “daydream”. But Prashant does not get convinced. He never tries to correct his views on Pinki.

Ashutosh who comes to know about Prashant and Pinki’s relationship, wants to sabotage it. So, he promotes Prashant as a boss of the Bengaluru branch and sends him there to look after the initial establishment and to recruit employees for the firm. Initially, Prashant hesitates to go to Bengaluru, but Ashutosh advises him to utilize the opportunity of his wife’s absence from the house. She has gone to her mother’s house for delivering the child. He also asks Prashant to buy a flat in Bengaluru from the company’s money in order to shift his family there, after the commencement of work in the office. Prashant who knows the hypocritic nature of  Ashutosh, fears to go to Bengaluru leaving Pinki behind in Mumbai and that itself at the mercy of Ashutosh. But Prashant accepts the offer and so he goes to Bengaluru. Amidst the incessant work, he almost forgets Pinki. But he calls his wife once in two weeks and enquires about her health condition. After the establishment of the all the initial work, he returns to Mumbai because his wife calls and informs him about the birth of the child which falls before the due date.

On his return, Prashant meets Ashutosh in the office and explains him about the work that he has carried out in the Bengaluru branch. Then he enquires about Pinki and for which Ashutosh gives some evasive answers and also informs him that she has resigned the job soon after Prashant’s departure to Bengaluru. From the uninterested answers of Ashutosh, Prashant understands that Ashutosh has caused some nasty-things in the life of Pinki and if he asks about it, Ashutosh will fire him from the job. So, he resents at the hypocritic nature of Ashutosh without raising voice against him.

Pinki – A Victim:

Being a beautiful and young woman, Pinki is exploited by Prashant and Ashutosh. Though married, Prashant develops an attraction for Pinki thinking that she may not resist his advancement towards her. He wants to exploit her sexually using her poor family background. In fact, her father is a drunkard and a sexual-pervert. So Prashant thinks that it is easy for him to mesmerize her pointing out her orphan-like condition. He continues to develop sexual advancement towards, though she tells him that she considers him as her elder brother. Not only Prashant, but Ashutosh who is “vulturous” by nature wants to prey on Pinki, in order take, indirect revenge on Prashant who enjoys the bliss of married life as well as the extra-marital relationship, even though he is not rich like him.  Thus, these two men instead of considering the inner-mind of Pinki want to exploit her sexually. Hence Pinki gives up her job and goes away from both the men who are hypocrites and opportunists. This is the predicament of many educated and employed women in India which Mistry has brought out with strong vehemence in his fiction.

Conclusion:

Thus, Mistry’s “Two Angry Men” focuses on the hypocritic nature of modern men, who are behind money, power and lust. The two childhood friends who are now coworkers at an advertising firm indulge in never-ending display of false camaraderie, and intense and unspoken resentment on each other. True human relationship and humanistic concerns are billion-dollar questions in this modern society. This is explicit from the end of the novel through the action of Prashant. He accepted the fifty thousand rupees given by Ashutosh as a bonus for the work carried out at the Bengaluru office. But in fact, it is an indirect bribe to keep silence about the whereabouts of Pinki. Thus, the story highlights the derangement set in the lives of individuals as well as the society.

 

The Old Mother (Pearl S Buck)

Introduction:

Pearl S. Buck’s short story “The Old Mother” is about the deranged condition of an old mother who needs to stay with her son in her old age. The author in this short fiction juxtaposes the old and young generations and tradition and modern life-style on the same platform to highlight the theme of lack of love and humanity in modern men. The author also portrays the absence of heart-felt love existing among the family members in this fiction.

The Old Mother’s Traditional Life-Style:

The old mother lived with her husband and children at a small house in a village. She and her husband did farming in their own fields. She did not maintain a hygienic environment at her home. She used the chopstick which she used for eating food from her bowl to serve food to the other family members or to put extra food into her bowl from the cook-pot. Her husband and children also did not know the meaning of hygiene or infection, etc. Yet they all lived a happily tilling their fields. They reaped food grains and grew vegetables to the keep the family away from starving. But tragedy struck in the life of the old mother when she lost her two sons for a viral epidemic called cholera. In fact, she did not understand the cause of the death of her sons. Like other villagers, she thought that it was the fate that played in the lives of her children.  The only son who survived was her last son. He showed mettle in his studies. So, she and her husband were ready to sell their farming land for the sake of her son’s education, even though the other villagers warned against doing so. The old mother strongly believed that her son would take care of her and her husband in their old age. However, before moving to her son’s house in the city, she lost her husband who died due to his old age. With the remaining piece of land, she gave a decent burial to her husband. Then, without her husband, she was fated to go to her son’s house in the city. She hesitated to go to her daughter’s house, for she thought that it was a demeaning on her part to live with her daughter and son-in-law, while the son is alive.

The Old Mother’s Mental Trauma:

The old mother moves to her son’s house in the city. In fact, her son who is well educated and well settled, married a woman of his own choice, in love-marriage. The old mother does not know what a love-marriage is. Yet she and her husband did not want to stand as hurdles on the path of their son’s progress in life. Now, the son has two little daughters. But the old mother is not allowed to kiss and play with her grandchildren. The old mother is forced to adapt table manner – she needs to wait until all the food items to be served on her plate. Besides, her daughter-in-law never allows the old mother to use the chopstick which she uses to eat food from her bowl, for taking some more food from the common bowl. Hence, it is necessary for the old mother to wait until the food, though her favourite one to be served to her bowl. Above all, the old mother never gets the satisfaction of fully-eaten. Therefore, she often steels and stores food which is kept for the servants. She keeps the stolen food in her room in a separate box and eats it later even though it becomes stale, sometimes. Her son and daughter-in-law codify many rules that the old mother should adapt. But these are new as well strange to her and so often she develops tension in her mind and that turns out to be a mental trauma of hers.

The Old Mother’s Derangement:

One day, the old mother’s granddaughters are playing in front of her room. In fact, the girls are restricted not to enter in to the old mother’s room. But seeing the granddaughters, grandmotherly-love springs out of the old mother’s heart. So, she takes the little one, keeps it on her lap, cajoles it and kisses it to her heart content. Then she gives a cake to it from the tin-box. Actually, the cake is stale. But the old mother does not understand it and so she wipes out the white-dust deposited on the cake and gives it to the little one to eat. Seeing this, the elder one reports it to its mother. So, the old mother’s daughter-in-law reprimands the old mother for her action. She also makes the child to spit the food given by the old mother. However, the child develops fever. Throughout night, her son and daughter-in-law attend the child and gives medicine as per the doctor’s advice. In the next morning, the baby becomes normal. The son who is angry at the old mother, scolds her for the foolish action. The old mother convinces him saying many irrelevant excuses. This further kindles the son and so he orders one of the servants to keep an eye on the old mother in her room. Thus, the old mother becomes arrested in her own house. Nobody in the house understands the old mother’s love.

Conclusion:

Thus, in this short fiction, Pearl S. Buck brings out the vanity of modern life. The old mother who sacrificed her entire life and property for the welfare of her son received only contempt from him. The life of the old mother is the microcosm. In this modern age, people are after money and fail to value fellow relationship. There is no place for love and humanity in the hearts of modern men. The derangement set in the lives of individuals and the failure of humanity are the crux of the fiction.  

Why I am not a Feminist (Shashi Deshpande)

 About the Author:

Shashi Deshpande is an award winning Indian Novelist. She is the second daughter of famous Kannada dramatist and writer Shriranga. She was born in 1938 Karnataka and educated in Mumbai and Bengaluru. She published her first collection, of short stories in 1978, and her first novel, “The Dark Holds No Terrors”  in 1980. She is a winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, for the novel “ That Long Silence”.  Her novels reveal the man-made patriarchal traditions and uneasiness of the modern Indian woman in being a part of them. Shashi Deshpande uses this point of view of present social reality as at is experienced by women. As she said in one of the interviews, she is not a feminist but has brought out the women’s position in the Indian context.

Feminism: Feminism is an expression of resentment at the unjust treatment meted out to any woman. In literature, it refers to any mode that approaches a text with foremost concern for the nature of female experience. The inequalities against which the feminist have raised their voice of protest-legal, economics and social restriction on the basic rights of woman can be traced throughout history. The term 'feminism' has its origin from the Latin word lemina' meaning 'woman' (through French leminisme'). It refers to the advocacy of women's rights, status and power at par with men on the grounds of 'equality of sexes'. In other words, it relates to the belief that women should have the same social, economic and political rights as men.

Feminism in Indian Context:

The feminist prospects and the feminist movements in the west have had some influence on the women’s movements in developing countries like India. Unlike the western feminist movements, India’s movement was initiated by men and later joined by women. The efforts of this men included abolishing sati, abolishing the disfiguring of widows, banning the marriage of upper caste Hindu widows, the custom of child marriage, promoting women’s education, obtaining legal rights for women to own property and regulating the law to acknowledge women’s status by granting their basis rights.

Shashi Deshpande's Views on Feminism:

As an author of the '70s and 80s', Deshpande mirrors a realistic picture of the contemporary middle-class, educated, urban Indian woman. Her novels portray the miserable plight of the contemporary middle-class, urban Indian woman and also analyze how their lot has not changed much even in the twentieth century. She has made bold attempts at giving a voice to the disappointments and frustrations of women despite her vehement denial of being a feminist. A look at her novels reveals her treatment of major women characters to show how they are related to women's problems.

Shashi Deshpande has exposed the gross gender discrimination and its fall-out in a male dominated society in her first novel “Roots and Shadows”. “The Dark Holds No Terrors”, her second novel, is about the traumatic experience the protagonist Saru undergoes as her husband refuses to play a second-fiddle role. In this novel, Deshpande also discusses the blatant gender discrimination shown by parents towards their daughters and their desire to have a male child.

“That Long Silence”, the third novel, is about Jaya who, despite having played the role of a wife and mother to perfection, finds herself lonely and estranged. Jaya realizes that she has been unjust to herself and her career as a writer. Her fear even discourages her from acknowledging her friendship with another man.

These three novels belong to her early phase and portray a mild form of feminism. “The Binding Vine”, her fourth novel, deals with the personal tragedy of the protagonist Urmi to focus attention on the victims like Kalpana. Urmi narrates the pathetic tale of Mira, her mother-in-law, who is a victim of marital rape.

“Small Remedies” is about Savitribai Indorekar, an ageing Hindustani music, who avoids marriage and a home to pursue her musical genius. She has led the most unconventional of lives, and undergoes great mental trauma due to the opposition by a society that practices double standards — one for men and the other for women.

Unlike the early feminist authors who chose to portray the subjugation of women in ordinary life, Shashi Deshpande moved a step further and made educated women as the subject of her writing and voiced the inner agony of such women who have to depend on their male counterparts for the choices and decisions of their life.

I Am Not a Feminist:

“I am not a feminist, i am a human being and i write about other human beings who happen to be women," Deshpande said on sunday to attend a public meeting on `Gender and Censorship', organised by Asmita - the organizer of Resource Centre for Women. In an interview with the Times of India, Deshpande spoke about her works, issues concerning women and various other subjects. Most of her characters are true to life and deal with problems most women would not want to talk about - rape in marriages, lust and breaking free from traditions and stereotypes. In fact the subject matters spoken by Deshpande’s women were not spoken by women even the educated and privileged women thirty years ago. But today more and more women are talking about such issues freely. It is difficult for women to break away from stereotypes, more so in the lower strata of society. She said, "When women have money, it definitely becomes easier, money makes things work easily”.  The sensitivity towards women, their problems and issues are changing. "It is a slow change, but there has definitely been a change," she said. The change is percolating from the urban society to the rural society. “A woman has to do twice as much to prove herself half as good as a man”, Deshpande said. When asked if books help in changing mindsets, she said, "books do not have an immediate influence and change conditions like lightning which burns things in a flash, but they do work as catalysts.". "The writing on women's issues has changed perceptions, brought issues to the forefront," she has added. Perhaps, her work has helped break the silence on a number of issues, which were once a taboo to talk about.

Conclusion:

Shashi Deshpande’s novel deals with the theme of the quest for a female identity. Deshpande’s feminism is certainly not cynical or nihilistic. She analyses the universal significance of the woman’s problem, thereby transcending the feminist perspective. She believes that feminism is “…. very much an individual working out her problem.” The woman’s increasing involvement rather than detachment in her predicament as expressed in her novels reveals the positive, humanistic side of Deshpande’s feminism. Hence it can be concluded that ‘Deshpande is not a feminist, but a woman who spoke on women’s problems and their importance in family and society.’