Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Nowhere Man is a novel written by Kamala Markandaya that was first published in the year 1972. Kamala Markandaya was an Indian expatriate living in London and all of her literary works are marked with a deep sense of Indianness and nostalgia thus, it is considered a prime example of Diasporic literature. The Nowhere Man is the only novel by Kamala Markandaya that is set in London, Britain. Yet, the story of this novel too is deeply connected with her Diasporic Indian roots. The novel tells the tragic story of the alienation, and exploitation of Srinivas, an Indian man who left India for his business in 1948 and made London his base city. However, he was never accepted as a British and had to face racism, marginalism, and alienation. Another major theme of the novel is the clash of Eastern and Western cultures and sensibilities.
Characters of The Nowhere Man:
Srinivas is an elderly Brahmin living in London at Bunglaw No.5. He came to Britain in 1919 for his business of spices. It is 1968 and throughout his life, he kept suffering alienation, ostracization, and racial hatred. Now it is becoming extreme because Srinivas is suffering from Leprosy. His doctor Mr. Radcliff suggests he shall not visit any public places. Marjorie is Dr. Radcliff’s wife. Vasantha was his wife who died of tuberculosis. He had two sons Laxman and Seshu who both fought for Britain during Second World War but only Laxman returned as Seshu died during the German Blitz. Laxman is also living in London but he has his family and he doesn’t keep much contact with Srinivas. Pat is Laxman’s wife. Mrs. Pickering is an impoverished divorcee who makes friends with Srinivas and they start living together at No.5. Fred Fletcher is the son of Sriniva’s neighbor who recently returned from Australia after the failure of his business. He is unemployed and frustrated. Fred starts blaming immigrants for his own failure and thus becomes a racial bigot. He specifically hates Srinivas, who is his neighbor.
Summary of The Nowhere Man:
Srinivas is a young South Indian Brahmin guy who is a brilliant scholar. However, he faces racial discrimination and imperial oppression during his years at University in India. He actively participates in the non-violent protest marches against the atrocities of the British government and hence faces the consequences of that too. Despite that, he continues to outperform all others in his studies and wins a gold medal. Soon his family arranges his marriage with Vasantha, a beautiful and sensitive young Brahmin girl. Because of his academic excellence, Srinivas gets an offer to go to England to pursue higher education. Srinivas is not interested to go but he sees no future in India and thus, he decides to go to England with his wife in 1919. He settles in London and since he is not only a good scholar but also a brilliant entrepreneur, he succeeds in establishing a successful venture of Indian spices in London. His hard work and acumen pay off and he buys a home, Bungalow No. 5 in a posh area of London. Despite all his success, excellent academic skills, benevolent nature, and deeply ingrained principles in non-violence, he and his wife were made to realize again and again by the host society that they are Indian. They faced the situation of in-betweenness and non-belongingness. However, he continues to bear all the racial slurs and discrimination patiently while believing that England is his chosen nation. Time passes by and his wife gives birth to two sons Laxman and Seshu. Both are born Britishers and they join the British army during the Second World War. However, only Laxman returns from the war front and Seshu loses his life during the German Blitz. Seshu’s death breaks Vasantha and she falls ill with tuberculosis and dies. After cremating her, Srinivas decides to release her ashes in the river Thames. However, he was about to be arrested for throwing her ashes into the Thames. “The river’s not the place for rubbish,” a policeman told him. But Srinivas said that it is not rubbish, but his loving wife. Despite being harsh and racist, the policeman feels a moment of compassion and lets Srinivas go and perform the last rites. After his wife’s death, Srinivas suffers acute loneliness. When his son returns from the war, he settles with his wife Pat somewhere else in London. Laxman doesn’t live his father’s typical Indian attitude and still continues to follow traditional Indian ways of living. His wife Pat does try to bridge the gap between her husband and father-in-law but ultimately, they settle away from Srinivas’s house and Laxman keeps minimal contact with him.
His younger son’s and wife’s death makes Srinivas delineate who doesn’t care much for his business, his health, and his physical condition. Srinivas briefly considers returning to India but finally concludes, “He had no notion of where to go to in India, or what to do when he got there.” He knows that the country has changed. He also thinks to himself, “This is my country now.” He has already spent more than 40 years in London. Both his sons were born in London and he let go of Vasantha’s ashes in the river Thames. In some ways, he has become more English than the English around him.
During such time, he meets Mrs. Pickering who is an impoverished divorcee. Both develop a friendly relationship and then Mrs. Pickering decides to live with him at his home No.5. She starts taking care of him and his neighbors too feel good as now his home and the surrounding area appear better managed. While Mrs. Pickering and Srinivas admire and compliment each other, they do face troubles because of the differences between their cultural roots. While Srinivas is totally non-violent and doesn’t even wish to harm ants and feels bad if he mistakenly steps on mice, Mrs. Pickering is a Western woman who considers such things senseless. She would eat non-vegetarian food and won’t care much. Meanwhile, Srinivas continues to suffer racial slurs and as more immigrants from Asia and South Africa arrive in England, these racial abuses start becoming more intense and violent. While Srinivas continues to bear these discriminations calmly and doesn’t react, Mrs. Pickering believes in action and she wishes him to directly confront such hooligans. Srinivas is rather passive and prefers talking reason. When immigrants are accused of being the root of all the British problems of unemployment, too much population, and poverty, Srinivas, referring to the exploitative history of the empire, concludes that the reverse is true: “That this bland country owed debts it had not paid, rather than scores which it had to settle. That the past had seen his countrymen sinned against, rather than sinning.” During such time, Srinivas falls ill and his doctor Mr. Radcliff diagnoses that he is suffering from leprosy. His doctor tells him to avoid going to public places. Mrs. Pickering continues to nurse him and help him while he offers financial stability.
Meanwhile, Fred Fletcher, who is the son of Sriniva’s neighbor, returns from Australia after the failure of his business venture. He tries to find a job in London but remains unemployed. Fred Fletcher is angry and bitter, but instead of taking responsibility for his failure, he blames it on the arrival of “black hordes” and gets a reputation for being a “black basher”. He spends much of his time getting drunk in the pub, ranting about black and brown-skinned people “getting above themselves” and spewing racist jibes. He is particularly vitriolic against Srinivas and would often do mean things against him. He would throw dead mice at his home’s door or would attack him with tar, and other similar disturbing acts. Mrs. Pickering suggests Srinivas confront Fred and complain against him but Srinivas would rather let it go. Mrs. Pickering, being a native herself, also has some sympathy for Fred who is unemployed and facing intense competition.
While Srinivas is 70 years old, and almost bound to his home because of his leprosy, Fred manages to frame him on a false charge of hooliganism, and a warrant is issued against him. Srinivas is flabbergasted. While he manages to get bail, Mrs. Pickering suggests he return to India. How could Srinivas leave? “He found he had no notion of where to go to in India, or what to do when he got there since so much had been destroyed or given up – self-respect, livelihood, family cohesions – during the struggle for independence.” He doesn’t belong to India now and now when he has been ostracized in England too, he belongs to nowhere, he is the nowhere man.
Fred continues his vitriolic attack on Srinivas. One day, when he was alone at home as Mrs. Pickering went out for some buying, Fred arranges a mob march in the area protesting against the immigrants. Srinivas listens to the racist slurs and slogans ‘hang the blacks’ and ‘blacks go home’ and so on. The situation worsens and turns violent. The mob starts picking homes of immigrants and blazing them. Fred attacks Sriniva’s house and Srinivas gets trapped in the burning home. Dr. Radcliff sees it all and tries his best to help Srinivas and rescue him but fails.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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