Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Khushwant Singh was an Indian author, lawyer, politician, journalist, and short story writer. The Mark of Vishnu is a short story written by Khushwant Singh which was published in his short story collection The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories in 1958. The story is a satire against superstitions and tradition while it also explores the inhumanity, lack of values, and a false sense of superiority of the modern people. The story specifically targets the idea of the sanctity of all life forms embedded in Hindu traditions.
Characters of The Mark of Vishnu:
The main character of the story is Gunga Ram, a poor illiterate Brahmin man working as a servant in a household. He is an honest, pious but superstitious man who believed that “all life was sacred, even if it was of a serpent or scorpion or centipede.” Obviously, he always supported Mahatma Gandhi’s call for Ahimsa. He is a man who cannot discriminate even against other animals and species and believes that every living being, human, or otherwise, deserves equal respect and love. The four boys of the household are the other ‘collective character’ of the story. They are all teenagers as they study in the high school. The boys are very proud and they often ridicule Ganga Ram and make fun of him for his lack of education and traditional ways. They believe he is very superstitious and they have nothing to do with the idea of Mahatma Gandhi, or Ahimsa. They have a sense of superiority over Ganga Ram because of his lack of education, and poverty. They believe that irrespective of being elder to them, Gunga Ram doesn’t deserve any respect because he is just a servant. Their behavior suggests that even the other elders of the house do not treat Ganga Ram well. The narrator is one of the boys. The other important character is a snake, King Cobra whom Gunga Ram calls Kala Nag that lives in a hole near the sidewall of the house. The snake is poisonous but it has never harmed anyone ever. Gunga Ram is aware of the snake and so are the boys. None of them are frightened by the snake. Gunga Ram respects the snake as a life form representing the trinity of gods Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh. The boys are playful, ill-mannered, and often cruel to Gunga Ram.
Summary of The Mark of Vishnu:
The story begins with an argument between Gunga Ram and the four boys. The narrator is one of the four boys who see Gunga Ram putting some milk in a saucer and placing it near the hole in the side wall where a big black king cobra is hiding. When the boys counter Gunga Ram and ask him why he is doing so, Gunga Ram answers that he daily offers milk to the Kala Nag, "Every night I leave it outside the hole near the wall and it’s gone by the morning," he says. The narrator abuses Gunga Ram and calls him stupid. The boys argue that it must be the cat that drinks the milk because a snake does not drink milk and even if it does, it cannot drink that much milk. Gunga Ram opposes them and says that no cat goes near the hole. The narrator tells him that they have observed many dead snakes in their school laboratory kept in the methylated spirit. He then tells him about the incident when their teacher bought an exotic snake that could run both ways and kept it in an empty jar and as the snake tried to escape, it got killed. Gunga Ram turns his eyes shut as he disliked the idea of murdering snakes just to keep them in jars for exhibition. Gunga Ram believed in the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, the creator, preserver, and destroyer. He believed that all life forms are equally respectful and represent god. He was most devoted to Vishnu. He would often oppose the boys when they would kill little insects, wasps, centipedes, scorpions, or others for their fun. For Gunga Ram, all life was sacred, even if it was of a serpent or scorpion, or centipede.
The boys considered Gunga Ram as an illiterate, foolish, superstitious Brahmin. The narrator declares that they (the boys) will kill his Kala Nag as soon as they see him. Gunga Ram says that he won’t let them kill the snake. He tries to dissuade them by saying that the snake has laid 100 eggs and that if they kill the snake, the baby snakes will take revenge on them. However, the boys point out that the snake is a male and cannot lay eggs. They ridicule Gunga Ram and say that Gunga Ram himself might have laid those eggs.
The boys say that instead of killing the snake, they will catch it alive and send it to Bombay where it will be milked to create anti-venom. Gunga Ram retorts that he has never seen a snake with udders and a snake cannot be milked.
The boys had no idea of Hindu beliefs, nor had they ever heard of Mahatma Gandhi and his idea of Ahimsa. For them, killing insects, birds, and snakes is just a fun game. Gunga Ram had his own ideas. He believed that snakes are the most vile species of nature, and if one can love and respect them, they prove the point of the sanctity of all life forms.
After some days, it started raining with the arrival of Monsoon. All the holes and pits got filled with rainwater. The snake was forced to get out and search for another safer place. However, the boys noticed the snake moving out on the slippery muddy ground. They took bamboo sticks and attacked the snake, breaking its back. But they didn’t kill the snake. The back of the snake was brutally broken but its hood was undamaged as the boys didn’t wish to ruin it. They planned to take the snake to their school for an exhibition. They stored the injured snake in a tin of biscuit and tied it with a strong string and kept it under the bed.
Gunga Ram had no knowledge of their activity. When the boys saw him, they asked him if he will keep the milk for the snake again? Gunga Ram answered that he will, to which the boys objected that the snake won’t need any milk anyways. Gunga Ram got suspicious and asked why? The boys didn’t reveal that they have injured and captured the snake, but they said that it is raining and there are many frogs on the ground. The boys said that the snake must have eaten some frog. They further ridiculed Gunga Ram and said that your milk is tasteless as you never add any sugar to it.
The next morning, Gunga Ram noticed that the milk was still in the saucer as the snake didn’t drink. He got suspicious. The narrator said that he already knew that the snake likes frogs more than Gunga Ram’s milk. However, Gunga Ram’s suspicion was growing over the boys. He kept a close eye on the boys. As the boys got ready for school, they took the tin of biscuits in them and before they could get to the school, the narrator informed Gunga Ram that his Kala Nag is safe in the tin and they are taking it to their school where they will keep it in the methylated spirit for exhibition.
Gunga Ram was shocked. He couldn’t believe that the boys got the snake despite him trying everything to protect it.
The four brothers reach their school and announce their catch. They present the tin with the snake to their science teacher. The boys are celebrated as a set of four brothers known for their toughness who just caught a big ferocious King Cobra. The teacher kept the tin on his table and pretended to be indifferent. He gave some problems for the students to solve and started preparing for the unboxing of the Kala Nag. He took a set of forceps from a methylated jar in which a dead Krait was kept and then he carefully started untying the tin of biscuit.
As soon as the teacher untied the string, the snake loomed out of the tin with its ferocious eyes. The hood of Kala Nag was taught and undamaged and though the snake felt difficulty in moving, it ferociously hissed and targeted the teacher’s face. The teacher moved backward to save himself and toppled on his own chair and fell to the ground. The king cobra raised his hood and hissed again. The teacher was petrified and so were all the students who stood on their desks and started shouting hysterically. Kala Nag might have slipped away its back was not that damaged but it was not able to move much. Somehow, the King cobra got off the table and dragged painfully towards the door. Meanwhile, Gunga Ram reached the school and he was standing right at the door of the class of the four brothers when he saw the Kala Nag on the teacher’s table. He came there to somehow save the Kala Nag and he had the same saucer and a jar of milk in his hand. He poured the milk into the saucer up to its brim and then he placed the saucer in front of the king cobra. With hands folded in prayer, he bowed his head to the ground craving forgiveness. In desperate fury, the cobra hissed and spat and bit Gunga Ram all over the head—then with great effort dragged himself into a gutter and wriggled out of view. Gunga Ram was badly bitten. The snake was highly venomous and Gunga Ram got blinded instantly. In pain, he covered his eyes with his hands and groaned in agony. Within a few minutes, he turned pale. A blue froth started coming out of his mouth and soon he collapsed. On his forehead were little drops of blood. When the teacher wiped Gunga Ram’s forehead, he saw the V mark on which the snake had dug his fangs.
The story may appear as a satire on superstitions, as a story of a foolish superstitious Brahmin who lost his life because of his blind faith in the sanctity of all life forms. The story suggests that no matter how much you respect nature, the wrath of nature will harm you indifferently. However, the story also points out at the inhumanity of the modern belief system and the lost human values n modern times.
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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