“Ghost in the tamarind” is the third novel by Subramanian Shankar, who teaches at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in the English Department and directs the Creative Writing Program. In his website (www.sshankar.net) Mr. Shankar gives a very beautiful description of himself and his work:
I am a
scholar-novelist. I write in different genres because the word is supple and
powerful, sometimes more powerful than the sword.
I
write fiction that is deeply researched, while my scholarship is driven by my
practice as a novelist.
Your novel is not at all a romantic vision of India. Quite the opposite.
There is a great love story, but there is also a tragedy which is part of a
greater one. Was there a particular event or a real story you knew about which
gave origin to the novel?
Yes, some parts of the novel were inspired by real stories and people. The grandmother—Gomati Paati—especially. She is based loosely on my great-grandmother in terms of her background (not the events to do with her grandson Ramu but the story of her own origins). Many of the geographical locations—Ramu and Ponni’s village, for example—too are inspired by real places. I also relied a lot on my knowledge of the history of caste, including the struggle against caste. Many of the incidents in the novel—for example, the maintenance of separate wells for different castes, or the labor strike—are well documented in history. As you say, these don’t add up to a romantic view of India at all.
The novel takes place in Tamil Nadu. India is such a large country and
we often run the risk of generalizing. Which are the peculiarities of Tamil
Nadu making it different from the other parts of India?
It is true—Tamil Nadu is very different from most other parts of India, historically and culturally. Just like its neighboring South Indian state, Kerala. There are so many ways in which South India is different than the North. Language, food, even the kind of Hinduism that is practiced. Politically, Tamil Nadu has often been outside of the great North Indian kingdoms and empires centered around the River Ganga. North India’s external contact is largely with West Asia and Central Asia. South India on the other hand has deeper historical connections with Africa and South-East Asia. I hope the novel does some justice to this complex South Indian reality.
Useless to say I was very much troubled by the discrimination which is
at the core of your novel. You cover quite a length of time, starting in
colonial India and going on to the 70s or 80s- we know it because Indira Gandhi
is mentioned. Is the caste system still present nowadays? I would have thought
that the Raj did something to redress it, just as they banned suttee. Didn’t they?
Caste discrimination is legally banned in
India today—outlawed in the constitution. But of course there is law and there
is actual practice, so in many part of Indian life caste discrimination and
prejudice continue—from physical violence and murder (I am thinking of recent
honor killings and lynchings) to everyday forms of disrespect. This is
unfortunately part of India’s contemporary reality—even as we must admit the
real changes made by people in struggle, something the novel tries to honor.
As for your question about the British Raj, I’m afraid the British were less interested in putting down atrocities than exploiting differences. British rule, which as I show in my novel was racist and colonialist, did shake things up in Indian sociey. But it also made worse many aspects of discrimination within Indian society. Because the British ultimately preferred to side with the elite in Indian society when they had to.
Two words are used for the lowest caste: paraiyar and adi dravida.
I can understand there is a subtle difference in meaning, could you explain it?
And is this the caste which is usually known as that of the ‘untouchable’?
I know—it’s complicated! There are many
so-called “untouchable” castes across India. Paraiyar is the name for a specific “untouchable” caste in South
India. Obviously, “untouchable” is a really problematic term. So, over time
people have tried to come up with alternatives. Adi Dravida is one such term that was proposed in South India. The
preferred term now, widely used across India, is Dalit, a term popularized by the great Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar.
I thought the character of Parthiban Reddy, the owner of the mine, ‘the
bad boss’ exploiting the villagers, stands maybe for the ones who have all the
economical advantages to keep people in a condition of ignorance and
submission, adding more points to their discrimination. And that happens
everywhere. Though it was abolished more than a century ago, is slavery, in its
manifold aspects, still present?
What is portrayed in that part of the novel is not slavery as such, that is, a system in which people can be bought and sold as property, but rather a form of bonded labor, a form of labor where through a combination of economic and social pressure and exclusion workers are kept in extreme forms of unfreedom. This may not be slavery technically but it is certainly a devastating form of exploitation in which caste plays a crucial role. The novel tries to bring this out through the character of Parthiban Reddy.
Ponni’s first fiancé is an actor, Ponni’s uncle is a political activist,
Ramu’s father is an intellectual and his uncle is a landowner totally deaf to
his workers’ needs, Ramu and his friend are devoted to a sort of humanitarian
cause. It is as if you wanted to show the different paths that a personcan
choose. Did you?
This is such a great observation. It was
really important to me not to leave readers with a flat, unidimensional view of
India, especially given the difficult topics my novel deals with.
The theme of justice: the mystery of the
deaths both of Murugappa and of Ramu and his friend is left unsolved. Shall we
read another sort of discrimination behind that?
I love this question too, and because I think you have the answer right in there. Not all mysteries in life are solved, are they? And sometimes not because they can’t be but because nobody cares enough to solve them. Justice, as we know, is rarely equal. Isn’t lack of justice too a form of discrimination?
Yes, let’s do that. Many readers have admired
the character of Gomati Paati, who is not without flaws but who struggles with
her shortcomings. She began as a minor character when I was writng the novel—I
only intended for her to have a brief role at the beginning of the novel—but
then she insistently wrote herself into the novel! I think the contributions
women have made to make the world a safer, kinder, more
just world doesn’t get its proper due. If Gomati Paati can play a small role in
this regard, that’s fine with me.
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