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190, STORIES FROM THE EAST AND THE WEST, , (General Study) LESSON ~ 11, , qi 4.11 POSSESSION, , — Rumer Godden, , er OE Oe, , 4.11.1 INTRODUCTION, , “Possession” writtern by Rumer Godden is a very moving * life. that, couple, Dhandu and Phalani. The story reveals two different outlooks aie =, the father who is seriously concerned with his hereditary land, and that ot the, mother for whom her son is everything in life. a ve, 4.11.2 OBJECTIVES a, , The story helps readers understand how the life of parents centre ardund this, children, and how much they suffer in the absence of their children. Dhandu, the, peasant is deeply concerned with his hereditary land, whereas, phalani greives over, the loss of her son, which is typical of motherhood., , 4.11.3 CONTENTS, , Dhandu an old peasant, who owned a piece of land in a village, was proud of, his possession. He derived immense joy and pleasure whenever he looked at his, rice-field. He hoped that his son Narayan would feel happy to be a peasant and, continue to cultivate the hereditary land after him. But Narayan was not interested, in agriculture; he would rather be a ferryman or postman., , ry Of,a village, , Narayan's mother Phalani showered her affection on her son, gave him good, , dress and ornaments and was very much delighted to see her handsome and well, grown son., , Contrary to Dhandu's expectations, Narayan had chosen the military, profession and joined the armed forces of his country. When the way broke out,, Narayan went to the battlefield to fight for his country. No one in the village knew, anything about war. Narayan and other youngmen, wha had been recruited, were, gone and the womenfolk of the village pestered everyone with the question when, they would come back. The school master and the post office clerk who were in the, habit of reading newspapers could not answer the question., , When Dhandu heard the news of the death of his son, he was dreadfully, shaken. It was the school master who broke the sad news to him. He struggled like, a wild cat, screaming invective at the school master and others. Though upset by, the news Dhandu was not crushed by it. But Phalani's lot was different. The loss of, her son left her demented. She did her work in the hut, but it was a husk of, Phalani, a body without light and without a smile. The blast of misfortune changed, the course of her life. To alleviate her suffering the village mid-wife Sukhadevi, placed a little clay doll in a tiny string bed and put it down in the corner of, Phalani's hut, telling her that Lord Krishna had come into her house and she must, look after him well. She developed the illusion that the image of Krishna was her, , Scanned by TapScanner

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f, , , , evince any, Dhandu, , pledged as Surety for the |], , Bijay Ram persuaded Dh, the well and mending the, , bought a hen and a pa, , and Dhandu, interest for, , interest. Bijay Ram informed, and after a few years,, , bewild i, ered and stricken by the dreadful thought of losing his valuable land., , Meanwhile hi ife’ ;, e his wife's strange behaviour had gone from bad to worse. He began to, assail her with abusive language., , 1. Dhandu’s attachment to his hereditary land., , 2. | Dhandu’s hopes on his son, Narayan that he will continue the farming after, his father., , 3. Narayan, contrary to his father’s expectations joins the army and loses his, life in the war., , 4. Dhandu is made to fall into a trap by the money-lending Bijay Ram., , 5. Narayan’s pension comes handy to Dhandu., , 6. Phalani becomes mentally retarded and lives in her own world., , 4.11.5 INTEXT QUESTIONS, , 1. What were the hopes of Dhandu regarding Narayan?, , 2. Did Narayan take up farmng for his livelihood?, , 3. How did Dhandu and his wife come to enw about ae death of Narayan?, , 4. Why and how did Bijay Ram trap Dhandu into borrowing money?, , One day a military officer and an English woman visited the village and, explained to Dhandu about his son's pension and gratuity. Dhandu felt happy, AE, he was able to repay the loan and save the land from Bijay Ram's grasp, using his son's accumulated pension. Phalani's position was different. Was she, happy? Was she mad? She was living in a world of illusion. Her abnormal, behaviour confirmed the fact that she was mentally deranged. She developed an, illusion that the image of Krishna was her own Narayan. The illusion of reality gave, her happiness., , 4.11.4 REVISION POINTS, , am requested, interest in the, , ‘by Siving him a, , Dhandu to lease him his rice-field, but Dhandu didn't, , deal. Bijay Ram cleverly exploited the poverty-stricken, loan of two hundred rupees and Dhandu's land was, oan. The poor Dhandu fell into the trap of the landlord., andu to spend the money on repairing the hut, cleaning, fence. He coaxed him into buying warm shawls. Dhandu, Wines te =e lamp and the money he borrowed from Bijay Ram, iaGe oer oe Pp was harvested, there was only a little left to be sold, ihe Nixes a enough money to repay the loan. He was forced to pay, . next year Dhandu was not in a position to pay even the, , him that interest would accumulate year after year,, it would exceed the cost of his land. Dhandu seemed, , , , Scanned by TapScanner

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192, pijay Ram?, , ©. How did Dh k his debt to, andu pay bac death?, , 6. How did Phalani suffer after Narayan’s, 4.11.6 SUMMARY small rice-field in the;, , had a, Dhandu and Phalani, an elderly village couple farming, but Narayan jOineg, Village. Dhandu expected his son, Narayan to take aaa the war front. The.news of, the army. When a war broke out, Narayan lost - ° Yoon a wealthy money -lende;, his death left the elderly couple shattered. Byay :, , du into borrowing »money by, wanted to buy Dhandu’s lands. He trapped afticfent to pay back-the debts, , pledging his lands. The yield from the lands were insu! Ram. Luckily, the time;, and Dhandu was in danger of losinghis lands to mond ersion in the army eon, arrival of the military officer and the news of ae —_ his debts and sla, * able , an, handu from bankruptcy. Though Dhandu was the mental shock of her son’,, , his lands, phalani was never abnle to recover from ; Mg, ' image, death. She continued to live in an illusory world, assuming the 8e of Lord, , Krishna to be her son, Narayan., , 4.11.7 TERMINAL EXERCISES, , . Sketch the character of Phalani. th, _ Write a brief note on Dhandu’s attitude toward his son and the attachment, , to his field., 4.11.8 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS, ® None, 4.11.9 ASSIGNMENTS, 1. Sketch the character of Phalani., 2. Write a brief note on Dhandu’s attitude toward his son and the attachment, to his field., 4.11.10 SUGGESTED READING / REFERENCE BOOKS, 1. Read ‘Stories from the East and West’ ed. By Dr. R. Ganapathy, Emerald, Publishers, madras., 4.11.11 LEARNING ACTIVITIES, 1. Discuss in a group on how parents have their own expectations of their own, expectations of their children, and how life saddens when they go unfulfilled., List down the points and learn what parental responsibility is all about., , 4.11.12 KEYWORDS, , La Peasant - A farmer, , 2. Hereditary - Which is passed on as inheritance by last will, , 3. Recruit - A person enlisted for service in the army, , 4. Alleviate - To make pain less severe, , 5. Demented - Insane or mentally ill, , 6. _ Illusion - Anything that seems to be something that it is not, , 7. Coax - To carefully manipulate into a particular desired state., , Scanned by TapScanner, , A