BOOK REVIEW: RANI: A LEGEND NO MORE?

RANI
Author: Jaishree Misra
Penguin:2007 ISBN : 9780143102106
RANI: A LEGEND NO MORE?

With grit and dint did the old sword gleam
Freedom from the aliens was the passionate dream;
This tale we heard from many a Bundel bard
Manfully did she battle; the Queen of Jhansi fought hard

The Rani of Jhansi of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s poem is a brave queen, burning with a desire to fight the British , leaving a blazing glory behind, riding tragically into the saffron sunset. This mental image inspires a deep feeling of patriotism tinged with sadness. Sword in one hand, and her baby son tied at her back, she symbolizes an attractive amalgam of unparalleled courage and tender nurturance. After a century and a half, she still is the icon of the spirit of independence.
The Rani one meets in Ms. Jaishree Misra’s book, however, not only does not die for her beloved Jhansi, but clad in a purdah at the end of the book, buys sohan halwa. But wait, before that, she tries her best to be on the good side of the British rulers, builds a new Moti Bag residence for herself, donates money to the missionary school run by one Sister Agnes, and goes for long horse back rides with the British political agent Robert Ellis.
Growing up in Varanasi in a Marathi household, with her father Moropant and her aunt Ashrafi Bua, she has Nana Sahib and Tantia Tope for friends. With such prodigies of freedom for juvenile company the recipe seems ripe for patriotic zeal. In spite of being a spirited and vivacious girl Manikarnika Tambe surprisingly shows no interest in the world of political turmoil around her. Except for the old Peshwa Sahib, no one discusses the atrocities of the British rule or the ineptitude and servility of the Indian princes.
After her marriage to the old, feeble and cross dressing Raja Gangadhar Rao Niwalkar of Jhansi, Manikarnika, now Lakshmibai, attends the daily durbar, albeit behind a curtain. She listens to the people’s woes, but feels no compassion for them. She does not create jobs or work for the weavers, does not build schools or solve the problem of water by digging wells or building dams. Instead she helps Robert Ellis to translate Urdu poetry by allowing him the use of the Raja’s’ library.
Ms. Misra has skillfully sketched Ellis’ character. His dreary early life in England, his travel to India, his genuine fondness for Indians, his helplessness against his bigoted superiors, his unspoken love for the Rani and his intrepid nature are all so vividly depicted, that the book almost becomes his love story, with the war of 1857 becoming a mere, faded backdrop.
As there is apparently not enough material available on the Rani in India, the author’s sources were mostly British and most of her research was done in England. At the book launch in Bangalore, Ms. Misra did admit that she did not look for any Marathi sources. She was not aware of the famous Marathi play based on the Rani’s life penned by the Gyanpeeth laureate V.V. Shirwadkar (‘Veez Mhanali Dhartila’). Even the internet mentions the work of V.B.Godse, D.B.Parasnis, Jaiwant Paul and others in Marathi. When one reads about a patriotic figure of the stature of Lakshmibai of Jhansi , one expects the writer to have explored all the leads, certainly not missing the abundant vernacular literature on the heroine.
Misra’s earlier book’ Ancient Promises’, brought out the authentic hues of Kerala, the author’s home territory, woven delicately into the narrative about the travails of the protagonist. Vernacular intrusions enriched the local flavour of that work. Hence the high expectations about ‘Rani’. Here, Lakshmibai and her people have little Marathiness about them in speech, manner or custom. Her maiden name, Manikarnika, is shortened by Mishra to Mani, not Manu, which is the common Marathi form and mentioned as such in many works. We never are told how Manu has an aunt with a Muslim name.
In one of the rare heroic moments of the book, the Rani, in the face of the stirred up rebellion, grants safe passage to the young family of a British captain, Skene, who is to be Ellis’ successor, as also to Sr Agnes and several other British distaff and children. The promise is broken by blood thirsty revolutionaries who gun them down, unmindful of the royal guarantee.
Despite such engaging accounts, I felt disappointed after reading this book. The vivid descriptions of landscapes, of nature or of people does not make up for the lack of fleshing out of a patriotic legend.
So the Rani of my imagination remains an illusion in this fictional biography; worse, she becomes a cardboard cut out, silhouetted against a watery sunset.
(Thanks Mish, for the translation of the Hindi verse!)
~CHANDA BHIDE
chanda_bhide@yahoo.co.uk