Dr. Mangesh Madhukar Gore
Head, Department of English
Sundarrao More ACS College
Poladpur Dist. Raigad 402303
Maharashtra - India
Abstract:
Pipilika Muktidham, a recent novel in
Marathi is published by Granthali and authored by an emerging and talented
literator Mr Balasaheb Labade. Its narrative style,
poeticism,experimentalism,surrealism,inventiveness,psycho-analysis method have
made this novel unique and path breaking literary work in Indian regional
literature. The novel is not centred around any charater. It does not focus any
particular event. It offers new dimension to Marathi literature by not
following the established framework of the Novel form.This novel is very
powerful contemplation of human emancipation presented through satire and
symbolism. In the search of Mukti (empancipation), this thought proviking novel
many times offers disturbing portrayal of our Time.
Key Words- Psychoanalysis, Emancipation, Narrative Style, Time, Silence
(Mauna)
Psychoanalytic literature gives a
deep insight into the human mind and it also attempts to deal with stream of
consciousness. A literary work based on psychoanalysis simultaneously also shed light on the
psychological process of creation. Symbols
and signs play vital roles in psycho - analytical literature. The psychoanalytic method has led many
writers to develop their own form of literary work and the source of this
method has become an integral part of their literary creation. Not only that,
psychoanalytic methods have become useful tools for analyzing the subconscious
mind of society.
If you want to write about human relations, the author has to work
hard to save the true human face from becoming a filmy character. But if there is a novel of the time, the
novelists have to get the truth of time into it. An excellent example of this method can
be observed in the recently published
Marathi novel Pipilika Muktidham by Prof Balasaheb Labade. The prestigious
regional award winning and path breaking novel is published by Granthali
Publication of Mumbai.
The novel is an example of psychoanalytic literary work. It completely
breaks down the popular structure of the story.This novel offers a
metaphorical, symbolic character rather than real life-like character.A new
motif of the novel has emerged that is not easily understandable to common
readers. Readers who are accustomed to reading the story directly will find it
difficult to understand the deeper meaning conveyed through the novel.
In this novel the author has done the
difficult task of saving the true human face by wearing a mask. This novel is
not based on human relations but psychoanalytic commentary on the Time or what
we can also say contemporary period. The author very brilliantly used the
psychoanalytical myth of Ants / pipilika
(sanskrit word for ant). Four ants...Narrator Ant ... Red ants ... Black
ants and tambadi ant. They are living
in the desert in search of emancipation.
Pipilika Muktidham is divided into 23 subtitles. The first one is At the bottom of the living. The journey of the ants started with
this subtitle ended with The maun mukhi
nila dharili which is the last subtitle of the novel.The canvas of this
novel has become wide and multi-colored.
Looking at the formula for writing any art work, through the perspective
of time and human relations, it is easily observed that Pipilika Muktidham has
leaned heavily on commenting on contemporary times. The narrator Ant has
commented in psychoanalytic terms on everything that has happened in the
country in the last two years. Maratha reservation agitation, Elgar Parishad,
Demonetisation, cancellation of 370Article, and the unprecedented outbreak of
the JNU movement. It also highlighted the issues of many current topics like Unemployment,
exploitation of workers in the workplace, jobs on contract basis, instability
in them, capitalism, new technology, a fall in the wages of workers, SEZs,
large land ownership of foreign companies, mall culture and so on. The commentary on these subjects is presented
in the form that will inform you of the psychoanalysis of ants in a meditative
manner, rather than in the usual recitation.
From the perspective of Sigmund Freud, Pipilika Muktadham is a thought of a psychologist, but it crosses
the borders of this physical world and attempts to express the thoughts of the
unconscious and metaphysical world.
The well known examples of novels that
used animal character as Myth in
English, is of course George
Orwell's Animal Farm where he used the
myth of the Pig and the Marathi novel Sattantar
by Venkatesh Madgulkar where the author has used the myth of
monkeys, through which the contradictions of human nature have been subtly and
psychologically presented.
Pipilika
Muktidham used the myth of ants as
it shows the world is full of ants as the novel faithfully portrayed their
behavior with each other. There are some rules in the world of ants. When one
gets food, he/she tells it to another. They fight aggressively and unitedly
when the enemy threatens their lives.
Yet these 'We' the pronominal ants ... do not impose on themselves any
rules. Their rules are flexible. These ants have made themselves resilient to
the necessities of life. They are constantly moving around in the search of Mukti (emancipation), sometimes by
playing cricket and sometimes by going to
Alandi. The narrator ants offer
commentary on the day today's worldly affairs.
The psychoanalytical commentary offers by the narrator ant imposes a rule of consciousness on the
worldly affairs like selling of fruits by fruit-sellers , on the scrap
collector , on the musical band.The narrator ant wants to talk on the fishes
and frogs in the water and wants to express their heartbreaking.
Her heartbreaking also commented
Jain philosophy ,Muslim philosophy,Christian and Buddhist philosophy.The author
has attempted and applied huge sources of information derived from different
local languages like Konkani, Pali, Kharvi, bambaiya Hindi etc. He has also
used different forms of literature like ballad, bharud, folk tales in each subtitle of the novel. So many forms used by the same author in the
same literary work is very rare to be seen elsewhere.
The novel is a byproduct of today's age,
but it also expresses fundamental ideas across the boundaries of the world.
The ants in this novel are working
with their intellect and logic.Sometimes they enter into the unconscious world
and make psychological commentary on the philosophy of life.
Freud's stream of consciousness theory reflected in this novel.The
narrator ant of the novel used the Memory to discover, examine, analyze, some
of the facts that are hidden in his/her mind and memory. However, the reader
cannot be able to trace out the author through the narrator and this is the key
feature of the novel. The narrator's commentary sometimes looks ridiculous and
sometimes bold.
The psychoanalysis of the narrator ant seems to be on a long
intellectual journey, traveling through different channels of Memory. The same
is expressed through the forms and in different languages. It applies a
difficult way of expressing the scientific organs with a mysterious tool of
meditation and contemplation.
In this novel, the narrator ant appears to report his or her supporting
or opposing views about an event, with his/her mind while roaming in both the
conscious and the unconscious. It seems
to be fragile …,it does not stay organized ..., The narrator's suppressed
desires are activated in the unconscious state which resulted in constantly changing layers of narration.
The novel's collective narration, 'We',
starts with anecdotes of the four ants. All four ants begin to speak in unison
and their collective minds are formed and they begin to speak. Sometimes this
narration was in the first person, and other times it becomes the third person,
in all the subtitles of the novel. One
circle of meaning is formed from one event and another circle of meaning formed
through another event. The sense of
change in events/occasion and their meaning
is so natural that it has long been aware that the occasion/event that the narrator ants was saying now has
disappeared and the second meaning of the another event has begun, so that many
meanings from one occasion or another. So readers can have one meaning through
various events/occasions or he/she can have different meanings of the same
occasion/event. The readers may have such kind of experience in western
novels. But perhaps, it is to be the
first novel in Marathi literature in which the author has performed such an
unique experiment.
Narrator Ant's changing linguistic
fusion and form variations enhances readability of the novel by making it
interesting. This linguistic fusion goes very close to Freud's theory of
psychoanalysis. The author has created a separate language by violating the
linguistic norms. In spite of breaking
off linguistic and literary forms the novel becomes successful to sustain the
reader's grip on the narration.
The last part is part of narrator
ant's search for the peace of mind which ends in Buddhism. The narrator
understood the meaning of Buddha's widespread silence. And then when she comes back home, Ranimungi is dead. "Don't go
again," she tells to Nivedakamungi
(narrator ant).He agrees. And this is
where the novel ends.
Readers may have noticed that this novel does not fit into the framework
of traditional novels.In the coming days, this psychoanalytical novel is going
to be a milestone and will set the new
standard not only in Marathi literature but also in Indian literature written
in various regional languages.
Works Cited
Pipilika
Muktidham (Marathi
Novel), Balasaheb Labade, Granthali, Mumbai, December 2019