Binodini

Today morning, I finished Tagore's novel Binodini. The Bangla original is titled 'Chokher Bali.' 'Chokher Bali' literally means 'sand in the eye, an irritant.' This is the friendly nickname that the two female protagonists, Asha and Binodini, give to each other in the novel.

There are some books upon reading which you feel that even you can write something similar. Then, there are some which awe you totally, which humble you, make you bow your head before the talent and the intelligence of the man who could write like that, make you realize what a long way you have to go. Binodini falls in the later category. I think I will re-read the novel in a few months to fully grasp its complexity.

Many times while reading it, I put the book down, simply to reflect over the awesome characterization. "Have any of my characters ever had such psychological depth?" I asked myself. The answer was a straight 'No.' "Will I ever be able to write such characters?" I made a mental note to do specific practice of characterisation.

The main mover and shaker of the novel is Binodini. Her character is also the most complex.

The novel is set in the first decade of 20th century. Binodini is a young widow. A childhood friend of her mother, Rajlakshmi, comes to her village. Binodini is glad to have somebody to fuss over and takes very good care of Rajlakshmi. The old woman becomes very attached to her. When it is time for her to return to her son's home in Calcutta, Binodini cannot bear to let her go away. So, she takes Binodini also with her.

Thus Binodini comes to Mahendra's house. Mahendra is the only and much pampered son of Rajlakshmi. Asha is his girl-wife, Asha. Mahendra and Asha are newly married and can see nothing beyond each other. Binodini sees their conjugal bliss and feels jealous and lonely.

The first proposal to marry Binodini had actually gone to Mahendra. He had rejected it saying that he was not yet ready for marriage. She had then got married to her husband, and within an year had become a widow. Now, staying in Mahendra's house and seeing how superior she is in every respect to Asha, she starts imagining 'what could have been'. She could have been the mistress of this house.

Asha and she become very good friends. Asha looks upto her. She acknowledges Binodini's superiority to her in intellect, knowledge, household skills and beauty. Simple-minded as she is, she is eager that Mahendra too should meet her best friend, appreciate her virtues and befriend her.

Mahendra is indeed curious about the new woman in the house. But he haughtily decides to ignore her, thinking it beneath him to show interest. But when Binodini ignores him even more, his interest is aroused. Subtly manipulating his innocent wife, he sees her. Her beauty impresses him.

Slowly, Binodini seduces him. It all happens very subtly. Asha does not even realize the mischief.

Bihari is Mahendra's best friend since childhood. He is almost like the second son of the house. Bihari is an idealist. He feels great compassion for the poor and also associates with the Nationalist movement. He holds Binodini in high regard. Binodini too respects him very much. What Bihari thinks of her begins to matter to her. She now wants to live upto the image that Bihari has of her. The image of an intelligent but simple and kind-hearted woman. She begins to turn away from Mahendra. Her attempts at seduction stop.

But it is too late. Mahendra has fallen for her. The more she ignores him now, the more determined he becomes in his pursuit. Slowly, she starts directly rejecting him, and then, even insulting him. Yet, he does not stop. His desire for her only becomes more acute.

Soon, the matters precipitate. Asha discovers what has been going on. She is heartbroken. She had always worshipped Mahendra as her god. Now, the god falls from his pedestal.

When his mother confronts him about Binodini, Mahendra declares that he will leave home with Binodini.

Binodini goes to Bihari's house and confesses her love for him. He however only suggests that she return to her village. She agrees.

Soon after she goes to her village, Mahendra too appears there. The villagers are scandalized. They decree that such an immoral widow cannot be allowed to live there.

Binodini has no choice but to leave. Mahendra is glad that she will henceforth be totally dependent on him and will have no choice but to accept his love. She realizes her lack of options yet does not yield to Mahendra. In fact, she treats him with contempt, and the fact that he clings to her despite such treatment, disgusts her further.

Towards the novel's end, Mahendra's sleeping self-respect wakes up. He decides to return to his home. Upon returning, he finds that he has lost the regard that his mother and wife used to have him for him. His wife forgives him, but from now on, treats him as an equal. She is no longer the reverential bride she used to be.

Bihari proposes marriage to Binodini. But, she refuses. "Marry a widow!" she says. "What a shameful thing to do! You may be generous and reckless enough to court such a disaster, but if I let you do it, if I exposed you to social calumny on my account, I should not be able to lift my head up again."

It is said that later, Tagore regretted this ending. I too did not like it.

If she had said, "People will regard it as a shameful thing. And, I cannot let you suffer social calumny on my account," I would have understood it. She loved Bihari so much that she could bear to stay away from him but could not bear one bad word spoken about him. But what she said was, "Marry a widow! What a shameful thing to do!" This shows that she herself believed that widow remarriage was a shameful thing. And this is what I found incongruous with her characterization. Throughout the novel, Binodini is potrayed as a rebellious woman. According to the society and the religion, widows are not supposed to have any physical needs. She, on the other hand, feels no shame about her hunger for love and consciously lures another woman's husband in order to satisfy it. It seems shocking therefore to see her talk like an ideal widow when she declines Bihari's proposal. If she thought that marrying a widow was shameful, why did she offer herself to Bihari before?

I also found Binodini's words above remarkable on another count. Don't they show how our sense of right and wrong is shaped by societal conditioning? Because we have grown up with the idea that widow remarriage is ok, we raise our eyebrows at Binodini's words. She would have raised hers if we told her that there was nothing shameful about her marriage with Bihari.