Of

and Desire: The Legacy Autonomy of Chalams Writings*

U. VINDHYA

Introduction

Gudipati Venkatachalam, popularly known as Chalam, whose birth centenary was celebrated five years ago, is a Telugu writer whose writings have, over the years, become increasingly relevant to the social changes and movements that have been gathering momentum throughout Andhra Pradesh and, in particular, to the recent upsurge of feminist literature in Telugu. In fact, contemporary conceptions and debates in the cultural and political circles of Andhra on the nature of gender relations, female subjectivity and sexuality, and the democratisation of man-woman relations originate to a significant extent from the space generated by Chalam, who, writing in the period between the 1920s and the 1940s had thematised issues like autonomy, sexuality and reproductive freedom for women. What was in fact distinctive about Chalam was that he had, more than half a century ago, emphasised the necessity of concrete material changes for womens autonomy—economic independence, access to birth control and abortion, protection of women and children outside marriage and so on. Since Chalam is little known outside the Telugu-speaking world, this paper is a modest attempt to highlight his decidedly radical views on womens oppression and subordination, with specific reference to two of his most significant novels, Maidanam and Aruna. Though confined to an educated middle-class readership, Chalams writings nevertheless openly engaged in challenging the condition of women in a feudal and patriarchal society. The centrality which Chalam gave to female subjectivity and sexuality form part of not only debates on morality (as many of his critics made it out to be), but on womens need
* A brief version of this paper
was

published

in the commemorative

anthology

Nurella

Chalam

(Volga 1994).
Psychology,
Andhra

U. Vindhya is at the Department of Andhra Pradesh, India.

University, Vishakhapatnam,

18

oppression, especially within marriage, and for foridentity that is not repressively feminine. By making his women characters exhibit an initiative and aggressive eroticism, Chalam was instrumental in overturning the traditional ideology of femininity with its long history of self-denial, sacrifice and surrender of personal desires and needs. The continuing relevance of Chalam to the present lies in his characterisation of womens oppression, especially within the family, and in his passionate conviction in equality and autonomy as a necessary condition for a humane society.
for freedom from
mation of
an

The sexual radicalism that Chalam advocated was no doubt heretical to middle-class morality. It was also something that the Left could at best be ambivalent about. While supportive of Chalams denouncement of the hypocrisy in middle-class morals and the denial of freedom to women, the Left could not as readily accept Chalams emphasis on a womans right over her body and sexual pleasure. Autonomy for women and the democratisation of man-woman relations sought in the context of personal struggle as depicted by Chalam could only be an individualistic solution and, hence, not acceptable to the Left. Also, perhaps the discomfiture of the Lefts position can be traced to what it perceived as the reification of the private/emotional realm of subjectivity that Chalam was seen to establish through the romantic ambience in his novels. It was this ambience that set the stage for Chalams women characters to explore possibilities for their self-definition, while freeing themselves from the constraints of orthodoxy and convention. Significantly, the current owning up of Chalam by the radical Left coincides with the emergence and visibility of the womens movement and literature in recent years and the pressure to highlight womens oppression specifically, preventing this from being submerged amid all the other unequal relations existing in society. Interestingly, the volume of essays edited by a founder member of the Revolutionary Writers Association (allied to the radical Left) and published to mark the birth centenary of Chalam in 1994 is titled Mana Chalam (Our Chalam). Chalam, who attacked the obduracy of orthodox social conventions and traditions, had little enthusiasm for the glorious past, nor did he display an unqualified faith in the future. He does not appear to have made any effort to interpret the historical process, to build an analytical framework or to support existing paradigms. Rather, Chalam seemed to go by what he termed the common mans rugged common sense. Chalam belonged to a realm of ideas and his was a lonely struggle. He was not interested in depicting the changing realities of life on a vast canvas; his approach was to expose social rot, to question and challenge hide-bound tradition, and, in a word, to destroy. Without being restricted to any theory, without having to support any organisation, without projecting any optimism about the future, Chalam continued his act of destruction in the

19

Telugu literary
sacred

world. His lack of commitment enabled him to ridicule new heights of irony and humour, and to the of life in front of his readers. absurdities mercilessly place and Tragically, perhaps inevitably, Chalam lived and died a lonely man. It is, in fact, essential to know of the social boycott, isolation and poverty that he endured almost throughout his life while producing works of intense passion and irrefutable logic and, at the same time, extreme provocation and irreverent humour. To understand Chalam as writer it is also necessary to understand his struggles as a man.

beliefs,

to discover

Chalam: The Man and His Times

Chalam was born on 19 May 1894 in Madras in an upper middle-class Brahmin family. His earliest childhood memories, according to his autobiography, were those of regular and severe beatings that he received from his father and the silent suffering of his mother. He recalls hiding under his grandmothers bed and resolving that he would never marry, would never have children, and even if he did that he would never abuse them physically. As a child Chalam was weak and sickly, lost forever in daydreams. The Ramayana and Mahabharata exerted a strong influence on him and as a young boy he was a devout Brahmin. He was forced to get married at the age of 16. With reformatory zeal, he insisted on his wifes pursuit of studies and even helped her by carrying her on his bicycle to and from school despite strong objection from the elders in the family who did not take kindly to such unconventional behaviour. As a young man with a keen and inquisitive mind, Chalam came under the influence of reformist ideas and movements that were initiated in Andhra by Kandukuri Veeresilingam.1 Chalam was drawn towards the Brahmo Samaj, perhaps the only organisation in which he took an active interest in his entire life, becoming one of its extremists. His brief involvement in the Samaj came to an end following his disillusionment with the Brahmos, particularly with the. rigidity and hypocrisy of some of the leaders. His affairs and his advocacy of free love no doubt accelerated the process of his expulsion from the organisation. His relatives had by then already ostracised him and he refused to make any claims on his ancestral property. As it became increasingly difficult for him to rent a house in the more respectable localities, he moved into huts in the Harijanwadas (lower-caste localities) of various towns in Andhra where he worked. This was to become a way of life in the years that followed, as the only people who let him live among them were Dalits and Muslims. Chalam gave vent to the turmoil that he had been facing on the question of love, marriage, sexual desire and his disillusionment with Brahmo Samaj in his first novel Sasirekha (1921). Though he worked as a headmaster

20

and later as inspector of schools, he did not think much of these occupations. His strong views against the distortions that our education system nurtures are borne out in his autobiography. The death of his elder son Ravi, who was showing signs of great sensitivity, shattered Chalam and left him a bitter atheist. He continued his quest for truth through his writings and for happiness through his lifelong and fruitless search for the ideal woman. Later in life, Chalams relentless search took him to astrologers and holy men. In December 1936 he met Ramana Maharshi2 at the insistence of one of his close friends and felt strongly drawn towards him. In 1947 his younger son Vasanth left home and was never traced. Chalam left for Ramana Maharshis ashram, Arunachalam, in February 1950 and continued his spiritual pursuits till the end. He died on 4 May 1979. In all, Chalam wrote nine novels, 18 anthologies of short stories numbering 97 and 14 plays. In addition, there were eight other books-four volumes of his letters, a collection of random reflections called Musings, a treatise on women called Stree, a volume on child rearing, Biddala Sikshana, and his autobiography. In retrospect, it is surprising to see how Chalam steadfastly refused to be swept off his feet, first by the social reform movement, then by the national movement and finally by the communist movement, while retaining, at the same time, an active interest in the changes that were taking place around him. These movements were major cross-currents that challenged the endeavours and aspirations of Telugu writers and intellectuals before becoming an integral part of the themes and idioms of the more progressive among them. In this respect, evolution of Telugu literature as a whole is perhaps not very different from that of other Indian languages. Chalams originality lay more in his ability to see beyond the scope of the social movements of his lifetime and in his consistent refusal to embrace any particular dogma 3 It is difficult to locate Chalam in any particular school or genre because his concerns cut across the phases of colonialism and its discourses. To the traditionalist he was too radical; to the reformer he was too impatient; and to the revolutionary too sceptical. The sociocultural context of Chalams world was informed by the interweaving influence of Kandukuri Veeresilingam (the late 19th century social reformer of Andhra, whom Chalam acknowledges as his spiritual father), Chalams regard for Gandhi, his interest in the Soviet experiment, his reverence for Tagores poetry4 and fondness for both the romantic poetry of Krishna Sastry5 and the revolutionary thunder of Sri Sri 6 He acknowledged the influence of Havelock Ellis, Bertrand Russell and Materlink in his memoirs. The cultural history of 19th century India is generally characterised as a conflict between the social reformers agitating for the improvement of (middle-class) womens condition and the traditionalists who were in

21

opposition to such moves. How should a modem woman be? In attempting to answer the question the reformers sought to fashion out an image of women in accordance with the newly emerging middle-class male consciousness. While engaged in responding to the same question the traditionalist, on the other hand, asserted the status quo, and rejecting the Westernised conception, attempted to cast the ideal woman in their own mould. What is striking, however, is that the seemingly contrasting and contradictory images offered by the reformers and the traditionalists appear to be fused to us today. The similarities in their position are illustrated by the insistence of both groups on control of womens sexuality, norms of good wifely behaviour, on womens responsibility in child rearing and in moulding children as good citizens. The significance of Chalams writings on freedom and sexuality in women therefore has to be seen against this background and its ideological premises. The distinctiveness of his position lies in his rejection of both the traditional and reformist conceptions of womanhood. Chalams recognition of the social condition of women (albeit in Hindu Brahmanical society) reveals therefore an unusual male sensitivity to womens oppression.
virulent The late 19th century also witnessed the emergence of novelists with ideas who were faced with the problem of how to depict women in their writings. While adhering to social realism, these novelists could neither portray romantic love in married or unmarried women within the confines of civilised society nor could they depict womens pursuit of freedom and autonomy, challenging the prevailing dominant social values. Romantic love could be woven only around those women who had subverted the social order-like the artful courtesan, married women who had eloped, mistresses and widows. It was easier for novelists to portray romance, autonomy, and various accomplishments and skills in such a category of women who were seen to possess unfettered sexuality, since they were not bound to legal masters and had an existence outside the established social order. Significantly, this trend can be observed in the novels and plays of that period throughout the country

progressive

(Mukherjee 1985).
A search for answers to questions like who a modern, independent is or how she should be, what the various conflicts and alliances that contribute to her identity are, what the process by which she comes to challenge the patriarchal order is takes us in Telugu literature to the women characters created by Chalam. What is remarkable about them is the fact that their novelty and freshness, and the manner in which Chalam anticipated several of the key concerns in current feminist theory and practice stand out even after over 50 years have elapsed since they were written. Some of the crucial issues that Chalam dealt with in his writings as well as in his own life were issues of freedom and autonomy, sexuality and reproductive freedom for women.
woman

22

Chalam began writing in the 1920s, and turned his critical and intense passion upon the condition of the polity, more specifically, the condition of women. What emerges rather strikingly from all the various novels, short stories and essays that he wrote is the adversarial view of culture that he had where individual subjects are irretrievably caught but to which they in no way simply belong. It is to the extent that the individual (the woman in this case) lives out this adversarial relation and fights against the norm that she is a human subject at all. Chalams tales of love and power, however, while celebrating womens spiritedness, initiative and aggressive eroticism and decrying the repressive social conditions, are rife with ambivalence. Chalam seemed to be making an almost heroic effort to reconcile the traditional romantic notion of yearning for eternal love and the unity of the two souls with his belief in freedom. Passionate love, especially for women characters, uproots them from the mundane and generates preparedness for radical options as well as sacrifices. Thus, the thinking, sensitive women seduce not merely by their beauty and virtue but through their minds as well. But can such an enterprise be successful under feudal patriarchy? While the husbands are rogues, indifferent or just weak-willed, the lovers fare no better. Exposed to the duplicity and cowardice displayed by the men in their sexual dealings, the women struggle to live authentically. Their anguish and struggle to define themselves in the context of the tension between autonomy and mutuality, between freedom and control, often end tragically in death, mysterious disappearance or in a self-sabotaging outcome of their love. Yet the women do not appear as victims alone. As Toril Moi (1994) says in a different context, Existentially speaking, under patriarchy, women risk more, fall deeper and rise higher than men. That is why perhaps the men in Chalams fiction pale in comparison to the women, for whom the stakes are higher and there are more victories and more failures than there are for men.

From

Equality to Autonomy:

Aruna

The novel Aruna (1935) essentially deals with not simply thepursuit of equality, but with the more far reaching struggle of autonomy for women in which the criteria set up by patriarchy need no longer be relevant. The novel opens with the whirlwind like re-entry of Aruna into the humdrum, ordinary, hot and humid, middle-class, middle-aged existence of Peter (or Rahu, as Aruna calls him), a school teacher. Aruna is a beautiful, vivacious woman who at one time took part in the national movement. Rahu has long since stopped questioning her sudden appearances and disappearances from his life. This time two ardent admirers of hers, Beast and Amiruddin, follow Arunas arrival. A series of absurd situations then

23

unfold themselves with each of her admirers trying to woo Aruna, all under Rahus roof. The final act of this drama is marked by the entry of Arunas husband and mother-in-law, demanding her return in order to retrieve the familys honour, Arunas revelation of her turmoil to Rahu, and is climaxed by her disappearance. It is not known whether Aruna has committed suicide or has left to forge out a new life elsewhere. At one level the novel is a farce that revolves around a woman sought after by three men. If Arunas joie de vivre, Rahus tenderness and tortuous self-criticism do not stir us so deeply, the novel would probably have left its mark in Telugu literature as a farcical comedy or even an absurd drama. In fact, Chalam in this novel appears to have transcended the technique of classical novelists-of creating a large canvas, etching the characters in fine detail and depth, and tracing the evolutionary process of changing social reality. Instead, Chalam plunges directly into conflicts and issues through his characters dialogues, revealing the dramatist in him. What does Aruna seek from these relationships? Does she want to exercise some form of control over the men she is involved with? Arunas relationships with them crystallise a theme that was a major concern to Chalam: the conflict between freedom and love. The conflict between Arunas imperious need for autonomy and her equally imperious need to give herself to another is revealed through her confiding in Rahu. As she says to Rahu, the will to assert herself is often counterbalanced, and sometimes even contradicted, by the desire to be overwhelmed. The tension between freedom on the one hand and the desire to be bonded to those we love on the other is a principal conflict that defines ones mental life. The conflict results in what Jessica Benjamin (1987), a feminist psychoanalyst, calls the paradox of recognition. She says:

beings require recognition to develop a sense of their own Autonomous selfhood develops, and is later confirmed, chiefly agency. the sense of able to affect others by ones acts. Ultimately such by being confirmation also allows us to develop an appreciation of the others subjectivity, to recognize another person. Such recognition of the other is as much the culmination of true differentiation as is autonomy. Paradoxically, the need for recognition means that we are dependent upon another person to acknowledge our independence. (p. 224)
struggle for recognition involves, however, a dialectical tension. If person completely controls another, the other ceases to exist as a person who can accord recognition. Thus, true autonomy, according to Benjamin, involves not only the awareness of the separation between self and other, but the appreciation of the others independent existence as an equivalent centre.
one

Human

The

24

True differentiation means accepting dependency not as a dangerous regression but as an enjoyable connection. It lies not in the splitting of autonomy and recognition but in accepting the tension of paradoxical

relationships. (p. 226) Only by giving up the aspiration of complete control can both self and other be experienced as vibrantly distinct. And that is what Aruna seemed to have achieved. As Benjamin explains, if one person controls another, the other ceases to exist as a person who can recognise him or her, and the others recognition then is of little value. This has been captured beautifully by Chalam in Aruna who recognises others freedom and autonomy and strives for an independent existence in the process of others recognition of her. In fact, she does realise that without the recognition of these others in her life she cannot define her identity. In a booklet called Man and Woman written in English in 1926, Chalam
says, But what is asked for
women

is not control

over

the home

or

the

world, but control

herself, her ideas, actions and finance (p. 15). in the same booklet, Again, referring to the necessity of freedom for women and the arguments advanced against its advocacy, Chalam says:
over

controls womans freedom so that it may not turn into bad Then who controls the man? Society and conscience. Let society ways. woman too, why this intervention of man? Is man controlled by govern woman from turning his liberty into license? Do men know what is liberty to dictate it to women? He constructed one code for himself and another for woman. His is God-made, and hers man-made.... Any human control over individual rights, is odious and unbearable. It is an obstacle in the way of ones natural development.... And here is every woman having a man for moral guardian preserving her purity like pickles in the name of social hygiene, but really for his own private use. This is the wildest, deepest and the most degrading tyranny that has ever existed. The world has not opened its eyes to it as yet. (p. 15)
man

So

Of

Sexuality

and

Reproductive

Freedom: Maidanam

Another theme which keeps recurring in Chalams writings and which has been of continuing relevance to feminist politics is the issue of female sexuality-of womens control over their bodies and of motherhood. Nowhere have the critiques of Chalam been more highly charged than in the attacks launched on his exploration of the theme of sexuality. Throughout his life Chalam was condemned and ostracised for what people considered to be his advocacy of promiscuity and licentiousness. One can unhesitatingly say that Chalam was a forerunner in Telugu literature

25

who unravelled the dynamics of female sexuality and desire, and recognised womens right to sexual pleasure. While saying so, one must keep in mind the backdrop to Chalams writing provided by two different trends in Telugu literature. While the romantic tales sponsored by feudal patronage had elaborate, explicit and amorous descriptions of womens bodies, late 19th century and early 20th century literature as well as social reformers sought to formulate a code of sexual and conjugal morality that mapped womens lives within bounds. Although the latters representations and reforms were addressed to the oppressive practices that structured the Hindu womans femininity, casting women in the mould of conventional femininity particularly with respect to sexuality was what they were actually attempting to do. Chalam condemned and attacked both these trends, one celebrating the erotica as it were and the other routinely ignoring womens sexuality and their experience of pleasure and joy. It was especially loathsome for Chalam to accept the culturally cherished notion of the sexually settled, nurturing woman who is so anchored in the socially approved framework of marriage that her sexuality is not a subject for discussion. Neither was Chalam willing to accept the 19th century romanticist notion of pure love untrammelled by physical (and hence baser) desire. Through his women characters Chalam sought to render female sexuality as a normal and natural phenomenon, and attempted to exercise the complex fears and stigmas that the theme had so far invoked. Maidanam (The Plain) (1927) is the story of Rajeswari, a middle-class Brahmin woman married to a well-to-do lawyer. Her loveless life changes dramatically with the entry of the dashing, passionate Muslim, Amir. Rajeswari escapes from the security and confinement of her home with Amir to the solitude of a cottage beside a stream, a hill and the vast openness of a maidanam, far away from the confines of civilised society. Life for them now is an idyllic existence with full play of their bodily desire and communion with nature. Their tempestuous relationship takes a turn with Amirs infatuation for another woman of the neighbouring village. Mira, a young Muslim boy, is the messenger between Amir and his new love. Rajeswari is initially in turmoil but later takes it upon herself to unite the lovers. The story hurls through a series of conflicting emotions with Rajeswaris discovery that she is pregnant, Amirs insistence that she get an abortion, her initial refusal to do so, Amirs brief departure, and Rajeswari being gradually drawn towards Mira. Eventually she decides and gets the foetus aborted with the help of Mira. Amir returns and he is shocked at the intimate relationship between Rajeswari and Mira. He reacts with horror at the suggestion of Rajeswari that all three of them live together. The is climaxed Amir himself death to after story by stabbing having made an on Miras life. In the mistaken belief that attempt Rajeswari has killed
I

26

to the police. The end of the story takes another swift turn with Rajeswari going to the police claiming that she has killed Amir in order to protect Mira as she realises that the police will not accept the story of suicide. When this novel was being serialised in a Telugu magazine, its publication was stopped midway after a section of the readers protested against the brazenness of the story. It is in Maidanam that Chalam sought to bring on to the centrestage several key themes that were of major concern to him. Not only was the novel a scathing onslaught and indictment on the rigidities of caste, religion and the institution of marriage, but it was here that Chalam attempted to explore the possibility of non-exclusive manwoman relationships and the question of freedom, womens right to sexual pleasure and reproductive freedom. Implicit in Chalams rejection of marriage was also his rejection of what he perceived as a (Brahmanical) system of values that warped female selfhood. Rajeswaris acceptance of Amir being drawn to another woman and her own love for Mira continue to be unpalatable issues even today. Though initially in turmoil, Rajeswari later decides to bring both of them together because of her realisation that the pleasure and happiness she had given Amir so far had been her own happiness as well, and now, by transforming her agony into his happiness, she feels that she can derive her own. During Chalams lifetime itself, this action of Rajeswaris was. the subject of severe criticism since it was felt that there was a parallel between the sacrificial extremes that pativratas went through for their husbands and what Rajeswari had done for her lover. It is significant that while Amir is not troubled by the fall-out of his infatuation with the other woman on Rajeswari, he is disturbed by Rajeswaris relationship with Mira and stakes his claim over her when she speaks of the possibility of a triangular coexistence. In contemporary discussions and debates in Telugu literary criticism, this suggestion of Rajeswari continues to generate controversy with a judgement passed on the impossibility of a woman experiencing simultaneous relationships. By presenting sexuality as an arena of oppressive inequalities and of a strategy towards womens liberation from the weight of tradition, Chalam has perhaps anticipated several crucial feminist concerns of today. In addition, he has shaken our understanding of the sexual by showing that sexuality, gender and reproduction need not be fused; on the contrary, they can be separated into distinct systems of power. Second, in order to talk about sex, he finds that we must overcome both internal and external resistance, for we live in a culture that is, in general, inhospitable to critical analysis of sex and one in which female sexuality, in particular, has been simultaneously manipulated by taboo, glorification and degradation. To speak at all and then to speak in opposition to those manipulative traditions is to invite strong reactions.

Amir, Mira surrenders himself

27

Nevertheless, Chalam did venture bravely into this difficult terrain. While he sought to expose the double standards of sexual moralitythrough Amirs affair with another woman, lack of self-conflict about the situation and his subsequently being disturbed over Rajeswaris relationship with Mira-at the same time Chalam attempted to go beyond a critique of patriarchal sexuality. His effort was to raise basic questions about the status of sexuality and power and control in man-woman relations. In spite of her initial distress over the idea of Amirs second relationship, Rajeswari chooses to relinquish her control over Amir-a control she had established in the course of their relationship and which was not derived through social sanction. She does not want to determine or lay down as to what Amirs involvement should be in relationships outside their own. Rajeswari realises, through her experience, that it is only through such relinquishing of control over Amirs way of life that a stronger bond can be established between her and Amir. Similarly, she envisions the possibility of a relationship with both Amir and Mira without
the hierarchies of power and ownership. Chalams condemnation of the prevailing sexual repression and his exploration of the theme of sexual liberation for women did not mean he was demanding legitimisation of the expression of womens raw impulses and needs against the demands of society. Neither did his advocacy of sexual liberation for women mean he was proposing it as a social critique as if it were a precondition for a reordering of the social order. Chalams concern was focused more on how to liberate sexuality from power contaminants so that submission is not automatically linked with female sexuality. Perceiving sexual relations as but one aspect of the power relations between men and women, Chalam was a pioneer in the Telugu literary and social world to question the traditional definitions of womens sexuality, of womens nature, of sexual satisfaction and health on the grounds that such definitions as propounded by men tended to justify their sexual exploitation of women. Chalams women characters, like Aruna and Rajeswari, through their rebellion against orthodoxy and tradition, appear sexually liberated. However, the point to be underscored here is that their autonomy has led to sexual freedom and not vice versa. Sexual liberation is of little value unless it includes the freedom to reject or enter into sexual relationships fearing neither exploitation nor punishment. It was this freedom (and the attendant anguish) in women like Aruna and Rajeswari that Chalam sought to emphasise to make his point about sexual liberation. He was not interested in proposing new prescriptions for sexuality per se or as a part of a general restructuring of society. By recognising that certain conventions-the double standard cult of virginity and the requirement that female sexuality find expression solely within monogamous marriages-control and inhibit female sexuality as well as support male

28

duplicity. Also, by showing reproductive psychological intimidation through ridicule, rejection and isolation are punishments for sexually active women, Chalam pointed out the price such women have to pay. In his collection of essays Stree and in his volume on child rearing, Biddala Sikshana, Chalam also focused on how patriarchy fuses gender and sexuality, and how concrete material changes will enable women and men to experience sexuality less attached to and formed by gender. These changes include economic equality, access to birth control and abortion for women, protection of mothers and children outside of marriage and so on. In fact, if we take into consideration the zeitgeist prevailing in Chalams time and to a large extent even today in middle-class Andhra society regarding sexual and conjugal morality, and the powerful accusations of sexual deviance against Chalam echoing till today, it is almost as if Chalam was trying to say that if we concede ground the margin of what we consider acceptable and proper would shrink further. Another basic question raised by Chalam in Maidanam concerns womens reproductive rights. At a time when motherhood was seen to be instinctively natural and its sanctity, such as it was, scarcely an issue to be
dominance, Chalam attempted
that denial of
freedom and

to expose male

discussed

or

debated, Chalams attempts to do so were, in a word, extra-

ordinary. Again, when one looks at the issues current feminist thought and practice are trying to grapple with, one finds that motherhood has been one area that has posed a problem for feminism. On the one hand, motherhood is seen as an assertion of womens strength and value and, on the other, is the awareness (paradoxically) that many of womens most distinctive experiences and perceptions are products of subordination. In Stree Chalam sought to expose .and condemn the ideological trappings which glorify motherhood while womens position within the family remains subordinate. He wrote about how the societal construction of motherhood is a burden on women and described how young girls who have scarce knowledge of their reproductive function are thrown into marriage and motherhood and the impact this has on their health. Chalam strongly advocated that only those women who are physically and mentally prepared and willing should have children, and motherhood should not be imposed. In fact, Chalam went so far as to say, Women must agitate until the state and society ensure that pregnancy does not disrupt womens self-respect, health or economic independence
(Stree 1930 [authors translation]).
Two essential ideas underlie the contemporary feminist view of reproductive freedom. The first is derived from the biological connection between womens bodies, sexuality and reproduction. It is an extension of the general principle of bodily self-determination to the standpoint that women must be able to exercise control over their bodies and the

29

and sexual uses to which their bodies are put. The second view is a historical and moral argument based on the social position of women. It states that in so far as women, under the existing division of labour between the sexes, are the ones primarily responsible for the care and rearing of children, it is women who must decide about contraception, abortion and child bearing (Petchesky 1980). However, the idea of womens right to choose as the main principle of reproductive freedom is not without problems. For one thing, this principle evades moral questions about when, under what conditions and for what purposes reproductive decisions-for example, abortion-should be made. Determining who should decide-the political question-does not make it clear to us the moral and social values women ought to bring to this decision or, in other words, how they should decide. Coming back to Rajeswari in Maidanam, it is striking how Chalam brought to bear this problem in his

reproductive

discussion of Rajeswaris conflict about abortion, her initial reluctance and her subsequent assent. At a time when public knowledge and discussion (and state involvement) on womens need to have access to measures like birth control and abortion was very limited, Chalam was a pioneering figure in Telugu society to draw attention to these issues. He regarded reproductive health and the need for women to know and claim control over their bodies (which are integral to the present-day womens health movement) as necessary and even essential for womens equality and freedom. The characters created by Chalam, especially the women, are extraordinary beings. Women like Rajeswari, Aruna or Sasirekha are middleclass Brahmin women who dare to come out of the confines of the family and their stories reveal the exalted heights which they could reach. When such extraordinary characters enter ordinary lives, the resultant confusion, crisis and absurdities plunge the reader into a self-reflective questioning of basic values and assumptions. Unlike the novelists of this period in Telugu and other Indian languages who had to make use of women outside the social order to explore man-woman relations and womens autonomy, Chalam chose to do away with such a ploy. As a result, his women characters cause a greater shock to the traditionalist upholders of middle-class virtues, while, at the same time, they generate a sense of identification among the sympathetic and sensitive readers in the same class. This perhaps is at the root of all the controversies that his writings generated and continue to do so even today. These controversies, one hopes, are tackled today on a higher plane of abstraction and with a deeper understanding of both patriarchal society and the human aspiration for freedom than that which raged during Chalams lifetime and isolated him, in the process forcing him finally to his spiritual retreat.

30

Conclusion
Chalams unique place in Telugu literature lies not as much in being the lone voice that risked a cry decades before its time, but in the fact that he successfully initiated an ongoing debate in which the womans point of view could no longer be ignored. Further, he created a space for the present generation of (women) writers who operate from, and are in the process of constantly enlarging, this very space. Chalams birth centenary was celebrated throughout the year 1994-95. Apart from the official tokenistic celebration, the event was commemorated even by the Left and, more significantly, by a loosely constituted group of women who came together as the Nurella Chalam (One Hundred Years of Chalam) Committee, which brought out a volume of essays on the enduring legacy of Chalam for feminist politics and organised public meetings in nearly 20 cities and smaller towns in Andhra throughout the year. This was followed by an innovative scripting of a play called Vally Aruguru (Those Six), wherein six women characters in different novels of Chalam assemble together and articulate the oppression they experienced in their lives and times, and, more importantly, see the difference between the lonely struggle they had to endure and the collective struggle made possible in current feminist political practice. If it is the present which determines the significance of the past, then any assessment of Chalam can begin only from the present. It is in this sense that Chalams place in Telugu literature and society lies not in the past but in being reclaimed in the present context of emerging feminist awareness. It is in fact heartening to see a renewed interest in his writings, particularly among the current generation of feminists and feminist writers of Andhra who are discovering in them new insights and inspiration.

Notes
1. Kandukuri Veeresilingam (1848-1919), a pioneering figure of the renaissance movement in Andhra, was known as much for his varied literary and journalistic activities as for his championing of womens issues. He wrote what is considered to be the first novel in Telugu and the first books on natural sciences and history in the language. His journal Vivekavardhini started in 1874 was used to promote his views on womens education, widow remarriage, child marriages, the Devadasi system and so on. In the same year he established a girls school, the first such institution in Andhra, at Dowleswaram. In 1883 Veeresilingam started a monthly magazine called Sat Hita Bodhini for women. His campaign for rehabilitation of widows, their remarriage, womens education and his

2.

struggles against superstitions, the nautch girl system and child marriages mark beginning of the social reform movement in Andhra. Ramana Maharshi (1880-1950) was a spiritual teacher who set up an ashram in
Arunachala hills near Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. This ashram became Chalam and his family from 1950 till Chalams death in 1979.
a

the
the for

retreat

31

3. Chalam did not hesitate to be critical of the nationalist movement even as it was at its peak as, according to him, it did not attempt to create space for womens aspirations. His story Premaparyavrasanam, for instance, focusing on an incident during the Congress Mahasabha in Kakinada, talks about the attempt to leash womens sexuality on the one hand, and the moves made by opportunists to exploit them sexually and the way women were trapped into balancing the two on the other. Several other stories dealt with the insensitivity of men participating in the national movement towards their wives in the home. 4. Chalam translated Tagores Geetanjali into Telugu. 5. Krishna Sastry (1897-1980) was the foremost, and perhaps the last, of the romantic poets in Telugu who wrote in the classical mould. He was a contemporary and a close friend of

Chalam. 6. The poet Sri Sri (1910-83) heralded committed to socialist values.

a new era

in

progressive writing in Telugu literature

References
1987. The Decline of the Oedipus Complex, in J.M. Broughton (ed.), Critical Theories of Psychological Development, pp. 220-54. New York: Plenum Press. Chalam, G.V.1921. Sasirekha. Vijayawada: Aruna Publishing House. — 1926. Man and Woman. Vijayawada: Veni Press. — 1927 (reprint 1993). Maidanam. Vijayawada: Aruna Publishing House. — 1930 (reprint 1966). Stree. Vijayawada: Premchand Publications. — 1935 (reprint 1993). Aruna. Vijayawada: Aruna Publishing House. Mukherjee, M. 1985. Realism and Reality: The Novel and Society in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Petchesky, R.P. 1980. Reproductive Freedom: Beyond "A Womans Right to Choose", Signs, 5 (4): 661-85. Volga, (ed.). 1994. Nurella Chalam. Hyderabad: Sweccha Pracuranalu. Moi, Toril. 1994. Simone de Beavoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Benjamin, J.