The Abandoned
Daughter by Hyma Goparaju is a soul-stirring work of fiction. Set in 19th
century, the novel takes us to the roots of the Indian patriarchal society,
which seemed brutally ruthless towards a gender called female.
The novel
opens up with a powerful scene, where a mother has to resist as well as to
embrace the death of her newborn baby. Why? Because the newborn is a girl.
Shockingly this is quite common in the village Sarhaipur and nearby. As the
story chugs ahead, in the limelight comes Gomti Devi. She is a village landlord
with five sons. She is the major head of the mansion where all live. She
controls a huge family. She has five daughters-in-law, but surprisingly yet to
have a grandchild. Why? So far all her grandchildren born were girls, so she
killed them brutally.
At Gomti’s house
and in the nearby area, it has become a custom to kill baby girls for various
reasons. Once you get into the book, you will get introduced to the lineage of
beliefs that has always led to killing of girls and subsequently a formation of
patriarchal society in India. Tragedy runs like banter in the backdrop, so much
so that after one time, either you feel stoned or give up the belief in
humanity.
The entire
story gallops around the brutality and cruel politics played by Gomti and her
sister Gorma, who lives in Lucknow but often drops in to the village. More than
fiction and events, the book is into the detailing of gender discrimination.
For a long time, the novel runs on the power of antagonistic figures like Gomti and
Gorma. However, in snatches we get to see other events from auxiliary
characters like Kulbhusan and Rasik Lal.
Every time a
baby is born, clouds of suspense keep readers in the fog. But as soon as the
gender is disclosed, the activities begin sounding banal. So in this case, the
author should have kept the story a bit short, but still the pace of the novel
is commendable. The course of the story changed to some route when Kulbhusan
goes to Lucknow and gets married to a clever and rich girl. That was a kind of
turning point in the novel. Much later, towards the end, we see the
intervention of government to prevent female infanticide. The time is around
1870s, post the mutiny of 1857. The British Raj has started working on the
demographics of India for tightening grip over the Indian society. Startlingly,
the records show that the population of some areas has almost recorded no
female births. The inquiry, along with a few officials, reaches Sarhaipur and
the trouble begins for Gomti. Will she be changed for the better or what will
be her fate under the new female infanticide act. Those who are familiar with Munshi
Premchand’s work will definitely reckon with this novel.
The novel is
unique as it talks about female empowerment, and its backdrop, which is
historical in nature, is riveting. The clarity in writing is the strong pillar
of the novel.
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