Ram Nabami natak

This is the eleventh in the projected 12-part series of extracts from early Indian texts translated into English. A play that sympathetically presents a young widow falling in love and acknowledging her physical desire must have been explosive in mid-19th Century Assam. Although the Hindu Widows Remarriage Act was passed in 1856, its actual impact on social practice and attitudes was negligible. Gunabhiram Barua's Assamese play "Ram Nabami Natak" was serialised in the Baptist missionary journal Orunodoi in 1857 but not published as a book until 1870. The play advocates education for women as well rethinking on the condition of child widows.

GUNABHIRAM BARUA (1837-1894) was one of those enlightened Assamese thinkers who ushered in new ideas about social reform in the early years of colonial rule in Assam. He was educated in Calcutta like many other Assamese after him and was deeply influenced by the intellectual opinions of the "Bengal Renaissance". He was among the first few Assamese who formally entered the Brahmo Samaj and propagated the liberal ideas of the Brahmos through his writing.

In his own life also he practised what he preached. After his first wife's death, his marriage with a Brahman widow, Bishnupriya Devi, created a sensation in the orthodox society of Assam. He not only advocated the cause of women's education but also took the bold step of sending his daughter Swarnalata to a boarding school in Calcutta when he was working in the small town of Nowgong in Assam as an Extra Assistant Commissioner. Both Swarnalata and Bishnupriya were encouraged by him to write and publish their work. Gunabhiram himself is remembered as a historian and a biographer. He also wrote regularly on issues like women's education and marriage reforms in the first Assamese journal Orunodoi, started by the American Baptist missionaries in 1846.

The following excerpts have been translated from the first social drama in Assamese - Ram Nabami Natak - written by Gunabhiram in 1857 and published as a book in 1870. The play deals with the tragic story of a young widow and her lover Ram, both of whom were compelled to commit suicide because of social disapproval of their relationship. The author tries to make a strong case for widow-remarriage through this tragedy. The selected excerpts reveal some interesting details of social life at that time.

The following passages have been selected, translated and introduced by Tilottama Misra, Professor of English, Dibrugarh University, Assam.

Act 1, Scene 5:

Shibakanta's house, Enter Phuleswari, Jayanti and Nabami. (Jayanti is a young married woman and friend of Nabami. Phuleswari is Nabami's mother and Shibakanta is her father).

Jayanti: Amoi (mother's friend), did you call me?

Phuleswari: Yes, I did. Your friend here stays all alone. When you come, she feels happy. You can play cards with her or teach her to read.

Nabami: Ai (mother), I am learning to read. I can read small books. Jayanti is teaching me.

Phuleswari: (To Jayanti) Fate has been very unkind to my daughter. Otherwise, she is so good at weaving garments. She can even weave beautiful floral motifs. Now you are teaching her to read too.

Jayanti: I know about her weaving skills. Last year when my younger sister-in-law got married, Nabami wove the fine seleng cloth with beautiful floral designs.

Phuleshwari: Do you have any good books at home?

Jayanti: We have them all - Annadamangal, Bidyasundar, Kaminikumar, Bhoogol, Padarthabidya, Mahabharat, Ramayan, Shakuntala and Kadambari. Nabami hasn't yet read them all. She has finished only the Adikanda of Ramayana.

Phuleshwari: If you need money to buy books, take it from me.

Jayanti: All right.

Phuleshwari: Is she reading any Assamese books?

Jayanti: I have read a few, but Nabami cannot read handwritten books. She is reading Asamiya Lorar Mitra and Orunodoi. There are many good things in those books.

Nabami: Ai, my friend Jayanti has a sweet voice. She can sing so well and she knows the words of so many songs! She sang the wedding songs so well on Kumoli's wedding that the bridegroom's party began to cry.

Phuleshwari: Nabami, you should read Assamese books. Only then would you be able to learn the words to sing.

Nabami: I cannot read books that are not in print.

Phuleshwari: The other day, Borbopai said something about bringing a printing press to Guwahati. Did you hear about it, Jayanti?

Jayanti: Yes, I have heard that a meeting was held the other day to discuss that. But, except for a few officers who enjoy fat salary, no one else attended the meeting. Some complained of the winter sun, others of a bad headache! So, the meeting was a failure. Our people are not interested in such things.

Phuleshwari: You are right. Our people are only interested in gossiping about others and whenever they get the chance, they would axe a weak tree.

Nabami: Ai, why don't you ask Urvasi to come over?

Phuleshwari: I have. But, she cannot come because she is having her periods. (To Jayanti) You must come with Urvasi and read and play with your friend here.

Jayanti: I will, Amoi. Even if I cannot come, I shall send Jikaphuli. Amoi, I don't like to see my friend Nabami in these clothes. She should wear silk, dress her hair properly and wear ornaments. Only, she may not wear sindur.

Phuleshwari: there is no harm in that.

Nabami: Ai, I am going to my friend's place now. I haven't been there for a month. I shall also call on Kumoli and Urvasi on the way.

Phuleshwari: All right, you can go.

Act II, Scene 2

(First in front of Shibakanta's house and then in a garden). Enter Nabami, Jayanti, Urvasi

Nabami: Friend, are you observing the Shivratri vrat today?

Jayanti: Well, yes and no! My husband is observing it. I have eaten a little bit of powered puffed rice secretly. Otherwise it is so difficult to pull along in these long Chaitra days!

Nabami: I really wanted to observe the fast. But, my mother forced me to eat. When I was small, I used to keep the fast every year. If all of you come to our place tonight, we can stay awake together. Urvasi, are you also fasting?

Urvasi: Oh, why should I? Since I am a widow there is no need for me to do it. I have been observing this fast from my childhood till me eighteenth year and I have earned sufficient rewards! I don't need any more! Friend, you look thinner than usual, what's the matter?

Nabami: Perhaps because I am not keeping well ever since I have started having my periods?

Urvasi: (To Jayanti) Have you heard? If the poor girl had had the chance to go to her husband's house even once, this would not have happened. I have at least some experience to relate before Yama when I die! But, this girl has been deprived of even that.

* * *

(The girls go to a garden where Nabami has a chance encounter with a young man named Ram. Nabami falls in love at first sight. She pretends that she has been pricked by a thorn so that the meeting can be prolonged. But, her maid and her friends call her away?

Nabami: (To herself) How troublesome! (aloud) Let's go friends. (to herself) But, how can I go? O, how unlucky am I that I'll have to go away from this place! How will I find this young man again to say a few words to him? But I am a widow and should not look at other men. But, why shouldn't I? I cannot go against God's law. I cannot disregard the demands of my senses. Isn't this proof enough? So it is not wrong to have desire for a man, and the man with whom I can fulfil the main purpose of marriage, must be considered my husband. If I am devoted to him and to no one else, then my duty towards my husband will be done.

Some shastras say that after the death of the first husband there cannot be another. But, what is a shastra? There cannot be a shastra about God's law. And, if a woman cannot marry again after the death of the first husband, why should men be allowed to do so? This shows that it is a biased law. Such a biased law may have been applicable in some ancient times. It is no longer appropriate for this age. Otherherwise, why should I fall in love with this man? If I am devoted to him, society would dub me a sinner. But, that is not right. If I remain true to him as if he were my first husband, then I would be a faithful wife. If a married woman is attracted by another man, will she be considered a sati? So, I am firm in my belief that if I love this man and remain faithful to him I will not break any moral law...

This series is co-ordinated by Meenakshi Mukherjee.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : A novel in verse
Next     : New mystery on the moor