Metaphors of Militancy and Female Resilience in Arupa Patangia Kalita's Fiction

AUTHOR

Contemporary Assamese literature can boast of few writers who are nationally reckoned as a powerful literary voice and Sahitya Akademi awardee writer Arupa Patagngia Kalita is unquestionably one of them. She is the most updated chronicler of her times. Though she expressed her love for Toni Morrison, whose 'The Bluest Eye' she translated into Assamese, as a teacher of English literature at the outset of her literary career her own writing however deals more with the metaphors of militancy in Assamese society.

She published more than fifteen books besides numerous works in vernacular magazines. Ranjita Biswas an eminent award winning translator and journalist who introduced Arupa Patangia to the English readers through her wonderful translations and Deepika Phukan also did the English rendering of some of her works.

The English translation of her novel 'Felanee' was shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award. Arupa Patangia is a popular name in the world of Assamese fiction and in the academic world. She has received the Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award (1995), KATHA award (1998),Sahitya Sanskriti Award (2009), Lekhika Samaroh Sahitya award(2011) and the Sahitya Akademi award (2014). Her novels and short stories include 'Ek Nayi Subah' (Hindi Edition 2009) rendered into Hindi by Suchita Mittal 'Felanee' (2014) her masterpiece 'Mariyam Aastin Othoba Hera Baruah' (2014), 'The Musk and Other Storie's (2017), 'Written in Tears' (2019) also translated by Ranjita Biswas, 'The Loneliness of Hira Barua' (2020) translated by Ranjita Biswas, 'The Story of Felanee' (2015) in the translation of Deepika Phukan, 'Pas Sotalar Kathakata' (2020), 'Millenniumar Sapon' (2019), 'Ayanaanta' (2019), 'Josnar Jhitas' (2022), 'Alekjan Banur Jan' (2019), 'Felanee' (2022 ed) and Harper Colllns Publishers published the translated version 'Written in Tears'.

When colonial rule was gaining roots in the Tea estates of Assam, Arupa Patangia brought to life the story of Durgi Bhoomiji in 'Josnar Jhitas' (Sprinkes of Moonlight) . In the life story this brave lady who helped her community in the struggle for freedom, her role is not recognized as a freedom fighter, something like 'Mereng' of Anuradha Sarma Pujaree. 'Mereng' a famous Assamese Novel by Anuradha Sharma Pujari was based on the life of famous Assamese woman Indira Miri and how a group of Assamese teachers under the leadership of Indira Miri ventured out with the intent of bringing education to the local population of NEFA (nowadays Arunachal Pradesh). Like Indira Miri, Durgi too was a bold woman who played a role in the transformation of her society though in a different way. She came with her husband Dasaru to Assam, lost her husband and led the life of a widow, but a bold widow quite different from the females of her time. As a head clerk and domestic helper she gathered information of the sufferings of the people of her community. The plight of the tea garden workers is at the centre of the story of Durgi. She, along with other tea garden workers, was tortured by the white men and she did not bow down to them. She engaged herself in the sabotage works against the British by risking her life. She secretly inspired the people to follow her in her activities which she believed would defeat the British. We find in her character a larger than life picture. Dr. Arupa says about her delineation of realistic characters in her novels that they are fictionalized and in this process the characters of the real world are reborn which makes them attractive to the readers. Her masterpiece Felanee deals with ever tragic story of a woman whose husband died in one round of ethnic conflict the writer focuses on the shadow of violence that always was hanging over Felanee's min. The novel is considered to be a bold and bare portrayal of the fragile history of the state which saw several movements and rebellions, sometimes running parallel to each other as ethnic groups either increasingly claimed nationhood within or outside the political borders of the Indian state or fought for the deportation of illegal immigrants. Felanee can be seen as a naked narrative of the unimaginable sufferings of the underprivileged communities of the Assamese society which was the byproduct of the separatist or ethnic movements that had devastated the socio-economic fabric of the state. Felanee is the nickname of the protagonist Malati which only her husband recognizes. The name is like Joothan of Valmiki meaning the insignificant life. Felanee literally means trash ("thrown away", or in Zubaan's publication the back cover gives the idea of "something to be thrown away". War affects the females and children. We get the tragedy facing the life of a woman during conflicts. This is a new focus adding a new dimension to the story of marginalized people like Felanee. The occasional mythological focus such as comparison to Sita of the Ramayana and suggestion of ethnic conflict destroying the family life creates a new trajectory for the fiction of Assamese fiction .The beginning of the novel Felanee is somewhat weird – the first chapter quickly passes through the lives of Felanee's grandmother and mother, and then discards them as irrelevant to the story. We meet Felanee in Chapter Two, grown-up, married and mother to a seven-year-old, and we're supposed to know the stories of her mother and her grandmother but have no idea of who she is, what she likes and wants and what moves her. Both these women were affected by violence, so this is probably a metaphor for violence erupting through the generations and claiming innocent victims: In Assamese life the metaphor of violence is grafted into the lives of the people Felanee is the best example The story of Felanee revolves around two agitations that the state of Assam has gone through Felanee hits home the reality of violence, and excels in its portrayals of women and men from the bottom of the volatile vicinity. These sufferings range from the very physical to the very intense psycho-social ones, women being the major victims.

India's North East, including Assam, has a history of militancy arising from various socio-political causes. Writers have responded to this aspect of the history of this region by producing works that record and commemorate particular events and experiences for posterity. Dr Arupa's short stories and fiction document a momentous phase in the recent history of the North-Eastern region of India especially Assam, marked by student agitation and militancy which mobilized the people around particular issues on the one hand and inflicted sufferings of various kinds of innocent people on the other. A writer is, among other things, a recorder of the experiences of a region who investigates in the form of a narrative the fallout of social upheavals on the everyday lives of people. Dr Arupa portrays a heart rending picture of traumatized characters borne out of physical, psychological and structural violence.

Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee

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