“Pather Panchali” - Discussion Essay
When path ahead is getting narrower and rough, and longing for the past pleasant path is weighing down, how does one move forward? Pather panjali describes the journey of the poor Horihor family through their difficulties, joys and losses. It tells their daily pleasures and troubles, and through that the darkness in wait and the hope which moves them. In the house at the edge of “Contentment” surrounded by wilderness lives the five members - Horihor, a brahmin scholar who gets meagre means of survival from his disciples, Shorbojoya, wife of Horihor and connecting thread of the family, Durga, their elder daughter and the dear of forest, Apu, the dreamer boy and the beloved of family, Indir Thakrun, the sister-in-law of Horihor and a symbiote of family The story is told most through the eyes of children. It shows the wonder, variety and joy in our daily life. Be it the fruit about to ripe, the drama troupe about to arrive, the first time journey out, crafting of toys and plays, the light and music of forest, the wonder at the new or the immersion in nature – the novel was made light by them, something not expected after feeling sober from its movie adaptation.
The movie directed by Satyajit Ray and released on 1955, became an influential classic. It was a black and white movie with good casting and great visual presentation. In one scene even meditativeness was expressed – Durga chewing sugarcane and watching the electric lines giving their monotone, in silence. The nostalgic black and white is capable of lingering through the novel reading. The novel is fast paced and starts with the history of the Horihor and Indir coming to inhabit the “Contentment”, and to the growth of Apu from birth to adolescent. His life changes course first after his sister’s death and then by his father’s.
Durga’s death was a haunting one, for they were made helpless by the poverty and made vulnerable by the storm. Durga was a girl of the moment. She is concerned about the immediate. Once after being beaten hard by mother twice, Apu, expecting her to be angry tried to calm her down. But she has already moved over it and started telling him which fruit they shall gather tomorrow. Similarly in another time when Durga got thrashed because of him, he came crying at night, she tried to distract him from crying fearing that her mother may hear it and beat again. Being daughter of poor village family she was less favoured than Apu, so was left carefree, She is a explorer and also the guide of Apu during his initial years. Though they may fight bitter, Durga values her brother’s joy more than hers. Shorbojoya sees Durga as her extension, that is also why Durga is scolded harsh for not obeying her. She especially hates Durga being close to Indir Thakrun. Indir was left without support by the tight in-caste breeding system and was made widow and dependent at young age. She survived through the compassion and abuse of others. Durga hardly missed Indir’s songs and stories. But Shorbojoya was not prepared to have Indir with them. Everytime she saw Durga with her,she raged. Once Indir left for good to her in-laws house, where she was afforded food and company. But her sense of belonging overpowered her need of sustenance and she came back eventually.
After that her stay ended after an argument over a custard apple, which Shorbojoya repented later in her years. She left the world without farewell. Apu grewup unaware of troubles around him. Though he may have sensed, he never acknowledged. But as he grows he understands them through the stories he reads and by living out them. He first came to know how poor they are when he first went out of “Contentment” to a wealthy house as guest. There seeing his hand glistening in ghee for first time after having a delicacy, the same one which his mother too prepared but without all the key ingredients, he feels pity for his mother. Seeing the sophisticated mechanical toys there, he feels for his sister.
After being impressed by Jatra troupe, he starts writing his own stories. Apu once asks four rupees for publishing his story in school magazine to his ailing father. That is a big amount which they can barely spare. But Horihor knowing the beam it will bring on Apu’s face, secretly gives him money from his emergency stash. It is heard that the mother nourishes us, but father perceives our inner pleasure better. His father dies of illness later. To Apu his father is still somewhere singing in the steps of Kashi’s ghat. Again Shorbojoya becomes supportless. Then she gets a job as kitchen assistant and they both move to a dingy damp room worse than previous. Atleast before she was master of the house. Now she have to work more for a lower return. Apu goes through harrowing experiences because of class division. His life is made worse by the concrete and closedness around. For one who roamed freely in forest, it has become hard to find a soil to step on. In a mid day dream after a fateful day, he realizes he can no more tolerate the present state and longs to go back to “Contentment”. A voice appears and tells him that he was anointed to move on the path and forward is the only way.
From then on, Apu becomes a man, Apu realizes through empathy. It is heard that empathy is feeling other not as them,but as something external to both. He feels more for the defeated Karna than the victorious Arjuna, he imagines Joan of Ark standing alone in field. He also empathises with his sister and friend Potu and stands up for them.
But understanding loss is different. It is heard that children may not feel the death of a close one immediately. After Durga’s death, everything around them makes him feel her presence. Once he is out and realises he has left behind “Contentent” forever, he moans. He moans not that he cannot see her but that her sister cannot see him thenceforth. It is hard to be forsaken. Horihor family is itself in a forsaken state throughout. Neither the income from the old system is enough nor finding new source easy. It maybe that the feudal system which supported such brahmin families are in decline.
It was such a pleasure to feel the authenticity in the novel’s expression of rural life. The sensibility and expressive power of author puts readers in awe. This is a semi-autobiographical work of author,Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. The novel came out in 1929 and it is a pioneer in realism especially rural. This and other Bengali novels like “Arokyaniketan”, “Neelkanth Pakhir Khonje” are considered real indian writing and have deeply influenced other Indian language literatures. It is heard that the writing which bridges the gulf between the historicity of rural and the modernity of urban attains an indianness.
Durga’s dying wish to Apu was to see a real train. Satyajit Ray gives a solace to that in the movie. Inside Apu, that train runs forever into future.