CHAPTER SIX

THE MOTHER I NEVER KNEW: A CRITICAL STUDY

„The Mother i Never Knew‟ is a collection of two novellas entitled Venkatesh and

Mukesh. The first novella Venkatesh narrated a story of Venkatesh‟s search for his step

mother. Second novella Mukesh narrated a story of an orphan boy Mukesh in search of

his real mother.

A Brief Story of Venkatesh

Venkatesh is a story of a man‟s pricking conscience for the wrong his father did to his

mother and his restless search for her. Setu Madhav Rao was married with Bhagirathi

against his mother‟s wish. His mother Champakka loved money, silver, gold and

diamond so much that she forced Setu Madhav Rao to leave Bhagirathi within two

months of their marriage and remarry another girl. Champakka construed a plot

according to which news was spread that Setu Madhav Rao and his mother were said to

have died in a train accident between Bombay and Pune. This left Bhagirathi with a child

in her womb and wilderness of lifelong widowhood through out the remaining years of

her life.

Venkatesh had a well settled job in State Bank of India. His wife Shanta had been

exceptionally resourceful in investments to reap rich dividends later. With the help of her

parents she had made investments in movable and immovable properties in Bangalore.

Venkatesh‟s parents and grandmother had died within a short span of three years after his

marriage with Shanta. This had been a decisive blow to Venkatesh as it left him alone in

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the family to face his vibrant wife. His wife Shanta and son Ravi did not care much for

him as they looked at him as a poor bank employee living on a meager income. The

treatment tortured him but he could not think of leaving a job premature. He knew that it

would worsen his condition in the family.

He came to know by accident that he had a lookalike in the area. He was mistaken as

Shankar by many people in Hubli area. Naturally he was pestered by a thought that he

had a twin brother somewhere in the world and it was his prime responsibility to find his

mother. The first part of the novella is about his subdued life. The second part is about his

search. Venkatesh went to Shankar‟s house in Hubli. He was fortunate enough to meet

old Bhagavva and Shankar living in a small house in the outskirts of the city. She

narrated the entire story of her past, her marriage with Setu Madhav Rao, his pronounced

death in a railway accident, birth of Shankar and a gold ring. Venkatesh wanted to assist

Bhagirathi and Shankar with fifty lakh rupees. However his son and wife refused to

comply and called him impractical idealist. His daughter Gauri came forward with forty

Lakh rupees to be handed over to her step grandmother.

The novella ended without open statement. One does not know whether Bhagavva and

Shankar would accept money given by Venkatesh, whether the money given by Gauri

and Venkatesh would find safe passage to Bhagavva or not, whether there would be twist

in tail in the end. Though Bhagavva was not his real mother, Venkatesh‟s heart melted by

the thought of injustice done to her by his father.

The following statement throws light on the restless state of Venkatesh. “Gauri, my father

did a great injustice to Shankar and her, maybe it was because he was helpless, or maybe

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it was nobody‟s fault, but either way, Bhagavva suffered her entire life. Isn‟t it my duty

to help her in any way that I can?” 1

THEMES

The first important theme of the novella is the indelible impressions and

imperishable place of mother in child’s life. There are two prominently active mothers

and quite a few ordinary mothers in the novella. Shankar‟s mother Bhagirathi alias

Bhagavva is the central character of this novella. Though she did not appear repeatedly,

the action of the novella moved around her only. That is why, the title of the novella is

The Mother I never Knew.

Venkatesh‟s father Setu Madhav Rao listened to his crooked mother and left Bhagavva to

her own pathetic future. Madhav Rao had married Bhagirathi against his mother‟s wish

for her beauty and charms. Madhav Rao and Bhagirathi had lived together only for

fifteen days after their marriage. They were bestowed with complete conjugal bliss

during that time. It became difficult for both of them to be separate from each other.

Their mutual affection however worked against their favour in the family. Madhav Rao‟s

mother Champakka had never liked Bhagavva because she had come from a poor family

and had not brought much wealth in the form of dowry. She also knew that Bhagavva‟s

parents were so poor that she would not be bequeathed with fortune in future.

Unfortunately for Bhagavva, she was pregnant immediately after her marriage. People,

particularly women section of society in the village began to gossip around and doubt her

chastity. This served Champakka‟s purpose to force her son to quit Bhagavva in her

position.

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Bhagavva is a symbol of sacrifice in the Indian cultural tradition. Bhagavva believed the

cooked up story in which Madhav Rao, his father and mother were reported to have been

killed in a train accident. She was so simple and innocent that she did not try to go into

the details of the accident and the deaths. She accepted the fateful life of loneliness

meekly. Shankar was born to her in due course of time. She lived her life with the fading

memories of her husband in the form of Shankar after that. When Venkatesh visited

Bhagavva at Shurpali, he found her as, “Finally the door opened. He found her face to

face with an old Brahmin widow. She appeared strong even though she was very thin.

She was wearing a torn white sari with the pallu over her clean shaven head” 2

It is extremely difficult to fathom the depth of Indian mother‟s greatness. She is always

prepared to make sacrifices not only for her own children, husband and family but also

for the tradition and conservative social ideas. Bhagavva was constantly tortured for her

widowhood without any fault of hers. She was prohibited from participating in family

function. She carried the heavy load of widowhood from a young age to her old age. In

spite of all humiliations and sufferings, Bhagavva stood by her son Shankar in all his

gains and pains. That is the greatness of Indian mother which is obviously seen in

Bhagirathi.

Venkatesh was a wise person. He carried out his search not for his brother but for his

step-mother. He knew that he was born of Indiramma and Madhav Rao. He knew that his

twin‟s mother was his step-mother. Yet he ran around to find her out. “He was struggling

to somehow compensate for the wrong his father had done decades ago, despite the fact

that he was not responsible for Bhagavva‟s plight in any way. If it were anyone else in his

shoes, they would not have bothered to shoulder the responsibility.” 3

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Surprisingly for him, the mother‟s heart in Bhagavva did not let her make hue and cry

against Venkatesh or his father. In his meeting with her, she was calm and quiet as usual.

She was not either violent or argumentative about her past. She understood the awkward

position of Venkatesh and quietly narrated the story of her marriage and widowhood.

That is why, it seemed very difficult to understand, analyze and interpret mother in Indian

circumstances.

The title of the novella tells us a lot about „i‟ and „mother‟. „i‟ acquires the small mean

position when placed in the company of mother. Narrator regarded himself with small „i‟

which never became capital „I‟ in relation to mother in India. There was a Sanskrit

proverb which said that „It is possible to have a bad son but it is impossible to find a bad

mother‟. This proverb proved right in this novella. Secondly, mother here was not a

specific person. It is everybody‟s mother, mother in general. That is why, „I‟ becomes „i‟

when we put it against mother.

Second important theme of the novella is diabolic effects of money madness on the

traditional domestic and social structure in modern India. India had been famous for

its well knit family structure all over the world for centuries. Liberalization policy

brought personal aspirations to the forefront. Freedom of thought and expression

overrode the previous sense of duty towards society. Progress became a keyword of

personal life. Sudha Murty found the seeds of writing in this atmosphere.

Venkatesh and Shanta got married not because they suited each other but because

Shanta‟s father had economic considerations in choosing him as his son in law.

Venkatesh was the only heir to the vast property of his family. He had a silent father in

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Setu Madhav Rao and meek mother in Indiramma and greedy old grandma in

Champakka. Suryanarayana, Shanta‟s father had prepared a balance sheet of gains and

pains of his choice before finalizing a husband for his daughter. “Suryanarayana thought,

„Venkatesh has a good job at the State Bank of India here in Bangalore. If Shanta gets

married to him, she will stay in the same city and we can see her frequently. Besides,

Venkatesh is an only child and we will have to worry about sharing JMR‟s inheritance

later. Old Champakka is stubborn, I know, but she is already past eighty. How much

longer can she live? Indiramma is quite dumb and Shanta can easily handle her. Yes,

Venkatesh is a good match for my daughter.”4

Shanta was extremely ambitious entrepreneur by nature. She ran after money like a mad

bitch. She forced Venkatesh to take loan from his bank for his two commercial buildings

Ganga-Tunga project on the Bhavanagadi site which fortunately for her brought lucrative

returns of three lack rupees per month. She invested the same money in stock market and

real estate. Money made her blind to her own husband. She looked at him as a poor wage

earner and ignored him most of the times in family matters. As a result, negligible

existence of Venkatesh was not much different from that of her driver. Hurlock‟s

research finding made it clear that, “The more similar the backgrounds of husband and

wife, the easier the adjustment”5

Shanta soon became a page three social worker who always ran after photographs and her

appearance in newspapers. It was to be noticed that Shanta had no time to see her

husband off at the railway station. Venkatesh was in Hubli for six months. Shanta did not

contact him to inquire about his health and well being. Whenever she contacted him it

was about money transactions only. There was no personal love and affection between

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the two. Shanta‟s greed had broken Venkatesh and damaged his social identity. Shanta

had no regrets for that.

Shanta chose Pinki as Ravi‟s wife because her parents were rich and she was the only

heir to their property. Shanta knew that Venkatesh would not like the deal. So she did not

like to involve him in negotiations. Thus we notice that excessive thought for money had

spoiled filial relations between husband and wife. Ravi voiced his mother‟s concern when

he said, “Amma, I have realized that life is only about business. Think about it---parents

raise their children so that they will look after them when they get old. That‟s emotional

business. Marriage is like that too. My partner and I should know what to expect from

each other, or else it will be a discordant match like that of Appa and you”6

Venkatesh‟s grandmother was so much obsessed by the thought of accumulating wealth

that she sacrificed the sanctity of marriage for money. Setu Madhav Rao got married with

Bhagirathi against Champakka‟s wish. She cooked up a story to the effect that she and

her son died in a train accident. She did not think even a bit about her son‟s state of mind.

She forced Setu Madhav Rao to change his name to JMR in order to escape the clutches

of law. This clearly showed that human relations did not mean much to her. She looked at

her son as a machine to mint money for ever.

Lack of interaction between Venkatesh, the father and Ravi, the son demonstrated the

widening gap among different members of the family created by money. When

Venkatesh proposed to give fifty lakh rupees to Bhagavva, Ravi threatened, “I‟ll go to the

court. That‟s our ancestral property and you don‟t have the right to just give it away

without our consent. You can only donate money or property that you have earned on

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your own” Ravi did not like his father much because he was contented with small

income. He looked down upon his father and at times insulted him due to his middle class

mentality. Thus father son relations had lost its sanctity due to excessive thought for

money.

People today are ready to give up their identity for the sake of money. Father, mother,

wife, husband, son, daughter were not simple words that existed in dictionary in the past.

They carried enormous personal and social significance in Indian context. They signified

love, attachment, involvement, respect etc. All this seemed to be lost with the influx of

money in mind. Sudha Murty wrote about such bulldozing effects of money on human

relations in India.

CHARACTERIZATION

Bhagavva, Venkatesh and Shanta are the three often appearing characters in this novel.

Though there are frequent references to Champakka and Madhav Rao, they are dead

before the action of the novella commences.

Bhagavva

Bhagavva appeared only once towards the end of the novella. Readers come to know

about her role through flash back references mostly. Entire novella is woven around her

personality. She was a victim of Indian concept of ideal womanhood. She was a prey to

the social conspiracy which taught women to subjugate themselves without interrogation.

People may salute her for her exemplary spirit of dedication and pativratya. Fact however

remained that she was wronged by her own kith and kin.

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Story of Bhagavva‟s wretched life began with her birth. Her parents drowned when she

was a toddler. Her maternal uncle Gopal Kulkarni and his wife Kaveramma brought her

up rather unwillingly. She was, “As the years passed, Bhagirathi grew up to be a very

beautiful woman. She was fair and attractive and had long, black hair. Many women were

jealous of her. Kaveramma did not send her out alone often because she was afraid that

someone might take advantage of her.”8

Widowhood was thrust upon her within two months of her marriage with Setu Madhav

Rao not because her husband really died but because the news of his death was

maneuvered successfully. Social sanctions prohibited Bhagavva from trying to find out

the reality of her husband‟s death. She had no other option but to believe the news as

true. She must have cursed her fate thousand times without trying to know the

authenticity of the news even once. Prima facie, it seemed that it was her mistake to

blame herself for the misfortune, but the claws of the orthodox society were so tight that

she had to keep utter silence in the matter. Though her parents were not mentioned more

than once, it appeared that Bhagavva must have been ill treated by her parents as well.

This automatically led to her physical and emotional impoverishment.

Everybody blamed her for her parents‟ death and her husband‟s sad premature demise.

Nobody ever sympathized with her for her miseries. Hence she thought of committing

suicide along with her son in the river Krishna in the darkness of the night. She put her

son Shankar closely to her bosom and walked into the deep waters of the river. The child

began to cry by the cold touch of the icy water. A fisherman came to her rescue.

Bhagirathi knew that she was unwanted in the family. Nobody would have missed her

even if she had died. She walked her lonely way with a child to an unknown destination.

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She reached Dharwad in the morning and preferred to lose herself in the unknown crowd

of people there. She took up various house maid jobs like cleaning vessels, washing linen

and tending houses. When Shankar got a teacher‟s job after twenty two years, she was

partially relieved of hard menial work.

Bhagavva lived a life of seclusion in village Shurpali. “In the old days, the Brahmins of

Shurpali were very orthodox and Bhagirathi—a teenage mother and a widow—was

bound by customs and traditions. It was mandatory for her to shave her head to be

considered purified, thus clearing her husband‟s path to heaven. Her long, shining black

hair was cut and her head shaved. Bhagirathi was barely aware of what was happening to

her. For a few weeks, she lived her life a day at a time.”9

Condition of a widow in Indian society was worse than that of an animal. Nobody liked

her company. Nobody wanted to associate and invite her. She was unceremoniously

disowned by her parents and friends. Her participation in social functions was shunned.

She was prohibited from entry to sacred places like temple. She was made to give up

nutritious food and comfortable beds so as to kill her carnal desires. Bhagavva went

through all these hellish experiences throughout her life. When Venkatesh met her at

Dharwad she was all lost and emanated.

Woman who did not raise doubts and questions in Indian circumstances was considered

virtuous. Condition of a widow was worse than that of a married woman. Initially she

was suppressed under the grinding power of traditions and customs. As time passed she

lost her capacity to fight against injustice done to her. “The truth is that woman‟s

situation is out of equilibrium…that woman sees herself and makes her choices not in

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accordance with her true nature in itself but as man defines her.” Very soon, she went

into oblivion and she lost her capacity to think and remember. Bhagavva did not say a

single word against her in laws or parents simply because she must have forgotten her

past.

Bhagirathi‟s attempt to drown herself in the river Krishna along with her son Shankar

resembled Devaki‟s story to sneak from the jail to save herself and her son from Kansa.

Sudden arrival of fisherman Chouda dragged the mother and child out of water just as

Shrikrishna was saved by the unidentified divine hand. Indian way of life believed in the

heavenly superpower that emerged out of nowhere to assist the pious souls like Devaki

and Bhagirathi. Murty has made use of this belief in this novella.

Venkatesh

Venkatesh is one of the most unfortunate and pitiable characters of the novella. Though

he was born of respectable parents, he had been deprived of his voice first by his

grandmother and later by his own wife. His father Setu Madhav Rao and mother

Indiaramma were monitored and regulated by his greedy and dominating grandmother,

Champakka. He had to get married with Shanta because he was not given any other

option. He was neither consulted nor could he express his feelings voluntarily on his own.

Suryanarayanrao and his wife Savitamma impressed Champakka with their financial

power and social status. The problems were compounded by the in laws. They forced him

to borrow and buy for pompous show of their prestigious wealth. Gradually, he withdrew

from family affairs and was glad to be transferred to Hubli.

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Social ideas in Indian circumstances ruled the individual. Sensitive person like Venkatesh

constantly bore the load of „what would people say?‟ Shanta and Ravi took undue

advantage of this mentality later in life.

Venkatesh was respected and revered by his assistants in the bank because he helped

everybody who asked for it. A bank clerk Geeta had a child whom she had to feed after

every three hours. Manager in Shankar allowed her to leave bank after lunch break and

looked after her counter himself. Once cashier called Mahesh found excess amount of

one thousand rupees which he and his friends wanted to spend on merry making.

Venkatesh gave the money to the bank watchman for his wife‟s C section. “Everybody

wanted to celebrate and have a party with the money, but Venkatesh disagreed, „No,

that‟s not right. Let‟s keep it aside. We‟ll return it if the owner comes looking for it.‟

When nobody came to claim the money, it was given to the office watchman Karim for

his wife‟s C-section operation.”11 This showed that he always had sympathy for weak

section of society. It compensated for his distance from his own people.

Revelation that he had a twin in the surrounding area changed the course of his life for

him. His past slid before his mind‟s eye. Human element in him did not let him sit still

and comfortable. He found out his stepmother and stepbrother. He took upon himself to

rectify the mistake made by his father by planning to assist her with fifty lakh rupees. He

told his son, “You are right, we are not responsible at all, but when I inherited my father‟s

property I also inherited his share of mistakes. Appa failed in his duties towards them.

We can‟t undo the past, but may be we can their life little easier, especially since we have

so much of wealth. There is no legal proof of their marriage, there‟s only a newspaper

cutting of the accident and Appa‟s picture; but there is a divine court of law above us

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where our souls are the witnesses.”12 These remarks showed the humane qualities

residing in Venkatesh.

Venkatesh was sincere, honest, friendly, compassionate and helpful person with humane

qualities. Murty, unlike other female writers blamed the women for the miseries of other

women and men in the society. Venkatesh had to enter into cocoon for protection from

his wife, son and in laws. He was not gullible by nature. He knew his position in the

family well and he conducted his life accordingly. Like a wise person, he avoided his

trouble shooting wife and single mindedly followed a chosen path. Novella is therefore

named after him rightly.

Shanta

Shanta played enormous role in handling the lives of her husband, son and daughter. She

loved herself so much that she never thought about her husband or daughter. She ill

treated her mother in law and looked down upon her husband‟s middle class status. She

was pampered by her parents right from her childhood. The writer described her as,

“Shanta grew up like a princess with her parents fulfilling all her demands. Her studies

progressed and the family was transferred to bigger towns and cities until they finally

ended up in Bangalore, where Shanta graduated with a bachelor of Arts from Maharani‟s

College.” 13

Shanta was blinded by her family richness. She was the only daughter of her parents and

naturally a legal heir to their property. Fortunately for her, her mother in law, father in

law and grandmother in law died within a short span of three years after her marriage.

That brought her an absolute authority to have her own way in family matters. She and

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her father Suryanarayanrao took all the decisions related to Venkatesh‟s family. It

increased her arrogance. She earned name and fame within short time which made her

autocratic by nature.

Shanta envied her prospective daughter in law and her own daughter. She was afraid that

Pinki would snatch away her son, Ravi from her as she herself had severed her husband

from his mother. She thought. “For a moment, Shanta envied Pinki, „Everything that I

have struggled to earn will go to my daughter in law one day. My darling son Ravi will

also belong to that girl. Maybe I should share my concerns with Venkatesh. Or may be I

shouldn‟t. He won‟t understand anyway.”14

Venkatesh discussed his transfer from Bangalore to Hubli with Gauri. Gauri had already

made all the possible arrangements of his stay at her friend‟s father‟s residence there.

Shanta was annoyed by the closeness between father and daughter. She always expected

people to seek her help. She told her husband to contact her for his transfer. She could not

tolerate independent stature of her husband and children.

She was good only to those persons who consulted and listened to her. Ravi was „mom‟s

boy‟. He telephoned her from the USA but rarely talked to Gauri or Venkatesh because

she had enslaved him. Gauri was different. She did MBBS and specialized in Gynecology

against Shanta‟s wish. Shanta wanted her to do MBA and earn lakhs in short period. Thus

we find that she had a personality clash with everybody who did not fall to her whims.

Shanta treated her husband with scant respect and dispassionate emotions. Venkatesh had

been smart enough to mind his own business without making any fuss on her behavior or

trends of egoistic nature.

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 NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE

Plot structure of „Mother i Never Knew‟ resembles the plot structure of a detective story

with an element of suspense in it. Cinematic technique of „the lost and found‟ is at the

centre of this novella. The protagonist did not know much about his past. Suddenly

someone mistook him for his lookalike. The protagonist travelled through unknown

destinations to find out his twin and his mother.

Venkatesh coincidently came across four people in a village called Shishunal who

mistook him for Shankar. Naturally he suspected that there was somebody in the nearby

area who resembled him. That created the suspense and began his search for his

lookalike. Story ended without any result because it is not certain whether Venkatesh and

Bhagavva would own each other in future or not.

Unlike novel, novella does not permit subplots. “Currently the term „novella‟ is often

used as an equivalent for novelette; a prose fiction of middle length, such as Joseph

Conrad‟s heart of Darkness.”15 Murty‟s novels like Gently Falls the Bakula, Dollar Bahu

etc. have subplots. But subplots in novella harm the artistic and concentrated weave of

the plot. That is what has happened to this novella. Shanta‟s marriage with Venkatesh is

described in the novella. The role that Shanta‟s parents played in Venktesh‟s life is also

described at length. These subplots have negative effect on the impact of the story as a

whole. Pros and cons of Ravi‟s proposed marriage with Pinki are interpolated in the main

story. Though Shanta‟s dominance in the life of Venkatesh and Ravi is described, it has

nothing to do with the search element of the plot. Shanta did not know anything about

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Madhav Rao‟s first marriage, son from that marriage initially. When Venkatesh informed

her about it, she was neither shocked nor surprised by the revelation.

Every detective story contains some off stage secret happenings. It is suggestive rather

than narrative in nature. Writer does not open up the suspense. It unfolds automatically.

As a result story leads to various interpretations depending on the reader‟s age and

experience. Detective story is so much concentrated that it haunts the reader for quite

some time after being read out. The incidents and characters catch hold of readers to such

an extent that they become an inseparable part of their being for a considerable time.

Turn of the Screw and Heart of Darkness are the notable examples of this kind of

writing.

Venkatesh was mistaken as Shankar. It was surprising that Shankar was not mistaken as

Venkatesh by anybody. The ring episode created and resolved the drama in Venkatesh‟s

search. If the ring episode in this novella is compared with the ring episode in

Shakespeare‟s The Merchant of Venice one finds a remarkable difference between the

two effects due to the treatment accorded to the element of suspense in the two. Murty

could have extended the mystery element in the story with various other means.

Venkatesh came to Hubli as a state Bank of India manager. He was suddenly mistaken as

Shankar. He set out for search of his „mother‟ and „brother‟ whom he had lost fifty years

ago. He found their house and spotted Bhagirathi and Shankar in the first attempt.

Sudha Murty has used contrast as a technique to bring out the theme of the novella. There

are rich but insensitive people like Shanta, Ravi, Suryanarayanrao and Champakka on the

one hand. There are poor yet sensible people like Bhagavva, Shankar Master, his wife

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and three daughters on the other side. Contrast in their economic conditions and

emotional make up made the theme of the novella. It is noticeable that commercial

minded people lived in Bangalore where human values were weighed by the amount of

riches one had and not by their sacrifice ratio. Shanta did not care much for her living

husband and therefore she did not go to the railway station to see him off. Her response,

“‟See you soon.‟ She told him. „Call me later. Remember --I can always arrange for your

transfer back to Bangalore.‟‟16 is enough to bring out their fractured relations. Venkatesh

went to Shishunal to meet Bhagavva. The villagers there were so cooperative that they

took him to her house. Fact that the old woman lived alone during week ends showed the

existing human concerns in rural India.

Sudha Murty described the death of three important persons in a short paragraph of about

fifteen lines. “Within a year of her grandson‟s marriage, she breathed her last in sleep.

The captain of the ship was no more.

A few months later Venkatesh was transferred to Mysore. That is where Ravi was born.

When the family returned to Bangalore a year after, Indiramma suddenly died of a heart

attack. Soon after JMR had a stroke that left him bedridden, paralyzed and unable to

speak. However Shanta did not have to attend to him for more than few months just as

Suryanarayanrao had started to worry about Shanta‟s fate in case the old man lived long
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in that condition. JMR too passed away.” The speed with which all these incidents are

narrated killed the very spirit of a detective story.

Sudha Murty has left huge gaps in the story which hampered the readability of the

novella. When Bhagirathi was informed about a sad demise of her husband Setu Madhav

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Rao, she was a teenage girl with a baby in her womb. It is understandable that she could

not do much to find out the truth then. But it is shocking that she was not taken to her

husband‟s dead body to pay her last homage before funeral. This can never happen in

traditional Indian society. Though Bhagirathi came from a middle class family, she was

not dull by any yardstick. It is surprising that she never went to Setu Madhav Rao‟s house

after his „death‟. She could have easily got the real information about the accident and

what followed it. One can hide anything but it is impossible to keep the news of death

from public talk. There are compensation claims to be settled; there are other legal

formalities that need to be completed in accident casualties. Close relatives like mother,

father, brother, sister, wife and children are summoned as a matter of legal procedure.

Writer did not write anything about all this.

Bhagirathi and Shankar lived together for fifty years or so through trials and tribulations.

Shankar became a school teacher. It is surprising that the mother and son did not discuss

their past with each other during the fifty years. The novelist quoted an incident in which

Setu Madhav Rao attempted to narrate the story of his marriage with Bhagirathi to

Venkatesh from his death bed. “After his paralytic attack, his father had tried to say

something to him but Venkatesh had not been able to understand him. It was the first
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time he had seen his father become angry and frustrated” He held back his words due

to Champakka‟s presence around. This happened after fifty years. This again raised

serious question in the mind of readers. Did he never get an opportunity to reveal his past

to his son during fifty years?

Venkatesh talked to Bhagavva for a couple of hours in her house. Shankar, his step

brother entered the house towards the end of his visit. But there was not much talk

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between the two. This is surprising. It is true that Venkatesh was in a hurry to return to

Hubli. Yet a man who took so much of pains to spot his „mother‟ could have halted for

some more time to discuss life with his „brother‟. It must therefore be mentioned that

though Sudha Murty has written wonderful narrative she could not provide an appropriate

narrative technique for it.

SETTING

Entire action of this novella took place in Bangalore, Hubli, and Shishunal.

Suryananrayan Rao, Savitramma and Shanta settled in Bangalore for various commercial

reasons. It provided Suryanarayan Rao long cherished life of detachment after working in

the Government Revenue Department throughout his life. He had earned lakhs of rupees

through unscrupulous means and needed place to hide and squander his ill begotten

wealth. Social clubs and Non Government Organizations in Bangalore helped him to

make a pompous show of his riches.

Joshi Madhav Rao also settled in Bangalore with his simple wife and sly mother. His

mother Champakka knew that Bangalore was the only place where she could hide her son

and his identity. Champakka must have been apprehensive of their whereabouts being

disclosed. Bangalore therefore was a safe place for her family. Though JMR had to travel

all over India due to his job in Indian Railways, those places did not play any role in the

development of his character in the novella.

Second significant location of the story is Hubli which is twelve hours journey by train

from Bangalore. Course of action of the novel changed in this small town. It is noticeable

that Venkatesh lived a life of oblivion in a faceless industrial centre centre like

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Bangalore. Venkatesh lived for a majority part of his life in Bangalore. Yet nobody

mistook him for Shankar Master because persons there had neither time nor inclination to

go deep into the individual‟s personal and private world. Though people assembled in

Basavagudi Club they were not interested in each other as human beings. All their

dealings there had a touch of professionalism. Money mattered more than man in

Bangalore. Close relations like husband and wife, father and children were formed or

deformed by economic considerations only. Bangalore thus was the most suitable place

for snobbish, pompous and humbug people like Suryanarayan Rao, JMR and Shanta.

Venkatesh‟s transfer from Bangalore to Hubli worked as a writer‟s masterstroke to bring

out the theme of the novella. It is in a small town like Hubli and a village like Shishunal

relations like „mother‟ and „son‟ mattered.

“In a small village like Shishunal, everybody knew everybody‟s business. Venkatesh was

hopeful that this man would help him find Shankar‟s house.

„Look there,‟ the man pointed to a banyan tree. „His house is right next to it. You‟re in

luck; he is at home today.” 19

Sudha Murty has not only shifted the place but also shifted the emphasis of story from

commercial touch to affectionate one. Shankar Master remained connected with his wife

in Hubli and mother in Shishunal simultaneously. This was possible for him because they

lived in a village where humane relations were more important than economic riches.

Mandakini, Alaknanda and Sharayu were three sisters. Though they were not born of rich

parents, they were considerate of each other. Mandakini gave private tuitions in order to

help her younger sister Sarayu to realize her dream of becoming doctor. They were

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always prepared to sacrifice their own interests for others in the family. Setting of the

novel thus played significant role in the building of characters and development of theme.

Shishunal is one more significant locale in the novel. Bhagavva and Shankar stayed

together in a small mud house. Bhagavva had put on a sari which was mended at three

different places. But they were respectfully familiar to everybody in the village. That was

the richness they had acquired and maintained in life. Shankar Master always came to

stay with his wife in Hubli on Saturday and Sunday, leaving his octogenarian mother

alone at Shishunal. She could stay there fearlessly because of the protection of the

villagers.

Mandakini, Alaknanda and Sharayu were Shankar Master‟s three daughters. They always

thought about their parents, grandmother and each other‟s convenience before their own

convenience. Their family made a homogeneous unit whereas Venkatesh‟s family was

broken into pieces and already had fallen apart.

“Their family had everything but there was no intimacy between the four of them. They

lived, worked and went out together ------it was mechanical. During every social event

Shanta would whine, „I really don‟t want to go. I really don‟t like the food they eat or the

way they dress, but we have to. Otherwise, our hosts would think that we are rude.‟ But

when Shanta met the host at the event, she would smile brightly and say, „Heartiest

congratulations on your new home. You have built a palace! And of course, you are

looking stunning today!”20 Thus the two contrastive families in the setting explained the

core subject matter of the novella with the mutual help.

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Sudha Murty in all works used either America or England as one of the contradictory

settings to Indian setting. Ravi went to America to do a course in computer sciences.

America taught him to think of money first and foremost. He accepted his mother‟s

proposal to marry Pinki simply because money mattered more than man to him.

Sudha Murty is a social worker basically. She has seen the extreme poverty in the

Adivasi regions of Nilgiri hills. She has also seen the richest zones in India and America.

It has deep bearing on her writing. The blinding forces of capitalism and the life of close

concerns in villages are woven together by Murty to show the eroding effects of

emerging capitalism on Indian society.

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 MUKESH

This novella shows three different faces of mother. Nirmala had a shamelessly masked

face. Rupinder possessed a fatally helpless face where as Sumati‟s face was

compassionate and benevolent. Mukesh came across these faces in his journey towards

finding his mother.

Brief Story of the Novella

Mukesh is a story of a relentless search of a son for his missing mother. Mukesh was born

of a premarital sex between Nirmala and Anand. Public idea of personal shame and

family dignity forced her to disown him immediately after his birth. He was brought up

by Rupinder as her own child. When the poverty compelled her to forsake the child in

Jalana, Sumati tended him and transformed him into a renowned business.

The first important theme of the novel is the repression and victimization of female

sex in Indian circumstances. Girls and women in India are taken for granted. They are

prevented from exercising individual freedom and keeping independent identity. They are

solely blamed for the birth of a child through illicit sexual relations before marriage.

Fragile concepts of family honour are built on the chastity of women folk only.

Nirmala had secretly kept sexual contacts with her mathematics teacher Anand. It

resulted into her pregnancy before her marriage. Men who had constructed the dictum of

ethics declared her immoral. They tried to terminate her pregnancy. When it looked

dangerous, they segregated her from public eye in an isolated place two hundred

kilometers from their residence. She was also forced to do away with the child

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immediately after its birth. “After a few days he told his wife, „I have made all the

arrangements. My cousin has an isolated farm house two hundred kilometers from here.

But he lives in Bombay. I have talked to him and told him that Nirmala is unwell and

needs a change. So I will send her there with Dulari, but you will stay here with me.

Otherwise people will start doubting our story. Please tell Dulari about my instructions. I

don‟t care if Nirmala gives birth to a boy or girl. The child should be given away or left

there. Nirmala must come back alone.”21 Nobody thought about her desires and

expectations during her pregnancy. The honour of the parents was thought to be more

important than physical and psychological condition of Niramala. Real culprit Anand

however escaped punishment simply because he was a man. Gudiya in Namita Gokhale‟s

Gods, Graves and Grandmother got fell in love with Kaliki and got married with him

without the prior consent of her guardian Phoolwali. She had a series of misfortunes with

her husband later on. She was thrown out of house after her husband noticed her

pregnancy. She had helped Kalaki to pursue his interests with the money she had saved

for her child. Nothing worked in favour of cordial relations.

The same Nirmala had to keep away from openly acknowledging her son in the

minister‟s bungalow. Mukesh approached her in minister‟s house. Even when she felt

sympathy for Mukesh she was helpless. She had to maintain the masked dignity of her

minister husband. She had to keep the secret at the cost of her own happiness.

Rupinder is one more victim of male constructed social code of ethics. She could not

conceive after the death of her first child. Though infertility was a result of deficiencies in

her drunkard husband, she was held responsible for her barrenness. She brought

Nirmala‟s child Mukesh from Amritsar to Jalana. Nobody questioned her about the child

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because it was a male child. Had it been a girl child, her in laws would not have accepted

the child and Rupinder in their house.

Indian women are expected to submit their entire being to their men. It was not their fault

that Nirmala and Rupinder had to hide reality from the world. Traditions and customs

expected them to do so. Debeauvoir blamed woman for her condition in the following

words. “The truth is that woman‟s situation is out of equilibrium…that woman sees

herself and makes her choices not in accordance with her true nature in itself but as man

defines her.” 22

Novella showed a deplorable condition of an unwed mother in Indian social fabric. There

were innumerable restrictions on a female sex right from her birth to her death in India.

She was not allowed any sort of freedom of expression of her feelings and emotions.

Ironical part of her life was that she was not allowed to say the things about men that men

said about them. Result of such discriminatory treatment given to her was that man was

never punished for the same offence. He was exempted from the consequences of their

daredevil attitude.

Mukesh was born of Nirmala when she had premarital sex for amusement with her

mathematics teacher, Anand. Generally, birth of a child particularly a male child is a

moment for domestic celebrations. But Nirmala was segregated from the family till her

delivery. She had to throw the baby on the steps of the temple secretly. Rupinder picked

the baby from there and brought it to Jalana as her own child.

Social customs and traditions were said to originate and develop for the overall good of

the individual in society. Their purpose was always benevolent at the root. But when the

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same customs and traditions were manipulated by a handful of people with vested

interests, weak persons in the system suffered. The conventions gained upper hand they

transform honest people into rogues. It is noticeable that Nirmala had to disown her baby

and Rupinder had to own somebody‟s baby as her own in order to maintain the family

customs. Simon de Beauvoir stated, “If woman appears to be inessential, which never

becomes the essential, it is because she herself fails to bring about this change.”23

Hypocrisy reigned in all affairs in Indian domestic life. Nirmala‟s father could arrange to

marry off his spoiled daughter with a minister because he had money and accompanying

shamelessness whereas chaste Rupinder had to play with social sentiments by spreading

the false information of a child birth. Neither Nirmala nor Rupinder wanted to do it

willingly. They were rather forced to play their roles against their wishes. “Finally

Rupinder lifted her head and said, „Munna, you are my son. You are a part of my heart,

even today. That‟s the truth. But your father did not feel the same way and so it became

easy for him to leave you.”24

Anand and Surinder escaped their deeds without any social stigma. Anand was away

from Amritsar after the revelation of Nirmala‟s pregnancy and never was in picture again.

The culprit escaped the punishment and innocent Nirmala had to keep low profile

throughout her life. Rupinder‟s husband Surinder was a drunkard and physically impotent

to cause her pregnancy. But sufferer of his inability was innocent Rupinder. Thus the

social practices are based on the injustice to and discrimination against women

The second important theme of the novella is the tenderness of hearts of Indian

mothers even in the face of globalization. Though there are three major women with

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three different characteristick features, they all have mother‟s heart. Though Nirmala was

compelled to give up her newborn, she carefully handed over it to Rupinder because she

was the only lady in the area who could breastfeed him. “She cried and touched his feet,

„Beta, please forgive me. I didn‟t know how a child was born and I brought you into this

world in my ignorance. I don‟t know what your future holds, but I just can‟t leave you

somewhere to die of hunger or cold. Rupinder is a nice woman. At the very least, she will

ensure your survival and you won‟t grow up as an illegitimate child.”25This showed

Nirmala‟s inner urge to safeguard the child from future troubles.

Rupinder also possessed a divine heart of mother for Mukesh. She looked after him in

spite of her grinding poverty without disclosing his real identity to anybody. Rupinder

handed over Mukesh to Sumati without telling her who he really was. “She said, „Sumati,

this is the only gift my parents gave me when I was married. I don‟t have any money to

give, but this must always be with Munna. Don‟t ever tell him about me, unless it is a

matter of life and death.”26

Sumati was a gem of a person. She not only adopted him in her family, she helped him

create a special place for himself in the world. She spent her hard earned money for his

education, marriage and business without grumbling against his real status. She accepted

her husband‟s death will in which Mukesh was allotted an equal share in property. The

will read, “The coffee plantation in Coorg, the house in Delhi, the other residence in

Bangalore and the business goes to Munna”27All this showed Suamti‟s greatness as

mother.

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Mukesh was grateful to all the three „mothers‟. He came to know that his biological

mother was a prey to social conspiracy against women in India. His second „mother‟

played a role of „Yashoda‟ in bringing him up. Third „mother‟ Sumati acquired a pious

place of Goddess Mother in his heart for her compassionate considerations and willing

sacrifices in life. Sumati had been a friend, philosopher and guide to him all through his

life. Mukesh sympathetically understood the inevitability and significance of their roles

in proper perspectives. He offered financial assistance and moral support to Rupinder

CHARACTERIZATION

Mukesh and Rupinder are the two significant characters in this novella. Though there are

other characters like Sumati, Nirmala, Vasanthi, Rao Saheb, Surinder and Neeraja, they

had a marginal role to play in the action of the novella. Rao Saheb and Surinder appeared

posthumously. Vasanthi for some obscure reasons does not appear after the first two

small sections. Nirmala is dumb and so has no significant role and did not develop as a

separate character. Life story of Mukesh is gradually revealed through flashback

glimpses.

Mukesh

We come across Mukesh first time when he was on a business trip to Europe with his

wife Vasanthi. The writer described him as, “Mukesh‟s parents wanted him to join the

family business, but he did not. They were surprised when he had studied history,

language and art and had become a programme executive at BBC London, where he was
28
responsible for covering India‟s culture and heritage section.” This description brought

forth the academic and career aptitude of Mukesh.

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Mukesh was the most considerate person. equally good to them all. When Neerja‟s

husband objected to his share in Rao Saheb‟s property by rejecting his right to heir, he

willingly offered fifty percent of his share to Neerja. “Satish thought that Appa had

divided the assets unfairly. Gently, Mukesh told him, „Neeru and I are family and it does

not matter who gets more. I‟ll give half of whatever Appa gave me to Neeru. Let‟s not

inconvenience Amma in any way.” 29

Mukesh was a victim of Indian social customs and traditions which he did not know till

the time Rao Saheb‟s death-will brought it to light. Mukesh was born of an illicit sexual

intercourse between Nirmala and her tutor Anand before her marriage. Mukesh was

destined to wander from one place to another after his birth.

The outcaste Mukesh suffered unexpected turns to his life from the time of his birth. He

was placed on the temple steps by his own mother immediately after his birth. He

survived it. Later on Rupinder brought him up as a child and one day his family forced

her to hand him over to poverty stricken Sumati. He not only survived destructive forces

of life but also became a famous entrepreneur. Thus he was an instrument in the hands of

invisible mighty forces for ever.

Mukesh possessed an extraordinary sense of justice. Even when he came to know the

reality of his life, he did not blame Sumati or Rao Saheb for not disclosing it to him. He

did not get wild with them. His meeting with Rupinder was also filled with ample filial

emotions. He did not pass strictures against her because he knew about the strong

clutches of orthodoxy thinking in India that worked against her. On the contrary, he was

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thankful to her for looking after him during difficult times. The same Mukesh was

terribly disturbed by the riches of a debaucher Nirmala.

Sudha Murty is fond of putting Indian epical stories in the background of her writing.

Though Mukesh could be compared with Karna in Mahabharata, Mukesh stood out as a

better son for his mother. Unlike Karna, he did not shout at his mother. A troubled soul of

a son in procuring his mother can be vividly seen in his attempts to find her. He went

from pole to post in search of his real mother. Though he had been shocked to find a

comfortably cozy position of his mother in minister‟s bungalow, he could read agnostic

helplessness on her face.

He was overwhelmed by the role that Rupinder‟s sacrifice played in his life. He trudged

the untrodden paths of Punjab in order to find out his guardian mother Rupinder. He was

filled with a sense of responsibility to her. he offered to send her money regularly to

make her life little easy. He told Rupinder, “I‟ll send you money every month so that you

don‟t have to cook for someone else. Please don‟t worry. The money I will send you is

my hard earned money from London. I‟ll also talk to Gurpreet and buy a small house in

Amritsar so that you can visit the gurudwara every day.” 30

Rupinder

Rupinder is another significant character of this novella. There are three mother figures in

this novella. Nirmala was a biological and anatomical mother of Mukesh. Rupinder

adopted him from day one and selflessly looked after him as her own son during his

childhood. Sumati accepted him from Rupinder with a philanthropic mission to bring him

up as her own. Mother is one whose conscience pricks with every wrong she does to her

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child. Nirmala‟s conscience did not prick even once after she discarded her child at the

temple. So she can not be called mother in real sense.

Rupinder was the only person who suffered through out due to the severance of her ties

with Mukesh. Though he did not possess her DNA in his blood, Rupinder had reared him

from the time of his birth. The very fact that she had taken his photograph before handing

him over to Sumati showed her concern for his future. She informed him, “Beta, for

several years, I remembered you every single day. I wanted to leave everything and come
31
to see you. And yet, I could not do anything.” This statement showed her passionate

desire to be with him.

Rupinder worked as a house maid after her marriage with Surinder in Jalana. In spite of

poverty, Rupinder handed over a gold chain along with her Munna to Sumati before her

departure from Jalana. This showed that she was optimistic about their meeting in future.

As said earlier, Nirmala was happy to get rid of her baby where as Rupinder‟s conscience

pricked while leaving Mukesh. That is why, Rupinder became his mother. Gold chain

was precious to her; it meant a lot for poverty stricken Rupinder, It could have been

useful to her in difficult times in future. Yet she gave it to Munna because his memory

was more precious to her than her needs. Rupinder‟s husband wanted to leave Mukesh at

the Gurudwara orphanage as he had become a load to him. But Rupinder left him with

Sumati because she knew that her Mukesh would be properly attended to by Sumati

alone. She told Sumati, “Sumati, today may be our last meeting. I don‟t know whether I

am doing right or wrong, but I am giving my dear baby to you. I have a bad mother in

law, an alcoholic husband and a bickering family. Munna does not have any future with

us. It‟s better that he stays with you.” 32

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Rupinder donated food to two orphans on Buddha Purnima at Harminder Sahib every

year. This gesture suggested her unflinching attachment to Munna. Poverty and resultant

life of humiliation accompanied her from Jalna to Amritsar. It however did not deter her

from keeping Munna‟s memories alive in her heart. This showed that her entire life was

guided by the thought of Munna, who was a driving force of her life. Her troubled

existence was directly connected with her thought about Munna.

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE

Use of Suspense

Mukesh is a long suspense story with the elements of shock, surprise, secret, mystery and

doubt. Nirmala abandoned her baby immediately after its birth. The baby changed hand

from Rupinder to Sumati and became a successful entrepreneur in Bangalore. Revelation

that his real parents were unknown disturbed him so much that he set on a mission to find

them out. This story is narrated with shocks and suspense by Sudha Murty in this novella.

Rao Saheb‟s family always celebrated two separate days as Mukesh‟s birth days, first it

was the first day of year and second it was Buddha Pournima. Secret behind two separate

celebrations was known to Sumati and Rao Saheb only. Though this is referred to in the

beginning of the novella, its reason is revealed in the later part.

The element of shock can be seen from the opening of the story. Mukesh was on a trip to

enchanting Switzerland with his wife Vasanthi. Suddenly their happiness changed to

unexpected directions with the news of Rao Saheb‟s heart attack from India. He was torn

223
between his duty to his hospitalized wife in Europe and his duty to attend to his father in

India. The writer has been able to extend the tension till the end of the story.

Mukesh was shocked to know that Rao Saheb and Sumati were not his real parents. They

had accepted to bring him up in his childhood. There is an element of mystery in this

episode. Time he settled in life became the time of his restlessness. He realized that life

was not an easy bed of roses always.

Story took unexpected turn when Rupinder told Mukesh about her role in his life. It was a

shock for him to hear that even Rupinder was not his real mother. She was just a

caretaker. Tremors of shock did not end there. He was devastated to know that the lady

who had given him birth was in reality a fallen girl who had conceived him before her

marriage. She was leading a shamelessly carefree life in the palatial flat of minister when

his caretaker mother led a life of destitution.

Sudha Murty has also used irony as a powerful narrative device in this novella.

Horoscopes of Mukesh and Vasanthi were scrutinized before finalizing their marriage.

They could get married only when their horoscopes matched. Ironical element of this

match making was that no body knew the exact time of Mukesh‟s birth. Secondly, people

believed that Mukesh and Vasanthi belonged to the same caste. In reality no one knew

the exact caste of a mathematics teacher, his biological father. Sudha Murty has always

mocked the concept of horoscope matching in marriage in all her works. She has shown

the futility of such traditions in this novella as well.

Suspense story raised questions, disposes some of them and leaves some to the readers‟

imaginations. Nobody knew about the future of Mukesh, whether he would continue to

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live with Sumati, whether he would bring Rupinder to his fold, whether Mukesh and

Neeraja would continue to look at each other as brother and sister even after the

disclosure. Beauty of the story lay in continuous creation of curiosity. Untold part of the

story is therefore more enchanting than the told one.

Narrative Flaws

There are some weaknesses in the narrative style of this novella. Woman in Indian

circumstances has a personality of epic dimensions. Mother is a Goddess incarnate in our

culture. Story of mother can not be wound within a span of hundred pages. SM has

chosen an extraordinary theme of sacrifice but could not do full justice to it. As a result

when we finish the reading of the Novella, our thoughts move around Mukesh and not

around mother. His journey from south India to north India denoted his earnest desire to

meet his real mother. But the „mother‟ element in it remained sidelined.

The novella opened with Mukesh and Vasanthi in Lausanne in Switzerland. Surprisingly,

writer did not return to this location overtly or by implication. Neither Vasanthi nor

Europe appeared in Mukesh‟s life ever after. Writer did not seem to have any purpose in

including her character in the novella. Novella as a result seemed episodic rather than an

integrated whole of writing.

There are many characters and incidents in the novella which do not actually contribute

to the action of the work. She could not provide a convincing link between the characters

and episodes to suit the characterization and plot construction of the story. It went away

from the concentrated effect of the work. Vasanthi, Neeraja, John and even Sumati have

marginal roles to play. News of Rao Saheb‟s death disturbed Mukesh. But it did not have

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extended reference in the work later. Rao Saheb adopted Mukesh as his son, started an

export company on his name and nominated him for a considerable portion of his

property. In spite of all these gestures, he did not appear in person in the story.

Mukesh entered minister‟s home without much interrogation from the security agencies.

This is improbable. This gives birth to many questions and queries. Conversation

between „mother‟ and „son‟ there ended with in half an hour. One expected him to be

wild with her. Reader expected a heated discussion between the two but nothing of this

sort took place.

Writer is expected to use tales, anecdotes, allusions, metaphors, allegories, background

and foreground references in order to make the work engrossing. Sudha Murty did not

use any of these. Naturally her work became a monotonous list of events and happenings

with unilateral meaning.

SETTING

Most of the action of this novella took place in the outskirts of Bangalore and Amritsar.

Though the story opened in Lausanne, a Swiss city in Europe, it did not have much to do

with the development of the plot later. There were two important events in the life of a

protagonist. First his undesirable birth, his redemption by his own mother Nirmala and

his adoption by Rupinder happened in Amritsar. Second is Mukesh‟s transfer from

Rupinder to Sumati and his nurturing by Saheb‟s family. This happened in Banglore.

It is assumed that setting should adequately support the theme and character development

of the story. Indian parents can never accept their daughter‟s pregnancy before her

marriage. There are cases in which such girls are inhumanly treated to terminate
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pregnancy. Sometimes it has resulted into honour killing. Nirmala fortunately escaped the

death but she could not keep her baby with her.

Rupinder could not conceive after the death of her first child. It became a sole reason of

her harassment in the family. She was forced to „produce‟ a child. She got abandoned

Mukesh at Amritsar which brought her some reputation. Such orthodoxy and hypocrisy

could exist only in the orthodox societies. Decision regarding love, marriage and child is

a matter of public publicity. Nirmala. Rupinder and Sumati can be found in traditional

societies. That was how this setting suited the theme of the novella.

If we compare two Indian places Bangalore and Amritsar with a Swiss place Lausanne

we find a striking difference in people‟s attitude to life. Vasanthi was a totally different

girl in Europe. “She was wearing appropriate winter gear along with a pink headband,

pink gloves and a pink jacket. She was so good that nobody would ever guess that she‟d

grown up in Mysore in conservative family that discouraged girls from participating in

sports.” 33Mukesh left injured Vasanthi to the care of his friend John. This was not easily

possible in India.

Locale of action in Indian English Literature may differ. But the orthodox customs and

conventions always set the overall ambience of the novels. People‟s ideas about human

relations occupy all the works. Psychological upheavals based on social, economical and

cultural considerations guide the major events of the work. That is why one is tempted to

say that internal operations of human mind is the real setting of the novel.

Nirmala‟s parents could not bear their daughter‟s premarital pregnancy, Rupinder‟s

parent in laws derided Rupinder for her inability to deliver a male heir. Sumati had to

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continuously hide Mukesh‟s identity. All this could happen only in orthodox rural setting

only.

SUMMARY

Mukesh narrated a story of an outcaste who was terribly disturbed by the story of his

birth. His restless striving in search of his mother changed his view of life. The story

threw light on the duel yardsticks that Indians used for men and women. The prestige of

the family was related to the chastity of female sex when it should be related to all

culprits. Rupinder, Sumati and Nirmala represented different roles that men assigned to

the women in India. Mukesh stood out as a dutiful „son‟ to all the three mothers in his

life.

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 REFERENCES

1) Murty, Sudha. The Mother I Never Knew. New Delhi, Penguin Books India. 2014.

P.101

2) Ibid. P. 53.

3) Ibid. P. 94.

4) Ibid. P. 14.

5) Hurlock, E. B. Developmental Psychology: Life Span Approach. New Delhi, Tata

McGraw Hill, 1981 P. 307.

6) Murty, Sudha. The Mother I Never Knew. New Delhi, Penguin Books India. 2014. P.

84.

7) Ibid. P. 107.

8) Ibid. P. 64.

9) Ibid. P. 75.

10) Beauvoir, Simon de. (tr.) The Second Sex. Harmondworth, Penguin Books. 1981 P.

19.

11) Murty, Sudha. The Mother I Never Knew. New Delhi, Penguin Books India. 2014 P.

24.

12) Ibid. P. 106.

13) Ibid. P. 13.

14) Ibid. P. 21.

15) Abraham M. H. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New Delhi, Cengage Learning, 2012.

P. 23.

229
16) Murty Sudha. The Mother I Never Knew. New Delhi, Penguin Books India, 2014 P.

23.

17) Ibid. P. 15.

18) Ibid. P. 55.

19) Ibid. P. 52.

20) Ibid. P. 50.

21) Ibid. P. 187/8

22) Beauvoir, Simon de. (tr.) The Second Sex. Harmondworth, Penguin Books. 1981 P.

23

23) Murty, Sudha. The Mother I Never Knew. New Delhi, Penguin Books India, 2014 P.

18.

24) Ibid. P. 177.

25) Ibid. P. 190.

26) Ibid. P. 155.

27) Ibid. P. 134.

28) Ibid. P. 118.

29) Ibid. P. 136.

30) Ibid. P. 193.

31) Ibid. P. 177.

32) Ibid. P. 155.

33) Ibid. P. 118/9.

230