E content for B.A.

3rd , English Litt, Paper 2nd ,

(Indian English Literature

Character of Nanda Kaul

As the novels opens we see, Nanda Kaul, is sketched to be an aged women
standing under the pine trees at Carignano, her home on the ridge, her hill-top
house on Kasauli. She is aged but still very beautiful, self-consciously graceful and
straight in her bearing. Carignano is apparently a barren place; it is precisely this
barrenness that appeals to Nanda Kaul probably because of its resemblance to her
own barren life. The starkness of the Kasauli range, along with its rocks, and pines,
its light and air, with its vast expanse and sweeping view towards the Northern
peaks and the Southern plains pleases the old lady.

At this stage of her life she seems to want nothing more. She, however, is not
pleased with the seen in her garden, where the bird-mother feeds her nestling.
Their shrill screams seem maddening to her. Perhaps, it brings back unpleasant
memories. She turns back to the opposite direction and walks to the topmost point
of her garden. Thus, the very first chapter introduces the keynote of the novel, and
simultaneously let’s loses a number of ideas which will be gradually crystallized in
course of the novel.

She was, once, the wife of the Vice Chancellor of Punjab University. The house
was always crowded with children, grandchildren, guests and responsibilities and
she was always at the centre of them and led a very busy life by catering to the
needs of everyone around her. To the eyes of the outside world, Nanda had a
splendid life, but in reality, she led a meaningless and unsatisfying life where she
failed to get mentally involved with anything or even to her own children.

Though Nanda Kaul was blessed with prosperity, children, husband, status etc but
she had extremely busy and tight schedule. She had children and grand children,
servants and guests, all restlessly surging , clamouring about her.

The social reputation she acquired, being the spouse of a dignitary, never helped
her to enjoy life as all she experienced loneliness and neglection. The vice-
chancellor had a bootleg courting with any other female, Miss David . He efforts
to maintain his reputation in the social circles, he demanded Nanda to continue
living with She was used as a mere object or a decorative item needed for the
efficient running of ‘his’ house. He led her life as he wanted her to live. Nanda,
even though burning from inside, suppressed her frustration and anger by leading a
mechanical life devoid of emotions. This is the cause why she have been very glad
to depart the whole thing after vice chancellor’s dying. She felt loose from all of
the clutches of members of the family and the residence as she become in no way
attached to them. Throughout the novel, we see that on every occasion Nanda
mentions the residence she lived in ealier, she usually termed it as ‘vice
chancellor’s house’. This implies that Nanda had in no way felt any belongingness
to that house.

Like the barrenness of the Carignano lawn and its rocks, Nanda too is empty. The
nature that surrounds her tasks her own self that's disadvantaged of emotions. She
experiences a lack of belief in relations and sees her own children as furniture
which gets blurred by the passage of time. According to the mindset of Nanda,
something else getting into her global could “be an unwelcome intrusion” and
distraction, despite the fact that it is a postman, a cellphone call, Raka or ila das.
Right here, we see how the conflict of her thoughts has succeeded in developing a
barrier towards the relations and realities outdoor Carignano.

With a view to make Nanda kaul confront the reality, Anita Desai invited Raka to
her life. Raka is the extraordinary-granddaughter of Nanda kaul. Nanda’s daughter
Asha and Asha’s daughter Tara are passive characters who seem most effective
through letters. Tara is Raka’s mother who's stuck inside the same situation as
Nanda and assumes a passive function to her husband. Tara is a sufferer of bodily
abuse from her husband and this, in turn, causes trauma in Tara’s and Raka’s lives.
Here, Anita Desai attempts to mirror how a girl is meant to suffer the whole lot and
remain a mute victim to the brutalities of her husband and father

She points out the lifestyles of a hard and fast of pointers for a lady that is scripted
with the aid of society even earlier than her arrival at the stage. In this case, ladies
regularly grow to be the girl’s enemy. Tara’s mother, Asha, attributes Tara’s
misfortune to her inability to understand men and to be a a success spouse. This
annoying enjoy of witnessing the chaotic lifestyles of her mother makes her
develop a reclusive behaviour and he or she refuses to get near any person. She
isn't a child who's interested by the warm temperature of members of the family
and the organisation of the outside international. The most effective element she
ever desired changed into “to be left alone and pursue her very own secret life
among the rocks and pines of Kasauli”. At some stage in the unconventional,
“secrecy” and raka move hand in hand. Her inner self doesn’t get found out a
whole lot besides in a situation wherein she happens to witness a crazy birthday
party and the weird looking costumes of the human beings make her remind of her
father and his behaviour.
Nanda’s mask starts falling off as she desires to penetrate to Raka’s secret
international. Till now, she remained aloof from Raka as she became afraid to go
into a infant’s international which may betray her. She believed that each
attachment offers a “preface to a brand new betray and all socialization as fake”.
At this juncture, we come to recognise that the so-called “withdrawal” of Nanda
Kaul was in reality, forced seclusion.

Nanda Kaul herself was a lover of Nature. She wanted to preserve the serenity of
Nature.Her love for nature inspired her to renounce her family and comforts and to
come to Kasauli.
Nanda Kaul had deep love for the suffering humanity. She helped her childhood
friend , Ila , in several different ways.
Nanda kaul was tired of nimiety , of property and abundance. That’s why she
renounced the world after discharging her duties to her husband and family.
Nanda Kaul was not rigid of mind; she was dynamic and humane too.

Reference-
1 Anita Desai Fire on the Mountain by Dr Prem Sagar and Raka Varshney
2. Anita Desai Fire on the mountain A critical study by Vinay
3. Anita Desai Fire on the Mountain Critical study by Shakti Batra
4. web sources