LITERARY MISCELLANY

VOL. 6, NO. 2, JUL-DEC 2017

The Other Side of This/That:

A Study of Rama Mehta’s
Inside the Haveli in the Postcolonial Context
VANDANA RAJORIYA
Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, India

ABSTRACT

Balance and harmony are the essential elements of a peaceful

and meaningful existence but sadly enough our modern life is
about everything else but balance and harmony; the chaos and
confusion which is in the air everywhere, be it the east or the
west, about the future of our race is a testimony to it. Thanks
to the philosophy of binary opposition one of the postcolonial
myths we have chosen to believe in is that it can either be there
way or ours i.e. it can either be the east or the west, it can
either be the good or the bad or for that matter it can either be
the light or the darkness. We have chosen to ignore the fact
that as good and bad, light and darkness are complementary
to each other so the east and the west might also be
complementary to each other and that it is good in many ways
that now we are moving towards a culture which is a
homogeneous blend of the two. Rama Mehta like all the
novelists of her age too was concerned with the question as to
what is the fate of the postcolonial India. Her novels are her
answers to the question. In her, we find the ideas of colonial
education and influence and native tradition and learning, the
ideas of tradition and modernity rather than waging a war to
claim superiority over one another come out as complimentary
to each other; enabling to establish a balance and harmony in
life in the changing scenario. This paper is an attempt to find
answers to the problem of our postcolonial predicament with
reference to her novel Inside the Haveli.
RAMA MEHTA’S INSIDE THE HAVELI 85

Keywords: Colonial impact, modernity, postcolonial, English

education, tradition, culture

Rama Mehta is one of those enlightened Indian Novelists who

shedding all the previous notions of colonialism associated with
the English Language, freeing it of the “colonial hangover” have
adopted it as their mode of communication or expression not to
confirm or negate the colonial or the post-colonial authority but
to give voice to their own original unbiased and unaffected
Indian sensibility in the modern context; R. K. Narayan, Mulk
Raj Anand, Girish Karnad and Manoj Das being the other
important voices in this regard. As in R. K. Narayan so in Rama
Mehta the expression of the Indianness carries with it the
innocence and freshness like that of a child which more than
anything else arrests our attention through its simplicity, magic
and charm. While in R. K. Narayan the encounter with the west
in the form of English education is depicted with the natural
confusion of the first witnesses of the change; in Rama Mehta the
response is that of the settled mature sensibility an obvious result
of the experience, empathy, awareness and understanding
afforded through the journey of time. While in R. K. Narayan the
ideas of Indian tradition and modernity i.e. access to English
education and way of life invite curious but satirical response; in
Rama Mehta they rather than waging a war to claim superiority
over one another come out as complimentary to each other;
enabling to establish a balance and harmony in the contemporary
Indian life in the changing scenario. Inside the Haveli is her best-
acclaimed novel which when published not only impressed the
elite but all and also won the prestigious Sahitya academy award
for its noble ideas, presentation, craft and concerns.
Placed within multiple frames of sociology, history and
aesthetics Rama Mehta’s Inside the Haveli offers us an
understanding of History, Culture, traditions, lifestyles and
gender politics of Rajasthan in the changing scenario and the
change here is the change for good which comes not suddenly
but slowly and softly as a result of the dedicated efforts of not
only the protagonist of the novel but also all the other characters
of the novel. As the narrative opens through the bastioned walls,
86 VANDANA RAJORIYA

four gateways, palaces and Haveli’s we are transported into the

life and world of people of the “old city” of Udaipur. The
township outside the “old city” and the havelis and gullies inside
present a contrast between the modern and the traditional ways of
life. The new city is representative of the modern life with people
who are under the colonial hangover cherishing their rose
gardens and secluded alien ways of living:

In the new town, the rich and poor are separated by the rose
gardens; they don’t know each other; they live separate lives. The
only thing common between them seems tarmac road, on which the
poor too have the right to walk. (Mehta 1996: 5)

The old city is representative of the unadulterated traditional way

of life with all its age-old values and customs, rituals and
tradition and the social culture somehow magically preserved and
therefore untouched and uninfluenced by everything that is
colonial because of the conviction and committedness of the
inhabitants inside. While in the new city the rich and the poor
share nothing except the tarmac road on which both of them walk
indifferently of each other’s presence; in the old city the rich and
the poor share the sorrows and pains, happiness and joys of one
another standing together through them all by the way of their
pre-defined roles and traditional code of conducts. The rich
people in the old city are never short of helping hands and the
poor people, unlike the new one, are never left helpless and alone
in their struggles rather they too have the rich standing by their
side helping them through their struggles and pains.
Time never remains the same and change is the law of nature
and therefore after the loss of the glory of the days of Maharajas
rule, which people of the old city cherish memories of, as the
narrative opens we find them exposed to the foreign influence. In
the haveli of Sangram Singhji in the old city, we find it in the
form of our main protagonist, Geeta, the daughter-in-law of
Sangram Singh. Geeta as we first find her to be is an English-
educated girl from Bombay open to new ideas and modern way
of life and completely unaware of the customs and traditions of
the great Rajwadas and their culture. English education for Geeta
RAMA MEHTA’S INSIDE THE HAVELI 87

has not made her reactionary and revolting in nature but sensible,
patient and mature and therefore as the narrative opens we find
her to be struggling hard to adjust to the alien ways of life she
has been put into trying hard to understand the purdah system,
learn the rituals and codes of conducts with the help of her
mother in law, Pari (the senior maid) and others.
As already discussed earlier in Rama Mehta tradition and
modernity rather than waging war against one another come out
to be complementary in nature and therefore in the novel we find
Geeta to be relying on the maid Dhapu who not only trains her
about how to carry on well with elders and seniors, men and
women of the haveli and the outsiders but also about how to get
approval for her distinct desires and ambition alien to the
inhabitants of the haveli. Through Dhapu Geeta gets to know
about how to live in conformity to the pardah but at the same
time pursue her own little joys and desires intelligently by being
calm and patient rather than inviting tension and resistance by
being harsh, arrogant and revolting.
As the narrative proceeds the detailed accounts of the life and
situations of the haveli with its separate sections for men and
women, its strict pardah system, with the festivities and rituals,
extravagant celebrations and mirth, detailed systems of mourning
and so on shock and amuses us all at the same time. We start
imagining about the two distinct worlds existing under the same
roof, Geeta’s world representing the modern values and the
haveli people representing the traditional ones. Geeta’s adventure
of trespassing into the men’s apartment to fulfill her curiosity
about how ‘the men lived in men’s apartment and where her
husband relaxed after coming back from the university during the
daytime’ when caught red handed by Pari, the senior maid makes
us chuckle but at the same time feel sad about her innocent spirit
and the contrasting system of life destiny has put her into.
Rama Mehta unlike many other contemporary Indian
novelists like Shashi Deshpande and others, who draw upon their
characters especially in relation to the old system of pardah
completely on the angels and demons theme, understands the true
face of humanity and therefore we find her characters in Inside
the Haveli to be the natural harbingers of the human follies like
88 VANDANA RAJORIYA

jealousy, greed, ego and the like but at the same time feasible and
fallible human beings full of the milk of the human kindness in
their hearts all at the same time. Very much unlike the usual
“angels or demons” i.e. “good or bad” pattern of characterisation
in the novels of similar themes, the generosity and bounty of the
realistic characters of Inside the Haveli, who although inhibiting
their own share of the natural flaws of common human beings in
them too, don’t turn out to be either good or bad rather true and
lifelike and impress us time and again through the narrative. To
illustrate the point further it is worth our while to take the
character of Bhagwat Singhji’s wife known as Kanwarani Sa;
Geeta’s Mother-in-law in the novel into consideration. While
Kanwarani Sa is very strict about the observance of the codes of
conducts, traditions, rules and rituals of the haveli, we find her
selecting, not a traditional Rajasthani bride for his only son, but
an educated Bombay girl Geeta so as to match the interests of her
son. While she is lenient to Geeta wherever possible she makes
sure that Geeta strictly follows the traditions, rules and rituals
especially in front of others. So when they are to celebrate the
birth of Geeta’s first daughter, Vijay, we find her to be telling
Geeta to keep her face covered and not to talk too much with her
younger cousins-in-law during the ceremony:

‘Binniji,’ she said gently but firmly, ‘keep your face covered; by
now you should be able to move around without uncovering your
face.’ Then, after a brief pause, as if to give emphasis to her words,
she said, ‘Do not talk too much to your younger cousins – in – law,
it’s not becoming. You know, the women are critical because you
are still clumsy. I want to show them that even an educated girl can
be moulded. (Mehta 1996: 30)

During the course of the novel we come to know that the name
and respect of the haveli matters the most to Kanwarani Sa and
for it; she is ready to anything and therefore in spite of the
awareness of the difficulties of Geeta in getting along well with
the rituals and customs she still insists on her observing them all.
Her true love and care for her daughter-in-law show itself up
when realising that it is difficult for Geeta to eat properly in the
RAMA MEHTA’S INSIDE THE HAVELI 89

mass gathering she arranges her food be sent upstairs in her

room:

‘Binniji,’ said Bhagwat Singhji’s wife, getting up, ‘I know you

don’t eat properly when there is confusion around you. As soon as
the women sit down to eat, you come upstairs. I will have your
thali sent up. Wait till Dhapu comes to put on the rest of the
jewellery,’ she said lightly shutting the door behind her. (Mehta
1996: 31)

Although initially, she is angry with Geeta for directly speaking

to her father-in-law for beginning the classes for girls and not
asking her first, she supports her in conducting the classes in her
own important ways. When Nandu and Manji, the relatives,
come to her complaining about the classes Geeta is providing to
poor girls and maids of different haveli’s, she acts sensibly and
bears with all the embarrassment but says nothing to Geeta.
When Geeta herself seeks an apology and offers to close the
classes down she reassures her very kindly. Let us take the
conversation between the two into consideration for further
appreciation:

Then, in a soft, loving voice she said, ‘Binniji, don’t let Nandu Bai
Sa upset you. She is just worked up because her maids are
disgruntled. She has always been a bit of a miser,’
Bhabhi, it’s all my fault, please forgive me. I should never have
permitted the girls to join the classes; from tomorrow I will tell
them not to come,’ said Geeta with sincerety.
‘You will not do that. Once your father-in-law gives his approval to
something them I am not afraid of what the world says,’ said
Bhagwat Singhji’s wife forcefully. Geeta just lowered her head.
She did not know what to say in reply. (Mehta 1996: 173)

Further, when Kanwarani Sa comes to know that Ajay, her son,

has been offered a big job in Delhi, she comes and speaks to
Geeta about it. She is aware of the fact that her son will sacrifice
his happiness rather than cause even a moment’s pain to them
and therefore she tells Geeta to make him not to do so. Although
Ajay is her only son and she needs Geeta very much by her side,
90 VANDANA RAJORIYA

but she still tells Geeta not to sacrifice her future and life for the
sake of haveli. She tells her that for her their happiness matters
the most and that she should make Ajay Babu not to refuse the
opportunity life has provided him with:

‘Binniji, listen to me,’ she continued gravely. ‘I want to tell you

that Bapu should not think of us this time. We are old and our work
in the world in over. But you both are young and the future is open
to you. Bapu should not let an opportunity like this pass. I am a
mother, I want to see my children happy and fulfilled. You alone
can make him see this, you must not let him give up something that
will bring him respect and satisfaction. There are times when you
must not think of this haveli. (Mehta 1996: 173-174)

Not that she is caring towards her daughter-in-law but she is full
of motherly affection for almost everyone it is just that the
responsibilities on her shoulders have made her outwardly tough
for others to realise her inherent softness at the first instance. She
cares very much even for the household maids with whom she is
very strict and keeps working, running them on foot throughout
the day. When Lakshmi disappears from the house more than
anyone else it is she who is filled with grief and concern for her.
Hoping against the hope she keeps waiting for her to come back
and keeps trying to locate her whereabouts. Before it also when
Lakshmi was in the haveli and whenever she would find her to be
overworking herself she would tell her to go and take rest as in
the following instance:

‘Leave all the polishing for tomorrow, Lakshmi,’ said Bhagwat

Singhji’s wife coming out of the kitchen. ‘Go and sleep. You have
worked hard all these days, very hard. For the next few days take
rest, or you won’t have enough milk for the child.’ (Mehta 1996:
66)

All the characters in Inside the haveli Geeta, her mother-in-law,

her father-in-law, her husband, the maid Dhapu and others we
find are real men and women with both good and bad, high and
low in them but what matters the most in the novel is that all of
them are willing to forego their individual interests for the sake
RAMA MEHTA’S INSIDE THE HAVELI 91

of tradition and what is important is the tremendous power which

is there in the rituals and which holds them all in one thread.
Rama Mehta is not blindly critical of the traditions values and
codes of conducts and does not reject them as useless and wrong
rather she is aware of the goodness and virtues inside them and
successfully brings them out through her discourse. For instance,
in the novel we find her to be criticising pardah but at the same
time she highlights the virtues of the veil too:

She came to love the veil that hid her face this allowed her to think
while the others talked. To her delight, she had discovered that
through her thin muslin sari, she could see everyone and yet not be
seen by them. (Mehta 1996: 23)

She highlights the importance of festivals and rituals in making

stronger family ties and codes of conducts which keep the
families of Udaipur’s people intact. And as the narrative
progresses we along with the central character Geeta get an
understanding of the true magnificence and grandeur of
traditional Rajasthani culture. While we get to know the
tremendous benefits of this age old culture and its specific code
of conducts at the same time we also come to know about the
various shortcomings involved in it. And as the narrative
progresses we cannot but appreciate Geeta’s effort in arriving at
a harmony with the strange and different mode of life destiny has
put her into without sacrificing her modern values and thinking.
What is significant of Geeta and also of her husband Ajay is that
instead of revolting and acting unintelligently under the sedative
effect of modernity or access to English education, to western
thought and standards they act rationally and not only this but
shedding what we all like to address as the “colonial hangover”
adopt and appreciate with the mature understanding the good and
worthwhile tributes given to them not only by their modern
education but also their traditional way of life and culture:

I don’t want to leave Udaipur now. The haveli has made me a

willing prisoner within its walls. How stupid I was not to see all
that it holds. Where else in the world would I get this kind of love
92 VANDANA RAJORIYA

and concern? The children must grow up here. They must learn to
love and respect this ancient house. (Mehta 1996: 170)

Unlike the inhabitants of the modern society which have

negligible concerns for anyone but themselves, the emotional
bonds and ties between the residents of the haveli are very strong
and almost nothing can break them. Such are the bonds and ties
in the inhabitants of the haveli, no matter whether they are
servants or masters, that when once Geeta scolds her child Vijay
for making a fuss Dahpu, the maid intervenes and takes her away
muttering “Imagine scolding a little child of five for nothing,”
and Geeta cannot do anything but smile at her gesture:

A thin smile hovered round Geeta’s mouth as she sorted out the
vegetables. The only chance for Geeta to discipline Vijay was
when her mother-in-law was away. But even them the maid
pounced on her if she said anything and immediately accused her
of being a heartless mother. (Mehta 1996: 95)

Not only, Vijay, Dhapu cannot see Geeta too upset, so when she
finds her upset when her idea of sending Sita, the daughter of
maid Laxmi to school is disapproved by Pari, the senior maid and
others, she tells her to talk to her father-in-law about it and acts a
mediator between the two (Mehta 1996: 101). Later we find that
Bhagwat Singhji her father-in-law approves the plan. Gradually
Geeta starts understanding the importance of rituals, celebrations,
family ties, kinship and so on:

‘Binniji, Binniji,’ said Ganga as she burst into the room, ‘I got the
red sari and skirt to match I wanted. I don’t have the time to put
them on now and show you. I must go and help Khyali in the
kitchen, he is already screaming.’ Ganga left her bundle next to
Geeta’s bed and bumped into Champa as she left.
‘I also got what I asked for,’ said Champa entering the room. Her
face beamed as if she had the world’s choicest brocades in her
hands.
Geeta was touched by their genuine pleasure, there was nothing
false in their expressions of gratitude. For the first time, she felt
that the celebrations are worth the trouble. (Mehta 1996: 43)
RAMA MEHTA’S INSIDE THE HAVELI 93

When Bhagwat Singhji’s wife sobs at the death of her mother-in-

law and says that she is almost lost without her we realise the
invisible thread of relationships and their bonds and their
strength. And when Bhatianiji, the maid burst out crying in deep
remorse over the death of her mistress Bhabha Sa we are touched
by her emotions and understand the deep inner strength of years
of mutual sharing of happiness and joy so unique to the people of
the haveli of Udaipur:

‘I have lost a mother. I have lost everything.’ Sobbed Bhatianiji,

hitting her head with her hands. ‘Bhabha Sa should have taken me
with her. In her lifetime she never went anywhere without me and
now she has gone alone leaving me behind. God is not just.’
(Mehta 1996: 57-58)

The majestic culture and the noble traditions of the havelis are
never forgotten and we come to know that this haveli and its
courtyards have stood witness to three hundred years of birth,
marriages and death ceremonies. And not even once the
traditions and rituals are ignored, not even in death:

For seventy years Sangram Singhji’s wife had walked in the

corridors of Jeewan Niwas as the trustee of the family traditions.
She had at the same time carefully instructed her daughter – in –
law in the rituals and customs of the haveli. That was the only way
to ensure the continuity of family traditions. Therefore, even
though Sangram Singhji’s wife was not there to light the wick of
the little earthen saucer, its tiny flame flickered as always in front
of the family deity. (Mehta 1996: 60)

Not that Rama Mehta blindly praises the traditions she highlights
the vices too and attacks them through the voice of her
protagonist Geeta who does much to remove them by educating
both the rich and poor girls of the havelis. We find from Geeta
that the inhabitants of the haveli are very superstitious and if
anything is lost or they have any difficult question in their minds
they ran to Arjun, the bhopa’s hut. Not that Rama Mehta
approves everything wrong or right so we find Geeta to be
94 VANDANA RAJORIYA

commenting on it with sarcasm when Dhapu tells about the box

of gold stolen from Gopal Singhji’s wife:

‘Don’t tell me that. I have lived here long enough to know that not
even a piece of halva can go undetected. And you want me to
believe a box full of gold just disappeared. Didn’t everyone run to
Arjun, the fortune teller?’ said Geeta with biting sarcasm. (Mehta
1996: 91)

When her husband tells her to try and educate the females of
haveli she spits out her strong feelings about their ignorance and
superstitious nature and expresses her fears that the haveli
women are all deeply rooted in ignorance and superstitions and
about how difficult and time taking the process of bringing about
a change in their outlook would be:

‘The change won’t come as quickly as you think,’ Geeta said sadly.
‘You don’t know the women here; they are all rooted in ignorance
and superstition. For the slightest thing, they run to Arjun the
fortune teller, even though he was wrong with Lakshmi. He is such
a convincing crook to these ignorant women. Ninety-nine times out
of a hundred he is wrong, but still, it is to him they all go, clutching
money in their hands. How can you educate such people? (Mehta
1996: 137-138)

Time and again we find her disapproving the etiquettes of the

haveli which she finds to be restraining. So when she overhears
her father-in-laws concern for her well being, she feels irritated
by the customs which prevented a daughter-in-law from talking
to her father-in-law:

‘Pari, I hope Binniji does not feel lonely. This is a big house and it
can be depressing at times especially for someone like her. This
time both her mother-in-law and Ajay are away. I hope you are
taking good care of her.’ There was a deep concern in his voice as
he spoke. A great surge of affection flooded Geeta’s being as she
heard the words from behind the door. She longed to express her
feelings of love and appreciation to her father-in-law, but then the
old despair damped her emotions. She hated the etiquette that
prevented a daughter-in-law from talking freely to her father-in-
RAMA MEHTA’S INSIDE THE HAVELI 95

law. ‘Even after seven years I am a stranger to those that are mine,
and I will always remain a stranger,’ she thought hopelessly.
(Mehta 1996: 102-103)

But this does not happen for life and we as readers come to know
that later on the custom is relaxed for her. While Geeta accepts
the customs and traditions of the haveli she tries hard to change
some of the things for good. The very first thing she tries to do is
to send Sita, the maid’s daughter to school. She gets approval for
it by her father-in-law and we know that during the course of the
novel everyone praises her for it. In the novel, Rama Mehta
mouths the need of change for good in Manji Bua Sa, a cousin of
Bhagwat Singhji. She supports Geeta appreciating her effort:

‘I am glad you are bringing new ideas into the haveli,’ said Manji
with a directness that made Geeta feel at once at ease.
‘I do not know, Bua Sa, whether it is right to disturb the life in the
haveli,’ Geeta replied without hesitation.
‘Do not be afraid. It is time things changed. Once we, the old, are
dead, the havelis will no longer survive. It is no good living on in
the past; for the sake of our children, we must look to the future.’

And when Geeta expresses her doubts that education may harm
the poor creating differences within them, she explains her telling
her the story of her life and sharing with her the pains and
sorrows which she had faced in life and which could have been
lessened had she been capable of reading and writing, had she
only been educated and thus she releases all her doubts and frees
her of her feelings of uncertainty and guilt:

‘Can education harm anyone, child?’ asked Manji. Our sacred

writings say that to educate the poor is the highest form of charity.
If Sita can learn to read and write, she will never feel helpless.
(Mehta 1996: 116)

She explains to her how she felt helpless throughout her life after
she was widowed for she was uneducated and could not her pass
her time easily for she could not read anything. When at times
Geeta is doubtful about her classes and expresses her fears to her
96 VANDANA RAJORIYA

husband Ajay even he advocates her cause and supports her in

her stand saying it is the time when new ideas should enter the
haveli and not only this but admires and praises her courage in
taking the step of educating the haveli girls. He also tells her not
to be afraid of anyone especially the old maids who he says are
tyrants:

‘You did the right thing; I am proud of you. It is time for new ideas
to enter the haveli,’ said Ajay Singh with conviction.
‘What you did was right; in your place, I don’t think I would have
had the courage to take such a bold step, but don’t worry. I am now
back and will support you in every way possible. These old maids
are little tyrants; don’t be frightened by them. They don’t realize
that my mother’s generation will die and with it the traditional way
of life and purdah too. It is time you taught them something new.’

The novel, its mode of presentation has an arresting charm in it

but when we are done with its magnificence depiction, style,
tone, temper, rhythm, the harmony it brings about in tradition and
modernity without creating too much of hustle bustle or chaos; a
few serious questions crop up in our mind one of them being that
is the kind of female confinement and isolation depicted in the
novel alright? In the novel we find Ajay, Geeta and Manji to be
the advocates of change and transformation for good but most of
the other characters are of the opposite side. One question which
obviously crops up is that, how is it possible that none of the
other characters felt the need of freedom? How they are so very
comfortable even when they don’t have the freedom to express
their own feelings or voice their genuine protests as is evident
from the following observation of Geeta:

In the haveli, no one really expressed their feelings. They covered

their emotions in an elaborate exchange of formal gestures and
words. Even her husband talked to his parents as if they were
dignitaries with whom he could take no liberties. The form and
courtesy which the young maintained before the old lacked
spontaneity. In the two years, Geeta had never heard any really
unpleasant exchange of words between different members of the
family. (Mehta 1996: 33)
RAMA MEHTA’S INSIDE THE HAVELI 97

Although we appreciate Geeta for adopting the role of

submissive wife and obedient daughter-in-law as she has been
cultured and tuned to behave by her mother, as most of the girls
in India are brought up, at the same time we feel why in heaven
has she to be so much meek and submissive that she cannot even
mouth her uneasiness and discomforts about the haveli life? Why
she has to bear with the comments and taunts of her in-laws,
relatives and even servants for not being properly brought up
when she very well knows that there is nothing seriously wrong
with her conducts. Why she has to feel the sense of alienness and
being short of in something when that is not the case actually?
Why she plays the role of a willing prisoner in the haveli who
never even truly mouths her agony? The reason might be the fact
that she knows that haveli people won’t understand as they are
not of the similar dispositions. But she doesn’t remain meek and
submissive in the novel throughout. She carefully chooses where
to follow and where to voice her disagreement which is the true
sign of being educated the and when it is the decision of the
marriage of her daughter Vijaya we find her to be assertive and
powerful and not even her father-in-law or mother-in-law who
otherwise had been directing her throughout feel powerful
enough to impose their decision on her:

Bhagwat Singhji’s wife… did not want to tell them that she could
not assert her authority as a mother-in-law. She did not want her
relatives to know that Geeta was not like their daughter-in-laws,
obedient and willing to accept what the elders thought right. she
was too proud to concede that as a mother-in-law she only had
limited power over Geeta. (Mehta 1996: 242)

In the novel, Geeta’s quest for her role, her place in the alien set
up and her struggle to retain her identity, her values during the
course of the novel make us marvel at her spirit, her skill,
strength, and endurance. As far as Rama Mehta is concerned it
would have been easier for her to develop her story by employing
the theme of open conflict between the two cultures and ways of
life which Geeta and the other inhabitants of the haveli represent
but possibly for Rama Mehta the natural answer to the problem
98 VANDANA RAJORIYA

of our postcolonial predicament doesn’t lie in open revolt,

conflict or struggle rather it lies in mutual understanding empathy
and accommodation and therefore not only Geeta adjusts to the
code of conducts of the haveli while trying to gradually change
for good whatever she finds requiring the same but also the
inhabitants of the haveli change themselves, mould themselves
and evolve themselves gradually not out of hatred and jealousy
but for the love and better hood of all.
What is even more important as far as her novel Inside the
Haveli is concerned is that instead of looking at the east and
west, traditional culture and modernity as the binary opposites
Rama Mehta shows through her narrative that they can be
complementary to each other if only we manage to shed our
inhibitions about either one of them and without prejudice
appreciate and adopt the virtues of both to the benefit of
ourselves, to the benefit of our society and to the benefit our race.
As most of our debates have centered around and do centre
around and take sides with either the east or the west, either the
traditionalism or the modernity we have suffered much struggle
and chaos and the obvious loss is too much for us to bear with.
Today we have been reduced to the level of the victims of
western education because of the wrong way of understanding
and adoption of the same and therefore the resultant loss in the
form of broken relationships, loosened bonds of family ties and
directionless and confused way of life have become the order of
the day but Rama Mehta through her narrative tries to prove the
point that through patience and maturity we can turn this so
called curse of western colonial influence into a blessing and that
it is in no way necessary to take the two as binary opposites when
they can be actually complementary to each other. Rama Mehta
through Inside the Haveli has proven the point that if we present
a mature understanding of the things and have the patience to
allow the things to take their own time; if we stop believing in
the policy of hatred and discrimination even in the form of the
colonizers and the colonized and are open to good things of the
both then possibly the things would be good again.
The problem with us as with all the other colonized nations is
that somehow we have acquired (possibly from the colonisers)
RAMA MEHTA’S INSIDE THE HAVELI 99

the habit of looking at our own cultures with distrust and hatred.
We have come to consider our own tradition and culture as
backward and distasteful and as a result have lost our sense of
pride and dignity and are running madly behind the western
culture without understanding it properly. The condition and the
state of mind of the colonised people described by Fanon in his
Toward the African Revolution are similar to that of the majority
of the Indians as is evident from the following quotation from the
book:

Having judged, condemned, abandoned his cultural forms, his

language, his food habits, his sexual behavior, his way of sitting
down, of resting, of laughing, of enjoying himself, the oppressed
flings himself upon the imposed culture with the desperation of a
drowning man. (Mehta 1996: 39)

The way we have come to adopt western clothing, way of life

madly without knowing the proper reasons and cultural
background behind their practices has reduced many of us to the
level of being the laughter stocks. The question which is in front
of us at present is how we help it. If we can educate our people to
take pride in what we are, if we can make our people believe that
everything English is not essentially great and that we have many
original and important things to be proud of and to give to the
world; only then we would really start coming out of the
“colonial hangover.” But such education does not mean making
empty praise for the nation and its history rather it means making
our people capable of valuing our glorious past, seeing our real
present and instilling in them the willingness and the ardent
desire to put in efforts to make our future bright through our hard
work, commitment and dedication. Franz Fanon in his The
Wretched of the Earth rightly says that we must empower our
people through education and prepare them to shoulder the
responsibility of uplifting our nation and communities but in the
right sense:

To educate the masses politically does not mean, cannot mean,

making a political speech. What it means is to try, relentlessly and
100 VANDANA RAJORIYA

passionately, to teach the masses that everything depends on them;

that if we stagnate it is their responsibility, and that if we go
forward it is due to them too, that there is no such thing as a
demiurge, that there is no famous man who will take the
responsibility for everything, but that the demiurge is the people
themselves and the magic hands are finally only the hands of the
people. (Fanon 1963: 197)

Whether we appreciate it or not modern education and colonial

impact are now indispensable for us and the only way we can
move ahead with pride with them is to supplement them with the
education of our traditions and values and culture. Rama Mehta
too seems to be emphasising the importance of the same and
therefore she allows Sita and other girls of the haveli irrespective
of their class access to the new education along with the
education of the traditional culture of the haveli so as to is to
allow them to remain connected to their glorious roots, their
splendid past, their fabulous traditions and grow at the same time
under the influence of the modern education. Rama Mehta
doesn’t promotes everything traditional rather advocates carrying
the best of it ahead and changing the undesirable and therefore
we find her to be putting the educated and modern Bombay Girl
Geeta otherwise alien to the cultures and tradition of Rajasthan
inside the closed haveli of the old city of Udaipur to learn about
the importance of the relationships, values, traditions, customs
and rituals and in turn help the inhabitants of the haveli through
her education and awareness to change and evolve shunning the
undesirable for the better hood of all.
To conclude we can say that Rama Mehta’s Inside the Haveli
can be taken as a novel which proves the point that tradition and
modernity, colonial and the indigenous, are actually
complementary in nature to each other rather than being the
opposites. Placed within multiple frames of sociology, history
and aesthetics Inside the Haveli as a novel offers us an
understanding of how our history, culture, traditions and
lifestyles can be complement by modern English education if
only we show patience, empathy and maturity in our conduct and
disposition. While addressing all the problems of our
RAMA MEHTA’S INSIDE THE HAVELI 101

contemporary existence in the traditional set up like the problem

of power politics, question of female confinement and isolation,
the theme of complete surrender and compromise, synthesis of
traditional versus modern values and so on she also offers us an
insight into how to arrive at a perfect harmony in the present
condition with the help of uplifting modern education and
empathetic understanding of our traditions and values. This
wonderful and epoch-making novel takes and proves to her point
a very strong debate of tradition versus modernity, that has
resulted in much hatred, struggle and chaos in the past, and the
simplicity, the love, the warmth, the soundness of mind with
which she accomplishes the same makes as wonder at her skill
and art.

REFERENCES

Fanon, F. 1963. The Wretched of the Earth. Trans. Richard Philcox.

New York: Grove Press.
——. 1967. Toward the African Revolution. Trans. Haakon Chevalier
New York: Grove Press.
Mehta, R. 1996. Inside The Haveli. New Delhi: Penguine Books India
(P) Ltd.

VANDANA RAJORIYA
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,
DR. HARISINGH GOUR VISHWAVIDYALAYA,
SAGAR, M. P., INDIA.