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A LOVER OF LIGHT AMONG LUMINARIES : Dilip Kumar Roy of the plane crash. This journey, as in all other works of Roy, signifies the internal quest of the main characters for Truth which leads them from rationality to spirituality. Almost all the characters of the novel are in search of such an ideal existence in which they can realize, through the grace of their guru, the Grace of the Divine. The design of the plot here is again the same as that of the upward spiral', that is, one-pointed aspiration of the major characters towards the realization of Krishna. But this design is very loose. One reason why Roy's plots are episodic, is that he presents faithfully facts in terms of fiction. What he writes about is real life and real life lacks literary design. Roy is the least inventive artist and therefore, the most episodic. He does try to reduce the chaos of life to order and does impose a design upon the material of his work. But how far would one succeed ? Dilip Roy realizes as much success as it is possible for him to realize in such a situation.
The significance of the title should be clear. Man is chained to prakriti, living mechanically under the compulsions of his inner nature. This condition is called the state of being yantrarudh or being mounted on machine', in the terminology of the Bhagavat Gita. To be free from the shackles of prakriti or nature is the aim of all spiritual disciplines of Indian thought. You may call it mukti or moksha. Rise towards it is enjoined by all thinkers and saints. The 'wings' in the title signifies such a rise. If the 'bonds' signify the chains of prakriti and the yantrarudh condition, the 'wings' signify the flight towards freedom and the yogarudh condition in the Gita terminology.27
In this brief novel, Dilip Roy introduces his characters with very few words. Introducing Ekanta he writes: "Fullara was overjoyed to have such a handsome and gifted son to look after."28
Later on, he informs his readers that:
“Pari, a thirteen-year-old daughter of her neighbour Sukhendra, was a prodigy. She had won many a prize at different functions
and was passionately fond of Fullara's singing."29
He analyses the moral and psychological natures of his characters. Analysing Swarna's attitude towards Fullara, Dilip Roy notes that she
"...admired her Didi's various gifts, but felt a trifle jealous of the tributes she received from all and sundry. She was certainly delighted at Pari's flowering out in music under Fullara's tuition, but had some misgivings' about Pari's growing enthusiasm for religion and singing devotional songs, especially in the Temple · But she was helpless, as everyone she knew panegyrised Fullara's grace, generosity and manifold gifts. So, willy-nilly, she had to toe the line.
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