Samipya 1991 Vol 08 Ank 01 02

Author(s): Pravinchandra C Parikh, Bhartiben Shelat
Publisher: Bholabhai Jeshingbhai Adhyayan Sanshodhan Vidyabhavan

Page 94

Acharya Shri Kailassagarsur Gyanmandir
give up their ambition of power, position and comforts of the urban life in favour of the services of the rural masses. The main character of Bhārelo Agni is cast in the image of Gandhi himself. Through Arun, the hero of Divya-Chakshu, and Ashwin, the hero of Grām Laxmi, Ramanlal has developed his plots in such a way that both the heroes pass through the agonies created out of their own self-image and the actual reality of the socio-political life that they encounter. Thus, Ramanlal has shown Arun ( Divya Chakshu) and Ashwin (Grām Laxmi) struggling simultaneously for the double revolution, political and cultural, without separating one from the other. The author has vividly depicted the enncounter between the heroes and the other characters in which the cleansing of filth and cleansing of soul go together. The journey towards the self-discovery, in the case of Arun (Divya Chakshu) in the setting of the city life, and in the case of Ashwin (Grām Laxmi) in the background of the village life, reflects the real experiences of many Gandhian workers who actually struggled to creat an atmosphere for altering the cultural priorities to make the Indian mind uncolonized.
In all these three novels including Bhärelo Agni, the author's main focus is on non-violence and truth. In the case of Arun (Divya Chakshu) the author presents him as a revolutionary communist who dreams of getting rid of the foreign rule as well as the capitalist economic structure through the violent means. But the author develops a situation wherein Arun gradually prepares himself to be capable of eschewing violence. In the case of Ashwin (Grām Laxmi), the author gives him a jolt by getting him rejected for the post of an engineer in the government department, which he cherished the most albeit with an intention to work for the good of the people. This rejection of job creates a trauma in his psyche. He returns to his village. His attempt to commit suicide gives him a new insight. He decides to live in the village, and wants to make it self-reliant and beautiful by adopting the constructive programme of Gandhi. Ashwin tests his patience to get rid of the angularities, narrow outlook and ignorance of the villagers. Thereby he develops the capacity to absorb shocks and humiliations. He gradually sacrifices his self-image of an educated engineer to identify himself totally with the village life.
In the case of Bhārelo Agni the setting of the plot centres round the events of the upheaval of 1857. Though the theme of the novel becomes anachronistic, the author wants to trace the ideal of non-violence, which according to him is the back-bone of the Indian cultural tradition, in the events of 1857. This enables hin to link it with the Gandhian era.
Rudradatta, a Gujarati Brabmin and the hero of Bhärelo Agni, being cast in th image of Gandhi, is depicted as a paragon of the virtue of non-violence. Rudradatta': past is associated with the Mughal and Maratha rulers. As a renowned warrios he tries to help the Indian rulers to drive the British out of India. However, he gets frustrated as most of the rulers are weak, selfish and flatters of the British. They indulge in vices, and have no vision of the political future of India, But it is onls
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(Samipya : April, '91-March, 1992