Vol 2 Issue 11 May 2015 ISSN No: 2321-5488

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S.P. Rajguru
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L. B. P. Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Solapur. (M.S.)

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Dr.Prakash M. Badiger Nikhilkumar D. Joshi Dr.kiranjeet kaur Nikhil joshi

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Ajit Mondal

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Maryam Ebadi Asayesh Henry Hartono

Islamic Azad University, Iran Soegijapranata Catholic University, Indonesia

Judith F. Balares Salamat Mukesh Williams

Department of Humanities, IASPI, Philippines University of Tokyo, Japan

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Volume - 2 | Issue - 11 | May - 2015 Available online at www.lsrj.in

DALIT SENSIBILITY IN DEVANURA MAHADEVA’S FICTION

Shantala Bellav
Assistant Professor, Dept of English, SSA Govt. First Grade College, S.N Pet Bellary, Karnataka.

Short Profile
Shantala Bellav is working as a Assistant Professor at Department of English in SSA Govt. First Grade College,
S.N Pet Bellary, Karnataka.

ABSTRACT:
Devanura Mahadeva is one of the
most famous Dalit writers in
Kannada literary world. He is also
regarded as a perfect artist. The
specialty of his writing is not to
directly attack on the oppressed
category rather he makes his
re a d e rs to u n d e rsta n d t h e
sensitivity behind the exploitation.
Very smoothly he focuses on the
loopholes of the system. Leaves
message how the imbalanced
society can be corrected.

KEYWORDS
Dalit Sensibility , community , exploitation, marginalization.

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INTRODUCTION :

In response to the cognitive value of his writing, it naturally offers a wide variety of so-cial and
cultural interpretations of his community. In this paper, I wish to focus Mahadeva’s sensibility on
particular Dalit issues like poverty, hunger, exploitation, marginalization, sup-pression, helplessness,
existentialism, cruelty, violence and compromise have been widely brought largely in his writing. So his
novels are deeply analyzed from the standpoint of Dalit sensibility. In all his fiction, he seems to present
the existential problems of his community so they deal with the facts of life and explores the sensibility
of the characters.
Devanura Mahadeva’s first work is Dyavanuru, a collection of short stories. This book includes
seven short stories and each story is unique in dealing socio-economic and caste based problems. The
characters of his stories are rich, poor and laborers. The most predomi-nant characters are drawn from
the Dalit community. Some of them are educated and some others are scamps or illiterate bonded
laborers. They are projected with their inherent quali-ties. Most of the stories are set in villages and
they focus on survival problems of the poor Dalits.
“Marikonadavaru (One Who Sold Themselves)” is one of such stories, deals the problem of
existence and exploitation. In the story, Kittappa and Gowda symbolize the exploiting class and pretend
to be as benevolent. The story exhibits the degree of poverty which forces the Dalit couple to
compromise with the situations. “The gifted blanket by the landlord’s son Kittappa has covered
Lachumi’s body and the gifted house has covered both the Dalit Beera and his wife Lachumi”. The
landlord’s son Kittappa takes the Dalit couple helplessness for granted. He uses Bheera’s wife Lachumi
for his sexual pleasure whereas Bheera is silent be-cause they have been provided food and shelter. He
does not protest for both reasons. One, the helplessness of being poor and weak for drinks. Second, he
is well aware of losing com-forts if he protests.
This story shows, the most Dalit men are drunkards and women are oppressed. The present
example of Bheera and Lachumi represents the most Dalit couples in the village either like Bheera or
like Lachumi. The Dalit woman is triple oppressed as a woman, wife and laborer. She is not only
oppressed by her husband but also by the landlords. Some critics have the opinion that, at least Bheera
has an agency to scold Kittappa when he is drunk whereas his wife left with no alternatives to get relief
from opression. Thus the story concluded with the politics of power to rule the body and minds of the
Dalits and the tolerance of the oppressed Dalits. The exploitation of the story reminds us the famous
metaphor of Hegel, “Master and Slave” relationship. Two consciousnesses meeting each other in a life
or death struggle in this metaphor starts when they are at the lowest and most primarily level as single
elementary consciousness.
The words of narrator’s uncle, “You ask why? Don’t you know what fatal mistake you have
done? Neither I could have reputation nor you because of your love with the upper caste girl? Hope you
can understand the importance of caste since you are an educated boy. So don’t act like a senseless boy,
go go”, in “Ondu Dahanada Kathe (Story of a Funeral)” prove caste is an important identity for everyone.
This story shows the solidarity of caste practice in villages by highlighting the caste prac-tice is
more important than food and shelter to everyone. The main character of the story is a young educated
Dalit employee. It focuses on the predicament of the hero in selection of ei-ther his beloved lingayata
girl Kamali or his family. The protagonist, being sensible and modern thinking, marries Kamali. Both
cross the barriers of the caste system but the hero suffers for the permission to attend the cremation of

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his beloved grandmother. The story ends with the decision of the panchayath for not allowing the
protagonist to attend his dear grandmother’s funeral just because he got married to an upper caste girl
Kamali. The writer focuses on the mean mentality of his community people who are equally worse like
upper caste people in maintaining caste system. The story ends with the ego of the panchayati people
and the death of the humanity.
The story, “Datta” (Given Away) exhibits the impact of modernity on the Dalit family and how it
destroys relationships. Ananda, is an adopted kid always ill-treated by his adopted parents. He is in
shock finding his biological parents’ prime concern for his property inherited from his adopted parents.
Psychologically disturbed person’s hopes are shattered by them. His desire to find peace with his real
family members is destroyed completely when he finds his identity is measured with money. It happens
because of modernity and its influence on his parents. They fail to understand his psychological status
hence they do not become agencies for his mental problem to solve it. The boy leaves home without
intimation with great disgust.
“Amasa” deals exclusively the Dalit experience. The critic, T.P. Ashok says, “The story, “Amasa”
has opened up with another phase of the Dalits’ life. It takes shifts from the repre-sentation of Dalits as
the illiterate, suppressed and exploited to the deep-seated glorification of their cultural skills. He has
given a new dimension to the cultural life of his community.” The cultural dance of Amasa and Kuriyaiah
during the Marihabba (festival of Mari) thrills everyone and even an upper caste issueless Bangari
wishes to have his type of son. But lan-dlord’s compliment about Amasa’s dance foresees the future
master and slave relationship to suppress the art of Dalits. So the praising itself is the deceit way of the
landlords using the innocent people like Amasa and Kuriyayya as their bonded labors.
The story, “Mudala Seemeyali Kole Gile Ityadi (Murders in Mudalaseemeyali)” does not
represent the actual murder but represents the mental death of a Dalit Rangappa. Rangappa’s family
suffers out of hunger. Empty stomached Rangappa is forced to cut firewood when he comes to the
landlord’s house in asking grains in order to protect his family from hunger. The landlord’s wife
Gouravva insults saying that it is his routine lament so she asked him to cut firewood only when she
gives the grains. Sick Rangappa, he takes that work in order to get the flour from her to feed his family.
He does not care his health and he fell down due to hunger. Gouravva’s words, “What happened?”, with
slow voice he answered,“ Don’t have energy to cut the firewood madam.” The story shows how
privileged caste woman gets mas-culinity to rule the Dalit man.
The story shows the insensitiveness of upper caste men and women to force the Dalit people to
work for them. The whole incident shows rich people don’t understand the funda-mental problem,
hunger of the poor. Gouravva’s words, “Ayyo God, what should we eat to-day without firewoods, so we
should eat stalk or what ?” This is more open than the other characters in the collection. The central
character of the story is a Dalit but the social ambit of the story is much larger. Damabaru Bandaddu
(the Arrival of tar) stands out from the other stories in the collection because of the larger interests of
the writer who is now concerned with the changes taking place in his rural environment.
Odalala and Kusumabale are novels. Already critics have identified Odalala is Devanu-ru’s best
work. It deals the fundamental problem of a Dalits is hunger. The novel, Odalala centres around
Sakavva’ family. The hunger lives in her family. This forces Sakavva’s eldest son Kalayya for lifting a bag
of groundnut from Sahukara (landlord) Ettappa’s mill. With regard to the complaint filed by the
landlord, the police raids Sakavva’s house in search of stolen bag but returns with no evidence since
they have no instrument to measure the depths of hunger. The members of Sakavva’s family have an

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advantage over their oppression they know their ways but the police fail to solve the mystery of the
missing bag.
Odalala presents two contrasting status of Sakavva’s family. It is this contrast that gene-rates the
ironic vision of the novel. The first five sections provide pictures of relationship within the family, which
is broken up into three units but still maintains a sort of domestic solidarity under the stewardship of
Sakavva. As she appears before us at the beginning of the novel, she is frustrated by the disappearance
of a cock which belongs to her. But she is proud woman. When, Sannayya, her second son demands for
his share in the family property she fires back, “ What did you say? Say it again …You press for your
rights, right? do you know, this is my property understand? I have earned it with my own hands. I was
born a woman, all right but no man could beat me in hard work. She ridicules Kalayya, the eldest son
who has failed in his duty of keeping the family together and Sannaya takes to task for allowing him-self
to be dictated by his wife. From this point of view Devanura’s Kusumabale marks a step forward.
Sakavva has real affection for her daughter Gourammma because she is wedded to an
irresponsible idler. Her affection is extended to sickly Duppaty commissioner along with her last son,
Shivu and her young daughter Puttagouri . When she announces that she would leave all her property
to Shivu, Sannaya and his wife Chaluvamma who have an eye on it, burst with anger . Kalayya who has
no children of his own saddened by the whole drama. Shivu and Puttagowri oblivious to the domestic
strife, busy themselves drawing pictures of peacocks on the walls. Sakavva finds immense solace in
dreaming of grandson’s future. The gloom temporarily lifts when Kalayya brings home a bag of
groundnut stolen from Ettappa’s mill. The whole family is united in the unexpected feast. Domestic
solidarity prevails over pretty differences and quarrels. Even a neighbor who makes her casual call has
her share. This scene of solidarity has a great symbolic significance in the novel.
The arrival of the police on the scene changes the situation radically. Sakavva’s family loses its
dignity under the reductive authority of the representative of the law if Sakkavva falls from her
domestic eminence and becomes comic. The language too changes. The humil-iations of Shivu and
Puttagowri at the hands of the police is presented in serious and pathetic tones but the predicament of
the officers of law who are unable to solve the mystery of the missing bag invites irony and comedy .
Sakavva who seeks the help of officers to get back her lost cock becomes an object of pity and ridicule.
Kusumabale spreads over past, present and future and it includes in its structure what Soyinka
has called the fourth dimension. The events that take place in the holageri, the un-touchable colony are
limited to the present but the relationship between Yada and Akkama-hadevi involves the events of the
past as well. The children in the story –Kusuma’s baby and the child in Kempi’s womb –belong to the
future. The dialogue between the Jivatma and the cot, the comments of the Jothammas as well as the
rituals of birth and death belong to the fourth dimension. This inclusive vision is unique to Kusumabale.
The adventures of Amasa and an upper caste Yada are the focus of the novel. The central event of the
novel is the un-ion of Channa and Kusuma. This union is not just a stray incident but repetition of
historical patterns of the Dalit and non-Dalit relationship.
His sensibility in the novel comes from the community and has the ability to articulate its
complex life. It is open to all kinds of experience. The innocent joy of children like Prasad the touching
sorrow of the lives of Kusuma and Iri. The adventures of Yada and Gurusidmava and others fight against
the forces of oppression. The community is reflected in the narrative mode. The narrator employs
several forms of folk narration in the management of his narrative. The language of the novel too has
the same flexibility.

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Devanur’s novels known for the nature of revolt. Normally the characters protest directly same
time contributing to the political assertion by presenting ‘facts’ of one’s life to contest casteism. Odalala
was a tremendous success when it appeared and it has now assumed the stature of a modern classic.
But Kusumabale though experimental in nature is of greater sig-nificance in the context of dalit writing.
No other Dalit writer has shown such a sure grasp of the entire culture of society as Devanur has shown
in this novel. We will have to go to Afri-can writers like Wole Soyinka in search parallels.

REFERENCE

1. Mahadeva, Devanur, The complete Works of Devanur, Patrike Prakasha, Bangalore, 1992
2. Mahadeva, Mahadeva, Devanura Mahadeva Avara Krutigalu, a collection of stories and novels by
Devanura Mahadeva, Mysore: Patrike Prakashana, 1992
3. ------------------Kusumabale, Mysore: Pustaka Prakashana, 2012, Ninth print.
4. -------------,Edege Bidda Akshara, Abhinav Publication, Bangalore,2013
5. Barry, Peter, Beginning Theory, Viva Books, Guwati, 2013

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