Threads Of Charulata바카라�s Wisdom In A Pandemic World

With 바카라�work from home바카라� here to stay until at least the summer, we are living in the era of 바카라�maach mishti and more바카라� realities. I am thinking of La Grande Dame in director Satyajit Ray바카라�s creation 바카라� 바카라�Charu바카라� from Ray바카라�s, 바카라�Charulata바카라� who spent her days at home with Bhupati, her printing press husband, her cousin Umapati, his wife Manda and her literary aspirant brother-in-law, Amal (played by the iconic late Soumitra Chatterjee), whom she develops an intense mentor-mentee relationship with much like Rabindranath Tagore did with Kadambari Devi, his sister-in-law, who the story of "Charulata" is based on.

In a serendipitous meeting with Ray when I was a teenager, a month before Martin Scorcese and Audrey Hepburn called him 바카라�a living legend바카라�, in their Oscar tributes, he told me two weeks before when I met him that he would be receiving the award 바카라�via satellite바카라�. He also said during our meeting that Charulata was an adaptation of Tagore's "Nashtanir" (The Broken Nest) and therefore, the feministic implications of his film's character were adapted from Tagore's original short story. 

Late director Satyajit Ray바카라�s screen adaptation of Tagore바카라�s 바카라�The Broken Nest바카라� dealt with the notion of what it means to be a 바카라�nobina바카라� 바카라� a woman of today or a 바카라�prachina바카라� 바카라� a woman of yesterday? Charu, the supposed 바카라�nobina바카라�, who바카라�s super educated, cosmopolitan, reads 바카라�Bankim바카라�, (the 바카라�it바카라� writer of 1800s바카라� Bengal in her husband바카라�s library) suffers from  disillusionment and feels trapped by the walls of the 바카라�purdah바카라� which keeps her physically and psychologically confined within the patriarchy. Manda, in contrast, Charu바카라�s cousin바카라�s visiting wife, is uncaged and free for she has no intellectual or professional aspirations and spends her days weaving 바카라�paan바카라� leaves (a Bengali delicacy of 바카라�spice바카라� lined leaves) waiting to have 바카라�kulfi바카라� that Charu바카라�s husband바카라�s cousin, Amal, garners as their treat of the day for them. Manda is what she is and cannot be bothered with Charu, Amal and Bhupati바카라�s aspirations for intellectual, societal and professional currency cloaked within the larger fight at the time for Bengal바카라�s freedom from the British Raj.

바카라�Charu, tomar bauro aka aka laage, na?바카라�(Charu, you must be feeling really lonely, na?) the signature line in Satyajit Ray바카라�s 바카라�Charulata바카라�, uttered by her well-meaning, patriotic yet overly pre-occupied newspaper baron husband, Bhupati, couldn바카라�t be but more appropriate than in this still isolated pandemic world. Bhupati, tries to punctuate his wife바카라�s languorous long afternoons by asking his cousin brother to 바카라�mentor바카라� her as a writer which unravels into a 바카라�kalboishakhi바카라�(unseasonal& unexpected) 바카라�storm바카라�.

An autobiographical account based largely on Tagore바카라�s own relationship with his sister-in-law Kadambari Devi, the fictional Charu바카라�s notion of 바카라�aka aka바카라� (loneliness) is perhaps the cycle of dread and hope that we will still likely live within a partially vaccinated world where efficacy levels are unknown and variant strains will still linger.

In Ray바카라�s film, Charu (played by the stunning Madhabi Mukherjee) spends her mornings reading 바카라�Bankim바카라� or wandering from room to room in her 19th-century mansion바카라� living to the bedroom to 바카라�thakurdalan바카라� (courtyard) watching daily transactions of eggs & bread while Bhupati바카라�s footsteps echo through long, empty corridors. Charu바카라�s19^th century, glorious, burgundy velvet-laced Victorian Calcutta mansion has everything but nothing. When her brother-in-law Amal sings, swings and swoops to the iconic 바카라�phulephule dhole dhole바카라�(an iconic Tagore melody re-adapted in Bollywood film 바카라�Parineeta바카라�), we see Charu바카라�s back & forth within that, her highs and lows captured in tilted brilliant frames by Ray. Her search for 바카라�expression바카라� and a 바카라�voice바카라� to realise her literary talent yet maintain the traditions expected of her was the conflict. Watching the monkey dance through her binoculars during long afternoons amidst eerie silences is an uncanny parallel to what we experienced during Lockdown 2020 in India.

Our lives were pretty much like Charu바카라�s, limited to our homes and alternating between a world of laptops, books and films. Manda, the real 바카라�bad-ass바카라� girl in Charulata, weaves paan leaves for most of the day and can바카라�t be bothered whether she바카라�s being labelled a 바카라�prachina바카라� or a 바카라�nobina바카라�. She really doesn바카라�t care. While Charu is constantly worried about whether she is 바카라�enough바카라� for Amal and Bhupati, Manda is literally chewing some paan leaves and asking someone to pass her some more. Her lightness of being in that she is comfortable in her skin just as she is. Nothing more, nothing less. Manda is steady and just chilling. So while Manda is considered to be a non-urbanite, 바카라�prachina바카라�, woman 바카라� the irony is she is the true 바카라�nobina바카라�, woman of today, who바카라�s like 바카라�where바카라�s the party, people? Show me some kulfi (traditional Indian ice-cream) please.바카라�

Yet, what if we were to say that Charu바카라�s complex nature is like her house of many rooms 바카라� where each room represents a different part of her where many of the handles were never turned earlier? What if we were also to say that as much as Charu tried 바카라� she didn바카라�t have Manda바카라�s infectious je ne sais quoi which wins over both her husband and Amal without even really trying? The larger feministic and humanistic message in Ray바카라�s portrayal of Manda is to say keep calm and keep making those 바카라�paan바카라� leaves going. The rest will come.

Manda has the reinvention of self we all need to thrive in the post-pandemic world. She would have just gotten a laptop out of Charu바카라�s bedroom and started a business making paan leaves with a delivery app to boot. Charu would still be wondering whether she should lean in, step back, be assertive, or whether she바카라�s said too much or not enough. Manda would just be. Because she was the ultimate 2021 post-pandemic girl 바카라� all the way back in 1881.

(The author is a writer/director, playwright and filmmaker, with her BA from Brown University & Masters in Public Health from Columbia University )