The Writer :
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| Khushwant Singh (b. 1915) |
Khushwant Singh (b. 1915) is a renowned Indian Journalist and writer. He worked as the editor of Illustrated Weekly, National Herald, Hindustan Times, etc. He wrote books like History of the Sikhs, Train to Pakistan, End of India, A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories, Burial at Sea, In the Company of Women, Love, Truth and a Little Malice, etc. He was awarded both the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan.
To know more about the writer click here.
The Source:
The present story Karma
is taken from his book, The Collected
Stories published in 1989.
The Summary:
It is a first class waiting room at the railway station. Sir
Mohan Lal is found standing before the mirror. The mirror is worn-out and
partly broken. He hates the mirror as he hates everything of India. But he
admires his own appearance. He looks perfectly like a sahib. The train is yet
to come. He calls the bearer and orders a drink.
Outside the waiting room, Lachmi, his wife is sitting on a
small grey steel trunk. She is chewing a betel leaf. She is a traditional
Indian woman and is commonly dressed. She requests a coolie to carry her
luggage to the end of the platform. She will get into the inter-class woman
compartment. She is not allowed to accompany her husband in the first class
compartment, because her husband is a high government official, a barrister. He
will meet many officials in the compartment. But Lachmi cannot speak English
and does not know their ways. Obviously, she cannot travel with her husband. She
hardly enjoys the company of her husband. He visits her rarely at night. Then Lachmi
plays the role of a passive partner. They have no child.
The train arrives at the platform. Lachmi enters the
inter-class compartment. It is almost empty. She prepares some betel-leaves and
starts chewing one.
There is a lot of noise. Passengers are jostling on the
platform. Sir Mohan Lal totally detests them. He is calm and quiet. He is still
enjoying his drink. He has spent five years in Oxford University. He strictly
follows the manners of the English. He rarely speaks Hindustani. He speaks in
English with a foreign accent. He can talk on any subject like a cultured
Englishman. Indeed, he always feels at home with the English. He expects some
Englishmen as co-passengers. In that case it will be an enjoyable journey for
him. But he shows no sign of urge to talk to the English like most of the
Indians. He pretends to read The Times.
He has already his Balliol tie. He orders whisky. And lastly, he opens his gold
cigarette case full of English cigarettes. He knows well that all these things
will automatically arrest the attention of the Englishmen. Now he recalls his
five-year glorious life of England. He loves everything of the country. Even the
prostitutes of England are more charming to him than his wife Lachmi.
However, Sir Mohan enters his reserved first class coupe. It
is empty and so he is sad. He begins to read The Times. Just then two English soldiers appear. They are looking
for a suitable compartment. Sir Mohan is ready to welcome them. The two
soldiers ultimately choose Sir Mohan’s compartment. But they order him to get
out from the compartment. Though it is reserved, the soldiers do not care for
it. Sir Mohan protests mildly. His royal English, sahib like appearance and The Times come of no use. The soldiers
throw all the belongings of Sir Mohan out of the train. Finally they push him
out of the train. The train quickly passes the station leaving him on the
platform. His wife, totally unaware of his condition, chews the betel leaves,
spits and sends a jet of red dribble flying across like a dart.
The Features:
The word karma is
a Sanskrit one and literally means destiny. It also has a Hindu theological
idea, but it has been used as the title of the story only to speak about the
identity crisis of a person who blindly imitates the western culture and
fashion under the impact of British colonialism in India.
Irony forms one of the basic characteristics in Khushwant
Singh’s style of writing. The consequence of Sir Mohan’s babu-culture is
ironical. The irony lies in the fact that he is neither a British nor an
Indian. He has no real identity. He himself has lost it. Khushwant Singh has portrayed
a deep ironical view of the world around him through this story.
Mohan Lal and Lachmi are totally opposite characters though
they are couple to each other. Mohan Lal is a blind follower of the English
culture, whereas his wife Lachmi is a typical Indian woman. Finally, Mohan Lal loses
his identity, but Lachmi has no such crisis.
Through this story, Khushwant Singh warns us against our
false belief in foreign excellence. It teaches us not to cut our roots off with
our own soil, men and civilization. Otherwise, we are sure to face humiliation
and tragic doom.
The story shows Khushwant Sing’s art of presenting the
psychological aspects of human beings nicely. His power to study of man is as
remarkable here as the glamour of his linguistic style to present them vividly.
The Theme:
- Imitation of foreign culture
- Unhappy married life
- Contrast of culture and life-style
- Aristocracy and patriotism
