Part One – Buddhidhan’s ministership (‘Buddhidhan no kaarbhaar’)
In terms of the plot, the first part starts with Saraswatichandra arriving in Suvarnapur after renouncing home (although the reader does not know it initially), coming into contact with Buddhidhan and his family (including Kumudsundari, who is married into the family), and swiftly gaining favour in the family. He offers advice and acts as an ‘executive assistant’ to Buddhidhan while he plots political triumph for himself and his friend Bhoopsinh. Both Kumud and Saraswatichandra undergo tumultuous emotions during the period, each trying his/her best to restrain ‘impure’ thoughts from invading their minds, but not quite able to do so. Kumud’s husband, Pramadadhan’s looseness of character fuels the fire in Kumud’s heart further. Finally, Saraswatichandra decides he can take no more, and on the day Buddhidhan is appointed prime minister of Suvarnapur, he leaves with no particular destination in mind. Ultimately, he turns towards the small town of Manoharpuri in a bullock cart. Coincidentally, Kumud also leaves for Manoharpuri a little later in a palanquin to meet her mother Gunasundari. Saraswatichandra’s bullock cart is attacked by bandits and he is left faint and bleeding in the forest near Manoharpuri, his finger-ring stolen by his fellow-traveller, Arthadas. The bandits’ real target is Kumud’s entourage, for they want to settle scores with Ratnanagari’s king Maniraj and his prime minister (and Kumud’s father) Vidyachatur. When the story of bandits lurking on Kumud’s path is brought to Vidyachatur’s house in Manoharpuri by his informants, Kumud’s grandfather Maanchatur takes it upon himself to bring Kumud in safely. He plots the bandits’ downfall and leaves with several men to meet Kumud’s entourage. Success greets them, and after a thrilling showdown in a plain on the banks of the river Subhadra, they achieve safety for Kumud. Kumud, meanwhile, has been thought of as disloyal to her husband because of a vicious story spread by a bugbear named Krushnakalika (who does this to hide her own relationship to Pramadadhan). In despair, Kumud throws herself into the waters of the Subhadra, where she is assaulted by a stray bandit. The bandit is killed by Maanchatur’s men, but they cannot retrieve Kumud. Extremely distraught, the party returns and the first part ends.
Two aspects stand out in this part. The lesser one is the description of the highly opportunistic and no-holds-barred politics that Buddhidhan employs to dethrone Jadsinh, and more importantly, to send the prime minister, Shatharai, and the police commissioner, Dushtarai, into political oblivion. These two officials had done dirty deeds in their time, and had insulted Buddhidhan’s family when he was invalid in his younger days. Through a complex series of manoeuvres, he achieves success. A new regime takes over the reins of Suvarnapur. Saraswatichandra, the idealist, watches this practical demonstration of the real world with great interest, as a valuable education.
The most notable aspect of this part, as Gandhiji noted, is the character development. Each character remains etched in your mind. Some are more stereotypical (like Shatharai, the dirty politician, and Bhoopsinh, the king who is tactically challenged but has his heart in the right place). Buddhidhan is a politician aspiring to be a statesman. While he nurtures ideals on the nature of the kingdom, the relationship to the British, and the nature of his own duties, he deals with different people differently, employing different means against different people based on the ethics of those people.
Alakakishori, Buddhidhan’s daughter, is a strong character as well. Feisty and autocratic, she has strong likes and dislikes. She fawns over her sister-in-law, Kumud, and is pliant only in front of her. Her marriage is not a happy one, for she behaves in the same autocratic manner with her husband. Saraswatichandra briefly fuels infatuation in her, particularly since he gets injured while saving her from a rapacious goon in their house. After the tragedies of Kumud and Pramad hit her family, she grows more mellow and sets her house in order.
Maanchatur is the brave patriarch. Although a Brahmin, he is well-versed with his weapons, as he showed in the showdown with bandits. He is the physical protector of his family. He also dictates matters in the house. When Vidyachatur’s wife Gunasundari is exploited by her joint family since she has some excellent qualities of adjustment and a hardworking nature, he wages a war against his own family and plots a separation plan to stop their parasitic behaviour. He is also not as perturbed as the women in his family when they hear of Kumud having stayed on Sundargiri with Saraswatichandra (this comes later) and when Kusum is infatuated with the idea of not marrying.
(continued…)
