The novel is “at once village ethnography, moving human document and insightful colonial history”.
SURESH RAMPHUL
Published in hindi in 1936, “Godan” (cow donation) was translated into English by Jai Ratan and P. Lal and published by Jaico Publishing House in 1957. This classic novel portrays the exploitation of poor peasants by zamindars (landowners) in pre-independent India, and their daily tribulations in the face of increasing debts taken from money-lenders. Unable to pay their loans, the peasants are often ejected from their land. Heartless money-lenders make profits while the peasants remain poor despite working hard.
The story
Hori is a middle-aged peasant, his wife is Dhania. She is only 36 years old but appears older due to constant work in the field. Their son Gobar is aged 16 and their daughters Sona and Rupa are aged 12 and 8 respectively. Hori dreams of possessing a cow. He buys one from Bhola, a friend, and promises to pay later. Jealous, Hori’s brother, Heera, poisons it and flees. Gobar elopes with Jhunia, Bhola’s widowed daughter. Fearing punishment, he goes to the city. Bhola categorically rejects his daughter but Hori and his wife, after much hesitation, accept her as daughter-in-law.
The panchayat (council of elders) demands that the pregnant widow be exiled. They consider her a shame to the village. Hori and Dhania fear village gossip; Hori wants to wash his hands off her; Dhania calls her “black-faced” (page 83) but there is a change of heart. They plead in her favour but a fine is imposed on them. Hori mortgages his house to keep his daughter-in-law under his roof. Gobar returns and settles his father’s debts partially. He leaves again for the city, this time with his wife. Hori runs into further debts to marry his youngest daughter. Ram Sewak is a widower, 40 years old, but he is a rich money-lender. For Hori, he is “an old withered stump of a man” (p 263) but they have no choice. Hori is caught between an uneasy marriage and the confiscation of his land. The girl sees no difference in marrying someone young or old. She sends a cow for her father.
Hori finds a job in construction. Due to hunger and weariness, he collapses. People advise Dhania to give a cow in charity to the priest. She has none. So she gives the little money she has. Cow donation is a ritual to absolve a person from sin and to receive divine blessings. Hori will die before receiving the cow.
Class
Dhania lost three children in infancy. They could have been saved if she had an anna worth of medicine. She is worried and helpless, for Hori has no milk and ghee to sustain his body and allow him to do the kind of work he does in the field. Hori knows he will never reach 60. His son fails to see why the father humiliates himself so often before the master; the bailiff abuses them if they fall behind the rent; they have, like the others, to send gifts to the masters. Hori replies that if the downtrodden do not wait on the master, life will worsen. Besides, maintaining a cordial relationship with the upper class brings him respect from the villagers. He says, “God has made us slaves and we have to put up with our lot. I visit the master to gain my ends.” (p 12)
Jhunia, a young widow, carries milk to the market. Clerks, officers, lawyers, thakurs, money-lenders all flirt with her. Moreover, a Brahmin shuts her in a room and tries to molest her. She threatens to inform his wife. He whines: “My honour is in your hands. If my wife comes to know about it, she’ll kill me.” (p 33) When she asks the Panditji, “Is this the advice you get in your holy books? What is that sandal paste on your forehead for? To show holiness or to hide roguery?”, we cannot miss the author’s dig at those who play double roles.
The night’s freezing coldness seeps through Hori’s threadbare blanket, torn quilt and wet straw roof. He has no tobacco to while away the time. The landowner’s bailiff earns “a niggardly ten rupees per month but his annual income from extortions are not less than a thousand. He lorded over thousand of peasants,” (p 127). Jhunia gives birth to a child but her breasts are dry for lack of food; Hori’s daughter sucks raw mangoes to stave off hunger. To impress his would-be in-laws, Ram Sewak, a wealthy money-lender, plays it safe by saying that the poor person is forced to grease the palm of the revenue clerk or the landowner’s men, if not he suffers; he gratifies policemen, if not the long arm of the law falls heavily on him; he has to offer fowls, milk or butter to the Collector or his deputy… or else!
Dhania knows that even if she “scraped together every elusive anna, it was difficult to liquidate the rent of the zamindar” (p 1), “constant penury” and “a life which did not provide even the daily bread” (p 2) causes her to rebel in her mind. Hori says, “A man is not a man without wealth, power and education. We are no better than bullocks born to be yoked,” (p 16). Throughout his life Hori had wished to live a quiet and decent life with his family. He will die without this wish materializing. He is the victim of unscrupulous schemers but also of a crushing system. He is exploited because he is uneducated.
The class barrier is not so rigid that it cannot be broken. In a novel of stark realism, the author has Hori’s two daughters married into well-to-do families.
Rural customs
Hori has three money-lenders to cope with. He cannot pay their interests. Half the rent of the zamindar remains unpaid. Other villagers are in the same boat. Debt is a curse on the village. The cow brings joy to the family but certain superstitions are associated with it. A black cord is bought to protect it against any evil eye. Dhania is afraid that the gods might be jealous of her happiness. She tears a strip from a black dhoti and ties it round the animal’s neck. Gobar loves Jhunia. He faces ostracism. The rich may have two wives but no villager objects. Society judges the rich and the poor by two different moral codes.
Dhania is quarrelsome and sharp-tongued. When Hori beats her, villagers come to patch up the quarrel but stay to watch the fun. At home, no one touches food cooked by the widow Jhunia. She is insulted by her own father for bringing shame on the family. Hori will not be able to hold his head high if his daughter marries an older man. But economic imperatives have the better of him.
A richly dramatic novel
The book offers not only a window into the lives of poor peasants, but also a captivating storyline, and finely-etched characters. It is also richly dramatic as is evident in the depiction of Jhunia. Her husband was murdered in a riot but she never gives up hope of finding a decent person whom she can claim as her own. Her life in the city is difficult, for Gobar takes to drinking and gambling. Her first child dies due to neglect. She is often lonely, ignored and beaten up and she even regrets having eloped with Gobar. She feels she is just a keep, not a wife. A woman kindly looks after her and her newborn child. During a strike at the mill, Gobar is seriously injured. Jhunia starts cutting grass to save the family. She works the whole day yet she remains resilient and cheerful. Gobar realizes that his cruelty was unjust and transforms his nature by letting loving kindness replace rancour.
