Two stories unfold here simultaneously: one featuring Shyam and his wife Radha who is in love with the charming travel writer Chris. Other story is told by Koman where he narrates his life story devoted to the service of his demanding mistress -- Kathakali. The whole work is another peep into the beauty of Kathakali with its nine sections divided according to the nine rasas and the story thus proceeds from sringaaram to shaantam. The principal protagonist is a Kathakali artiste of international repute. The different cases of interplay between the characters are expressed through navarasas- the nine phases of human emotion. This was my 29th of 2021.
Christopher, a young travel writer, arrives at a riverside resort in Kerala to meet Koman, a famous kathakali dancer. Immediately he is sucked into a world of masks and repressed emotions. Koman is instantly drawn to the enigmatic young man with his incessant questions about the past-but so is his niece Radha. Excluded from this triangle is Shyam, Radha's husband, who can only watch helplessly as she embraces Chris with a passion that he has never been able to draw from her. As the drama unfolds, the nuances and contradictions of the relationships being made-and unmade-come alive in this searing novel of art and adultery.
Story narrated by Koman:
Issues of Identity and self-definition remain uppermost in the novel. Koman is the protagonist of Mistress. Before learning about Koman, it is necessary to know about his parental background. Sethu, father of Koman, is a Hindu orphan, trained as a health inspector before he moves to Nazareth, a small town. He starts work under Dr Samuel. There is an epidemic in the village and its neighbourhood. They provide necessary help and service to the affected population. The doctor has tremendous confidence and faith in Sethu. The doctor takes him wherever he goes on medical rounds. In a village by name Arabipatnam, Sethu sees Saadiya, daughter of Haji Najib Msdoof. Her family is very orthodox and conservative. Women and girls are not allowed to see any strangers except their parents, brothers and husbands:
“What have you done, Saadiya? When I tell your father, he will be furious. She turned to zuleika and pinched her forearm. And you? Who else saw her there? Tell me the truth, you lazy cow. Where were you when she decided to put the honour of the family in jeopardy” (Mistress P-129)
When Saadiya’s parents come to know about her love for Sethu, a Hindu boy, she is expelled from the house. She joins Sethu. He is confident that Dr Samuel would help him. Dr Samuel asks him to leave immediately.
Sethu is very fortunate. Whenever he is in trouble, providence comes to his rescue. He is offered a job by James Raj, the richest man in Nazareth. After sometime, Saadiya gives birth to a male child. Sethu and Saadiya argue about “Khitan” to be performed on the newly born child. He feels very bad because this may cause pain to the child’s penis and testicles. He tries to convince her not to perform such things on the new born baby. She is stubborn and wants to follow every instruction that is said in the Koran.
Saadiya’s upbringing through indoctrination about religion is strong and common sense is not allowed to work. Sethu does not allow such things to be performed on his son and asks her to leave his son and go to her parents. When he comes home, only the child is there. She commits suicide.
In moments of extreme distress and tension such individuals cannot cope and commit mistakes or take extreme measures that are irreversible. Daily disagreements with Sethu lead to dejection and force Saadiya to commit suicide.
Though Saadya leaves her parents house because of her love for Sethu, she cannot leave her religion. This categorically tells us that Mind and Body are different. Body is willing but the mind unwilling.
Sister Faith, a nurse, is free and accepts to look after the child so that Sethu can get along with his life. He makes arrangements for delivery of money every month for maintenance of the child. He migrates to Shoranur and buys properties. He marries Devayani and has children through her. Sister Faith marries; there is none to look after the boy, Koman. Sethu has not discussed his previous marriage or about the child with his wife Devayani. She is disturbed by the arrival of Koman. Sethu feels that time will settle all problems. Like every father, he wants to give his son a good education. Koman is an average student. Koman’s interest lies in Kathakali. Sethu encourages him to learn the art of guises. His teacher, Aashan, trains him for many years to make him a good Kathakali dancer. He receives an invitation to play Keechakan in Keechaka Vadham. People praise his performance.
Sethu wants to see that Koman has a house of his own, purchases one for him near the river Nila.
Angela is a student learning Kathakali under Aashan. She has been learning Kathakali for two years. She is here to do her dissertation work. Her parentage is both German and Spanish. She now joins Koman’s class as a student. She finds him attractive. He is playful, mischievous and an affectionate teacher. He is generous and romantic by nature. She starts desiring him. She never misses to witness any performance given by him as it helps her research of recording as many veshams as possible. She feels that she is not just a student of his but she is something more than that. She feels that she is part of his being, like Ardhanareeswara, Lord Shiva having Goddess Parvati as one half of his body.
Koman starts to have an affair with Anjela. It is very difficult to restrain oneself from the amorous advances of a determined woman. They start living together. Sethu is worried that this would be a replay of his own life.
Look at the past and learn from it. Time to learn is the time when one wants the present to be better than the past. Any time one is unhappy in the present, it is time to learn from the past or plan for the future:
“You are old enough to know what you are doing”, he said. ‘Why don’t you marry her? All your life has been wasted on Kathakali. Will your art fetch you a glass of water when you are thirsty? Will it lay a wet cloth on your brow when you are burning with fever? Will it hold you up when your legs tremble? That is why you are lonely? That is why you need a family and home”. (P-371)
Sethu tries to reason with Koman regarding marriage with Anjela. Sometimes relationships don’t need rituals to sanctify them. Koman and Anjela start living as husband and wife, without being married. Slowly, perception of Anjela changes and wants him to move to the west to get international recognition, fame and fortune. Koman’s ego gets a boost. Planning for the future reduces fear and uncertainty. He does not plan nor does he learn from the past. He is going to land in an uncertain future as the future events reveal.
With the current generation of Indian writers in English, depiction of Man – woman relationship is not as advanced as in western culture, dealing with adultery, treachery and lust in all forms.
Anjela and Koman move to London. They are very happy for some time and then problems arise, pop up, one after another. Koman is totally dependent on Anjela both financially and emotionally. This causes friction between them. Money can make the best of friends into enemies. Naturally male ego is hurt and Koman decides to move out of Angela’s house. He does not find any progress in the art world. For survival he starts working in a hotel. He feels estranged and lonely as long as he is in London.
Finally he leaves for India. Lack of planning at work and in their lives, people fall short of their dreams and goals. Here Koman having no goal to achieve feels frustrated and dejected thereby becomes estranged.
Koman on his return, rejoins his dance school as Ashan. Two years later the institute troupe is invited to Europe. They perform at various places. Koman is offered a teaching fellowship by a German University. He declines the offer as he is aware of the shallowness of perception of the people in the western world.
It is the sense of purpose that ties the past, present and the future together. One must live with a purpose. How one responds on purpose. One has to respond to what is important now. It is important to him to teach this art to new students who are coming to join the dance school.
Success is becoming what one is capable of becoming. Progressing or moving towards worth- while goals is very important. Koman by nature is a good human being. He recommends Sundaran’s name for the teaching assignment and scholarship, abroad. Thus Sundaran gets a chance to go to a foreign country to exhibit traditional art form to western audiences. He never returns to India. Here Koman is very happy with his dancing school.
One has to adapt to the changing needs of society. One should not be afraid of change. The performance of Kathakali characters comes through life and death of Aashan, the art teacher who developed Koman into a man who is there to perform , art for art’s sake, where as Sundaran reaps spectacular commercial benefits from the art.
Koman proposes to Lalitha his long time mistress. She refuses to marry him because of her fear of people in society. She knows that Koman’s family would never accept her as his wife. She would always be treated as his mistress.
He has an uncanny knack of enticing and building sexual relationships with women. During his stay in Delhi, he meets Maya. Maya is a voluptuous woman. She is lonely. A month later Koman goes to Madras where she lives. Inevitably they become lovers, an affair of the heart and body. He is comfortable, has peace of mind as long as he is with her.
Koman is acclaimed as a successful dancer and praised by the audience wherever he has given performances. A well- known filmmaker makes a short film on him. A journalist attempted what he called a fly-on- the wall biography. He is invited to perform at prestigious venues and participate in workshops and seminars. There have been many interpretations of his technique and style. He is detached from all. It is of no consequence to him how he is perceived by others or what the world thinks of him, as a man or as a dancer.
Men reach a stage where they generally become witnesses. In fact the Gita says, be a Sakshi( witness) to the events unfurling in front of you. Do not get entangled in the proceedings. Koman has reached a stage of detachment, where he can view things with the help of a detached mind.
Story of Radha:
There is an interesting aspect in Anita Nair’s novel Mistress that its treatment of man-woman relationship is based on her entrenched faith in new humanism according to which woman is not to be treated as a mere sex object, but man’s equal partner. Her concept, of a free woman, who has transcended the limits of economic or social freedom, developed a mental and emotional attitude. This novel on one level looks at the turbulence of large families where dependency breeds strong emotions. Shyam, a self made entrepreneur has been humiliated by his uncle, Radha’s father. His uncle comes with a proposal of marriage with his daughter:
“What is wrong? Shyam asked as gently as he could”?
She has been involved with a man,’
So why don’t you get them married”? (Mistress p-121)
They say that nemesis always has a way of catching up (Mistress P-121). Shyam is in love with Radha. He had foolish dreams since his childhood wanting to posses her at any cost. Even though he knows that she had pre-marital relationship with a married man, he thinks that it is an innocent relationship. It does not matter and he will be happy to marry her. He asks his uncle if she is agreeing. His mother approves their marriage. His sister, Rani Oppol is suspicious that Shyam has been forced to agree.
“You can get any girl you want. You don’t have to be saddled with her just because we owe her father a debt of gratitude,’ (Mistress P-122)
Despite his sister’s protest, marries Radha and on their marriage night, she waits for him in their nuptial chamber with a face that seems hewn out of stone. She looks at him, when he tries to crack a joke to make her laugh, she remains stoic.
“ I am not a virgin,’ she said,’ I want you to know that I have had sex,’ it does not matter. I have had sex, too. I have slept with other women, too. ‘Did my father offer you money to marry me?’ I looked at her carefully. You are insulting me,’ He said quietly. I don’t need to be paid to marry you. Do not you know how beautiful you are’? (Mistress P-123)
Shyam is ambitious. He wants to flourish and become rich. His uncle gives him money and property. He is a growing business man and an entrepreneur in that part of Kerala. He is a crafty businessman. He has a resort near river Nila where tourists and foreigners visit and stay. On the marital front, Shyam and Radha do not have children though married for eight years. Radha is unhappy about the marriage because of the behavior of Shyam. What Shyam wants is a mistress. He wants a dutiful wife.
Men and women are complementary to each other. Neither of them can claim any superiority over the other. In human civilization, women are often gifted with foresight, which contributes to the happiness of others.
In earlier days, women were merely portrayed as dependent souls. They prefer happiness of others. Women’s identity is hidden behind the mask of sacrifice and dependency. Their voices are no better than the voices of the dumb, not audible to the world.
Radha knows that it is a sin to woo another man, a foreigner, Chris. Her husband loves her despite her guile nature. He suspects that she is attracted towards Chris. Her frequent visits to Chris make Shyam worried and put him in a vulnerable situation.
Chris is a writer, a journalist. He is interested in music. He has come to probe and find out if Koman was his father. Koman has had many affairs. Radha, herself has to grapple with the question whether her uncle, who had an affair with her mother, was her father.
Radha meets Chris secretly. Koman made many mistakes of romancing with Radha’s mother who was his own brother’s wife. As a wife, she is a symbol of the glory and prestige of her family and transmitter of tradition from one generation to another. Radha fails to restore her life even after her marriage to Shyam. As a wife, she must protect her husband’s reputation. The illegitimate relationship gives a chance to others to comment about her husband. She never bothers about her husband’s reputation and she tries to quench her thirst for sex, by romancing with Chris. She has forgotten that Shyam had given her a new life by marring her when her life was in ruins and her family at crossroads. Unfortunately she forgets Shyam’s help. He feels deceived, but he loves her very much. This shows his good nature and his true love for Radha.
Issues of Identity and self-definition remain uppermost in the novel. Koman is the protagonist of Mistress. Before learning about Koman, it is necessary to know about his parental background. Sethu, father of Koman, is a Hindu orphan, trained as a health inspector before he moves to Nazareth, a small town. He starts work under Dr Samuel. There is an epidemic in the village and its neighbourhood. They provide necessary help and service to the affected population. The doctor has tremendous confidence and faith in Sethu. The doctor takes him wherever he goes on medical rounds. In a village by name Arabipatnam, Sethu sees Saadiya, daughter of Haji Najib Msdoof. Her family is very orthodox and conservative. Women and girls are not allowed to see any strangers except their parents, brothers and husbands:
“What have you done, Saadiya? When I tell your father, he will be furious. She turned to zuleika and pinched her forearm. And you? Who else saw her there? Tell me the truth, you lazy cow. Where were you when she decided to put the honour of the family in jeopardy” (Mistress P-129)
When Saadiya’s parents come to know about her love for Sethu, a Hindu boy, she is expelled from the house. She joins Sethu. He is confident that Dr Samuel would help him. Dr Samuel asks him to leave immediately.
Sethu is very fortunate. Whenever he is in trouble, providence comes to his rescue. He is offered a job by James Raj, the richest man in Nazareth. After sometime, Saadiya gives birth to a male child. Sethu and Saadiya argue about “Khitan” to be performed on the newly born child. He feels very bad because this may cause pain to the child’s penis and testicles. He tries to convince her not to perform such things on the new born baby. She is stubborn and wants to follow every instruction that is said in the Koran.
Saadiya’s upbringing through indoctrination about religion is strong and common sense is not allowed to work. Sethu does not allow such things to be performed on his son and asks her to leave his son and go to her parents. When he comes home, only the child is there. She commits suicide.
In moments of extreme distress and tension such individuals cannot cope and commit mistakes or take extreme measures that are irreversible. Daily disagreements with Sethu lead to dejection and force Saadiya to commit suicide.
Though Saadya leaves her parents house because of her love for Sethu, she cannot leave her religion. This categorically tells us that Mind and Body are different. Body is willing but the mind unwilling.
Sister Faith, a nurse, is free and accepts to look after the child so that Sethu can get along with his life. He makes arrangements for delivery of money every month for maintenance of the child. He migrates to Shoranur and buys properties. He marries Devayani and has children through her. Sister Faith marries; there is none to look after the boy, Koman. Sethu has not discussed his previous marriage or about the child with his wife Devayani. She is disturbed by the arrival of Koman. Sethu feels that time will settle all problems. Like every father, he wants to give his son a good education. Koman is an average student. Koman’s interest lies in Kathakali. Sethu encourages him to learn the art of guises. His teacher, Aashan, trains him for many years to make him a good Kathakali dancer. He receives an invitation to play Keechakan in Keechaka Vadham. People praise his performance.
Sethu wants to see that Koman has a house of his own, purchases one for him near the river Nila.
Angela is a student learning Kathakali under Aashan. She has been learning Kathakali for two years. She is here to do her dissertation work. Her parentage is both German and Spanish. She now joins Koman’s class as a student. She finds him attractive. He is playful, mischievous and an affectionate teacher. He is generous and romantic by nature. She starts desiring him. She never misses to witness any performance given by him as it helps her research of recording as many veshams as possible. She feels that she is not just a student of his but she is something more than that. She feels that she is part of his being, like Ardhanareeswara, Lord Shiva having Goddess Parvati as one half of his body.
Koman starts to have an affair with Anjela. It is very difficult to restrain oneself from the amorous advances of a determined woman. They start living together. Sethu is worried that this would be a replay of his own life.
Look at the past and learn from it. Time to learn is the time when one wants the present to be better than the past. Any time one is unhappy in the present, it is time to learn from the past or plan for the future:
“You are old enough to know what you are doing”, he said. ‘Why don’t you marry her? All your life has been wasted on Kathakali. Will your art fetch you a glass of water when you are thirsty? Will it lay a wet cloth on your brow when you are burning with fever? Will it hold you up when your legs tremble? That is why you are lonely? That is why you need a family and home”. (P-371)
Sethu tries to reason with Koman regarding marriage with Anjela. Sometimes relationships don’t need rituals to sanctify them. Koman and Anjela start living as husband and wife, without being married. Slowly, perception of Anjela changes and wants him to move to the west to get international recognition, fame and fortune. Koman’s ego gets a boost. Planning for the future reduces fear and uncertainty. He does not plan nor does he learn from the past. He is going to land in an uncertain future as the future events reveal.
With the current generation of Indian writers in English, depiction of Man – woman relationship is not as advanced as in western culture, dealing with adultery, treachery and lust in all forms.
Anjela and Koman move to London. They are very happy for some time and then problems arise, pop up, one after another. Koman is totally dependent on Anjela both financially and emotionally. This causes friction between them. Money can make the best of friends into enemies. Naturally male ego is hurt and Koman decides to move out of Angela’s house. He does not find any progress in the art world. For survival he starts working in a hotel. He feels estranged and lonely as long as he is in London.
Finally he leaves for India. Lack of planning at work and in their lives, people fall short of their dreams and goals. Here Koman having no goal to achieve feels frustrated and dejected thereby becomes estranged.
Koman on his return, rejoins his dance school as Ashan. Two years later the institute troupe is invited to Europe. They perform at various places. Koman is offered a teaching fellowship by a German University. He declines the offer as he is aware of the shallowness of perception of the people in the western world.
It is the sense of purpose that ties the past, present and the future together. One must live with a purpose. How one responds on purpose. One has to respond to what is important now. It is important to him to teach this art to new students who are coming to join the dance school.
Success is becoming what one is capable of becoming. Progressing or moving towards worth- while goals is very important. Koman by nature is a good human being. He recommends Sundaran’s name for the teaching assignment and scholarship, abroad. Thus Sundaran gets a chance to go to a foreign country to exhibit traditional art form to western audiences. He never returns to India. Here Koman is very happy with his dancing school.
One has to adapt to the changing needs of society. One should not be afraid of change. The performance of Kathakali characters comes through life and death of Aashan, the art teacher who developed Koman into a man who is there to perform , art for art’s sake, where as Sundaran reaps spectacular commercial benefits from the art.
Koman proposes to Lalitha his long time mistress. She refuses to marry him because of her fear of people in society. She knows that Koman’s family would never accept her as his wife. She would always be treated as his mistress.
He has an uncanny knack of enticing and building sexual relationships with women. During his stay in Delhi, he meets Maya. Maya is a voluptuous woman. She is lonely. A month later Koman goes to Madras where she lives. Inevitably they become lovers, an affair of the heart and body. He is comfortable, has peace of mind as long as he is with her.
Koman is acclaimed as a successful dancer and praised by the audience wherever he has given performances. A well- known filmmaker makes a short film on him. A journalist attempted what he called a fly-on- the wall biography. He is invited to perform at prestigious venues and participate in workshops and seminars. There have been many interpretations of his technique and style. He is detached from all. It is of no consequence to him how he is perceived by others or what the world thinks of him, as a man or as a dancer.
Men reach a stage where they generally become witnesses. In fact the Gita says, be a Sakshi( witness) to the events unfurling in front of you. Do not get entangled in the proceedings. Koman has reached a stage of detachment, where he can view things with the help of a detached mind.
Story of Radha:
There is an interesting aspect in Anita Nair’s novel Mistress that its treatment of man-woman relationship is based on her entrenched faith in new humanism according to which woman is not to be treated as a mere sex object, but man’s equal partner. Her concept, of a free woman, who has transcended the limits of economic or social freedom, developed a mental and emotional attitude. This novel on one level looks at the turbulence of large families where dependency breeds strong emotions. Shyam, a self made entrepreneur has been humiliated by his uncle, Radha’s father. His uncle comes with a proposal of marriage with his daughter:
“What is wrong? Shyam asked as gently as he could”?
She has been involved with a man,’
So why don’t you get them married”? (Mistress p-121)
They say that nemesis always has a way of catching up (Mistress P-121). Shyam is in love with Radha. He had foolish dreams since his childhood wanting to posses her at any cost. Even though he knows that she had pre-marital relationship with a married man, he thinks that it is an innocent relationship. It does not matter and he will be happy to marry her. He asks his uncle if she is agreeing. His mother approves their marriage. His sister, Rani Oppol is suspicious that Shyam has been forced to agree.
“You can get any girl you want. You don’t have to be saddled with her just because we owe her father a debt of gratitude,’ (Mistress P-122)
Despite his sister’s protest, marries Radha and on their marriage night, she waits for him in their nuptial chamber with a face that seems hewn out of stone. She looks at him, when he tries to crack a joke to make her laugh, she remains stoic.
“ I am not a virgin,’ she said,’ I want you to know that I have had sex,’ it does not matter. I have had sex, too. I have slept with other women, too. ‘Did my father offer you money to marry me?’ I looked at her carefully. You are insulting me,’ He said quietly. I don’t need to be paid to marry you. Do not you know how beautiful you are’? (Mistress P-123)
Shyam is ambitious. He wants to flourish and become rich. His uncle gives him money and property. He is a growing business man and an entrepreneur in that part of Kerala. He is a crafty businessman. He has a resort near river Nila where tourists and foreigners visit and stay. On the marital front, Shyam and Radha do not have children though married for eight years. Radha is unhappy about the marriage because of the behavior of Shyam. What Shyam wants is a mistress. He wants a dutiful wife.
Men and women are complementary to each other. Neither of them can claim any superiority over the other. In human civilization, women are often gifted with foresight, which contributes to the happiness of others.
In earlier days, women were merely portrayed as dependent souls. They prefer happiness of others. Women’s identity is hidden behind the mask of sacrifice and dependency. Their voices are no better than the voices of the dumb, not audible to the world.
Radha knows that it is a sin to woo another man, a foreigner, Chris. Her husband loves her despite her guile nature. He suspects that she is attracted towards Chris. Her frequent visits to Chris make Shyam worried and put him in a vulnerable situation.
Chris is a writer, a journalist. He is interested in music. He has come to probe and find out if Koman was his father. Koman has had many affairs. Radha, herself has to grapple with the question whether her uncle, who had an affair with her mother, was her father.
Radha meets Chris secretly. Koman made many mistakes of romancing with Radha’s mother who was his own brother’s wife. As a wife, she is a symbol of the glory and prestige of her family and transmitter of tradition from one generation to another. Radha fails to restore her life even after her marriage to Shyam. As a wife, she must protect her husband’s reputation. The illegitimate relationship gives a chance to others to comment about her husband. She never bothers about her husband’s reputation and she tries to quench her thirst for sex, by romancing with Chris. She has forgotten that Shyam had given her a new life by marring her when her life was in ruins and her family at crossroads. Unfortunately she forgets Shyam’s help. He feels deceived, but he loves her very much. This shows his good nature and his true love for Radha.
Chris and Radha continue to enjoy physical and emotional intimacy until one day Chris relationship based on deception ‘I don’t want to be involved in this deception. It makes me feel sordid and responsible’(252).
As the novel ends, Radha is in a dilemma when she thinks of returning to Shyam for support: ‘It is fear that makes me seek him, not regard for him….. I cannot continue to play wife merely because it frees me of worries: (426).
Some catchy quotations:
"Don't let someone else decide for you what is within your reach or what is beyond you" - 4
"You cannot make someone see the truth unless they want to" - 33
"Fear makes one do things one would never do otherwise. Fear lets you compromise." - 294
"But a true artist is also someone who is able to sustain his belief in his art, and knows that what the world thinks of his art is irrelevant." - 354
"People make mistakes. There is nothing wrong in admitting you made one. But to continue making a mistake when you know it is one, now that is wrong." - 454
Anita Nair throws light on different aspects of human relationships and brings out the factors, which are responsible for change in behaviour of man towards man. She feels that men have been successful in suppressing woman for centuries. She does not waver in her version of better world where men and women can live and work together harmoniously, developing a higher level of consciousness by means of a closer sharing of meaningful concepts, meaningful to the conditions that are present and prevailing.
The novelist expresses her thoughts through various rasas-raudram, bhyanakam,etc. What holds the novel Mistress, on pre-marital, non-marital and extra- marital sex is the way, the author binds it with Kathakali, a popular and rigorous dance form of Kerala thus blending art with adultery.
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