Mahasweta Devi was an Indian writer and social activist. The document discusses two of her most celebrated works, Draupadi and Choli Ke Peeche. Draupadi tells the story of a tribal woman who is repeatedly raped in police custody but refuses to be defeated, confronting her abuser naked. Choli Ke Peeche depicts a tribal woman who is ostracized from her village after her photograph is taken topless, leading her down a path of abuse and prostitution. Both stories portray women reclaiming power over their bodies and identities in the face of oppression. The document argues that Devi used women's bodies as symbols of resistance against social norms and objectification.
2. MAHASWETA DEVI
1926 - 2016
Mahasweta Devi was an Indian Bengali writer and social
activist. Her works, written in Bengali have been
translated to English, Hindi, Marathi and several other
languages. Apart from receiving praise for her literary
works, she was recognised as a voice for the helpless,
actively fighting against the discrimination of tribal
people in India.
“I have always believed that the real history is made by
ordinary people. I constantly come across the
reappearance, in various forms, of folklore, ballads, myths
and legends, carried by ordinary people across
generations. ... The reason and inspiration for my writing
are those people who are exploited and used, and yet do
not accept defeat. For me, the endless source of ingredients
for writing is in these amazingly noble, suffering human
beings. Why should I look for my raw material elsewhere,
once I have started knowing them? Sometimes it seems to
me that my writing is really their doing. “
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3. Even though, she refused to belong to a
single school of thought, her sympathetic portrayal
of women, the hardships they are subjected to and
the consequent revolt, undeniably adds a feminist
dimension to her works.
The following presentation aims to shed
light on two of her most celebrated works –
Draupadi & Choli Ke Peeche, evaluating their
impact on the audience, society and the idea
behind gender roles.
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4. DRAUPADI
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is a riveting tale of Draupadi (Dopdi)
Mejhen, a woman belonging to the Santhal
tribe. Draupadi and her husband Dulna are
on the ‘most wanted’ list in West Bengal.
They murder wealthy landlords to claim
wells and tube-wells which are their main
sources of water in the village. They fight
for their right to basic means of sustenance.
Dulna is eventually gunned down by
policemen; however Draupadi manages to
escape and begins to operate helping
fugitives who have murdered corrupt
property-owners and landlords, escape.
She tactfully misleads the cops who are on
her trail, so that the fugitives’ campsite
remains a secret. However, she is finally
caught and kept in police custody. This is
where the story actually begins.
5. Over the course of a few days, Draupadi is repeatedly raped and
tortured by multiple police officers who state that their orders to “make
her” have come from their Bade Sahib, officer Senanayak, in charge of
her case. The next day, the policemen take her back to the tent and tell
her to clothe herself, because it is time for her to meet Senanayak. As the
guard pushes a bucket of water forward, for her to wash herself, she
laughs, throws the water down and tears the piece of cloth on her body.
She proceeds to walk out of her tent, towards Senanayak, naked and
with her head held high. Senanayak is taken aback and quickly averts his
eyes from her body.
She walks right upto him, hands on her hips and says “the
object of your search, Dopdi Mehjen. You asked them to make me. Don’t
you want to see how they made me?” When Senanayak asks where her
clothes are, she retorts, that clothes were useless because once she was
stripped, she could not be clothed again. She spits on Senanayak with
disgust and says “How can you clothe me? Are you a man? There isn’t a
man here, that I should be ashamed.’ She pushes Senanayak with her
exposed breasts and for the first time, he is afraid to counter an
unarmed woman.
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6. In that moment, though Draupadi has no weapons,
she uses her body as her greatest weapon. The body
which was abused, tortured and seen as the cause of
her downfall, becomes the very weapon with which
she stands up for herself. She refuses to let them
take advantage of her emotions, even though she has
been physically assaulted. Draupadi realises that
raping women does not make the male species
‘masculine’. In fact, it negates the very purpose.
Mahasweta Devi presents Draupadi as a strong
female character, transgressing sexual
orientation and social standards.
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7. CHOLI KE PEECHE
is a short story written by Mahashweta Devi, is based on the scandal that is
brought about when a photographer captures raw photographs of a tribal
woman topless, while feeding her new born. This book, made famous by the
cinematic adaptation ‘Gangor’ produced by Italo Spinelli, brings to light the
issues of gang rape, prostitution and the myriad atrocities faced by tribal
women at large, as well as the issue of unethical journalism.
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8. The story is set in the region of Purulia, where a photographer goes to
capture the essence and poverty of village life. He comes across a women
breast feeding her newborn and takes photographs of her despite her
subtle protests. When his article, along with the picture of her goes public,
it turns into a scandalous affair. She is disowned, raped and mutilated by
fellow villagers as well as policemen of her region.
Amidst the chaos, the photographer realises that
he is at fault and goes in search of her. He finds
that she is now a prostitute and no longer
accepted in her village. While running away from
her and the reality of his actions, he falls under
the wheels of a train and dies. The woman’s case
soon reaches court and on the day of her hearing,
a group of women bare their breasts in solidarity
against rape and molestation. Mahashweta Devi
aptly brings to light these heinous social crimes
and the evils faced by women in our society.
Notably, in her short story, she does not mention
whether justice prevails.
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9. The woman, Gangor embodies all women in society. We
are overwhelmed by the force of patriarchy, and after
‘subtle protests’ we give in to their desires and ideologies.
In this story, we see that the woman’s bare-breasts
completely take over her identity. The sight of her abused
breasts, that cause Upin (the photographer) such
displeasure that he runs away, serves as a metaphor of
the violence and crime that one simply runs away from, in
this day and age. The act of the women bearing their
breasts, shatters the association of a woman’s body with
lust and desire and instead, becomes a symbol of
solidarity. This point in the story, captures the struggle of
women to be taken seriously, irrespective of the fact that
they’ve always been considered the weaker sex because
their bodies are distinct from their male counterparts.
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10. CONCLUSION:
•In both short stories, women turn their physicality, previously associated
with shame and powerlessness, into an analogy of resistance.
•Mahasweta Devi does not romanticize the tribal lady. Her depictions are
realistic, shaking the audience out of their ignorance and indifference.
•Her language, though simple, invokes complex emotions, leaving readers
with real substance to ponder over.
•Her works are powerful because they give the reader a sense of the change
that could take place if women were to resist the roles prescribed to them by
society.
•Her works push us to discourage the political and social treatment of
women as objects and not individuals.
A woman’s body, vastly different from a man’s, is often seen as a means
to oppress her. In her short stories; Draupadi and Choli Ke Peeche,
Devi celebrates the female body as her greatest asset to overcome
oppression and objectification.
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