Introduction
Shashi Deshpande’s short story, ‘My Beloved Charioteer’, is a story of patriarchal domination, emotional stagnation and the effect of one generation’s relationship on the other. The story explores three generations i.e. Ajji her daughter Aarti and her grand-daughter Priti (Aarti’s daughter).
Triple Generation relationship Web
Ajji (The Grandmother & Narrator): She is a widow, who represents the older generation. She has faced severe patriarchal subjugation from his husband, who never loved him. Despite a harsh and unlovely domestic life, after the death of his husband, she decides to move on in the life and anchors the whole house.
Aarti (Ajji’s Daughter): Aarti is emotional drag of the house. She belongs to the middle-aged generation. She had a lovely life with her husband Madhav but the untimely death of her husband has totally broken her and now she has completely isolated herself both emotionally and physically from her other relationships. She doesn’t care about her mother and her daughter Priti. Over that, the death of her father, whom she loved very much made the things worse.
Priti (Aarti’s daughter and Ajji’s Granddaughter): Priti is a seven year old girl who belongs to the young and future generation. She makes the things light in the house and she is the life source and beloved Charioteer of Ajji. She is unaffected from the emotional trauma and past happenings in the house but her mothers behaviour has started to affect her.
Key Themes
- Patriarchal Oppression: Ajji has faced patriarchal oppression from her husband who never loved her. She was with him to fulfil his physical needs and domestic responsibilities. She never got emotional support from him even during the death of her two children. He hated her tears, hence, she was forced to weep in isolation. Even in terms of food habits her choices were never taken care of. She lived in extreme fear during night as any sort of noise may disturb her husband’s sleep and he would be extremely angry on that. Ajji gets freedom from this abusive life after her husband’s death. But the idolisation of her father by Aarti was broken when Ajji revealed the truth of her married life to her.
- Emotional Suffocation and Emotional Stagnation: Aarti symbolises emotional stagnation and suffocation. She is the one who is destructing herself and her other relationships under the effect of her immense grief. She has completely isolated herself, keeps on smoking, never interact with others and the most depressing thing is to have urge of killing happy couples. She can’t see other’s happiness now. In her such depressive state, she takes refuse in her father’s room.
- Strained Mother-Daughter relationship: The strained mother daughter relationship can be analysed from two sides i.e. Ajji and Aarti relationship and Aarti and Priti relationship. Aji and Aarti relationship was not going smooth as Aarti thought her mother is too cold emotionally, as she is not showing that grief which she was despite losing her husband (Aarti’s father) and son in law (Aarti’s husband). Once Ajji asks Aarti, has she slept well? and she was extremely harsh in replying that she can never sleep well again. Even when Ajji was revealing the truth about her husband, Aarti was not inclined to face the truth about her father. At the other hand Aarti does not take care of her daughter Priti. She remains lost in her grief. Once she asks priti, do you remember your papa? Priti replied with hesitation, yes. Then, she retorted with frustration and anger that no, you don’t remember your papa.
- Truth paves the path: At the end of the story Ajji reveals the truth of Arti’s father to her and Aarti is not ready to listen that truth, she cries and asks her mother to stop it. It is painful for Aarti to know the truth about her father whom she idolises so much. But Ajji knows that unless she faces the truth she is not going to move on in the life. Hence, it is expected that Aarti might have moved on in the life after facing the truth.
Symbolism in the story
There are few important symbols in the story which determine the interpretation.
- Smoking of Aarti: The chain smoking of Aarti symbolises extreme depression and unable to cope with the reality of life. She is trying to forget her grief in smoking, which is in fact not a solution and it is self-destructive.
- Breaking of photograph: At the end of the story when Aarti mistakenly breaks photograph of her father, it’s symbolises the break of illusion she was having about the character of her father. She keeps on smashing the photograph after listening the true nature of her father towards her mother.
- Beloved Charioteer: The word charioteer in the title is inspired from the Lord Krishna in Mahabharat who made Arjun pass the battle successfully guiding him about Dharma and duties. Similarly, in the story Priti is the beloved Charioteer for Ajji as she is the lighthouse in her life, guiding her to move on in the life.
- The room of Aarti’s father: Aarti used to take refuse in his father’s room. It has many meanings. It symbolises past memories, patriarchal domination and a hurdle in the path of moving on in the life.
Characterization
Deshpande has beautifully portrayed her characters. Ajji is the oldest character and she understand how the life should be lead. She knows that one cannot always live in the past thinking about the sorrow and grief. She tries to hold the family together. Aarti represents the bad phase of life. She highlights the human nature who doesn’t want to leave the past. She is offended of life that why has she to face such sorrow in the life. She feels jealous of others seeing them happy. Priti represents innocence. She is the live wire of the family, who does not understand what’s wrong with her mother but she can feel it that she is not right.
Conclusion
Ultimately, it can be concluded that past can be forgotten only by interaction with the present and thinking about the future. One cannot move on the life living in the past. One has to leave the past behind and hug the present to make the future beautiful.
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