P.V. Laxmi Prasad's Contextualizing Woman and Her Struggles: 
A Critical Study of Indira Goswami’s Five Novellas About Women
Book Rivers Publishers, Lucknow, India 2021
Price: 2170 INR, ISB: 978-93-5515-031-8, Pp. 128

This is yet another scholarly contribution by P.V. Laxmi Prasad on the Five Novellas About Women by Indira Goswami, a celebrated writer and recipient of many awards. Indira Goswami is basically an Assamese writer. Many of her works have been translated into English from her native language. This critical work entitled “Contextualizing Woman and Her Struggles: A Critical Study of Indira Goswami’s Five Novellas About Women” was evaluated by an Indian literary critic P.V. Laxmi Prasad. 

The contents include Assamese literature: A Review, About Indira Goswami, Feminism in India, Insurgency Movement, Patriarchy, Introduction and Critical Interpretation of the five novellas. 

The basic difference between novels and novellas is page length and number of words. Most novellas explore a single and compelling central conflict. Novellas have one main character and a handful of secondary characters. The novellas are rooted within a limited spaced, ideally in one location. Five Novellas About Women is originally written in Assamese language by Indira Goswami and later translated into English by Divya Jyothi Sharma. It consists of five novellas such as (i) Breaking the Begging Bowl, (ii) The Blood of Devi Peeth, (iii) Delhi, 5th November 1991, (iv) Eswari’s Doubts and Desires and (v) The Touch Stone. These novellas, as Laxmi Prasad rightly observes are written in the true spirit of genre which touch upon the struggles of women in particular. At other end, the novellas depict the life of the rural poor, the situations of the widows and the plight of the urban underclass people. 

The first novella of the collection that is, Breaking the Begging Bowl refers to the wretchedness of the situation which is so bad that the begging bowl is perhaps the last material possession of a beggar. It breaks and the beggar is left with nothing. This novella carries allegorical undertones. The woman is Phooleswari carries many painful memories. She remembers having found the dead bodies of two students at the site in a heap as if they have been killed by the hunters. All these bodies strike a discord note of loss in life. Next to her memories, she found several military vehicles passing by blowing dust on the road. Here Indira Goswami refers to the insurgency movement in Assam. All the glimpses frightened Phooleswari. An illiterate Phooleswari predicted the dangers ahead for her. Indira Goswami presents the story of a similar tragedy with stark prose and striking imagery. Instead of taking sites and making comments she lets the readers confront the reality on their own. The problems of Assam, the struggles for the land, rural poverty and most importantly, Assamese dialect becomes a prominent feature of this novella. 

The second novella of the collection The Blood of Devi Peeth. The ‘Kamakhya Dham’, the abode of the Goddess Kamakhya, is a sixteenth century temple near the Brahmaputra River in Guwahati. It is a popular destination of the followers of Bhakti cult. The most ancient idea of Shakti across every culture and tradition is found to evolve from the core idea of ‘Nature’ or ‘Mother Prakruthi’. In this novella, Goswami deals with some pet themes, including her staunch opposition to animal sacrifice, an issue which will find a conclusion in her later masterpiece. Patriarchal culture mocks at a woman for her physical weakness. Padma Priya is harassed by patriarchy so much so that sometimes she loses her sanity, thus becoming a symbol of patriarchy by the turn of horrors in her life. Here, the dark and lonely room is a symbol the life of Padma Priya by her in-laws. 

Delhi, 5th November 1991, is the third novella in the sequence. The title refers to the 1991 Delhi Hooch Tragedy, which killed 199 people. Most of those who died were casual labourers and rickshaw pullers. The hooch was manufactured by a firm called Karnal Pharmacy based in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. The climax reached and the outcome of spurious liquor deaths has been put at 199. The hospital named the Hindu Rao hospital became the hotspot for Delhi people. Goswami describes the feelings and the plight of the kin of the deceased victims. There were so many events and actions that followed the hooch tragedy. Flesh and body became the primary features of a woman’s body.

Eswari’s Doubts and Desires is the fourth novella in the series. Besides being a fiction writer of repute, Indira Goswami was a respected scholar of the Ramayana literature. Following a particularly difficult time in her life after the death of her husband, Indira Goswami’s teacher persuaded her to go to Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh. Her experiences as a widow as well as a researcher find expression in her novel Neelakanti Vraja. The story is about the struggle between the human desire for love and spiritual commitment. Eswari, a widow, is in love with Dharma Bahaddur. As she cannot express her love, she feels guilty about her feelings. The novella ends with a devastating irony, underlining the difference between the male and female privilege, where a renowned Brahmachari who has renounced woman seems to be molesting an unwitting widow. 

The Touch Stone is the last of the five novellas. It is the most straight-forward text in the selection. In Goswami’s worldview, her men, despite their strength and power, are also trapped in the patriarchal system. Dwarakanath of The Touch Stone is a great example of this archetype. The story revolves around Dwarakanath, Snehalatha and Bakul Mala. It is known for certain touchstones that are remarkably handled and are woven around the protagonist. There is a reference to a river and a forest and to a ‘Barsana’, which is a place in Mathura. The reference to the rain and the names of the women characters suggest that it could be Assam as well. There is hardly any reference to the local fauna to identify the place which is perhaps a deliberate attempt, as most of the story takes place in the interiors of the mind of Dwarakanath. 

In conclusion, this critical book, authored by P.V. Laxmi Prasad, on the five novellas of Indira Goswami is based on the solid criticism followed by research. This book is useful for research scholars.