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The Criterion An International Journal in English

ISSN 0976-8165

Ecology and Ecological Concerns in Anita Desais TheVillage by the Sea

Vandana Beniwal Maharshi Dayanand University Rohtak, Haryana India. The relationship of ecology and literature is as old as that of man and literature. Perhaps the very first poem that stroke to human mind was inspired by the blooming flowers, chirping birds or the music of the waterfalls. The Bible without the Garden of Eden and theRamayana without the Ashok Vatika are never complete. Traces of ecology are found in all forms of literary genre- poetry, drama and fiction, in one way or the other. Earlier to Romantic age which is the golden period for the presentation of ecological aspects as in the poems of Wordsworth, Keats, Walden, Whitman, Thoreau etc., we can trace nature even in the plays of Shakespeare and the stories of Chaucer. Even literary criticism is not untouched by it. Ecological concerns have been the subject of literature since times immemorial. Its value arises in the present robotic age, when in the name of progress, man has reached to a point of his own destruction. Human activities lead to environmental crisis that challenges Mother Earth. It has drawn the attention of the intellectuals, academics and writers to the grave issues of ecological disaster. Anita Desai is no exception to it. Anita Desai occupies an important place in Indo English literary scene. As a novelist she is a pioneer and her novels gave new dimensions to Indian novels in English. She is a true child of Mother-Nature. Born in Mussoorie, a place of lush green valleys, she has a deep attachment with nature and nature influences her literary art highly. She is basically known for psychological novels and in the presentation of womans disturbed psyche her art is matchless. But if we go in the depth of her psychoanalysis of the characters, we find that it is nearly associated with ecology. Through her novels, she suggests that the cause of all the physical, social, psychological and environmental problems is the attitude of modern man towards nature. Desai is a sensitive soul who is conscious not only about the condition of woman in society but also the condition of mother nature in modern materialistic age. The relationship among the physical environment (soil, water, air) and the living environment (plants, birds and animal life) constitute ecology. Desai is concerned with ecology in more than one ways. In her novel Voices in the City (1965) she presents the effects of urbanization on three siblings who basically belong to a village. Amla, Kamala and Nirode fail to adjust themselves in the artificial environment of Calcutta where they do not find their roots. In Cry, the Peacock(1963)dealing with a hyper-sensitive character, Maya, Desai makes abundant use of nature imagery to explore the emotional world of the protagonist. Even the title of the novel itself is inspired by nature. Maya, a motherless child, finds mothers love in the objects of nature and is never happy in the materialistic environment of her husbands house. Again in Where shall we go this Summer? (1975) she presents the natural environment of Menori island and its wonderful impact on an alienated city-woman, Sita and her children. In The Village by the Sea(1982) she enlarges her vision to encompass the beauty of nature andcause and effect of ecological imbalance. The present paper is an attempt to trace the presentation of ecology and ecological concerns in her work The Village by the Sea.

Vol. IV. Issue III June 2013

Editor-In-Chief Dr. Vishwanath Bite

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The Criterion An International Journal in English

ISSN 0976-8165

The Village by the Sea(1982)is a children fable by Anita Desai, a story of a brother and sister, Hari and Lila, who live in a village, Thul which is surrounded by natural beauty. Thul is a real village on the western coast of India, some fourteen kilometers away from Mumbai. It is a place of pure natural beauty and peace. Desai gives a beautiful picture of the biodiversity of the place- various species of birds and animals and dense greenery of Thul. Flowers like scarlet hibiscus blooms, sweet smelling spider lilies and bright yellow allamanda; groves of coconut and banana, soft-needled casuarinas trees, and thick jungles of pandanus constitute the natural scene of Thul. Songs of the birds like flute-voiced drongoes, little magpie robins, crusted bul-buls and crow-pheasant mixed with the roar of the waves and the wind make the voice of the village. Again the line- Butterfly flew up out of the tussocks and bushes of wild flowers- large zebra- striped ones with a faint tinge of blue to their wings, showy black ones with scarlet-tipped wings and little sulphur-yellow ones give a lively display of nature in vibrant colors and patterns(Desai 4). Desai stimulates our various senses through nature- pictures. Creamy- foam, silvery sand, white-hot sky,and gold and silver fish depict various sights and colors of nature. How picturesque and lusciously Desai describes the village pond asHere buffaloes stood knee-deep, drinking or bathing. Lotuses bloomed- crimson ones with crimson leaves and crimson stalks and white ones with green leaves and green stalks. Ducks paddled between the large, flat, round leaves, and china-white egrets stood in the shallows, fishing (Desai 9). One can smell sea, mud and fish in Thul.In the noon, the sea glitters like a mirror broken into bits.Thul is rich in natural resources. As Biju says that ...there is plenty offood anyway-paddy and vegetables and coconuts. The coconuts are so big and sweet, they sell for good money in Bombay. The land is so good, we grow two crops in a year. We have the best paddy (Desai 91). Desai does not give us only a romantic picture of ecological componentsrather like a true artist she is aware of the changes taking place around her. Mother-nature in Thul is threatened by the forces of modernization and urbanization which would eventually destroy the green fields and the environment of the place. A fertilizer unit is projected to be established in Thul for which two thousand five hundred acres of land will be acquired. Desai shows the disasters which this scientific project of modern man will bring to the ecology of Thul. Soon this patch of farm land will be polluted.Crops will be destroyed so that factories can come up instead. All the filth of factories for when you produce fertilizers, a lot of effluents are created which have to be disposed of-these will be dumped in the sea and will kill the fish for miles around (Desai 95). Poor villagers do not know even the meaning of fertilizer. Hari takes it for manure but he is told that it is chemicals.Different kinds of chemicals to put in the ground-nitrogen, ammonia, urea-to make things grow(Desai 62). This scientific version of manure will no doubt increase the production but it will exhaust the productive power of the earth making it barren ultimately. The chemicals coming out of the unit when dumped into the sea will poison the fish and kill them. The fishes that survive even in the presence of chemicals will poison man. The chemicalsenter into the food chain and man being at the top of it is liable to be the greatest victim. As a leader tells the villagers that in Japan organic mercury was pumped into the sea, it poisoned the fish and the fish poisoned the people who were unlucky enough to eat them(Desai 121).

Vol. IV. Issue III June 2013

Editor-In-Chief Dr. Vishwanath Bite

www.the-criterion.com

The Criterion An International Journal in English

ISSN 0976-8165

Man interacts with nature through the medium of culture. Culture and nature make the balance of ecology. They are the two facetsof the same coin. Bates believes that culture is always embedded in nature just as nature is always already embedded in culture (qtd. in Dahiya39). If we disturb the one, the other will automatically collapse. But modern man has opted for the former leaving the later. He has made a march towards city-which is a human creation. He goes to nature only to exploit her. City-culture is responsible, to a great extent, for the present ecological problems. Desai presents a picture of city-life where man by turning his face away from nature has made life nuisance. It is a world of machines-machines that in all ways pollute our land, air and water. When Hari sails to Bombay, he finds that here- sky is dirty, sea water is oily, air is stale, everything is noisy and in the name of greenery there is only a city park- a dusty square with some patches of worn grass(Desai 167). The city is full of filth, slums and foul-smelling gutters. In the process of urbanization lush green areas have been turned either into commercial sites or slums. As Mr. Panwallah says that Bombay is not always the same. Fifty years ago, there were hills, gardens, beautiful palaces and villas where you now see slums, shops and traffic crowds. Once I lived in a villa with a garden and roses and fountains- now I live in a pigeon roost over a railway station (Desai 210). Another threat to our ecological balance is population explosion. We have grown too many that it becomes difficult to manage things. As the cart driver says that Nothing is enough. We are too many on earth now. Not enough fuel for all, not enough food, not enough jobs-or schools, or hospitals or trains, buses or houses. Too many people(Desai 110).Desai talks about the problem of proper house for the increasing population. The acquisition of the farmland by the forces of industrialization makes the unskilled villagers leave their homes and come to cities in search of jobs. Rehabilitation of these uprooted people is a serious problem. As Desai shows that Men and Women are forced to live in houses like matchboxes (Desai 255). To provide safe drinking water, sanitation and sewage to such a large number is not an easy task. Desai shows how people in Bombay live in Jhopadpatti near open gutters like insects. Statistics show that if we continue our present growth rate there will be standing room only for the people within a few decades. Human activities have polluted the air highly. Sulphurdioxide, ammonia and dust coming out of the manufacturing units make it suffocating. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy, caused by the leakage of chemicals from Union Carbide, a fertilizer unit, made hell of thousands of lives. To add to all this there is the element of noise. ... cycles, rickshaws, hand-carts, tongas, buses, cars, taxis, lorries-hooting and screeching and grinding and roaring have made it poisonous(Desai 115-116).Itcauses irritation to human beings. The city-dwellers go to rural areas to spend their holidays so that they can get some peace. But now they have invaded the villages also. Where they will go after it? The natural habitats of animals are now turned into commercial sites. Man has entered their places and kills them in their own homes. Desai shows how A band of men, boys and mongrelskill a little mongoose with such a ferocity as if it were a man-eater or a cobra just because it drank the water from the coconuts which would have provided them money in the market. Through the words of Sayyed Ali Sahib, the bird-watcher Desai shows mans cruelty and the pathetic condition of animals The birds are the last free creatures on Earth. Everything else has been captured and tamed and enslaved-tigers behind the bars of the zoos, lions are stared at by crowds in safari parks(Desai255). Soon the fertilizer factory will make the birds also

Vol. IV. Issue III June 2013

Editor-In-Chief Dr. Vishwanath Bite

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The Criterion An International Journal in English

ISSN 0976-8165

homeless and thebirds will find no more paddy leaves for their young. They will have to fly away(Desai 255).Can man survive when the animals and birds are lost? And the answer is certainly-NO. Desai is highly concerned with the exhaustion of natural resources. Natural resources are being consumed at a high rate. Under the pressure of increasing population our nature treasure is getting empty as Desai tells that there is hardly any fish left here.Not enough for Bombay people-not enough for even you villagers(Desai 90).Air and water are already polluted. Due to the rapid establishment of industries the farmland is shrinking.We can easily imagine the condition of millions of people starving in the nations of Africa and Asia. To meet the demands of increasing population modern man is forced to do which he will not perhaps do otherwise. Man exhausts the land with the help of chemicals to get more production. Forests are destroyed at a high speed. By degrading the ecology we are moving on the path of self destruction. Desai pleads to show sympathy towards the living creatures and preserve the natural resources. Man has considered Earth his mother but modern man has become mother-eater. Everybody knows the consequences of all this cruelty towards nature but nobody cares about it. Even in modern welfare societies, government does not care for the future of humanity. The government sends experts to select a proper site for the factory and they select this patch of good farmland for factories. Desai shows how human attempt to save ecology have often been exploited forpolitical propaganda. Innocent villagers make an attempt to save the land of their fore- fathers but they lost the case in court. The politicians won- so they can make plenty of money from the sale of land and licences in the name of progress(Desai 254). Money overpowers the intellect of modern man and he digs the grave of whole humanity knowingly. These temple destroyers, these devotees of ravaging commercialism seem to have a perfect control for nature, and instead of lifting their eyes to God of the Mountains, lift them to almighty Dollar (qtd. in Mishra 238). The role of the advanced countries and particularly thatof America is highly questionable in this context. What such people will do with this advancement when the whole planet is in danger? While coming back to his village Hari is shocked to see the factory belt of Thana, pouring out evil-smelling smoke and chemicals into the discoloured sky, all the land around blighted and bare, not a blade of grass to be seen and the few remaining trees coated with suffocating dust. Hari wondered if this could possibly be the way that the green coastline from Rewas to Alibagh would look like one day and he is right as the fertilizer unit will definitely turn their farmland into a wasteland soon(Desai 220). This is not the story of Thul alone, rather that of the whole Earth. What happens here in Thul, is happening and will happen to the whole planet if things remain the same. If we degrade our ecology we actually harm ourselves because we are a part of the complex network of ecology where every component effects and is effected by others.Desai is not against progress and change rather she believes that change is necessary for improvement. Modernization and development through technology and science is not a bad idea. She talks about adaptation and believes that like all birds and animals, man will also adapt himself to new circumstances. But her main concern is that everybody has limits to adapt. So man will have to think seriously over this matter and come out with better alternatives as Desai suggests that man can build factories where land is barren and nothing grows but stones and pebbles(Desai 92). We can take an eco-friendly way to advancement. We must deal ecology sincerely and honestly. Desai seems

Vol. IV. Issue III June 2013

Editor-In-Chief Dr. Vishwanath Bite

www.the-criterion.com

The Criterion An International Journal in English

ISSN 0976-8165

to suggest that the mindless execution of the technology without proper planning would adversely affect the nature. The present work rings like an alarm bell to wake the humanity and take action before it is too late. Stop the dirty politics over such a sensitive issue.The existence of the only green planet of the universe is in danger. It is not a time to be selfish and think about personal loss and gain. Do not live in illusion .Desai appears to make an appeal to the whole humanity to open eyes, face the reality and save the earth.Through her conscious representation of ecological concerns and balanced views regarding their solutions, Desai stands out as a true spokesperson of Ecocriticism.

Works Cited:
Dahiya, Archana. Ecological Aspects in the Selected Poem of Toru Dutt, Sarojini Naidu and Kamala Das and Green Density Measure.Language in India.13.5 (May 2013):2542.Web. 14 May 2013.<http://www.languageinindia.com>. Desai, Anita. The Village bythe Sea. 1982. New Delhi: Penguin, 2012.Print. Mishra, C.C. Ecology and Identity Crisis in RohintonMistrys Fiction.Contemporary Indian Writing in English.Ed.N.D.R. Chandra.1sted.Vol.II. New Delhi: Sarup& Sons, 2005.238246.Print.

Vol. IV. Issue III June 2013

Editor-In-Chief Dr. Vishwanath Bite