Haunting Hungers: A Study of Bhabani Bhattacharya’s So Many Hungers!

So Many Hungers! was published in October 1947, soon after India achieved independence.
But, it covers the war years with their uncertainties, agonies, cruelties, and frustrations. The
fusion of the traditional and modern values is the most conspicuous feature of Bhattacharya’s
writings. As K.R. Chandrasekharan (1974) observes, “With his progressive ideas and his vision
of a glorious future, he has also great admiration for the spiritual and cultural heritage of the
country. Like the great men whom he admired, particularly Tagore and Gandhi, he is also a
builder of bridges between the present and past.”
As to how he became a novelist, Bhabani Bhattacharya (1972) recalls, “The great famine swept
down upon Bengal. The emotional strings I felt (more than two million men, women and
children died of slow starvation amid a man-made scarcity) where a sheer compulsion to
creativity. The result was the novel So Many Hungers!.” The novel unfolds the story of hunger
that killed two million men, women and children in Bengal. In fact, Bhattacharya succeeded in
weaving “motifs of different types of hunger into a thematic fabric in order to reassert a positive
faith in the basic human values. Hunger becomes a symbol depicting man in the midst of things,
man set upon by things, man confused and facing that inner real self whose existence perhaps
he never felt sure of. In this novel, the motif of hunger becomes the central metaphor.”
The central theme of So Many Hungers! is the twin hunger for food and for freedom. The plot
of the novel consists of two strands - the story of the young scientist Rahoul and his family,
and that of the peasant girl Kajoli and her family. The story of Rahoul exemplifies the theme
of hunger for freedom and the story of Kajoli exemplifies the theme of hunger for food. The
two families live far apart. Rahoul’s family in Calcutta and Kajoli’s in a small village called
Baroni. As G.S. Balarama Gupta (1979) points out, “So Many Hungers! is woven around the
happenings in the lives of Rahoul and Kajoli and their families and these are meant to highlight
and vivify the crushing effects of the cataclysmic consequences of the horrendous famine
stalking the length and breadth of the country.”
The fight of man against hunger produces two types of images – man at his noblest and at his
worst as well. A destitute boy fights with a dog to take control of the leftovers in a dustbin. He
defeats the lesser animal outside for the sake of the animal inside him, i.e. the hunger. In the
words of the Bhabani Bhattacharya (1947), “Destitutes and dogs in those days often fought for
possession of the rich city’s ten thousand rubbish-heaps, in which scraps of rotting food lay
buried. It was not every time that the destitute won, routing the dogs on the streets and the dog
within themselves.”
The poor people and the peasants of Bengal take for granted that the famine is imposed on
them by God. It is their fate that has made them repent for their past sins. But the fact is that
hoarders and the marketers stored the food grains for a huge profit. This fact is made through
the character of Samarendra Basu in the novel. Though he is a lawyer by profession, he belongs
to the vicious circle that causes the mass human tragedy in the story. His trading company
called ‘Cheap Rice Limited’ tempts small farmers to sell both their stock of rice and the
unharvest crops, to store the rice safely in some places, so that the absence of rice in the market
increases its price. Thus, the famine is entirely man-made.
Rahoul, Samarendra Basu’s elder son is the opposite pole of his father. He is a great intellectual
and a B.Sc. from Cambridge. Through Rahoul, Bhabani Bhattacharya (1947) expresses, “The
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empty stomach was due to no blight of nature, no failure of crops Rahoul knew. It was man-
made scarcity, for the harvest had been fair, and even if the Army bought up big stocks, with
rationing at the right level there could be food for all. But there was no rationing”.
So Many Hungers! chiefly focuses on man’s great hunger for food. Bhabani Bhattacharya
artistically portrays this hunger as a main theme in two of his novels. As Dr. C. Paul Verghese
(1971) rightly remarks, “Food is the primary requisite of human dignity; hunger debases and
dehumanizes man. That is why hunger is the theme of a large number of Indo-Anglian novels.
Bhattacharya has dealt quite forcefully with the theme of hunger and the concomitant theme of
human degradation in his novels So Many Hungers! and He who Rides a Tiger.”
The families in the villages suffer a lot due to the famine. They have no work to do and no food
to eat. Bhabani Bhattacharya portrays the desperate condition of people through the story of
Kajoli and her family. The living condition of these peasants worsens. They are reduced to the
level of mere destitute searching for food in the City. Bhattacharya is at his best when he depicts
the plight of the ruined peasants, their exodus to the City and their abject misery and
degradation.
In the villages, people have nothing to eat, not even the roots of a plant. So thousands of people
abandon their homes and start flowing to the big city of Calcutta, with lots of hope. The
innocent villagers are in the wrong notion that the people of City are generous that they will
feed the village folk. Their journey is described by Bhattacharya (1947), “Streams of desperate
men ventured out of their ancestral homes in search of food hanging on the foot boards of
railway trains, riding on the sun-baked roofs. The police threw up barrier. Then the men trekked
the meadows and roads ten thousand village streams following city wards.”
The irony is that the city, where these people migrate, has been fully dependent on the
countryside for food grains. The city has only consumed the food products of the villagers. The
City is also affected by the scarcity of food grains. The Second World War has brought a
calamity over the land.
The novelist portrays the realistic picture of hunger by collecting the details from the
newspapers. In the City, the horrible scenes are common place things; the mothers kill their
own children for want of milk and food; the hungry infants are seen sucking the breast of their
dead mothers; the mothers sell their daughters and even send to brothels for the sake of food
and pregnant women die before they give birth to their babies. Malta Grover (1991) observes,
“Bhattacharya has portrayed the image of hunger on an epic scale in his first novel, So Many
Hungers!, by focusing our attention on the story of a peasant family, and comparing and
contrasting it with the story of an urban family living in Calcutta.”
Regarding the condition of common Indian peasants, Bhattacharya is moved by this miserable
plight. They are reduced to utter poverty by the exploitative policies of the alien Government.
Vulture-eaten corpses keep company of famished humanity, who move towards Calcutta in the
hope of getting food. They see jackals eating hungry people lying unconscious, because of
hunger. While giving a general picture of hunger all over Bengal, Bhattacharya particularizes
it by showing the plight of Kajoli, Onu and their mother. Kajoli, a pregnant and hungry would
go out with her mother to hunt for roots, which are boiled, salted and eaten, being difficult to
digest. It is this unbearable hunger that drives Kajoli to eat the entire bread which the soldier
gives her, without thinking for a minute about her mother and brother. She eats eagerly unaware
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of the indecent behavior of soldier; the result is her painful abortion. Like Kajoli, there are
millions of peasants who groan due to unbearable hunger.
There are free kitchens run by public charity, yet thousands of poor die every day. Due to
prolonged starvation, many people are not fit to solid food and need a special diet and glucose.
When they take the ordinary food, they die. The irony is that many die of the excitement, which
they cannot bear, at the sight of food at free kitchens in Calcutta. In this novel there is a pathetic
incident of an old man, who died while watching food being served in the free kitchen.
The destitute in the City have to find out banana skins in the pile to eat. They eagerly approach
the garbage for food. The peels of vegetables, rotten vegetables are the food for the hungry.
Some of them catch and eat even rats. They have to face heavy competition even for the
dustbins. They often fight among themselves like animals.
The unhealthy food habits result in Dysentery, among the destitute. The destitute feel that it is
good for them. Because they will be taken to sick hospital, nursed and given food. The sick-
hospitals are already full with patients; hence many of them are left to their fate. People hurt
by bombs during those days are promptly taken to hospitals, but nobody bothers about those
who are hurt terribly by hunger. When a soldier gives half a rupee to Onu, he is excited and
thought of buying cheap meals. But later he changes his mind and buys flowers for the Goddess.
The poignancy of hunger is reflected more in the cry of a destitute boy, who wishes to get hurt
in a Japanese bomb attack. Hunger makes human beings inhuman. Destitute often fight with
animals for the leaving in the garbage dumps. The theme of hunger for food is presented, not
in fragments, but in its wholeness. Bhabani Bhattacharya not only describes the horrible scenes
of famine in Bengal, but also reflects its physical and moral aspects. The novelist assesses the
overall impact of the famine, taking into account its physical as well as moral aspect. Through
Rahoul, Bhabani Bhattacharya (1947) reflects the physical side of the famine, “Death would
claim two millions, perhaps there millions more would escape by the skin of their teeth, but
they would never be strong again, especially the children and the rickety babies who had so
little success, who had been exposed much to sun and rain.”
The novelist brings out the inner degradation of the human souls as a result of hunger for food.
Kajoli’s brother Onu has grown under the idealism of Devata. He is a noble and innocent young
boy who is free from selfishness. He is in the habit of sharing even his best possessions with
his friends. But hunger has debased his warm and innocent spirit.
Bhattacharya describes many incidents which portray the moral implications of human hunger
for food. Hunger makes the human beings put aside their affection, at the sight of food. When
a soldier has given some bread to Kajoli, she forgets about her mother and brother for a
moment. Only after she has finished eating, she feels very sad thinking about her mother and
brother. There is another instance of depravity and degradation caused by hunger. A destitute
woman gets some handful of rice after a day’s hard work. When at sunset she lights fire and is
about to take rice with her three children, a hungry man seizes rice from her and runs away.
There is another pathetic picture of a woman, who sat on the pavement, eating eagerly from a
bowl, while her famished child sat near her and gazed.
As realistic novelist, Bhattacharya portrays both sides of the hunger-stricken people. The one
side of them is their inner degradation, while the other side is the moral uprightness. He has
faith in the goodness of mankind. Shyam M. Asnani (1979) points out, “Bhattacharya as a
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novelist always strives to portray the innate goodness of man. This is not so because he is a
rationalist or a utopian, but because he gives an evidence of his acute awareness of the history
of mankind and his unflinching faith in the essential richness and nobility of the human soul.”
The old mother of Kajoli is an embodiment of compassion, unselfishness, strength and hope.
Once she comes across a young mother burying her child, though the child is alive. When she
comes to know that the young mother has no milk in her breast for her dying child, she gives
her cow, Mangala, which is their only asset. She not only gives her cow to save her and her
infant life but also gives encouragement and hope.
Onu, Kajoli’s younger brother, struggles hard to feed his mother and sister by plucking figs on
the top of the tree. Though he first collects figs only for his family, he later realises the sorrow
of his friends. He determines to collect a lot of figs so as to save his and his friend’s blood
relations. He is ready to share his secret treasure which he only could reach.
There is an act of self-sacrifice, when a big boy shares the jam tin with Onu after fighting with
a hungry dog. This is the other side of the moral aspect of hunger. R. S. Singh says, “In So
Many Hungers! no hunger is satisfied but the human spirit’s sanctity, richness and beauty are
fully vindicated.” The title of the novel reveals that there are many types of hungers apart from
hunger for food. K. K. Sharma (1979) rightly points out, “So Many Hungers!, Bhattacharya’s
first novel is primarily devoted to man’s hunger for food, though it also closely analyses man’s
other urges. It is a story not only about so many types of human hunger.” Though, in this novel
the hunger for food and political freedom dominate, there are other hungers like hunger for
money, for sex, for ethical values, hunger for social prestige, titles, riches and prosperity and
hunger for self-respect.
G. S. Balarama Gupta (1979) observes, “So Many Hungers! has for its theme hungers – so
many of them- both benign and maleficent. First there is the hunger as it is commonly
understood, the hunger for food…. then, there is hunger for power which means enormous
bloodshed, agony and exploitation… the third variety is the hunger for freedom and the 1942
Quit India Movement provides the novel with yet another thread of its plot.”
So Many Hungers! also focuses on man’s hunger for money and titles. This is illustrated by the
life of Samarendra Basu and Abalabandhu. Samarendra Basu is an embodiment of man’s quest
for money and titles. He has accumulated wealth and land by his black-market business. He
never minds feeding on the sufferings of human beings. Ashok K. R. Bachchan (1994) points
out, “Bhabani Bhattacharya uses the device of contrast to highlight the problem of hunger. He
presents the contrasting scenes of hunger for food and hunger for wealth simultaneously.
Kajoli, Onu, their mother and the dispossessed suffer from hunger for food. On the other hand,
Sri Abalabandhu and Samarendra Basu suffer from unquenching lust for wealth.”
The novelist portrays another type of hunger, the hunger for sex in the novel. This hunger spoils
the life of Kajoli in the image of a soldier. The soldier who lives away from his family craves
for sex in a moment of weakness. He rapes the pregnant girl Kajoli and causes a painful
abortion. He satisfies his hunger for sex after satisfying Kajoli’s hunger for food.
In the great City, this hunger for sex is the cause for brothel business. During the famine, many
young girls from the countryside move to City to satisfy their hunger for food by satisfying the
sexual hunger of the rich. Sri Abalabandhu is a curious character obsessed by sex. Apart from
this, there are many basic hungers which govern the lives of men and women. Bhattacharya
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throws light on these through Kishore and Kajoli in this novel. Kishore expresses his view that
the man has several hungers like hunger for food, social status and hunger for family life. Kajoli
strives to have a home for herself and her family. But throughout her life this hunger is not
fulfilled. That remains an unfulfilled till the end of the novel. In this way, Bhattacharya analyses
the theme of hunger from gender point of view.
The hunger strike, the self-imposed hunger, is another type of hunger stated in the novel. Under
the impact of Gandhi, many freedom fighters use ‘hunger strike’ as a powerful weapon to
achieve freedom. While millions of people face starvation in Bengal, patriots resort to hunger
strike, fast unto death. It is this news that changed Kajoli’s mind at the last moment and saves
her from an immoral act.
The last three paragraphs of the novel present the greatness and richness of life. Rahoul, who
has witnessed the endless miseries of the famished people, reaches prison thronged with people
beaming with exultation. Bhabani Bhattacharya writes (1947) “There was no defeat in the
voices, but a secret, excited triumph…. Listening, Rahoul began to lose his sadness, for in that
instant he saw past the clouds of pain – he saw the horizon of the east illuminated by a new
dawn. Freedom could not drop from the skies, nor be asked from lands beyond the seas; but
there, in the vast swamp of suffering and struggle, would it break into blown, growing out of
the seeds of the spirit… And strong exultation burned in his eyes and a strange intense look of
conquest kindled in his face as he gave his voice to the united voices, The more they tighten
the chains, the more the chains loosen!”
On the whole, Bhabani Bhattacharya has analyzed impact of Bengal Famine from all angles in
So Many Hungers! deeper than his other novels. As Harish Raizada (1982) observes, "Bhabani
Bhattacharya’s first novel, So Many Hungers!is one of the first pieces of creative writing born
out of the agonized torment of body and spirit endured by the sacred soil of Bengal during the
hideous famine years and the early stages of the Second World War.”
References
 Ashok K. R. Bachchan (1994) “The Theme of Hunger in Bhattacharya’s Novels”, The
Literary Voice, Volume 1. pp. 30-35
 Bhabani Bhattacharya (1972), Contemporary Novelists in the English Language, St.
Martin’s Press, p.7.
 Bhabani Bhattacharya (1947), So Many Hungers!, Hind Kitab.
 C. Paul Verghese (1971), “Article in Indian writing to-day”, Studies in Indo-Anglian
Literature of Dr. K.N. Joshi, Volume 6.
 G. S. Balarama Gupta (1979), “Bhabani Bhattacharya’s So Many Hungers!: A Study”,
Aspects of Indian Writing in English, Ed. M.K. Naik, Madras: The Macmillan
Company of India Ltd.
 Harish Raizada (1982), “Bhabani Bhattacharya: Novelist of Social Ferment”,
Explorations in Modern Indo-English Fiction, ed. Dr. R. K. Dhawan, Bahri
Publications.
 K. K. Sharma (1979), Bhabani Bhattacharya: His Visions and Themes, Abhinov
Publications
 K. R. Chandrasekharan (1974), Bhabani Bhattacharya, Arnold Heinemann Publishers,
First Edition.

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 Malta Grover (1991) Bhabani Bhattacharya as a Novelist of Social Conscience, Shalabh
Prakashan.
 M. Shyam Asnani (1979) “Technique and Style in Bhabani Bhattacharya’s Novels”,
LITTCRIT, Vol.5, pp. 21-28