(scene from Satyajit Ray's film Sadgati based on Premchand's story)
The Indian caste system is an ancient system of social order defined by Hindu scriptures such as the Manusmriti which divides the society into four hierarchical social categories based on birth, namely- Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Not only does it define the duties of members of each caste, it also outlines what is not permissible. One such ‘rule’, which has met a lot of criticism over centuries, is untouchability. The ‘untouchables’ faced extreme forms of discrimination and were often associated with the notion of ‘pollution’. In many cases glancing at the shadow of an untouchable was considered polluting.Premchand talks of the contentious issue of caste, untouchability and the experience of exploitation through the protagonist Dukhi, who is a Dalit tanner. Dukhi and his wife Jhuriya require the Pandit Ghasiram to fix an auspicious date for their daughter’s wedding but it is not easy to bring the Pandit owing to the established rules of caste and their own poverty. Certain arrangements need to be made like a cot and some food. Being ‘untouchables’ they can’t touch the cot the pandit would sit on nor the food. This is when Dukhi tells his wife to request the Gond’s daughter to help them bring all the edibles as the Gond is an outsider who does not adhere to caste norms and also not ‘untouchable’.
The name ‘Dukhi’ means ‘one who is sad’ in Hindi which itself is an indication of the how wretched his life was due to social forces he did not completely understand, yet believed in. The congruence between class and caste is highlighted throughout the text. There is a stark contrast between the luxurious lifestyle of Ghasiram who earns his income from people like Dukhi- through their gifts and their services and the labour-intensive lifestyle of Dukhi who has surrendered to servitude. Abject poverty and paucity are both cause and effect of the misery of a person belonging to the lower castes. His occupation of tanner, too, associates him with matters of death and decay which were considered to be ‘polluting’. Instances of utter violence against him are passed off as destiny and fate by Dukhi himself while the reader can’t help but feel pity, sympathy, anger and shame all at once.
The second character, Pandit Ghasiram is satirically portrayed as a devotee who thrives by exploiting people from lower castes like Dukhi while he lives a life of leisure. In fact, there is nothing holy or reverential about the Pandit be it his appearance or his actions. He is a short, chubby man rumored to have a bad temper and a tendency to physically abuse his wife and son. There are instants when the Pandit or the Panditayin feel pity for Dukhi but they almost instantly go back to being parasitic individuals.
When Dukhi arrives at the Brahman household and requests the Pandit his presence Dukhi is instructed to do multiple tasks including splitting a log of wood even though he has no experience. Interestingly, the wood becomes a symbol of the immovability of the caste system. Even after countless strikes with his axe, Dukhi is unable to make a mark on the trunk. In reality too, the battle against casteism has been an extensive one with no conclusive result till date. The caste system is indeed so rigid, unscrupulous and malicious that even the ones who are the subject of cruelty believe in the system unfailingly or even rather staunchly. Dukhi is exactly that.
Here is when the Gond- Chikhuri- who is outside the realms of caste, a tribal- enters the picture. Premchand uses Chikhuri to voice his own criticism of the caste system. Not only does Chikhuri warn Dukhi against his blind subservience towards the Brahmans but later also mobilizes the tanner community towards the idea of justice.
By now, Dukhi with a lot of hardship manages to complete all tasks except splitting the tree trunk. He is drained, exhausted and has not had a single morsel since the morning.
Towards the end, Dukhi suddenly goes in a delirium of a sort and all his fatigue wears off. He strangely has a lot strength and is finally able to split the log. At the same moment the axe drops, he is overcome with dizziness and his hungry, thirsty, tired body collapses. It is later discovered that he has died.
The conclusion is the most remarkable part of the story. Ghasiram sends a word to the tanners to come and take the corpse away but the Gond advises all the tanners to stay away as there may be a police investigation to look into the matters. When no tanner shows up to take the corpse, the Pandit himself has to drag the dead body of Dukhi away with a rope. The rope symbolizes the link between life and death. The irony here is that although Ghasiram never ‘touched’ Dukhi, he was ‘touched’ by his life.
The final paragraph of the story creates a powerful imagery- a barren land, mist and clouds in the air, kites and crows picking on the dead body of Dukhi- and it leaves the reader with a lingering sense of doom.
The narration is filled with different layers of irony. Starting from Dukhi and his wife’s faith in a system that causes their own degeneration till the very end when Pandit has to serve the dead body of his ‘servant’. The story ends with the line “this was the reward of a whole life of devotion, service and faith” highlighting the futility of compliance to caste norms on Dukhi’s part. He upheld his ‘dharma’ and did his prescribed duty of serving the upper castes, yet, there was no ‘Sadgati’ for him. The story completes a full circle as the author brings us back to the title and leaves us to ponder. In reality, the ‘death in life’ existence of Dukhi was much worse than actual death itself. His expiry was a greater nuisance to Ghasiram than his existence and so the demise of Dukhi was a greater rebellion than any rebellion he ever battled. His death was, perhaps, more valuable for the larger battle against caste than his life itself.
Premchand not only puts across why caste rules ossify the society but also why they persist even after centuries. He mocks those who uphold such prejudiced practices but also generates enough pity for readers to understand the plight of those affected by it. The ultimate success of this story, for me, is the strong use of irony and the unfettered unveiling of the harsh reality. Deliverance is an excellent story because even in an unimaginable time where caste ceases to exist, the story will be relevant. In those times, then, the story would spin on its axis and give us a newer perspective to understand the story. Such stories are timeless because greed, exploitation and inequality exist as long as humans do.
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