Controversy over Vibhuti Narain Rai's interview: An analysis-III
The controversy caused by Vibhuti Narain Rai's interview needs to be seen in the perspective of the social milieau prevailing in the country. Writers speak about the issues existing in the society and their work reflects the truths and realities.
DR VIBHUTI Narain Rai can only be questioned through the spectacle of ‘Changing Times’. These are times, when many a celebrity is known for enjoying ‘Live in Relationships’. Sometimes, we read Supreme Court judgments which reject the conjugal rights petitions by men, whose wives have deserted them and are enjoying ‘Live in Relationships’ with other male friends. In the world which shamelessly possesses the other extremes too, where Women are stoned to death, it can only be a source of light that the urban Indian woman is sufficiently enlightened and has blessed India with women leaders as well as women space scientists! We are unfortunately living in a world order in which hapless girls are still being circumcised in continuation of some pre-Judaic traditions, irrespective of the mental or physical pains they suffer. Among them are also those even more hapless ones, whose vaginas are fully stitched leaving a tiny hole for urination so that when they grow up and marry, they are offered as ‘pure girls’ to their bridegrooms! Living amidst these extremely barbaric (in)human civilizations, can Indians not take pride over an ‘all women crew’ flight from Mumbai to New York covering 11 countries, on the International Women’s Day (8 Mar. 2010)? Will this not become a source of light for the hapless girls who are honour-killed for marrying in the same gotra or off -caste in the Hindu caste hierarchy? Dr. Vibhuti Narain Rai simultaneously calls the extra-marital relationships of some male writers as ‘ku-kritya’ (bad deed) and the women narrating their affairs as ‘chhinaals’! Even a few decades ago, the social philosophers had ample consideration of the divorced woman, or woman who has become widow at young age or those who never marry due to some cause. There has to be some space for consideration of the peculiarity of circumstances in which some women live. In this very ‘bewafai special’ of the ‘Naya Gyanoday’, there is a passionate story which is a part of Nayantara Sehgal’s famous book ‘Relationship’ which is a long series of love letters between her and EN Mangat Rai (her 2nd husband) while she was living with her first husband Gautam. Nayantara Sehgal says that she landed herself into seemingly unending troubles after she disclosed to her first fiancée Gautam that before engagement to him, she, had a relationship (which she herself never understood fully being a teenager), with a man much elder than her! She simply invited miseries in her first marriage by disclosing such a personal secret to her fiancée. Alas, she did so! But then came the moments when she revolted though again inviting mess. But the translator of this piece ‘yeh mera sach’ (This, my truth) of the book ‘Relationship’ honestly calls the act of mud-slinging by society on the extramarital Nayantara-Mangat Rai relationship as ‘sins’ and rather offers to apologize for these ‘sins’ of the society since he himself is a part of that society!
To this we have to add the 21st century situation wherein an infinite number of women work with an infinite number of men at odd places and hours like performing night duties or working in riot hit areas etc. The Supreme Court has used the phrase ‘Changing Times’ in many a petitions. The culture of a country is not the one defined by founders of its religions or the holy books, but by the contemporary societies on the equation of ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. Dr. Vibhuti Narain Rai’s interview, therefore, falls apart as an outdated document with use of feudal phrases and cannot be accepted, at a momen,t when a section of women are even gasping for freedom to be lesbians! His comments, unfortunately have an accidental similarity to the medieval culture in which if a girl dared to inadvertently walk a distance away from her house, she was turned out as ‘chhinaal’!
However, to be fair to him, one must not forget to add that in spite of the above critique of the interview, Dr. Vibhuti Narain Rai doesn’t attract any stern action . At this moment interestingly a news item comes to my memory which I cannot help describing here. About a year or so ago, a married young woman in Junagadh Distt (Gujarat) stunned the people, when she just walked through the bazaar in bikini in order to protest against her in laws’ excesses. This was a novel way. But a week later I read an interesting assertion by Soli Sorabjee that we should not criticise her since this was a question of freedom of expression for her! So just as we have to read frank and financially independent women writers on the turf of evaluation and review, we must also do the same to Dr. Vibhuti Narain and read his ‘approach’ to women writers, who describe sex-life openly, as male chauvinist rather than read any cheapness in his words. Hindi papers later informed that he has personally met the minister and taken his words back. But that is not what the situation warranted. Dr. Vibhuti Narain Rai stands safe on the turf of ‘freedom of expression’ and on this, a leading Hindi author Ganga Prasad Vimal has to say that: ‘There should not have been any uproar or feeling of outrage over this issue at all’. He also took serious note of the journalists, who translated the word ‘chhinal’ as ‘prostitute’. He further said that it is by virtue of the ‘freedom of expression’ that today there is so much frankness in the writing world. Could it, as such, be said that women activists like Brinda Karat and Girija Vyas had no need of going to the minister!
To this we have to add the 21st century situation wherein an infinite number of women work with an infinite number of men at odd places and hours like performing night duties or working in riot hit areas etc. The Supreme Court has used the phrase ‘Changing Times’ in many a petitions. The culture of a country is not the one defined by founders of its religions or the holy books, but by the contemporary societies on the equation of ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. Dr. Vibhuti Narain Rai’s interview, therefore, falls apart as an outdated document with use of feudal phrases and cannot be accepted, at a momen,t when a section of women are even gasping for freedom to be lesbians! His comments, unfortunately have an accidental similarity to the medieval culture in which if a girl dared to inadvertently walk a distance away from her house, she was turned out as ‘chhinaal’!
However, to be fair to him, one must not forget to add that in spite of the above critique of the interview, Dr. Vibhuti Narain Rai doesn’t attract any stern action . At this moment interestingly a news item comes to my memory which I cannot help describing here. About a year or so ago, a married young woman in Junagadh Distt (Gujarat) stunned the people, when she just walked through the bazaar in bikini in order to protest against her in laws’ excesses. This was a novel way. But a week later I read an interesting assertion by Soli Sorabjee that we should not criticise her since this was a question of freedom of expression for her! So just as we have to read frank and financially independent women writers on the turf of evaluation and review, we must also do the same to Dr. Vibhuti Narain and read his ‘approach’ to women writers, who describe sex-life openly, as male chauvinist rather than read any cheapness in his words. Hindi papers later informed that he has personally met the minister and taken his words back. But that is not what the situation warranted. Dr. Vibhuti Narain Rai stands safe on the turf of ‘freedom of expression’ and on this, a leading Hindi author Ganga Prasad Vimal has to say that: ‘There should not have been any uproar or feeling of outrage over this issue at all’. He also took serious note of the journalists, who translated the word ‘chhinal’ as ‘prostitute’. He further said that it is by virtue of the ‘freedom of expression’ that today there is so much frankness in the writing world. Could it, as such, be said that women activists like Brinda Karat and Girija Vyas had no need of going to the minister!
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