A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

two women (Rekha and Gaura)
simultaneously, Here the triangle of love
is not like a Hindi film’s ‘one flower and
two gardeners’, rather ‘one gardener and
two flowers’, hence more complicated. Here
the love between a teacher (Bhuvan) and
student (Gaura) is shown in a sublime
way idealistically. Like Rekha, Bhuvan too
is careful and disciplined. Subsequently
Rekha married Dr Ramesh Chandra. Rekha
feels the existence of a desert while Bhuvan
does not accept life as a desert: As he
rightly remarks, “The roots of man are
not in the homes but in social life.” But
Rekha thinks that her roots are lost
somewhere in the outer space. Thus Bhuvan
is more optimistic than Rekha. Gaura is
sad to know the intimate relationship
between Bhuvan and Rekha but does not
interfere. However, when their relationship
was broken and Bhuvan got astray, Gaura
took care of him. She perceptively remarks,
“Rekha didi, now I have no philosophy,
there is just one belief and a little bit
respect, and dedication to learn, to bear
and to give something; it seems to me
that through your and his love I would
stand in the midst of free flow of water;
a negligible group of persons, a tiny island
of existence...’’
Undoubtedly all the characters of ‘Nadi
Ke Dweep’ are thinking persons - they
are mentally alert and aware rather than
concerned with outer events. One character
Chandra Madhav finally becomes a
communist activist but the novelist has
made a sarcastic remark in this regard:
‘only an uneasy person becomes classist.’
Agyeya has depicted Chandra Madhav as
sexmaniac, superficial, inimical and
envious. To depict him later as a communist
to express the anger at its climax is like
compartmentalising reality into black and
white boxes, hence it is an unrealistic
depiction. However, this novel has
wonderful intensity and depth at mental
plane. Here love is not overt at physical
level but to be realized at mental level
with finer elements of sensitivity and
maturity. Undoubtedly the depiction of
character of Rekha is more artistic than
other characters that often seem unartistic
and lifeless. Further Agyeya has often
quoted Bangla and English poems— this
is more naturalistic rather than artistic.
This aspect actually goes against the artistry
of Agyeya. Therefore the famous critic
Nemichandra Jain finds in this novel
‘evidence of experience’ and ‘discipline
of expression’ on the one hand, but introvert
and self-centred, on the other.
His third novel ‘Apne Apne Ajnabi’
is considered the narrative of interview
with the reality of death. It is a long
story of two ladies Selma and Yoke. In
their view, there are many things in life
which cannot be limited by time and place.
The novelist has deliberately not stated
the name of the place wherein its plot
is set. Yoke always fears death. When she
imagines the fall of the entire rock alongwith
the snowfall, she is badly frightened. On
the other hand, the old lady Selma, who
actually suffers from cancer, makes all
kinds of preparations to celebrate Christmas.
Further the young lady Yoke has a feeling
January-March 2012 :: 59