B.A English Literature
[1st Year, 1st Semester]
Core Paper IV: INDIAN WRITINGS IN ENGLISH
UNIT 5: Short Story
Laburnum for my Head Temsula
Ao
About Author:
Temsula Ao is a short story writer
and ethnographer.She is a retired professor of English in North Eastern Hill
University (NEHU), where she taught since 1975 .In 2013 she received the Sahitya
Academy Award for her short story collection, Laburnum for My Head. She has published
five poetic works. She collected the myths, folktale, rituals, legal ideas, and
custom based system. This ethnographic work was published in 1999 as Ao, Naga
oral tradition from Bhasha Publication, Baroda. She is presently the
Chairperson of Nagaland State Commission for Women.
About Story:
Temsula Ao’s Laburnum for My Head,
first published in 2009. Set in the state of Nagaland, this is a collection of
8 short stories by the author revolving around death, life, motherhood, honour
and so on. These stories explore a range of emotions, from the mythical to the
modern. The stories are described as witty, heartrending, and full of irony.
Summary:
Temsula Ao has presented striking
women characters in her works. Her female characters hail from the North-East
region of India and they play a crucial role in anchoring the lives of their
men amidst the violence looming large around them. These women challenge the injustice
practiced by the patriarchal system and also question the cruelties perpetrated
by the rebel forces and the government forces alike. They save men’s lives,
pacify their fears and act as the moving force in their struggle to survive.
Lentina, the central character of
the story, is a woman of her own choices and the story is a record of her
struggles to fulfill her desire to have some Laburnum bushes in her garden. It
is interesting to note that she loves laburnum flowers because of their
femininity and contrasts them with the brazen orange and dark pink blossoms of
gulmohars. In the context of the troubled politics of the North-East, her
preference for the yellow mellow beauty of laburnum over the dark pink blossoms
of gulmohar is very significant. Traditionally, the colour yellow refers to
happiness, optimism, enlightenment and creativity whereas the dark pink is
associated with energy, passion etc… This choice of colour itself informs her
politics of identifying with the victims of political aggression in Nagaland
and her desire for the golden shower definitely evokes a desire for easing down
the tensions. She attributes humility to the way the laburnum flowers hung
their heads earthward. In short, her love for the flowers spring out of their
femininity and humility.
In the beginning
of the story, the writer offers a stunning impression of a laburnum in blossom
and describes how the flowers conceal the monuments erected by men of
prominence on their graves. It is customary among the wealthy to erect
marble/granite or concrete structures on their graves to keep their memories
alive and to defy the forgetfulness imposed by death. The feminine flowers of
the laburnum help to erase the marks of prominent members of the society and
bring out a sense of equality among all humans and declare the victory of
nature over everything the patriarchs have created. In another instance,
Lentina’s love for the flowers is taken as a fetish and is openly spoken about
in close family gatherings. This shows the intolerance practiced by the society
on women’s choices and how it forces her to stop planting saplings in her
gardens. Though this stops her from talking about the tree in public and
planting them in her garden, her love for the golden shower does not cease.
Lentina’s
decision to join the funeral party of her husband to takepart in the last rites
at the gravesite is a challenging act to the patriarchal tradition which
reserves this to man. Though she is not warmly welcomed, no one stops her from
carrying out her plan as the gravity of the situation requires them to keep
calm. Her strength lies in her sensitivity to the cultural codes of the
society. Her struggles to buy a piece of land of her own choice brings out her
extraordinary powers of perseverance and make members of her family to
acknowledge her strengths and seek her advice on matters running business and
family.
In her search for fulfilment, she
breaks free of human relationships established by the patriarchal system and
redefines them. For example, the nature of her relationship with Babu, the
driver, was that of a master-slave and now she considers him as an ‘ever
faithful friend’ and a confidant. Her determination to select a plot for
herself and negotiations with the Town Committee show her strength as a woman
and she erases marks of patriarchy in the process.
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