Dr. Rupa Sarkar
&
Kumari Payal
Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India
Abstract
It was rightly said by Stephen King that books are uniquely portable magic. Children see magic because they look for it. Although the perception and acceptance of magic in this fast paced technological world is a questionable topic for the adults. However, in the field of artistic production, stark realism can break the writer’s heart. Thus the new concept of Magical Realism came into existence to satisfy and entertain the psychological needs of the modern day readers. The present research paper takes up the characteristics of magical realism into discussion and seeks to establish its extensive presence in one of the works The Bird With Golden Wings authored by a distinguished Indian writer, Sudha Murthy. This anthology with twenty one short stories stands up as a unique blend of the magical and the real and succeeds in mesmerizing the young and the old alike. This paper intends to explore the magical touches in some of the selected stories and bring out the charismatic power of magical realism in Children’s Literature.
Keywords: magic, magical realism, Sudha Murthy, short story
The paradoxical term “Magical Realism” mostly revolves around the postcolonist and postmodernist discourses which aim to highlight the pleasures of characters and situations in a magical world of fantasy and is acknowledged for its signature decolonizing style and granting authority to new voices and traditions. The torchbearers of this trend in the international fiction include contributions of novelists like Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight Children, Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Ben Okri’s The Famished Road. Most of them serve to be the grounds of solace for the marginal. According to Maggie Ann Bowers, in her famous book Magic(al) Realism, she highlights on the universality and richness of magical realism in the following words:
The characteristic of magical realism which makes it such a frequently adopted narrative mode is its inherent transgressive and subversive qualities. It is this feature that has led many postcolonial, feminist and cross cultural writers to embrace it as a means of expressing their ideas. The transgressive and subversive qualities are hinted at in the term itself. The oxymoron ‘Magical Realism’ reveals that the categories of the magical and the real are brought into question by their juxtaposition. If in magical realism,as we have established, the magical is presented as a part of the ordinary reality, then the distinction between what is magical and what is real is eroded. There are two approaches to understanding how this process comes about. On the one hand, one can claim that magical realism is subversive because it alternates between the real and the magical using the same narrative voice. In this sense, magic remains identifiable as magic and the real as real but, unlike in a realist narrative, they are given the same serious treatment. The extent to which one can accept the real as the version of events or the magical as the version of events is continuously undermined by the existence of the other version in the text. On the other hand, one can claim that magical realism is transgressive since magical realism crosses the borders between the magical and the real to create a further category--- the magical real. This form of magical realism is often discussed by the critics in terms of post-structuralist theory which proposes that there are multiple eligible interpretations of an narrative and has become the most frequently adopted approach to magical realism since 1980s. These theories see the categories defining the differences between the magical and real as being dismantled in contemporary culture.”(Bowers, Magic(al) Realism,63-64)
The widespread use of this trend has been witnessed, particularly in literature, television programmes, films and computer games meant for children. The fairy tales, folk tales and mythological characters take the children on an another plane where they find their own interpretations , pleasures, learning and sometimes even ways and means of dealing with the real world. It is being adopted rapidly as best means of getting the right messages to the children by probing into their world of fantasy, thereby resulting in the recent trends like eco consciousness, sci-fi series, cartoons based on figures taken from among the Gods and Godesses etc. It offers opportunity for children to explore disruptions in their ordinary world secure in the knowledge that such magic and extraordinariness can be contained. (Zakic,Magic Realism and Children’s Literature, 100)
The definition of Children’s Literature as a genre is a topic of debate in the current scenario as well, especially in a country like India where the basic purpose of Children’s Literature is closely associated with its appilicability in school courses and often overrides the pleasure quotient. The intended age for Children’s Literature is usually assumed from birth through the age of thirteen. It is undeniable that the radical use of magical realism was brought into the limelight by the famous writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (under the pen name of Lewis Caroll) in 1865 through his works Alice in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass and was highly acknowledged worldwide.
Moreover, it is also observed that that some literature meant for adults are finding their place in Children’s Literature like Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, Rudyard Kiplings Kim etc. These tales of fantasy, magic stories, fairy tales, folktales and mythological stories are being employed for a child’s individual development and constructive socialization as well. Gudrun Thorne –Thomsen states that a fairy tale fulfills its function when “ the emotions are aroused------ such as courage, kindliness, pity, self sacrifice------ the child must find something to act upon , something to do that requires these qualities.” If a tale encompasses more than one quality it befits to be called a clever work and accomplishes its task efficiently.
The present paper focuses on one such multitalented modern day writer, Sudha Murthy and her works aimed at children. She is currently the Chairperson of Infosys Foundation and a well known philanthropist –both in words and in action. She is a prominent writer in the field of English and Kannada Literature. Her works include novels, novella, technical books, travelogues, anthology of short stories and non fictional pieces, books based on Indian mythology and books for children. Her books are well peppered by a healthy mix of fiction and real and reiterate her personal experiences in multifarious fields which made her the inspiration she is today. Talking about her contributions in the field of Children’s Literature, her noteworthy books include How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories (2004), Wise and Otherwise (2006) and Grandma’s Bag of Stories (2012) reflect her past memories. Her books titled The Serpent’s Revenge: Unusual Tales From the Mahabharata (2016), The Man From the Egg: Unusual Tales About the Trinity (2017), The Upside Down King: Unusual Tales About Rama and Krishna (2018) and The Daughter From the Wishing Tree: Unusual Tales About Women in Mythology (2019) highlights the grandiosity and exuberance of the rich mythological heritage of our country. Further , her books The Magic Drum and Other Favourite Stories (2006), The Bird With the Golden Wings: Stories of Wit and Magic (2009) and The Magic of the Lost Temple (2015) avails and engages the imagination of the readers through its magic providing pleasure and moral development simultaneously.
This research paper intends to take into consideration The Bird with the Golden Wings: Stories of Wit and Magic, for being artistically manifested with the elements of magical realism. Sudha Murthy has efficiently penned down this work with apt attention to the healthy concoction of the magical, the real, wit and logic so as to interest the young and old alike. The title story The Bird With the Golden Wings brings out the importance of simplicity and contentment through a magical golden bird who returns a favour to Varsha, a young innocent and pure hearted girl and Kapila who was greedy and jealous neighbor of Varsha. The bird with golden wings favouringVarsha is evidence of her virtuosity.
In the story Sukeshini and the Lake Demon, the hideous demon stands as a symbol of a selfish figure who hides the natural resources of water from the dying villagers and was thus finally outwitted by the unity and trick of the villagers when they replaced Sukeshini with a doll to face the demon’s angst. The magical demon in the story guides the children to shun vices or else face terrible consequences.
The happy dwarves who handed a magical fan to Shridhar in the story How the Sea Became Salty represents the opportunities which we get from the hands of fate, good intentions and sheer hard work; but it is really remarkable that the author has manifested the story in such a way that magic leads to reality when the story ends in making the sea water salty. Hence, the child reader would have a contented and logical acceptance of the story.
Sudha Murthy has again tugged the spiritual strings of the Indian children with the story How to Catch a Goddess wherein she has amazingly described how Rohini, a smart woman plans and succeeds in inviting Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth on the Diwali night and also convinces her to stay at her place. We find the magical in the conversation between the Goddess Lakshmi and Rohini and we are forced to believe in such ideas as it is an integral part of our culture and traditions.
The story of The Banana Tree Princess teaches us that obedience and trust are the most imperative ingredients of a healthy and long lasting relationship. The disobedience of the prince caused him the loss of his beloved wife forever and thereby serves as a warning bell for indiscipline souls.
The second story Skills for a Prince is a wonderful tale which even the adults would connect to. It presents the hardships, distress and obstacles that worthy and gifted humans undergo. The qualities of unity, coordination and cooperation of the three magically gifted men whom the prince Amritsena saved was praiseworthy and proved that good qualities reign over magic. The character of the prince inspires the readers to become a man of words as well. The story establishes that magic supported by good intentions can work wonders.
The humorous story of The King with Donkey’s Ears might be amusing for the kids but not to forget that it is around this donkey’s ears that the entire plot of the storyline is set and the magic of the trees used for drums and the leaves used to feed the animals ultimately saved Dinesh from the impending disaster.
The magic of the jug in the story The Magic Jug gave a strict lesson to Vineet who was a mean and greedy man. The generosity and humane nature of his neighbor Vidur is elevated further by his sacrifice of the magical cloth and magical jug for the sake of his friend getting converted back to human form again. Although the story ends in normalcy, but the magic of Vidur’s good deed persists in the minds and hearts of the readers.
The fictional characters of The Cunning Lion and The Golden Fish and the Demon display the harsh consequences of evil intentions and discontentment. The author inspires her young readers towards healthy living from the fascinating story of Sow a Witch wherein the origin of Soya bean seeds is elaborated. The representation of the Witch’s strength in the form of Soya bean would attract and convince the readers to include it in their real daily lives.
The above instances of magical events, magical characters and magical objects all seem to take the young readers to the world of imagination and finally culminates the story with a logical end of the reality. Sudha Murthy seems to have taken up the onus of communicating the qualities, life skills and social norms of behavior to her child readers by employing magical ways and means. Every reader would enjoy the magic, its influences and learn an important behavioural trait pertaining to the real world at the end. It would be like a short roller coaster trip back and forth in the world of fantasy. This aspect makes the component of magical realism the star element of her works which upholds the interest of the reader and inspires them too. Her magical realism is both transgressive in its magical conversation with Gods, animals etc and also subversive simultaneously as the stories end with a very logical conclusion or has facts and figures associated with the real world, as we see in the stories of Sow A Witch and How the Sea Became Salty. The contributions of Sudha Murthy is quite often viewed from the feminist lens or is sought for its social values and human relationships in a serious light. However, this Padma Shree awardee is one of the few Indian writers like Subhadra Sen Gupta, Paro Anand, Ranjit Lal and Anu Kumar who are working strenuously to bring back the essence of magic and mythology of the classics like The Panchatantra and The Jataka Tales with a renewed vigour to cater to the psychological needs of the modern day kids. Her works reintroduces the young generation with the magic of the written word and the importance of the story telling sessions in families. Thus, the author has succeeded in promoting Magical Realism as a very effective tool to promote the psychological and social development of a child and also bears testimony to the fact that it has a strong potential in the field of Children’s Literature as well.
References:
- Murthy, Sudha. The Bird With Golden Wings : Stories of Wit And Magic India: Penguin Books,2009.
- Faris, Wendy B. "The Question of the Other: Cultural Critiques of Magical Realism." Janus Head 5.2 (2002): 101-119.
- Bowers, Maggie Ann. Magic(al) realism. United Kingdom: Routledge, 2004.
- Zakić, Martina. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Magical Realism and Children's Literature Strossmayer University of Osijek. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Department of English Language and Literature, 2020.
