“Who makes a bayen out of a person?”
“God.”
Mahasweta Devi has always written powerful stories about tribal life and these stories are always located in a particular area that is a geographic reality, like Tohar, Palami or Lohardaga. The conflicts in her stories implicate local, ethnic, class, gender and language dissonances. “Bayen” is no different as it addresses issues of gender inequality and societal exclusion fueled by illiteracy.
The story is a simple one, though the themes of injustice course deep. It is about a family of the Dom community, led by the patriarchal head Malinder. His wife is Chandi and his son is Bhagirath. As the story progresses, Bhagirath asks his father about Chandibayen and how she became that way. Malinder sighs despondently and says that Chandibayen was once beautiful and is also Bhagirath’s mother. Malinder recounts how he had begun his thriving businesses (the morgue, cleaning of skeletons for medical schools and a usury) and says it was all because he knew how to sign his name, and so it was easy for him to secure a job at the sub-divisional morgue. Malinder then begins to tell Bhagirath about the life of his mother, up until the day she “became” a bayen (witch).
She belonged to the Kalu Dom community and thus her family business was to bury children who had died before reaching five years of age. After her father died, she took on the work, not being afraid of death or of the dark. After Malinder and Chandi married, and had Bhagirath, Chandi came home one day crying saying the community had begun to stone her. Malinder didn’t think much of it at that point. However, events began to take a turn for the worse and the villagers began to call Chandi a bayen because she was at the children’s cemetery late at night, even though she was there only to put bramble on the graves so the wolves wouldn’t be able to get the children. She decided to give up her work but no one else in the village wanted to help her and do the work for her. One day, Malinder’s niece Tukni passed away due to small pox. The family blamed Chandi and she quit her job on that very day. However, two months later, she was covering graves with bramble on a stormy night and some villagers happened to see her. They began to call her bayen and Malinder took their side and announced to beating drums that his wife was now a bayen.
The story ends with Chandibayen having saving a train from robbers, but in the process, loses her own life. Authorities from the railway department come to the village to congratulate her family and the villagers began to accept her as a stellar member of the community. The story ends with Bhagirath coming forward to accept the money.
This story, published in Five Plays in 1976 (and again in 1997), came at a time when there was an upsurge in feminist writing in India, one that began in the 1960’s. Other authors, such as Kamal Markandaya, wrote about the plight of the unspecified Indian woman. Stories focused on the roles played by women in society, including cultural and occupational roles. Judith Butler in her work Gender Trouble speaks of a gender that is socially constructed. Superimposing this theory onto the story “Bayen”, we find that Chandi’s role in the society is molded by fickle minds. She had to carry on the family business, one that was not meant for women. But as an only child, she had no choice. When societal pressure became too strong, she wanted to quit but no one steps in to take her place. Thus an endless cycle is created. There are also several rules chalked out that define the various rules that a bayen must abide by.
- The bayen should live alone, isolated from society, for their protection.
- The bayen must announce her entry into the midst of a crowd.
- The bayen should not look at men but if it absolutely necessary, she can do so through a reflective surface. (an interesting comparison can be drawn between this rule and the myth of Medusa. The only difference being that Medusa held power in who she was and Chandibayen is powerless).
- A bayen should not eat too much.
- No one can kill a bayen but herself.
- If you ill-treat a bayen’s son, your own children will die.
However, unlike in other Mahasweta Devi plays, Chandi is successful in “clearing” her name in the end of the story.
This play turned short story is truly one the genius masterpieces written by Mahasweta Devi as it adds to the layers of literature related to women suffering in India.
The English Teacher 