“ My
characters are all human beings one sees in the world around. No supermen”,
remarked the author Shashi Deshpande in an interview published in ‘The Sunday
Observer’. She culls her characters from the urban middle class of modern India
focusing on the women and all her novels have the woman protagonist . The same
thing happens in the novel “The Binding Vine” in which the protagonist is
Urmila, called Urmi in the novel. Urmi is portrayed as a vivid , practical and
remarkable character worthy to mention.
Urmi , a
lecturer by profession, is a smart and active woman but not very particular
about her appearance. Being the upholder of inner beauty and qualities, this
plain looking woman wears such glasses and blouses that do not match with her
sarees. She cares little about her look and dress, the equipments of outer
beauty and attractive appearance. However,
Urmi’s character may be studied and judged on three different heads :
Urmi as a mother, Urmi as a house wife and Urmi as a feminist Social Worker
Urmi
as a mother: The
novel opens and one immediately discovers an angry common place woman who is
thoroughly grief-stricken and restless.
She is Urmi, a bereaved mother who has recently lost her daughter Anu. Urmi
keeps on brooding on her daughter Anu with a fantastic psychological idea, with
heartrending everlasting pain and
naturally she says, “ This pain is all that’s left to me of Anu, without it,
there will be nothing left to me of her; I will lose her entirely.” What an
expression of a bereft mother it is ! She keeps engulfing love and immeasurable affection for not only departed Anu, but also her
living son Kartik. Urmi takes all cares of Kartik perfectly and he has no
complaints against his mother. Her daughter’s memory always haunts her and the
least mention of Anu by anyone of the family makes her impatient and irritated.
Even Vanna’s words of consolation enrage
her because she wants no one’s sympathy. This strong-willed lady wants to
endure her grief and pain alone, rather stoically. Poor Urmi is an ideal mother.
Urmi
as a house wife:
As a house wife Urmi is readily
acceptable. Though she is grief-stricken, she is not a fretful and nagging
woman. In her day to day conduct with other members of the family and with the outsiders she is not insensitive and
unsympathetic. Urmi maintains a balanced familial relationship with Kishor and
Vanna , she treats her brother Amrut with all tenderness and with her
mother-in-law Akka she has no problem. As a housewife Urmi is not submissive
like Mira and Vanna and marriage never proves to be a trap to her. She likes
independence and always tries to preserve it. This free and frank woman welcomes the friendship of
Dr. Bhaskar for the warmth and closeness
in his behaviour. Being bored for quietness and remoteness of her husband Urmi finds an ideal companion in Dr. Bhaskar
which society may not approve. Her mother does not like this extrovertness, but Urmi does not like
to live like a cloistered nun just
because she is housewife. In spite of all these Urmi’s love for Kishor remains
intact and she never proved to be unfaithful in the relationship with her
husband. As house wife, though Urmi crosses the boundary of conventionalism, can not be blamed for the
deviation of social code of conduct.
Urmi
as a feminist Social Worker: Feminism is like a crusade in the so called male dominated
societies. The feminists have the
legitimate demand that a woman must have right to her mind and body, she must
have freedom to choose the way of her life. Urmi is a dauntless soldier in this
battlefield. She dislikes the patriarchal society, she abhors the male
domination in the wrong way. According to her marriage, the age old honourable
institution, should not be a trap in which the womenfolk loses all their honour.
Urmi wages a battle to establish the equality for woman. To her woman is not
merely an asset of her husband, not merely a thing to fulfil their lust, but to
be loved , to make a suitable partner , the better half of life. For this mind
she grieves for Mira’s suppressed
conjugal life which finds expression in her poems exposed after her death. Urmi
wants to publish these poems. Beyond the boundary Urmi has much sympathy for
the helpless mother of lower class Shakutai whose problem she hears
empathetically. She keeps constant touch with Shakutai and fights for justice
for the rape of her daughter Kalpana. In this cause Urmi is desperate and dauntless and cares little to the opinion of
the members of her families and public in general. She compels the reluctant
administration to enquire the rape case of Kalpana, to detect the criminal and
to extent the justice to Kalpana, the
helpless victims of wolf like male
persons throughout the world. As a feminist social worker Urmi is well
established. Appreciation goes to Urmi as R.S.Pathak observes, “Deshpande’s
woman characters have a strength of their own, and in spite of challenges and
hostilities, remain uncrushed”
Ref: IGNOU Study Guide
