Douloti the Bountiful
In Imaginary Maps, Mahasweta Devi gives readers an inside look at India’s tribes through three fictional stories. She is able to represent these forgotten tribes as she writes of their difficulties and ongoing struggles in “Douloti the Boutiful.” Devi points out the hardships of bonded labor and the impossibility of each generation to break free from this bitter system. She also shows the detrimental effects on the abuse of women’s bodies in her portrayal of Douloti. Devi does this because she wants to shed light and bring awareness to modern day slavery within the tribal society of India.
Devi is clear to point out early in the story that Munabar Singh is the owner of the small community of Palamu. Ganori Negesia is one of the Singh’s unfortunate bond laborers that Devi highlights. The following statement tells of Ganori’s bondage, “its fate’s decree to become a kamiya. No one can evade what he (Lord Fate) writes down” (22). For Ganori, what he is born into is what he unfortunately has to become, a slave. Devi does this to show the tribes’ lack of power over their own fate and the fact that they may remain in such a position for the rest of their lives.
Devi uses Ganori to represent the awfulness that took place throughout the entire land of India. Ganori did a “million things for the master” as a bond laborer. His daily duty was to work for Munabar. Devi helps us to see that Ganori could only break free from his condition when his daughter is sold into slavery. Devi points out the injustices done by the upper class on the tribes because there were no laws and the tribes had no other resources.
Another aspect Devi points out in the story is the abuse of women’s bodies. She does so in her portrayal of Ganori’s daughter, Douloti. Douloti was promised marriage by Lord Paramananda in exchange for the cancellation of her father’s three hundred dollar debt to Munabar. However, what Devi wants to bring clarity to, is that Ganori’s freedom came at the cost of his fourteen year old daughter. Despite her family’s plea she is ripped away from the security she had. Devi is exposing, as well as fighting those in power as they continually abuse the tribes.
Douloti’s misfortune was that she didn’t become the bride of a Brahman god, but a prostitute. Her youth and naivety is evident as Devi portrays her happiness as she is prepped and pampered. Devi helps us to see that her virginity and youth brought a high price for Munabar. She is “drugged and left bloodied” by her first client. Her form of bond labor came at the continual abuse of her body. Munabar has one purpose, “the boss plows and plows their land and raises the crop” (59). The injustice Devi points out is the constant abuse on Douloti and other women’s body for profit. Like her father she will never be able to repay her debt; she will work until her body is used up.
Devi does a great job showing the injustices done to the outcasts in India. I think Devi presents Douloti as a feminist who experiences things differently. Women were carrying the burden of this society with their bodies. Douloti’s body becomes India. The destruction of the land is seen through the rape. Devi’s cleverness is seen in the title because the Bounty did not go to Douloti but to Manabar. I think Devi allows Douloti to die at the end to show her story and to raise awareness to the injustices done to the tribes.
JM
May 4, 2009 at 11:24 pm
In “Douloti the Bountiful”, Devi was able to catch my attention as she brought forth the issues that surrounded the tribes of India. She focused on the hardships of bonded labor,the caste system, and the continual abuse done on women’s bodies. Basically, the injustices she portrayed in the story is equivalent to modern day slavery.
She was clear to point out the difficulty each generation was forced to undergo. In doing so, I was enlightened as well as sympathetic towards the abuse done to the tribes. I admired her skill and cleverness in using Douloti’s body to represent India. Her continual rape signified the ravaging of the land by those in power. Douloti is a feminist who experiences things differently. Though sad, I think Devi allows Douloti to die to bring greater awareness to her cause. She is fighting for the forgotten tribes of India. In the end, I implore her for the work she is doing and how she brings it forth in her writing.
May 5, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I felt a bit different about Imaginary Maps and the story of “Douloti The Bountiful” than you. For some reason the text just doesn’t resonate with me, nor do I find the prose to be particularly interesting or aesthetically pleasing to read. This could be due to the nuances that get lost in translation I suppose but I feel the narratives, overall, are a little heavy handed. I think we discussed in class how Devi lays it on pretty thick at the end of “Doulotii” by staging this great, theatrical death of the protagonist ending with her encompassing the map of India. I’m not so sure I agree that the character of Douloti is a feminist. I view her, rather, as victim of a society that is misogynistic and patriarchal-I’ll have to think about it more though if I can endure another reading of the text. It’s easier to view the protagonist from “The Hunt” as a feminist since she quite literally “sticks it to the man” and does not allow her body as a site for the burden of India and violation. I do agree with you that Devi sheds light on life as a Tribal of India and the abuses of the women there but if only she could improve that prose of her’s a little bit.
May 6, 2009 at 7:59 am
I personally enjoyed “Douloti The Bountiful” It provided an angle (or as u stated “an inside look”) that i found interesting and attention grabbing. while it was extremely informative, the actual topic was difficult to read. the idea of that sort of injustice is shocking and hard to swallow. It essentially allowed me to look outside the bubble of our comfortable society and it presented the idea of hardships, at there purest form. Devi’s use of Douloti was rather graphic, yet it is certainly important to take note that things like this do exist in our world and turning the other cheek and pretending they don’t exist obviously isn’t the right approach. The rape and slavery that these women are subjected to is absolutely mind boggling and scary. Devi’s message holds great political clout as it touches the masses with a little known problem half way around the world. These tribes may be obscure and relatively distant from what we call “civilization”, yet it still doesn’t soften the blow of reading about such graphic realities. Personally, I found this to be my favorite of Devi’s stories as it felt to be the most “urgent,” as far as message is concerned
May 9, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Mahasweta Devi does a great job in exposing the injustices faced by the Tribals in India because of the bonded labor system. The details Devi provides about Ganori’s and Douloti’s experience as slaves in “Douloti The Bountiful” really sheds light on how horrific the bonded labor system is, which made the story very powerful. In my opinion, the most disturbing part of this system is not the fact that the Tribals must face so many hardships and abuses, but the fact that the Tribals have no control over their future. They are stuck in the helpless position where they are doomed to be abused over and over again.
Throughout the story there are constant reminders that Tribals become caught in a vicious cycle once they enter the bonded labor system. Ganori starts out simply borrowing money from Mundabar Singh Chandela. But as Devi writes, “Ganori became a kamiya when he took that money” (22). From there, his debt would continue to build and he would never be able to pay it off. Even worse, as you wrote, Ganori just accepted his so-called place in life. Ganori and his wife decide to have their daughter Douloti marry the Brahman Paramananda, in the hopes that with the money they could finally be freed from their corrupt landlord. However, what essentially happens is the transfer of slavery from parent to child because Paramananda forces Douloti to become a prostitute. She, then, becomes caught in the same vicious cycle of enslavement. She borrows money from the Brahman to purchase her makeup and clothes, but regardless of how hard she works, she never manages to make anything close to the debt she has.
In the end, Douloti dies a gruesome death, showing that was essentially the only way out for her. And I agree with your analysis of the title. Douloti, and essentially all the bonded labors, are bountiful; they work hard and are a great resource. However, the shocking irony here is that they are unfortunately a resource that is exploited by their owners. They never reap the benefits of their work and forever remain stuck in that helpless position until death liberates them.
May 10, 2009 at 6:33 am
I believe that it very important to read such stories. Even though it may be extremely uncomfortable to read them, we are all responsible for what happens in our world. It is unfortunate and unconscionable that most of us are not even aware of the bonded labor system. I want to make the observation that I felt it was established that Douloti was being sent away to replace her father who was now unable to work, due to having been disabled during the course of his work. It was presented as a trick, so that there would be no excess trouble when the girl had to leave. But they all knew it was too good to be true. In this way, it was an insult to injury in several ways. The boss should not have abused her father in working in such a dangerous and humiliating way in the first place. He should not lie to his loyal servants/employees. Finally, how dare he sell her as a commodity without any care for her life, so that he can continue to thrive economically? A sad tale indeed, and more so considering that it is true.
May 11, 2009 at 3:25 am
The author of the above essay does a great job of connecting Devi’s dual purpose in telling the woeful tale of Douloti. The story is about an innocent girl forced into the inescapable bonds of prostitution, but behind that story lies a larger one: of an entire people whored out at the hands of cruel lords. Devi is telling the story of a single solitary abuse, and along the way she manages to represent the suffering of the entire Kamiya Slave population. The story is called “DOULOTI the bountiful”, presumably about just Douloti, and yet in Devi’s telling of it, there are pages of her uncle Bono’s suffering first, and that of her father, and the others in her village. Devi wants to make her reader–despite their remoteness from the story’s content– appreciate that slavery isn’t about one unfortunate woman. it is an entire culture, plaguing thousands of innocents for their entire lives.
This author colorfully illustrates Douloti’s fall from innocence, with the scene of preparations for her “marriage”. In her naivete, Douloti “prepped and primped” unaware of the horrors that loomed just beyond. In a way, Devi forces the reader to undergo a similar fall from innocence. We open the book unaware that a slave system like this could possibly still exist, and in the swift blow of “Doulti the Bountiful,” Devi opens our eyes to unspeakable evil. Devi removes us briefly from our sheltered worlds, o the shattered one that Douloti and the Kamiyas cannot escape.
May 12, 2009 at 6:24 am
The injustice in this story is rather hard to swallow. Your response is very strong and you highlighted a lot of points to me that I lost in reading this story. Douloti is a vessel for profit as well as other women in this society. Devi uses the victim as a poster child and advocate for the women of India who must carry this weight. Your response really captured what I though Devi was saying about Douloti’s experience of losing her innocence through a guise.
May 13, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I see the validity in the points you made throughout you essay except for one: Douloti being a feminist. I don’t really see how Douloti was being, or even had the chance to be, feminist. She is under complete enslavement, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Her worth as an asset, not even as a woman or as a human, is dictated by Munabar. Her family – her father – cannot even alleviate the entraptment she has been born into, as a woman in tribal society. Furthermore, her father sells her to repay his debt. Having been enslaved by the social structure that exploits tribal communities, within the vicious cycle of female exploitation, there is no room for Douloti to even recover physically. She is constantly tired from being used and abused, and with her physical weariness her spirit deteriorates. I read the story as it was, that social injustice and tribal exploitation led a suffering father to the inexcusable action of selling his daughter’s body and her dignity to repay his debt. I think it is a romantic notion for us to try to see Douloti as having the opportunity to take on feminism.
May 14, 2009 at 1:27 am
I also disagree, Douloti was never a feminist but surely a victim of circumstance. She nievely took on prostitution because she didn’t have a choice, like all indian women, or should I say tribal women. Their burden was unbareable.
I do agree that Devi does an amazing job of informing her readers of the injustices of the caste system and tribes.
May 15, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I don’t know if Douloti herself was a feminist character, but I think the way she functions in the text is certainly geared towards a feminist purpose that Devi has designed. At first, I felt uncomfortable with Devi using Douloti as a representation of India’s land because it just felt to reminiscent of discourses that put women in a close connection to the land and create some kind of binary with woman and nature at one end and man and industry at the other. There is something quite profound, however, in Devi’s choice to have a woman stand for the victims of the atrocities suffered in tribal India. More well known as a system of labor-based slavery, it is often men who are represented as the victims of the kamiya system. Though they certainly are, women, too, suffer enormously from the sex trade that resulted from this system. In having Douloti’s violated and diseased body stand for India, Devi brings to the forefront the indignity, pain, and torture that the women of India suffer, and argues that what Indian women suffer in this society is just as horrifying as what the men face.