So one of the side issues in The Home and the World was Nikhil's efforts to aid the poor man Panchu. Panchu was a poor merchant who sold foreign goods. he had his goods burned by Swadeshi enthusiasts, and his zamindar (landlord) demanded rent which he could not pay. Panchu was set to recieve an inheritance from his dead uncle that would have helped him pay off his debt, but out of nowhere a (sham?) aunt showed up and tried to claim the inheritance. Since Nikhil is busy with other things, his schoolmaster offers to resolve the issue. The old master stays with Panchu, who is also housing this aunt. The master notes that Panchu treats the aunt badly because he is unsure of her "caste," which I believe means some kind of social status. The master listens to the aunt and becomes friends with her. He begins questioning her about about her legitimacy to claim the inheritance, and out of shame she leaves. The master thinks less of Panchu because of his treatment of the aunt, but he has resolved the issue nonetheless. I feel like there is a deeper, symbolic meaning to this story that I haven't picked up on but I don't know what it is. Any thoughts?
Panchu is the poor man caught in the crossfire.He's the scapegoat of the nationalists.Tagore stresses that a country is nothing but its people and by haring the interests of poor peasants such as him,swadeshi wasn't doing the country any good.
ReplyDeletepanchu's belief in caste tells him of his belief in outmoded traditional practises of casteism and the need of the nation to come out of such parochial-ism to identify its true potential...
Judging from the fact that you don't know what is meant by 'caste', I would assume, you are not familiar with Indian cultural and societal nuances. Panchu is a low caste peasant caught between rival projects of 'bhadralok' nationalism (Or 'Swadeshi') in Bengal in early twentieth century.
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