K. R. Meera (b.
1970)
One of the foremost feminist voices in modern Malayalam literature
Her literary debut was in 2001 with the short story collection "Ormayude Njarambu" (Nerves of Memory)
Themes of identity, gender, power, and the complexities of human relationships are hallmarks of her writing.
Major Works: Ormayude Njarambu, Mohamanja, Yudasinte Suvisesham, Aarachar etc
Aarachar is regarded as her masterpiece, and it bagged the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (2013),
Odakkuzhal Award (2013), Vayalar Award (2014), Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (2015).
It was also shortlisted for the 2016 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.
The Hangwoman (2012)
Written in Malayalam as Aarachar in 2012, translated into English by J. Devika.
The story is set in contemporary Kolkata, in a family that legally performs execution as a profession (by caste)
for decades—however, it is solely men who turn into executioners.
Phanibhushan Grddha Mullick, self-professed veteran of 451 hangings, is now 88 years old—at the heart of
the story, we have Chetna, the 22-year-old daughter of Phanibhushan.
Chetna is sketched as a woman who inherited all the qualities that made the men of the family perfect
executioners—the skill to make perfect knots, bulging eyes and so on.
When the story begins, the family has fallen on bad times, with no executions to fall back on after 1990.
However, Chetna's grandmother Bhuvaneswari Devi continues to hold on to perceptions of bygone glory; and
tells her granddaughter that it is the Grddha Mullicks' karma to kill, "for the sake of justice".
Plot is set in motion when the mercy plea by a man on death sentence, Yatindranath Banerjee, is rejected,
and it is expected that Phanibhushan will carry out the execution.
Joblessness and poverty has driven Chetna’s father to being a drunkard, and he can barely do what is
expected of him at the age of 88—the only male heir of the family is Chetna’s brother, but he is disabled as
his limbs was chopped off by the relative of a man who was executed by her father.
This leaves Chetna as the only one who can take over the profession.
Her father tells the government that she be given a government job if he has to carry out the execution—but
the media starts asking why Chetna herself can’t do the job—the job thus falls on her.
Chetna now turns into the centre of sensationalism, manipulation and debates.
Media descends upon her, touting her as world's first ever woman executioner.
Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, the anchor of CNC channel takes it upon himself as a media stunt to advocate the
cause of Chetna as Phanibhushan’s successor.
Her situation also propels debates on whether or not capital punishment is necessary—this debate also
becomes a larger springboard to debate gender, class, punishment and crime in contemporary Indian society.
Chetna develops a complicated relationship with Sanjeev—he offers to marry her, initially she likes him, but
as time passes, she realises that he is manipulating her for personal and professional gains—Chetna now
swings between love and hatred, desire and repulsion for this man.
Sanjeev pretends to court her on the one hand, but constantly abuses her, sensationalises her story, and
treats her in a terrible way to increase the TRP of his channel.
As story progresses, a series of tragedies strike her family—her disabled brother gets killed in a tussle, her
father kills his brother and wife after he finds out that she sold herself in the red street because of poverty.
As the day of the execution is nearer, Chetna gets caught up in a series of existential questions, on what it
means to end a life and what it means to love.
On the day of the execution, Yatindranath asks Chetna to stay with him, and hug him before his
death—Chetna does this, and performs the execution afterwards.
In the final episode, Sanjeev tries to capitalize on Chetna’s situation for one last time, by forcing her to come
to the channel and enact a mock-execution for the audience—in a moment of fury, Chetna calls Sanjeev
himself to demonstrate the death, and actually hangs him to death in front of the audience.
Chetna’s future is left to the audience’s interpretation, and the novel ends with her contemplating her life.
Pointers for Analysis
Story of the sheer power and defiance of a woman in a man's world and in front of his pride.
She is hurled into a whirlpool of media frenzy, amidst which she tries to make sense of her own awakening
sexuality and questions her own ability to execute a condemned man.
A strong sense of irony is present throughout the novel: Chetna is hailed as a symbol of strength and self-
respect for women, but in reality, she is just a cog in the machinations of the men around her.
She flounders at first, but then slowly extricates herself, and takes charge of her own life.
A meditation on the themes of poverty, gender, society, media manipulation.
In the many sub-narratives, we see poverty, the life of the women in the red streets of Kolkata, the chasm
created by caste and class among people, and the gendered expectations of the society.
In Hangwoman, we have a Malayali writer evoking the landscape of Chitpur in Kolkata—a city of burning
ghats in Nimtala on the banks of Ganga, the setting bears the stench and sorrow of death.
The narrative constantly switches between past and present, recounting tales from the centuries long history
and myths surrounding the Mallick family to present-day events.
A wonderfully layered narrative, thick with symbolism (knots, the coin etc)
References:
http://edueruditio.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-hangwoman-k.html
