Department of political science

Name: Anindita Das

Roll no: 09

Registration no: 22104220009

Paper name: Indian political thought

Paper code: POLS05C12

UG-3rd year, 5th Sem

Pather Panchali
 ----- Bibhutibhusan
Bandyopadhyay
Pather Panchali is a 1929 novel written by Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay and was
later adopted into a 1955 film of the same name by Satyajit Ray. It is considered
to be one of the greatest literary works describing rural life, pather Panchali deals
with the life of an impoverished Brahmin family, both in their ancestral village in
rural Bengal and later when they move to Varanasi in search of a better life, as well
as the anguish and loss they face during their travels.

Satyajit Ray’s pather panchali is one of the most poetic films to ever have been
made by an Indian filmmaker. The film has been celebrated for its humanistic
appeal when it won the inaugural “Best Human Document Award” at the 1956
Cannes Film Festival. What constitutes the film’s abiding and timeless appeal, is its
celebration of the ordinary and the quotidian, as Ray’s brilliant direction and
Subrata Mitra’s amazing cinematography sublimates nugatory and everydayness of
rural life to a whole new aesthetic plane, seen through the wondrous eyes of two
innocent children, the archetypal Durga and Apu.

Ray’s brilliant cinematic sensibility elevated the aesthetics of the novel through the
introduction of a few scenes of the film – the one where little Apu and the
adolescent Durga run through a field of white flax to catch a glimpse of the train, an
entity of technological wonder and marvel in their rural context.

 The Subterraneous Discourse of Caste politics:

What always lurks at the periphery of such joyous moments is the constant
reminder of the very precarity of Durga and Apu's lives caught in the vortex of
oppressive and desperate poverty. What is particularly interesting to note is the
politics of caste that intersects this life of vicious poverty. The strong social
consciousness in the movie has conventionally been associated with the very
realism with which Ray depicts the structure Indian rural topography and the
concomitant poverty which was the result of a liberal democratic India following the
Nehruvian ideals of urban development and industrialization. Not much scholarship
has focused attention on the very subterraneous caste politics characterizing the
rural social structure in Pather Panchali. This is primarily because the figure of the
Brahmin in the popular Indian imaginary has quintessentially been associated with
an oppressor. The very power structure of the caste system has always pivoted
around an oppressive upper caste namely Brahmin and the oppressed, that is, the
non-Brahmin. In Pather Panchali, the representation of Brahminism is not very overt
and the protagonist, as Harihar is far from the stereotypical oppressive persona.

However, in Pather Panchali, a closer look yields very interesting perspectives about
how Ray deploys the caste system as a tool of social control. At the root of this
social evil, as Pather Panchali depicts, is the idea that the stronghold of caste on the
masses works primarily because of its strong ideological indoctrination. Caste
functions as hegemonic in accordance with the Marxist philosopher Raymond
Williams’ idea of hegemony as “an internalized form of social control.” In the film,
caste works as an oppressive tool of power primarily because Harihar has
interiorized its ideological doctrines. As a Brahmin, Harihar has been indoctrinated
by a purist notion of upper caste status, the impact of which can be seen on his
social behaviour.

The idea is not to demonise Harihar, rather to see Harihar too as a victim of the
ideological conditioning by the apparatus of caste. First and foremost, as a Brahmin,
Harihar’s choice of occupations is rather limited. On one hand, he himself is
reluctant to take up any occupation that is not befitting of his upper caste status,
while on the other, there is also a strong possibility that a society riddled with caste-
consciousness also fails to offer Harihar occupations that are not circumscribed by
the stigma of caste. We see that Harihar harbours a grand illusion of a scholarly
disposition, because, as a Brahmin it grants him some kind of social respectability,
despite the fact that it hardly holds any promise of economic sustainability. The
core economic problem of Harihar’s family is a corollary of Harihar’s inability to
think of alternate meaningful occupations than those warranted to him by his
superior caste position. Harihar’s cheerful over sanguinity comes across as rather
callow and even delusional. Although he is a rather affable man, his good-natured
passivity in the face of such economic crisis, comes across as caste-induced
vainglory.

In another scene, after the birth of Apu, we see Harihar happily announcing to
Sarvajaya that he has secured a job at the Ray’s (landlord) and has been asked to
manage his accounts.
 When Sarvajaya
asks him, whether he has asked the landlord as to what his pay would be, Harihar
feels slighted and tells her that he will not be cheated by landlord Ray who he thinks
is a good man. This blind and absolute belief that people would be good to him also
is a function of his supremacist caste disposition where he rests assured that
because he is a Brahmin, people would be good to him. His belief also resonates
with the larger socio-cultural convention where the Vedas have taught people to
believe that cheating a Brahmin is a grave moral lapse and would invite divine
punishment. Moreover, his lack of worldliness also stems from this internalized idea
of social supremacy as a Brahmin which deters him from asking for his rightful dues
because of some vague notion of respectability and pride as a Brahmin.

 Class politics:
Contrast to Harihar’s supremist stance, we have the persona of Sarvajaya as the
troubled wife Contrasted to his supremist stance, we have the persona of Sarvajaya
as the troubled wife who has to continuously bear the social brunt of poverty from
mean and intolerant neighbours who double as their relatives in a tight-knit village
community. Here, the politics of class intersects with that of caste. Their rich and
snobbish relatives continually harass and taunt Sarvajaya with an uppity air and in
one instance she is subjected to inordinate humiliation and embarrassment as
Durga is accused of stealing a precious necklace from one of Sejobou’s daughter.
In a scene, where while looking for any remnant of grain to feed her starving family
because her husband has gone away in search of a sustainable occupation,
Sarvajaya is loaned some money by her kind and benevolent neighbour. She
however refuses the favour while breaking down. The audience is drawn to further
respect and hold Sarvajaya in awe as we foresee the gradual breakdown of the
pride and self-respect of a woman whose only solace has been her ability to
maintain a dignified composure while negotiating with a life of penury and
tribulations.

 The traditional Bengali culture:

The Bengali countryside in the early 20th century is the setting for Satyajit Ray's
film Pather Panchali, which examines topics of women, poverty, and culture. It
scrutinizes socioeconomic problems, the movie's portrayal of traditional Bengali
culture, and the characters' reactions to the "Culture of Poverty" theory. Examining
clothing, cuisine, jobs, and habits, offers a thorough comprehension of the cultural
and economic background in the text. Characters in Pather Panchali wear
traditional Bengali dress such as the saree, blouse, dhuti, shawl, and “ghunghat”/
“ghomta” (traditional scarf). These outfits exemplify Bengal's rich cultural legacy,
embodying beauty and tradition

 Unemployment and Low Wages:

The livelihoods depicted in Pather Panchali are diverse and deeply rooted in Bengali
culture. Some engage in the mesmerizing art of ‘puthi path’, reciting Bengali
manuscripts enthusiastically and precisely. ‘Puthi path' has low wages and
sometimes the reciter has been unemployed because it is a seasonal job. Pather
Panchali weaves a tapestry of entertainment deeply ingrained in Bengali heritage.

 The lack of poverty:

Agriculture, a cornerstone of rural life, embodies the enduring connection between
the land and its people, a source of sustenance and livelihood for many in the
narrative. These varied occupations form the vibrant tapestry of Pather Panchali,
reflect the richness of Bengali livelihoods. In this film, the lower-class people,
especially the family of Durga, have no property for agricultur e.
 It is related to the 'culture of poverty'; the marginalized community of that film has
the burden of lack of property mainly the land of fruit orchards and traditional
agriculture such as paddy, lentil, and more.

Conclusion:
With its often-poetic black-and-white images and heartfelt method of storytelling,
Pather Panchali speaks intimately to each member of the audience. This tale, as
crafted by Ray, touches the souls and minds of viewers, transcending cultural and
linguistic barriers. Andrew Robinson, in the book The Apu Trilogy: Satyajit Ray and
the making of an Epic (2010), notes that it is challenging to narrate the plot of
pather panchali and the “essence of the film lies in the ebb and flow of its human
relationships and in its everyday details and cannot be reduced to a tale of events”.
Pather panchali illustrates how poverty does not always nullify love and how even
very poor people can enjoy the little pleasures of their world. This film intersperses
the depiction of poverty and the delights and pleasures of youth. Moreover, Pather
Panchali is about unsophisticated people shot through with great sophistication, and
without a trace of condescension or inflated sentiment.

Reference:
 Cardullo, R.J. ‘Pather Panchali and the cinema of Satyajit Ray, Reviewed’,
South Asian Popular Culture, 17:1, 81-94, DOI:
10.1080/14746689.2019.1585618. 2019
 Sengoopta, Chandak. “Satyajit Ray: Liberalism and Its Vicissitudes”,
Cinéaste , FALL 2009, Vol. 34, No. 4 (FALL 2009), pp. 16-22
 The Culture of Poverty.” Scientific American, vol. 215, no. 4, 1966, pp. 19–
25,
 Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty.”
American Socio-logical Review, vol. 24, no. 6, SAGE Publications.