The Final Question: Saratchandra Chattopadhyay

Image Credit: Penguin Books

I have been walking through this book maze trying to read as many as I can before the year ends. I hadn’t read an Indian novel in some time and I chose Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s The Final Question. Here is a summary from the book jacket:

The Final Question is one of Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s last novels and perhaps his most radically innovative. The novel caused a sensation when it was first published in 1931, drawing censure from conservative critics but enthusiastic support from general readers, especially women.
The heroine, Kamal, is exceptional for her time. She lives and travels by herself, has relationships with various men, looks poverty and suffering in the face, and asserts the autonomy of the individual being. In the process, she tears apart the frame of the expatriate Bengali society of Agra.

Over the years, I have become a fan of Bengali authors because of their progressive writing. The Final Question is a fine example of radical thinking especially in terms of a woman’s position in the society. The progress of the novel occurs through soirees and individual encounters, which I thought was quite akin to T S Eliot’s play, 'The Cocktail Party.' Similarly, Chattopadhyay uses all these encounters to discuss various aspects of life including politics, relationships, religion etc. It also reminded me of the absolutely brilliant movie Before Sunrise. High on conversation and low on action, the book propels the reader to take a step back and think again, about almost everything, through the views that Kamal voices.

I found Kamal’s character extremely refreshing and painfully honest. Her opinions amount to blasphemy if not anything in such a traditional society and people either end up hating her or grudgingly liking her. When a discussion on customs and rituals arises, she says:

“Many ancient customs and practices were on the verge of extinction; now an effort is being made to resurrect them. That may be so, but where’s the proof that it will do any good Ashu Babu? … There’s no evidence that the resurrection of everything defunct is necessarily good.”

On relationships between men and women:

"You know of only one kind of encounter between an unrelated man and woman in a lonely house: you have yet to learn that to a man, a woman can be anything but a woman."

On marriage:

"I told you once before that no joy is lasting: it has its allotted span of transient days…if you tie it down, you kill it. That’s why marriage has permanence but no joy. It hangs itself with the thick rope of unbearable permanence."
I am sure you would agree with me that Kamal was way ahead of her time. I could not help but nod in agreement with most of her views and at the same time wonder when most of India will nod their heads with me. Today, around seven decades after Kamal has spoken, we continue to be in the 1930s in terms of thinking and attitude.

As you can see, The Final Question turns the wheels in your mind. At times it might come across as a bit pedantic or theatrical and I also wish the English was slightly more expressive. Yet, Kamal outshines all of this and stands as a larger than life figure, impossible to like or dislike. We hardly ever see Kamal’s feelings or what moves her. She does have much wisdom and comes across as practical, liberal and strong. Just like I wish my country would be.

Verdict: Extremely engaging thoughts and Kamal is not to be missed.

Rating: 4/5