Chapter - Y

Revision and Remembrance:

Myths and Legends
in the Novels

■
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Chapter V
Revision and Remembrance: Use of Myths and
Legends in the Novels
A myth... is a metaphor for a mystery beyond human comprehension. It is a

comparison that helps us understand, by analogy, some aspect of our mysterious selves.

A myth, in this way of thinking, is not an untruth, but a way of reaching a profound truth.

Christopher Vogler

The culture of the world is enriched by the myths and legends which have given

human society an order to live and survive. Myths and legends are mostly passed on to

generations through oral tradition in the form of stories. These stories have acquired a

prominent place in human history and later on they have taken a permanent place in the

human heart and mind. Literature has also celebrated the presence of myths and legends

and the stories have placed this literary creation in order to evaluate and to find out the

impact of them on the human mind.

Myths and mythology have always been among the elements which gives a shape

to the lives of people in the society. Myths and legends are traditional stories of unknown

origin handed down from time immemorial. They are stories that are produced by great

men and women; by forces of good and evil; by animals, large and small; by trees, the

sea and wind; and by the giants, gods and other supernatural. They relate the events,

conditions and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life

and yet basic to it. Such myths and legends vary from place to place since they reflect the
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culture and ideology of the people of a region and relate to their religious beliefs and

rituals.

A myth is an imaginative story and it is defined as that which has no real

existence. It has been considered as a “sacred or religious story”. Northrop Frye asserts.

“Myth is primarily a certain type of story... The things that happen in myth are the things

that happen only in stories: they are in a self contained literary world”, (qtd. in K

Radhai). It is an anonymous story rooted in primordial beliefs. Myths are the tales that

have been passed on from one generation to another and they have become traditional.

A myth is a story that has significance to a culture (or species), a story that

addresses fundamental and different questions that human being ask: who and what I am,

where did I come from, why I am here and how should I live, what is the right thing to

do, what is the universe, how did it begin?

Myths are not only simple, innocent tales, but also symbols and images which

bear political, social, historical and cultural meanings and codes. Many thinkers and

writers have tried to analyze these myths and thereafter deconstructed them to uncover

the ideology behind them. Similarly, many writers have attempted to rewrite these myths

from different point of view to emphasize the missing or consciously underestimated

elements.

Chitra Banetjee Divakaruni, who has authored celebrated works of fiction, is

known for conjuring up a world of fantasy in her novels. Her subjects revolve around

Indian migrants settled in the US and their immigrant experience. With these interesting

stories Divakaruni also refers liberally to fables, myths and legends and weaves a story' so
 Mishra 146

beautifully around them that it makes reading her enchantingly enriching. In her

interview with Bookchums she says that she aims to bust myths and stereotypes and

hopes to dissolve boundaries between people of different backgrounds, communities,

ages, and even different worlds with her writings.

As per the opinion of Mukheijee, the use of myths in South Asian writings as the

part of the novel was not imported. In all other respects, she noted that the South Asian

novelist was at liberty to take a leaf out of the book of his or her western counterpart, but

in recounting legends and tales, South Asian writers had to turn to their own culture.

The practice of storytelling has been identified as a part of oral tradition by

women writers all over the world. Storytelling involves the recounting of legends, myths

and also the tales of one’s family and familial history. South Asian Women writers have

deftly used myth and legend in their writings as a practice of women of all the classes and

caste. It features most prominently the women’s world where straightforward and frank

discourse may be neither approved nor permitted. In her essay Writing from the Margin

and Other Essays Shashi Deshpande writes, “Myths are still important to us... In India,

especially, myths have an extraordinary vitality, continuing to give people some truth

about themselves and about the human condition” (Deshpande 99). By the statement of

Shashi Deshpande and her emphasis on myth, it can be understood that South Asians are

closer to their mythologies than many others and experience their legends and tales on

day to day basis than any text book.

Myths are the most powerful tools used by patriarchy to subordinate women in

the use of language. Myths attribute to women a gender identity built on the binary logic
 Mishra 147

and a sexual identity submerged within the phallic system. The all pervading effect of

these myths is, one may call it that the grown woman may not manage to completely

shrug off the aura of fantasy or mythical association, and, then the life could contain a

series of disillusionment. Simone de Beauvoir has also expressed commonly held

feminist opinion by arguing that mythology validates the subjugation of women in

patriarchal culture. The women in myths are often not rebellious figure, but rather larger

than life symbols of obedience, submissiveness and/or male sexual fantasy. As Madhu

Kishwar opines, the mythical ideal woman is presented as a selfless giver, someone who

gives endlessly, gracefully, smilingly, whatever the demand, however harmful to herself.

She gives not just love, affection and ungrudging service, but also, if need be, her health

and ultimately her life at the altar of duty to her husband, children and the rest of the

family. {In Search 48)

Fiction becomes an important place for questioning the validity of the patriarchal

myths that have created a faulty impression of women and womanhood. When these

women novelists start questioning and reinterpreting the male created myths in their

works they tend to explore their power both as women and as creative writers. Indian

women writers have not rejected myths altogether, but made a positive reconstruction of

it.

5.1 The Mistress ofSpices: A Modern Fable Blended with Hindu Mythology

Divakaruni’s first novel The Mistress of Spices is a story of Tilo ‘the Mistress of

Spices’ who runs a Spice Shop in Oakland, America. The novel is nch in respect of

Indian myths and its association with the women in the contemporary society. Divakanmi
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herself states the reason behind writing this novel “I wrote in a spirit of play, collapsing

the divisions between the realistic world of twentieth century America and tie timeless

one of myth and magic in my attempt to create a modem fable.” In the Mistress of Spices

Divakamni has used this fable to explore the problems faced by the immigrants in

America.

While discussing with Morton Marcus in Metroactive about The Mistress of

Spices Divakamni describes it as “not realistic.” The novel is about an Indian woman

named Tilo who moves to Oakland and opens a spice shop SPICE BAZAAR. She is well

versed in the healing powers of spices and can intuit the problems and needs of her

customers.

Bom as Mayan Tara, (Meaning Star- Seer) Tilo began to presage about the

happenings. As soon as her fame started spreading, the pirates came to know about her.

They raided and pillaged and burned the huts. She was named as “Bhagyavati, sorceress,

pirate queen, the bringer of luck and death” (MS 20).

Tilo is transported to America by means of ‘Shampati’s Fire’, a giant bonfire into

which she steps in and disappears. The myth of fire indicates the destruction of present

physical form and a reduction to ashes. The actual word ‘Shampati’ is a reference of “the

bird of myth and memory that dived into conflagration and rose new from ash” (MS 56).

The myth of Shampati’s Fire is a symbolism of Tilo’s new birth, a literal recreation of the

self. The fire of Shampati can be considered as an Eastern Version of Phoemix. As per

mythology Phoenix is a bird of its own kind which lives for 500 years and then dies by
 Mishra 149

burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making ignited by the Sun and then it arises new

from the ashes.

In Tilo’s transformation, the presence of the ash serves as an ambiguous omen for

Tilo starts a new life over the remnants of the her past just as a phoenix does. The

Shampati’s fire provides Tilo a new identity as she is converted into an old lady who runs

a spice shop named SPICE BAZAAR.

Divakaruni is again foreshadowing the process of Tilo’s transformation through

the myth of Shampati’s fire using it as a metaphor for the recreation of the self and

presenting identity as erratic rather than permanent. The myth Sharapati’s fire has various

meanings. It is a rule for a Mistress not to leave her store, but Tilo breaks the rule, first

time for Geeta and the second time for Raven. The second time when she risks coming

out with Raven on his insistence, Tilo fights herself and overcomes by the feeling that

“all the molecules of the universe dissolving and gathering into new shapes” (MS 190).

Feroza Jussawala compares this Shampati’s Fire with old Indian myth described

in the epic Ramayana, “The mythical metaphor doesn’t seem to fit because Shampati, a

minor character in the Ramayana, was the eagle who flew too close to the sun and had his

wings singed. He is the one who informs Hanuman of Sita’s whereabouts and which

results in Sita’s eventual rescue as Hanuman sets Lanka on fire- a Iiberatory fire” (222).

Just as the fire turns a liberating force for Sita in the Ramayana, in The Mistress of

Spices, the Shampati’s Fire turns Tilo into an aging woman who is thereafter transported

to Oakland to serve the diasporic Indian community “just like Shampati helps the

displaced Sita”,
 Mishra 150

The mythical framework of Divakaruni’s novels contributes to create a female

universe. The world of myth is essentially feminine in nature as opposed to the cerebral

world which is masculine. Divakaruni has attempted new myths and has given a new

interpretation to existing one. She has experimented with fresh myths and therefore ‘the

sacred mountain of Hindu myths here appears as volcano on the hybrid of the phoenix

and the plumed serpents” (McLeod 78).

Divakaruni crafts her novel into a didactic novel by introducing the traditional

function of the spices and the traditional methods of how they need to be applied. The

spices can be seen as representation of Indian culture as Tilo remarks, “each spice has a

day special to it” (MS 13). The spices in Tilo’s store remind the immigrants of their

native myths and values. The explanation of the spices by Tilo easily brings in the mind

the great grandmother’s saying. The introduction of the spices has certain mythical

interpretations such as “turmeric who rose out of the ocean of milk when dcvas and

asuras churned for the treasures....” (MS 13) or “the dry chilli Lanka whose name the ten

headed Ravana took for his enchanted kingdom”( MS 37). Myths associated with the

spices not only elaborate the story behind their origin, but also connect somewhere with

the novel and as well as the women characters.

The myths about snakes and speaking serpents are beautifully interwoven. Tilo is

enamoured of the snakes. The snakes and speaking serpents are associated with fertility

and are chronic manifestation of the Mother Goddess. They are the symbol of the

feminine principle, “snake oldest of creature, closest to the earth mother, ail sinew and

glide against her breast. Always I have loved them” (MS 21).
 Mishra 151

All fertility goddesses, including Kali are associated with snakes. Snakes are symbols of

renewal- they shed their skin regularly and rejuvenate themselves just like the earth

restores its fertility each year. Snakes are symbols of kundalini, the seed of occult

wisdom that lies coiled in all beings, waiting to be aroused by the various Tantrik

Practice. (Mohanty 18)

Tilo also reflects the ability of renewing herself every' time in a new situation and

in new environment just like the serpents do. All her mythic knowledge is imparted to her

by serpents. As a pirate queen, Tilo feels a kind of restlessness in her heart “carried a

secret pain that branded itself into each chamber' (MS 19) of her hear. She says, “I want,

I want, I whispered. But what I longed for I didn’t know, except that it wasn’t this” (MS

21). The serpents smoothed her way to get through it. The sea serpents inform Tio about

the magical island of the spices and she finds a kind of release. In conversation with

Morton Marcus Divakaruni speaks about speaking serpent, "The Speaking Serpents are a

different kind of magic that I only partially understand. They represent the grace of the

universe and by that. I mean they are not governed by logic, but come to us mortals as a

blessing we cannot understand.”

The snakes wanted Tilo to be ‘Sarpa Kanya’ snake maiden, but the spice island

fascinated her. The serpents warned her, “she will lose everything, foolish one. Sight,

voice, name. Perhaps even self (MS 24). The prediction of serpents was correct as Tilo

lost herself to spices. The myth of serpents is extended to America as Tilo says “here too

in America in the ocean that lies beyond the red-gold bridge at the end of the bay, there

are serpents” (MS 25). Tilo is reluctant to visit the place because she is afraid that “they
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will not appear to me" (MS 25). Divakanmi admits about the fables of speaking serpents

and sleeping city that she has changed them completely which she remembered from her

childhood. She presents the snakes as the hidden truth of this world; invisible to the

human eye, living in the depth of the ocean.

The names used in the novel have also certain mythical association which has

directly led to the story. “Myth after myth pours forth as Tilo sees herself as Bhagyavati,

explores the meaning of Nayan Tara and lays out the meaning of her name. Tilo.” The

name Nayan Tara is ironic in a sense that her parents were not happy at her birth, but they

have given her the name ‘Nayan Tara’ (Star of the eye) and Bhagyavati means ‘bringer of

luck and death.’ Tilo as a pirate queen brings the luck for them but she caused the death

of pirate King and others. Tilo and Raven are the names which bear mythical associations

-Tilottama, the protagonist has been represented as an ugly old woman. Once very

beautiful, this Mistress of Spices is transformed into this form firstly by the sea storm and

then Shampati’s fire. When she was passing through the ‘ceremony of purification ‘(MS

40) and she was ready to leave the island, the Old One started announcing their new

names. Tilo, on her turn chooses a name for herself despite of knowing that it is the right

of the Old One, ‘Tilo’ short for Tilottama. Tilo draws the meaning of the word from the

sesame seed, but the Old One has different perceptions. She relates it with ‘The most

beautiful Apsara of indra’s court... the most elegant of dancers” (MS 42). The First

Mother says, “when Brahma made Tilottama to be a chief dancer in Indra’s court, he

warned her never to give her love to man-only to the dance. .. .remember this too...” (MS

42-43). Tilottama, disobedient at the last fell, and was banished to earth to live as a
 Mishra 153

mortal for seven lives, seven mortal lives of illness and age, of people taming in disgust

from her twisted, leprous limb. In this novel Tilo, disobedient to the spices and the Old

Mother falls and was expelled from the reign of spices to lead an ordinary life. Nandini

Bhadra writes in her essay, “Divakaruni deconstructs the Hindu epic Mahabharaia where

Tilottama is portrayed as a beautiful nymph created by Vishwakarma (at Brahma’s

request) for bringing about the destruction of the asura - (demons) and constructs her as

an old woman guiding the lives of diasporic Indian women in an alien space”(Bhadra

268).

Tilo, in The Mistress of Spices performs the task to lessen the pain and suffering

of the diasporic women and to relieve them from the problem. As a mistress., she is not

allowed to look into the mirror, to leave her store and to make relation with anyone. Tilo

couldn’t resist and she not only leaves the store, but falls in love with an American. Tilo’s

American is named Raven- the symbolic meaning of the Raven in Native American

Indian myth describes the raven as a creature of metamorphosis, and symbolizes

change/transformation. In western mythology, it is also considered as the bird of death.

Sam and Carson, in their interpretation of Medicine Cards, write, “Raven magic is

powerful medicine that can give you the courage to enter the darkness of the void, which

is the home of all that is not yet in form” (Sam and Carson 101). This association of the

myth with Raven signifies the relevance of the name in the novel. Tilo’s Raven takes her

away from her world of spices to show her a new world in his ‘Earthly Paradise’ where

they could spend life together. As per the myth Raven gives courage to Tilo to ‘enter the

darkness of the world.’

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According to Native American legends and myths of some tribes the Raven

played a part in their Creation myth. The raven escaped from the darkness of the cosmos

and became the bringer of light to the world. Here Tilo’s American, Raven brings light in

her life by giving her a new life and a way to live in this world. Raven is also known as a

keeper of secrets and can assist in determining answers to hidden thoughts. Tilo’s desire

and thoughts are expressed to Raven and fulfilled.

The novel is divided into chapters named after the spices and each is devoted to a

particular spice. Each spice has its own Indian mythological story which explains its

origin and the uses- “Each spice has day special to it, color of day break and conch shell

sound” (MS 13). The origin of the spices can be traced to the God of Fire which is

closely related to Indian tradition and heritage and these connects and unites the diaspora

people.

5.2 Sister of My Heart and The Vine of Desire'. Rejection of Conventional Myths and

Creation of New.

Divakaruni’s second novel Sister of My Heart is the story of two protagonists

Anju and Sudha and their story is told alternately in first person narration. Sudha is seen

rooted in tradition and always unquestioning regarding the matters of her life and used to

accept the societal codes of conduct, whereas Anju is more insubordinate and challenges

the myths of superiority and validity.

Indian women writers have reworked on ancient legends. This approach involves

deconstructing the original stories in some way drawing attention to the constructed

nature of the narrative to deny that such narrative has any relationship to reality, thus
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paving way for radical rewriting. In Sister of My Heart, Divakaruni also rejects

conventional myths and construct new ones. The first book in the novel is titled 'The

Princess in the Palace of Snakes'. In this part, the protagonists try to confirm the

traditional feminine roles allocated by the male dominated society. This is evident from

the traditional fairy-tale of the princess in the palace of snakes waiting for her Prince

Charming to rescue her. The second book is titled 'The Queen of Swords', is not a

traditional fairy tale.

In the Book One, Anju and Sudha, having lost their fathers before their birth, are

brought up by three women, their widowed mothers and aunt Pishi, a member of their

household ever since she lost her husband at the age of eighteen. The lives of these

Chattel]ee girls thus shaped by the three widows without male interference are still under

the influence of the male hegemonic past. The community in which they live is the legacy

of male ancestors - a community that pressurizes the members into conformity and

normative modes of behavior and denying them the chances of individuality.

In Sister of My Heart the two protagonists of Divakaruni Anju and Sudha narrate

their stories alternatively bestows them with not only the capacity to tell their own

stories, but also empower them with the power to interpret and shape their reality. The

popular myth of the society says that the night, the child is bom the deity BMhata Purush

comes down to earth to decide the destiny of the child. The disappearance of the

sweetmeat is the indicative of his blessings.

“THEY SAY in the old tales that the first night after a child is bom, the Bidhata

Purush comes down to earth himself to decide what its fortune is to be... That is w'hy
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they leave sweetmeats by the cradle. Silver-leafed sandesh, dark pantuas floating in

golden syrup, jilipis orange as the heart of a fire, glazed with honey-sugar. If the child is

especially lucky, in the morning it will all be gone”(SMH 3).

Anju always refuses to believe this story as she says: 'That's because the servants

sneak in during the night and eat them,” says Anju, giving her head an impatient shake....

(SMH 3). Aunt Pishi tells the girls that in their case the sweet meats remained untouched

because they were girls, thus implying that the women are doomed to suffer. When Sudha

asks Aunt Pishi, “Pishi Ma, tell no, did the sweets disappear for us?”(SMH 5)

Sorrow moves like a smoke-shadow over Pishi’s face. Finally, she says, her voice

flat, “No, Sudha. You weren't so lucky.”... Pishi shakes her head in regret “may be

Bidhata Punish doesn’t come for girl-babies.” (SMH 6)

Anju, the skeptic, rejects the insinuation out rightly, but Sudha, more traditional

among the two, accepts. Here myths are represented as stereotypes, as Bidhata Punish

blesses only the sons of a family and dejects the girl babies. Similarly, when Sudha’s

Mother-in-law takes her to visit the temple of Goddess shashthi for a male heir, the

stereotypical myth is evident.

Myths and legends that are also products of a male-oriented culture, play an

important role in formulating the ideas on which woman is to base her life. Their

discourse is male centered and the mythological stories have represented feats of

masculine prowess. Women, on the other hand remain as docile puppets with their roles

being confined in as much as playing victims or mute observers with no representation of

feminine prowess or female heroism or even female nature as such. Certain role-models
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in every society determine the attitudes and expectations of women and the inherent

contradictions in culture make it difficult for women to indulge in their desires. The

conflict for Indian women arises when they try to carve out a viable space for themselves

in the society which is suffering from Sita-Savitri Syndrome. Various questions arise

regarding the actual status of women such as who is the real woman? Where is the real

woman - What is her real entity? Has she an identity of her own? The primordial myths

gave woman an identity that is stereotypical and has been reinforced by archetypes for

ages.

Anju migrates to America after her marriage and her misconception about the

freedom shatters. She realizes that living a life of modem women is not a sign of

emancipation; instead she finds it difficult to cope up and descends into deep

despondency. Sudha narrates the story to Anju in America, she reinterprets the myth, and

the princess instead of waiting for the prince to save her, finds courage to flee from the

prison and finds asylum with a woman.

The reference of myth is again evident in “The Princess in the Palace of Snakes”:

“Once there was a princess, who lived in an underwater palace filled with snakes. The

snakes were beautiful - green and yellow and gold and gentle. They fed her and played

with her and sang her to sleep” (SMH 86).

The above resemblance of the myth is to show, how Anju loves Sudha very much,

as Sudha is a princess and Anju herself a snake, to take care of Sudha. Through the myth,

Divakaruni wants to show the sisterhood among Sudha and Anju Sudha is also deeply

concerned about Anju. The mothers don’t reveal the incident of Anju’s miscarriage, but
 Mishra 158

somehow she gets to know the truth and consoles Anju through the same story delivered

in an entirely different way. In the second book 'The Queen of Swords Sudha talks to

Anju, but the story has now taken a different shape.

The notion of myth has undergone a change within the last century with many

modem writers as they have presented it in reversals or they choose to subvert it. In Sister

of My Heart the myth of the princess is reverted by Divakaruni when Anju is disturbed

over her miscarriage, Sudha tells her this tale and Anju recovers. Then she relates what

happened to the three mothers. Then Pishi, the usual teller of tales, asks her about the

story she told Anju. 'I told her a story'. ... The Queen of swords', I say. (SMH 286) This

new myth symbolizes the new feminine world that Divakaruni envisages. It is a world

across the rainbow {ironically a conventional symbol of hope) where women rescue other

women and do not wait helplessly for the men.

This change is seen not only in the story that Sudha narrates but also in her

attitude and her actions. When she was a child, and still under the influence of accepted

patriarchal ideologies, her favorite past time was to make up stories of princesses in

underground dungeons rescued by the princes. During their childhood, the girls used to

act out the fairy tales that Pishi used to tell them. Sudha always played the princess in

danger and Anju the prince who rescued her. Even while they were playacting, Sudha

would never reach out to the prince and ask him to help her. She always said that it was

the duty of the prince to do all the hard work and rescue her. Later, when she falls in love

with Ashok and the mothers decide to get her married elsewhere, she waits for Ashok to

make all the moves and rescue her.

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Myth works on the basis of readers and authors having common assumption,

depending upon the readers to make the connection between the protagonist and the

mythical character. The use of familiar myths in Chitra Baneijee Divakamni’s novels

brings the reader in the vicinity of the struggles and complexities of the protagonist’s life.

The myths of the novels are familiar not only to India but also in South Asia.

Divakaruni's The Vine of Desire is a striking novel of extraordinary depth and

sensitivity which is also considered as a sequel to her novel, Sister of My Heart.

Divakaruni takes up the story of Anju and Sudha where she left them at the end of their

novel Sister of My Heart. The sequel begins with Anju’s tragedy of miscarriage, emotion

and trauma of separation of her son from her womb due to abortion and this results in

depression in Anju, whereas Sudha after escaping from the tyrannical rule of her mother-

in-law in India moved in with Anju and her husband Sunii in San Francisco with her

infant daughter Dayita. After her miscarriage Anju’s hopes of making the family has

been shattered and she desperately needs the sisterly support after her abortion and calls

Sudha to America with her daughter.

Anju and Sudha adopt American culture and throw some Indian traditional beliefs

and thinking. The myths have a great impact on Anju's displacement, and her throwing

the Indian values which are controlled by Hinduism. In Sister of My Heart Anju doesn’t

believe in Indian myths and the Indian ceremonies to the gods, this trait is also visible in

The Vine ofDesire. She shows a strong dissent towards myths and Indian cultural values.

Anju disbelieves the myths and Hinduism and thus try' to retain her American identity in

this alien land. As Sudha brings a Hindu calendar with her from India and paste it in the
 Mishra 160

kitchen, she reads, "She snickered as she read them aloud: people who begin the journey

in the month of Bhadra never come back. A wedding conducted In Aashwin ends in

calamity. Books should not be read, but only worshipped on Saraswati Puja, the day

dedicated to the goddess of learning” (VD 150). Anju’s disbelief to the traditional culture

and myths indicates her attempt to prove that following the traditional belief in no longer

make any sense to her. In this way she wants to leave her Indian identity behind.

Myths, by their nature are given to abstraction and over simplification. Easy

binaries that are deployed in explaining the position of Indian women have been

habitually the ideological enclave of exploitation. If, as said above, it is predominantly

the women who tell the stories and recount, augment and otherwise keep the myth alive

than it may be ironic that it is the women who partially at least forge the very chains

which may be used to bind them.

Sudha, a staunch believer of myths and traditional stories in Sister of My Heart

becomes disenchanted with the stories in The Vine of Desire. Sudha refuses to believe in

Indian folk stories because she finds the stories unrealistic. In America Sudha narrates

the stories of Ramayana to Dayita because Pishi has advised her for doing so (VD 78) but

she has now disillusioned with the myths as she finds them far away front the reality.

Narrating the tales from the epic Ramayana to Dayita Sudha somehow gives vent to her

own thoughts. Once she narrates the story of how the demon Ravana stole Sita Ram’s

Consort from her home. This story is symbolic of Sudha’s own life. As Lakshman draws

a magic circle around Sita and advised her not to come out of it. Sudha reflects-
 Mishra 161

Each of our lives has a magic circle drawn around it, one must not cross. Chaos

waits on the other side of the drawn line. Perhaps in leaving Ramesh I had already

stepped outside my circle. With the kiss, Sunil trampled the circle his marriage

has etched around him. What is there now to keep us safe from our demons?

(VD80)

Sudha in another way thinks that the stepping out of Ramesh house has been a big

decision and definitely she faces a chaos waiting for her on the other side.

Sudha narrates to Dayita the tales from The Ramayam and one day she dreams of

Sita’s trail after she was rescued from demon Ravana. Sita urges Ram to light fire for her

as she has to prove herself. She stepped into the fire, but the God of Fire himself brought

her back and proved her innocence, “She stepped into the flames. But she didn’t bum.

The god of fire himself brought her back and vouched for her innocence. Ram and Sita

were happily reunited. (But, having been doubted that way, can a woman be happy

again?)’- (VD313)

The image of ‘Sita’ has a profound effect on the Indian psyche. Her chastity and

loyalty to her husband represents the ideal for an Indian wife. This ideology survives

even among modem, upper-class Indian women who defer to their husbands in an almost

instinctive way. Sudha expresses qualms whether a woman can be happy after being

asked for such test. In other words, religious myths suppress a woman on the question of

her autonomy and freedom.

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5.3 Revisionist Mythmaking in The Palace of Illusion: Present Voice from the Past.

The repertoire of myths and legends is an Akshay Patra (the legendary vessel of

Draupadi, that never empties) which facilitates all the writers of all times to explore and

revision according to contemporary times. The ancient epics of India, Mahabharata and

Ramayana have been the decisive forces in the formation of the ideals of the Indian mind

and norms of Indian society. As Jancy James writes in “Remytholigizing as Expatriate

Vision and Arf-

In the moments of dilemmas and crisis of dharma, the characters and messages

from the myths in these mammoth literary sources emerge in the expatriate mind as the

mighty source of reference and clarification assumes overt representation , bringing in

characters and contents from the epic sources , though in most writers, such referentiality

is heavily encoded and hence need deciphering and deconstruction.(200)

Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions is an attempt to give the Mahabharata a

global face. In this novel Divakaruni doesn't tend to invent a new world, but out of Ved

Vyasa’s Mahabharata, she has narrated the story from Draupadi’s perspective in a very

dignified manner. Revision for Adrienne Rich, is “taking a second look” from a different

perspective. Texts in the male canon are re-read with a view to exposing patriarchal or

other unjust hierarchical practices and assumptions contained in them. Revisioning of

accepted structures provide a context to woman writers to recast the traditional stories

that misrepresent women and present alternative view.

Divakaruni herself describes the “Mahabharata” as weaving “myth, history,

religion, science, philosophy, superstition, and statecraft into its innumerable stories-
 Misihra 163

within-stories’. Through The Palace of Illusions Chitra Baneijee Divakaruni has offered

tribute to the Indian Cultural Background by adopting the mythology in her novels. A

timeless myth of Indian society has been presented beautifully and innovatively by

Divakaruni. The Mahabharata remains a complicated mythical story of all, who knows

less about the Indian culture, but Divakaruni has presented it in the first person narrative

through the words of Draupadi and takes this old myth to another level by making it more

understandable. In this novel she has redefined the old Hindu mythological tale

‘Mahabharata’ from Draupadi’s perspective, in her novel The Palace of Illusion. The

story of the novel is told through Draupadi’s eyes and she narrates the incidents

beginning of her abnormal birth, her lonely childhood, her mysterious friendship and

relationship with Krishna her marriage, her affection for Kama, her distinct role in

keeping the Pandavas together, her insecurities as a woman, motherhood and her journey

all through the epic.

The Palace of Illusions has a new vigour added to the epic Mahabharata through

which Divakaruni has given voice to Panchaali. The novel is definitely a feminist writing

in which myths are revisioned, rewrote and retold from a female point of view. The focus

of this novel is on the inner life of women. Traditionally Draupadi has not been given the

importance she is due. Draupadi has been portrayed mostly negatively in Hindu society.

Many believe that it was her headstrong actions that brought about the destruction of the

Third Age of Man and she is known to be a kritya, one who brings doom to her clan. But

Divakaruni moves away from such interpretations to provide a new outlook on Panchaali.
 Mishra 164

Divakaruni has given a mythological account in her novel as she has applied a

certain facet of the narrative structure of myths. The narrative technique of Chitra

Baneijee Divakaruni is quite different from the original epic. She has woven myth into

the structure of the novel. This strategy can be precisely told as the story within a story.

Within the structure of one story another story is told, thereby giving the narratives a

multi layered structure.

Divakaruni here gives an account of Draupadi’s unending quest for her identity

through the series of events. In The Palace of Illusions Divakaruni has not attempted

anything new which was not there in Vyasa’s Mahabharata, but the epic has reshaped in

such a way that The Palace of Illusions appeals to the modem reader. No new character

has been introduced to make the epic effective, but the different aspects of the mythical

events are reinvented, which remained unnoticed and out of attention for long. The

Palace ofIllusions is recounted in first person narrative and the raconteur or Sutradhari is

Draupadi herself. Mahabharata narrated by Draupadi challenges the male ego to the

epitomic limits of human excellence. Draupadi resents, rejects and involves herself in the

process of life as yet never transgress the rules.

The story begins with Panchaali’s birth from fire and it maturates from reflecting

on the life of Panchaali and ends with her final departure. The grandmother Dtiai Maa

used to tell her the story of her birth. Panchaali doesn’t like the way her father treats her

when she with her brother comes out of the fire. Even King Drupad feels suspicion about

the prophecy that she would change the course of history. ‘"Behold, we give you this girl,

a gift beyond what you asked for. Take good care of her, for she will change the course of
 Mishra 165

history” (POI 5). Shakti Swaminathan’s review of The Palace of Illusions in The Hindu

holds apt as:

A popular Tamil Proverb says that ‘Everything is created and destroyed by

women, pointing to the instances in history where a woman’s actions has tom

down the greatest of warriors and has spiraled the downfall of the biggest of

races... History really seems to be ‘his’ story doesn't it? We seldom get to know

how the women characters felt. Were they merely pawns in the hands of men or

did they' assert their will to change destiny according to their whims and fancies?

Draupadi questions the terms of the myth which records ter existence, by

bringing out what it represses or excludes. Through the story of her birth, she wishes to

give an authentic account of her life which would radically question and consistently

undermine the previous constructions of her life. All that she requires now is an account

of history, which will represent her truly and will articulate her real life. So she decides to

narrate her own version of the story, which, according to her, is the most authentic.

The stories woven into the story bear a psychological and symbolic significance

to the characters. The stories of the previous birth of many characters such as Shikhandi

and Bheesham are also presented in the story. Despite the myths of the past lives of the

characters aie not narrated by the main character, but these stories are known through the

listening by main character directly or eavesdropping. The power and truth behind every

myth arouse questions in the minds of logical readers and they try to seek out the answers

to these questions regarding the myths related to our social, cultural and religious life.
 Mishra 166

Similarly Panchaali questions the truth about Shikandi’s past life repeatedly; Could he

really be Amba in a previous incarnation?

Carl Gustav Jung observes that the death-rebirth archetypes as symbolic

expression take place not in the world but in the mind. That process, according to him. is

the temporary return of ego to the unconscious — a kind of temporary death of the ego

and its re-emergence or re-birth from the unconscious”. This concept of Jung leads to the

idea of the collective unconscious. Krishna, on being asked about the incarnation of

Amba as Shikhandi replies-“He believes it to be so. Isn’t that what truth is? The force of

a person believes seeps in those around him- into the very earth and air and water.” The

interpretation of Jung can be applied to the narrative of Divakaruni through Krishna’s

comment.

Mukherjee identified two ways in which myths are used by South Asian writers;

the digressional technique , which is the story told within the story and generally used

as mini-moral lessons or fables, and the structural parallel , where a mythical situation

underlies the whole or a part of the novel (131). Chitra Banetjee Divakaruni has tried

both the techniques of myth. As a part of digressional technique she weaves various

myths, legends and folk tales into the fabric of his novels to attain some desired effect.

She has dexterously deployed both the techniques in The Pciluce ofIllusions in which the

story of Draupadi, consort of Pandavas is beautifully narrated in first person narrative and

many stories are woven within the epic. By using myth as a technique Divakaruni has her

own unique vision that colours her attitude towards Indian mythology.
 Mishra 167

Alan W Watts in his Myth and Ritual in Christianity observes that myth is to be

defined as a complex of stories- some no doubt fact and some fantasy- which for reasons

regard as a demonstration of the inner meaning of the universe and of human life. The

myths and stories woven into the main narrative of the novel provide hope and lessons to

many. Bheeshma’s past life, as he admits taught him a lesson in his life, whereas,

Shikhandi’s knowledge about his previous birth gives him some hope to get justice and

ignite his thrust for revenge.

The basic tenet of the psychoanalytic theories of Freud and Jung is the assumption

that the symbols of myth as well as the themes of its plot are constructed into the

subconscious. According to Jung the symbolic structure of the unconscious is a reality

which cannot be totally reduced to any other level of experience. However the Freudian

theorists treat myths as the expression of mental forces. This treatment possesses the idea

that myths are like day dreams. It involves the process of dream work symbolically

reconstructs the messages emitted from the unconscious.

Divakaruni has given a series of messages through her protagonist’s dreams.

According to the psychoanalytic theory of the myths, myths were seen as an expression

of needs in the human psyche. Panchaali is very well aware of the many events which

otherwise would have been unknown to herself as well as the readers.

According to Jung's theory of dreams, dreams express not just personal contents,

but also collective or universal contents. Jung believed that dreams frequently contain

archetypes, universal psychic images that underlie all human thought. Archetypes reflect

a natural wisdom, deep within the human unconscious; archetypal images in dreams can
 Mishra 168

provide the dreamer with special insights and guidance along the path toward

individuation. Jung believed that the world's religious and mythological traditions contain

a wealth of archetypal images, and he refers to these traditions in describing the nature

and function of dreams. Through the dreams of Panchaali, the universal content is

presented in the novel. Panchaali dreams of the event which are actually unknown to her,

but the dreams make her aware of it.

The first dream of Panchaali was the incident of Vamavat in which Duryodhan

has made a conspiracy to kill the Pandava brothers. In her dream Panchaali was a iac

insect who has attached herself to a twig and drank all its sap so as to secret the resin red

lac. There were thousands of lac insects who produced lac. The villagers found the lac

and sent it to Vamavat where treacherous Purochan is constructing a Palace for the

Pandavas on demand of Duryodhan. This dream is seen when Draupadi is married to

Aijuna and comes to stay with her family. This dream makes Druapadi aware about the

incidents and the qualities of Pandavas and conspiracy of Duryodhan. Afterwards, when

Sahadev narrates this incident to her, she learns the godlike qualities of Pandavas and the

strength of Kunti. The dream had a great impact on Draupadi as she always

misunderstood Kunti but now she appreciates her, “Sahadev, if only you’d told me this

earlier! For by this time Kunti and I (yoked together uneasily by our desire for Pandava

glory) had frozen into our stance of mutual distrust. But had I known this story before, I

would have tried harder to be her friend” (POI 115). The dream has been introduced at

the time when Panchaali is entering in her married life, and it indicates the plight of

Draupadi which she has to face.

 Mishra 169

The second dream of Draupadi was significant one which can be mentioned as

one of the important dream for the growth of the story. Draupadi dreams of a woman who

has wrapped shawl and comes to the river side to meet a man. Draupadi doesn’t

recognize the lady immediately, but she makes out Kama even before she could see his

face. The dream arouses suspicion in Draupadi’s mind why Kunti has come to meet her

sons’ enemy by the river side secretly. The device of dream has been skillfully employed

in the narrative structure of the novel by Divakaruni to communicate what would remain

otherwise inexpressible.

In chapter 34 of the novel Draupadi recalls the dream when she hears Kama’s

conversation with Bheeshma, “suddenly everything that had puzzled me began to make

sense” (POI 273). In this dream Draupadi recognizes Kama without any effort and she

asks a question to herself, “Did some strange bond connect us even in this dream world”

(POI 242). The dream exposes the secret of Kunti and Kama but also indicates

Draupadi’s longing for him.

Draupadi’s next dream is about a woman who is in a weary state, searching for

food. Her clothes are patchy and knotted. Draupadi decides to give her a coin, but when

she looks at her, she turns and flees such as she has seen any evil. Draupadi realizes that

everyone doesn’t support their cause. Even people don’t sympathize with Draupadi.

Draupadi’s last but most painful dream of Aswatthama killing her most beloved

children and brothers render important message in a condensed manner. According to

psychoanalytic theory of myth these dreams are utilized as mythical symbols. These

symbols express a universal concern for themes such as the process of physical and
 Mishra 170

psychological incorporation and expulsion, the fear of abandonment and destruction,

rivalry between parents and child and between parents and siblings.

A story within a story is a narrative in which more than one narrative is

interwoven simultaneously. One action is presented during the course of another action.

In this connection Divakaruni takes one story of Nal and Damyanti from the

Mahabharata. The story starts with the narration “To divert our minds from our

misfortunes, they told us stories of people whose suffering were far worse... my favourite

was the story of Nal and Damyanti, perhaps because of its parallel to our life... this is the

story, in the barrenness of bones.”(POI 208)

The story of Nal and Damyanti is told by one of the sages who used to visit

Pandavas during their exile in the forest. The sage’s intention was to give a lesson to

Pandavas so that they can learn to bear the misfortunes valiantly, but both Yudhishthir

and Draupadi take it from different angles. Nal the Nishad king had lost all Ms

possessions to his brother just as Yudhishthir lost his own. Despite losing the last piece of

cloth he did not wager his wife. Damyanti also supported her husband in his adversity.

But Nal left sleeping Damyanti in the forest, thinking it to be best for her to get rid of the

misfortunes brought upon her because of him. Damyanti with her determination and

conviction search him and get him back and they were united after a long span of time.

Yudhishthir and Draupadi perceive the story through different angles. Yudhishthir

brought out the symbol of righteousness from the story. He says, “Look, how Nal never

swerved from righteousness, no matter what happened. And Damyanti never rebuked him

for his losses, but gave him all the support a man needs when in trouble.” (POI 209).
 Mishra 171

Draupadi interprets the story in an entire different way through a psychological

perception, “How did Nal repay her? By abandoning her in a forest? How was that

righteous?” (POI 209) The story within the story gives us many symbolic and

psychological interpretations to the charterers. Draupadi attaches herself to Darayanti and

empathizes with her pain, “How frightened she must have been - and how brave.

Because she didn't go back to her parents right away. Instead, she searched for Nal for

years. Once she was stoned to death as a witch- she a princess who had been famed the

world over for her beauty.”(POI 209) The myths play a significant role in explaining the

narrative as Paul Radin emphasizes the functional dimension of myths. A myth is always

explanatory and the explanatory theme often is so completely dominant that everything

else becomes subordinated to it.

Divakarunrs narratives are full of stories more or less; the stories directly connect

the narratives and characters. Divakaruni has very skillfully attempted to bind all the

characters and the story together through the bold and enticing narrative style. Through

the reinvention of myth in The Palace of Illusions Divakaruni focuses intensively on the

destructive consequences of war along with the character of Draupadi. By reinterpreting

the old epic through a new perspective Divakaruni has given voice to Draupadi and her

own way of thinking. The questions of identity are imposed through the mythical

perception of Draupadi that influence the minds of modem readers.

5.4 Queen of Dreams: Defamlliarizing the Seif

Defamiliarization is the artistic technique of presenting common things in an

unfamiliar or strange way in order to refresh perception of the familiar. In “Art as

 Mishra 172

Technique," Viktor Shklovsky observes: “As perception becomes habitual, it becomes

automatic”. Habitual perception retreats into the area of the unconsciously automatic.

In her attempt Divakaruni has highlighted the gulf between dreams and reality in

her fourth novels Queen of Dreams and she bridges the gulf between an American bom

daughter and an Indian immigrant mother. The mother is gifted with the ability to

interpret dreams. The daughter yearns to understand her mother’s behavior and her work.

In western cultures, dream interpretation is a science, practiced by the

psychologist, but in Indian culture it is a gift. Most of the time dream interpretation is

also associated with mythical symbols.

After Mrs. Gupta’s death Rakhi finds her dream journals which render an aura of

exoticism. The dreams are full of symbols that reveal an image of exoticized India with

its cultural beliefs, myths and legends.

The novel Queen of Dreams opens with Mrs. Gupta's premonition of her death.

She dreams of a snake. “Last night a snake came to me” (QD 01) and the appearance of

snake is associated with the caves where the women dream teller used to live. The snake

is the symbol of the feminine divine. The snake has been a symbol of change in Mrs,

Gupta’s life and second time its appearance is associated with death. The snake’s

symbolic connection with female deities is shown when Rakhi receives four paintings

from an unknown sender in which a painting depicts a female deity with serpents, “ A

many- armed purple being with a moonlike face floats above a nest of serpents. Is he (she

is) a god or human?” (QD 244). The image of the female deity is taken as Mother Durga

who is often portrayed with ten arms.

 Mishra 173

Rakhi, a divorced mother with a daughter, runs a Chai House -and bakery with

her best friend Belle and pursuing her true love painting. Rakhi worries about her failing

business which is the essential part of life. Rakhi has a very weak relationship with her

father and when her mother dies in an accident she comes closer to her father. He is the

one who supports her and reads her the dream journals of her mother. The link brings the

father and daughter close to each other and the ice between them melts. During this time

her father offers her a partnership in the Chai House and tells her his love for food and his

culinary skills.

Rakhi’s father Mr. Gupta after offering her a partnership tells her his story and

how he learnt the culinary skills and how his family suffered from the financial problems.

This is the time when Divakaruni has given a reference of Suktara, the star of impending

dawn. (QD 171). The reference of Suktara indicates a new beginning for RakM and a

new hope in the business and the father daughter relationship. “ If the father and daughter

stepped to the window they would see Suktara, star of impending dawn, hanging low in

the sky” (QD 171). The sharing generates a kind of confidence between them and the

first time, Rakhi share her adventure of following a black car which has a license plate

bearing the name “Emit Maerd”. Together they find the meaning of the name which

written backwards spells “dream time”.

The dream journals of her mother let Rakhi to discover her mother’s divine

identity which provides a new colour to the dream world. Rakhi, as a young child was

very much interested in the dreams and in order to explore the dream world she started

reading the Freud’s Interpretations of Dreams, but she soon left that because it focused
 Mishra 174

too much on western methodology (QD 49). Divakaruni has given three types of dreams

-waking dreams, sleeping dreams and spiritual dreams. These three types of dreams are

beautifully summed up in the lines given in the novels.

The dream comes heralding joy

I welcome the dream
The dream comes heralding sorrow
1 welcome the dream
The dream is a mirror showing me my beauty
I bless the dream
The dream is a mirror showing me my ugliness
I bless the dream
My life is nothing but a dream
From which I will wake into death
Which is nothing but a dream of life. (QD 301)
On the basis of these lines, Bir Singh Yadav, states about the three types of

dreams according to which the first four lines speak about the nature of waking dreams

which may bring joy or sorrow as they are interwoven in the text of life and both of them

are acceptable in this life hence are welcomed. The next four lines reflect on the nature of

sleeping dreams as they are related to wish fulfillment and work as a mirror showing

beauty or ugliness of the dreamer. The last three concluding lines wherein Divakaruni

surpasses the boundaries of the western dream world reflect on the spiritual nature of the

dreams which are related to “inner realm” and seem “so Indian”.

Exploring the reality of the hidden dream world Divakaruni concentrates on the

spiritual world and dreams. In her mother’s dream journal, Rakhi finds the spiritual

dreams. One of them is the tale of Neehar who was a skilled dream teller and was “in the
 Mishra 175

trance of seeing, with a care for nothing but the truth. Neehar presents a shift from

ordinary dreams to spiritual dreams as the tale of a Dream Journal records it:

Neehar began to read the dreams of the dead. She went from the home to the

grieving home and kissed the newly dead on their foreheads, or sat with their heads in her

lap... After a time she would open her eyes with a sigh and says ‘Ah so it is’. But she

never spoke of what she saw.

Neehar’s tale reaches to culmination when she hears about the declaration of the

great saint Vishnu Pada that he is about to leave his moral embodiment. She meets the

saint and asks for the permission to touch his head at the time of his death, the permission

is granted with a clue, “Child, the secret that you seek is not to be known in this way. It is

only by looking inward that you will find it.”(QD 129) at the time of Vishnu Pada’s

death, Neehar was sitting near his head touching his skull with her fingers. “And when

his spirit left his body, it passed through Neehar and exited from her forehead in the form

of a shaft of lightening.” (QD 130) She remained unconscious for three days and when

she came to her senses, she laughed or cried often and from that moment onward Neehar

turned her back towards materialistic world and 'did not tell a single dream' (QD 130) as

they are the concern of the common people in this world.

The story of Neehar from the Dream Journal gives an indication to Rakhi about

the oriental values in the alien nation. The words of Vishnu Pada that the solution can be

only found through looking into oneself are the inspiring gesture of reconciliation and

adjustment.
 Mishra 176

Jung stated that dreams serve two functions. One function is to compensate for

imbalances in the dreamer's psyche. Dreams bring forth unconscious contents that

consciousness has ignored, depreciated, or actively repressed. According to Jung, when

the dreamer recognizes and accepts these unconscious contents, greater psychological

balance is achieved. Rakhi faces a chaotic situation in America after the horror of 9/11

attack on Twin Tower. She finds herself in struggling with her business, relationships and

the disturbing events relating to 9/11. Rakhi tries to handle the situation and cope with the

surroundings with the support of her father and friends. Through her mother’s dream

journal she learns about transformative dream and the dream ofTunga Dhwaja.

The dream of Tunga Dhwaja from the dream journal of Rakhi’s mother is

described by Elder Jahnavi which reveals the nature of dreaming and its relationship to

waking lives. The dream of Tunga Dhwaja described by Jahnavi is a transformative

illustration that brings a change in the behavior of the king with repentance. The king

enters the magical forest and sees in the distance a white boar-the rarest of creatures. He

rides after the boar to hunt it, but the boar disappears mysteriously. He sees a group of

dwarfish wildlings performing worship by offering porridge in leaf bowls to the stone

god. The king, having a sword in his hand and displaying his power arrogantly, snatches

porridge forcefully from them and eat it. The woodsmen disappear and the king sleeps

after eating. When he wakes up in the morning, he retraces his steps and makes his way

to the gate of his palace, but he is stopped by the guards by calling *beggar’ and 'mad

man'. The king is taken aback when he sees that his kingly garments are gone and he is

clad in tree bark. Even his queen wife “stares at him in distaste and without recognition”.
 Mishra 177

(QD 148) Tunga-Dhwaja realizes that this calamity is due to his unholy and unkind

behavior towards the woodsmen and their deity, therefore, he decides to go back to the

forest to beg their forgiveness. He makes a search for them for many days, but does not

find them. At last he decides to commit suicide by drowning himself in a forest lake. But

when he is about to drown, he sees the same white boar. The boar leads him back to the

same place where the wild ones- the sages- were performing their worship. He prostrates

before the stone -god and humbly accepts the blessed food after the ceremony is

completed. He falls sleep and sees dream and finds himself dressed once more in his

royal dress. Having left the magic forest, the king goes back to his palace and finds

everything as it was before the hunt. He is a changed man now as the Dream Journal puts

it: “No longer arrogant, he lives out his life prayerfully, ruling his kingdom with justice

and mercy. He is especially kind to beggars and madmen, and upon his death, his subjects

mourn the passing of Tunga-dhwaja the righteous.” (QD 250) What the king did in the

forest - a magical dream space- invited a curse upon his waking life, consequently people

including his own wife refused to recognize him.

Divakaruni through the transformation dream of King Tunga Dhwaja tells us

about the law of reversal which had turned Tunga Dhwaja from a king into a beggar,

“Couldn’t that same law transforms me- an orphan and a novice, a beggar girl of sorts -

into a queen?” (QD 261). Through the dream, the king 1 earns to control his ego and thus

when he repents and changes the behavior he regains her determined position. The

transforming dream may take us into a new world. Rakhi also thinks about the present

chaotic conditions and search for the transformation of the world. Her imagination turns
 Mishra 178

from the West to the East for the solutions. Confrontation with the west for the search for

one’s own self is evident through the character of Rakhi.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has dealt with the myths in a new way. Instead of

simply retelling the myths in her novels, her works become the reinvention of the

mythological stories with a sense that she has presented them in an entirely new form and

meaning. Being a modem writer, she also tends to make the readers of her era to find

parallels of their present to that of the mythical past. Divakaruni has indulged in retelling

the old myths, but also rejected the old patriarchal renderings. With this rewriting of the

myths she has brought her women on the center stage from their marginalized position

and to reconstmct their identity in a different ways. The issues amidst man and woman

forces woman for the search of self identity. In the next chapter the man woman

relationships in the novels are discussed.

 fvfishra 179

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