Book Riew on 'The Wreck : Rabindranath tagore' by Aishwarya V. Chaturvedi

‘The Wreck’, a translation by Rabindranath Tagore of his Bengali novel ‘Naukadubi’ is novel based on the concept of changing-of-wives. Various main-streams films in Bengali and in Hindi have been directed on this novel’s plot. It would come across as a carefully scripted novel with a perfect blend of human emotions and philosophy. It is very strange as to how the author manages to end the novel on a positive note.

This novel explores the human emotions of its 4 main characters belonging to different walks of life. All these characters witness a tragic turmoil owing to a natural disaster: Ramesh, a Calcutta educated lawyer, Hemnalini a well-educated upper class woman, Kamala, a traditional Indian-rural woman & Nalinaksha, a charming yet kind-heated doctor. Ramesh is forced by his father to marry a widow’s only daughter. Even before he could have a glimpse of his wife, tragedy befell as their boat was totally shattered in a thunder fall. On gaining consciousness, Ramesh finds a woman in a bride’s garb, who he assumes to be his wife. Meanwhile, Hemnalini, in a state of shock is taken to Kashi by her father, where she meets Nalinaksha, who too had lost his wife in a boat. Thereafter begins a string of melodramatic revelations and unexpected encounters. The novel seems to be overburdened with the moral values and society’s orthodox culture. This probably takes the sting out of the novel which renders the novel a dull one. Though the author as used imagery on a strong front, yet the novel lost the thrill as the story unfolded.

Talking about the demerits of the novel, there were far too many coincidences than one would expect. Also, one would definitely question Ramesh’s sense of responsibility towards Hemnalini. Similarly, too many actions seem to be of questionable approach. But, the novel does succeed in questioning our flawed sense of tradition and morality. I, as a reader was forced to ponder over the philosophy as to what happen when there is a strong conflict between societal obligations and heart’s will. Each character goes through a similar sense of introspection in the novel.

The concept of mistaken identity is an old one. But, Tagore successfully blends it with the shipwreck and put forth a novel based totally on Indian cultural and norms of his time, wherein people are forced to accept traditions. Being of poetic background, Tagore used a lot of metaphors. The very concept of ship-wreck can be thought of as a human life’s parallelism. Certain thoughts are imposed on us, and we are expected to abide by them without raising any question. I am totally convinced of this ideology. I found it easy to connect with various characters, especially the one of Ramesh. It is worth reading this novel.