Exploring the Affinity between Women and Nature: A Study of Nanda Kaul in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13683917

Exploring the Affinity between Women and Nature: A Study of Nanda Kaul in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13683917

Author(s): Anamika Majhi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13683917

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Volume 15 | Issue 4 | August 2024

Pages: 106-113

The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol. 15, Issue-IV, August 2024 ISSN: 0976-8165
www.the-criterion.com
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
Exploring the Affinity between Women and Nature: A Study of Nanda Kaul
in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain
Anamika Majhi
Assistant Professor,
Department of English,
Silda Chandrasekhar College, Jhargram,
West Bengal.
Article History: Submitted-15/07/2024, Revised-14/08/2024, Accepted-25/08/2024, Published-31/08/2024.
Abstract:
The paper examines the evolving trends in Indian literature written in English, particularly
highlighting Anita Desai’s contributions. Over its seventy-year history, Indian English literature
has reached significant milestones and it is now recognized as a major world literature. A new
wave of writers, including Anita Desai, Chaman Nahal, Kamala Markandaya, Arun Joshi, Dina
Mehta, Salman Rushdie, Shobha De, Sashi Deshpande, and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy,
has emerged. This paper focuses on the recent trend of ecofeminism in Indian literature and Anita
Desai’s portrayal of female characters within this context. A thorough analysis of Anita Desai’s
novels reveals their connection to her personal experiences and contemporary reality. This study
concentrates on Desai’s life, her interest in ecofeminism, and the impact of social, economic,
political, and cultural issues of her contemporary time on her work.
Keywords: Ecofeminism, Marginalization, Loneliness, Isolation, Woman, Nature, Recluse,
Environmental, Ecology.
Introduction
Feminism aims not only to understand the world but to transform it for the benefit of
women. Simone de Beauvoir believes that women’s perception of themselves as inferior to men
stems from recognizing that “the world is masculine on the whole; those who fashioned it, ruled
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Exploring the Affinity between Women and Nature: A Study of Nanda Kaul in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain
www.the-criterion.com
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
it, and still dominate it today are men.” While the biological differences between men and women
are acknowledged by women, the idea of female inferiority is generally rejected by women,
especially feminists.
Anita Desai primarily addresses the plight of women suffering under a patriarchal society,
depicting them as subjects of the male gaze in a masochistic culture where they assume roles such
as wives, daughters, mothers, artists, or writers. Her characters often experience alienation from
the world, society, their families, parents, and even themselves, set against a backdrop of cultural
and social transformation.
Anita Desai is recognized as one of the most influential contemporary Indian novelists
writing in English, acclaimed both in India and internationally. Born on June 24, 1937, in
Mussoorie, a hill station near Dehradun in northern India, she was raised amidst Western literature
and music. Her father, D.N. Mazumdar, was Bengali, and her mother, Toni Nime, a German who
met Mazumdar in Germany before immigrating to India in the 1920s. Desai, one of four children
with two sisters and a brother, initially spoke German, her parents’ language, while communicating
with friends and neighbours in Hindi.
Desai’s notable works include her debut novel Cry, the Peacock (1963), followed by Voices
in the City (1965), Bye Bye Blackbird (1971), Where Shall We Go This Summer? (1975), Fire on
the Mountain (1977), and Fasting, Feasting (1999). Her children’s fiction includes The Peacock
Garden (1974), Cat on a Houseboat (1976), and The Village by the Sea (1982). She has also
published two short story collections: Games at Twilight and Other Stories (1978) and Diamond
Dust and Other Stories (2000). Additional notable works include Clear Light of Day (1980), In
Custody (1984), Baumgartner’s Bombay (1987), Journey to Ithaca (1995), The Zigzag Way
(2004).
Anita Desai has also been a guiding star for many emerging writers, including her daughter
Kiran Desai, whose debut novel Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (1997) was well-received.
Kiran’s second novel, The Inheritance of Loss, became a classic and won the Booker Prize.
Since the dawn of civilization, nature has been a fundamental source of livelihood and
income. However, the exploitation of nature and misuse of natural resources have led to their
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The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol. 15, Issue-IV, August 2024 ISSN: 0976-8165

www.the-criterion.com
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
degradation, posing global threats. As time progresses, these resources are further affected by
population growth, pollution, and human greed. Contemporary writers, including Anita Desai,
address the global concerns of environmental degradation. Desai’s characters, often from affluent
backgrounds like Nanda Kaul, the wife of a Vice-Chancellor, grapple with psychological or
spiritual issues rather than social or economic ones, exploring themes such as conformity,
rebellion, attachment, and detachment. Madhusudan Prasad comments on this novel:
In fact, this novel deals, in the main, with the loneliness and isolation as well as the resulted
anger and agony in the deserted life of Nanda Kaul, who presents an unforgettable, pathetic
portrait of old age. ( Prasad 125)
Nanda Kaul
Nanda Kaul had long anticipated enjoying the peace and beauty of the secluded Kasauli.
The arrival of Raka threatens her self-imposed isolation. She wanted to be alone with nature, but
her solitude is disrupted by the presence of her great granddaughter Raka who was a peculiar child.
Nanda Kaul desires only to be left alone to live her life amidst the rocks and pines of Kasauli,
finding joy only in her solitary ascents. Her isolation is self-imposed, driven by discontent with
her previous domestic life. The symbolic end comes when the mountain is set on fire.
In modern and traditional Indian families, elderly women are often marginalized. Anita
Desai centers her novel on Nanda Kaul, an elderly woman who chooses a desolate place and
identifies with the barrenness and starkness of the landscape. Desai adeptly describes human
emotions concerning their actions and surroundings, particularly in her novel Fire on the
Mountain. Nature enthusiasts will be captivated by the first chapter, where the author vividly
depicts Kasauli, where Nanda Kaul spends her best years. The narrative intertwines her character
with nature, reflecting her mental state. A close reading of Desai’s novels, especially Fire on the
Mountain reveals a connection between nature and women, highlighting the importance of nature.
In the post-colonial era, Desai is among the few Indian authors in English who incorporate nature
into their works, capturing the essence of the surroundings, places, and social values.
Lacking attention and affection from her husband and family, Nanda Kaul desires only to
be left alone among the rocks and pines of Kasauli. However, she cannot completely escape her
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Exploring the Affinity between Women and Nature: A Study of Nanda Kaul in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
past. Desai portrays Nanda Kaul as a wife, mother, and grandmother who dedicated her life to her
family, fulfilling household duties while neglecting her desires and losing her identity. This is seen
as usual in the Indian context. The opening of Fire on the Mountain describes Nanda Kaul’s
geographical and psychological setting, followed by the arrival of her great granddaughter, Raka.
The second part deals with their interaction and subsequent lack thereof. Despite the generation
gap, they exhibit similar behaviours.
The novel explores the theme of marginalization, loneliness, and isolation in Nanda Kaul’s
life. A great-grandmother, she has renounced her world and come to Kasauli to spend her
remaining days in peace. Her love for nature brought her to the desolate Carignano, reflecting her
past suffering. Male domination has historically shaped familial relations in India, implying
sacrifices from women but not men. Nanda Kaul’s bitter experiences lead her to seek freedom from
life’s shackles, wishing to breathe freely and move like a free bird. At this stage, she is likely
experiencing menopause, a phase requiring special care and affection, often overlooked in Indian
culture. Feeling isolated in a crowded house, she desires freedom from forced relationships and
monotonous motherhood, seeking her own identity. As a woman, she was expected to nurture
others. As the wife of the Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, she was always busy with
household and societal duties. Like Virginia Woolf’s character Clarissa Dalloway, her life was
filled with social obligations. Her distress as a busy wife is evident:
“The old house, the full house, of that period of her life when she was the Vice Chancellor’s wife
and at the hub of small but intense busy world, has not pleased her. Its crowding had stifled
her…too many trays of tea would have to be made and carried to her husband’s duty, to her mother
in law’s bedroom, to veranda that was the gathering place for all… Too many meals, Too many
dishes, on the table, too much to wash up after…”( Desai 29-30)
Nanda Kaul and her husband lack an affectionate relationship. Although she is a dutiful
wife and mother, their marriage is unhappy. She submissively tolerates her husband’s long-term
affair with Miss David, a mathematics mistress whom he loved but never married due to her being
Christian. Nanda endures this betrayal and suffers silently. Her husband’s lack of affection and
warmth contributes to their unhappy marriage and her trauma. He views her more as an excellent
hostess for his numerous parties, often attended by more women than men, rather than as a partner.
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Treated like a decorative piece or a household machine, she becomes neglected and inwardly
lonely, leading her life to feel purposeless and meaningless. Seema Raizada comments on her
trauma, stating that Nanda, like many of Desai’s characters, suffers from loneliness and unfulfilling
relationships. Nanda creates a world of her own, with the desolate landscape reflecting the
emptiness of her life. She likely suffers from a disorder characterized by the presence of family
and friends. Probably Nanda suffered from nimiety (disorder) – unpredictable excess of the
presence of family members and friends.
Nanda Kaul rebels against her forced relationships by freeing herself from the confinement
of her married life. She immerses herself in nature, identifying with the trees, mountains, and wind.
However, fate has another challenge for her in old age: the arrival of her great-granddaughter,
Raka. Nanda had chosen a peaceful life, but now she is called upon to nurture, care for a child
once again. The news of Raka’s arrival disturbs her. Both Nanda and Raka have retreated from the
outside world, much like the isolated Carignano. Raka, affected by her father’s violence towards
her mother, their unhappy and unhealthy relationship, and inadequate parental care, seeks isolation
and solitude. Her mother sends her to Carignano, hoping that nature will aid her recovery from
typhoid more effectively than medicine. Many still believe that nature can provide solutions in any
situation, and Raka comes to Kasauli to find peace and harmony, hoping to heal from typhoid by
living close to nature.
On the other hand, Nanda Kaul does not have positive attitude on her arrival.
“Nanda is a recluse out of vengeance for a long life of duty and obligation; Raka is a recluse by
nature and instinct she had not arrived at this condition by a long route of rejection and sacrifice-
she was born to it, simply…”(Desai 48)
However, to her surprise, Raka prefers solitude and pursues her secret life among the rocks
and pines. She cherishes her isolation and does not welcome anyone into her private paradise,
living in her own fantasies. Desai has crafted this novel uniquely with symbolic interpretations,
blending nature and characters seamlessly. The novel is rich with imagery that interconnects
women and nature. Desai skillfully uses zoological and botanical elements, along with colourful
descriptions of the landscape and wildlife, to create a mosaic that links humans and nature
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meaningfully. Through the depiction of a forest fire, Desai emphasizes the ecological imbalance
caused by human exploitation of nature. Using metaphors of insects and animals like mosquitoes,
lizards, and jackals, she draws attention to how her female characters detest the absurdity of their
existence.
In Fire on the Mountain Desai symbolizes Nanda Kaul as a mountain or forest, representing
her self-esteem, while Raka represents wild nature or fire, highlighting their mental trauma. Raka’s
arrival turns Nanda’s life upside down. The novel also explores the darker sides of nature and the
women involved, particularly through the rape and murder of Ila Das, who dedicated her life to
serving humanity. This parallels how nature, which serves society, is destroyed and oppressed by
men, symbolizing the domination and exploitation of both women and nature.
From an eco-feminist perspective, the violation of women is linked to the violation of the
earth. This is evident in the Pasteur Institute, where animals are used for research and their remains
discarded carelessly: “They have rabbits and guinea pigs there, too many animals. They use them
for tests… they empty the bones and ashes of dead animals down into the ravine.”(Desai 44).
When Nanda Kaul receives the news of Ila Das’s tragic death via a phone call, she is
stunned, shocked, and shattered. Unable to believe her friend met such a fate, Nanda is
overwhelmed with grief and guilt for not inviting Ila to live with her. The trauma of her friend’s
rape and death deeply affects Nanda, leading her towards her own demise. The fire symbolizes the
mental anguish of both Nanda Kaul and Raka. At this moment, Raka returns home, excitedly
announcing that she has set the forest on fire-
“Look nani. I have set the forest on fire. Look Nani look – the forest is on fire.”(p.158)
R. S. Sharma opines that “the fire consumes the fictive world of Nanda Kaul and leaves
the reader smouldering under the impact of a tragic awareness that she had never anticipated. The
only reality of fire symbolizes the funeral pyre- the ultimate consummation. Apparently, Raka is
the only survivor of this three woman story and she is identified with the triumphant knowledge.”

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Conclusion
The fire, representing both constructive and destructive forces, symbolizes the characters
of Raka, Nanda Kaul, and Ila Das as vital yet purifying elements. The brutal rape and murder of
Ila Das ignite a metaphorical fire in Nanda Kaul’s heart. As the fire consumes everything, Nanda
Kaul desires to set fire to her own life, seeking a new beginning. Anita Desai, through this profound
novel, secures a distinguished position among Indian English women writers. She is acknowledged
as one of the most powerful feminist voices in India today. Desai delves into the cherished solitude
of a regal, dignified, elderly woman, offering a glimpse into her heart and helping us to“…
understand and feel what it is to be a woman, know how a woman thinks and feels and
behaves.”(Butcher 54).
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