Page 286 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

Resisting Colonial Modernity 261

as some of them can get jobs there, while others could hawk their goods
to an increasing number of future factory workers. While the villagers
initially view this phenomenon in material terms to decide if they are
for or against it, Surdas’ opposition is basically on moral grounds.
The Christian family to which John Sevak belongs had converted
two generations ago. John’s father, Ishwar Sevak, remembers that as
a child he used to accompany his mother for holy dips into the Ganges.
Now the family is internally divided in political and cultural sympathies.
The patriarch, Ishwar Sevak, is shown to be devoted to his religion, but
is also caricatured for his miserliness. John Sevak appears involved in
religion only for form’s sake; his main religion is stated to be money and
profit, and he is a capitalist to the core. He, on the one hand, lobbies
with the colonial administration, while, on the other, he professes to be
a Swadeshi enthusiast who wants to set up industries to stop the flow
of funds to Britain. John’s wife, who has been identified in the novel
only as Mrs. Sevak, is portrayed as a nasty and narrow-minded woman
who seeks identification with the rulers and considers the Indians
inferior. Their daughter, Sophia, is outspoken about her Indian roots
and, much to the chagrin of her mother, is inclined towards Hinduism
and Buddhism, and is critical of Christianity. Prabhu Sevak, the son,
is almost a non-believer. Both Sophia and Prabhu have nationalist
sympathies, are critical to the religious leanings of the family and are
opposed to the family’s links with the rulers.
Another urban family is that of the zamindar, Kunwar Bharat Singh,
who has organized a volunteer force, led by his son, Vinay, which helps
people in times of calamities. Bharat Singh tries to strike a balance
between his loyalties to the British and his identity as an Indian. His
wife, Jahnvi, a strict and stronger person, is more forthright and has
brought up her son to devote himself totally to the national cause. Vinay
is a vacillating individual, with a professed ideology of non-violence.
He is devoted to his mother and is committed to serving the nation.
Indu, the daughter, is married to another big zamindar, Raja Mahendra
Kumar, who is also chairman of the city’s municipality.
The volunteer force led by Vinay, avowedly working to help the
people in times of natural calamities, is essentially nationalist in
character. Their sentiments, songs and discussions all reveal the
intentions of the author to present the members of this volunteer
force as nationalist. Although their activities are not directly against