Page 288 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

Resisting Colonial Modernity 263

The very first scene of the novel outlines the contours of cultural
confrontation. John Sevak, an Indian Christian, aspires to become an
industrialist and wants to set up a factory on the piece of land owned
by Surdas. Industrialism and Christianity, both considered Western
modern imports, combine in his person. In fact, his surname, Sevak
(literally ‘servant’, but generally meant to be as a servant of the people),
is also ironic because he is portrayed as its exact opposite—an exploiter.
In opposition to him, stands Surdas whose fear of and opposition to the
factory is as strong as Sevak’s interest in it. John Sevak’s materialistic
and mean disposition is contrasted to Surdas’ forbearance and idealism.
Initially, John Sevak is reluctant to offer alms to Surdas. But when he
learns that the latter owns the land he is interested in, he tries to give him
Rs 5. Surdas, who had run about a mile behind the buggy of the Sevak
family for alms, now refuses to accept the offering because it is, as he
says, now tainted with selfishness. John Sevak tells him: ‘I’ll open a
factory here, which will work towards the progress of the nation and the
race. The poor will benefit, and thousands of people will be employed’
(Premchand 1925: 11). At another place, he claims:

The salvation of our race is through development of craft and
industry. This cigarette factory will solve the problems of at least a
thousand people, and there’ll be less pressure on agriculture.... My
factory will provide the opportunity for such unemployed people to
earn their bread. (ibid.: 45)

But Surdas refuses to sell his land, which is not in his personal use, even
after an offer of Rs 5,000 is made. His argues that,‘[T]his land benefits
the villagers. There is no fodder available in the area. The cattle from
nearby villages come here for grazing. If I sell, there’ll be no place for
them to go’ (ibid.: 11).
His argument, however, does not remain limited to the economic
value of the land to the community. The attachment to tradition, to
a particular moral order and faith in religion are other dimensions
related to his position. He believes that he would be committing a sin
if he sold the land. When it is argued that the employment of so many
people in the factory would be a virtuous act, he counters by saying,
‘The cows from the nearby area graze there.... What’s more sacred than
the service to the cows?’ (ibid.: 56).
The other dimensions of his opposition to the factory become
evident in the course of his discussion with Mahendra Kumar who,