For verification of this paper, please visit on http://www.socialresearchfoundation.com/anthology.php#8

Mahasweta Devi was not only distinguished as a esteemed author but also a political and social protestor, and achiever of India’s topmost civilian awards for her writings – Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan. She was recognized for sharing her opinions countless times against the unfair treatment and injustice suffered by tribals in India. Number of times, she raised the issue related to politics, biasness, injustice, hatred, inequality and differentiation against tribal peoples through her writings. “The Why – Why girl” is the first and only illustrated children’s book written by Mahasweta Devi. The lively and energetic pattern of pictures in the story was painted by Kanyika Kini. Devi has immense love for children and she wrote this story to emphasize the difficulties and troubles faced by tribal children. She wrote this story very elegantly and through the medium of this book Mahasweta Devi shared her own experience of living and working with tribal community and how she encounter Moyna, the protagonist of the story. Mahasweta Devi struggled and worked for the upliftment of many tribal community and ‘Sabar tribe’ is one among them. Samiti is the association of people where she worked together with the individuals of native tribe for their betterment. ‘Marino’ remarks on Mahasweta Devi’s devoted collaboration with Sabars – “ Purulia (West Bengal) is home for thge association for the Kheria Sabar tribe, the Paschim Bengal Kheria Sabar Kalyan Samiti, of which devi is honorary president”. Moyna, aged ten, was a tribal female child, who is a member of “Sabar tribe”, a inferior tribal category. This made understandable that she was penniless and her family “owned no land” . In the narrative, Mahasweta Devi revealed that how she encounter Moyna in Samiti. Moyna hinge on opulent landlords for her earning, she worked due to her family cause, her mother was unfit to walk due to her injured leg. Her father had abandoned the family and gone to Jamshedpur for earning purpose and Gora, her brother, brought firewood everyday from the thick forest. Moyna was unable to attend the school because she has to “brings goats home...collect firewood and fetch water and lay traps for the birds”. Even though she performed different task whole day one after another but feels extremely unvalued and unappreciated as they (landlords) neither courteous nor obliged to Moyna for performing their household tasks. The other “Sabars” becomes habitual to the social unjustness because “nobody complained” but Moyna is coherent, vigilant and agitated, she neither tolerate nor pacify herself to accept injustice towards her. This is the cause that Moyna’s mind is crammed with Inquiring questions. She is a inquisitive girl and has a starved mind – “Why do I have to graze the babu’s goat?”, “ Why do I have to walk so far to the river to fetch water?”. She implored countless questions that the postmaster of the village called her “ Why – Why girl”. The trait of consistent questioning, inquisitiveness and interestedness annex allure to her personality that even Devi feels sympathetic and attracted towards her when she meet her first time. Mahasweta Devi incidentally turn out to be a guiding agent to Moyna. She guides her to study in order to find solution to all her “Whys!” (inquisitive questions). R. Pavithra summarize the story as: “ Moyna is burdened with the triple handicap of being a child, a female nad a tribal. Not only does Mahasweta expose the extreme oppression of children in rural India but she knows the way out.” On being advised to take rest, Moyna inquired Devi “ Who will bring the goats home? And collect firewood and fetch water and lay traps for the birds?”. Moyna queries upset her when she inquired “ Why do I have to graze bubu’s goats? Their boys can do it” and “ Why should I eat their leftovers?”. Her queries are faultless but they make readers anxious as they asserts the difficulties and obstacles faced by children of tribal community. “Sabars” are basically a huntsman, and they possess no land. They lived in the innermost part of jungles and their source of income majorly hinge on forest. In old time, they are forced by aristocratic hindus to spend their lives in jungles. Since that time, the jungles turn into a eternal habitat for them, cause of their income and occupation. However, speedy expansion of cities and industries growth has abbreviate the forests. The disintegration of jungles cause inaccessibility of assets for tribal people which is their principal requirement for sustenance and as a result they started coming out of the jungles to seek employment. In the battle of staying alive, the offsprings of these tribal communities are forced to earn as servants, cleaner, and helper in the house of opulent landlords or in the another townlet away from home like Moyna’s father. Moyna, being a tribal girl was also forced to work and earn due to her family circumstances. Being a inquisitive child, Moyna, defends herself as soon as her mother (Khiri) advised her “to thank the babu for the rice he sent us?” by replying “Why should I? Does he ever thank one? Why should I?” Moyna is famous for constant questioning, she is a kind of girl who doesn’t thoughtlessly acknowledge the instructions given by others to her. Her mothers gets disappointed and frustrated sometimes because she thought being a young girl, Moyna must not be so outspoken and analytical, and therefore called her “obstinate girl”. Moyna’s habit of interrogating the society conventions and her “whys!” was an instance of her critical reasoning. Questioning to wrong is priceless; Pavithra writes – “it is these questions that push the imaginary boundaries and bring about change, inspire inventions and make people discover new things”. In the story, Moyna’s labouring for the opulent landlords is the example of barter system, in which she swaped her hardwork and labour with ration, i.e, babu’s “leftover rice”.

This story and many other works of Mahasweta Devi motivate and light up great interestedness among many readers and writers. This can be demonstrate by the kind of reviews on this story.

Abhinay Renny, author, reviewed the story “The Why – Why girl” by saying, “Well written and the author emphasizes the need for education through the narration. The illustrations are pleasing and beautiful.”

Anjana Balakrishnan, reviewed this book by saying, “Every child must read this book. To learn about becoming a person who questions everything.”

Harini Gopalswami Srinivasan, Bangalore based author. She love reading and writing children’s book. She reviewed the story “The why – why girl” by Mahasweta Devi by saying, “I absolutely love this book – the characters and the illustrations all come together in perfection. It also makes a valuable contribution to the awareness of urban children, who have very little exposure to rural and tribal cultures.”

Self Determination

Moyna resolved one day to depart and reside with Devi, and when Khiri (her mother) refused her not to go, she questions her, “Why not? It’s a big hut. How much space does one old woman need?” Moyna these questions uplift the ancient social and ethical concern of demand vs. Ambition and distribution vs. Dominion. The outlook of tribals regarding natural world or nature is varied from the folk who live in town or cities. The people of tribal community have a strong connection with nature, they admire natural world, respect it and consider it as a a divine power. They prayed nature like God and Goddess, and believed that everyone has a equal right on nature, it is mother to all. In Gilman’s essay “ The idea of owing the land” the Ghana’s tribal community believed that everyone has the common ownership on land, whether it is a living being, dead and even those who do not take birth yet. In this connection, Moyna’s these questions fairly go with the tribal belief and reflect the concept that land can never be possessed by anybody.

In the course of her stay with Devi, Moyna interrogate numberless questions but the utmost decisive and life altering question asked by Moyna was – “Why do you read books before you go to sleep?” the author responded on this question by saying “because books have all the answers to your why!”. This reply incites Moyna and Devi noticed that she become wordless for a while. This inspired her and she convey a impulse to read and to learn because she never thought that books are something in which she can find the answers to all her queries. Moyna again asked “Why shouldn’t i study too?”, “Why couldn’t school open in the afternoon so that the goat herds and cowherds could attend.” Through Moyna’s questions, readers come to know about the injustice, differentiation and hardships faced by tribal children. Author’s answer motivates her to study which enables her to smash the shackles of illiteracy, darkness, unawareness and confront her to redefined and to modify the society around her. Moyna, afterwards, becomes the representative of Samiti. Moyna has a inquiring nature, by mean of which she discover and grasp numerous unfamiliar things. But, others in her tribe adopted the fortune without any obligations. They accepted the injustice and discrimination as their fate. Moyna learns to read by herself and become a instructor (teacher) in the same school in which she used to study. As a teacher, she instruct and encourage students to ask question because asking questions helps to introduce them with enormous and unfamiliar facts of the world.

‘Resistance’ as a weapon to injustice

Everyone regards adolescent as a crucial age of life. In this age, a child grow physically as well as mentally. It is a age when a child is turning into a adult and ready to become a part of society. But sadly, not every individual is able to enjoy their childhood, they faced challenges by means of cruelty, exploitation and mistreatment at a very tender age. It should be appropriate to allow children to prosper to their complete possibility because children are the future of society and country, they have a full responsibility to construct a finer society in collaboration with senior people. The transition in Moyna’s life take place when she discover from Devi that books have the power to answer all questions. Afterwards, she meets and argues with the Samiti teachers regarding school timings because the class timing always clash with the Moyna’s working hours and that is the reason, she was unable to study and attend the school . “If you don’t teach me, how will I learn? I will tell the old lady that none of us, goatherds and cowherds can study if the hours are not changed”. With her queries she provokes the norms of society and convey the positive impact on her community as she become the first girl from her community to be admitted in the village primary school.

Moyna, in the story, is a kind of girl who admire belief, ethic, culture and spread joyfulness among the humankind wherever she go, but she always remember to put questions on the useless practices and customs of society that are impractical, Moyna’s life depicts the hardships of the lower caste children and struggle of a tribal girl child who are trapped by the violence of exploitation of children for work, battle of existence, poverty and exposure to injustice. Due to Moyna’s inquiring nature, her mother (Khiri) described her daughter as “obstinate” girl. This word “obstinate” picked by Khiri to characterize her daughter is essential because it focuses on the depreciation of women’s inquisitiveness and eagerness in the community. The community has never ever merciful towards the women who put questions on the unnecessary practices and rituals. Yet, Moyna in the story, opposes the society’s standards and seek her innate tendency of inquisitiveness to determine the new prospects. With her curiosity and questions, she challenges the society’s norms and create a optimistic modification in her community.

Mahasweta Devi not only disclose the acute domination of tribal children in rural part of our country but also she presents the gateway. ‘Resistance’ is a automatic reaction to the domination. ‘Resistance’ provides words to the silent, acceptance to the boycott and attention to the oppressed. ‘Resistance’ to injustice and domination is the heart and soul of Mahasweta Devi’s works. She constantly implored the one main question from her writings, “Why do the big swindlers and power wielder go unpunished and why do the oppressed communities pay the price all the time?”. Moyna, in the story being a tribal girl present her resistance by asking ‘Why!’ and become the first person from her community to challenge the society’s norms through her inquiring questions.

1. Devi, Mahasweta; Kanyika Kini, “ The why why girl”. Chennai: Tulika, 2003. Print. 2. Gilman, Robert. “ The idea of Owning the Land: An Old Notion Forced by the Sword is undergoing a profound Transition.” Context institute, 07 Nov. 2017. 3. Ramaswamy, Shobha. “Fiction For Children and Young Adults Language in India” 15:1 January 2015.web./ www. Languageindia.com 4. Pavithra, R. “Marginalisation and resilience in Mahasweta Devi’s ‘The Why Why girl’”, International Journal of English Language,. Literature and translation studies. Vol. 2. Issue 4.,2015. 5. Rangarajan, Swarnalatha. "Writers as Mukti' : The Story of Draupati, The Subaltern Who Speaks." Voice of the Voiceless : Perspective on Subaltern literature. Ed. Peter Francis. Chennai : ACE- Loyala, 2003. 6. Estes, Clarrisa Pinkola : Women Who Run With the Wolves : Myths and Stories of Wild Women Archetype, Ballantine Books. 1992.