''Paralysis'' is a 1967

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

novel by Indian writer

Chandrakant Bakshi Chandrakant Keshavlal Bakshi was an Indian Gujarati language, Gujarati-language author from Gujarat, India and a former Sheriff of Mumbai. He was known for his bold and new concepts in writing during his time in Gujarati literature. He is also ...

. The novel tells the story of a widowed professor, and deals with themes such as

loneliness Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived or actual isolation. Loneliness is also described as social paina psychological mechanism that motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is often associated with a perc ...

, defeat,

detachment Detachment or detached may refer to: * Single-family detached home, a structure maintained and used as a single dwelling unit. * Emotional detachment, in psychology, refers to "inability to connect" or "mental assertiveness" * Detachment (philosoph ...

, and

ennui In conventional usage, boredom, , or tedium is an emotion characterized by uninterest in one's surrounding, often caused by a lack of distractions or occupations. Although, "There is no universally accepted definition of boredom. But whatever ...

Publication history

The novel was first published in 1967. Bakshi translated it into English and published this version in 1981.

Characters

The principle characters of the novel are: * Aram Shaha widowed university professor * MarisaAram's daughter * Asika Deepa matron in mission hospital

Plot

The novel's protagonist is Aram Shah, a widowed university professor who raised his daughter, Marisa, on his own after his wife died during her second pregnancy. At the outset of the novel, he wakes up during a visit to the mountains and ponders the meaning of three dreams he had had overnight—of lions frail with age; of a palace reeking with disinfectant; and of a museum among whose holdings is a jar with an embryo. The intensity of his feelings induces a stroke, and he reawakens, paralysed, in a small regional hospital, where he is tenderly cared for by a resident matron, Asika. There, he recalls the death of his daughter, who married a Christian, George Vargis, and then committed suicide. It was grief over this incident that drove him to the hillside station where the story begins. Asika is also burdened with memories of her past and of widowhood. She is middle-aged like Aram, and the two are drawn together, as though they were a couple of half-dead people finding in each other's company a glimmer of life's renewal. He is soon discharged, but cannot bid Asika farewell, since she has disappeared into the foothills. Instead of taking a plane home, he returns to the site where he had the stroke, and wanders through it under the beating sun.

Reception and criticism

The book was translated into

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and English. It was included in the curricula of the

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

and the

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the post graduate level. It is accredited A+ by NAAC ...

. The Marathi translation was included in the curriculum of the

SNDT Women's University SNDT Women's University, also called by its full name Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University, is a women's university in the city of Mumbai, India. The university headquarters are at Churchgate in South Mumbai, while the ma ...

for a BA course. Bombay TV broadcast a play based on the novel. ''Paralysis'' plot includes themes such as loneliness, defeat, detachment and ennui. Gujarati critic

Chandrakant Topiwala Chandrakant Amritlal Topiwala (born 7 August 1936) is a Gujarati language poet and critic from Gujarat, India. Early life Topiwala was born on 7 August 1936 at Vadodara, to Amritlal and Lilavati. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Gujarati ...

praised the novel for its "skilled narrative designs".

References

{{reflist 1967 Indian novels Gujarati-language novels Novels set in the 20th century Modernist novels Novels set in Gujarat Third-person narrative novels