Thomas's Writing Portfolio

Essay Draft Two

Thomas Feng
June 6, 2007
Draft three

Optimism, or Despair?

Poverty is awful. But it can be worse if you give up your hope and faith instead of struggling to get rid of it. This is what I have learned from “The Grass-Eaters” by Krishnan Varma. In this novel, Varma tells the story of an Indian school master, Ajit Babu, who adopted an optimistic attitude towards the poverty and miseries he suffered. He finally grew so accustomed to it that he was able to watch in peace and contentment the passing scenes that reflected the darkest side of the society. However, despite the optimism and even the sense of humor Babu showed, there was a deep sense of despair that lay underneath it.

At first sight, Varma’s description of poverty in Calcutta seemed astonishing. Then I noticed that the population of India is one of the largest, second only to that of China, which made it extremely difficult to raise the overall living conditions of its people. Besides, I have learned long ago that in India, the gap between the rich and the poor is so huge that it has already become a serious social problem. After I have taken all these into consideration, such descriptions seem to make sense. And the heroin, Babu was exactly such a typical Indian who suffered from grinding poverty. He almost experienced all the miseries one could imagine. With the change of his residence as a clue, the novel develops in such a way that provides us with a overall view of the wretched life Babu was leading. He once lived on a footpath “so crowded with residents, refugees and locals that if you got up at night to relieve yourself you could not be sure of finding your place again”(56). After that, he moved to a cement pipe which Babu “had found more comfortable” (56) than any of his previous homes. In that pipe, his wife gave birth to their fourth child, whose three sisters and brothers had died. And his latest home was on the roof of a house, made from two rows of coal tar drums and a tarpaulin. He also suffered from physical handicap, namely the loss of an ear and a leg. Moreover, we should neglect the fact that Babu actually was a school master. Even a well-educated civilian had to spend most of his time and energy striving to survive, to meet the basic needs of his life. Then it’s not hard for us to speculate how the ordinary people made a living.

Even under these circumstances, Babu still showed great optimism. Generally, when we try to define the word “optimism”, we tend to associate it with an outlook on life such that one maintains a view of the world as a positive place. And Babu seemed to be content with everything. No matter it was about his diet, his handicap, or the roof he and his wife occupy, he always found some good reasons to be satisfied with the reality. Some concrete examples might give some light to this point. When it came to his handicap, Babu said, “I don’t mind my handicap at all; I need wear only one sandal and thereby save on footwear” (58). What a light tone! We have every good reason to admire him for his optimism.

But it is exactly this positive attitude he adopted that makes me feel a little bit strange. Usually, when someone relates a sad and miserable experience, it’s common to speak in a grave and depressing tone. What on earth was the author’s underlying implication by creating such a contrasting effect? If you read this novel once or twice, you might find it amusing and even burst into laughter when you read the humorous comments given by Babu. However, the more you read, the stronger a feeling becomes. It is a feeling beyond joy or sorrow, a feeling that requires contemplation. How could Babu be that philosophical? It’s obvious that he didn’t believe in God. Then it couldn't be the salvation that he was expecting. “With no fears and anxieties” (59), and with no expectations and anticipations, Babu was leading a robotic existence, indifferent to any external changes. To be specific, he was in deep despair.

There are so many details in the passage that illustrate this despair. I picked three out of them. It’s common sense that people are most sensitive to pains, both physical and mental. A handicap always brings with it a severe, long-lasting, even permanent physical pain. But Babu seemed to have grown numb to this kind of pain. As far as his handicap was concerned, Babu said, “I don’t mind my handicap at all; I need wear only one sandal and thereby save on footwear” He himself might be amused by his own words. But I am not. How can a normal person care so little about his or her own body? Does the save on footwear matter so much that it can compensate for the loss of a body part as well as the physical pain and inconvenience? Only someone who has grown totally numb to misery and hope might think so, like Babu. Then where does this numbness come from? I believe it comes from the loss of hope and the despair in one’s future life. If someone sees no future, then today doesn’t make much sense either.

The loss of a child can be a great pain for most families. But for Babu, it’s easy to talk about his three short-lived children. “One died of diphtheria back home in Dacca; two, from fatigue, on our long trek on foot to Calcutta (57).” He spoke in such a calm and peaceful tone that I can hardly sense any sorrow. It’s really abnormal and weird for a human being to relate his or her children’s deaths in an emotionless way, unless he or she have become so accustomed and numb to such tragedies that no sensations can penetrate the shield and tug at the heart strings. Babu described his fourth child as “someone to look after us in our old age, to do our funeral rites when we died (57)”. He didn’t lay a high expectation on his child. I doubt if he had thought about it. It seemed that his biggest wish was to live and die peacefully, without struggling or protesting, without any intention of controlling his own destiny.

When the story comes to its ending, when the couple were content with their poor life and “quietly looked at the passing scene: a tram burning, a man stabbing another man, a woman dropping her baby in a garbage bin”(59), I am in deep sorrow. Had it not been for the despair, anyone in such a situation would have done something. At least, they should have asked “Why? Who is to blame? How can we change this?”  While I admit that by acting in a philosophical and optimistic way, Babu certainly avoided much disturbance that otherwise might have occurred if he tried to do something to change this situation, this seeming optimism is in effect a kind of escape from reality. Poverty certainly is awful. But what really matters is to try whatever means possible to fight against it, rather than pretend to be “enjoying” the poverty and believe in the so-called optimism.

Frankly speaking, I have never read such a wonderful description about living in grinding poverty. I suppose Varma’s intention by giving a vivid depiction of Babu’s optimism is to make us be aware of this sense of despair that lies underneath the surface, which in turn provokes further thinking about the story, and also about the life of ourselves.

Work Cited

Varma, Krishnan. “The Grass-Eaters.” 1985. Rpt. in “The International Story”. Page 56-59

30.5.07 10:01