East is East
"Passage, O soul, to India!
Eclaircise the myths Asiatic - the primitive fables.
Not you alone, proud truths of the world!
Nor you alone, ye facts of modern science!
But myths and fables of eld - Asia’s, Africa’s fables!
The far-darting beams of the spirit! - the unloos’d dreams!
The deep diving bibles and legends;
The daring plots of the poets - the elder religions;
- O you temples fairer than lilies, pour’d over by the rising sun!
O you fables, spurning the known, eluding the hold of the known, mounting to heaven!
You lofty and dazzling towers, pinnacled, red as roses, burnish’d with gold!
Towers of fables immortal, fashion’d from mortal dreams!
You too I welcome, and fully, the same as the rest;
You too with joy I sing."
- "A Passage to India" (Walt Whitman, 1819-1892)
E.M. Forster's "A Passage to India" isn't about India's Independence Day, annually celebrated on August 15. But some of the themes that the author brought up were the reasons that led to the South Asian nation's independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But there was more to this novel, layered with prejudices that put two countries at odds with each other.
Bihar's storied past
The book's title was taken from Walt Whitman's poem of the same title. It was about the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, which allowed ships from Europe to travel to Asia without navigating around Africa. This, and other achievements during that period, alluded to a shorter journey to India, first physical and then spiritual. But Forster saw it as an irony. He spent many years in India, and his experiences, which he wrote, brought him success. Perceptive readers would see a clash between logic and intuition. The Barabar Caves was in the middle of the conflict.
The Barabar Caves is located in Bihar, a state in northern India once ruled by Ashoka the Great. He ruled almost all of the subcontinent from ca. 269 BCE to 232 BCE. He did it with brute force, resulting to a destructive war that killed thousands. After witnessing mass deaths, he embraced the philosophy of Gautama Buddha. In fact, many of the top attractions in this province were built to glorify Buddhism. Barabar, the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, were meant for worshippers to congregate. They consisted of chambers, carved entirely out of granite, with an exciting echo effect.
Dr. Aziz, an Indian Muslim physician, had an interesting conversation with two (Indian) friends during dinner. Was it possible to be a friend of an Englishman?
Britons who just arrived in India desired to see Indians. A party was held, but the Indians were timid and the Britons' bigotry was hard to ignore. One of the guests was Adela Quested, a young schoolmistress visiting India with the vague intention of marrying Ronny Heaslop, the British city magistrate of Chandrapore. He shared many of his colonial colleagues' racist view of Indians. Adele met Cyril Fielding, headmaster of the small government-run college for Indians. He may not be able to understand the mysteries behind the Indian culture, but he was respectful. He was also acquainted with many locals. Mr. Fielding invited Adele and Mrs. Moore, Ronny's mother, to a tea party with him and Narayan Godbole, a Hindu-Brahmin professor. At Adele's request, Dr. Aziz was also invited. He and Mrs. Moore have an unusual encounter at his favorite mosque the week before. The old lady told this to Ronny and Adele. He was indignant. She was intrigued.
Dr. Aziz turned out to be gregarious, becoming good friends with Fielding. He was also disarmed by Mrs. Moore, who had great respect to the Indians and their customs. He invited them to Barabar, which wasn't a tourist destination back then. On the day of the trip, Fielding missed the train. Only Adele and Mrs. Moore were able to join Dr. Aziz.
Was it an assault?
The day after the trip, Adele filed sexual assault charges against Dr. Aziz. This brought out the tension between the Indians and the Britons. The young physician vehemently denied this. Mrs. Moore believed in his innocence, but she became apathetic and irritable after her visit to the caves. Was it claustrophobia? Forster was hinting on something else. Did Adelle made inaccurate statements? Readers must take note of the echo effect.
Forster didn't judge his compatriots, most of whom were outraged without verifying the facts. Beneath the rage was a muddled view of India, the culture, and the people. Fielding was one of those. This caused a rift between him and Dr. Aziz. But time healed some wounds. It was a case of the sky and the Earth.
