Kerur Vasudevacharya’s “Indira” – Part 1: The Story

Not all early realist novels supported social change.  In the novels discussed in earlier posts, the people who opposed women‘s education, widow remarriage, and general change in society, were on the other side and the authors of these novels strongly advocated reforms, though Bolara Baburao's and Gulvadi Annajirao's approaches in their novels can best be termed ambiguous.  Kerooru Vasudevacharya's Indira (1908) is an example of the orthodox 'anti-social change' point of view.

Indira is essentially a story of the romance between Indira and Ramakanth.  The story of Indira's and Ramakanth's love has all the 'classical' ingredients – first meeting, falling in love, separation, misunderstanding, parental objection, and finally marriage.  Ramakanth's father, Kamalakantha, Indira's father, Jayarao, and Devayani, a young educated widow, were friends in their youth in Srirangapattana. Kamalakantha and Jayarao both develop a liking for Devayani, but she has a soft corner for Kamalakantha and wanted to marry him.  Jayarao did not like this and once when Kamalakantha was away on some work and did not return for many days, he uses this opportunity and informs Devayani that Kamalakantha had got married in some other town.  Kamalakantha too had sensed that Devayani liked him and he too wanted to marry her.  When he returned from his trip, Devayani refuses to meet him.   

When Kamalakantha got to know what had happened and when his desire to meet Devayani and explain matters were rejected by her, he leaves town, hurt and dejected.  He later marries a girl of his parents’ choice and Ramakanth was born some years later.  Jayarao too marries a girl of his parents’ choice and Indira was born to them.  Devayani chose to remain a widow.  Ramakanth's and Jayarao's respective wives die early.  

Jayarao continued to live in Srirangapattana, and so does Devayani.  Jayarao's business matters meant frequent trips outside his town and Indira grows up into a young girl under the loving care of Devayani.  Devayani had not forgotten Kamalakantha and when she learnt that his son, Ramakanth, had come to Bangalore in search of a job, she wanted to see him and through a mutual friend, requested him to come and see her.  Ramakanth comes to Srirangapattana and in course of time meets Indira in Devayani's house.  

Friendship soon turns to love.  Jayarao, on returning, saw this growing closeness with increasing concern.  He wanted to get his daughter married to a titled young man, through whom he too could assume some importance in society.  His greatest ambition was to acquire the ‘Rao Bahadur’ title from the British.  Moreover, he did not want Indira to marry the son of someone who thwarted him in his bid to marry Devayani.  He tries to send Ramakanth outside the state by offering jobs. Many such attempts and misunderstandings later, Indira and Ramakanth come together finally to get married.