Abburi Chayadevi
englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com
The Touch (Sparsha) short story is
originally written in Telugu by Abburi Chayadevi, a well known
Telugu fiction writer. It is translated into English by Jayasree Mohanraj. She
worked as a Librarian at JNU, New Delhi. She was born in Rajamundry, A.P. She
was awarded Sahitya Akademi award in 2005 for her collection of short
stories Tana Magam Her stories have been translated into
English and Spanish besides many Indian languages. Her stories mainly deal with
the women issues, family bonding and gender discrimination.P
The Touch – Analysis
This is the story about an octogenarian
father and his married daughter. It mainly focuses on the upbringing of the
girl child in an orthodox family and daughter’s longing for her father’s
affectionate touch since childhood. Ironically, the ailing father craves for
her daughter’s touch at the end of the story. The Story is narrated by the
daughter. Her father always kept her at a distance in the name of discipline,
madi ( a ritual of purity followed by orthodox Hindu) and orthodox
beliefs.
When the daughter visited her bed ridden father, he asked her to sit next to him on the cot but she sat at the edge of the cot as her relationship with her father was more reserved than intimate.. She had no courage to touch her father due to the fear and diffidence created over twenty years .When the narrator was in school, her father used to ask harshly about her score in Maths at the threshold instead of embracing lovingly. She could not open up her heart and died with fight. She recollected a rickshaw journey with her father as a teenager. Though there was enough space she huddled at the far end. She longed to console her father when her brother died but she could not break way from the constraints of rigid relationship and customs.The narrator met her father to enquire about his health .Father stroked her hand affectionately and asked her to move to town to live with him..At this moment, she felt as if her education, job and everything else was superficial. Her father tender touch haunted her while going back home in a rickshaw..Patriarchal society never allows women to take independent decisions. She is disappointed at her inability to fulfill her father's wish.
The major themes of the story are Patriarchy, orthodox beliefs,
upbringing of a girl child and longing for tender touch.. Aburri in
her story throws light on orthodox belief of Indian parents that son
is the carrier of the family line and he is the one who performs the last rites
of the parents to free them from their earthly bonds .The story emphasizes that
daughters also love their parents on par with sons . Daughters also have
the ability to take care of their aged parents with love and affection.
englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com Annotations
1)“From the time I learnt my first letters of the alphabet, father had
kept me at a distance-in the name of discipline, and because of Madi, his
orthodox way of life”
Reference:- These lines are extracted from the
short story “The Touch” written by a well known Telugu fiction writer Abburi
Chayadevi. She worked as a Librarian at JNU New Delhi and took voluntary retirement
and settled down in Hyderabad.
Context:- the narrator recollects her childhood when she
visits her ailing father. She is kept at a distance by her father in the name
of discipline and madi. Her father never touched and caressed her with love and
affection. When she returns from the school her father used to ask her marks in
Maths at the threshold instead of embracing her lovingly .
Meaning:- The narrator craves for the
affectionate touch of her father since her childhood. Ironically
octogenarian father longs for the touch of her daughter in his old age.
2) “As I returned in the
rickshaw, father’s tender touch haunted me. Tears welled in my eyes and blurred
my view of the road”
Reference:- These lines are extracted from the
short story “The Touch” written by a well known Telugu fiction writer Abburi
Chayadevi. She worked as a LIbrarian at JNU New Delhi and took voluntary
retirement and settled down in Hyderabad.
Context:- The narrator meets her father on one
of her visits to the town. Her
father strokes her hand and pleads her to move to the town with her family
so that he can stay with her. She looks at him helplessly. Patriarchal society
never allows women to take independent decisions. She is disappointed at her
inability to fulfill her father's wish.
Meaning:- She doesn’t reassure him on his request. As she
returns her home in a rickshaw, her father’s tender touch haunts her. She has
been craving for her father’s affectionate touch since childhood. For her it is
a dream come true.
https://lit.andhrajyothy.com/stories/sparsha-447
video lesson-https://youtu.be/7qFRyzwGGL4
Abburi interview.https://youtu.be/fPVXjeCqOLE
