In the 1950s, India was trying to move past the trauma of
Partition and show how it was progressing without the British. As advocated by
Nehru, India was in a process of modernization and “pursued a strategy of
capital-goods-led import-substituting industrialization” (Bose 176). In this
spirit, Mother India can be seen as a
response to the British idea that the Indians weren’t fit to rule themselves,
an idea furthered by Katherine Mayo’s book of the same name. Mayo’s Mother India colored Westerners’
perception of India as somewhere backwards and stuck in antiquated, immoral
traditions (Prasad 67). In Mehboob Khan’s Mother
India, Khan sought to reverse
that perception, and this rejection of Mayo’s claims can be tracked through
Radha’s view of her wedding bangles.
As
‘Mother India’, Radha represented the nation as a whole; this view can be
supported by the several artistic depictions equating the concept of ‘Mother
India’ to the land of India itself (Ramaswamy). Additionally, for a wedding, it is customary
for the groom’s family to provide the bride with a set of jewelry as a matter
of pride and honor. Furthermore, bangles specifically are an important sign of
marriage. Therefore, in the movie, the bangles or kangan can be seen as representing
Indian tradition. Therefore, by examining Radha’s sentiments on the bangles, we
can track what Khan wanted to portray as the national sentiment on the so-called
‘barbaric’ traditions the British criticized.
At
the beginning of the film, Radha overhears that her mother-in-law has taken on
debt in order to finance the wedding, the costs of which undoubtedly include
the jewelry. Immediately afterwards, she proposes to her husband Shamu that
they sell off the bangles to try to pay off some of the debt. However, Shamu
insists that he wants her to have them and that the loan won’t take that long
to pay off, and only then Radha accepts them. Here, we see that she values
tradition, but also has practicality in mind. Later, when the true depth of
their financial troubles becomes evident, she is insistent that they pawn off
the bangles. Though this was reluctantly accepted by her husband, we truly see
that Radha is willing to sacrifice tradition and personal beauty for the sake
of practicality. However, she isn’t eschewing tradition as a whole, but only when
it clashes with being realistic. This practicality was also advocated for at
this time by the Indian government, as it was said that the Congress leadership
made “a virtue of pragmatism” (Bose 174). We see her sacrifice the bangles, so
the family can continue to work and sustain themselves. Similarly, India was
trying to send a message about all citizens putting in hard work and
sacrificing to rebuild a strong India together.
Later,
there were numerous attempts by her younger son Birju to reclaim the bangles. Once,
Birju gets Radha bangles after stealing the crop and selling it off. Radha
initially accepts them when she thinks they were a gift from God, but after
learning the truth from Ramu, she rejects the gift and demands it be returned. Similarly,
during Holi, Birju notices that the moneylender’s daughter Rupa is wearing his
mother’s old bangles. He tries to tear them off her wrist with his teeth, and
upon witnessing this, Radha repeatedly beats Birju with a stick. Here, we see
that her own internal moral compass is a far stronger guiding force than the
allure of conventional practice. Previously, we had seen that she loved her
sons incredibly much, but despite this strong bond, she retained a strong sense
of what her values were. Prasad writes that “in upholding the eternal dharma,
the Indian body politic demonstrates its own moral uprighteousness” (84). In having her be so morally steadfast, Khan sends
the message that though India has strong traditions and customs, no matter what
the British think, they do not interfere with the ethical bearings of India.
In
conclusion, after Independence, India was trying to rebrand itself to combat
its previous image of being backwards and wanted Indians and the rest of the
world to associate it with the values of practicality, progress, and moral
resolutenes. As clearly shown by her reaction to the bangles, Radha espoused these
values and therefore was the ‘Mother India’ the country needed.
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