Dharma by Vikram Chandra
"Dharma" by Vikram Chandra is a compelling narrative that intertwines elements of a ghost story with themes of memory, trauma, and loss. The protagonist, Major General Jahangir ("Jago") Antia, returns to his childhood home in Bombay after retiring from the Indian Army, plagued by phantom pain from a leg amputation. Upon his arrival, he encounters a mysterious voice that leads him to confront the emotional and physical scars of his past.
The story delves deeply into Jago's memories, including a tragic childhood incident involving his younger brother, which profoundly shapes his life and identity. As the plot unfolds, the ghostly presence becomes a catalyst for Jago to confront unresolved feelings tied to both his military service and personal loss. The narrative shifts between the present and Jago's war experiences, reflecting on the complexities of duty, sacrifice, and familial bonds.
Chandra's work not only explores the supernatural but also offers a poignant commentary on the lingering effects of violence and the quest for reconciliation with one's past. "Dharma" invites readers to engage with themes of legacy and belonging, making it a rich text for those interested in stories that blend cultural heritage with the human experience of grief and redemption.
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Dharma by Vikram Chandra
First published: 1994
Type of plot: Ghost story, frame story
Time of work: 1971 and 1991
Locale: East Pakistan, Bombay
Principal Characters:
Subramanian , the narratorMajor General Jago Antia , a retired army officer whose family home is hauntedThapa , Jago Antia's batmanAmir Khan , the long-time housekeeper at Jago Antia's homeTodywalla , a Bombay real estate agentThakker , an exorcistSohrab ("Soli") , Jago Antia's dead brotherBurjor Mama , Jago Antia's much-loved uncle
The Story
Subramanian, a retired officer in the Indian ministry of defense, tells his listeners that he once knew a man who met a ghost and proceeds to relate the whole story.
When Major General Jahangir ("Jago") Antia turns fifty, he begins to suffer phantom pain in his missing leg. Nothing relieves his suffering, and fearing that the pain and distraction will affect his command and cause the deaths of some of his men, he retires and returns to his boyhood home in Bombay. His parents are long dead, but the home is maintained by the faithful housekeeper, Amir Khan, who tells him that the upstairs rooms have been shut up for years and that he will need to sleep in the study. Jago Antia plans to sell the house but promises Amir Khan that he will provide for him.
Soon after he arrives, Jago Antia lies in bed musing about his successful career when he hears a muffled voice crying out. Strapping on his artificial leg, he starts up the stairs and hears the voice, a young voice, call out again, and he senses "a rush of motion on the balcony that ran around the outside of the house." He hears footsteps approaching, and a flash of lightning reveals wet footprints on the hallway's tile floor. The voice cries out again, low and melancholy, and Jago Antia slumps against the banister and slides to the bottom of the stairs.
For three days, the shaken Jago Antia paces the house in distress. His batman, Thapa, rejoins him and is shocked by his old master's appearance. Jago Antia visits the real estate agent Todywalla, who tells him that the house is unmarketable because "There's something in that house." Mustering the determination to spend a night untroubled, Jago Antia beds down in the study but soon hears the ghostly voice and starts up the stairs with the terrified Thapa following. The voice comes close to him and asks with a sob, "Where shall I go?" Jago Antia then backs up so fast that he tumbles over the balcony and falls to the bottom of the stairwell.
At this point the narrative switches to a flashback of Jago Antia parachuting into Sylhet in 1971 during the war in which West Pakistan was brutalizing East Pakistan and the Indian army intervened to stop the flood of Pakistani refugees into East Bengal. The result of the war was the creation of Bangladesh; Sylhet is a city in the tea-growing area of the northeastern part of that country. In the middle of this flashback, Jago Antia drifts into a reverie about a radio familiar to him from his childhood. While leading his paratroopers into fire, Jago Antia steps on a land mine and splinters a leg, and in a heroic moment, he seizes a sword and in four strokes amputates his crushed leg.
After Jago Antia wakes up and recuperates from his fall, he confers with Thakker, a sales manager who moonlights as an exorcist, who tells him that the ghost is powerful and can be banished only by someone from its family who will go upstairs to confront it naked and alone. The narrative then reverts to when Jago Antia was six years old and he and his brother Sohrab ("Soli") were flying a kite given them by their much-idolized uncle, Burjor Mama, an army officer on whose breast pocket is stitched his name, B. MEHTA. The boys are on the apartment building roof, and in a childish struggle over the kite, Jago Antia knocks Soli over and then falls off the roof with him. Soli's body cushions the impact for Jago Antia but Soli dies. Jago Antia's anguish is extreme, and when on his next birthday he is asked what he would like he can reply only, "A uniform." This knowledge enables an understanding of the ending of the story in which the naked Jago Antia discards his artificial leg, mounts the stairway, and confronts the ghost, who is wearing an olive-green uniform with the name J. ANTIA on the pocket. "In the [boy's] eyes he saw his vicious and ravenous strength, his courage and his devotion, his silence and his pain, his whole misshapen and magnificent life, and Jago Antia said, 'Jehangir, Jehangir, you're already at home.'"