1. 24 RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0975-3486, (Print) E-ISSN-2320-5482, July,2013 VOL-IV *ISSUE- 46
Research Paper—English
July ,2013
As John McLeod asserts in chapter two of Beginning
Postcolonialism, "Reading Colonial Discourses,"
"Orientalism constructs binary divisions" (40) it ex-
presses its tenets through binary divisions, which set
in opposition the West and the East. Orientalism bina-
ries create unequal divisions between the Occident
and the Orient, usually with the East as inferior to the
superior West. The binary of English as superior to
Indian, for example, is a chief binary established by
colonialism.TheproblemwiththisandmostOrientalist
binaries is that the descriptions of the East are artifi-
cially created by the West, making the comparisons
both untrue and unjust.
In Heat and Dust Jhabvala takes a socio-eco-
nomic strand and a function in which she seeks to stir
humanity as a whole. Her fiction presents the wider
circlesofhumanityinpreaswell aspostindependence
India.Inthisregarditbecomesimperativetorecordthe
assertivecommentofKetriH.Katrak:"Socialrespon-
sibilities must be the basis of any theorizing on Post-
Colonial literature as well as the root-of the creative
work of the writers themselves …" (qtd in Theme 11).
Jhabvala like otherintellectuals isconscious about the
significance, relevance and consequence of the quest
for the absolute. The ultimate aim is to grow into tran-
scendence. Jhabvala presents the Westerners caught
in the snares of materiality take the road to India to
experience Indian spirituality with the intention of
gaining peace. Vandana Bhaqwat's observation attests
this: Westemers are attracted towards the (sadhus and
Swamijis) not only because the East has a message to
give but also because they are tired of their material
west.Someofthemcometo theseholymenand women
to lose themselves in order to find themselves. They
cometoIndiainthehopeoffindingasimplerand more
natural way of life. Hindu religion interests the
westemers………….(11)
Heat and Dust:APostcolonial Study
* Dr. Deepa Rani
* B R P English, B R C Nilokheri (Karnal)
Postcolonial literature adequately employs the vehicle of literature as the sure means of communication for spreading
information, instructions and inquiry on the cross-currents of multicultures. Heat and Dust (published in 1975) by Ruth
Prawer Jhabvala is a famous postcolonial novel that contains two plot set in different times: One about a British lady starting
an affair with a local Indian prince in the 1920s, the other one set in the 1970s, featuring young Europeans on a "hippie
trail" who claim they have left behind Western civilization and are trying to some spiritual home among Indian gurus. The
confrontation of Occidental culture with Oriental culture depicted twice with in the gap of about 50 years.
A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Occidental, Oriental, quest, spirituality, ignorance.
InHeat and DustOlivia typicallypresentsthe imageof
a young, British girl- - --passionate, aesthetic, sponta-
neous and unencumbered by the mindset that was
typicalofAnglo-India.LikeAdelaQuestedofForster's
APassageofIndia,herresponsetotheIndianphenom-
ena has a naïve romantic quality about it. Thus she is
charmedbytheaspectsoflifeinIndiawhichareimbued
withtheflavorofexotica.Butshefeelsthegulfbetween
East and West as the narrator says: " India always
changes people, and I have been no exception" (
Jhabvala Heat and Dust 2).
While Olivia's adventures are romanticized,
Jhabvala wants to explore in a more sophisticated
manner the social context of Anglo-Indian relations
withthehigherMuslimclassesandOlivia'sstep-grand-
daughter is confronted with an India that remains ei-
ther ignored or hidden in the works of Kipling, Forster
or Narayan. The cultural encounter of Orient and Oc-
cidentbecomes clearerwhen inHeat andDust through
the character of the narrator Jhabvala presents the
psyche of people who come to India after getting fas-
cinated by East and its pungent aura ultimately feel
uneasy with its social and cultural system-the system
of purdha, polygamy, child marriages and especially
with the sexuality on the name of religion by bogus
Swamijis and pretentious God men. These Swamis's
beguile the Westerners by drawing no line of differ-
ence between sensuality and spirituality. Jhabvala
mentions a very sacred shrine of Baba Firdaus in the
HeatandDust,andmakesthehappeningsatthatshrine
and integral part of the story. Baba Firdaus had been a
devout soul devoted to prayer and solitude. He once
gavesheltertoAmmanullahKhan,afreebooter.Andso
when fortunesmiled uponhimhebecamea Nawab, lie
builtlittleshineintheholyman'shonour BabaFirdaus
shrine was sacred to Hindu women because offerings
at the shrine cured barrenness. It was given out that a

2. 25RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0975-3486, (Print) E-ISSN-2320-5482, July,2013 VOL-IV *ISSUE- 46
childless woman was driven way by her husband who
wantedtomarryagain.ThewomanwenttoBabaFirdaus'
shrineto hidehershame.Sincethenallkindsofwomen
the widows and the barren women have been visiting
theplaceandfairwasbeingheld onthatdayeveryyear,
in the grove near the shrine. Commenting on how the
sacred shrine was ill-used bydacoit and sex crazy men
and womenVandanaBhagwat makes a relevant obser-
vation, which is as follow:"Jhabvala shatters the illu-
sion about the sanctity of the shrine by showing that
even thedacoits laid garlandson themound and set the
sticks of incense smoldering. It was such a romantic
place that when Olivia with Nawab during the British
days visited the grove she had very strong physical
sensations and lured the Nawab to have sex with her."
In the post Independence period when the narrator of
the novel visited the shrine with Inder Lal, they both
tied strings. Inder Lal was a healthy young man-his
wife was away-they were alone in the romantic spot
(gettingmoreromanticeverymomentasthesunbegan
to set). Although the next few moods were up to the
narrator, once she had made them he was not slow to
respond. They had sex.Afterwards Inder Lal made the
samejoketheNawabhad madewithOliviaaboutwhat
had happened there on the original Husband's Wed-
ding day to make the barren wife pregnant … (11)
Edward Said's Orientalism in 1978 offers a
radiant focus on the magnitude of postcolonial stud-
ies. Said considers Orientalismas " a Western style for
dominating, restricting and having authority over the
Orient" (3). On the same plain Jhabvala presents her
European views to improve and alter the Indian mean-
ings of religious faith. She believes in the true saying
of the Upanishads. For instance, man become trueif in
this life he cannot apprehend God; if not it is the great-
est calamity for him. She believes in the arguments of
Upanishads that when the soul sought god, it sought
final escape from the incessant gathering and heaping
and never coming to an end. Thus through meditation
one's soul is in true communication with the supreme
Truth, and then all actions, word, and deeds become
true. Jhabvalasatiricallypresentsthe land ofIndia that
is a rich spiritual heritage has become the beehive of
bogus Sadhus and pretentious Swamijis who make no
difference between spirituality and sexuality. In the
latter part of Heat and Dust Jhabvala projects English
man Chid who comes to India to practice Indian spiri-
tualitybutcontinues to remain thesame withoutknow-
ing the difference between spirituality and sexuality.
He equates both as the same that causes the failure in
life.Formonthshehadlivedthere,likeanIndianpilgrim,
purifying himself and often so apt in contemplation
that the world around him had faded away completely
…hefoundagurutogivehiminitiationand tostrip him
of all personal characteristics and the rest of his pos-
sessions including his name. In practice however, he
found this did not work too well…(233)
Indian God man has affected Chid up to the
extent that he becomes like those Indians who can't
distinguish between sexuality and spiritualism as is
evident fromthe narration:He (chid)is always hungry,
and not only for food. He also needs sex badly and
seemsto take itforgranted that Iwillgivehimthesame
wayIgivehimmyfood.I havenever had such afeeling
of being used. In fact, he admits that this is what he is
doing - using me to reach a higher plane of conscious-
nessthroughthepowers ofsex thatwe areengendering
between us. I don't really know why I let him go ahead
… But it seems as if there really is something, some
powers outside himself … at such times it seems to me
that his sex is engendered by his spiritual practices, by
all that chanting of mantras he does sitting beads in
hand on the floor of my room…( 233)
Jhabvala's connection is that the quest for
spirituality must be undertaken on right lines under
properguidancefromsincereSadhusandSwmijiswith
the complete appreciation of the meaning and sub-
stance of Indian spirituality. There can be no spiritual
gains unless there is proper initiations, dhiksha-and
properguidance.HerbelievesinIndianculturalvalues
becomes clear when she says: "… if only at the point
where my ashes are immersed in the Ganges to the
accompaniment ofVedic hymns, and thenwho will say
that I have not truly merged with India?" (Jhabvala
"Myself" 16 ) On the whole, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's
approach is eclectic, even as she seeks to interpret
history with an understanding of cross cultural issues
such as race, indentity, ethnicity, hybridity, tradition,
alienation, or emotional, social, cultural isolation and
search for self and authentic life. In her postcolonial
perspective, she is clear, complete and critical, with
flashes of insight, in evaluation the Western imagina-
tion drawn to India for its rich life and landscape.
Jhabvala's Heat and Dust is a significant research both
before and after India's independence and proves that
the past still stays with us in more than many ways.
1 Primary source
2 Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer. Heat and Dust. London: Penguin, 1994. Print.
3 Secondary sources
4 Bhagwat, Vandana. A Frantic Cry of Disillusionment: A New Dominion in Indian Women Novelists. Delhi, 2001. Print.
5 Mcleod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism. Delhi: Viva Books, 2011. Print.
6 Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Delhi: Penguin, 2011. Print.
7 Theme, John. The Arnold Anthology of Post-colonial Literatures in English. London: Arnold, 1996. Prtint
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