Classical Tales of East Indian Life

Oct 04, 2020 Book Review…, News

Book Review…

Book: Chutney Power
Author: Willi Chen
Critic: Glenville Ashby, PhD

Kaieteur News – Willi Chen has long mesmerized Trinidad and Tobago with his artistry. Decades ago, Chen had ventured outside his community to become a renowned, national figure. With a keen insight into the dynamics of plural societies, Chen delivers ‘Chutney Power,’ a riveting narrative that underscores the totemic role of culture in the economic anchoring of a once marginalized people.
‘Chutney Power’ is a compendium of witty, colourful and thought-provoking stories, each richly weaved unto a provocative, literary tapestry; and each tale, a reminder of life’s travails and possibilities. It is the good and not-so-good of East Indian life in bygone years.
The tragedy of Indentureship only steeled the resolve of the East Indian to succeed. Chen showcases his enviable command of East Indian mores having lived in that community for some time. “I stayed at Indian homes, fed and was cuddled by their kind loving matriarchs, lived in their mud walled huts. I wrote ‘Freedom Road,’ an Indian play essentially about a cane cutting family,” he once said.
In the opening salvo of ‘Chutney,’ ‘Mas is More than a Creole Thing,’ Chen examines cultural stereotypes and stubborn prejudices. Here, the protagonist and cane cutter, Bhim Pandarath, is determined to buck the trend and play ‘King of the Band’ in a steel orchestra—a role traditionally reserved for more physically robust Afro-Trinidadians.
‘Mad is More than a Creole,’ arguably defines the theme of Chen’s work.
The resilience of Pandarath is reflective of a people, bruised and battered by their historical experience only to emerge, soaring, not unlike the fabled Phoenix. The image of the Indian weakling, uncomfortable and disinterested in Afro-Trinidad rhythms, is turned on its head, shattered.
Pandarath braves the taunts of Afro-Trinidadians, eventually earning their praise. “Indian, you brave yes. You really brave.”
He is undaunted, confident that his Ramleela experience would prove helpful, only to be told, “Ramleela is Ramleela, Mas is Mas. The music and all different.”
But he is ever defiant, “But Ramleela comes from Indian Scriptures. This is we own kind of theatre. If you read Indian history, you will hear what my Agee and Kaka talking about.”
The band leader caves in to Pandarath’s will. “Give the Indian a chance, leh we see what he could do.”
The outcome is stupendous. Pandarath proves his salt, as he dances with a breathless cadence, his every sinew glistening in the tropical heat.
“The audience was [thrilled]. His legs were nimble but sturdy and supported the costume with ease.” As a cane cutter, “the sun and heat had hardened him; the wild, rough terrain had strengthened his limbs. He moved to the left and chipped to the right, and weaved the costume expertly in a curve to the music. Bhim Pandarath, a cane cutter was the King of Carnival.”
It’s a symbolic victory of gargantuan proportions.
In ‘Look, Ma Coming,’ Chen explores the substantive appeal of Indian culture. “The market place stretched along the road. Vendors were on both-sides….Bisnath led Taramatie to the food stalls. He bought paper bags of kurma, channa and saheena. Their fingers and mouth were yellow from the food. At the standpipe, she raised her face to the sky and gargled like a true Indian on mornings.” And of Indian dancing, he writes, “The Tassa drums erupted in a crescendo.” He pens, “Bisnath looked toward the gayelle and led Tara to the bamboo enclosure. He took off his blue crepesoles, rolled up his pants, jumped into the ring and danced. He turned like a snake, twisted and contorted his body like a pea tree in the wind, lifting his feet into the air, balancing his body as he pirouetted on one foot. He shook his waist, wiggled as he whirled with astonishing speed.”
Such is the signature “good feel” that defines much of Chen’s work,’ a spirit also etched in ‘Free Pork for Christmas,’ ‘Kipsy Loce Pork,’ and ‘The Almost Ramgoat Wedding.’
In ‘The Bottle Washer Who Nearly Danced,’ Prakash Roopnarine is enamoured with Beulah Payne, a bi-racial temptress, a dougla, living among Indians and taking on much of their character and lifestyle. “Her eyes were wild fire and her breath, flavoured by massala, had a curry-mouth aroma that engulfed him for days.” Here, Chen raises the sensitive subject of race and sexuality in a plural society where Indo and Afro- Trinidadians jockey for position. Is there more to Roopnarine’s exploits? Does it carry a more weighty message with racial overtones?
In ‘Chanka’s Backpay,’ Chen recalls life in the cane fields in central Trinidad. It’s an arduous existence where one’s burden is unloaded in the rum shop. It’s a tale of Indian frugality and craftiness. And in ‘Secret Love,’ untamed passions flare amid a deadly love triangle.
Other stories by Chen are equally hypnotic. ‘Hostage,’ is a veiled rendition of the failed 1991 coup d’état that explores class divisions, government ineptitude, and the fatalistic desperation of victimhood. In ‘Turning Point,’ he examines the challenges of marital life and the calamitous repercussions of unbridled sensibilities.
In ‘The Madeira Crystals,’ Chen effortlessly changes scenery, relating the wretchedness of a maid’s life under the thumb of an urban doyenne. It is a doleful exposé on class, privilege and servitude. And in ‘Welcome Home,’ the undaunted spirit of an abandoned and impecunious protagonist proves supremely inspiring.
Throughout, Chen’s theme of Indian unity and pride resonates. He depicts a community unabashed and unswerving in its loyalty to India. ‘Ruralized’ Indians, with little access to the political levers of power, close ranks, showcasing their ‘Indianness.’
Despite this robust ethnic identity, cultural assimilation seeps in as kinetic gyrations to the drums of Tassa infect every national festival. On such occasions, Trinidad and Tobago bursts into a mélange of culturally kaleidoscopic expressions that ultimately unify a nation.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Feedback: [email protected] or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby
Chutney Power by Willi Chen
ISBN 13:978-1-4050-2973-5
Macmillan Publishers Limited
Ratings: ****** (A must-read)