PROBLEM OF PLACE, SPACE AND PARTITION IN BHISHAM SAHNI’S NOVEL TAMAS

Abstract

Human beings adapt themselves according to the environment they live in and create their own space among others for better survival in society. The geographical and societal space they acquire gives them a sense of security and a sense of belongingness. If this space is taken away by dislocating them, it leads to mental and physical vacuum which is experienced across generations. A similar problem of space can be traced back in the history of India, when the partition of the country into India and Pakistan took place. People who were living in one town from many generations were dislocated on the basis of religion they belonged to. Feeling of security and belongingness they once enjoyed was snatched from them and they became an outsider in their own country. They were forced to migrate from one place to another and were left with only alternative, to readapt themselves to create their new identity. Real accounts of such vacuums caused by partition can be seen in Bhisham Sahni’s novel Tamas. Hindu and Sikh families of Small-Town province were caught in the fury of political turmoil of Partition due to religious riots that broke out leading to massacre, suicide, abduction and rape. Peace loving people who enjoyed space in their homeland were dislocated in the name of religion. Hindus and Muslims of one town who were friends and neighbors all their life turned into enemies and fought with one another to destroy the space and identity of people on the basis of petty issues. In the proposed paper the researcher aims to analyze the effect of partition in deconstruction and reconstruction of space and the strategies adopted by characters to relocate themselves in alien environments and geographical space.