Possession By Kamala Markandaya

Caroline thinks Valmiki belongs to her . . . People don’t easily give up what they think are their possessions. The English never have.’

Anasuya, an Indian writer, meets the wilful Lady Caroline Bell at a party and is soon swept away by the manic energy that surrounds her. She watches as Caroline takes charge of Valmiki, a humble shepherd boy who expresses himself through painting, and whisks him away from his ragged family in a small south Indian village to London, introducing him to modernity, luxury and high society.

Initially dependent on Caroline, Valmiki becomes increasingly like her, learning the ways of the West through her unorthodox methods. But he is also unable to sever all connections with his past as he depends equally on the Swamy, an ascetic who first recognized his talent. As he grows to become his own person, one who sees the people and things around him as his possessions, Valmiki questions whether Caroline’s motives for nurturing him are purely altruistic and turns to the Swamy for advice.

Anasuya, who has been a mute spectator to Caroline’s games and machinations, fears for Valmiki’s well-being as the Swamy and Caroline head towards an inevitable clash of egos, one that is sure to end in destruction.

In Possession Kamala Markandaya deftly explores the ties that bind benefactor and artist, master and disciple, displaying the ease with which boundaries can blur, turning patronage into possession. Possession

Kamala Markandaya, sadly, has been a largely forgotten writer. Born in Mysore, she wrote for an English audience. Or should I say Western audience? Most of her books cater to that eager West that was keen to know more about an emerging, then-exotic, post-independence India. Think villages, poverty, death, and dark, handsome men.

In ‘Possession’ I found the pace of the novel jarring, the narrator seems to be quite removed, and the story scarcely believable. A young man is ‘rescued’ by a white woman and taken away to England to build his artistic career. You probably know by now what the title may refer to. This is the sort of book that you can discuss but the sort of book you may just want to finish reading in a hurry. That’s what happened to me.
Paperback Extremely gripping!!

Possession, is different from the other novels written by the author. Its action shuffles from India to London and back again to India. In theme it is far wider and more universal. The narrator, Anasuya, is not the protagonist, but a minor character.

Beautiful but domineering, Lady Caroline Bell and Valmiki (or Val), an illiterate peasant boy with a gift for painting, are the central figures.

Lady Caroline, accompanied by Ansuya goes to a village and there she comes across Valmiki. She sees potentialities in this boy and her urge for power and possession, takes him away from his village. Val goes with Lady Caroline to London and smart society. Val becomes a celebrity with his Eastern features, with his monkey perched on his shoulders and his wonderful soulful paintings. As Val grows into a handsome young man, Lady Caroline falls in love with him, and wants to possess him.

Elie, the refugee working-maid of Lady Caroline, is the first love of Val. She becomes pregnant and Lady Caroline manages to turn her out without Val's knowledge. Then the Swamy comes to England; to counteract the Swamy's influence on Val, Lady Caroline takes him on a tour of America.

After returning from the tour Val meets Annable, a young artist. Their love is mutual and Val leaves Lady Caroline and goes to live in a garret with Annable. Here too Lady Caroline succeeds in breaking their love by revealing the story of Elie. Val comes back to India and to the Swamy.

Does Caroline make a last effort to take him back? You have to read the novel to find the answer.
Paperback Kamala Markandaya's book was study of human motivations and relationships between people from different cultures (India and Great Britain) and different economical and social statuses. It was kind of interesting reading about duel between materialism and art.
The minus for me was one of main characters Anasuya. She is narrator of the story. She told the story as she was looking from distance. In the same time she was active character. In this way Anasuya became not believable character for me.
Paperback Kamala Markandaya's writings have always intrigued me largely because of the times she lived in and the socio-cultural themes they therefore brought out. In this book, for instance, there were at least two themes I could make out.
The first is obvious enough, and also stems from the title - a battle between the spiritual and the material. The story begins with Anasuya, a writer, becoming the inadvertent connector of two lives - Caroline Bell, a rich, divorced, beautiful English lady with an iron will, and Valmiki, a poor peasant boy who is also a gifted artist. Valmiki's parents have a very dim view of him, and the only person who sees his talent is Swamy, an ascetic who lives a solitary life in the hills near Valmiki's village. Valmiki is swept away by Caroline to London, where she introduces him to her society and culture and tries to help him develop his talent. But it isn't all altruistic - even as Val's talent ensures his popularity, Caroline extends their relationship and ensures that he feels beholden to her. She goes to every extent to destroy any competition that arises, and succeeds. In a sense, it is difficult to say who possesses and who is possessed. Swamy's mostly invisible hand brings out the battle between spirituality and material success.
I also thought there was a subtle India - British theme at play, specially because the book is also set around the time of independence. Again, the possession thought can be applied to the relationship between the two nations as well.
I found it a reasonably good study of human motivations and relationships, and if one considers the era in which it was written, a book arguably ahead of its time.
(This story vaguely reminded me of Daniel Keyes's science fiction short story Flowers for Algernon) Paperback First published 1963 Paperback

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Written very grippingly. Paperback