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Articles: Literature | Chalam’s Maidanam
- Dr. Rajeshwar Mittapalli
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Rajeswari is pregnant and Ameer does not like it. He wants her to terminate her pregnancy. She is not ready for it because she is averse to interfering with the process of nature. Her maternal instinct is also awakened and she is determined to have the baby, come what may. We can notice that Rajeswari asserts here, perhaps for the first time in the history of Telugu literature, a woman’s right to control her reproductive behaviour.
Ameer is a disturbed man. He drinks and beats her and pleads with her to get rid of the pregnancy. But Rajeswari kisses the foot that hits her. Only somebody like Ameer is capable of making great sacrifices and demanding great sacrifices, she feels in an oddly romantic fashion. He makes passionate love to her one stormy night and broaches the subject of her pregnancy. She refuses to budge from her decision and Ameer goes away promising to return only after six months.
It is interesting to note here that Chalam does not talk about the consequences of having a child, just as he is silent about many other issues arising out of the practice of free love. It appears that by using Ameer as his mouthpiece he declares the undesirability of a child in the circumstances which are extremely unfavourable to bringing it up.
After Ameer has gone away Rajeswari turns to Meera in a major way for emotional and material support reminding us that a woman is dependent on male support, even if it is in a paradise of freedom. Meera is a handsome boy of sixteen and has a rare nobility about him. She treats him almost like a child and his words and actions too are childlike. He takes immense pleasure in lying down in her lap and playing with her fingers. He keeps her supplied with the necessities of life. Although he calls her “Didi” often he also gets sexually excited. But Rajeswari does not encourage him in that direction.
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