Exploring the logic and emotion Dynamics in the work “The Cat and Shakespeare” and “The serpent and the rope ‘’by Raja Rao

It is very much true that Raja Rao’s philosophical and metaphysical predilections and their articulations in his writings make him a complex yet unique writer. His purpose is quite different from the writer whose prime concern is to present a faithful account of some unique physical experience. His fiction is essentially in the form of a spiritual quest. Hence it is more promising than the fiction that is ignorant of any metaphysical or visionary approach to life. Thus, his writings demand a different level of competence in the reader – the sincerity and capacity to share something deeper than physical experience. Metaphysically, Rao wishes to portray life as a mode of celebration, which successfully catches readers‟ attention and compel them to think about spirituality and metaphysical connotations coined with the mundane life. On the path of metaphysics, male or female remains an embodiment of the Absolute (Brahman). If one can read the episode of clinic-scene in The Cat and Shakespeare, Govindan Nair gently refuses to Lakshmi when she is eager to surrender. The dialogue occurred between them is a very good example of philosophical truth that as such every human being is important in the creation of universe. His projection of Mother Cat principle itself is evidence that he believes in feminine principle. Secondly, the importance of Shakti worship is also highlighted in most of the works of Rao. In the novels of Raja Rao, in which he also propagates that in Tantra, females are given a higher position to males. Because the women are the bounties giver and the men are always takers. The Cat and Shakespeare exhibits the theme of quest for self-recognition through Bhakti and Prapatti. Pai has been a pilgrim to no shrine except the Divisional office at Trivandrum. But he has given up totally to the Lord and has Dhruvasmriti on him. God, in response to Pai’s Bhakti and Prapatti, rewards him with His Kripa(grace). Pai goes across the ‘wall and finds him in a garden all rosy and gentle. ‘The ‘Wall’ is a symbol of the conceptual barrier beyond which illumination lies; it stands for the ever-present obstruction of the intellect which has to be transcended before enlightenment can dawn. Pai himself accounts for it thus: “That was the first time I went across the wall. I found a garden all rosy and Gentle. There were bowers and many sweet-smelling herbs; there were Pools and many   orchids that smelled from distance. There were old men With beards as long as the knees and they talked to no one. Young men Were in green turbans and others, children and women, sang or danced to No tune but to the tune of trees. Snakes lived there in plenty, and the mongoose roamed all about the garden. I saw deer too”. (Rao)     Between Pai’s house and Nair’s is a wall over which Nair leaps every time he visits Pai. The wall is an important symbol because it represents the division between illusion and Truth. Nair crosses it easily, but Pai has never gone across. Toward the end of the novel, following Nair’s cat, Pai accidentally crosses the wall. Like the lucky hunter, he also is vouchsafed a divine vision: For the first time, Pai sees the whole universe as a unity. The novel ends with Pai’s spiritual as well as material fulfillment, as he has partially realized his life long ambition of owning a three-story house. Pai, after the recognition of his true self has become totally one with the moment (Thakur). Rama’s thought of re-establishing deeper relationship with Madeleine by ensuring the continuity of family tradition. For him, his new identity would consist of the best in his own tradition and the best of France and England. In short, the wholeness will be constituted of these diverse elements. Diversity is essential but the essence is unity. If duality persists, the identity crisis will persist also. In order to partake and perpetuate this new self-Madeleine should believe in this unity and strengthen it. But Madeleine's identity crisis is of a different nature. To her, her marriage to Ram a is based on duality i.e. an understanding between two individuals. She is extremely sincere in her efforts toward making this marriage successful. Rama's Indianness is meant to add to her knowledge and awareness to strengthen her own identity. She is proud of Rama's brilliance and loves his lofty impersonality, but she hates Indian haphazardness and haughtiness. She feels insecure in cutting herself off from her own cultural moorings. She thinks she has failed Indian gods but she is mistaken, for Rama can easily worship her gods, and is actually anxious about his Christian becoming.   The failure of their marriage, therefore, is due to a gap in understanding how much they respect each other's cultures. From now onwards, Madeleine comes under the influence of Georges, the Christian fanatic, and drifts away from Rama. Ram a wants her as his "companion of pilgrimage to lie at the feet of God together and un alone" (p. 99). But unfortunately Madeleine loves him out of pity to redress the wrongs the British have done to India. Apart from these two characters, Saroja and Savithri also face identity crises. Both have been exposed to western education and both refuse to accept the traditional roles assigned to Indian women. In the end both accept the traditional destiny. But i n the case of Saroja the conflict is resolved by traditional authority and her revolt fail for lack of conviction and courage. But Savithri’s quest assumes the symbolic and mythical proportion of an epic character. She offers a contrast to Madeleine's development, for we are told that if Madeleine was all explanation, Savithri was all recognition. Like Madeleine, Savithri is also trying to imbibe new values from a distant continent. Emancipated and shockingly unorthodox in her way of life, she refuses to accept the traditional role dictated to her by her parents. Savithri symbolizes modem India, caught up in the conflict between tradition and modernity. The quest for identity does not end with the end of the book. The dissolution of Rama’s marriage with Madeleine does not signify any shrinking of Rama’s spirit. It only signifies that Madeleine's Franc e is not his France, nor Madeleine's India is his India. So their divorce is also a discovery. The obvious tragedy is actually an enrichment and affirmation in the sense that identity crisis has been successfully resolved. (Minaxi).

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