Chapter Five
 Interpretation of Emotions in
Lesser Breeds
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CHAPTER FIVE
INTERPRETATION OF EMOTIONS IN LESSER BREEDS
Lesser Breeds is a novel which is unique in several ways; factually stating, it is
the latest of the novels published by Sahgal. The vast canvas of this novel has dealt
with several issues like colonialism, anti-colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism and
fascism, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the political unrest of 1919,
Ahimsa, the Dandi March, the Civil-Disobedience wave, police excesses, Partition
and the Indo-US relationship before and after Independence. This is the third novel
wherein the male protagonist is given a predominant role. The other two novels are
The Time to be Happy and Mistaken Identity. Intertwining of the historic element with
the human element is the prevalent component of this novel similar to that of her
other creations. This novel gives an ironic picture of the non-violence movement and
the ambivalent attitude of educated Indians towards it. Several characters in the novel
re-examine the non-violent struggle for the Indian Independence from various
perspectives. The gamut of Nayantara Sahgal‘s historical creations is due to her
propinquity to the forerunners of India‘s freedom struggle. She was a witness to the
day-to-day progress, optimism, danger and romance of the Independence movement.
The last three of Sahgal‘s novels Plans for Departure, Mistaken Identity and Lesser
Breeds have a common social milieu of the post-independent India. In these novels,
Sahgal presents an insider‘s perspective of the political anarchy in the post-Nehruvian
era, the pseudo-secularism and the materialistic attitude of the society. Sahgal
attempts to project a nation‘s consciousness through the fragmentary consciousness of
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an individual. She is happy to present the country‘s rich cultural heritage of the
country and the same time is sad at the exploitation of the land and its people.
Obviously, politics and emotions are beautifully interwoven to give an intricate
structure for the novel.
The title of the novel is taken from Rudyard Kipling‘s poem Recessional.
It has allusions to the white man‘s burden to civilise the ‗Lesser Breeds‘. The poem
conveys strong message that the vanity of victory in battles, the intoxication caused
by power, and pride of the civilized, which makes them look down upon the ‗Lesser
Breeds‘. All these are temporal emotions which will not stand the test of time.
There is a refrain which says ‗lest we forget‘ reminding mankind of the consequences
of forgetting the truth that all men are equal before God. The novel also has several
references to racism and other forms of discrimination. These are lines from the poem
which appears as an epilogue to the novel:If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
(Recessional Kipling 19-24)
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Lesser Breeds is actually divided into three parts. The first part delineates an
imaginary city called Akbarabad. The second part is set in the United States and it is
addressed as ―An Island Called America‖. The third part is titled ―Trade Wind‖.
The protagonist of this novel is Nurullah, a University teacher, associated with the
Nehruvian family who perhaps asserts his individuality by having a different line of
thoughts on matters like faith, sexuality and identity. The character of Nikhil
otherwise, called Bhai (brother) , is a Nehruvian figure and father of Shan. Nurullah
tutors Shan, Bhai‘s daughter. Later, she migrates to the United States to pursue her
higher education. The narration observed in the initial phase of the novel is given in
an objective tone through Nurullah‘s perspective. The consecutive phase of the novel
is narrated from Shan‘s perspective, besides the people closely associated with her
like Leda Knox her local guardian and Otto Shelling, her lover. The third part of the
novel is entitled ―Trade Wind‖ and is similar in construction and style to the first part
and it ends with a plane crash similar to that of Homi Bhabha‘s at the slopes of Mont
Blanc in Switzerland.
This novel, despite providing a historical insight into pre-independent and post
independent era, also provides a cross-sectional view of the society. The fascination
the Westerners have for Indian concepts like ‗Ahimsa‘ are delineated through two
Americans- one is the Journalist Edgar Knox and the other is the young research
scholar Peter Ryde. The struggle of Indian women for individualism is juxtaposed
with their western counterpart‘s efforts for the same. The portrayal of female
characters like Leda, Lillibet, Hashi and Shan are all expressions of the various hues
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and shades of women in that period. Sahgal‘s contribution to the representation of
women in the domestic and the official domains through her works reveal her deepest
concern for the upliftment of women. The novel brings out the twin struggle of the
people, one against patriarchal forces and another against the imperialistic forces.
This work inspects the great emotional and intellectual strength which the characters
develop in due course. These emotions and the emotional intelligence displayed by
the various characters under such circumstances are discussed in this chapter.
The protagonist of this novel is Nurullah, a bastard chid who grows under the
patronage of ‗Raja‘ who is a ―fanatic for justice‖ (LB 49). Nurullah, a guest of Nikhil
is a twenty-three year old English teacher who arrives at the city of Akbarabad and is
directly involved in the non-violent struggle for Independence. He is introduced to a
gathering as an ―impoverished but immensely promising young man‖ by Robin Da.
(LB 5). The family that hosts him is actively involved in the struggle to uproot the
imperial powers from the motherland. But Nurulah finds lack of unity among the
people who are fighting for the same cause. A plethora of characters are presented
with great mastery. All of them are connected to the main story by two common
threads. The common threads are Nurullah and Shan, the daughter of Nikhil. Both of
them are given equal importance by the author. Though the former is the teacher and
the latter is the student, towards the end of the novel, the teacher is astonished by the
emotional intelligence of the student.
The story progresses mainly by tracing the growth and development of two
characters, namely Nurullah and Shan. Nurullah, is the bastard child and the other is
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Shan the daughter of charismatic persona in Indian history addressed as Bhai whose
character is modelled on Jawaharlal Nehru and Subash Chandra Bose. As the story
develops, we find that Shan the student evolves as a better personality because of her
family upbringing and greater exposure. Nurullah on the other hand, is actually a
servant maid‘s son shown mercy by a Rajput Raja, who was a bigot. The Raja, twice
had several mystical experiences, which could not be attributed to any religion.
The Raja named him Nurullah, meaning the light of Islam and had given him the
refuge of Islam so that nobody dares to claim rights over the boy. Nurullah grew up as
a Muslim boy fervently practising his religion.
The birth of Nurrulah is a catastrophic episode. His mother was only a twelve
year old girl working in a farm. The peasant on whose farm she was working called
her ‗witch‘ as he associated all misfortunes in his family to the ominous presence of
this girl. But in reality the poor girl was raped and tortured to death. When the peasant
had hung her upturned in the forest and thrashed her ‗bludgeoned womb‘, her bitter
cries was heard by the ruler of the domain, the Rajput Raja who was galloping
through the forest .The Raja ordered him to bring her down and took her on his horse
back and left her to the care of the maids in the ‗Zenana‘. After babbling a few words,
she died during her labour. Nurullah grew up under the patronage of the Raja. He put
together the fragments of his mother‘s tragic life from the stable talk and imagined
how his mother had struggled as a child.
The plight of Nurullah‘s mother was the result of the vicious circle created by
several social evils during the colonial rule. The British had demanded an increase in
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the production of sugarcane production to meet the requirements of the mills in
Cawnpore. Subsequently, forests were cleared and Zamindars were forced to pay a
tribute or faced the threat of losing their estate. They in turn mortgaged peasants and
even their children thereby creating lot of troubles.
Nurullah‘s mother was a victim of the feudal system. She was sold for a debt
when she was only eight years old. From then on, she lived like a prey fearing the attack
of her predators. She was not provided even with food and she devoured the leftovers
when the masters had finished dining. She cleaned the vessels and did all odd jobs,
starving and suffering all tortures like a dumb beast. In addition to the physical torments,
she was also sexually exploited. Nurullah‘s birth is the result of the repeated rapes that
were committed on her. The atrocities committed on this twelve year old girl were
unpardonable. Finally, she was hanged naked and beaten with a stick and she was forced
to face the smoke of burning chillies. All this is done, when she was in her advanced
stage of pregnancy. She was beaten as though the child she was bearing was the result of
her illicit affair. But in reality, she was not even allowed to cry aloud in anguish, she had
to live like a dumb beast, silently enduring all exploitations. This misery is not only found
in the case of Nurullah‘s mother. It was the fate of many innocent girls from financially
backward families. If their parents had fallen into debts, the children had to lead
miserable lives like this. The author has vividly narrated the evils that prevailed in the
Zamindari system, which was in turn, under the clutches of the British rulers. The feudal
Lords or the Zamindars fleeced the peasants for their sustenance. The poor peasants were
subjected to cruelties which made their lives bitter.
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Nurullah‗s childhood was far better than his mother‘s. Though most of the
feudal Lords were ruthless, there were also just rulers like the Raja who came to the
rescue of the destitute girl and a bastard child. The Raja‘s character is an embodiment
of all the virtues every human being should nurture. Though he was vested with
powers, he did not misuse his powers to exploit the poor. He rather used his powers to
establish justice in his kingdom. The Raja is an emotionally intelligent character
because he not only understands his duties and responsibilities, but is also able to
understand the emotions of people who are victims of fate. Thereby he does his
maximum for the betterment of the downtrodden masses.
The wounds of his birth seemed to haunt Nurullah often, but his self-will helps
him overcome the trauma of his birth as narrated by several people who witnessed the
struggle of his mother.
―Falling into a deeper distorted reverie his thoughts drifted downriver
to the child being raped and tortured and then reprieved only to give
tempestuous birth to him and die. He shook of the evil crowding his
brain and surfaced from it with difficulty‖ (61).
This agonizing remembrance of his mother is a heart-rending emotion for a
child which usually crumbles all the potentials of any individual. But Nurullah‘s
emotional intelligence helps him tide over such a traumatic memory. He never
becomes a victim of self pity, thinking of what happened to his mother and how he
had to grow as an orphan waiting for somebody to show mercy on this needy boy.
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The traumatizing experience of the mother is relived by Nurullah and it is with
much difficulty that he surfaces up from this devastating experience. Nurullah did not
go through an ordeal like his mother but was left uncared, and restricted to the
backyard of the house. When the children of the house were taught lessons by a
Sahib, he was only a distant viewer. But there was a sudden change. One day a
stranger saw him idling away his time by kicking pebbles with bare foot. He drew
lines on the dust and collected a few pebbles and grouped into twos and threes and
made Nurullah count them. Then he put the pebbles under a tablet and kept a soap on
it and asked Nurullah why it was kept so. He concentrated very much but was not
able to come with an answer because he did not know that the object was soap and
that it would melt. The stranger took him to the municipal tap and made him smell the
soap and showed how it slipped out of his hand like a fish out of water. The word
‗fish ‘was new to him. The learning experience brought tears to his eyes, but he did
not know fully whether it was happiness or sorrow that brought tears to his eyes.
Here, the author highlights the efforts of the Christian missionaries in spreading
literacy. In the beginning, their efforts were service oriented, but when the British
rulers took charge of the system, it was done to train the ―Lesser Breeds‘ to serve as
clerks in the Empire. Even highly intelligent Indians had to face a lot of hurdles to
write the ICS (Indian Civil Services) Examination. The missionary zeal to spread the
light of education was taken over to make Indians serve the British masters.
There are several instances in the novel where the narration of his mother‘s
life appeared as nightmares in his dreams.
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―He never heard her speak. He heard only the thrusting grunt of the
older, then the younger astride her. The sound drilled holes in his skull
and tightened screws into exploding. He didn‘t know he was shouting
for help until his hoarse cries forced him out of sleep and he sat up,
grief stricken, dry-eyed and panting for breath‖(LB 54).
These thoughts can prove to be depressing for a person. The emotional
strength of Nurullah is displayed when he endures the pangs of his mother as well his
own identity as a bastard child. Though the wounding experiences of his life continue
to haunt him, he makes every effort to look at life as an optimist. All throughout the
novel, there is not a single instance where he is demotivated over what had happened
to him. When he lives in the backyard of the Rajput Raja‘s palace, idling his time
when other children of his age were taught lessons by a Sahib, he did not feel left out.
He was hopefully waiting for his chance and when his call for learning came, he
responded to it, with great dedication. This is what makes Nurullah stand out from
any other character. He is not a mourner; moreover, he never lets his past rule his
present. This consciousness actually redeems him and places him on a higher pedestal
of profession by taking up the noble profession of teaching
The very next day Nurullah was washed and dressed up in clean clothes and
made to sit for study along with the privileged children of the house. Thus began his
formal education. The stranger from the city who identified the thirst for knowledge
in Nurullah, helped him gain the light of knowledge to dispel the darkness in life.
He is another important character in the novel. Had he just ignored Nurullah, he
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would not have risen to such great heights to that of a University teacher. The stranger
is an emotionally intelligent character as he rightly identifies the need of an orphan
child and provides him the most essential requisite for his life.
Nurullah had belief in Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, as people of all
religious faiths contributed to his growth and development. He was given a chance to
live by the clemency of a Hindu Raja. He practised Islam, as he was given the refuge
of that religion at birth by his patron, the Rajput Raja. A Christian missionary gave
him the light of literacy. Thus he is found to be a practitioner of several religions.
Religious unity is a recurrent theme in Sahgal‘s novels. In Mistaken Identity Bhushan
is born a Hindu but he takes to Islam and does Namaz as they though he has been
doing it for years. He voices the author‘s message of establishing religious harmony.
The author conveys the message that a man‘s search for the Supreme need not
separate him from his fellow beings. All mortals are in search of the Omnipotent but
the means they adopt may be different. Ultimately they are all people of the same race
in the pursuit of the same goal. Hence, disputes and killings in the name of religion is
the biggest folly that is committed.
There are several forces which played their role in moulding Nurullah the
child, like the Rajput King, Robin Da and Bhai. Robin Da mentors him thus:―Ask yourself what country your brain lives in, Nurullah, and why from
morning to night you are passing on meaningless mass of harks, yonder,
skylarks and daffodils to your First Years. If you cannot produce
something from the mysterious mechanism of your own mind, learn
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from those who can. Observe what is going on around you. Cultivate
another way of thinking‖ (15).
Both Robin Da and Nikhil want Indians to develop an independent thinking,
devoid of the influences of the Colonial education. Nurullah successfully emerges to
be a character very independent in thought and actions fulfilling the expectations of
his mentors. The most important fact is that no person or ideology is permitted to
penetrate his mind. Though his life was indeed the gift of the Raja and he lived under
his roof, he did not become a fanatic like him. Bhai‘s family ‗adopted‘ him during his
service at the University of Akbarabad. Even though he felt indebted to Bhai‘s family
and helped them in every possible way, he did not plunge himself into the freedom
struggle. This unique manner of maintaining one‘s identity and not getting easily
influenced by any of the forces and single minded pursuit of his goal in life, is what
makes Nurullah an emotionally intelligent character. He never loses focus in life but
rather sets aside the disturbing influences by self-consolation. He heals the inner
wounds and proceeds to make life better for young minds at the University. Even in
the pursuit of knowledge, he opines the suffering of suffocation through his explicit
words, ―since, all knowledge was European-ordained‖ (118).
Nurullah‘s role as a teacher is also noteworthy. He charted out his unique
methodology for teaching. He considered teaching as a give and take policy. As an
English teacher, he had to rely solely on English authors teaching resources. But he
used his prudence in choosing lessons which were apt for the students according to
the need of the occasion. During the struggle for independence, he happened to read
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Shelley‘s Mask of Anarchy, but he felt that the content could flare up riots and chose a
lesson which presented image of conventional combat ―in which both sides
shouldered arms and risked their lives‖ (45) This again was his ideology and he
believed that in any combat both the sides should be armed to contribute an equal
combat. He did not favour a struggle which was armed on one-side, and the other side
silently bore all the blows thinking that their rage would die away. Nurullah repeated
the lines of his poetry like a Urdu couplet and the result was that it transformed the
most ―moribund and nitwit student in his class‖ (45). The pure delight on the faces of
his pupils made him perceive that his policy of ‗give and take‘ had succeeded.
Nurullah was not only a teacher at the University, he was also given the
additional responsibility of tutoring Shan, the daughter of Nikhil, popularly known as
Bhai as well as looking after the correspondence of Bhai. He was in prison and had a
visionary zeal. Hence he wanted Nurullah to shift his strategy of exam oriented
teaching done at school and the Hindi Pundit at home. He wanted his daughter to have
a realistic perspective of life and that responsibility was entrusted to him. He began
his first lesson by narrating his own history which enthralled the little girl. He taught
her lessons in History and Geography. He explained the Sepoy Mutiny, and how
Mangal Pandey, who was presumed to be a Buddhu (slow-witted simpleton) by the
British, could mobilise people for a Mutiny. He also said how the British became
more careful in avoiding recruits from the Eastern region from where Mangal Pandey
was. This use of irony and underplay is seen throughout the novel in several
discourses. He never conveys directly that ‗Buddhus‘ is a misconception of the
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people. But he narrates the activity of Mangal Pandey who was called a ‗Buddhu‘ but
could incite a mutiny. He leaves it to Shan to decide whether he was a ‗Buddhu‘.
He is not judgemental, but he makes his pupil to think and come up with her
understanding of the personality.
Nurullah also narrated how European invaders manipulated history. He described
the invasion of Abyassinia and how they fought back. His picturization was so vivid that
she started bawling. The League of Nations and Haile Selassie‘s message, conveying the
superiority of the whites, was conveyed in a circuitous manner: ―Apart from the kingdom
of God, there is not on this earth any other nation that is higher than any other (LB 123).
When the meaning of the message slowly dawned upon her she scowled at Nurullah for
hiding the fact that Haile Selassie was a Christian. This quick witted response of Shan
illustrates how adept she was in understanding men and their missions by getting a small
hint. It is indeed this shrewdness that helps her in the long run to become a leader of the
nation. She becomes the Minister of Commerce and presents the Asia Doctrine to the West.
The west calls it a hemispheric hegemony and refuses to accept it. The moral grit of Shan
in returning the same coin to the western powers testifies her evolution from a little girl to a
young leader drafting ambitious plans for her country. ―We are putting our words to your
music. We are so disappointed that you are reacting like the Mighty Metternich did to the
Monroe Doctrine" (93): The colonisers welcomed imitation of their strategies to a certain
extent but they did not want any nation to be on par with them. In simple terms they did not
want any nation to dictate terms to them.
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Nurullah was quick-witted to master arts. As a teacher, this was an essential
pre-requisite. Though he came from a very primitive background, he could easily
master the use of knife and fork with professional ease. He feels happy that the time
spent on mastering the art has not gone waste. This trait speaks about Nurullah‘s
attitude and he walks an extra mile to master the various skills needed for his life.
He is found spending hours for preparing for the classes next day. When he realises
that he should know the western dining etiquette he spends time to master it. It is this
patience and perseverance that helps him climb the ladder of progress very soon.
He has a passion for literature which can be observed in all his activities. He even
gifts a literary piece for Eknath‘s wedding and wishes the couple ―lasting joy of
literature‖ (72). Eknath is a Professor of History, a friend of Nurullah and often their
discussions lead to the integration of the domains to apprehend the world better.
Nurullah as a teacher could read between the lines and was also successful in
imparting this knowledge to his pupil, Shan. He made her understand how there were
several invasions and invaders, but the Europeans were a cleverer lot because they not
only invaded nations but also its history. When he was describing the colonisation of
America he says to Shan in a sarcastic tone that ―he had not been able to trace its BC.
Everything began After Columbus‖ (118). As days passed on, teaching Shan was
becoming a problem for Nurullah because he did not have any experience in dealing
with children. The only child he knew was himself. This was because Shan was not
an ordinary child who could be managed easily. Her intellectual growth was far ahead
of her age. Even a University teacher was finding it difficult to keep pace with her.
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Yet he was charting out plans to become successful in an uncharted path. Thus, he did
justice to his job by making Shan understand realities unwritten in any text book.
He was successful in his mission of ‗counter-teaching‘.
Nurullah as a teacher at the University did not reinvent the texts to give his
own versions of the text. But he presented them from a different perspective and was
amazed at the new vision it presented to the students. He also supplemented his
knowledge with information that he had collected from the library. Thereby, he
proved himself to be very much dedicated to the noble profession of teaching.
The English people began their intrusions with simple massacres by their
armies, but as their frontiers advanced, they had broken treaties with tribes and forced
them to migrate at gunpoint and paid hired killers to wipe them out. There were
several unfair means to acquire territories. One such was to distribute gifts of
smallpox infected blankets to people. As the disease was incurable, a large part of the
population was obliterated by such methods. In one book, Nurullah comes across the
nineteenth century U.S. General William Sherman‘s comment: ―The more Indians
we kill this year the less we will have to kill the next year‖ (120). These lines from
the text reveal the cunning plan of the Europeans who landed in the name of trade and
civilization and gradually started working towards the mission of amassing wealth
and killing the population under various pretexts. They ―like vultures descended on it,
divided and devoured it‖ (120).
The rule of the British was making the country bleed to death. Their taxation
policy is the best testimony to this fact. The very first year The East India Company
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took charge, it raised the land revenue by hundred percent and hiked the taxes by
another hundred percent in the next ten years. The taxes levied were not used for the
welfare of the masses but this revenue was used to develop their country. Moreover,
the tax collectors were ruthless and never ascertained whether the farmers were in a
position to pay such huge amounts as tax. There was a great famine in the year 1771
and over ten million people died. One third of the population was wiped out. But the
Viceroy, Warren Hastings was proud to declare that even though cultivation had gone
down, revenue collection had gone up. The enormous profits gained from taxes and
its trading monopoly was used to finance their spinning jenny, power loom and steam
engine and also provided enough capital to invest in the British Isles. It was called
―India‘s tribute‖. In addition to all this, they curbed the growth of Indian industries so
that the growth of their industries was not threatened. This hard-heartedness to the
sufferings of the people cannot be justified by their zeal to civilize the world.
The colonial powers were under the impression that Indians were a violent
group and always crushed any uprising with brutality. There was a sea-change in the
freedom struggle after Mahatma Gandhi took the reins. But the British only had
Mangal Pandey and the Sepoy Mutiny in mind. ―For the authorities it is always 1919
and in Akbarabad it is still 1857 as far as they're concerned. Once a mutineer, always
a mutineer‖ to which Nurullah adds: ―The stuff of the Angrez brain fever…They have
violence on their brain though they are dealing with ahimsa now‖ (74-75).
This inability to recognize a nation's need for independence or ‗Swaraj‘ and the fake
claim of the responsibility to civilize and rule the ‗Lesser Breeds‘ is sarcastically
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questioned by the author. Was it necessary for such brutal strategies to civilize the
‗Lesser Breeds‘, is the underpinning statement of the author. Another strange irony of
the time was that when the nation as whole was practising ‗Ahimsa‘ the soldiers of
the country were conscripted for war in allegiance to the British policies. Nawab
Vazir Khan confronts Bhai on his offer of ―partnership‖ with the British in war.
When will we stop laying down our lives for their wars? … We
captured Khartoum for them, defeated the rebellion of the Arabi Pasha
in Egypt for them, dethroned King Thebaw and captured Burma for
them. They used Indian troops to crush the Boxers who were Chinese
patriots trying to stop the sale of opium…Indian soldiers were rushed
to the front at Ypres and Flanders to relieve the British. Yet after the
victory the King refused to give Indians command of the army because
no British officer must serve under an Indian…. (150)
The Company Bagh alludes to the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre. The unsung
heroes of the brutal episode keep reverberating throughout the book. The history of
the freedom struggle is replete with such ruthless killing. Bhai addresses a rally of
non-violent protesters and they are again transformed into a welter of bodies painfully
disentangling while others lay around like crumpled question marks. The inhumane
attitude of the British to people who were protesting in a non-violent manner after
hundreds of years of misrule and exploitation, is portrayed with much authenticity as
the author herself was a witness to such atrocities. The protestors of the Dandi March
were also meted out with more cruel punitive measures. “Rods had descended on
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unprotected heads, leaving fractured skulls and broken shoulders on the sand.
Then the police had borne down on the inert bloodied bundles and savage kicking had
begun‖ (LB 19). Gandhi perceived that the British rule in India was becoming
deplorable and gave a clarion call for self-government.
Here again the author reveals the mindset of the colonial rulers who
considered themselves superior to all the races. Indians could survive under the
British if they were servile or sycophants. According to them, the world was made of
only two kinds of people. On the one hand was Europe, and the other hand, it was
peopled by the ‗Lesser Breeds‘ whom Europe had every right to rule. Peter Ryde, the
researcher from US asks Nurullah if the second World War had not broke out:
―Would those elected assemblies have been granted greater powers in due course, and
so gradually to self-government?‖ (151) Nurullah says it is unlikely. The British made
a promise assuring that India will be granted self-government as soon as Indians
become capable of defending the country. But in reality, the British did not permit
Indians to bear arms and those who were in the armed forces were not trusted to hold
command. They deputed Indian army personnel at all their battlefronts. Soldiers were
asked to volunteer for battles if they did not get the required number of conscripted
soldiers. Indian troops were used to crush the boxers, to be at the front in Cypres and
Flanders but when it came to self –government the country had to wait because it was
not in a position to defend itself. Thus the British kept hoodwinking the Indians by
delaying self-government.
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The Governor Sir Humphrey said: ―Self-government is always on the agenda
but it is not possible to set a date for it‖ (186). When there were agitations in all the
thirteen colonies, the British agreed to grant them the power to govern their own
countries, but kept on delaying the transfer of power, stating several reasons.
―We have to think of the best interests of the millions whose destinies Europe holds in
trust...We have to occupy Iran to prevent oil from falling into Nazi hands‖ (186).
The British rulers justified their rule on several grounds like their responsibility of
establishing peace in the colonies. Protecting the continents from Nazi invasion were
all the reasons given for prolonging their rule. They called the Nazis as invaders,
conveniently forgetting that they were the first in this nomenclature. The colonial
powers and their justification for ruling the colonies under the pretext of making them
capable of defending them are vividly portrayed in this novel. A country with a
civilization and culture much older than theirs is addressed as ―Lesser Breeds‖ and
the author lucidly brings out the sarcasm by exposing the greed for wealth which was
the tangible reason behind colonisation. ―We have ruled here for three hundred years
with the whip and club and we had been doing it for another three hundred years‖
(LB 186). These lines from the text bear testimony to the enormity of crimes
committed by the Colonial powers.
Nikhil or Bhai, the charismatic leader in the freedom struggle, is a character
created by the author as a tribute to her maternal uncle Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
He is a man ―who would by his honey-tongued gentleness, manage to guide an
elephant with a hair‖ (13). He was born into wealthy family and travelled all round
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the world. His knowledge and insight was boundless. But with all this luxuries and
privileges he chose to spend his life in prison for the sake of making the country
independent. He was a man who took all fellow men all over the world to be his
brethren. He sends consolatory messages to people who are involved in freedom
struggles. ―On behalf of our party, we send Ethiopians, our brothers in distress, our
sympathy in this hour of their trial‖ (121). Nikhil was striving hard to set a new world
order where peace and prosperity would be the guiding forces. He also endeavours to
project the efforts of India in the right light to the countries of the world. He stands as
an epitome of patience, when his colleagues lose their temper for being dragged like
animals into war. He makes them understand that all this misery would be worthwhile
when independence is attained.
The sacrifices he made to be a part of the freedom struggle is worth
mentioning. He leaves his six year old daughter Shan, to the care of his mother
Ammanji. As a father, he wishes his daughter to grow up as a wise girl as he does not
find time and as he is not satisfied by the teaching in school he entrusts Nurullah with
the job of tutoring her. When he is back home after spending days in jail, he thanks
Nurullah for tutoring Shan. But he apologises telling ―It‘s not proper tuition‖ (107).
Bhai understands Nurullah‘s difficulty and says: ―We belong to a league of nations
that was not schooled in Hellas. We have our foundations in antiquer antiquity and
our spires beyond the stars‖ (107). Here again, Bhai is quick to perceive the difficulty
of a teacher who is given a difficult task to make the pupil think out of the box though
his resources were limited. Hence, he congratulates Nurullah for the good job he had
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done with the limited resources available. He is a staunch nationalist who wishes to
create an indigenous education system which will redeem the generations to come
from blindly aping the West.
In an interview, Edgar Knox asks Nikhil: ―Don‘t you ever miss a plain
ordinary life?‖ (193). Nikhil fervently replies: ―I long for it‖ (193). Nikhil pointed to a
wall map over his shoulder to Edgar and asked him to take a look at it. He was
indirectly presenting his country‘s dream to take up the world trade when the country
will become independent. He added that they would trade with world countries in
such a way that both of them are benefitted. He scorned at the way the British traded
and stated that "an ancient and honourable profession should not need guns to protect
it, should it?" (194) He felt that Asia had a better chance if they took a collective
initiative. He dreamt of a world where liberal and fraternal bonds were nurtured
through symbiotic relationships. He had great dreams for his country and its people.
He also had the vigour to materialise those dreams.
The family which used imported goods of all kinds restricted itself to
homemade goods as a protest to the British rule. His sister Nina feels sorry for Shan
as she does not know what a refrigerator or a telephone is, and other sophisticated
ways of the world. His sister also feels that her brother is a ―babe in the woods when
it comes to practical matters‖ (88).
Nikhil was a socialist; he promised that he would give the land to the peasants
who till the land when he came to power. When his sister raises objection saying what
the landlords cannot do without the Zaminidari system, he replies: ―Earn a living like,
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naturally like everyone else‖ (103). His sense of justice is seen in these lines.
He is totally against the system where few toil and others who sit and reap the
benefits of someone‘s hard work. The peasants hardly make a hand to mouth living
but the landlord‘s thrive on their hard work and also trap them in debts making their
generations serve them as bonded labourers. Nurullah‘s mother is a victim of such an
injustice. Nikhil wants to put an end to this injustice when he comes to power.
But even such a great human being is looked upon as a ‗Lesser Breed‘ by the
Britishers. They describe him like this to Edgar Knox: ―Good family. Culture. Money.
Enormous influence. But educated here entirely without the leavening of western
influences. This man is fanning ambitions of every Asiatic who wants to damage the
West‖ (183). A man who has great concern for the suffering humanity is judged to be
a person lacking the wisdom of the West which would make him blind to the
sufferings of his fellow brethren. Even the Indian education system is seen as flawed,
one ignoring the wisdom of the Indians who could do astronomical calculations and
the Vedas and the Upanishads which had the essence of life and living. The colonisers
appreciated everything of western origin and belittled anything that was indigenous.
Nikhil‘s towering popularity made him a crowd puller. When he was released
from jail, there were swarms of people crowding their house to have a sight of their
beloved leader. His popularity crossed the boundaries of his motherland, he received
letters from cine actresses and a European artist invited him to attend her painting
exhibition at Calcutta. A person with charm, wealth and knowledge but fully
dedicated to the cause of nation building is Nikhil‘s character in a nutshell. Nikhil can
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be called an emotionally intelligent character because with no qualms in life he never
basks in the glory of the riches his ancestors have provided him. But he has great
empathy for the people world over who are suffering under the colonial regime.
At home he strives for the betterment of the working classes, though he belongs to the
elite and landed gentry. Nikhil‘s humanitarian instincts project him as an emotionally
intelligent character.
There is a major difference in the upbringing of Nurullah and Shan and the
impact of this can be seen in their lives when they grow up into adults. Nurullah had a
tempestuous childhood whereas Shan grew up in a family where everything was
showered in abundance, right from love and attention to all materialistic needs.
The situation in which Nurullah grows up is quite different; he lives in the outhouse
which was a very shabby place. Everything in his life is provided out of mercy by one
or the other ‗Good Samaritan‘. His birth or his entry into this world itself would not
have happened, but for the timely intervention of the Raja. Had he not been there in
the jungle at the right time, the ‗sturdy peasant‘ would have thrashed his mother‘s
belly, killing the mother and the child. His education commenced with the mercy of a
stranger who taught him the rudiments of arithmetic at the backyard of his
benefactor‘s house. Nurullah ‗s life was a life raised to great heights from that of an
orphan to a University teacher because of many philanthropists like the Rajput king,
and the stranger who charted out his early lessons of literacy.
―But whether it was sorrow or a sorrowful happiness that brought tears
to the man‘s own, Nurullah was never to know. He only knew that the
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following day – washed and dressed in clean clothes –he started his
education with the master Sahib in the big house at a desk apart from
the grandchildren‘s‖ (47).
There is a steady growth from the first day of his study of basic arithmetic to
acquiring qualifications needed to become a University Teacher. He did not have the
inhibitions of a first generation learner. He was quick to adapt himself to the
circumstances and meet the expectations. This is evident from the professional ease
with which he uses knife and fork. He had a lot of intuitive knowledge which is
exhibited when he was teaching the University students and Shan. This smartness of a
fast learner makes him emerge as a world renowned Professor who is invited at the
Princeton University. A Research Scholar from U.S. wants to gather facts about the
non-violent struggle from him. All such capabilities, as well as his humanitarian
concerns, project him as an emotionally intelligent character.
On the other hand, Shan‘s life was a very privileged one. But she is motherless,
and father is engrossed in the freedom struggle. Her father was very much interested
in giving her a good education. His interest is evident from these lines from the text:
―Counter-teaching is required, Nurullah. Cast your mind about for ways to correct
what she is taught. Cultivate in her another way of seeing‖ (23). He wanted Shan to
look at life from a different perspective rather than the stereotyped vision of the
world. This interest of her father in her studies is one of the pillars behind her success.
She had a convent education; Nurullah and Hindi Pandit at home to tutor her. All this
support and care provided to her in her childhood, helps her evolve into a better
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personality. But when a comparison is made between Shan and Nurullah, Nurullah‘s
emotional strength was instrumental in helping him come out of the tragedies that
tormented him right from his birth. In spite of the unfavourable circumstances that
would have crushed the mental development of any child, we find Nurullah clinging
tightly to the ropes that are held out to him by some philanthropist and makes big
leaps for the betterment of his life. Shan as a child displayed her domineering nature,
had her priorities insisted to her master when he was tutoring about how once the
Ganges was a sea and was transformed into a seabed due to geological upheavals and
suddenly shifted to Akbar‘s conquests. She interrupts him with this question: ―Is this
history or geography or what? She liked her information in tidy compartments, as
conveyed by the nuns, he supposed‖ (61). This reveals the capability of Shan in
extracting the exact work she wants from somebody. Clarity in gathering information,
and processing it as a six year old kid actually foretells that she will emerge as a
towering personality when she reaches adulthood. This actually happens in the due
course of the novel. She addresses the western nations and addresses them proving
that Indians are not ‗Lesser Breeds‘. This task is not an easy one as one requires a lot
of will power, skill and knowledge to sit on par with the powers that destined
themselves to be the rulers of the world. This primary insight into the familial
background of both characters are compared to analyse the level of Emotional
Intelligence in them.
The social milieu of the post-independent era in this novel brings a lot of other
minor characters into the story. An analysis of how they react and respond to
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situations will help in studying the characters from the perspective of emotional
intelligence. The pluralistic ethos of the country promoted by the secular vision of
great national leaders like Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharalal
Nehru also plays a major role in framing the values of the citizens. The charismatic
character of Nikhil, which was modelled on Pandit Nehru and Subash Chandra Bose
reveals the patriotic feeling of the people in the pre-Independent and the post
Independent era. The austerity measures taken by Nikhil‘s family bear testimony to
this fact. They had completely stopped using imported goods as a protest against the
British rule. The entire family draped themselves only in Khadi and abstained from
using any commodity of foreign origin, right from teacups to dress materials. Such
gestures demonstrate the patriotic feelings of the family. They were ready to forego
all kinds of pleasures in order to support the movement of the masses and attain
independence.
―Non -violence is not submission, it is the soul‘s unvanquishable strength and
power‖ or "I want India to recognize she has a soul that cannot perish and that can
rise triumphant above any physical weaknesses" or ―Strength comes from an
indomitable will‖ (44). These words rang in Nurullah‘s ears. Such kind of slogans
were heard all throughout the country but there were other characters like Eknath and
Bhai who looked at non-violence as the last resort of unarmed people.
―And so the Movement as I see it is very much like that endless
journey, following coded signposts of its own. A conventional battle is
based on known weapons and strategies, on the experience one has
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gained from other battles. This one does without true and tried
weapons. It has no guns to arm it, only its language, and a bizarre
language it is. It might as well be Cufic characters. How's this for a
command barked out to the troops: ‗The tyrant has power over your
body, he can have no power over your soul!‘ Or hate the deed, not the
doer‖ (184).
This quote is the reply of Mr. Edgar Knox who is of the opinion that the
non-violent struggle for independence is like a fairy tale to his sister Leda Knox who
writes ghastly endings and he is also afraid whether this struggle for independence
will have a classic happy ending. He also says such ghastly punishments are reserved
for ‗Lesser Breeds‘ in Kiplings poems. This remark is again a dig at the white man‘s
superiority over the people of other continents. This novel is actually styled like a
discussion on non-violence; there are a few characters who speak for it and a few
others who oppose it tooth and nail. It is left to the readers to decide for themselves
whether this mode of struggle has relevance in the modern world.
Nurullah‘s response to the young researcher from the U.S., Peter Ryde who
was researching on the topic ―Non-violence and its use of soul force‖ (114) is
revealed. Here we find Peter Ryde speaking in favour of non-violence and Nurullah
expressing the remorse of a person who has seen the torments of such a struggle.
He voices his view thus: ―Nor did Ahimsa put an end to violence…it even spurred it
on, aroused savage instincts bred from time immemorial to expect resistance, savager
when deprived of the familiar fighting adversary or fleeing quarry. Good old-fashioned
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war was waged against Ahimsa and Ahimsa did not escape war‘s legacies and
tragedies, war‘s prisoners and its wounded and its killed….No lethal weapon- wielder
stood back and said this man before me is unarmed so I will not strike" (114).
After Nurullah completed his deliberation on ‗Ahimsa‘ the young research
presented his perspective of the non-violent struggle. He was of the view that the
non-violent struggle was not like the other wars because one side did not retaliate and
hence the sufferings were halved. But Nurullah believed that the one-sidedness of the
war only made it the most intolerable to watch. He also propounded the view that the
non-violent struggle did not bring any change to the fortunes of a nation. "You must
understand the kind of world it was, made up of Europe and the lesser breeds whom
Europe had a right to rule. Armed or unarmed revolt made no difference to that right.
Only war and its fortunes drove Europe out" (57). When colonial powers conquered
the world purely by might poor countries had no artillery to stand against such forces.
Hence as Nikhil calls it, the weapon of the unarmed people: "What else have unarmed
people got?"(67) Through such deliberation the author actually conveys that the
non-violent struggle can be viewed as a glorious weapon that got independence for
India. But for Indians who partook in the struggle, the losses were more severe than a
war. The scars of the non-violent struggle made people bleed. The pains and pangs
were unbearable and it no way lessens the burden of the struggling masses. Through
Nurullah the author actually advocates a war on equal terms is better, than the
unequal strategy of Ahimsa.
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The title of the novel Lesser Breeds sounds ironical when the life of the so
called ―Lesser Breeds‖ is observed from close quarters. They are not less or inferior
to any race. The values and ideals they cherish are definitely higher than any other
race or nation. The courage to stay unarmed before an army which ruthlessly hits the
masses gathered, exhibits their mental strength. The belief is that justice and truth will
triumph ultimately. ―If blood must be shed in this battle, let it be your own‖ (4). Such
lofty ideals which insist that even if somebody is bent on taking your life, never shed
another‘s blood instead. Let your blood flow. This faith is the crux of non-violence.
This gesture will in turn deaden the brutal animal instincts and awaken the humane
instincts of the attacker. Though it is very easy to preach such great things, it is very
difficult to practise. Nurullah‗s agonising reaction at the death of his students,
divulges the pain of facing such realties. The sympathy for fellow human beings is a
trait of an emotionally intelligent person and Nurullah exhibits this throughout
the novel.
Edgar Knox is a journalist from the U.S. sent to study the political uprising in
India and assess how Britain tackled it. He was advised not to harp on the defeats of
the ally in his reports. England and U.S. were members of the allied countries. He had
a meeting with Sir Humphrey Hartley, the Governor of the Province, during his
tenure in the country. And he declared the purpose of his visit was to know India from
an authority like him. Knox asks Sir Humphrey: ―What brought you here originally?‖
(178) He replied that the Salt March of Gandhi In 1930 brought him here. He was
intrigued by that strategy. And he also recalled how news report gave a gory picture
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of the police action at the beach at Dandi to stop Gandhi‗s followers from raiding the
salt depot. The Viceroy boasted of how he had controlled mass agitation. He called
Akbarabad and its adjoining areas to be land of mutineers. But Edgar had witnessed
the Dandi Satyagraha himself and seen how non-violent protestors were treated
inhumanly. He had also seen the Mahatma during a train journey and how the masses
flocked around him. After seeing all this, he becomes a champion of the Indian cause
in the U.S. He supports the Indian cause and admired the Mahatma‘s teachings:―It made me wonder if my entire life would be worth one day of that
old man‘s. It was all over in a minute but it left me with the impression
that stamping out a resistance movement of people like him must be
like trying to lasso the Holy Ghost‖ (180).
He conjectures that the repression of the non-violent movement cannot last
long. Edgar meets Bhai and discusses about the ―British Government‘s latest offer:
independence for India after the war on condition that every British province and
Indian Prince‘s state would then have the right to declare its own independence if it so
wished!‖ (192) After the discussion, Edgar identifies himself with Nikhil and thinks
―I am you‖. The fraternal bond gets established between them and Edgar promises to
make arrangements for Bhai‘s daughter‘s education in the U.S. He writes to the U.S.
president to appeal to Churchill for the release of the prisoners and also representing
the plea for self-government. He even pleaded before the Senate Sub Committee
stating the freedom fighters in India ―looked upon America as a beacon light‖ (LB 345).
They hoped that America would intervene to grant them freedom. He loses his temper
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and finally states: ―Leap on them with stones or batter them with bombs, you still lose
them‖ (345). For this remark, he is penalised and condemned to a professional ruin
and deprived of his passport for ten years. Thus, Edagar Knox is an American who
fights for the Indian cause. His sense of justice and humanitarian values portray him
as another emotionally intelligent character in the novel.
Leda Knox, Edgar‘s sister, is entrusted with the responsibility of being the
Guardian of Shan during her stay in the U.S. Leda is representative of the new woman
and she is educated and has a rationale of her own. She worked in Mr. Melvile
Jenner‘s family firm, translating manuscripts from French and German. She was so
conscious of her time and never wanted to waste it. Hence, she decides to learn
Russian during the Second World War as she had less work. She had the skill of
mastering any language very quickly. Leda‗s uncle Desmond brought her up since her
mother died at birth. He was very much concerned that Leda was not married as she
was past thirty and feared that she may live life of a spinster. She helps Shan in
acclimatizing her to the US style of living. She takes her for dining and shopping.
She helps her make friends. Leda is a very exceptional character who loves to
befriend foreigners. The people in the US usually considered foreigners to be ‗freaks‘.
Leda is an emotionally intelligent character who does not have an air of racial
superiority and never looks at non- Europeans as ‗Lesser Breeds‘. Leda‘s first love
was a Black named Luke Bradford. They met at the University and he warned her that
love between a White and Black will only end up as a doomed affair. She recounts
how both of them were hiding like ―Two animals hiding from the hunter and certain
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that death could not risk raising their voices above a whisper even when they were
alone with each other, or leave a smudged hand or foot or body print on mud or grass
where they had lain‖ (333). This is a pen picture of how life is in a country which
calls itself the protector of human rights. Rights are again only for whites and not for
the coloured. They still do not have the right to love or live. If they decide otherwise,
they have to meet the consequences. Luke Bradford, Leda‘s lover is waylaid and
killed. The way he is tormented speaks volumes of the racial hegemony widely
prevalent in the United States.
His body stretched naked on a wooded path. Its skin was scrabbled
apart in patches like what rabid dog fangs do to meat. His arms and legs
were wrenched apart in four directions and roped to crossed iron poles.
His face was pulp. A hole gaped bloodily open in his groin. They had
left a posy of his shrivelled genitals on his stomach, tied with satin
ribbon. (334)
This was the barbaric treatment meted to a person who committed the crime of
falling in love with a white girl. The corpse is not spared. It is being displayed as a
warning to any ‗Lesser Breed‘ not to commit such a crime. Leda screams but no
sound comes out. She could not express her grief in a country which called itself a
Champion of Human Rights. This gruesome murder shatters Leda totally. Through
this description, Sahgal vivifies racism in horrendous terms. She brings out the
atrocities committed on coloured people-Black, brown and yellow or the ‗Lesser
Breeds‘. She also brings out the inability of the civilized race to understand that the
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colour of the skin is due to the influence of the geographical factors but they all
belong to the same species. Sahgal recounts the eyewitness accounts of how the
natives of America were driven out of the country. The savages were treated like
beasts by the so-called civilized. When due thought is bestowed on the deeds, there is
indeed a compulsion to reverse the names by calling the civilized as savages and
vice-versa. The indignation of Leda is exhibited when she reads Churchillian prose
which hails ‗all mankind‘ as ‗one world‘. She threw the material into her bathroom
basin. She very well knew the pseudo humanism of the west. They never practised
what they preached. Being a victim of racism of the worst kind, Leda makes it her
mission to collect tales of contemporary racism meted out to ‗Lesser Breeds‘.
Mr. Jenner, after seeing her first collection, hails her as the Champion of Human
rights. Leda knew very well that it was difficult to be recognised as human in her
country and human rights could only be a distant dream. ―Rights had waited on some
remote star‖ (342).
Nurullah comes to meet Leda as per the instruction of Edgar Knox.
He appeared to her as a charming guest amused by his surroundings. They discussed
Shan‘s unpublished observations which made her oblivious of her reservations.
He narrated several tales of Pyare Chacha, Bhai‘s family chronicler, atrocities
committed on the peasant community and Bhai‘ self less devotion to the cause of
nation building rewarded with his hanging. All these discussions bring them close to
each other and they decide to tie the knot.
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Leda displays her emotional intelligence as the story unfolds. She becomes an
emotional wreck when she witnesses the harrowing murder of her lover.
She understands her emotion as well as the emotions of people suffering from racial
discrimination. She decides to dedicate her life and potential as a translator to the
mission of revealing their distressing tales to the world, so that there will be a change
for the better in the world. Leda overcomes the grief and works towards the
eradication of racial discrimination through her collection of tales. This effort of
overcoming the grief with a positive outlook towards life is essentially a trait of an
emotionally intelligent person.
Politeness even to perpetrators of violence, thereby making them understand
the meaning and power of non-violence and proclaiming aloud the fact that the people
discussed in this novel as ―Lesser Breeds‖ are not lesser breeds. They are higher or
superior to all because they have climbed to a higher level by practising values such
as forgiveness, love, equality and non-violence. These are virtues unique to the
human race and it is these virtues that distinguish man from animal.
The portrayal of characters in most of Sahgal‘s novels are created with such
mastery that readers are easily led to the real life characters on whom they are
modelled. In this novel also, there are allusions to Pandit Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
The character of Nikhil is modelled on Nehru‘s character and the impact of such a
towering personality on the masses is also one of the major reasons for the success of
the non-violent movement. The non –violent struggle does not remain a part of Indian
value system. There are people all over the world who look at this ideal, and it brings
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changes in their lives in a humble way. Edgar Knox and Leda Knox are such
characters in this novel. They make an introspective study of their own lives. On the
whole, the novel makes every reader look at the values of the society and also makes
them think how best it can be applied to their lives. The history of India‘s freedom
struggle is traced through the Nehru-Gandhi dichotomy.
The consciousness of Nurullah is discussed in the novel. He plays the dual role
of a tutor as well as a learner. He is an observer-participant, exploring the sources of
knowledge available during the Imperial rule. The role of literature, which plays the
part of a secret weapon in the freedom struggle to sabotage and work for ulterior
motives, has been acknowledged by Nurullah. ―Literature as a secret weapon, as
ulterior motive, as sabotage has been put away and now it could be indulged in,
cherished for its own pleasure and pain‖ (354) .These lines acquaint us with the fact
that the presence of imperial powers did not let education to be pursued for its
pleasure. The struggle for freedom was like a struggle for breath of life and it pulsated
in all domains. It is only after independence that a dedicated teacher like Nurullah
feels he is able to indulge in the pains and pleasures of a literary text. The domination
of a foreign power is a yoke which robs the nation of the inner peace and liberty
which is required for the pursuit of any activity, in a full-fledged manner, is
depicted in the above lines. This pain is delineated with the pangs of a patriot.
―How unfortunate that we of Hindustan are blended and basterized beyond
unravelling‖. (165)
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This work of Sahgal is a manifesto breaking the myth of racial superiority.
Nurullah says that people of Hindustan are mixed beyond identification. It is very
difficult to trace the origin of any race. A pure race is a myth. Hence, the first premise
of racial superiority is proved false. The second premise which claims that a particular
race or breed is superior and is ordained to rule the world is actually a myth.
Sahgal has done a remarkable job by being illustrious in her goal to rupture the myth
of superiority and inferiority of races, thereby proving that the so called ―Lesser
Breeds‖ are equal in every sense of the term to people all over the world.
The fact that Colonisation was the cunning sport of a few greedy nations
which had amassed wealth by exploiting the nations which were unarmed has been
skillfully portrayed. Finally, the other nations which were not prepared for war are
―Lesser Breeds‖ just because they were not able to face their exploiters in the
battlefield. These nations were peace loving nations deeply rooted in a highly spiritual
way of life, whereas the colonial powers had given impetus for aggression and
exploration of wealth around the world. The colonial powers had set the rules of the
game and made the unprepared nations and empires to obey their dictates. ―The west
is still the world, makes the rules, calls the shots- not in the old way of you keep the
mountain I'll take the sea-but nevertheless nothing‗s changed‖ (81). The west still
rules the world but there is a minor change-the powers have gone to the US from
the British.
Sahgal concludes the novel with a foreboding that the war of wealth has not
ended and perhaps the war may continue till man lives on this planet. ―Oil and allied
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treasures will exact a more terrifying price than pepper, gold and nutmeg, or teak and
diamonds ever did. Asia, and who knows Africa will be the battlefields of war
immemorial‖ (368). Most of her novels hold a prediction about the future of India.
Like in The Day in Shadow she predicts the era of globalisation and privatisation and
how it is going to effect the common man. In Storm in Chandigarh she foretells how
the division of the State is going to take place. Her predictions have always proved
true because she writes with the eye of a journalist who closely observes the changes
in the nation and speculates what the future holds. The premise that oil will be the
cause of the next world war is a reality, confronted by people who are reeling under
the rising oil prices. The blend of the futuristic vision of a journalist and the proven
dexterity of socio-political fiction writer makes Sahgal‘s work stand out as peerless in
the realm of Indian writing in English.
Sahgal has presented a plethora of characters, the problems they face in life
like the evils of the feudal system, the exploitation of land and people by the colonial
powers, bombing of cities like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, racial discrimination and the
hegemony of the allied powers. Thus, the novel Lesser Breeds provides a panoramic
view of the world and its burning issues. The analysis of emotional intelligence in
these characters provides insight into the psyche of the human mind in general and
how problems help people to identify their potential and strive to grow and blossom
in adverse situations in life.
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