by Unknown
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“A world that’s entirely our own”
Indian Response to the
British Wizarding World
Ravindra Pratap Singh
The wizarding world that the chapters in this volume have been discussing has captivated the minds of young and old across the globe. One of the pleasures of reading J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is discovering the playful references to history, legend and literature that she uses in her books. The locale of the wizarding world is set in Great Britain, with the clear influence of European culture and dominance of primarily an Anglican society. The surface analysis gives the feel that magic and all other things are considered in the very western way, almost ‘othering’ non-western ontological and epistemological versions of magic and witchcraft. But a careful analysis of the nuances and connotations establish a healthy connection and compatibilities between Harry’s world and the modern Orient.
In 2010 I conducted an exploratory study, in association with Mahendra Pratap Singh, seeking to understand why the Harry Potter series, and a magical society in Europe, managed to secure a successful fan following in India. Our hypothesis, developed from reading the books ourselves, was that Indian readers would notice similarities between Indian culture and myths and the British wizarding world. We surveyed 500 school children between the ages of 9 and 14 in different elite schools of Uttar Pradesh, North India. Sixty per cent of the respondents reported that they do in fact find elements in Harry Potter familiar due to commonalities with Indian stories, legends and culture.
In this chapter I will elaborate upon three elements that I believe enable Indian children to relate to the British wizarding world. First, I believe one factor in the positive reception of Harry Potter in India is due to the fact that Indian society has an established fascination with various supernatural and paranormal elements. Second, many characters (humans and beasts) which are present in the British wizarding world have, in some way or the other, already existed in Indian society. Finally, the social structure of the British wizarding world parallels the Indian caste system. These three elements, I believe, are why Indian children find such familiarity in story set in Great Britain.
Indian Magic
India has a rich tradition of magic and witchcraft of her own which dates back even to the earliest history of human civilizations. India has been the land of the Panchtantra, Jataka Tales and Amarchitra Katha series in which witchcraft (para human) and human civilizations are shown to co-exist. These traditions still affect the collective public consciousness and consequently desires for the supernatural are already rooted in a larger population of Indian origin.
The oeuvre and spectacle in the British wizarding world are closely related to similar patterns in India. Michael Naas (2007: 6), who speaks of the power of phantasm, writes that:
[Phantasm] does not exist but that we believe exists. A phantasm that would be nothing other than a belief in a phenomenon that transcends itself, that spontaneously gives rise to itself – like an Immaculate Conception. For in any consideration of the phantasm, one must be interested less in the ontological status of the phantasm than in its staying power, its returning power, I would be tempted to say its regenerative power. In a word, one must be interested in the fact that, to cite an English idiom, the phantasm has “legs.”
The whole of the British wizarding world creates a phantasm (of magic) before the Indian reader; and the minds of Indian readers are already acculturated to sustain pleasure from something supernatural and phantasmal.
Indians in Wizarding Britain
According to census data, Indians are the largest ethnic minority group in United Kingdom (Office of National Statistics 2005). During Harry Potter’s tenure at Hogwarts there were two Indian British witches: twins Parvati and Padma Patil. The Patil twins were smart and “the best-looking girls in the year” (GOF 411). They attended the Yule Ball with Harry and Ron in fourth year, joined Dumbledore’s Army during their fifth year, and fought during the ensuing Second Wizarding War.
I believe that Parvati and Padma Patil by their commendable tasks become role models for Indian children, especially girls. In Indian society gender roles are quickly changing. Now women are not shown as damsels in distress but like partners who equally fight with similar determination. As such, I believe Indian readers were more attracted the Patil twins as they exemplified their changing social and gender constructs.
Moreover, by directing our attention to nomenclature and its contextual association, we see that when we semantically analyse the name of “Parvati” we find her name is the name of Hindu Goddess Parvati, the better half of Lord Shiva, who is known for her bravery and courage. Etymologically, “Parvati” originates from Sanskrit/Hindi word Parvat which means mountain, connoting something bold and strong, in determination. Parvati was in Gryffindor, the house which selects only those students who are brave, determined and courageous.
Similarly, “Padma” refers to goddess Saraswati. She is the goddess of intellect. Unlike her sister, Padma was selected for Ravenclaw house, which values intelligence, learning, creativity and wit. Since the names relate to Indian mythologies and base themselves to the potent beliefs, the common reader can relate himself /herself in a better way. It clearly shows that Rowling had knowledge of Hindu mythology and as such constructed a well-connected maze for the Indian readers to solve and link. We all are aware of the fact Rowling writes in such a manner as to create more mystery for all her readers to solve while the plot is happening at parallel. The names of the Patil twins contributed to this effort and I believe is one reason why Indian readers were attracted the British novels.
The twins’ personalities likewise reflect a psyche that Indian children can related to. One reason why Parvati’s favourite subject was Divination can be attributed to the fact that a significant portion of Indian society, especially the followers of Hindu religion, believe in “Kundali.” This a document which is said to contain all the details and secrets of a person’s past, present and future, similar to Linda Goodman’s books on astrology. The main aim of Divination is also to find out the secrets of future life, therefore I believe Indian readers would perfectly relate to Parvati’s love of this subject.
Fantastic Beas
ts and Where in India to Find Them
Creatures from Western mythology are readily recognizable in the wizarding world. For instance, the Sphinx in the maze during the Triwizard Tournament asks a riddle, just as the Sphinx of ancient Greek mythology did. Hagrid’s pet dog, Fluffy, is actually another famous beast from Greek mythology, Cerberus. Draco, Harry’s nemesis, gets his name from the Latin word for dragon or snake. Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, Fawkes, gets his name from a historical figure linked to bonfires just as phoenixes are said to be reborn in fire.
Less often recognized, however, are the many magical creatures in the British wizarding world that have their origin in India. Indian society is a strong believer in supernatural elements and magical creatures; consequently, I believe readers were excited to see creatures they recognized (the manticore, snakes, and unicorns) in the British wizarding world.
A manticore is a monstrous creature which was said to inhabit the forests in Asia, especially those of India. It has a body of lion and a head with human resemblance. The mouth is filled with three rows of razor sharp teeth and the scaled tail ends in a ball of poisonous darts. The monster was believed to stalk through the forest in search of humans. Anthropologists now believe that the ancient Greek travellers in India mistook a tiger for a manticore when they saw the animals for the first time. I believe that whereas Western readers agreed with Harry that the creature he encountered during the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, a creature that “had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft” with the head of a woman was a sphinx (GOF 628), Indian readers identified Harry’s interrogator as the familiar Indian manticore.
Nagini is another creature that I believe contributed to the positive Indian response to Harry Potter. Nagini was Lord Voldemort’s green snake and was roughly 12 feet long and thick as a man’s thigh (GOF 122; DH 9). She was known to be venomous and her venom was used to sustain her master prior to his return to the true physical form (GOF 9). The last of her master’s Horcruxes, Nagini was beheaded during the Battle of Hogwarts by Neville Longbottom wielding the sword of Gryffindor. Indian readers would know that naga means a male snake in Sanskrit, and the word nagin is used for the female snake in Hindi and Urdu. This creature parallels many a naag characters in Indian mythology and I believe this is familiar to Indian children.
The unicorn is the third mythical creature that I believe Indian readers were able to strongly appreciate. As per the records of Greek writers, unicorns were animals found in India. Unicorns were described as having a straight, long horn that extends from its forehead. It was also said to have goat’s beard, cloven hooves and a lion’s tail. In the British wizarding world they are seen as pure animals which are gold when babies then turn sliver and ultimately white as they grow into adulthood (GOF 484). Witches and wizards use unicorn horns and tail hairs, and unicorn’s silvery blood is lifesaving to one who drinks it, but at the cost of the life becoming cursed (SS 258).
In ancient India, a unicorn was used on one of the seals from Indus Valley Civilization. Cosmas Indicopleustes, a sixth-century merchant of Alexandria who made a voyage to India, subsequently wrote works on cosmography, which describe a figure of the unicorn, not from actual sight of it, but as reproduced from four figures of it in brass contained in the palace of the King of Ethiopia. He stated, that “it is impossible to take this ferocious beast alive; and that all its strength lies in its horn. When it finds itself pursued and in danger of capture, it throws itself from a precipice, and turns so aptly in falling, that it receives all the shock upon the horn, and so escapes safe and sound” (Christian Topography 1897: 358). I believe that the existence of the unicorn in Indian mythology made it another magical creature that ingratiated Indian readers to the British wizarding world.
Parallel Social Structure
The most spectacular feature of British wizarding world is the blood based division of society. In this social structure, we witness a tri-layered social structure: wizards belonging to wizarding families (purebloods) are supposedly superior to wizards belonging to partial – or non-wizarding families (half-bloods and Muggle-borns respectively). Harry learned of this notion of social hierarchy when Draco Malfoy said to Ron Weasley and then to Harry:
No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford… You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. (SS 108)
Similar stratification is also prevalent in Indian society. India is famous for its caste system, which has become a strong institution in its society. Under this institution the Hindus have been divided into four Varnas: Brahmans, Kshtriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. As per social hierarchy, the Brahmans are the most superior followed by the Kshtriyas and the Vaishyas. The Shudras have been treated as the outcastes. This system has been so rigid that even inter-caste marriages and inter-dining were prohibited. Initially based on choice of profession, this practice, at later stage, became hereditary. Even today, it has not completely subsided in the Indian society.
In a stratified social system, one’s location in the hierarchy affects access to goods and services. For example, Harry and his friends learn that that Slytherin chooses its students partially based having “great ambition” (GOF 177) but also only selects “those whose ancestry is purest” (OOTP 205). Indian traditional social system shows the illustrations of similar discriminatory practices in education in literature as well. For example in the Indian epic the Mahabharata, we see the example of Eklavya who went to Guru Drona to learn archery but was refused on the grounds that he was not a prince of the Brahmin or Kshtriyas castes, and Guru Drona only taught those of these higher castes. Determined Eklavya, however, created a mud bust of Guru Drona and started practicing on his own in front of it. In time he became the world’s best archer, even surpassing legendary Arjuna who was a student of Drona.
When the Hindus were first divided into four Varnas, it was based on the work of the person concerned. Only over time did the classification become rigidly rooted in birth. We see the influence of occupation in the wizarding world as well. Mr. Weasley, for example, is considered by other purebloods to be “a disgrace to the name of wizard” (COS 62) for his personal interactions with Muggles and for his professional work with Muggles in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office at the Ministry of Magic. Squibs (non-magical persons born into wizarding families) are another example of the status-occupation link. Squibs often have the worst jobs in the wizarding world, where they are seen as outcasts. Mr. Filch the caretaker at Hogwarts is an example. This also happened in India where people belonging to the lower rung of the caste system were assigned jobs usually considered unclean. They were also outcasted from society.
Another feature of the British wizarding world to which Indian fans could relate is inter-caste conflict, exemplified by purebloods’ torture of Muggle-borns and the latter fighting back. Some of these rivalries mirror the scene of Indian society where people belonging to high castes misbehave and assault the people of the lower castes. One of the Big Trios of Indian English novel writers, Mulk Raj Anand, makes a very lively description of the issue in question in his short story, “The Barber’s Trade Union,” where a “low caste barber’s son” Chandu is humiliated several times for wearing fine clothing and behaving like members of the upper caste. The narrator of the story finds one day that the protagonist of the story Chandu, who happened to be his classmate, invites unfavourable situations for him when he wears a nice outfit. He writes:
One day I was thrilled to find Chandu at the door of my house in the morning. He was dressed up in a white turbon, a white rubber coat (a little too big for him, but nevertheless very splendid), a pair of pumpsin which I could see my face reflected in clear silhouette, and he had a leather bag in his hand. He was setting off on his round and had come to show me how grand he looked in his new new rig-out (Singh 2000: 31-
32).
Although the narrator was excited and exclaimed, “Marvellous” at his friend’s attire, the traditional gentry of the village was all set to denounce it. One burly landlord yells, “Go away you swine, go away and wear clothes befitting your low status as a barber, and don’t let me see you practising any of your new fangled notions, or else I will have you flogged”(32).
Although this tale is some three or four decades old, still the ideology is found in the national psyche. This often takes a violent turn resulting in bloodshed. Similarly in the British wizarding world, purebloods like Draco Malfoy often are set to “get that jumped up Mudblood” when Muggle-borns “act above” their station (HP3).
Finally, in India there has been a great chain of scholars, leaders, and social workers who worked for eliminating caste system. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar and many more worked in this direction. The untouchability and disparity based on caste system has been almost eliminated, but the castes still exist. In the twenty-first century, some Indians want to write off even the existence of castes from the social structure. They are working to change the caste system. Consequently, the final correlate I find between the Indian social system and the British wizarding world is that Indian readers could identify with the Harry’s and others’ efforts to fight against Voldemort’s caste system and bring about a more equal society.
Conclusion
Though the British wizarding world created by JK Rowling is fictional, it grows from a deep foundation of myths and folklore that have endured across time and space. The world wide popularity of Harry Potter books testifies to the breadth of cultures from which she draws many of her images, characters and themes. Sometimes she creates something entirely new from the fragments gleaned from different cultures, collating a postmodern collage, yet she remains remarkably true to the essence of each.