Introduction:
After reading the story of the present novel “Fire on the Mountain” written by Anita Desai, we find that Ila Das is also an important character dominating the story from the beginning upto the end. She was a good and gentle woman with a high social sense, yet she was cruelly raped and murdered by Preet Singh.
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| Fire on the Mountain— Character Sketch of Ila Das | |
Ila Das was born in a rich family with high connections, yet she had to face misfortunes one after the other. Her father had brought up her children with great care and much comfort. Being the daughter of a rich father she had high connections with the people of wealth and high position like that the family of Nanda Kaul whose husband was the Vice Chancellor of the Punjab University. Her father had a big house at the bank of Dal lake with an orchard near her house. Her father made experiments in horticulture and he also had a private zoo which had a Himalayan bear, leopard, cats, peacocks and monkeys. He had brought an idol of Buddha.
Ila Das and Nanda Kaul were two fast and intimate friends who had studied together in a school and college. They continued their friendship upto the last time of Ila's tragic murder. “Nanda Kaul's family had known Ila Das in the days when some of the glory of British Empire was allowed to reflect on a few favoured natives. Such families lived in a large bungalow on quiet roads.”
The Disability of Ila Das and her sister, Rima:
Ila Das had three brothers and a sister. The brothers were healthy and strong but the two sisters Ila Das and Rima were deformed. Ila Das was short in size like Raka , so she was often an object of ridicule due to her small size . At Carignano, Ramlal gave her the lowest chair. Besides, she had a strange voice. When she was at school, the teachers did not permit her to speak. Nanda Kaul recalled that once Ila Das wanted to sing a poem but the teacher asked her to remain silent.
It is true that her voice was a curse to her. Both her figure and her voice surprised not only human beings but also animals, Street urchins ran after her crying and throwing stones at her as if she were a strange animal. When she had come to Carignano, boys ran after her hooting her. Such were common scenes wherever she went.
Her Three Unworthy Brothers:
The figure of Ila Das had made her life very difficult but her own brothers had made a hell of it. The three brothers who were hale and hearty were sent to foreign universities to Heidelberg, Cambridge and Harvard for their education. They got no education but they wasted money foolishly and freely. They did not attend a single lecture but they also started drinking regularly. They also wasted money on horse - races. In this way they fell under heavy debts. Their father had, “to sell his own horses, his carriage, his house, his land," to repay the debts. When their father died none of them came to the funeral. After the death of their father, the three brothers quarrelled with their ill mother and two sisters for their jewellery and left them penniless. The two sisters and their mother were compelled to shift to the rented rooms. After sometime the brothers disappeared or died and their mother also died.
The Unfortunate sisters:
The two sisters tried to find jobs for themselves. Rima started giving lessons in piano, going from house to house. Ila got a job in the Home Science Department with the help of Nanda Kaul's husband who was the Vice Chancellor. The young boys lost their interest in piano because they took interest in guitar and pop - music, so Rima became without a job. Ila was also compelled to resign from her job.
Rima went to Calcutta where her ex - governess, Mrs. Wright gave her a bed in the corner of her flat. Nanda Kaul advised Ila to do a course in social service, so she got a government job as a Social Welfare Officer. Ila had a limited salary, yet she sent some money to her sister, Rima to pay for her boarding and lodging. Poverty was the real curse of her life. She told Nanda Kaul that she was managing to send some money to Rima. She also started writing to magazines and journals to give a column to Home Science to increase her income in a regular way.
Ila had the greatest regret of her life that her good education could not help her in getting the basic necessities of life. She said to Nanda Kaul. “Isn’t it absurd how helpless our upbringing made us, Nanda? We thought we were being equipped with the very best - French lessons, piano lessons, English governess – my, all that only to find it left us helpless, positively handicapped.” Then she herself was from hand to mouth, really starving, yet she thought about other poor persons “how to help them as a welfare officer.” She advised the village people to go to the doctor for their treatment. For example, she had advised Maya Devi to take her little son who had cut his foot with a rusty nail to the doctor but the village priest had misguided her saying that “injection was the work of the devil.” At last that child died. In the same way the children of the village were advised to be taken to the doctor for their eye - diseases but the priest again forbade them to do so.
Ila Das fell into serious trouble because she had tried to stop the child - marriages. For example, she stopped Preet Singh to marry his minor daughter to a rich land owner. She added that it was illegal and also harmful to the health of the little girl. At last she was murdered for that because Preet Singh one day caught her, raped her and killed her because she wanted to save his minor daughter from the bad results of child marriage.
Good and Gentle Nature of Ila Das:
The close study of the present novel shows that Ila Das was the young woman of good and gentle nature. She had suffered much in her life but she never lost her patience. Though she was very busy with her duties, yet she went to meet Nanda Kaul and Raka because the old woman had studied with her in the same school and college. She always laughed even in the face of difficulties. She helped her sister, Rima with money out of her love and sympathy for her. She was killed when she was trying to do good things for the village people as a welfare officer. Both Nanda Kaul and Raka were deeply shocked after hearing of her cruel rape and tragic murder.
Raka's Love for Ila Das:
It is true that Raka had deep love and sympathy for Ila Das. When she visited Nanda Kaul and Raka at Carignano, she became very happy to meet Raka. Raka was deeply hurt after hearing the story of the sufferings of Ila Das. Her rape and murder had made her almost mad that she burnt the forest with a fire. Raka had love for trees and animals but she loved Ila Das most because she had lived and died for the poor village people.