Kanthapura (Major Characters-II)

                                                                      4 Bade Khan

Bade Khan, the Policeman, is a symbol of the British Raj. He is the symbol of the British presence in Kanthapura. It is his duty to maintain law and order and put down the Gandhi movement and it may be said to his credit that he performs his duty loyally and sincerely.

The Gandhites may consider him a villain but judged impartially, he is a loyal Government servant performing his duty in every circumstance. He may be an instrument of the foreign Government but it would be wrong to dismiss him as a heartless monster of wickedness.

On arriving at Kanthapura, the initial difficulty he has to face is that of accommodation. Being a Muslim, he finds it difficult to find a house in the village. He goes to the Skeffington Coffee Estate, where a hut is allocated to him in which he settles down with one of the Pariah women.

Once settled comfortably, he moves about the village secretively watching the people, collecting information and passing it on to the city authorities. Very soon he is in league with Bhatta and others who are opposed to the Gandhi movement.

When Moorthy goes to meet the workers on the Coffee Estate, it is he who keeps watch and rains lathi blows on him and his supporters, as he approaches the gate of the Estate. In short, he is one of those unpatriotic Indians, who made it possible for the British to rule India for such a long time.

5 The Swami

The Swami lives in the city. He remains in the background. Like Mahatma Gandhi, he never appears on the scene. He is an orthodox Brahmin, narrow in his views.

He is a traitor to the cause of the freedom of India. He is in the pay of the British government. He has received twelve hundred acres of wetland from the Government. So he is a willing stooge of the Britishers.

In league with Bhatta, he does his best to defeat the freedom struggle in Kanthapura. It is he who excommunicates Moorthy for "the Pariah business" and thus is indirectly responsible for the death of his mother who is unable to bear the shock.

 

6 Ratna

 Ratna is a young widow. She became a widow when she was hardly fifteen years of age. She is attractive and charming as is clear from the attention which Moorthy pays to her. Ratna is a young educated woman of progressive views. Though she is a widow she does not dress and live in a conventional style of a widow. She wears bangles; coloured sarees (and not the white dhoti of a widow), uses the kumkum mark on her forehead.

She is also bold and witty in conversation and can hold her own against heavy odds. She is much criticized for her unconventional ways but she does not care for such criticism. She chooses her own path and sticks to it with firmness and determination. She takes a keen interest in the Gandhian movement and is a source of inspiration and help to Moorthy. When Jayaramachar, the Harikatha man, is arrested, she conducts the Harikatha.

After Rangamma's death, she reads out the newspapers and other publicity material of the Congress for the benefit of the villagers. When Moorthy is arrested, she carries on his work and serves as the leader. She organizes the women volunteer corps and imparts to the Sevikas the necessary training. She displays great courage and resourcefulness in the face of government repression and police action.

As the narrator of the story tells us, she comes out of jail a changed person, more humble and more courteous to her elders but more mature and determined. When Gandhi goes to England, for the Round Table Conference, reaches a settlement with the Red - man's Government and the movement is withdrawn, Ratna is disappointed like countless other freedom fighters in India.

Ratna stands for the educated, progressive womanhood of India whom Gandhi had enthused with his own ideals and who came out of their homes in their thousands to fight shoulder to shoulder with their men folk for the freedom of their motherland. She is the female counterpart of Moorthy.

7 Rangamma

She is one of the few educated women in the village. She reads the newspapers herself and thus keeps herself and others acquainted with the day to day developments elsewhere.

Waterfall Venkamma is jealous of her and roars and rails against her day and night. It is from her railings that we learn much about her. She is a childless widow but she has a very big home, much larger than that of Venkamma herself.

Her relatives are in the city and visit her frequently. She is of great help to Moorthy in organizing the Congress work in the village. She is a lady of enlightened views actively involved in the freedom struggle.