Rosie

R.K. Narayan’s The Guide (1958) is mainly the life story of Raju, whose fascinating journey
from being a tourist guide to a saint or spiritual guide (try to use the words spiritual guide
instead of saint, if possible) is recorded in the novel. However, the novel gives enough space
and insight to Rosie’s character, the female lead of the story, and she equally shines out in the
novel. She is as a multifaceted person as Raju. Rosie moves on from being a ‘devadasi’ to an
M.A. in Economics, a housewife, a woman rejected by her husband for infidelity, but
nevertheless becomes a renowned dancer and yet regrets her failed marriage. Symbolically,
Rosie represents the rising of the modern Indian woman, who may be conservative and
traditional and yet would break the barriers of social institutions to acquire an identity for her.

The name ‘Rosie’ is itself a marker of her social hybridity. Rosie belongs to the devadasi
community, a class outside the pale of organized patriarchal Hindu society, who are dedicated
to the temples as dancers. Generally, they are viewed in the society as of low class women.
Yet, Rosie is a qualified lady with a University degree, which is almost revolutionary for a
woman of her background. In fact, Rosie reads ancient works on dancing such as Bharat Muni's
“Natya Shastra” and even employs a pundit to explain the old Sanskrit verses. She also looks
for ideas in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Thus we realize that Rosie not only has bookish
knowledge but can blend her knowledge with her art like a truly educated person.
.

The most important aspect of Rosie's character is her pursuit of dance. Indeed, the metaphor
of dance defines Rosie’s fate in the same way that the metaphor of the guide defines Raju. To
Rosie, it’s her deep love for the dance that brings all manners of vicissitudes–she gets
frustrated with Marco as he forbids her to dance and gets seduced by Raju as he applauds her
dancing. For Rosie, dance is far beyond any kind of material gains. At first, it becomes her way
to achieve spiritual sanctity and later becomes her means of gaining independent identity.
Rosie as a dancer is associated with Cobra, the snake, which itself is related to the Cosmic
Dancer of Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva. The image of the cobra as the mystic symbol of Shiva
is related to Rosie herself –she too, is from an "underground" or socially stigmatized class, and
yet she can come close to the Gods through her dance, which for her is the sincerest form of
worship. In a male-dominated world, the achievement of Rosie, to become a respected Bharat
Natyam dancer, to successfully pursue her art, to transform herself into a self-made woman is
a startling exploration of the novel.

In spite of all these, one part of her remains essentially orthodox. First of all, she herself never
really respects her own Devadasi clan and calmly accepts what is publicly told about them: “We
are viewed as public women. We are not considered respectable; we are not considered
civilized”. Being a highly educated woman she should have tried to reform the image of her
clan in the society or make people aware about the unfair system of the Devdasis. Again, Rosie
keeps on carrying the burden of her failed marriage all her life. For a woman, who jeopardizes
her marriage for a casual acquaintance, Rosie seems to have extremely old fashioned notions
about husband-wife relationship. Rosie desires a very simple married life of a normal Indian
woman, like always serving her husband and being loyal to him. Despite his indifference
toward her, Rosie is always grateful to Marco for marrying her in spite of her low origin. She
honestly tries to be a loving and caring wife till the end of their relationship. Even after many
years parting from Marco, when she becomes a household name with her own identity, her
unsympathetic and insulting husband's book remains very dear to her. Moreover, her change
of name from Rosie to Nalini is a hint of her wish to fit herself in that very conventional society
which she challenges. Thus, as the westernized name of Rosie marks out her state of social
exclusion, through the name of Nalini, Rosie symbolically seeks an entry into the traditional
patriarchal ( I am inserting this word here) society that rejects her.

So, we see that Rosie is caught in a contradiction between her dedication to dance and the
cultural values that are imposed upon her by the society. R.K. Narayan writes in his
autobiography "My Days" that Rosie's complex nature and self contradictory decisions is a
result of her special social background. Here, we must remember the cultural hegemony of any
patriarchal society; especially in Indian context where the identity of a child is determined just
after the birth on the basis of gender, religion and caste. Rosie is no exception. Despite of all
her education, assertive nature, love for her art and independent identity, she can’t (do not
write can’t but always write cannot ) come out of this patriarchal supremacy.

Nevertheless, as Rosie's story rolls towards its end, we find a slow but steady transformation of
her. After the departure of Raju, she starts pursuing her true purpose of art. She is shown
moving from strength to strength, fulfilling her desire to become a true artist. She comes out
of the clutches of indifferent and exploitative men, and establishes her own identity through
her art. Indeed, Rosie can be seen as the forerunner of today’s confident and hardworking
Indian women who follow the tradition but don’t (again do not write don’t but do not ) hesitate
to break it and create new norms when it seems to block their path of self development.

Note: Very good …well written!!