The Hunt by Mahashweta Devi

‘The Hunt’ forms part of a collection published as Imaginary Maps: Three Stories by Mahasweta Devi in 1995. The other two stories in the collection are namely ‘Douloti the Bountiful’ and ‘Pterodactyl, Puran Sahay, and Pirtha.’ All three stories describe a fictional rendition of situations that are very real in the lives of the tribal people. While ‘The Hunt’ is about a half tribal girl’s bold attempt to put a violent end to her personal exploitation as well as to the threat of ecological devastation, ‘Douloti’ deals with the problem of bonded labour, particularly the women who are exploited endlessly and mercilessly through the system. The heart wrenching image at the end of the story with Douloti’s rotting and bleeding body covering the map of India raises many disturbing questions and speaks volumes for what independent India has failed to do for one sixth of its population. In Devi’s words “Decolonization has not reached the poor. That is why these things happen. Women are just merchandize, commodities.” In the third and concluding story ‘Pterodactyl’ Devi attempts to show ‘what has been done to the entire tribal world of India.’ As the author says: “If read carefully, ‘Pterodactyl’ will communicate the agony of the tribals, of marginalized people all over the world,”.  

Two of the stories in the above collection are women centric. In fact when we read Devi’s other fiction we find that many of her stories revolve around women where she highlights women’s subordination, their vulnerability and their extreme exploitation, be it in middle class households, in tribal villages or in brickfields. Yet, she refuses to be labeled a feminist. She proclaims that she writes as a writer and not as a woman and looks at a problem in its entirety and not just at its gender aspect.  Her tales are powerful tales of exploitation as well as struggle where a woman is more vulnerable simply because of the physical disadvantage of being a woman. More often than not the women in her stories though intrinsically strong and resilient, are often left with no choice but to succumb to their circumstances. Against this backdrop, ‘The Hunt’ comes as a breath of fresh air where Mary Oraon, the beautiful half white half tribal girl has the courage and determination to take matters in her own hands and put an end not only to her own oppression but also to a threat to her entire community.

The events of the story revolve around Mary Oraon, a half tribal girl who works for the estate owner Mr. Prasad at the Dixon Bungalow. Everything seems to be going smoothly until the day Tehsildar Singh lands in the village, being invited by Banwari Lal, Mr. Prasad’s son, for negotiating a deal regarding the giant Sal trees on Prasad’s estate. Not only does he eye the Sal he even begins lusting after Mary the moment he sets eyes on her. Mary is angry and rebuffs his advances without much success. On the day of Jani Parab, the annual hunting festival, Mary ultimately resorts to violence to put an end to the matter by hunting down Tehsildar. Rather than being a passive victim of male sexual aggression she avenges her oppressive plight by killing her assailant. 

Having triumphed over her aggressor Mary returns to the group of women and joins them in the celebration which is part of the festival. She feasts and she dances with abandon and then quietly leaves the village for a promise of a better life elsewhere with Jalim, her prospective mate.