Indigo: Long Answer Questions – Part 1
Question 1: “Indigo” is a supernatural story. Discuss with close reference to the text.
Answer: “Indigo” is a supernatural story which follows all the conventions of the supernatural genre – a simple and ordinary protagonist who come across some unexpected and paranormal situation which render the scenario highly exciting. Here in this story the main character Aniruddha Bose, is a twenty – nine year old bachelor of a modern and rational thinking. He experiences a series of uncanny events while staying in a Dak bungalow which belongs t an English indigo planter. While spending a night at an abandoned bungalow of an indigo planter, Aniruddha Bose experiences shocking changes and gets transformed into the mind of an indigo tax collector. His body is completely changed, his hands had become pale and his voice was like that of an Englishman and his clothes were also different. Though his consciousness was still of his own, yet his body was not acting of his own accord.
He has no control over himself, be began to write a letter as if he were the Englishman, who died exactly hundred years ago on the same date. In his trance like state he shoots the planter’s pet hound Rex. But when he wakes up next morning everything is back to normal.
All these strange experiences has no logical explanation. The suspense and Aniruddha’s fear and confusion add to the supernatural atmosphere. The setting is also an eerie isolated, Dak bungalow. Date and time also play an important role in this story as all these events take place on the hundredth death anniversary, i.e. 27th April 1868. All these happens without any logical explanation, indicating the supernaturalism and paranormal activities.
Question 2: What happens with Aniruddha in the Dak bungalow of an English planter ?
Answer: When Aniruddha has to spend an unplanned night at an abandoned and old dak bungalow of an English indigo planter he encounters a paranormal phenomena.
The dal bungalow belonged to the English indigo planter and Aniruddha was sleeping on his bed in his bedroom. At night Aniruddha was suddenly awoken by the scratching sound on the door and the houls. He recognised thatit was a hound, as he raised his hand to check the time in his wristwatch he found his wristwatch has gone. He jumped out of bed and looked for his luggage and was shocked to see it has also disappeared. He was puzzled to see how did the thief enter, if the door is still bolted and window had bars.
After this Aniruddha noticed more strange happenings. He found his hands had become “pale” and his clothes were also changed. He had gone to bed wearing a vest but now he was wearing a long sleeved silk shirt with narrow trousers and socks. When he called for the “chowkidar”, his voice has also changed with the “unmistakable accent of an Englishman”.
He found that the cottage of the chowkidar has also disappeared into a wide open field and in the distance there was a “building with a high chimney”.
He came back into the room and found it was also changed. Then he realised that he had been metamorphosed into the English indigo planter. His body was not acting of his own accord, yet his consciousness was that of Aniruddha.
Unable to control himself, Aniruddha wrote a letter as though he were the English indigo planter. He wrote the date as April 27, 1868 and expressed his loneliness as his friends had returned to England whereas his wife and his son were dead. He felt that he could not go back to England because of his shady past. He confessed that he had been a cruel master and had always treated the indigo plantation worker “so badly” that no one would “shed a tear” on his demise. His real worry was his pet Rex, for he was sure that he would be stoned to death after his demise. And then he suddenly stopped writing.
Aniruddha could not stop himself as he reached for a pistol. He called out for Rex, the planter’s pet hound, in the heat of moment he shot Rex dead, with the pistol. But next morning when Aniruddha woke up, everything was back to normal. This nightmarish experience of an ordinary simple person seems quite inexplicable.
Question 3: Who was Aniruddha Bose ? What kind of life was he leading ?
Answer: Aniruddha Bose was a twenty – nine year old bachelor working in an advertising agency in Calcutta. He lived a comfortable life in a flat in Sardar Shankar Road, Calcutta. He was born in Monghyr a town in Bihar, where his father was a well known physician. He also had a brother five years older than him, who has studied medicine in England and now he was settled there as a doctor.
Aniruddha’s father had died when he was sixteen. After the death of his father he came to Calcutta with his mother. He took his bachelor’s degree from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta with his mother. After that he got his job with the advertising agency. He was leading a comfortable life. Two years ago he bought an Ambassador car which he used to drive himself.
Since his early years he has an “overpowering desire” to go far away from the hectic life of Calcutta from time to time. So on weekends he made trips to Diamond Harbour, Port Canning and Hassanabad along the DumDum Road.
He was quite a reserve person so he didn’t have any close friends in Calcutta, he used to go alone on his trips.
He also used to do a bit of writing and got some of his stories published in magazines occasionally. But for the last few months he hadn’t been writing at all as he was reading a lot about indigo plantation in Bengal and Bihar in nineteenth century.
This way, Aniruddha was leading a common, middle – class life until his life was disrupted by supernatural events that night.