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Articles: Literature | Chillara Devullu
- Dr. Rajeshwar Mittapalli
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Karanam Venkat Rao is equally guilty of such atrocities. In addition, since he is the official record keeper of the village, he also freely exploits people economically. Finally it is by the Lambadas, whom he has illegally dispossessed of their land, that he is done to death. But in an odd sort of way he is better than Reddy. He owns up his illegitimate daughter Tayaru and makes every possible effort to get her happily married, while Reddy nonchalantly turns his illegitimate daughter Vanaja into a sex slave right in his own mansion.
Although for the villagers these ‘lesser deities’ present a picture of arrogance and unbridled authority, when high government officials visit the village they cringe and do their bidding, even if it is a sensitive issue like converting the dalits (low caste Hindus) to Islam. Although grudgingly, they make arrangements for the visit of Bahdur Yar Jung, the Tahsildar and the Khazi who will preside over the conversion of the dalits to Islam.
Reddy and the Karanam are opposed to the conversion because that would lead, among other things, to a slackening of their hold on the dalits since Islam is the religion of the rulers and conversion will automatically empower and socially elevate the dalits. In the weeks following the conversion Reddy and the Karanam together see to it that the dalits find it impossible to continue as Muslims. Reddy has the Arya Samaj worker Narendraji summoned to the village and through him he gets the dalits reconverted to Hinduism.
Interestingly, while the mainstream dalits have no will power left to resist conversion or other atrocities, the Lambadas, who live on the margins of the village society, spiritedly oppose the attempts to convert them to Islam. Even the offer to have them set free by the court does not seem to work with them.
Chillara Devullu lays bare not only the cruelty, oppression, injustice and misrule of the village administrators but also the degeneration of many institutions of the government. The police turn out to be the very incarnation of devils. The Muslim police ameen (station house officer) who comes to the village to protect the Karanam from the Lambadas and reinforce his authority, demands and gets everything including the blessing of a Brahmin, free of cost. He gets the Lambada men severely beaten up for demanding justice and then forces himself upon the Lambada woman Lachmi. When she repulses his advances he shoots her dead.
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