LITERATURE ,, .. . _, , _ , , 11.. i . i . There are two motifs in Father Panchah, and their interrelationship forms another basic design. While Apu's imaginative life is constantly moving outwards, his sister Durga never leaves the village mentally or physically. Although they grow up together in close emotional attachment, the brother and the sister embody two opposing responses to life. Durga experiences life basically through sensory perceptions, most often through touch and taste. Her imagination is earthbound, her instincts make her sympathize with the weak and the persecuted (the neglected old aunt, the uncouth street dog, the neighbour's wife who is beaten by her husband). Apu is no less attached to the wild fruits and flowers of Nischindipur than his sister, but to him the village is only a take-off point. Both spatially and imaginatively, his curve is outward bound. The passage below illustrates the difference in their responses. The children are collecting water chestnut from a pond; the fruits are just outside their reach; Durga is knee-deep in water and has asked Apu to hold on to her sari so that she does not slide into deeper water. Then, A yellow bird perching on the top of the moynakanta tree swayed the leaves and ' 'whistled an unfamiliar tune. Apu looked up and asked, 'What is the bird, didi?' * Forget the bird, Apu. Hold on to the sari, tight. Don't let me slip.'* Apu is forever being distracted by things beyond his reach, forever losing concentration in the immediate object by flights of fancy. His imagination gets fired by trifles — like a stick bent at a particular angle, the possession of which suddenly transforms him into a heroic character like Arjun or Karna. Durga feels nothing but amusement .for such absurd games. Apu and Durga can be regarded as two aspects of man's relationship with nature: Apu soaring high, his imagination taking him far from where his feet are planted, while he continues to derive strength from. the grass and weeds of Nischindipur, the village being the centre of the concentric arcs that will chart his flight; Durga remaining tethered to the concrete objects around her, rooted to the universe of palpable reality. She collects shiny seeds of wild fruit for their smooth feel, green mangoes for their sharp taste. She hoards bits of a broken mirror,beads from a string, a gold sindur-\>ox (this, in fact, she steals), quite indiscri -minatelv and hides her treasures in a broken toy-chest. This toy-chest * Unless stated otherwise, quotations in the text represent ttiyown translation from the original. 20 July-September 1983