‘BEING’ AND ‘BECOMING’ – THE EXISTENTIAL FRAMEWORK IN U. R. ANANTHAMURTHY’S 'BHAVA' (Pages 95-107) by Dr. Syed Hussain Mian in THE ENGLISH RESEARCH EXPRESS / ISSN:2321-1164 (Online); 2347-2642 (Print)

U. R. Ananthamurthy‟s „Bhava’ is a novel encompassing several mysteries that torment the characters, particularly Shastri, a seventy year old reciter of Harikatha and Dinakar, a celebrity Television Star who has turned himself into an Ayyapan pilgrim to seek solace. While on a train journey, Shastri finds Sri Chakra Amulet around the neck of Dinakar which actually belonged to Shastri‟s pregnant wife Saroja whom some forty-five years ago, he thought had killed in a frenzy of fury suspecting her chastity due to her relation with a Malayali Pundit. Dinakar, on the other hand, though had become an intellectual, rich and popular had lead a wretched, amorous life by having sexual encounters with numerous women and Gangu was one such. Gangu had illicit liaison with Narayan Tantri, a lawyer friend of Dinakar. She had begotten a child, Prasad. Dinakar comes into contact with Gangu when he goes to Narayan‟s house after a span of twenty-five years along with Shastri. As Shastri is in an eternal dilemma whether Dinakar is his son or that of Malayali Pundit‟s, Dinakar too has the same dilemma as to whether Prasad is his son or that of Narayan‟s. Though the plot appears like a family drama covering three generations, in a maze like arrangement, the novelist has based it on the ‘Existential doctrine’. The title of the novel, ‘Bhava’, itself is quite significant. This research paper attempts to study the presence of existential philosophy intertwining the plot. The characters in the novel, in their own way want to free themselves, seek ‘moksha’, either through „Sanyasa’ as Prasad wants to do or through soul-searching and self-exploration as Shastri, Dinakar and Narayan want to. This research paper has attempted to study, vis-à-vis the novel, as to what is that which is required to find order in disorder, solace amidst chaos, peace in fury and transform oneself from „being‟ to „becoming‟, „staying yet absent‟, „still in motion‟, something like the unaffected, unshakeable, unruffled ‘Sthithapragna’. Key Words: Existential doctrine, Bhava, Moksha, Sanyasa, Sthithapragna etc.