Page 154 - The Apu Trilogy_ Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

The World of Apu: Critique 141

The World of Apu: Kajal

behaviour with the bird and in a subsequent scene with an angry
neighbour seems to be a mask concealing a sensitivity like his
father’s, and not his true nature.
Pulu, recently returned from abroad and currently on a visit to
his uncle’s house, is seen watching the difficult little boy. Despite
the uncle’s pessimism about both his son-in-law Apu and grand-
son Kajal, Pulu is moved to try to break through Apu’s own
mask of indifference to his son. He seeks out Apu in the stark,
hilly landscape near a coal mine far from Calcutta where Apu
is working, as once he sought him out in his garret in Calcutta.
But this time Pulu fails in his mission. He cannot comprehend
why Apu has destroyed the novel Pulu had once read and greatly
admired. And he is shocked that Apu does not care to know
even the name of his son. When Pulu tells him of Kajal, Apu
cannot bring himself to show any pity for the boy. ‘It is because
Kajal exists, that Aparna does not,’ he finally tells his friend,
choking back violent emotions.

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