Metamorphosis

A uniformed railway official stands at the doorway of a train compartment, confronting a passenger who is stretching his dhoti to wear a trouser over it. His checked trousers extend exaggeratedly across the compartment, turning his body into a comical obstruction. Tagore uses distortion to make a social point. The passenger's oversized body and careless posture transform him into a caricature of particular entitled class of 'bengali babu' (entitled upper class bengali gentleman) who mimicked the British to regain their socio-political superiority. The humour of the caricature emerges from this tension between aspiration and value. The image therefore shows how caricature can function as a subtle technology of social reality (Foucault). Laughter becomes a means through which Tagore brings forward the start contrasting realities of colonial modernity.

Loading Interpretations....