World Literature

“Seated in his mother’s lap the child was as happy as if he were seated on some throne. When he saw the child Mansaran burst into tears. For was not this child happier than himself? In the whole wide world what was there that he could find to take the place of that lap to make him happy?”

The following scene in The Second Wife reflects Mansaran’s emotional break down from his unhappiness, loneliness, and thirst for a mother’s affection through the viewpoint of the narrator. As the narrator observes Mansaran more closely, he sees how the hollowness and isolation transform Mansaran’s playfulness nature into a miserable one. This is a painful moment in Mansaran’s life as he envies a beggar’s child for having a mother that makes the child happier than one can imagine. But he questions himself that how is it possible that someone on the street whose mother can barely afford to feed him a meal is happier than Mansaran, who has everything. This very thought in his mind brings tears in Mansaran’s eyes which could not be hidden anymore by his happy mask.

Deprived of a mother’s affection at a very early age, Mansaran doesn’t know how it would feel to be in his mother’s lap again. He has everything that he needs to live a good life but the only “missing thing” in his life torments him deeply as he starts to grieve for himself.  The more distance Mansaran starts to feel from his only living parent, Totaram Munshiji, the more he comes to realize that all he needs is a mother’s love who would fulfill the emptiness in his heart. He wonders if such place like a mother’s lap exists in this world which would make him happy like the child on the street. He sees through the cheerful eyes of that child that only a mother’s warm lap is the most comforting place in the world where happiness is certain for one.