Question: Discuss the underlying significance of the collision of the boats after the Janmashtami ceremony at Mau.
Answer: After the trial and release of Aziz, the friendship between him and Fielding remains strained due to misunderstanding. However, the Janmashtami festival brings about a temporary reconciliation between the former friends, if not a permanent union. This reconciliation is further aided by Ralph Moore, who, like his mother, shares a mysterious affinity with Hinduism and its spirit of universal love.
Aziz takes Ralph out on the lake at Mau, just as he had earlier taken Mrs. Moore around the mosque at the beginning of the novel. As Aziz and Ralph approach the area where the festivities are taking place, they find themselves in the midst of a divine chaos. A clay model of Krishna is pushed into the water, and their boat—along with another boat carrying Fielding and Stella—drifts toward it. Both boats collide with the raft bearing the clay god, and all five individuals, along with the clay Krishna, are thrown into the water.
This incident acts as a spiritual baptism, cleansing the participants of suspicion, hatred, and tension. Being plunged into the water releases the forces of imaginative love and understanding. The estrangement between Aziz and Fielding ends, and they become friends once more. Even Ralph and Stella, who, like their mother, had experienced restlessness, find peace and harmony at the festival. The collision of the boats symbolizes the dissolution of divisions, the unifying power of shared experience, and the triumph of spiritual and human understanding over conflict.
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