Role of Chandri in "Samskara".

          Chandri Cameron is the handpicked concubine of Naranappa quite remarkable for her beauty and sex-appeal. In the novel, we find that many Brahmins of Agrahara are attracted by her charm and grace. This very clearly shows the characteristics of the Brahmins. They apparently oppose Chandri and Naranappa's relationship and tag her as a prostitute but they themselves are longing for her appealing body.

          However Chandri is the character who helps in the development of the plot for the first time. She is the person who brings the news of Naranappa's death which becomes the central twist of the novel. Though she is a whore, "She remains pure like the river Tunga. She is forever pure....."

           Not only that, Chandri is also responsible in the transformation of Praneshacharya. As the novelist writes ----

      "In the arid sexless life of the Acharya, Chandri comes as an angel and let's him sow the seed seeds of joy into her. Thus she serves as a symbolic figure bringing in fertility to the arid Acharya for his regeneration and to herself for reproduction. She combines the symbolic figures of the earth mother and Venus Aphrodite."

           Thus Chandri is a very important character in the novel and in the transformation of Pranedhacharya's mind. Though she is a prostitute, she brings the message of brotherhood in the novel as she makes no distinction between Hindus and Muslims. She is also the character who acts as an anti-brahminical instrument in the novel. To conclude, we may say ----

      "Besides being beautiful, everyone's sex object, a prostitute,.......She is "an exception to all the rules", a "running river" that "doesn't dry, doesn't tire". She is the opposite of the Acharya's ascetic rulebook...."