The teachings of Swami Vivekananda are highly motivational and convey some deep truths of life in a spiritual manner. Plum, as we know, also has an undercurrent of spiritual messages in his stories and books. Superficially speaking, both may sound as different as chalk and cheese. One, an expert in spirituality. Another, an expert in humour.
However, scratch below the surface and one is apt to find that there is much similarity in what Swami Vivekananda preaches and what quite a few of Plum’s characters practice. If Vivekananda’s words awaken us spiritually, Plum’s works, though insanely humorous on the surface, keep soothing our souls in many ways. Let us see if these two thought streams have a resonance that we might be blissfully unaware of.
Take the case of Lord Emsworth who discovers that Gladys has not had any nourishment on the day of the Parva School Treat. He sees to it that Beach feeds her well. Moreover, even a basket of goodies gets handed over for her brother Ern. And when she wants to have some ‘flarze’ from the garden and McAllister comes running at a speed of forty-five miles per hour or so, what does Lord Emsworth do? Well, he is firm in protecting his girlfriend. He stands up to him, living up to the lofty standards set up by his ancestors. His basic desire is to help someone who is good and is in distress. (Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend)
Likewise, some of us may consider Bertie Wooster as being mentally negligible, but there is no denying that he has a heart of gold. To help a pal, he often goes to ridiculous lengths. He even takes a rap for something he has never been involved in anyway. When Stiffy holds him to be superior to Sidney Carton, she is not much off the mark. (The Code of the Woosters)
Also consider the case of Psmith, to whom ends are more important than the means. When Eve is in distress across the road, he merely pinches an umbrella from the cloak room of The Senior Conservative Club and offers it to her with a smooth dignity. (Leave it to Psmith)
All of them go out of their way to help a fellow being who faces a challenge of some kind. Now, this is a sentiment that Vivekananda would heartily approve of.
A Primer on Swami Vivekananda
For the uninitiated amongst us, Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902), was an Indian monk, philosopher, author, and religious teacher. He was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. His attempt was to raise interfaith awareness and bring Hinduism to the status of a major world religion.
Many of us already know that he became a popular figure after the 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago at which he delivered his famous speech beginning with the words: “Sisters and brothers of America…”. While doing so, I am certain that unlike Gussie Fink-Nottle, he was not intoxicated, oiled, boiled, fried, plastered, whiffled, sozzled, or blotto. Rather than pouring scorn on many others present on the occasion, as Gussie did during his speech, he went on to introduce Hinduism to Americans.
After remarkable success at the Parliament, in the subsequent years, Vivekananda delivered hundreds of lectures across the United States, England and Europe, disseminating the core tenets of Hindu philosophy. He founded the Vedanta Society of New York and the Vedanta Society of San Francisco (now Vedanta Society of Northern California) both of which became the foundations for Vedanta Societies in the West. In India, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math, which provides spiritual training for monastics and householder devotees, and the Ramakrishna Mission, which provides charity, social work, and education.
Vivekananda and Plum: A Timeline
Plum was born in 1881, so he was eighteen years junior to Vivekananda. Luckily, he lived to a ripe age of ninety- four, whereas Vivekananda kicked the bucket at thirty- nine itself, in 1902.
By 1902, Plum had already taken a leap of faith and decided to leave the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank and turned to writing full time. At around the same time his first novel was published—a school story called The Pothunters, serialized incomplete in Public School Magazine in early 1902, and issued in full in hardback in September. He resigned from the bank that month to devote himself to writing full-time.
To the best of my knowledge and belief, the two had never met. Even though Plum’s works do carry an undercurrent of the kind of spiritual propositions Vivekananda makes, the name of the fearless monk from India does not pop up in any of Plum’s narratives.
What Vivekananda Stood For
To sum up what the saint from India stood for:
- He stressed the importance of individual development.
- He believed that three things are necessary to make every man great, every nation great, namely conviction of the powers of goodness; absence of jealousy and suspicion; and helping all who are trying to be and do good.
- Working unitedly for others.
- Having courage, patience, and perseverance to overcome all obstacles.
- Having a strong mind and a strong body.
- Women’s empowerment.
- Detachment.
Let us now consider these, one by one.
Individual Development
When it comes to pushing the envelope and learning new things, Plum’s characters are always game. Some of them teach us how to evolve into better human beings, office executives, and husbands.
When Bertie Wooster joins an institution designed to teach the aristocracy to fend for itself, the course he decides to take involves boot-cleaning, sock-darning, bed-making and primary grade cooking. His finances are quite sound, but he feels that it is wise to be prepared for a future when the social revolution sets in with even greater severity. (Ring for Jeeves)
Take the case of Psmith. When he joins the New Asiatic Bank, he does not lose much time as an intern to figure out how to develop into a popular person. He identifies a friendly native and makes enquiries about the likes and dislikes of his immediate boss. Armed with this intelligence, he endears himself to Rossiter, his immediate superior and the head of the Postal Department. His next mission is to cozy up to the top boss and tackle him suitably. By the end of Psmith in the City, when Mike’s career in the bank is at risk, we find Psmith resorting to extortion. He leverages the political ambitions of the top boss to pull Mike out of the soup. He digs up some old speeches made by Comrade Bickersdyke at the Tulse Hill Parliament. If published, these would adversely affect the boss’ chances of getting in as the Unionist candidate at Kenningford. Mike gets off the hook.
Yet another example of development is presented to us by Bingo Little. We are aware of his romantic nature. Like a butterfly, he keeps hopping from one object of his affection to the next. But after each failed affair, Bingo does not necessarily sulk. The scales fall from his eyes, and he suddenly realizes that the next girl alone is his true soul mate. After many failed affairs, Bingo ends up marrying the romance novelist Rosie M. Banks. In the post-matrimony phase, we find a Bingo Little who is completely transformed. He is singularly devoted to his wife. Maintaining matrimonial peace and harmony is the sole purpose of his life. When it comes to keeping his lady-love happy and contented, there is little that he leaves to chance, which includes ensuring that the lady of the house gets her afternoon cup of tea. His reverse transformation – from a butterfly to a caterpillar – is complete. One is certain that this fact never came to the notice of Charles Darwin, who handed in his dinner pail during 1882 itself. If so, we might have noticed him rushing to his publishers, a revised manuscript of the Theory of Evolution tucked under his arms.
If Swami Vivekananda highlights the importance of individual development in his inimitable stiff-upper-lip manner, Plum deploys his wit and humour and gets some of his characters to set a high standard on the same count.
Conviction of the Powers of Goodness
Many of Plum’s characters have an abundant supply of the milk of human kindness coursing through their veins. Their belief in the power of goodness never wavers. When it comes to following a code, they never disappoint us. Bertie follows the family code of never letting a pal down. Captain Biggar sticks to a code that one should not propose to a female unless one’s own finances are in order. Chuffy refuses to propose to Pauline Stoker unless a deal to sell Chuffnell Hall materializes.
Chivalry is a sentiment which finds a place of prominence in Plum’s works. Bertie persuades Gussie Fink Nottle not to prod Stiffy between her legs to look for a missing diary. (The Code of the Woosters)
To save Uncle Tom from digestive troubles in the absence of Anatole, God’s gift to our gastric juices, he offers to undergo a sentence of thirty days. His only demand? A sumptuous fare dished out by Anatole at the end of his impending ordeal. (The Code of the Woosters)
Lord Emsworth, when caught picking up flowers from Kensington Gardens, seeks help from a recently sacked McAllister to identify himself to the police. His faith in the supremacy of goodness is touching, indeed. (The Custody of a Pumpkin)
While driving back from Brighton, Bertie and Jeeves offer Peggy Mainwaring a lift. Goodness prevails, though Bertie eventually realises the perils of delivering a talk to a bunch of girls who keep giggling and staring at him. (Bertie Changes His Mind)
Of Suspicion and Jealousy
Like all of us, Plum’s characters often suffer pangs of suspicion and jealousy. However, it does not take them much time to wriggle out of such negative emotions and live a happier life.
Think of Freddie who never suspects R Jones of any mischief. It takes a word of caution from someone like Ashe Marson for him to start seeing the truth for what it is. (Something Fresh)
Rupert Baxter earns his living by suspecting everything and everyone. If it means skipping a few nights’ sleep, so be it. (Something Fresh)
Roderick Spode suspects the intentions of anyone securing the affinity of Madeliene Bassett. (The Code of the Woosters)
Gussie Fink-Nottle experiences the perils of jealousy when he mistakenly thinks Bertie Wooster is competing for Madeline Bassett’s affection. (Right Ho, Jeeves). The same fate befalls Chuffy when he suspects Bertie of harbouring romantic thoughts about Pauline Stoker, whom he intends to marry. (Thank You, Jeeves). Madeleine suffers when she sees Gussie Fink-Nottle taking a fly out of Stiffy’s eye. (The Code of the Woosters).
Consider the emotions of Ronnie Fish when he finds Sue Brown dining with Percy Pilbeam.
The crust of calm detachment from all human emotion, built up by years of Eton and Cambridge, cracked abruptly, and there peeped forth a primitive Ronald Overbury Fish. […] His fists clenched. Eton was forgotten, Cambridge not even a memory. He inhaled so sharply that a man at the next table who was eating a mousse of chicken stabbed himself in the chin with his fork.
(Summer Lightning)
In most cases, explanations get called for and offered. Eventually, Reason returns to its throne. Sanity prevails. However, a spiritual purist like Swami Vivekananda would take a jaundiced view of such proceedings.
Helping All Who Are Trying to Be and Do Good
When Bobbie Wickham ends up gifting Aunt Agatha’s pet McIntosh to Kid Blumenfeld, a sense of Noblesse oblige restrains Bertie from dashing off to the Savoy and demanding the pet back. As always, Jeeves comes up with a solution – a look-alike replacement is arranged for the kid, whereas Bertie rescues McIntosh after sprinkling his trousers with aniseed powder. Aniseed has an aroma which appears to speak straight to the deeps of the terrier’s soul. The scheme works. Harmony rules. (Episode of the Dog McIntosh)
Many of us would recall that Perfecto-Zizzbaum is the company which Wilmot works for. When the studio is said to be facing rough weather, Wilmot meets the top boss and readily accepts a salary reduction, down from fifteen hundred to three hundred dollars a week.
His parting dialogue to the boss goes thus:
What a perfectly lovely day it is, is it not? I was thinking as I came along here that I had never seen the sun shining more brightly. One just wanted to be out and about, doing lots of good on every side. Well, I’m delighted if I have been able to do anything in my humble way to make things easier for you, Chief. It has been a real pleasure.
Quite understandably, his engagement to Mabel Potter gets terminated soon after. (The Juice of an Orange)
Just like good people must be helped, those who are a menace to society in general also need to be restrained and neutralized. When Roderick Spode becomes a raging hippopotamus, Aunt Dahlia gets Jeeves to dig up some dirt on him. The secret of Eulalie gets discovered. Bertie uses it with much success.
Pure intentions underlying an act matter as much to Swami Vivekananda as they do to many of Plum’s characters.
Working Unitedly for Others
Many of Plum’s characters have a streak of selflessness about them. Despite their professional and personal concerns, they try to do something for others who happen to be in distress.
They might do it single-handedly, or, like Bertie and Jeeves, form a team to help others. In The Mating Season, the duo ends up uniting as many as six couples, providing priceless clues to our IT whizz kids who design dating apps these days!
Uncle Fred is quite focused on his mission of spreading sweetness and light everywhere he goes. Gally is another person whose conduct is quite selfless. Both help others in need, of course with hilarious consequences.
Sally is also selfless. One of her actions is to nurse an elderly resident of her boarding house through his case of the Spanish flu. (Adventures of Sally)
Take the case of Stilton Cheesewright whose head is said to be comparable to a pumpkin. Florence Craye talks socialism to him and persuades him to read Karl Marx. When at Oxford, someone had temporarily converted him to Buddhism which preaches compassion to all fellow beings. (Joy in the Morning)
All of them take the help of others, wherever needed, to support others.
That is precisely the kind of public-spirited attitude Vivekananda would like many of us to have.
Of Courage, Patience, and Perseverance
Elsewhere in the canon, we meet Ukridge, an opportunist who will do anything to increase his capital – except, of course, work. He believes in the adage that unless one speculates, one does not accumulate. He keeps coming up with get-rich-quick schemes and failing in his ventures with a remarkable degree of consistency. But his optimism never deserts him. He shows remarkable courage and keeps working on.
We find him setting up a Dog College where dogs can get trained to perform at a music hall. We then find him setting up an Accident Syndicate so insurance claims could be split up. He also supports sailors in the boxing ring. Elsewhere, we find that he is not averse to splitting a real estate commission earned during the sale of an English country house. In Love Among the Chickens, we find him setting up a chicken farm which also fails. But his buoyant optimism never deserts him. He starts visualizing starting up a duck farm!
Another good example is that of Joan Valentine’s, our feisty heroine from Something Fresh. After she falls on tough times, she does theatre, works in a shop, becomes a lady’s maid, and takes up many other odd jobs that can help her to keep the wolf away from the door. When she sees an opportunity, she just grabs it.
Don’t get into a groove. Be an adventurer. Snatch at the next chance, whatever it is.
She makes us appreciate that the ideal adventurer needs a certain lively inquisitiveness. She has a sense of enterprise which keeps her moving on in life.
Such characters truly practice what Swami Vivekananda preaches.
Mind, Body, and Well-being
Vivekananda emphasized the importance of a strong mind and body. He said:
Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.
Plum highlights the importance of mental well-being through the actions of Sir Roderick Glossop, the loony doctor. We resent his not being able to fully enjoy his meal at Bertie’s flat where some cats also happened to be present. But we are secretly relieved when he decides to cancel Bertie’s fixture with Honoria Glossop, thereby saving our favourite hero from taking a saunter down the aisle with someone who reduces you to pulp with sixteen sets of tennis and a few rounds of golf and then comes down to dinner as fresh as a daisy, expecting you to take an intelligent interest in Freud. (Carry On, Jeeves)
In fact, if Vivekananda motivates us to develop nerves of chilled steel, Plum’s works enable us to go through life’s myriad challenges with a jauntiness which would put an elephant fed on Mulliner’s Buck-U-Uppo to shame. Both help us to have a strong mind.
When it comes to physical fitness, we look up to the prescription dished out by Ashe Marson – Larsen Exercises (all twenty-nine of these), scientific deep breathing, cold baths, brisk walks, and strict diet control. He also recommends plenty of fresh air and no cigars. (Something Fresh)
Coming to the subject of diet control, who could argue with Laura Pyke as to the importance of fat-soluble vitamins and the negation of all kinds of tissue restoratives? (Jeeves and the Old School Chum)
Women’s Empowerment
Vivekananda often spoke about educating women and empowering them to shape their own destinies.
The great Aryans, Buddha, among the rest, have always put women in an equal position with men.
Plum had his own way of putting across a similar message. This is what Joan Valentine says to Ashe Marson when he offers to steal the scarab in her place:
That’s simply your old-fashioned masculine attitude toward the female, Mr. Marson. You look on woman as a weak creature, to be shielded and petted. We aren’t anything of the sort. We’re terrors! We’re as hard as nails. We’re awful creatures. You mustn’t let my sex interfere with your trying to get this reward. Think of me as though I were another man. We’re up against each other in a fair fight, and I don’t want any special privileges. If you don’t do your best from now onward, I shall never forgive you.
(Something Fresh)
Vivekananda said:
Women will work out their destinies – much better, too, than men can ever do for them. All the mischief to women has come because men undertook to shape the destiny of women.
Plum has commented:
At the age of eleven or thereabouts women acquire a poise and an ability to handle difficult situations which a man, if he is lucky, manages to achieve somewhere in the later seventies.
It is easy to see that both have remarkably similar views about emancipation of women.
The Perks of Detachment
How does one face the harsh slings and arrows of fate? Vivekananda recommended a spirit of detachment. He emphasized the need to remain unperturbed by the difficulties in life.
Quite a few of Plum’s characters practice this. When they fail, they do not sulk. They move on.
Consider the case of Freddie when he tries to sell Donaldson’s Dog-Joy biscuits to Aunt Georgina (The Go- Getter). He is clear about his goal and faces challenges with a spirit of detachment. First, he briefs her on the product’s wholesomeness, richness in essential vitamins, and its bone-forming properties. Then he showers her with product brochures. He shows samples. He even offers a fortnight’s free trial. When he fails to enthuse her, he attempts to give a live demonstration by chewing a dog biscuit himself.
When he chokes and business does not result, he uses Bottles to demonstrate the superiority of his product. He fails, yet again. But it is seldom that he is baffled for more than about a minute and a quarter. He then walks in with a sack full of rats. However, this proposal is vetoed by the audience.
Eventually, Bottles ends up proving his mettle in a fight with Aunt Georgina’s Airedale. A timely intervention by Bingham saves the day, prompting Gertrude, Aunt Georgina’s daughter, to fall back into his arms. This pleases Aunt Georgina. She places an initial trial order of two tons!
Vivekananda encouraged individuals to face challenges with resilience, courage, and a smile. In the unique world created by Plum, Bertie Wooster displays an unwavering cheerfulness even in the face of perplexing situations.
How does Bertie feel when, prodded by Jeeves and Stiffy, he agrees to go and tell Pop Bassett that he plans to marry Stiffy?
It has been well said of Bertram Wooster by those who know him best that there is a certain resilience in his nature that enables him as a general rule to rise on stepping-stones of his dead self in the most unfavourable circumstances. It isn’t often that I fail to keep the chin up and the eye sparkling.
The Common Spiritual Code of Vivekananda and Wodehouse
Both Vivekananda and Wodehouse believed in the power of humour as a remedy for life’s hardships. They acknowledged the innate absurdity of the human condition and advocated for finding humour even in the darkest moments. Vivekananda himself had a good sense of humour. His diary has several self-deprecatory references, which reveal the sunnier side of his personality. If he advocated some stark spiritual practices, many of Plum’s characters exemplify the same by the way they behave in the kind of situations they face.
The methods used by them to convey some spiritual messages are poles apart. Plum conveys it through the wit and comedy contained in his charming works. Swami Vivekananda does it through his sombre teachings. Both speak of the power of optimism and unwavering resolve in the face of life’s challenges. Plum conveys to us the bitter reality of life by first dunking them in a chocolate syrup of amusement, joy, and mirth. Vivekananda offers the same in a youthful and uplifting manner which makes us sit up and take notice of the importance of what he is saying.
By exploring their writings, we discover the parallel between these two extraordinary thinkers. Both exhort us to always have a positive frame of mind, as Jeeves says somewhere in the canon. Both put a premium on tenacity, resilience, perseverance, and a capacity to embrace change and use it as a stepping stone to higher things in life.
Conclusion
Plum is not necessarily about escapism in the guise of farcical butlers, spoiled nephews, and nosy and overbearing aunts. His works also contain philosophical insights and hidden truths of life. Subtly hidden in the works of Plum is the philosophy which is remarkably in tune with the teachings of Swami Vivekananda. His characters are blissfully unaware of the way they intrinsically follow what Vivekananda preaches – drinking deep from the cup of life, that too with a light- heartedness that mirrors Vivekananda’s call for joyous detachment.
We can consider taking a leaf out of Wodehouse’s comedy and Vivekananda’s spirituality. Embrace challenges with the infectious optimism of a Bertie Wooster and face the world with the dignified detachment of a Jeeves. In this curious amalgamation of humour and enlightenment, we might just discover that, much like in a Wodehouse novel, life is best approached with a twinkle in the eye and a chin up attitude.
(Inputs from Suryamouli Datta are gratefully acknowledged.)
Related Posts:
ashokbhatia 