Postcoloniality and the Artifice of History: Who Speaks for 'Indians' Pasts? (Dipesh Chakrabarty)

 Introduction:

Dipesh Chakrabarty (born in 1948 in Kolkata) is an Indian historian and leading scholar of postcolonial theory and subaltern studies. He is the Lawrence A Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in history at the University of Chicago, and is the recipient of the 2014 Tonybee Prize, named after Professor Arnold J. Tonybee, that recognizes social scientist for significant academic and public contributions to humanity.

 

Domination of European History:

Dipesh Chakrabarty in his essay, “Postcoloniality and the Artifice of History: Who Speaks for ‘Indian’ Pasts?” tries to analyze the history of the world and the position of Indians in it. the world history were mostly written by European writers who were totally unmindful of the eastern values. Their histories were mostly produced at the institutional level. Europe being a royal power influenced the entire world order in terms of politics, trade, commerce, defence and other aspects of an advanced society. The European history dominated the entire world order and engulfed the theoretical subject of all histories including “Indian, Chinese, Kenyan” and so on. Therefore, the European history became a master narrative. In this sense, the  Indian history itself in a position of subalternity and can only express subaltern position in the name of history. Thus arises the question of domination and subordination. The great phenomenon of orientalism is willfully sacrificed at the altar of European imperialism. Europe dominates the phenomenal world of everyday relationship of power. Europe works as a silent referent in all historical knowledge.

 

There is a compulsion for the third-world and non-western historians to refer to works in European history but the historians of Europe do not feel any need to reciprocate.  European historians produce their works in relative ignorance of non-western histories. Hence Chakrabarty states that the dominance of “Europe” as the subject of all histories is the theorical condition under which historical knowledge produced in the third-world. this condition expresses in a paradoxical manner. This is the blatant result of cultural arrogance on the part of European historians. Karl Marx views this paradox in terms of social conditions. He uses terms such as “Bourgeoise” and Pre-bourgeoise” are “Capital” and “Pre-capital”. Bourgeoises and capitalists according to Marx give rise for the first-time to a history that can be seen as philosophical and universal category. History becomes for the first-time theoretical knowledge.

 

Marx’s View of Transition:

According to Chakrabarty, Marx calls for “equal pay for equal work” is the first call to move to the main stream social order. Marxism paved the way for the historical narratives. These narratives turn around the theme of historical transitions. Most modern third-world histories are written within problematics posed by these transition narratives. This tendency forms the backdrop of subaltern studies. Peasants dream of mythical kingdom, the left’s ideal of social revolution constitute the history of modern India. The transition narratives celebrated the imperialists’ capacity for violence and conquests. Alexander Dow’s “History of Hindostan” is the best example for this conviction.

The British introduced the “Rule of Law” in the place of “arbitrary” and “despotic”. In 19^th and 20^th centuries nationalism became the subject of Indian transition narratives. Transition from imperialism to nationalism is the most notable trend in Indian literary and social contexts. Raja Rammohun Roy and Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay emerged as India’s most prominent nationalists’ intellectuals of the 19^th century. The peasants and the workers who formed the Indian subaltern classes were on the rise. Many Indians who were in London for education and livelihood returned to India to become nationalists which includes Mahatma Gandhi also. Many of the public and private subjects of modern individualism became visible in India in the 19^th century. This period also witnessed sudden development of four basic genres such as novel, biography, autobiography and history. Along with these developed modern industries, technology, medicine and legal system. Gandhi realized this as early as 1909. He remarked in his famous book, “Hind-Swaraj” “make India  English” or as he puts it otherwise to have “English rule without the English man”.

 

Inadequacy of Indian Transition Narratives: 

All Indians have now become “citizens’. They are well protected by the constitutions. The modern individual whose political life is lived in citizenship. They also supposed to have an interiorized “private-self”. Their private lives are not properly represented in this narrative. Since the middle of the 19^th century, there have been Indian novels, diaries, letters and autobiographies but they seldom yield pictures of an endlessly interiorized subject. Chakrabarty argues that all our autobiographies are fully public. Women writers just tell the stories of the extended family life. Nirad Chaudhury’s “autobiographies” are largely public than personal. Thus, the transition narrative situates the modern individual at the very end of history. literature produced in Bengal between 1850 and 1920 mostly deal with Bengali middle-class Hindu life. they are full of “domestic science”. The condition of women in 19^th century India was not well-presented in these  narratives. The idea of the “modern” individual, “freedom”, “equality”, and “rights” are all highlighted. Bengali literature have often become the subject of ridicule and scorn. Bengali women writers like Kundamala Devi and Indra Devi have expressed their views on the conditions of women in the family and society: “Unaffected by nature, of pleasant speech, untiring in their service (to others) oblivious of their own pleasures (while) moved easily by the suffering of others and capable of being content with very little”.

 

Women are the Lakshmis of the community. If they undertake to impose themselves in the sphere of dharma and knowledge, then there will be an automatic amusement in the quality of social life. Hindu woman should be united in complete harmony with husband through mutual submission, loyalty, devotion, and chastity. If they are not so, the entire family is destroyed by the spirit of Alakshmi (not-Lakshmi). Thus, the Indian transition narratives focus much on making the family a site where the sacred and the secular blended   in a permanent principle that was heavenly and divine. Thus these voices combining the constituting theme of nationalism, class-based ideology, women struggle against men and the friendship between husband and wife are the deep ambivalence that marked these narratives.

 

There is a strong difference between European history and Indian history. Indian history, culture and tradition accord more importance to community and individual relationship, whereas the European history give smore importance to the nation and not the individual. This is the sharp difference between the European imperialism and the third-world nationalism which constitute the basic layers of subaltern studies. Therefore, there is continuous struggle and inherent confrontation between these cultures and histories. Third-world domain represents the rejection of modernity, historical values, individualism, science, and grand-narratives. These struggles include coercion of politically instituted symbolic violence. The Europe like the west is notably an imaginary entity. But third-world nationalism and modernizing ideologies are par-excellence. The strength of India lies with grand-narratives of “rights, citizenship, the nation-state, public and private spheres”

 

Conclusion:

Chakrabarty in this essay has effectively defended against the third-world counties being labelled as subaltern in the European context. he argues that the term subaltern has been created by the western thinkers who are totally ignorant of non-western narratives, cultural and traditional achievements. He concludes that Europe may be termed in the context of science and legal system but not in the sphere of literature, architecture and other traditional values of the third-world nations.  

 

 

 

 

EPIC

 Epic:

Definition: An epic is a long narrative in verse on a great and serious subject related in an elevated style.

 Dryden: According to Dryden “An Epic is a heroic poem, truly such, is undoubtedly the greatest work which the soul of man is capable to perform.”

 Characteristics:

·       An epic tells a generally well-known story and is centred round a heroic or semi-divine figure on whose actions depends on fate.

·       The action of an epic is serious

·       There is a good deal of physical and spiritual conflicts.

·       The characters and events are portrayed in detail and descriptions are in elevated style and the language is also ornate.

 

Types of Epics:

 

Historically there are two types of epic – 1. the primitive epic or the epic of growth  and the epic of art or the literary epic.

 

The epic of growth is not entirely the work by a single author but it evolved from pre-existing legends, folk poems and sagas. The epic of growth contains supernatural or religious elements. The style of such epic is marked by directness and simplicity. Example: Homer’s “Iliad” and Odyssey”; Valmiki’s “The Ramayana” and Vyasa’s “The Mahabharata”.

 

The epic of art or literary epic is the product of individual poet. It is the scholarly research of the poet. Most traits of the epic of growth are found in the literary epic also. Example: Virgil’s “Aenid”; Milton’s “Paradise Lost”: Spenser’s “Faerie Queene”.

 

The man traits of an epic:

 

1.     The subject matter of an epic is heroic or mythical kind. The hero is a figure of national or even cosmic importance.

2.     The setting of an epic is vast and comprises several worlds.

3.     The action of an epic involves superhuman deeds. The action of an epic is often controlled by supernatural agents. Gods and goddesses mingle with the humans and fight on both sides.

4.     The pic contains a number of thrilling episodes like battles, duels, wanderings, ordeals and the like.

5.     In most epics there is a moral purpose. The hero represents a cause and the victory of good over evil is ensured.

6.     Epic is narrated in an ornate, ceremonial and grand style. Epic similes, figures of speech, classical allusions and references and repetitions are used.

7.     The epic is usually divided into 12 books through “Iliad and “Odyssey” have 24 books.

The Mock-Epic

The mock-epic is a narrative poem in which the conventions of the regular epic are employed in connection with trivial things. Thus, it becomes a parody. The finest example of a mock-epic poem in English is Pope’s “Rape of the Lock” published in 1712. Swift’s “Battle of the Books” also contains some traits of a mock-epic.

 

“Rape of the Lock” celebrates an absurdly trivial theme – the theft of a lock of hair from a girl’s head by her lover – in an epic manner. As in serious epic Pope invokes the Muse at the beginning. He introduces the supernatural elements as in all serious epics. The poem is full of fanciful concepts, expressions and images that remind the reader of a regular epic. The poet uses irony, satire, understatements, anticlimax, balanced sentences and similar devices to emphasise the mocking tone without spoiling the epic structure.

 

My Ancestor's House (Bina Sharif)

 About the Author: Bina Sharif is an American playwright, actress, director, performer and a visual artist. She has written, directed and performed over30 plays produced in USA, Pakistan and Europe. Her full-length lay “My Ancestor’s House” published by Ruttledge Press and taught in many universities all over the world.

Sharif holds an MD degree from Pakistan and a master’s degree in Public health from Johns Hopkins University.

Sharif has been a theatre critic for the last 20 years, co-hosting HI DRAMA and is the editor and publisher for the blog, Arts International and maintains a website with her writing titled “Stream of Consciousness of Singing Birds”. Her work has been exhibited in group shows at Theater for the New City Art Gallery. Her 31st play was staged in New York at The Theater for the New City in November 2016. She recently completed her 32nd play, which is a one-woman play titled "Sorrow in the Time of Isis" and is being considered for production.

 

Characters in the Play:

Begum Hajira – Mother, aged 50-70.

Sahid – Begum’s elder son, aged 45-50; he is a brigadier in the Pakistani army. 

Nazo -Begum’s eldest daughter (in forties)

Bindia – Begum’s second daughter (in late thirties)

Roona – Begum’s third daughter (two/three years younger to Bindia)

Deedi – Begum’s youngest daughter (in late twenties)

Ali Buksh – a family servant, aged 40-50

Moazzan – a Muslim man, knows how to recite Aazan (a call to prayer in Arabic)

 

 

“My Ancestor’s House” is a memory play. It was first performed in 1992. Bina Sharif calls it a ‘memory play’ as it deals with her own past life, of her siblings and of her parents in Pakistan that she left behind decades age before moving to America. Basically, it is written in the memory of her elder sister called, Deedi, who was cruelly boycotted by the family because she chose her husband without their consent. The husband also proved cruel as he did not support his family; he remained idle till her death.  It is one of the plays in the anthology called “Contemporary Plays by Women of Color”. It focuses on the pathetic conditions of women in Muslim community. The culture, religion and patriarchy are responsible to suppress and dominate the females. The females mentioned in the play are not allowed to live the life according to their wish, rather they have to move according to the desire and interest of their families. They are not even allowed to choose their life partner. If they marry according to their will, they are punished by their society, religion, fate and her husband too. The play, My Ancestor’s House excavates how Muslim women are suppressed by their culture, religion and patriarchy.  In the play, “My Ancestor’s House” we follow the return of Bindia, a Pakistani woman who has chosen to marry and live in the west. But for the sake of her native land and the world of her sisters and dying mother, she returns to Pakistan. It is on this journey that she confronts with jealousy and family strife that question her very existence. There is the picture of female characters like Begum, Nazo, Bindia, Roona and Deedi. The bonding and the relationship of sisters are presented beautifully to resist patriarchal domination in the play.

 

Bindia leaves the male chauvinist country Pakistan for the sake of freedoms and liberties in America. But her problems do not subside there. She remains the metaphor of a weaver's shuttle between America and Pakistan. The liminality of life that is the result of the hybrid self keeps her entrenched in homelessness. Bindia dots upon ‘The jasmines, the daffodils, the beautiful birch trees’ and ‘the best rosebuds’ in the garden of Nazo. She cannot help crying, ‘oh! the lovely roses'; 'you could never have a garden in New York .'Nazo, fond of the garden, asks Roona to ‘let her (Bindia) stay in the garden. It is so lovely out there. In comparison with Roona’s 'smaller garden,' the garden of Sahid is just 'huge .'And like others, he is also very fond and proud of his garden. It is the symbol of joys, luxuries and happiness that a character in “My Ancestor’s House” provides to his/ her own family.

 

Bindia has no children as she has no familial life. She does not own her garden rather. There is a lot of concrete and cement around her house in America. That is the reason she is more fond of a garden than other characters. She is passing a lonely life in America. Nazo’s big garden signifies the worldly success and luxuries that she, along with her life partner, brings to the children. Deedi has no garden at all. Roona’s smaller garden stands for the little material advancement she made for her family. To yearn passionately for the garden is reinforced by the unaffordable miseries of practical life that the unchanging, cruel, and constantly repeated actions occasion them. Nazo’s hollowing unrest due to materialist hunger, Roona’s apprehensions and worries to arrange money for her daughters, Sahid’s unjust moral compass that is the result of modern vicious circles of life and Bindia’s rootlessness in the American ambiance all sharpen their desire for the carefree childhood implicated in the lexical item 'garden.' Bindia committed a one-time important act of leaving Pakistan for America. It brought a big turn plus a boost in her life but then she lost her energies to further struggle for adjustment to the new environment. Deedi proved her dynamism by choosing a husband of her own choice, but she also failed to replenish her forces and courage to overcome her miserable marriage at the hands of her worthless life partner. Sahid, Nazo and Roona, who could not make any one-time extraordinary action, are fully exhausted in terms of peace, contentment, and self-actualization.

Mother is the symbol of the sap of life for all the characters in this play. Bindia says, ‘mother is dying’; her ‘vacant stare…is almost frightening’. The routine-based habitual life has squeezed their prospects to nourish and flourish vigorously. The attitudinal and existential trajectory of all the siblings snakes into the undynamic mother image. Bindia says that she wanted to help Deedi even at the cost of her own self. She wanted to tell her, ‘Deedi, you are not alone’. The other example of the act of omission is Bindia’s regrets. She is sorry for not having reached out earlier when the mother was able to speak and recognize her family members. She says, 'I just wish I came back a little bit earlier'.

 Nazo, her husband, and Sahid have already pooled their selfish and cruel plan to expel Deedi along with her children and the worthless husband from her mother's house. Being elders among the siblings, they are bent on occupying the house cleverly. First, they try to pave the ground against Deedi, in front of Roona and Bindia, by finding faults with the former. They condemn the husband of Deedi. They also show their apprehensions about that worthless man who, they think, might occupy, along with his wife, the mother's house. Then they further exercise their pressure against the subaltern Deedi: Sahid says that her sinister husband wants that the former should bring up his children. Sahid very clearly announces that he will not do this job. Bindia and Roona have discerned the plan of Sahid and Nazo very well.

Encouraged by Nazo, Sahid, advises Roona and Bindia to construct a commercial market in the location of the ancestral house. It would every month fetch a lot of rent from the banks to be built there. He also announces, along with Nazo, that the latter's husband has voluntarily agreed to supervise the construction work. For this purpose, Sahid requests a power of attorney from his siblings. As these women do not trust their elder brother and elder sister, therefore, they decline the request. When the dissenting group advises selling the house, Sahid disagrees with it. Then all of a sudden, he changes his strategy. He begins to say that all of them are 'empty souls'; all the children of the family are 'emotionally crippled monsters incapable of having a healthy conversation .'To dispel the effect of his younger sister's doubts about him, he spreads a new trap before them. He says, 'I am trying to save our children. He elevates himself to their father's position and says, 'I promised myself to prevent further decay of my family .'He announces to 'get Deedi out of this mess .'He even offers his own house for Deedi. When the group of his younger sisters does not show agreement, he begins the self-pitying process. He curses his career in the army. He also belittles his value before others saying that he is not happy with his institution as it usually destabilizes the governments.

There is a causal relationship between madness and meaningless activities. The same formulation is spotted in My Ancestor House. The characters are mercilessly and cruelly involved in 'an unending quarrel . Everyone claims that his/her love for the mother is greater than those of others. Bindia states she served the mother during her stay in Pakistan better than others. Nazo also takes pride in caring for her mother more than others. Roona also claims to have visits to look after the mother. Sahid says that he will protect Deedi and his mother. All these characters have empty claims of love and care for the mother. There is another form of madness found in these characters. Every character tries to have a father figure for others. Nazo positions herself as the mother and Sahid calls himself the father. The reality is that no one cares about others. Everyone is selfish in each way.

Bindia wants her share of the house immediately to settle somewhere comfortably. Roona wants her share because she wants to arrange for the dowery of her daughters. Nazo wants to construct a commercial building there as it would bring a healthy income for her household. Sahid also wants a power of attorney from her siblings as he is desirous of fleecing all of them. The excess of all these works shows that they are without any pleasant colour in their acts of commission.

Conclusion

The investigation of My Ancestor’s House produced very significant results. It can be announced humbly that the habitual actions left dangerous impacts on the life of all the characters. Of course, some characters like Deedi and Bindia showed courage to bring a big change in their lives via one-time actions. But after some time, they became the victims of patriarchy, tradition and religious culture. Consequently, their existence was as faded as that of the other ones with routine action. Unable to come outside of the unhealthy orbit, they fall flat on sinister practices like bragging, double-crossing, dishonesty, an exhibition of false emotions, levelling allegations against others, and self-projection. These immobile individuals behave like a robot in terms of their lust, instinct, and material thirst. They are all ready to cheat each other to bring more and more luxuries and pleasures to their own families. Their acts of commission are directly related to their routinized activities. Their acts of omission are so many. For instance, Bindia has a wish to comfort Deedi, to bring toys for her nephews and nieces, to come earlier to see her ailing mother and to shift Deedi and other family members to America. But these are just desires and whimsical materials. Most of the time, their actions, behaviours, and discourses are ridiculous and ironic. They often signify the meaninglessness of life.

Rootless but Green are the Boulevard Trees (Uma Parameswaran)

 Note on the Author:

Uma Parameswaran is a poet, playwright and a short story writer. She was born in Madras, in 1938 and grew up in Japalpur, India. She moved to USA to do MA in American Literature at Indiana University. She Received Ph.D. in English from Michigan State University in 1972. Then she worked as a Professor of English at the University of Winnipeg. Now she is a retired professor living in Canada as an Indo-Canadian diaspora. Green are the Boulevard Trees (1987), Trishanku (1988) Sons must Die and Other Plays (1998), What was always Hers (1999), Mangoes on the Maple Tree (2002), A Cycle of the Moon: A Novel (2010), and  C. V. Raman: A Biography (2011) are some of her famous literary works.

Introduction: “Rootless but Green are the Boulevard Tress” is a three-act play set in Winnipeg in the late seventies. It is about an Indian immigrant, Bhave’s family. When the play opens, the family is found in Fort Richmond. The members of the family suffer because they feel as if they are torn apart. This is due to their metal trauma resulted from the cultural shock that they experience in their host land, Canada. The cultural differences existing in the land make the members of the family alienated from the main Canadian culture. Yet they look ‘green’ but they are rootless in the alien land as said by Sharad, “And if an Ontario poplar can’t grow and survive in Manitoba soil, what chance do we have?”

Discussion: Sharad is the father in the Bhave’s family. He once worked as a scientist in India but migrated to Canada in order to find better future. However, he turned into a real estate agent in Canada. He insists strict adherence to the principles of Indian culture and tries to establish his cultural roots in Canada by making his family to follow the same Indian tradition and culture.

Savitri is the wife of Sharad and the mother of three children namely Jayant, Jyoti and Krish. She is a typical Indian wife and works as a teacher in a school in Canada. She is in diasporic angst and so she strictly adopts the Indian culture at home though she looks Canadian outside of it. For example, after reaching home from work, she wears saree and prefers to make Indian food for the family members.  She plays a vital role to preserve the relationship intact with all the members of the family and friends.

The eldest son Jayant, a nineteen-year-old guy is frustrated with his father’s principles. He is unable to come to terms with the current reality partly because of his lack of confidence in himself and lack of courage to face reality. He decides to leave Canada with his friend, Jim in search of a better profession and life outside the nation, but lack the determination to proceed further. He does not like Jim who wants to come with his girlfriend. So, he aborts the trip and becomes dejected.

Jayant’s sister Jyothi is twenty-year-old girl. She is in love with her Canadian boyfriend, Andre.  In fact, Jayant and Jyoti keep remembering their life in India when they were little kids before Sharad moved to Canada. They nostalgically talk about the house of their grandmother and the ripe mangoes that they plucked from the neighbouring house. However, in Canada, Jyoti does not prefer to marry Sridhar who shows interest in marrying her. She loves Andre who always wants Jyoti to come for dating with him. The cultural conflicts between them lead to doubts and disappointments. Their cultural background plays a vital role in their perception of life and the mental anguish suffered by Jyothi reveals the difficulties in acclimatizing the foreign culture.

Veejala is Sharad’s sister. She is a frustrated scientist, an assistant professor of astronomy at the university. She does not like the professional competency existing in the university which keeps professor like her as lifeless robots. She painfully recalls to Jyoti how she lost her first daughter in the foetus when it was five-month-old, while in her attempt to produce articles on her research. Yet she does not receive any recognition at the university like the other professors who are Canadians. So, she decides to leave her husband and children and go back to India in her attempt to realise her dream. She thinks that her son Vithal and daughter Priti no longer depend on her. Anant, her husband understands her quest for self-actualisation. Hence, she has taken a decision to go back to India though she is not certain about the consequences and result of her decision. This is a shocking news to Sharad, her brother who finds it difficult to digest this act of his sister. Though Savitri understands and appreciates Veejala Moghe’s individuality, she remains neutral. She neither supports her decision nor oppose it.

Savithri knows that there are so many questions the immigrants have in their life, especially in the new country.  They are aware of the truth that there can be no satisfiable answer for all those questions. They try to keep themselves busy in order to avoid the situations that demands such introspection or contemplations. Therefore, she loves her daughter and pities her for her inability to understand the need to hold on the cultural roots which may minimise the mental anguish.

Jayant’s friends Arun, Dilip, Rajan, and Sridhar are the Indian students pursuing higher studies in Canada. They also like other immigrants give an account of their hopes, desires, disappointments, longing for the Indian food and Indian cultural ambience, and also their challenges in Canada and their need to be acknowledged and recognised as ‘equal’ with the other citizens of the nation.

Vithal, son of Anant and Veejala, is an ideal student with active participation in the community activities. He is only twenty-one, but he works for the possibility for better social status and political rights for the immigrants, especially Indian immigrants in Canada. However, the shattered family atmosphere, distorts him from his noble ideal pursuit. His failure in love affair, and his inability to look at changes in a broader perspective show the dilemma in the minds of youth like Vithal. In fact, Vithal like young immigrants are not able to accept and adopt the foreign culture and at the same time they cannot come to terms with the native culture. The cultural dilemma keeps them in a state of a mind where they strongly experience cultural shock and the resultant diasporic angst.

Conclusion: The play ends with the message that those who live in foreign countries can be happy and at peace like the Boulevard Trees which remain green as long as it lives irrespective of the time-span of its life. Similarly in this age of globalisation, establishing cultural roots of one’s native country in the host land may results in mental anguish. Thus, the play brings out the importance of acclimatization of the immigrants in the land of their adoption.   

Final Solutions (Mahesh Dattani)

Introduction: India has long history of socio-political dramatic theatre. Broadly speaking a number of playwrights have given a new turn in writing plays with social and political relevance. Prominent dramatists in the post independence Indian theatre such as Girish Karnad, Vijay Tendulkar, Rakesh Mohan, Mahesh Dattani and many others have used themes related to the contemporary social scenario to bring about the need to renovate the present social structure and to generate a renewed and better social system. They present complex issues of the contemporary society to address important social ills and prejudices

Mahesh Dattani: Out of the above notable playwrights, Mahesh Dattani is considered to be one of the most comprehensive dramatists in the modern Indian theatre. He was born (1958) in the city of Bangalore, though his parents originally belonged to Porbander in Gujarat. They had migrated to Bombay for business purpose and eventually settled in Bangalore where he found an opportunity of watching Gujarati and Kannada plays in the company of his parents and sisters. Dattani took his education from Baldwin High School and St. Joseph College of Arts and Sciences, Bangalore. Dattani has a very strong passion for theatrical art. He longs to present multicoloured Indian life and sensibility. It is because of this he had set his eyes on the art of play writing and stage performance. So, his academic career has no direct connection with his career as a dramatist. He started his own theatre group named Play Pen in 1984. His plays are performed at his studios. His plays are originally written in English. He has written a good number of dramas which are diverse in themes, techniques and devices. He has greatly expanded new horizons in Indian Drama by not only focusing on the themes of conflict between tradition and modernity, communal tensions, identity crisis and inequality but also touching up radical themes ranging gay, child abuse, transgender, HIV positives and physically challenged. The plays written by Dattani were “Where There’s a Will” (1988), “Dance Like a Man” (1989), “Tara” (1990), “Bravely Fought the Queen” (1991) and “Final Solutions” (1992) for which he won the prestigious Sahitya Academy Award in 1998. He even wrote plays such as “Do the Needful” (1997), “Seven Steps Around the Fire” (1998), “Clearing the Rubble” (1998), “On a Muggy Night in Mumbai” (1998), “30 Days in September” (2001) and “Brief Candle” (2009).

Final Solutions: The play “Final Solutions” by Mahesh Dattani  critically intervenes the post-independence era which has a communally vitiated socio-political scenario. The main character, Dakhsa also known as Hardika in the play fuses past and present. The theme of communal tension is given historical depth through flashbacks featuring Hardika at the age of fifteen in 1948 and her experience in the aftermath of the partition returns to her memory at different points of the play. The play explores the theme of communalism.

The political climate of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement of the Hindu Right during which the play, “Final Solutions” was written and produced adds a layer of significance to the play. During the early nineties the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) was supporting the demolition of Babri Masjid with religious processions known as Rath Yatras. The context of these Rath Yatras contributes to the play because they are the communal riots which form the background of the play. And in the play it is brought out by the disruption of a Rath Yatra while passing through  a Muslim neighbourhood.

Final Solutions opens with the image of five masked individuals dressed in black. Dattani has named them as Mob/Chorus. Each member has two masks one is of Hindu and other of Muslim. They remain on the top of a large crescent shaped ramp for most of the time in the play. Below the ramp is the home of Gandhis, a middle class family, in present day, Amargaon, Gujarat. The Gandhi family comprises of an elderly survivor of the partition of India and Pakistan, Hardika, who was earlier known as Daksha, her son Ramnik, her daughter in law, Aruna and her granddaughter, Smita.

The action of the play is set in motion by the recent destruction of the chariot and images of Hindu deities of a Rath Yatra while travelling through a Muslim neighbourhood of the city. Riots had broken out in Amargaon and so curfew has been imposed in the city. The local Hindu and Muslim communities, represented by the Mob/Chorus are blowing each other for the riots. The communal violence between these groups brings back Hardika’s memories of partition and her life as a new bride in 1948. Her memories are expressed through the character of Daksha who is shown reading from her diary. The Gandhi family is safe within the home and although Smita is worried about the safety of her Muslim friend, Tasneem.

The family is having a peaceful evening but it is disrupted when Bobby and Javed two young Muslim men arrive at their doorstep begging to take them inside. The Mob/Chorus with Hindu masks are after Bobby and Javed and are threatening to kill them. Despite the objection of his mother Ramnik opens the door of his house to protect the two. An interaction occurs between the Ramnik and Bobby and Javed throughout the course of the night. Hardika still has resentment against Muslims due to the events that had happened in her life following the partition and thus she protests against Bobby and Javed’s presence in her home. Through the character of Daksha the audience is slowly able to know the two factors that are the source of Hardika’s animosity. The first was the murder of her father in hometown, Hussainabad, which became a part of Pakistan during the partition.

The second reason was that the physical and mental abuse she had to endure when her husband Hari and her in laws found out about her friendship with her Muslim neighbour, Zarine. Her son Ramnik is a secular Hindu and much more hospitable to the boys who have come to the home for their safety. But Ramnik’s kindness is partly driven by the guilt he feels over running the business his father established by cheating Zarine’s family after partition. Ramnik’s wife Aruna is a deeply devout woman who feels extremely uncomfortable with Muslims sitting in her home and drinking water from the same glasses. She believes that their touching is polluting.

Smita, Ramnik’s daughter is also very uncomfortable with Bobby and Javed’s presence but for other reasons. Prior to the action of the play, Smita and Bobby had a brief romantic love affair with each other which they later decided not to pursue. Now Bobby is engaged to Javed’s sister and Smita’s friend Tasneem. Smita also struggles with her relationship with her mother, who she describes “stifling” her with religious rituals. Bobby whose real name is Babban is also a secular Muslim who tries to hide religious identity. Javed on the other hand is a Muslim Youth with a strong sense of identity. After becoming a victim of religious prejudice during his childhood, Javed had started working as a hired hoodlum, who is paid to start riots. He even reveals that he was the one who disrupted the Rath Yatra. Bobby has been trying to persuade Javed to give up his profession.

The struggle of these six characters to spend one night under the same roof creates a tense situation. The play reaches its end in the early hours of the morning when Bobby enters the prayer room and picks up the idol of Krishna to Aruna’s great distress. Bobby proclaims that he is touching god and nothing is happening to him. Upon seeing Aruna’s horror he tells Aruna that if there is understanding and faith in each other nothing can be destroyed. He then turns to Hardika and claims that if she is willing to forget everything, he is willing to tolerate everything done to him on communal basis. Bobby and Javed leave. Then Ramnik tells Hardika that her husband and her father-in-law had destroyed her friend Zarine’s family business. Hearing this Hardika realizes the real reason for why her in laws forbidden her to keep friendship with Zarine was not because Zarine was a Muslim but they were trying to hide their crime. Crushed Hardika asks Ramnik about why had not he told this to her before. Ramnik replies that he did not want her mother to live with guilt. The play ends with the image of Javed and Bobby standing among the Mob/Chorus.

Analysis: “Final Solutions” is situated with a long history as it deals with religious communalism, which is also one of the very important national concerns which have problematized the peace of nation for over a century. The religious conflicts and its consequence such as hatred, animosity and anger are often referred to be as religious communalism. The religious communalism results due to the ideological differences between the members of different religions and in fact it emerges out of the political manipulation of social issues.  Ever since the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, a communal tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities in India has been pervasive.  In fact, India has a long history of communal violence and Final Solutions is a kind plea for the end of the communal violence, with one of the worst examples that is Ayodhya dispute. The past incidents and events like the partition in 1947, Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and Godhra incident in 2002 have created a huge gap between the Hindus and Muslims. The play opens when there has been curfew in the city because of the disturbance in the Rath Yatra resulting in communal violence. The play starts itself with a curfew in the city because of the communal conflicts. The central character Hardika had sorrowful past which had made herself averse to the religious sect of Muslims.

Hardika cannot forgive the people of that community who brutally killed her father even if the murderers did not have any relations with the boys who had come to their house to protect themselves. In most of the cases the matter of dispute is very simple but due to involvement of some anti-social elements it takes shape of communal riots as Bobby reveals to Ramnik the reason of Javed’s turning point from a common Muslim guy to a riot rouser or a hoodlum: Booby explained that Javed and his other friends were shocked to see when Javed was ill-treated as untouchable when he held a letter addressed to a Brahmin guy.

Javed and Bobby felt equally angry about the man’s behaviour which created a deep and vast difference. Like this, many such incidents had happened in Javed’s life and so he became a hoodlum by attaching himself with a terrorist group. Javed then confesses about the riots which broke-out because of the disturbance in the Rath Yatra was initiated by him, as he threw stone on the idol of deity in the procession. One can find the animosity and hatred of Javed towards the Hindus is not for some particular individual or a group but for the community as whole.

Aruna is a character which responds in most staunch and devout ways. She even risks her own family members for the sake of maintaining her religious identity. She also forcibly tries to make her daughter to believe the same in what she does. The three characters Bobby, Ramnik and Smita despite the outer layers of secularism remain acutely aware of the roots of religious identity that they are trying hard to supress through their own identities.

Finally, when Bobby and Javed are about to leave, Bobby breaks all norms by lifting the tiny image of Lord Krishna from Aruna‟s prayer room and declaring in front of all that nothing has happened to Lord Krishna when a Muslim like him touched it. However Aruna screams against the sacrilege that Bobby has done. Through Bobby, Dattani voices out the solution to get rid of social problem such as religious division existing in the society. Through Bobby Datani conveys that if the two communities understand and believe in each other then nothing can be destroyed. But probably the only suggestion is that it needs practice and immediate implementation of brotherhood forgetting the past and the stereotyped notions of each other.

Conclusion: From an in-depth study and analysis of the dramatic text “Final Solutions” one comprehends three things. Firstly, theatre always has directly or indirectly presented the utter truth of life through language which is destined to survive, move and rule man’s mind and heart forever. Secondly, although it portrays reality, theatre has brought hope, courage, awareness and understanding to man about what he is and what he should do to stand against anything with a vision towards a better future to come and determination to fight against all the social evils and odds. And finally, theatre is a key educational device which informs and demonstrates the perception of class, religion, caste and ethnicity prevailing in the society by conceptualizing the identities. Its main purpose is to delight with instruction which will be helpful to the society.

Two Angry Men (Cyrus Mistry)

 Introduction:

“Two Angry Men” like other short stories of Cyrus Mistry portrays the deranged conditions of the voiceless people. In this fiction, the author has brought out the division existing between the rich and poor. In the modern world, money plays a crucial role and man’s life greatly depends on it. There is no place for humanity in any form or sense. Hence the privileged people exploit and suppress the people who are living at the margin. In this story, Ashutosh though a friend to Prashant, yet suppresses him as he is the boss of the Advertisement Company at where Prashant is an employee. Therefore, the derangement of Prashant is the focal-point in this fiction.

Ashutosh - The Hypocrite:

Ashutosh and Prashant are friends from their schooldays. Though they are friends, they are jealous at each other because Ashutosh always exhibits his upper-class mentality.  Being an upper-class man, Ashutosh always treats Prashant as his inferior. But they pretend that they are good to each other. Hence most part of the story is written in form speaking out the mind-voices these men. In a sense, it looks like ‘Aside’ in Shakespearean plays. From the mind-voices of Ashutosh and Prashant, readers can understand the real-nature of them. When the story opens, it is found that Prashant is working on an advertisement about a new product called “Miracle Biscuit”. Prashant often shows the ‘ad’ to his boss, Ashutosh for the approval. After making corrections, Ashutosh finally approves it and asks Prashant to give it to Sumodh who is working in the computer section of the firm.

Ashutosh, in fact, is the “Creative Head of PFB - Perkins, Futehally and Barker”, Mumbai branch. The company ranks number two in India in the field of advertisement after Futehally made partnership with Perkins and Barker which hold offices in Madison Ave. The Managing Director of the company is old and bed-ridden and his son. J.A. Abbas, gives the entire responsibilities of the company in the hands of Ashutosh. Hence Ashutosh is the de-facto owner of the company. In fact, the company has reached the second position due to the meticulous service rendered by Ashutosh. He brilliantly knows to deal matters in the company as well as in personal life without any commotion. He is a hypocrite. He is a bulky fellow and a bachelor even at his forties.

Ashutosh’s father was a wealthy stock-broker and so he sent Ashutosh to Paris to study Fine Arts. For two years he studied paintings under the famous “Franco-Spanish” artist, “Bissot”. On his return his father arranged for an art exhibition but critics found that only a few paintings contain creativity. Unfortunately, Ashutosh’s father died, leaving Ashutosh to clear all the debts which were not known to the family members until his death. So Ashutosh took the responsibility of the family. He sent his younger brother, Avinash to the university for his higher education. Later, when the family property was sold, Ashutosh bought a flat in the heart of the city from the money but repaid it to his mother before her death. But Avinash who is well-settled with his wife and children in Bengaluru has some kind of resentment on Ashutosh and demands an equal share in the flat in which Ashutosh is now living. Their mother stayed with her sister, Madhumita until her death.

 

Ashutosh is too big and also losing his eye-sight slowly. So, he remains a bachelor even in his forties. According to Prashant, Ashutosh is a hypocrite and sadist and so he finds happiness from the pains of others. Even during the schooldays, he pointed out his classmates and friends to the Art Master when he was asked to monitor the class in the absence of the master. As a grown-up person, now he waits for opportunities to hit out the staff members unnecessarily, but he pretends to convey the impression of being thoughtful and well-organised person.  In fact, this psychotic condition has developed in him for the reasons such as he has faced the hardship of life after giving up his passion for paintings, taking the responsibility of the family at a very young age, and not being married even in his forties. When he comes to know about Prashant’s attraction for the receptionist, Pinki, he gets jealous at him. So, he orders Prashant to move to the Bengaluru Branch as its head which was a promise given to Prashant at the time of his appointment, three years ago. The real intention of Ashutosh is that he wants to separate Prashant from Pinki and this gives Ashutosh a strange kind of mental satisfaction.

 

Prashant - An Opportunist:

Prashant is a middle-class man. Like other middle-class people, he grabs the opportunities for his livelihood even though it stakes the life of others. The predicament of the middle-class and lower-class people is brought out by Cyrus Mistry through Prashant in this short fiction. The derangement associated with the life of Prashant is the microcosm and many people in India live in such life-condition. These people often become the victims in the hands of the so-called privileged or upper-class people. Though Prashant and Ashutosh are friends, yet they do not like the progress that take places in the life of each other.  When they were in the last year of their schooling, Prashant got jealousy at Ashutosh when he informed him that his father had decided to sent him to France to study Fine Arts. Prashant though not a good painter, yet had an attraction for it. But he opted to study Journalism. After his education he worked as a reporter, then as a sub-editor and finally as a copywriter in a local newspaper called “Tabloid” , before joining PFB.

It is from Ashutosh’s mind-voice, the readers understand that Prashant has recently been married to Prema. She has been pregnant for seven months. However, Prashant develops a love-relationship with the receptionist, Pinki who is half the age of him. When he expresses his love and attraction for her, Pinki like a matured woman, warns him against his nasty idea. She also adds that she looks at him like her elder brother. She says that his attraction for her is only an “illusion” and it will vanish like a “daydream”. But Prashant does not get convinced. He never tries to correct his views on Pinki.

Ashutosh who comes to know about Prashant and Pinki’s relationship, wants to sabotage it. So, he promotes Prashant as a boss of the Bengaluru branch and sends him there to look after the initial establishment and to recruit employees for the firm. Initially, Prashant hesitates to go to Bengaluru, but Ashutosh advises him to utilize the opportunity of his wife’s absence from the house. She has gone to her mother’s house for delivering the child. He also asks Prashant to buy a flat in Bengaluru from the company’s money in order to shift his family there, after the commencement of work in the office. Prashant who knows the hypocritic nature of  Ashutosh, fears to go to Bengaluru leaving Pinki behind in Mumbai and that itself at the mercy of Ashutosh. But Prashant accepts the offer and so he goes to Bengaluru. Amidst the incessant work, he almost forgets Pinki. But he calls his wife once in two weeks and enquires about her health condition. After the establishment of the all the initial work, he returns to Mumbai because his wife calls and informs him about the birth of the child which falls before the due date.

On his return, Prashant meets Ashutosh in the office and explains him about the work that he has carried out in the Bengaluru branch. Then he enquires about Pinki and for which Ashutosh gives some evasive answers and also informs him that she has resigned the job soon after Prashant’s departure to Bengaluru. From the uninterested answers of Ashutosh, Prashant understands that Ashutosh has caused some nasty-things in the life of Pinki and if he asks about it, Ashutosh will fire him from the job. So, he resents at the hypocritic nature of Ashutosh without raising voice against him.

Pinki – A Victim:

Being a beautiful and young woman, Pinki is exploited by Prashant and Ashutosh. Though married, Prashant develops an attraction for Pinki thinking that she may not resist his advancement towards her. He wants to exploit her sexually using her poor family background. In fact, her father is a drunkard and a sexual-pervert. So Prashant thinks that it is easy for him to mesmerize her pointing out her orphan-like condition. He continues to develop sexual advancement towards, though she tells him that she considers him as her elder brother. Not only Prashant, but Ashutosh who is “vulturous” by nature wants to prey on Pinki, in order take, indirect revenge on Prashant who enjoys the bliss of married life as well as the extra-marital relationship, even though he is not rich like him.  Thus, these two men instead of considering the inner-mind of Pinki want to exploit her sexually. Hence Pinki gives up her job and goes away from both the men who are hypocrites and opportunists. This is the predicament of many educated and employed women in India which Mistry has brought out with strong vehemence in his fiction.

Conclusion:

Thus, Mistry’s “Two Angry Men” focuses on the hypocritic nature of modern men, who are behind money, power and lust. The two childhood friends who are now coworkers at an advertising firm indulge in never-ending display of false camaraderie, and intense and unspoken resentment on each other. True human relationship and humanistic concerns are billion-dollar questions in this modern society. This is explicit from the end of the novel through the action of Prashant. He accepted the fifty thousand rupees given by Ashutosh as a bonus for the work carried out at the Bengaluru office. But in fact, it is an indirect bribe to keep silence about the whereabouts of Pinki. Thus, the story highlights the derangement set in the lives of individuals as well as the society.

 

The Old Mother (Pearl S Buck)

Introduction:

Pearl S. Buck’s short story “The Old Mother” is about the deranged condition of an old mother who needs to stay with her son in her old age. The author in this short fiction juxtaposes the old and young generations and tradition and modern life-style on the same platform to highlight the theme of lack of love and humanity in modern men. The author also portrays the absence of heart-felt love existing among the family members in this fiction.

The Old Mother’s Traditional Life-Style:

The old mother lived with her husband and children at a small house in a village. She and her husband did farming in their own fields. She did not maintain a hygienic environment at her home. She used the chopstick which she used for eating food from her bowl to serve food to the other family members or to put extra food into her bowl from the cook-pot. Her husband and children also did not know the meaning of hygiene or infection, etc. Yet they all lived a happily tilling their fields. They reaped food grains and grew vegetables to the keep the family away from starving. But tragedy struck in the life of the old mother when she lost her two sons for a viral epidemic called cholera. In fact, she did not understand the cause of the death of her sons. Like other villagers, she thought that it was the fate that played in the lives of her children.  The only son who survived was her last son. He showed mettle in his studies. So, she and her husband were ready to sell their farming land for the sake of her son’s education, even though the other villagers warned against doing so. The old mother strongly believed that her son would take care of her and her husband in their old age. However, before moving to her son’s house in the city, she lost her husband who died due to his old age. With the remaining piece of land, she gave a decent burial to her husband. Then, without her husband, she was fated to go to her son’s house in the city. She hesitated to go to her daughter’s house, for she thought that it was a demeaning on her part to live with her daughter and son-in-law, while the son is alive.

The Old Mother’s Mental Trauma:

The old mother moves to her son’s house in the city. In fact, her son who is well educated and well settled, married a woman of his own choice, in love-marriage. The old mother does not know what a love-marriage is. Yet she and her husband did not want to stand as hurdles on the path of their son’s progress in life. Now, the son has two little daughters. But the old mother is not allowed to kiss and play with her grandchildren. The old mother is forced to adapt table manner – she needs to wait until all the food items to be served on her plate. Besides, her daughter-in-law never allows the old mother to use the chopstick which she uses to eat food from her bowl, for taking some more food from the common bowl. Hence, it is necessary for the old mother to wait until the food, though her favourite one to be served to her bowl. Above all, the old mother never gets the satisfaction of fully-eaten. Therefore, she often steels and stores food which is kept for the servants. She keeps the stolen food in her room in a separate box and eats it later even though it becomes stale, sometimes. Her son and daughter-in-law codify many rules that the old mother should adapt. But these are new as well strange to her and so often she develops tension in her mind and that turns out to be a mental trauma of hers.

The Old Mother’s Derangement:

One day, the old mother’s granddaughters are playing in front of her room. In fact, the girls are restricted not to enter in to the old mother’s room. But seeing the granddaughters, grandmotherly-love springs out of the old mother’s heart. So, she takes the little one, keeps it on her lap, cajoles it and kisses it to her heart content. Then she gives a cake to it from the tin-box. Actually, the cake is stale. But the old mother does not understand it and so she wipes out the white-dust deposited on the cake and gives it to the little one to eat. Seeing this, the elder one reports it to its mother. So, the old mother’s daughter-in-law reprimands the old mother for her action. She also makes the child to spit the food given by the old mother. However, the child develops fever. Throughout night, her son and daughter-in-law attend the child and gives medicine as per the doctor’s advice. In the next morning, the baby becomes normal. The son who is angry at the old mother, scolds her for the foolish action. The old mother convinces him saying many irrelevant excuses. This further kindles the son and so he orders one of the servants to keep an eye on the old mother in her room. Thus, the old mother becomes arrested in her own house. Nobody in the house understands the old mother’s love.

Conclusion:

Thus, in this short fiction, Pearl S. Buck brings out the vanity of modern life. The old mother who sacrificed her entire life and property for the welfare of her son received only contempt from him. The life of the old mother is the microcosm. In this modern age, people are after money and fail to value fellow relationship. There is no place for love and humanity in the hearts of modern men. The derangement set in the lives of individuals and the failure of humanity are the crux of the fiction.