READING DRAMA TARA MAHESH DATTANI Deb Dulal Halder Section-1 : Mahesh Dattani’s Tara: An Introduction
Mahesh Dattani is one of the most popular Indian English dramatists of the present times who still is making significant contribution to the Indian dramatic as well as cinematic world with his constant efforts to put the issues very close to Indian sensibilities in his theatrical presentations so as to enlighten the Indian audience as well as the western counterparts. Probably along with Vijay Tendulkar, Mohan Rakesh and Badal Sircar, he can be considered to the great modern dramatists from India who have helped in making Indian theatre, especially, Indian English drama stand on its own feet and be an example to the world. As per the syllabus of BA Honours English, we will be dealing with Mahesh Dattani’s play Tara in this self instructional material. The effort of this study material will be to
acquaint you with the play as well as theatrical politics of Mahesh Dattani so as to make you go through the most significant aspects of the play. In this Unit, the focus will be to make you acquainted with the theatrical world of Mahesh Dattani and also to introduce the play Tara in short, while other significant aspects of the play Tara will be dealt with in the next units. A short summary of the play is being provided in this unit, but it should not be taken as an substitute for reading the original play
A BRIEF NOTE ON INDIAN ENGLISH THEATRE
Indian English Theatre is a comparatively new genre compared to the Indian Theatre. You have already come across some of the Indian plays from Classical Age earlier in the course. In the present course, which deals with Indian English, you got acquainted with different genres of Indian English and the only play that is recommended in the course is Mahesh Dattani’s Tara. But before going into a detailed discussion on Tara, it is significant that you also have some knowledge about certain significant aspects of Indian English Theatre. Some of the key aspects are– • Indian English play probably owes its origin to the play named The Persecuted by Rev. Krishna Mohun Banerjee who wrote it in 1831 following the western model of theatre about the persecution that he faced because of his western ideas, thoughts and practices in a society which believed in staunch Brahminical tradition which was deeply superstitious and could not stand the rebellious westernized ideas of Banerjee. • From 1831 onwards, a host of writers not only wrote plays in English in India, but also translated a number of plays, leading to the enrichment of the Indian theatrical traditions, especially the Indian English Theatre. • Michael Madhusudan Dutt, the Bengali poet, translated three of his own Bengali plays 1.3 A BRIEF NOTE ON INDIAN ENGLISH THEATRE 1.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES 166 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi B.A. (Hons.) English/B.A. (Programme) into English – Ratnavali (1858), Sermista (1859) and Is This Called Civilization? (1871). • Sir Aurobindo and Rabindra Nath Tagore are also thought to be significant in terms of the development of modern Indian theatre. In the nineteenth century there were some significant dramatists such as A.S. Panchapakesa Ayyar, T.P. Kailasam, Hemchandra Joshi, and others. Immediately after independence, Asif Currimbhoy, Partap Sharma, Gurcharan Das, Manjeri Isvaran, G.V. Desani, Lakhan Deb and Pritish Nandy made much contribution to Indian theatrical scenario. • In the recent times, Girish Karnad, a Kannada actor, director and playwright is famous for his contribution to Indian Theatre. He translated two of his plays to English Tughlaq (1972) and Hayavadana (1975). Tughlaq is a historical play on the life of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq of the fourteenth century India. • In the recent years, Mahesh Dattani, from Bangalore, has emerged as a very committed dramatist and film maker who through his plays and films have tried to educate the mass. (We will deal with him at a greater length in a while) • It may seem awkward to think of Indian English theatre as mostly no one in India speaks English as their mother tongue. Only a select upper class people know and speak in English and that too not in every sphere of their lives. Therefore to represent the lives of Indians in English language in theatrical performances may seem unrealistic to many. But at the same time, it is to be thought that as Raja Rao mentioned in the Foreword to his famous novel Kanthapura, English is the intellectual language of modern India. In today’s time, English is serving the same purpose what Sanskrit served in the ancient India when Prakrit was the language of the common man. Those days, if the experiences of the common men who spoke Prakrit could be expressed in the Sanskrit language, then why it is that today the common man’s language in theatrical representation cannot be represented in English. Mahesh Dattani, a Bangalore based playwright, scriptwriter for cinemas as well as a director, actor and writer, is known across the world for upholding to the society a mirror in which he tries to present the society in a much more clearer terms so that the common people of India can be educated about the significant issues that somehow mars the sensibilities of the Indian 1.4 MAHESH DATTANI 167 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Introduction to Literary Studies society. In that sense, we can term Mahesh Dattani to be a committed writer. Jean Paul Sartre in his famous book What is Literature, while speaking about the commitment of the writers, states – “The writer has chosen to reveal the world and particularly to reveal man to other men so that the latter may assume full responsibility before the object which has been thus laid bare.” A committed writer “reveals” the world to the audience / readers so that they may not say that they had no idea that the world was so, as Sartre further adds – “The ‘committed’ writer knows that words are action. He knows that to reveal is to change … the function of the writer is to act in such a way that nobody can be ignorant of the world and that no body may say that he is innocent of what it is all about.” (Jean Paul Sartre, What is Literature? emphasis added). Mahesh Dattani can be thought to be committed writer in the sense that Sartre talks about the commitment of the writer. The project of Mahesh Dattani as a playwright as well as a film maker was that he thought that it is his duty as an artist to get engaged in educating and informing the mass about the various issues which he thinks are significant for the people to know. Therefore, most of his plays deal with significant social and cultural issues. The play Tara, though originally named Twinkle Tara, is an effort in that direction where the dramatist through the treatment meted out to Siamese twin probes the age old gender prejudices that mars the lives of girls/ women in our country. (We will be discussing the gender aspect of the play in the next few Units in details). It is not that Mahesh Dattani has produced a single play which is worthy of being read and performed; but he has a number of plays to his credit which talks about the significance he holds in the history of Indian English Drama. Some of the significant plays of Dattani are– • Where There’s a Will • Dance Like a Man • Tara • Bravely Fought the Queen • Final Solution • On a Muggy Night in Mumbai • Thirty Days in September • Seven Steps Around The Fire • The Murder That Never Was, etc. 168 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi B.A. (Hons.) English/B.A. (Programme) Mahesh Dattani is the first playwright to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his play Final Solutions which again goes on to prove his caliber and charisma as a dramatist. His Sahitya Akademi award citation reads as follows: “Dattani … probes tangled attitudes in contemporary India towards communal differences, consumerism and gender… a brilliant contribution to Indian English drama.” It is not that Mahesh Dattani is known for the social issues that he brings in his plays but also for his theatrical innovations which make him a master craftsman and at the same time an intellectual giant. His plays are directed by famous Indian directors including Arvind Gaur, AlyquePadamsee and Lillete Dubey. Dattani, as mentioned earlier, also directed movies such as Mango Souffle, Morning Raga, Dance Like a Man and EkAlag Mausam which has received much international and national acclaim. It is also to be kept in mind that the underprivileged people of the society are the subject matter of his works as he thinks that the role of an artist and function of art is to talk about the developmental processes where the concerns of the lowest strung of the society needs to be taken up. To take up the mantle of this cause, he set up a theatre group names Playpen in 1984 and from then on this group has staged many plays. The play Tara was also staged for the first time by Playpen. Scholars and critics dealing with Indian theatre, especially Indian English theatre are of the opinion that Mahesh Dattani is the dramatist who provided a new direction to Indian theatre not only because of the concerns of the underprivileged and marginalized that he takes up in his theatrical works, but also because of his theatrical innovations and techniques. A famous critic John McRae thinks Dattani to be “the voice of India.” It is true to a greater extent as Dattani through his plays tries to give voice to the new India which is hitherto not represented or voiced in the way Dattani does it. It is very significant to note here that he does not romanticize about life in his works/ theatrical productions but moreover tries to be very realistic so as to make the message reach his intended audience. He makes attempts to interpret Indian sensibilities very closely so as to represent them in his works, but at the same time he questions the traditional notions of what India represents and tries to incorporate the new voices emerging within India so as make India develop in the true sense of the term. Dattani himself says – I would like to challenge the assumption of what is Indian. Does that mean traditional theatre forms? Yes, they’re wonderful, they’re very sophisticated, they’re very impressive, but are they really India? That’s something I would 169 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Introduction to Literary Studies like to question and challenge. Are they really reflecting life as it is now, that is the question that I would like to ask. They’re fine, but there is the danger that if you look at them as if they’re quintessential India you’re doing those forms a great disservice, because you’re not allowing them to change. What we need to do now is to look at those forms and say we’re approaching the twenty-first century, this is where we are and this is our legacy, so where do we take that. By now you must have realized that Mahesh Dattani is a very conscious committed writer who in his plays and other artistic expressions always intends to reveal the atrocities that the Indian society went through and at the same time represents the new voices emerging in India which needs to be incorporated in the Indian cultural sensibilities so as to manifest the new modern India. The contemporariness of his themes makes his plays so appealing and popular. In the play Tara, the theme of Gender discrimination is being represented through the portrayal of a Siamese twin (conjoined twins). The unjust ways in which the leg which naturally belongs to the girl (Tara) is being given to the boy (Chandan) forms the crux of the dramatic representation. It is around this incident that the play revolves though the play begins with Dan (Chandan) as the sutradhar as well as the character who is reminiscing about the way in which Tara was unjustly treated. You probably have by now understood the fact that it is a play dealing with the theme of Gender Discrimination. The play deals with the theme of Gender related atrocities that women in India (and also in all other patriarchal societies of the world) go through, but it also deals with some of the other issues such as family, use of science and medicine in life, etc. Tara is the third play by Mahesh Dattani and it was first staged in Bangalore, Chidian Memorial Hall on 23rd October 1990 by Playpen Performing Arts Group and directed by Dattani himself though the name of the play then was Twinkle Tara. Next year, the play was staged in Mumbai when Alyque Padamsee directed the play and it was named Tara. On the question of what gave him the idea for the play, Tara, Mahesh Dattani says in an interview: “Well, basically, it began with, you know, reading an article in a medical journal about Siamese Twins being separated, and, of course, they were invariably of the same sex and there was this thing about a fused leg and which had the qualities of both left and right so there had to be some careful consideration as to which twin was supplying the blood to the leg and the 1.5 TARA: A SHORT INTRODUCTION 170 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi B.A. (Hons.) English/B.A. (Programme) journal went into the detail because obviously it was a very unique operation and separation. Although that was the inspiration but I think by then having written Dance Like a Man, I was prepared to take on the gender issue head on, and I think that was a powerful metaphor. Again, you know, the play is misread and, you know, people tend to focus on the medical details but that’s really not what the play is about. It’s a metaphor either for being born equal as male and female and sharing so much more and with the surgical separation comes a cultural distinction and prejudices as well, but on another level, it could also deal with the individual having the male and female self…” The above quotation from Mahesh Dattani’s interview is a significant pointer to the understanding of the play as it emphasizes how the play is not really about the conjoined twins or about the medical surgery to separate those twins; but more about the issues dealing with the ways in which the girl child are being victimized in India as the patriarchal mindset does not care about the girls and privileges the males. The play opens with the introduction of Tara and Chandan, a pair of conjoined twins, separated through surgery. Born with three legs between two of them, the decision on who gets the second leg is clear as the mother decides it has to be her son because he is the male heir to the family. This is a play on the injustices done to both women and men. Women bear the brunt of social stigmas because of the gender bias that taints our society. The doctor performing the surgery to separate the conjoined twins, makes it clear that the leg would be helpful only to the girl and would in no way aid the boy but nonetheless, succumbs to pressure from Bharati and deprives the girl of what biologically was hers. Bharati tries to get over her guilt by over indulging Tara, but no amount of empathy or sympathy can undo the injustice she has done and this guilt further leads to her mental breakdown and the deterioration of her relationship with her husband. Chandan on the other hand bears the brunt of this injustice as he lives with the knowledge that the useless limb that he was given during surgery was rightfully Tara’s. He has to live through life carrying the burden of the wasted leg and pay for the mistake that his parents committed. Family, society, neighbours and the value systems that prevail in them are some other themes that Dattani has dealt in “Tara.” What are the moral values that we find important? Was Bharati right in taking the decision in Chandan’s favour even when she knew the outcome of her decision? Were Dr. Thakkar and his team ethically, morally and medically right in executing a decision that they knew was medically wrong? Was Mr. Patel right in giving in to his wife’s wrong decision, or did he just accept it because he was economically 171 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Introduction to Literary Studies and socially not at par with Bharati’s family? Was it actually love or guilt that governs Bharati’s decision to donate her kidney to Tara? Was Roopa, a representative of the society and neighbours around us, right in the way she behaved and looked down upon Tara, as invalid? Do we as individuals have the authority to make decisions that could jeopardize completely the chances of an individual’s growth and existence? The struggle continues and “Tara” clearly reflects the attempts of an individual’s effort for existence, growth and development. The fight is an unending one and we as silent audiences witness the very reflection of issues that exist all around us. The desire to lead a life that is normal, without any deformities exists in all of us, but then what is normal? Is it normal to do injustice to a child only because she is a girl child? A closer look at this theme make us remorseful angry and bitter about the patriarchal and cruel society in which we live in as we come across the harsher realities which pervades in our society in such a way that injustice seem to prevail at every corner of our existence, one of the important one being the gender injustice. Dattani being a sensitive individual gave importance to this issue that pervades our society at all levels. (Summary can always merely be a faint approximation of the original and therefore should not be taken to be a substitute for the original. The Summary is just to provide you with a recap of the plot of the Play Tara. You are therefore advised that you go through the original text of the play Tara before you progress any further with this study material) Before we get into the summary of the play, it is significant to understand that the setting of the stage is significant part of the play as it is the dramatic representation which makes the play more theatrical, leading to it signification. Thus, we see the play in multiple segments on the stage which talks of various locales and times. • The play is Chandan’s play as therefore at one level we see Chandan’s London apartment where he stays and is writing a play. • On another level, Dr. Thakkar sits – which is a slightly higher level – as he has a ‘sheer, godlike presence’ in the play as he is the one who does the operation of Tara and Chandan and gives the third foot of the Siamese twins unjustly to Chandan. In the emotional drama, Dr, Thakkar has a great role to play and therefore he is given a higher level of setting on stage. • The lowest level of the stage set is the Patel’s house which is primarily being enacted out in the memory. There is a galli outside the house (which is suggested by cross –lighting) where the play is mostly enacted). 1.6 SUMMARY OF THE PLAY TARA 172 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi B.A. (Hons.) English/B.A. (Programme) Apart from the stage setting, the stage directions are very significant for the play as it provides the necessary background for our understanding of the play. Dan is Chandan himself who is both a narrator as well as a character in the play. Act I The play begins with Dan busy typing in his London apartment. Dan addresses the audience directly in a soliloquy as he informs that – • He is trying to put his past experience into writing – he is writing the play Twinkle Tara which is composed of his memories. • He is living in London so as to distance himself from his past • He and his sister Tara were Siamese twins who shared a leg amongst themselves which was unjustly being given to him by a medical operation. The action then moves to Mumbai to the past, when Bharati is finishing her morning worship ritual and Patel is getting ready to go to work. Usually in the traditional Indian patriarchal family men go to work and the women take care of the household. The situation is same here, as Tara explains to Roopa “The men in the house were deciding on whether they were going to hunting while the women looked after the cave.” In such a circumstance Chandan is willing to become a writer and Tara just wants to be “Strong. Healthy. Beautiful.” We are also being informed that Patel, Chandan and Tara’s father is worried about the mental health of Bharati. The play shifts back to Chandan who wants to focus on Tara as he thinks that nature hadn’t treated them (Chandan and Tara) in a fair manner. Nature probably wanted them to be together as they were born together as Siamese twins, nut it was Dr. Thakkar who operated and separated them. The next scene is an Interview of Dr. Thakkar who is interviewed by Dan where the doctor related the case of the operation of Chandan and Tara when they were only three months old. The scene shifts to the lowest level of the stage where Tara is asked to show her artificial leg. In the following dialogue between Chandan and Tara we come to know that Bharati showers her excessive love for Tara which in turn makes Tara feel that her father does not love her. Their neighbour girl Roopa examines Tara’s artificial leg. We are also shown that Bharati is trying to bribe Roopa to be friendly with Tara. Further, we come to know that Bharati and Patel belong to two different states – Karnataka and Gujarat respectively. We see that Bharati and Patel quarrel amongst themselves where Bharati’s father’s money was the 173 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Introduction to Literary Studies reason why Bharati always feels that she has an upper hand. At this point when Patel forces Bharati to see a psychiatrist, Bharati threatens that she will reveal everything to Tara. We also are made aware that Tara needs a kidney transplant and Bharati wants to donate her kidney to which Patel does not agree. In some time when Bharati is with the children she tells them Patel is not much concerned about Tara and that their maternal grandfather has left them enough money to survive luxuriously and yet Tara needs to find a career for herself so to have her self-respect. While they are having this conversation, Chandan points out to her mother that she has missed a stitch in the sweater that she is knitting for Tara. Patel enters the scene and looking at Chandan being interested in knitting, fumes over the gendered roles that one needs to follow where Chandan should be concentrating on his career. He reveals his plans to send Chandan abroad for his higher studies, though we know that he hasn’t made any such plans for Tara. ACT II The opening scene of Act II is a conversation between Bharati and Tara where she talks about donating her kidney to Tara as an act of love and also as an act of making up for all things Tara lacks. Dan looks at his scrap book and tells about the surgery. He comments that Nature has provided Tara with a raw deal. Dr. Thakkar informs about the various complications that the surgery involves. Action moves to Patel household where Tara is shown to be unhappy and Bharati is shown to be having a kind of nervous breakdown. We are also informed that their maternal grandfather has left his Bangalore house for both Tara and Chandan but his money only for Chandan. Patel who has a deep hatred for his father-in-law thinks that the house should be burnt down. A phone call from Patel to Dan informing him that Bharati is dead does not move Dan at all. Dan refuses to come back to his home in India and instead asks his father to come to London as he sees no point coming to India when Tara and Bharati are dead. We come to know that Tara is dead now for six years. The play ends with spirits of Tara and Chandan hugging each other. In this Unit, you have been introduced very briefly to the scenario of Indian English theatre which started its journey in 1831 when Rev. Krishna Mohan Banerjee wrote the play The Persecuted following the western model of theatre. From then on, many attempts were made in writing as well as translating plays in India in English and to present them on stage. A brief history of the significant playwrights has been provided so as to make you understand the tumultuous journey of Indian English Theatre. 1.7 LET’S SUM UP 174 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi B.A. (Hons.) English/B.A. (Programme) Thereafter Mahesh Dattani, the Bangalore based playwright and cinema person is being introduced where it is being discussed how he deals with Theatre as a medium of reaching out to his audience about the new ideas and voices emerging in India and this educate the mass of the same. His commitment to the cause of the underprivileged is being emphasized so as to show how the issues of gender and other issues related to the marginalized sections of the society are manifest in his plays. Then a brief introduction of the play Tara is being provided so as to formulate your ideas about the play. Certain questions are posed in this section of the study material so as to make you think more about the play. It is advised that you read the play thoroughly at this stage. 1. In what ways do you think Mahesh Dattani is a playwright who took up the cause of the marginalized sections of the society? Write a brief account of Dattani’s politics with reference to the play Tara. 2. Do you think Mahesh Dattani is a ‘committed’ playwright? Why do you think so? Give reasons for your answer. Write your answer with close reference to the play Tara. 3. Indian playwright Mahesh Dattani is thought to be of the new voice of India. Do you agree? Write a brief note on Dattani as a playwright with reference to the play Tara.
