Indian English Literature Post - Independence
Indian English Literature post -Independence.
Paper no : 202
∆ Personal Information:
Name : Maya Batiya
Roll no : 18
Enrollment no :5108230003
Course : M.A.sem-3
Paper no :202
Paper code :22407
Paper name : Indian English Literature post- Independence.
Topic : "Examining Prejudice and Communal Tensions in Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions: A Study of Social and Psychological Barriers"
Submitted : Smt.S.B.Gardi, Department of English MKBU.
Email: mayajbatiya2003@gmail.com
Q. "Examining Prejudice and Communal Tensions in Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions: A Study of Social and Psychological Barriers"
Ans :
∆∆ Introduction :
∆ About Mahesh Dattani :
Mahesh Dattani was born on 1958 and he is one of the most celebratedp laywright of India. His plays are well-known for addressing issues that society tries to hide or turn their face away from. In his plays he talks about homosexuality, he talks about HIV positive people, talks about physically challenged people and touching these radical themes like gay, child abuse,homosexual, he is expanding the new horizons for Indian English Drama. He used theatre as a medium to manifest the calls of the underpriviledged section of the society. He talks about the people who are not given due respect in the society. He also created a theatre group named Play Pan in1984.
We can categorize his plays into three categories which are 1. Stage plays, 2.Radio plays and 3. Screen plays. He was mostly influenced by the American playwrights Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. Though he was influenced by American but still he used Indian dramatic device and techniques in his plays. He was the first playwright in English who was awarded Sahitya Akademi award.
∆ His notable works-
• Where There’s a Will (published in 1986, it is an example of Black Comedy)
• Dance Like a Man (1989, it deals with patriarchy)
• Tara (1990, it deals with gender discrimination)
• Bravely Fought the Queen (1991)
• Final Solutions (1993, it deals with partition, communal violence)
• On a Muggy Night in Mumbai (1998)
• Seven Circles Round The Fire (1998, it was radio play for BBC)
2. Themes of Prejudice and Communal Tension
The play "Final Solutions" by Mahesh Dattani depicts the deep-seated prejudice and enmity between the Hindu and Muslim communities in India, which leads to violent clashes between them. The play explores the relationships and prejudices that exist between the two communities, as well as the personal histories and grudges that fuel their hatred towards one another. This research paper examines the role of prejudice and personal enmity in the communal violence depicted in the play. The paper analyses the historical context of the play, which is set in the aftermath of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition and the 2002 Gujarat riots. The paper then examines the characters in the play and their attitudes towards Muslims, highlighting the deep-rooted prejudices that underlie the violence between the two communities. The paper also examines the role of personal enmity in the communal violence depicted in the play.
3.Character Analysis and Psychological Barrier
• HARDIKA
Hardika is the mother of Ramnik. She is also known as Daksha in the play when the play revolves around the past. Daksha writes down everything in her diary because diary is her best friend. Right from her first day at her in laws house to making a new Muslim friend namely Zarine, she writes down everything in her diary. The diary symbolizes the past and the present. Daksha as a young girl in the past writes down everything on the pages of her diary and Hardika in the present, teaches things to her family about the past, from her diary.
Hardika, known as Daksha at her young age, had a Muslim friend whose name was Zarine. Zarine's house was the only place for Daksha where she could found some solace and freedom. Daksha was fond of the Noor Jehan songs and she could hear the songs only at Zarine's place. Zarine and Daksha were good friends, but their friendship was not meant to be last forever. Daksha's father was killed by the Muslims in a riot and from then onwards Daksha started to hate the minority people. Infact she lost all her faith from her Lord Krishna as well. Hardika or Daksha is a such a character who symbolizes the majority or the Hindus and their sufferings as well.
• JAVED
Javed is a Muslim boy in the play. He is a young baffled boy who becomes a victim and a terrorist. The politicians exploit him in the name of Jehad, the Holy War. Javed takes training for the terrorist activities. He goes rather he is sent to a street where the Hindus live. The street is also known as Mohalla. The Rath Yatra procession comes on to the street and there comes many people who join in the procession.
Javed feels happy as he comes there to work for the holy war. He throws a stone at first to the procession to create a chaos. He had the responsibilty of murdering the pujari or the priest of the Ratha Yatra. Javed moves towards the pujari with a knife in his hand, he gets mingled in the crowd.
Though Javed has the responsibility to kill the pujari, he fails to do so. The knife fails down from his hand and he feels nauseous and thinks in his mind that what is he doing in the procession. This state of mind of Javed clearly shows that, though he is a terrorist, he has heart of a human being as well. Moreover he doesn't have the courage to kill a person who is innocent. Javed is not the actual murderer of the pujari, infact the knife fails down from his hand and he clearly beholds that someone else takes up the knife from the ground and kills the pujari. He becomes the victim of his fate. The charge of the murder comes on him though he did not murder.
I moved to the chariot, pushing people away. And I saw him. I saw the pujari ringing a bell. There was chaos all around. I saw the poojari's frightened face as he turned away. And I was in a carnival again on that giant wheel, screaming with pleasure. And I came crashing down, down. I wanted to get off but I couldn't! The poojari backed away, his last words were his god's name. He looked up at the knife in my hand as I lifted it above the heads around me. He begged for me mercy but I couldn't hear him at all! There were screams all around and I was screaming too, but no longer with joy as fear came faster and faster confusing me! I got nauseous and I cried, 'why am I here? What am I doing here? Get me off... The knife fell down to the ground, the joyride was over.
I couldn't hear noises anymore. I watched men, fighting, distorted faces not making a sound. And I watched someone pick up the knife and pierce the poojari. I watched while people removed a part of the chariot as planned. The poojarifell to the ground. The carnival continued. (CP, 207- 208)
Javed talks about the police department who never arrest the main culprits when it is necessary to do so. He says that police always harass the innocent and common people and that is the reason the victims lose their faith from them. Mahesh Dattani through the character Javed, bringsforth the true nature of the police department who show negligence to the work.
"Arrest me? When they have been looking the other way all along. How do you think we got into the street? In their vans. They will arrest me. Don't worry. To please people like you. And a few innocent Muslims to please everyone. (CP.204)"
• SMITA
Smita is a girl who believes in liberal ideology. She does help her mom in her pooja work because she loves her mom but she doesn't personally support all the things from heart. Rather at one point of time she gets tired of her mother's prejudices and conveys her feelings to her mother.
"Please, mummy, don't try so hard! You are breaking me. Ever since I was small, you have been at me to go to the temple, make garlands, listen to you reading from the Gita. I love you, mummy, that's why I did that. I listened to u and I obeyed you. I tolerated your prejudices only because you are my mother. Maybe I should have told you earlier, but I'm telling you now, I can't bear it! Please don't burden me anymore! I can't take it! (CP. 213)"
• ARUNA
Aruna, wife of Ramnik Gandhi, is a typical Indian house wife who is a Godfearing person as well. She has spent her whole life in pooja path and she doesn't like to compromise with anything that is related to her God. She also believes that everybody has their own way to woeship God. She
strongly dislikes the decision of her husband, the decision of allowing the Muslim boys to stay with them under the same roof. Aruna did have sympathy for the two boys, but at the same time she was scared of them as well. Infact, when Javed tries to help her out by filling up the drinking water, she clearly tells him that outsiders are not allowed to fetch or fill water in their house.
4. Role of Generational Conflict
Dattani‟s Final Solutions is a very serious and delicate drama on the well-worn subject of communalism. It is first staged in Bangalore in 1993 focusing on the problem of communaldisharmony between the Hindus and Muslims in India, especially during the period of the post-partition riot. The play highlights the intolerant attitude and the lack of accommodation between the two communities and unacceptability gives rise to acrimony resulting in terrorism and anarchy. The play itself is a question-mark on this age-old enmity between the two communities wondering if there would ever be a final solution to this endemic problem.Though the play Final Solutions is outwardly focused on Hindu-Muslim communal hatred, the undercurrent theme is even more powerful for it unwinds the ideological differences and hostility amongst the members of Ramnik Gandhi‟s family with the entry of two young Muslim boys namely Javed and Bobby into the house. Javed and Bobby are chased by an angry fanatic Hindu mob which is on the leash during a curfew period. The unannounced arrival of these two outsiders into into Ramnik Gandhi‟s house triggers panic in the family and gradually exposes the conflict between the mother and the daughter who have divergent views on the philosophy of religion in general and their own religion and culture, in particular.The family unit comprises four members of different age groups and different generations.Ramnik Gandhi is a businessman, rational in outlook and is liberally disposed towards Muslims.His wife Aruna is a typical traditional Indian wife whose identity is confined to the pleasure of her husband and management of household. In terms of personality, she is a polar opposite of her husband Ramnik Gandhi. She is highly superstitious and exhibits a very strong sense of pride and faith in her religion and „sanskar‟ (CP 210). Their only daughter Smita is an educated modern girl, sensible, rational and pragmatic and is more like her father. The eldest member in the family is Ramnik‟s widowed mother Hardika who spits venom at the very utterance of the word„Muslim‟ or „Islam.‟ Like her daughter-in-law she too is prejudiced against Muslims and their culture.
5. The Chorus as a Representation of Society’s Collective Voice
The chorus expresses its collective feelings that cannot be shared individually. Through the chorus, the dramatist voices the suppressed feelings and thoughts of the people. The Hindu chorus thinks about the temple and the Muslim chorus about the mosque. They forget the true spirit of humanity. This type of dissection of society based on ethnic or religious identity is not good for any community. The Mob uses the imageries of animals which are targeted to hurt the sentiments of another community. The images of ‘pig’, ‘swine’, ‘mouse’, ‘rat’, ‘lizard’ hint at the communal hatred and contempt toward other community. The play shows that the cause of the communal riot is not just religious animosity, but it’s also related to economy as Zarine’s father’s shop is deliberately burnt down to get economic advantages. Thus in the name of religion any form of hatred can grow between different groups.
In fact, Smita personally knows both Javed and Bobby. Javed is the brother of Tasneem, a friend of hers, and Bobby is Tasneem’s fiancé. As the play proceeds, both the past of Hardika as Daksha and the past of the young people, Javed, Bobby, and Smita come to light. They get connected to each other in their past. Hardika’s father had been killed during the partition violence. Soon after her marriage to Hari, she tried making friends with Zarine a young Muslim girl in the neighborhood, finding their love of music as the common link in the communal divides that separated them. This friendship was not accepted by Daksha’s family, and soon after another communal disturbance, Zarine family’s shop was burned down. Daksha felt that Zarine blamed her for the loss of the family business, and felt betrayed by her friend. The truth was that it was Daksha’s family, which had burnt down the shop in order to buy the property for low price. This shameful act is only exposed at the end of the play. The altercation between Ramnik and Smita brings out the truth. When Ramnik insists Smita how she knows those boys, Smita reluctantly replies that she recognizes those two boys, one is Tasneem’s brother, Javed and the other is Babban or Bobby, who is Tasneem’s fiance. The subsequent quarrel between them just reveals the hidden facts.
∆ Conclusion:
Final Solutions is a problem play because it addresses the societal conflict that exists now. The characters of Smita, Ramnik Gandhi, Aruna, Bobby, and Javed depict how the sectarian violence that permeates our society impacts family life. The dual identity of the same character,Daksha, as Hardika demonstrates how the same person's perspective on racial tension has evolved through time. Ramnik's home serves as a haven for Bobby and Javed, two Muslim youngsters, during communal unrest in the town. The conversation between these two youngsters and Ramnik's family members demonstrates the ingrained mistrust between the two cultures. When Aruna, Ramnik's wife, confronts them about providing them with sanctuary in their home, Smita, her husband, and Aruna disagree. refuses to let Bobby and Javed touch the water that she uses to bathe the Gods. It demonstrates Aruna's perspective on her religion. The communal sentiments that permeate our society have an impact on the relationships between Ramnik's family members. But Dattani finds a remedy by helping people recognise the evil evil that such intercommunal animosity between the two largest communities in our nation entails.The play aims to highlight how stereotypes affect how one community feels about another by presenting many nuances of communalist sentiments that are common among Hindus and Muslims. Final Solutions explores the perspectives of three generations of a Gujrati business family as it moves from the partition to the current communal violence. The play's events develop quickly, bringing together the communal riots of today with the post-independence partition riots in a single thread.
References :
Mahesh Dattani. (n.d.-c). https://jagiroadcollegelive.co.in/attendence/classnotes/files/1621226851.pdf
Sumit, Mr. (n.d.). Mahesh Dattani’s “Final solutions”: Role of prejudice and personal enmity in communal violence. International Journal of New Media Studies: International Peer Reviewed Scholarly Indexed Journal. https://ijnms.com/index.php/ijnms/article/view/44
Scribd. (n.d.-b). Characters of play, Final solution. Scribd. https://www.scribd.com/document/553750769/Characters-of-Play-Final-Solution
Mother-daughter conflict in Mahesh Dattani’s final solutions`. (n.d.-d). https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijsell/v2-i5/8.pdf
The sight. Drishti. (n.d.). https://www.drishtithesight.com/volume-ix/resonance-of-communal-dis-harmony-in-mahesh-dattanis-final-solutions/
"A Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solutions." (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2024, from https://ymerdigital.com/uploads/YMER2201I1.pdf.
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