The states of North-East India have quite a good number of plays
written in their own respective vernacular languages. But the works of some of
the Manipuri and Assamese playwrights have been translated into English and
these have shown how successfully this literary genre has been explored by
these playwrights. These plays exhibit local colours, local sense and
sentiment, deal with some of the core issues of the region, and at the same
time, they have a universal appeal. The world of these playwrights, no doubt,
is the very world around them; but ecology, myths and legends, tradition,
mysticism etc. form a vital part of their world. This reminds of their
rootedness to their tradition and culture and even being a part of the corpus
of Indian drama, these also make them essentially northeastern playwrights.
They are recognized with an identity of their own because of their legitimate,
powerful voice.
Manipur has a rich theatre tradition.
After its interaction with the British Indian Empire in the 19th
century, people were exposed to western drama. The introduction of western
education in Manipur during the last quarter of the 19th century
also influenced the advent of a new group of playwrights into the scenario
--------- playwrights such as Lairenmayum Ibungohal Singh (1895-1966), Lamabam
Kamal (1900-1934), Sorokhaibam Lalit
Singh (1983-1955),Arambam Dorendrajit Singh (1907-1944), Ashangbam Minaketan
(1906-1995) , Hijam Angahal (1892-1943) etc.
But it is Ratan Thiyam in whose hand
Manipuri theatre has achieved a new dimension. He is a playwright of high calibre, a director,
actor, poet, novelist , musician as well as a painter. His is a respected name
in the realm of Indian drama, whose plays have been staged all over the world.
He set up the Chorus Repertory Theatre in 1976 that has been immensely
contributed to the development of Manipuri theatre.
Ratan Thiyam explores through the vibrant world of Manipuri
tradition and culture. He rediscovers the folklores, myths and legends of
Manipur and bestows on them a contemporary meaning. Ecological concerns are
strongly voiced in his plays.The plays of Ratan Thiyam “present a remarkable juxtaposition of
traditionalism and the demands that a remorseless technological world makes on
all of us .And through presentation of opposites and conflicts, he puts across
the clear message that unless mankind resists war, halts the rat race of a
frenetic existence and reverses the destruction of the only planet that we
have, there is only doom in store for us…….. His lament of the diverse ways in
which we have destroyed or perverted the world of today is heard against the
backdrop of angst presences in the mythical world of Manipuri deities and
damsel, of mothers and wise men. In the ultimate analysis, his plays represent
the victory of abiding traditional values over the present world of wars,
conflicts, violence, greed and inequity” (Bezboruah 2008:1). Thiyam himself
says, voicing his concern for the environment, “ The human race has come a long way, especially due to
technological advancements, but in the course
of our development, we have somehow lost touch with our emotions, The
more we become advanced, the more our society is forgetting its traditions,
roots and the importance of human relationship.” (Thiyam 2008: 111-12).
The plays in Thiyam’s Manipur Trilogy are Wahoudok (Prologue), Hey
Nungshibi Prithivi (My Earth, My love)and Chinglon Mapan Tampak Ama (Nine Hills, One Valley).Wahoudok is a play with four scenes that
tells, the Metei traditional myths regarding the creation of the universe. At the beginning of the creation there was a
vacuum full of darkness. Then the Almighty cried “Hoong”. “Hoong” is a term used for invoking gods
at the start of incantation; it is also uses as an explanatory word meaning ’No’.
As soon as the lord cried ‘Hoong’, suddenly a
halo of seven colours appeared and there was light everywhere like it
happened also in the Bible as God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis:
Chapter I). He went on creating the celestial bodies, animals and plants. Then
following the advice of Mother Goddess, the sons of God created human beings in
the image of their Father, the Almighty God, like that in the Bible, “God created man in his own image”(Genesis
: Chapter I) .Thus human civilization flourished on earth and they went on
enjoying the bounty of nature and the earth was a perfect paradise for human
beings. In due course of time human population increased that put pressure on
food and natural resources. Human beings started fighting one another for a
share of the ever-diminishing resources in order to survive. Scientific and
technological development failed miserably in liberating human beings from such
a disaster. This war for survival eventually brought political and economic
crisis that led to a crisis in tradition and culture. The earth was no more a paradise,
rather, it became an entity under constant threat of extinction. People started
introspecting. They went back to the history of human civilization for a
solution in order to face these challenges before them. The worried, helpless
people called upon their forbears, the seven wise men and the seven nymphs who
had helped in creating human being and who were lost in oblivion by that time.
They prayed their forbears to save them from this disastrous condition.
This is the story in brief in wahoudok told in four episodes: The
birth of the Universe, the creation of living beings, the outset of human
civilization and the modern times. The play tries to justify the need of
practicing traditional values as it is tradition, culture and age-old values
that enable human beings to fight against the hazards of so-called
modernization. Speaking on the importance of tradition, Thiyam says in an interview
with Kavita Nagpal and Geeti Sen, “it is by the use of tradition that you try to drive away the
civil factors.” (Sen 2006:242).
The ecology of our planet has been talked
about in Wahoudok time and again.
People have been reminded of the beauty and bounty of Nature quite a number of
times. The Narrator in the play says, “See, how beautiful is the earth/Green, black. saffron and white
colored / Ranges of hills.” (Thiyam 2008:41). He speaks of the
entire ecology of the earth. The speaks about the oceans, the green forests, the
varied flora and fauna of earth. But this beautiful earth is now under threat. Human
beings’ exploitation has brought on ecological imbalance. “In the race of civilization, in the
passage of time, grudge among nations have become very frequent. Killing and wanton
murder arresting and kidnapping would happen more frequently, news of wars and
devastations would reverberate in all the four directions and eight corners.”
(Ibidem : 38-39). But this should be stopped in order to create a peaceful
planet is which all creatures car line peacefully. The ecology of the earth is to be maintained
as “there is no paradise better than the earth.” (Ibidem :42)
The ecomystical tone is well heard in
this play. The varied coloured hills, the clouds, different kinds of trees,
flowers, fruits, and different species of animals, birds and insects are
mentioned. All these, along with human beings are integral parts of the
ecological web. Mutual love, respect and dependence is must is order to maintain
the ecological balance. This is what eco-mysticism tells us. It is the way of
living ecologically like a mystic’s way of life. Spiritual Ecology advocates
the growth of an ethical sense that enables human beings feel an empathy with
nature, to observe closely its mysteries and to act for its preservation. Wahoudok is a manifestation of this
ecomystical spirit.
The second play in Thiyam’s trilogy is Hey Nungshibi Prithivi (My Earth, My
Love). It also powerfully voices ecological concerns. The play addresses a very
important global issue like terrorism and shows how it can lead to
environmental degradation. It has also references to Manipur suggesting Thiryam’s
sense of belonging to his native land.
The play unfolds the dark pages of the
history of human kind. Human history has been a witness of a number of
horrendous events. It has witnessed hundreds and thousands of people died in
the concentration camps during the Nazi regime in Germany and the revenge of
the Russians when they raped fifty thousand German women, the Japanese attack
of the Pearl Harbour and the American
retaliation by atomic bombarding in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the genocide during
the Khmer Rouge regime in Kampuchea, the terrorist attack and devastation of
the twin towers of world Trade Centre in Ground Zero. Besides all these, human
history has also witnessed the devastation of Manipur by the Burmese. The play
introduces the characters of seven celestial nymphs taken from Manipuri myths
and legends, representing the peace -loving citizens of the world in general.
They pray to the almightily to restore harmony and peace in the world.
Ecomystrical
ideas have been well exploded by Thiyam in this play. Wars, battles and armed
exercises of nations for attaining superiority have polluted the planet apart
from doing manifold harms to human civilization. They have been posing a threat
to the very existence of the earth. “Do you here, the Emperor called “War” has vowed to devastate the
Earth? Wake up, open your eyes.” (ibidem: 69). The devastation created
by human beings has destroyed nature and the ecological balance: “…………one ‘Earth’ devoid of morning and day, with the sky covered by
the vultures, turned by human beings, is created. In the garden of heaps of dead
bodies, one is searching for varieties of flowers..............”
(ibidem : 69). But in order to live in a perfectly ecological way, a new ethic
is to be developed, in which anthropocentrism should give way to ecocentrism.
This is the primary concept of ecomysticism
and this is what Thiyam
tries to express in this play : “The nature of human beings, to think
and act for their benefit only, has
crippled me…………..” (ibidem: 78).
My Earth, My Love can also be studied
from an ecofeminist viewpoint. Here
women and nature are presented as synonymous. The wars and other man - made
devastations in the history of human civilization have totally a negative
impact on the ecology of the planet. Nature has been polluted and exploited by
these devastations. Likewise, women are also made to suffer. In fact, they are the
worst sufferers . One of the women characters speak of this pathetic condition
of women throughout the long history of human civilization, which is dominantly
patriarchal. The character’s speech can also be seen as the voice of Nature:
War, you have made us prostitutes.
War, you have made us prisoners.
War, you have made us bonded slaves.
…
… … … … … …
… … …
women and children are fed to war………
The epic of the Earth and voluminous
Chapters of thousands of pages would not be
sufficient to describe the woes and sufferings
of women alone.” (ibidem: 73).
The very process of creation is under
threat. The future of civilization is bleak as both women and nature, that
sustain life, are polluted:
“Oh! I’m at a loss.
Submerged in my blood,
Growing in my womb
……………………….
………………………
It’s a leftover of some inhuman and
Characterless one. ” (ibidem: 74).
The last play in Thiyam’s trilogy
entitled Chinglon Mapan Tampak Ama (Nine
Hills, One Valley) has a powerful dramatic voice that also strongly expresses
ecological concerns. Here, in this play is a mystical valley encircled by
ranges of hills, and which is supposed to be once paradise. But during the passage
of time this valley has been robed of its glory and tradition due to
unfortunate turn of events. Genocide, political instability, unemployment,
extortion, corruption--- all these have become day- to- day
affair in this land that is posing a great crisis before it . The common people
are at a loss whose tradition and rich cultural heritage are at stake. The
Seven Wise Men, who have been lost in oblivion so far and who are supposed to
save the people and the land from this
present crisis, call upon the celestial nymphs
, the mothers, to help them write a new book of wisdom that may help the people
to go back to their roots in order to rediscover themselves.
After completing the book that contains the wisdom of freedom, peace, religion,
politics, human rights, traditional culture etc., the Seven Wise Men disappear
leaving behind this book to the younger generation. Towards the end of the
play mothers sing lullabies to their
children stating the glorious history of the land and all
these past happening. The play ends with lamps lightened on the hill
tops and in the valley to enlighten and remind the people of their glorious
past. The burning lamps also enlighten the people with a desire to bring back
those peaceful days once again.
Thiyam, like in his other plays,
explores through Manipuri myths, legends,
tradition and culture also in this play. In the ‘Prologue’ the rites and rituals
performed by the Seven Old Women, the sentinels of Manipuri cultural tradition,
shows Thiyam’s use of his native tradition. The ‘Chant’ at the very beginning
of the play is reflective of the myths and legends of Manipur. Throughout the play
Manipuri folk culture has been intelligently exploited and explored through
that makes the play a richly colorful one.
The playwright is very much concerned
of the ecological degradation of the land.
He has been referring to this crisis in the play time and again:
“…………………
Peepul
tree was on fire; dead bodies were
floating
in a row in the river;……………..”
(ibidem: 87)
People are proud and in praise of
their native land which was once enriched with the bounties of nature:
“Ah!
Much adored oval-shaped land
Where
golden rice plants sway forming
undulating
waves,
a
land encircled by nine ranges of hills
like
a necklace studded with gems,
O
beloved golden motherland,
the
best of all.”
(ibidem: 94)
But
that beautiful land is now chaotic. The ecological balance has been disturbed
by untoward events. It has become a cursed land where “people’s minds are divided, all are
irritated” (ibidem: 88)or where “The sound I hear is that of a
mournful voice, children were swimming in the river of blood, with no one to
save them, they were calling for their mothers before being drowned.”
(ibidem: 88). Due to these unfortunate happenings “the land is heading for utter chaos
that will result in war.”( ibidem: 88)
The
play advocates a revival of traditional values, cultural heritage and ancient
wisdom in order to resist the evil forces. This quest of the people in search
of their roots will enable them to rediscover themselves in a chaotic situation
where people are facing an identify crisis. “Identify crisis, a sense of alienation are some of the dominant
features of contemporary politics in the Northeast. Racial autonomy, cultural
and linguistic conflicts, the problem of insurgency have been ravaging the
region. All these find artistic expression in the works of the writers writing
in English from region. There is a conscious urge, in their works, of going
back to their roots and it is used as a
means of assenting an identify of their own.” (Baruah 2010: 63). This is what is
reflected in this play by Ratan Thiyam.
The
playwright is also concerned of the incidents of terror and war in the global
scenario those have been leaving a devastating effect on human civilization.
The play has references to a number of such terrorist incidents happened in
different parts of the globe such as Dar-es-salam, the United States,
Afghanistan Iraq, Cuba Tunisia, Karachi, Indonesia, Russia, Morocco, Spain,
Istanbul, Saudi Arabia, London etc. All these violent events have a long lasting
devastating effect that has ravaged human civilization as well as has destroyed
the ecological equilibrium of the globe. In the same interview with Kavita
Nagpal and Geeti Sen Thiyam says that even sitting in Manipur he thinks about
Indo-Pak relationship, about the Gaza Strip, about Isracl, Palestine,
Afghanistan or about a bomb blast in Bali. (Sen 2006:230) This concern, both
local and global, of Thiyam as a playwright, heightens the effect of his plays.
He is voicing the sentiment of the common people:
“With prayer to the Almighty
let’s
make a beautiful new ideal world,
manured
with goodness and love,
where
gentleness and peace prevail.”
(Thiyam : 103)
In
order to create such a world human beings must develop an ethic of living
together with each and every objects of nature with complete harmony. They have
to realize the mysteries of nature. The playwright recreates the mystical world
of nature with the help of some touching images :
“Dusk has fallen, the crimson sun
has
set behind the hills.”
(ibidem : 106)
Or
“Look,
manifesting as the history of many eons,
the
peace of many ages,
the
hilltops are standing.”
(ibidem
: 106)
Or
“Night
dew has turned into tears
Of
bamboos and trees……………”
(ibidem
: 106)
An
understanding of this mystical world of nature would make human beings feel an
empathy towards nature, inspire them to live life in a perfectly ecological way
by letting “the
dwellers of hills and valley co-exist.” (ibidem : 107). This ecomystical
fervour is dominant throughout this play.
The
play may also be studied from an ecofeminist standpoint. Throughout the play
women and the environment have been treated synonymously. They both are the
innocent victims of terrorism and war waged by the patriarchal society all
around the globe. In order to recreate a world of peace and harmony nature as
well as women, are to be restored. And in the play finally it is the women, the
mothers, the sentinels of tradition who play a pivotal role in restoring an
order in the society. This is also suggestive of human civilization’s journey
toward nature to restore an ecological equilibrium.
Another
major Manipuri playwright is G.C. Tongbra who tries to expose the anomalous
condition in the society and envisions a better life through his plays. He, as
a playwright, believes that to sustain life is the fundamental question of human
beings and challenges the issues of morality, law or justice as impediments to
the life of the exploited class of the society.
G.
C. Tongbra’s Taj Mahal (1972) is said
to be his masterpiece. The play revolves round the lives of some downtrodden
people. Kebal a blind beggar, Ranimata, his daughter, Yadav, a hotel boy and
Rajmohan, a bus handyman------- all are slum-dwellers. All of them have dreams
in their eyes of living a dignified life like human beings in the true sense,
but they cannot afford to live such a life. Both Yadav and Rajmaohan have
fascinations for Ranimata and they disclose this time and again. Rajmohan is a
thief who, getting a chance, snatches valuables from rich people.
Chitragupta,
an artist with somewhat a peculiar temperament lives in a kala Mandal. He
dreams of breaking the Taj Mahal into small portions and hopes to distribute
those portions to the poor people who are homeless. Rajmohan and Ranimata go to
him and request him to make them Shahjahan and Mumtaj with the help of his
artistic power, even for few moments. Rajmohan murders Sanarei, a rich woman
and loots all her valuable possessions and gives these to Ranimata. In the Kala
Mandal while Rajmohan and Ranimata are playing Shahjahan and Mumtaj and thus
feelings the taste of a royal, majestic life, police comes and arrests Rajmohan
for the crime he had committed.
Eventually,
Yadav takes charge of Ranimata at the request of Rajmohan who is to be hanged.
Rajmohan says that Shahjahan inherited immense riches from his forefathers, who
were emperors of a vast and rich empire. Likewise, ordinary people like them
inherit poverty, grief, struggle, hunger etc. Shahjahan, being an inheritor of
immense riches could build the Taj Mahal. But they cannot afford to build a
monument like the Taj even if they want to. But it is significant that the Taj
Mahal was, in the real sense, built by the blood and sacrifice of the
labourers, the forefathers of the ordinary people like them.
Yadav
and Ranimata build two pillars in front of the Temple of Art in the memory of
Rajmohan. They also make a bell hanging between the pillars that reminds of the
hanging body of Rajmohan
Ecofeministic
ideas can be marked in the play. Ranimata, one of the female characters is the
prototype of the socially downtrodden class of women, she is a slum-dweller, a
beggar who is utterly dissatisfied with her present condition of life: “The creator of this world must be
surely an evil-hearted, prejudiced character.” (Tongbra 2000 : 41). She is in
love with Rajmohan, a vagabond, and aspires to live a prosperous life even
momentarily as she believes that she and her fiancé have the right to dream as
they are also human beings: “………We
both destitutes are still human beings.” (ibidem : 53). But after Rajmohan
is pronounced death sentence by the court of law, it is Yadav who takes charge
of Ranimata. She does not have a choice of her own. It is as if, mandatory for
her to take a support from a male as she is insecure being a woman. She is a daughter
of someone (Kebal’s), a beloved of someone (Rajmohan’s) and a wife of someone
(Yadav’s), but she does not have an identify of her own. This silencing of the
voice of Ranimata by the social set up, which is essentially patriarchal, is,
in a sense, the silencing of the voice of the women folk as well as of nature.
The play has a reference also to Rajmohan’s mother by Rajmohan himself : “I did not recognize my mother,…………I
had many fathers.” (ibidem : 54). This is also very
much expressive of an ecofeministic fervour.
Bus stop is a play written by another
important playwright of Manipur Athokpam Tomchau. The play begins with a woman
waiting for a bus. A woman is waiting for a bus to go to the city. Her
dramatist husband is busy writing a play without paying any attention to her.
They don’t have a cordial relationship between them and she decides to part
with him and leaves for the bus-stop. A traveler appears in the bus-stop and
they go on talking on various topics in order to pass the time. Their
conversation is a commentary on the modern way of living – a selfish,
monotonous and a meaningless kind of life. A Gentleman comes to the bus-stop
and he is killed by a man just before their eyes. But neither the woman nor the
Traveler wants to engage themselves in a problematic situation and do not help
the dying person. Instead, they bet on whether the person is dead or alive. But
just for a moment the women is awaked by her ‘feminine’ qualities and wants to
help the person. But again she becomes selfish reflecting herself as a typical
modern human being. They all leave the dying person without extending any help.
The husband, who is a dramatist, who speaks of the downtrodden in his plays,
also does not want to show his responsibility as a human being and leaves the
helpless person. The dying person knows he is going to die but is uncertain of
himself. He wants to die.
The
play portrays the modern predicament that is full of cut-throat policies,
meaningless rat races, rampant corruption in all levels and so on. These have
been creating a confusion all around and not only human beings, but the entire
ecosystem also is disturbed:
“I have come from that
place
Tension
is very high there,
There
is a drama of skeletal phantoms
In
the river of blood”
(Tomchau 2000 : 72)
The ecological crisis posed by the
changing values in the name of modernization is well depicted :
“It
is the end of the earth, the end; There is
war
between the progenies of Darwin, the
situation
is worsened! It is terrible! What
Shall
we do now if the flames of war engulf us?”
(ibidem : 72)
A
note of ecomysticism is heard when living peacefully together with environment
is emphasized in the play :
“…Light up the pine torches, pick up the fallen
grains
one flesh of lightening and you’ll see
stray
coins on the flour. This mud house might
fall
when it so desires. But do not stop decorating
the
same, with new ornaments.”
(ibidem : 73)
The play reiterates the need to
develop a new environment ethics that can restore peace and harmony :
“The condition of your environment has
charmed
you, it protects, promotes, threatens
And
destroy; ….
Taking
a stand within the silent zone of
Your
heart just stand forth with a plan. ”
(ibidem
: 76)
The
woman in the play feels sympathy for the dying man even for a moment. It is
suggestive of the ‘feminine tenderness’ both in women and in nature. Because
both of them sustain life on earth. This can be interpreted in ecofeministic
terms.
Leipaklei ( A Tender Earth –Flower, 1988)
is another notable Manipuri play written by Arambam Somorendra (1935-) ,a
notable playwright of the post- War era, who attacks the hollow pretensions of
the middle class and envisages a better society where human beings can live an
unburdened life.
Leipaklei is the story of a helpless
destitute woman called Leipaklei. She has been in intense love with Ibotomba, but under some untoward circumstances
has to marry Chandrababu, who has gone to Macockchung to live with an another
woman abandoning Leipaklei. Leipaklei with her little girl has to live a life
of misery and hardship. Thoiba, a rich but amorous contractor visits Leipaklei
every now and then and proposes her to marry him which she strongly refuses all
the time. She only thinks about Ibotomba, her only and real love. Finally,
Ibotomba arrives all of a sudden, after being a prisoner of war for many years
and Leipaklei gets a new meaning of life.
Being
a women, Leipaklei is treated by the male –dominated society just as an
object------ an object to be exploited, enjoyed and used for one’s own interest
without giving her an option of her own. Leipaklei is doubly burdened as she is
a woman and also a poor woman. Above all, her loneliness as a poor woman makes
her a soft target of the male gaze. The helplessness of such wretched women
find expression while Leipaklei says:
“I am a woman and cannot challenge
you. I live a very poor life.”
(Somorendra 2000:91)
Ecofeministic ideas may be seen in
the objectifying of women as an entity who does not have a meaving without a
man:
“You cannot live alone, mind you.
Women are meant for men.” (ibidem : 90)
or
“A woman belongs to a man.” (ibidem :
107).
Exploitation, domination, poverty are some of the major problems faced
by women in any society. The patriarchal social set up has methodically placed
women at the periphery. They have been reduced to such a condition where they
are even unable to voice their sentiments. The pathetic condition of the dominated
section finds expression in the following lines uttered by Leipaklei:
“ It is such a difficulty to stay with
this small child alone. It is such a poor life. There is no other help except
my own personal effort. In the meantime, men do not leave me in peace because I
am a woman. I have suffered greatly under their hungry looks. I could not show
my mettle as I live alone in poverty……….” (ibidem : 105)
Myriad
views of ecology have also been presented through this play. The description of
the natural objects is also a description of the ecology of the region:
“………
The fields are all green, ……… look at the colour of the sky, the patches of
white clouds, are not they beautiful? The air is also so fresh,….” (ibidem:97)
Nature has an important role in molding
human behaviour. It is because of the age-old relationship between human beings
and nature. This notion of the human- nature bond has also an echo in the play:
“ ……… with the beautiful aspect of nature
in front of them I thought all people would seem good.” (ibidem
: 97)
The mysterious aspect of nature has
also been presented:
“Nature also has different aspects …” (ibidem : 97)
Ecofeminist and ecomystical ideas are
thus artistically expressed in the play.
A Soul, Still Wishing to Stay Alive is
another play from Manipur written by Wairokpam Kamni Singh (1948-), who is
concerned about the loss of human values in the modern society. The play
revolves around the dead body of a young boy who naturally had hopes and
aspirations in life. His mother breaks down at the untimely death of her son,
vultures are gathered near the body to have their own share of it. Bones and skeletons,
the lamenting voices---- all are personified and presented symbolically. Even
the soul of the dead boy that still wishes to stay alive, has a symbolic
presence.
The
play is a commentary on the contemporary time where the age-old human values
have been degenerated, where human beings become hostile to one another. Every
individual is as if in a war with him/herself, with another individual, or with
nature as a whole:
“Man hunted man like a beast of prey, and
he who still wants to stay alive, met his end at the hands of a hunter.” (Singh
2005:46)
The blood- thirsty nature of human
beings in this degenerated modern times can also be marked from such images
like:
“The droplets of blood sticking on the bones,
let’s suck even those completely,
let’s suck those completely dry.”
(ibidem:51)
Human
beings are mechanized. They become so insensitive that even death of a fellow
human being cannot arouse pity in them. Their
only concern is to get a “profit from the dead.” (ibidem : 46)
In
such an insensitive, mechanized society women have to suffer more. The desolate
condition of women in modern times is echoed in the following lines:
“My
own mother,
survives
alone, a true widow.
Whenever
anyone among you hungers for fresh human
flesh,
don’t
divide her, don’t devour her.
She
has no one to call her own,
She lives, because she’s born human.”
(ibidem : 49)
Because
of her wretched condition and the treatment meted to her ,the mother here can
also be synonymous to mother nature.
Hanuba,
the old vulture says that it was born a human, then turned into a dog, and
then, in present times, turned into a vulture. This metamorphosis has great
symbolic significance suggesting the degeneration of life of that entity who is
dis satisfied of its present living:
“born a human, I am no longer content
to live.” (ibidem : 56)
Echoes
of ecomysticism is recurrently heard in this play. There is suggestions that in
order to make an end to this overall degeneration in modern living, and to
revive the good old days of the past, going back to nature as a solace is a
must. Human beings can peacefully survive on this earth only by identifying
themselves with nature:
“Let my soul enter the immobile trees
and
the bamboo, grass and reeds.”
(ibidem : 59)
Human beings must feel an empathy for
nature and consider nature as a part of their selves:
“As
we, the living beings suffer,
the
immobile trees and bamboo, grass and reeds also have
limitless miseries.
Only
when you are born as one of them,
will
you come to know their suffering and discontents.
Will
you be able to feel their sufferings and discontents.”
(ibidem : 60)
Nature is not a passive object only
to be explored, exploited and consumed for the benefit of human beings.
Instead, nature is a dynamic entity and is to be revered, preserved and taken
care of:
“All the living beings in this world,
whether mobile or immobile, have to accept the inescapable duty of life. It’s
the law of nature.” (ibidem : 60)
Such ecomystical ideas embodied in
the play enshrine Deep, Shallow as well as spiritual ecology.
Ganesh
Gogoi (1907-1937) was an emininent Assamese poet and playwright. His Sakunir Protisodh (Renenge of Shakuni)
is a remarkable play in the history of Assamese drama for its theatrical consciousness
as well as unique treatment of the subject matter. Its story is taken from the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic and
its proyagonist is Shakuni, the maternal uncle of the ‘Kauravas’. Shakuni has
been instigating the ‘Kauravas’ against the ‘Pandavas’, their cousins. It is
he, who, in a treacherous way, aided the ‘Kauravas’ to defeat the ‘Kauravas’ in the great game of
chess that eventually led to the battle of Kurukshetra. But Shakuni had a
specific purpose. In reality, he wanted the defect of the ‘Kauravas’ as he had
a great revenge to take against them. Shakuni, along with his father and his
ninety nine elder brothers were once put to prison by Dhritarashtra. His father
along with his ninety nine brothers starved themselves by feeding Shakuni with
their share of food. They wanted Shakuni to survive so that he could avenge the
injustice showed to them by Dhritarashtra. So Shakuni took the revenge by
letting the ‘Kauravas’ defeated and killed by the ‘Pandavas’ in the battle of
Kurukshetra. Revenge of Shakuni ends
with the death of Shakuni who dies a happy and a fulfilled man.
The
play can be studied from ecofeministic ideologies. As the story is taken from
the Mahabharata, it is interesting to
note that recent concepts of ecofeminism dates back even to the age of the epics.
Ecofeminism believes that women have been exploited and treated as a passive
object by the patriarchal society. The ecofeminists are of the opinion that the
notion of womanhood is a social construct and women have been without a ‘space’
in all ages of human history. A close study of the play Revenge of Shakuni opens up many such issues that strengthen this
claim of the ecofeminists.
In the play there are three female
characters viz. Gandhari, queen of Hastinapur and wife of King Dhritarashtra,
Padmaa, wife of Karna and Draupadi, wife of the ‘Pandavas’. That they are
marginalized in many occasions can be seen even in the Mahabharata. Draupadi had been married to the five brothers of the
‘Pandavas’ where her consent was never asked for; but she was a wise lady who surely
had a say of her own. The wisdom of Draupadi can be marked in one occasion in
the play where she is counseling and encouraging a dejected Arjuna with her
wise words :
“This accidented defeat can’t demoralize
our force. It right prevails, it the judgement of right and wrong is the
prevailing order, then the greedy Duryodhana will definitely meet with a
faithful end.” (Gogoi 2006 : 134)
Like
Draupadi, Padmaa, wife of Karna, the illegitimate elder brother of the
‘Pandavas’ and the great general of the ‘Kauravas’ has been silenced and kept
in the periphery, far from the centre of action. But she was also an
intelligent lady whose opinions and observations could have mattered a lot during
the whole course of action in the battle of Kurukshetra. She is a mute
spectator of events and is presented with just one identity, the identity of
being the wife of karna :
“You’re my husband, my best guru and
my lord supreme.” (ibidem : 115)
This is reflective of the concept of
womanhood as constructed by the traditional patriarchy . Her ‘feminine’ quality
also comes out when she comes to know how kunti, karna’s mother abandoned karna
immediately after his birth :
“Oh God ! How cruel a mother can be to
sacrifice motherhood for femininity __”
(ibidem : 117)
But
it is the women who suffer the most. Their sensitivity aggravates their
sufferings. Anything happed in the world of nature might be a premonition of
any happening in the world of human beings, and, significantly, this could even
be perceived by a woman. During the battle of Kurukshetra, Draupadi has a
mental disturbance and this trauma has been expressed with the help of images
from the world of nature:
“Why
do I feel something ominous?
My
heart is trembling
Why
is the melody doleful?
Why
is melancholy echoing all around?
Why
is the air heavy with
a
strange, doleful tune?
The
autumn dew
that
sits on plantain leaves
Instead
of glinting ---------
why
do they appear as tears?”
(ibidem : 134)
Gandhari
, mother of the ‘Pandavas’ has also been going through such mental traumas.
Being a woman and a mother she sustains life, but becomes mentally devastated
after loosing her sons in the battle. It is Gandhari the mother who has a wise
counseling to Duryodhana, her elder son to stop the war, to live together with
the ‘Pandava’s peacefully :
“Then stop this fight. I lost
everything. Now I’m left with you and Dushasana only. Arrest further misfortunes befalling the
race. Stop this war son; stop this.”
(ibidem : 122)
She
is voicing here the sentiments of a woman as well as a mother. But she is never
listened to with serious attention neither by her husband Dhritarashtra nor by
her son Duryodhana, the representatives of the patriarchy. But it is she who
suffers the most :
“…… The agony of a bereaved mother is
beyond words to make you feel what it is. I groomed one hundred lads in mirth
and merriment. I am in bereavement of ninety-eight of them at their prime. They
filled my heart with joy, which is now deserting it. How much more I have to
bear? ……….”. (ibidem : 123)
Gandhari
is sad, frustrated and upset. Her mental agony is externalized when, in a course
of discussion, she says to her husband:
“Who can stand unperturbed at the untimely
sad demise of my hundred sons except the two? To that stonehearted father what
penalty can a lady inflict, Maharaja?” (ibidem: 122)
This may be seen as a voice of
protest against male arrogance or domination.
Arun Sarma (1931-) is one of the
major Assamese playwrights of the post -Independence era who has a distinct
voice as a dramatist in the scenario of Indian theatre. His famous plays like Ahar, Nibaran Bhattacharya and The wolf Boy have been translated into many Indian languages and
they have been included in the volume of hundred best Indian plays complied by Sahitya
Akademi. His The Wolf Boy is a typical
modern play presenting doubts, conflicts and contradictions in the backdrop of
a complex set up.
Prof. Ashok Choudhary, a genetic
scientist goes to Ramsang forest in search of an endangered tribe known as the
‘Wolf Men’, a human species that has acquired some of the wolf-like qualities
because of its long-term association with the wolves. Prof. Choudhary recovers
a child of that species whose parents have been killed by the wolves and brings
it along with him. He christens this child as Romu and brings it up with utmost
care and love like his own daughter Reema. Romu, at the beginning, behaves like
an animal in his manner of talking, eating and other day-to-day behaviour but
gradually adopts human nature owing to Prof. Choudhary’s and Reem’s continuous
effort. Professor gets Romu admitted into a very prestigious school along with
Reema but has to withdraw him because of public pressure. As people consider
Romu as ‘non-human’ and make it a prestige issue in sending their wards to the
same school in which Romu also studies. Prof. Choudhary offers Romu education
himself in their home itself, and in due course of time, Romu becomes a great
genetic scientist himself. Dilip, son of Nripati Baruah, a politician and a friend
of Prof. Choudhary, is an M. Sc. who assists Romu in a research project as per
the advice of Prof. Choudhary. Romu develops a fascination for Reema but her
marriage is finally fixed with Dilip. The research project becomes successful
that discovers newer things in genetic science only because of Romu’s hard
work. But Nripati Baruah, by dint of his political power, arranges a
prestigious award for his son Dilip for this discovery completely depriving
Romu of any recognition. Citing ‘technical reasons’ for not considering Ramu’s
name for the award, Mr. Baruah speaks of Romu’s ‘non-human’ origin, his lack of
a formal education etc. He also arranges a scholarship for Dilip for pursuing
higher studies in the USA. Prof. Choudhary also feels helpless but does not say
anything considering the future of his daughter. Thus all of them snatch from
Romu the things he actually deserves showing that they are ‘wolf men’ in the
real sense. Finally, Romu takes out a piece of stone, the very piece of stone
he had taken with him when he came to this house for the first time. He says
that the piece of stone is his very identity that keeps on reminding him of his
background and tradition.
The play envisages a human – animal
association. The possibilities in such interactions have been explored. Romu,
the representative of the species called the ‘Wolf Men” has acquired wolf –like
qualities because of his long term association with the wolfs in the jungle.
That same Romu, after his stay in the human world adopts human behaviour again.
This is suggestive of the various interactions between the human world and the
world of nature. The ‘place’ of nature and the ‘nature’ of place interacts in
this situation when wilderness is accommodated in the human world. It surely
calls for a new ethic that has a larger ‘space’. But the doubts, conflicts and
reluctance of the human world to accommodate the wilderness at the very centre
can be seen in many occasions during the course of the play. People complain
Prof. Ashok Choudhary against enrolling Romu in the same school where
their ‘human’ children are also admitted:
“But Ashok, a lot of letters have been received by the Principal
of Great Heart School, and a number of people have also complained verbally
that they object to this boy being allowed to study with their children. That
is the issue raised by the respectable
guardians of the town. So it would be best if the boy is taken out of the
school….. ”(Sarma 2005:76)
That Romu has been treated as
the ‘other’ is seen in other such occasions.
He deeply loves Reema but it is Dilip,
the ‘human’ who gets her, he discovers revolutionary things in the filed of
genetic science, but again it is Dilip, the ‘human’ who gets the award and a scholarship. Romu’s taking
out of that piece of stone which he brought with him from the jungle, is
significant. If may be a token of his protest against the so called human
world or may be assertion of an
identity.
Ecocritical principles may be adopted
in studying the play. It expresses the agony of the rootless people. They have
been displaced, in many cases, for the interest of the powerful section of the
society. But there is little chance of their rehabilitation. They are
marginalized and their voice remains unheard.
At the end of the play there is a
note by the author that speaks of these things. It says, “In the central theme of this play,
the wolf boy represents the plight of minority communities. When an uprooted
community also happens to be a minority, its very existence suffers from grave
disadvantages. A community may get served from its roots because of natural
calamities, or man-made political and economic crisis. History has established
a sad fact about displaced people: their rehabilitation is a difficult
process….. This play is about the deprivations of rootless people and more.”
(ibidem) : 114)
“Ecological humanism (eco-humanism)
is a theoretical coinage to humanize ecology and to give humanist/human
dimensions to ecology. Ecology in its multiple manifestations essentially
refers to the physical macro nature and the human spiritual world including all
moral and ethical values that govern the human activities”. (Das 2011:181). The
matrix of ecology, ecofemission and ecomysticism in the plays from northeast
India is very much apparent. The ecological world in the plays of this region
is enriched with exploration through ecology enacting the very idea of
ecomysticism----- the idea of living together peacefully and maintaining a
balance in the entire ecosystem.
------------------------------
Works
Cited
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in English from India’s Northeast”: Peace,
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Guwahati: Purbanchal Prakash, 2010, pp. 62-71.
Bezboruah,
Dhirendra Nath. “Forward”: Manipur
Trilogy. Guwahati: Wordsmith, 2008,
pp. 1-2.
Das,
Nigamananda. “The Art of Ratan Thiyam”: Matrix
of Redemption: Contemporary
Multi-Ethnic
English Literature from North East India. ed. Nigamananda Das. New Delhi:
Adhyayan Publishers, 2011, pp. 180-186.
Gogoi,
Ganesh. “Revenge of Shakuni”: Indian
Literature, vol. 213, Jan-Feb. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2006, pp.
111-148.
Sarma,
Arun. “The Wolf Boy”: Fresh Fictions.
ed. Geete Dharmarajan. New Delhi:
Katha, 2005, pp.
62-114.
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Shadows Fall: The Northeast.
New Delhi: India International Centre, 2006,
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Singh,
Wairokpam Kamni. “A Soul, Still Wishing to Stay Alive”: Fresh Fictions. ed.
Geete Dharmarajan. New Delhi: Katha, 2005, pp. 37-61.
Somorendra,
Arambam. “Leipaklei”: Indian Literature,
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Athokpam. “Bus Stop”: Indian Literature,
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