Contemporary and Universal Themes in the Plays of Mahesh Dattani

INTRODUCTION

Mahesh Dattani, a diverse craftsman of contemporary Indian English show is a chief, entertainer, artist, instructor and essayist all folded into one. Every one of these personalities are the indication of the persona developing out of a differed foundation – conceived on august 7, 1958 out of a Gujrati family, settled in Banglore . He contemplated in Bladwin's secondary school like some other white collar class kid, conceded by his folks to an English medium school. He is an alumni ever, Economics and Pol. Science, trailed by the post-graduation in Marketing and Advertising Management. He has filled in as marketing specialist and in this way joined his dad's the same old thing. He has established a venue bunch Playpen in 1984. His presentation as a movie chief might have been 'Mango Soufflé'. He is a prepared and achieved artist of Bharatnatyam. He trains theater courses at the late spring session program of Port-land State University, Oregon, USA. He directs workshops at his studio. With his Sahitya Akademi grant winning execution for 'conclusive arrangements' and different plays in 1998. He draws his motivation from Vijay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad, Tennesse Williams and Arthur Miller. Different dramatists who have enlivened him the most are brought up by him in a meeting; "The writer Madhu Rye affected me a lot in his depiction of working class Gujarati deceptions. Vijay Tendulkar's 'Quiet the Court is in session' and 'Sakharam Binder' dazzled me with their unpredictable depiction of ladies characters" (Subramanyam 134).

Indian works in English have cut over the national, universal and worldwide limits contacting the pinnacle of respect and magnificence. In the class of fiction composing, verse and exposition composing, the names of Indian authors are a lot of famous and grant winning. Indian compositions are keeping up an incredible standard of writing aside from show. It is just in the class of show that we can't guarantee a lot of recognized chips away at the global stage. [1] Indian writing possesses an extraordinary spot in adding to world writing. It includes an assortment of societies and dialects. Indian dramatization is an old custom which made its essence felt from the later Vedic period. The Indian culture, custom and mind-set are introduced in Indian venue through - natya, lasya, mudra, and so forth. Indian show and Indian venue had the base in the starting point and advancement of Sanskrit writing. Indian show has the longest and most extravagant custom. The beginning of Sanskrit dramatization goes back to first AD, Indian show turned into methods for investigating and conveying reality of things and prevalently known as "fifth Veda." 1 As indicated by the legend when the world goes from the Golden Age to the Silver Age the individuals began getting dependent on a few sorts of exotic delight, envious, outrage and want. At that point, Lord Indra demands God Brahma: "If it's not too much trouble give us something which would train us as well as be satisfying both to eyes and ears."2 "A genuine play is three dimensional: it is writing that strolls and talks before our eyes. It isn't planned that the eye will see blemishes on paper and the creative mind transform them into sights, sound and activities: the content of the play is intended to be converted into sights, sounds and activities, which happen actually and genuinely on

keep this in mind."3 "Present day Indian emotional writing in English is neither wealthy in amount nor, in general of high caliber. Ambitious Indians have for almost a century every so often endeavored show in English - however sometimes for real stage production."4, 5

Dattani raises the voice of contemporary urban Indian culture and the quick changing situation of the advanced society and his greatness as a writer lies in the very truth that he composes what he knows, manages and considers over for example 'here' and 'now' of present day contemporary urban Indian culture. He himself comments during a discussion: "Theater to me is an impression of what you watch … I compose plays for the sheer delight of conveying through this dynamic medium."(Anita Nair) She further spotlights on his utilization of theater as an incredible asset of social change. She communicates: "Dattani handles gives that influence social orders the world over. Much the same as Ibsen and Shaw, Dattani likewise uncovered the indecencies pervasive in the general public." "The plays of Mahesh Dattani carry Indian dramatization into the 1990's furiously. They are the plays of today, once in a while so genuine as to cause discussion, and yet they are plays which exemplify a large number of the great worries of world dramatization." Dattani enhances the methods for making a genuine world in front of an audience with a total depiction of the texture of Indian culture which deliberately and unwittingly separates based on sexual orientation. 'Tara' is a vivid picture of an Indian family overflowing with man centric qualities where the character of a female exists just as far as her association with men. Here a kid (chandan) and a young lady (Tara) are combined at the hip since their introduction to the world, they are Siamese twins. The twins were brought into the world with three legs that should be worked precisely yet this activity prompted the passing of one of the two. It is later uncovered that the choice taken by Tara's mom left Tara disabled forever. Bharati (Tara's mom) yet additionally her dad plays a fowl round of giving the third leg to the kid, impacting the specialist financially. This demonstration not just leads Bharati towards craziness out of blameworthy in which she appears to repay her little girl through over the top love. She says to her child: "I intend to give her joy. I intend to give her everything the adoration and fondness which I can give … Love can compensate for part." sexual orientation. In 'Where There is a Will' Dattani investigates the absurdities of the male centric code of Indian culture wherein a kid is entitled with the deep rooted plan to be trailed by his dad even before the introduction of the kid. With his introduction to the world a kid isn't just into the puzzles of connections – being somebody's child, sibling, etc yet even he has been continually under the smasher of his family's desires. He must choose between limited options however a rundown of decisions to be followed. This is the account of the hero Ajit who wouldn't like to be scarcely a photocopy of his dad Hasmukh Metha. Ajit communicates his anguish "I don't think he has ever tuned in to me in all his years." The play 'Boldly Fought the Queen' builds up the situation of ladies in Indian culture as minimized anyway the globalization has influenced the center of our general public. Yet, play investigates the opportunity that has been presented in our social set-up as Dolly and Alka have diminished simply as the show-piece in their home with no genuine declaration of their will. The nearness of Dolly and Alka has been underestimated. Not by any means Jiten and Nitin yet Baa has been the portrayal of man controlled society during the whole play. The play represents the abuse suffered by the females of taught urban India. Baa and Dolly are abused in to some degree comparative way under restraint of their male partners. As Dattani communicates in a meeting – Dattani manages whatever is available in our general public, anyway cruel it might be, it's his endeavor to contemplate over the shrouded issues and exhibits them before the crowd to give them an idea. A brilliant case of his perception is the play 'Thirty Days in September'. NGO RAHI moved toward him to compose a play on the effect of youngster sexual maltreatment on the survivors. Also, to get the fundamental material of his play he went through five days near the people in question. The emotional canvas of Dattani is hued with a wide range of eccentric, contemporary and liberated from taboos subjects. Homosexuality-as a contention of inclination as opposed to an insane issue has been introduced by Dattani in his plays like 'Courageously Fought the Queen', "On a Muggy Night in Mumbai" and "Do the Needful". His plays watch gay/gay relationship as a personality emergency which comes about because of being minimized and mistreated in the customary society of India. The personality of gays and lesbians has not yet been perceived and they are left to have a detached existence with their own restraints. Dattani concedes: "I have independent of sexual orientation" He sets out to be consistent with himself and to his better half by admitting and requesting pardoning. Sharad and Deepali, on the quality of their conviction stayed unaltered while Ranjit's choice to leave India gets strengthened, for to cite him, "I can't appear to be both Indian and gay." Dattani denounces the untrustworthiness and craftiness in relationship. He doesn't scrutinize homosexuality as sexuality in distinguished as one method for understanding One's self. The awareness of one's social wants and its acknowledgment is practically like being aware of one's sexual wants and types of its acknowledgment. Sexuality is another part of one's character of which if there is a forswearing as far as acknowledgment, oneself endures and influences the general public. The following major topical push of Dattani is to frontal area Hindu-Muslim tussle in his Sahitya Akademi Award winning play 'Last Solutions'. It analyzes the supposed liberal frame of mind towards communalism. The outstanding stage chief Alyque Padamsee muses-

The best part of Dattani's plays is that they speak to the contemporary society, for the most part the urban culture. Here Dattani can be contrasted with Bernad Shaw who likewise spoke to his general public in his plays and uncovered the disasters predominant at the time in his plays like The Devil's Disciple, The Doctor's Dilemma, Candida, Pygmalion, and Mrs. Warren's Profession. He manages issues which are especially a piece of the informed urban culture however the individuals would prefer not to go up against them and Dattani gives a stage to these issues, with the goal that the individuals know about the way that they are a reality and not simply the dreams of a writer. Dattani's plays can be said to have been motivated by Ibsen, the Father of Realism. Ibsen managed various social issues in his plays like The Pillars of Society, which manages a contrary marriage and The Enemy of the People manages political and civil debasement. Similarly Dattani handles each issue from sex issues to sexuality. In his play Tara he manages the issue of sex separation, in Thirty Days of September he manages the effect of kid sexual maltreatment, in Bravely Fought the Queen and On a Muggy Night in Mumbai he strikingly manages the issue of homosexuality and in his honor – winning play Final Solutions, he manages the issue of communalism. Gay relations—homosexuality—is one of the issues that figures noticeably in a portion of his plays. On a Muggy Night in Mumbai manages this touchy subject. While the conventionalists think about such to declare their actual character and holiness. The wedding music heard continually out of sight in the last Act is an unexpected discourse on the lives of these gay people for whom marriage'can just be a doubly twice-four letter word. Dattani's accomplishment as a dramatist relies upon the way that his plays are a cut of life. They present reality as it exists. He expounds on what he watches and a superb case of his perception is the play Thirty Days of September. Dattani composed this play in the wake of being drawn closer by the NGO-Rahi (Recovery and Healing of Incest). In this play he wished to show the effect of youngster sexual maltreatment for which he met seven or eight grown-up ladies who addressed him about their youth encounters where they were sexuality manhandled by their own relatives. In Tara, he exhibits before the crowd the issue that even in a urban family living in a metropolitan city like Banglore, the guardians have their predisposition towards the child and the little girl is disregarded despite the fact that she may be more brilliant than her sibling. Mahesh Dattani is the essayist who strikingly and unhesitatingly handless the issue of homosexuality in his plays. His play Bravely Fought the Queen is about ladies enduring because of the spouse's misdeed and the contribution of one of the husbands into gay connections. Valiantly Fought the Queen is one play which depicts ladies abuse by men since days of yore. Authors like Kamala Das and Shashi Deshpande have additionally depicted the predicament of ladies in their books My Story and That Long Silence. Marriage as an establishment sickens Kamala Das since it legitimizes brutality and gives men a legitimate control on ladies' bodies. Mary Wollstonecraft in her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman tends to marriage as ― authorized prostitution‖ as the spouse can do whatever to a lady's body at his own through and through freedom. Courageously Fought the Queen likewise exhibits the ideas of gay culture common in huge urban areas. Along these lines Dattani presents to us the dark substances of the urban families and the contentions and problems they face. There's no theme which has not been taken care of by Dattani in his plays. One needs to simply consider it and Dattani has a play on it. Dattani isn't just a dramatist yet in addition a theater expert like Badal Sircar and his composed content turns out best when acted in the theater. His fastidious heading adds miracles to his composed content as Mahesh Dattani accepts that his work is finished just when it has been acted before the crowd. So as to pass on his message to the crowd and the peruser too and to cause them to acknowledge and acknowledge that such things do occur in the general public he doesn't limit himself to utilizing normal Indian everyday maltreatment. While composing plays he investigates both the manly and the female self inside him. This is the reason Dattani is held as ―a

different plays that delineate other social issues in a strong new light. Dattani's plays are without a moment's delay expressive, useful, influential and refreshingly enhancing. ―The underlying foundations of Hindu-Muslim ill will are investigated in this play which is set in a climate of shared savagery—Religious convictions are put under the magnifying lens and misconceptions are detonated. The implicit remark is by all accounts: each religion is intrinsically oppressive.‖(Naik) A perusing of Mahesh Dattani's plays brings to the fore many consuming issues that assail the post-Independence Indian culture. A Patient survey of a portion of these social concerns will extraordinarily help in comprehension and acknowledging both the writer and his predominately working class characters. It tends to be expressed that all of these focal topical issues come from the resistance among convention and innovation in impression of issues identifying with center human relationship like love, sex, marriage and even confidence. Oppression the young lady kid (a microsm of the universe of lady) is dealt with intensely by Dattni in his play, Tara. The play manages the fortitude and solid will of a crippled Siamese twin who could have endure yet for her mom's imprudent and special choice to surrender the additional leg to her twin sibling, Chandan.

Dattani as a contemporary dramatist examines about socio-social preferences making his plays provocative and reflective on the grounds that he manages that strata of society , that is confronting personality emergency , feeling segregated and underestimated. He takes up courageously for the welfare of individuals whatever has been pushed under the floor covering or ignored . the subjects of his plays are not bound to a general public or a nation yet they are all inclusive in claim since his themes draw consideration of the crowd in a flash as whatever he composes he is worried for humankind on the loose. Since his themes are all inclusive they cross all social and etymological obstructions inspiring enthusiastic and scholarly reaction from the crowd.

1. Reddy Venkata. K, Dhavan R.K. Ed.: Flowering of Indian Drama. New Delhi: Prestige, p.7. 2. Rangacharya Adya (1996). The Natyashastra Eng. Trans: with critical Notes. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, p.1. 3. Marjorie Boulton (1970). Quest, No. 64, Jan-March 1970, p 71. International, p.201. 5. Iyengar, K.R.S. (1962). Indian Writing in English New Delhi: Sterling publishers Pvt. Ltd. 1962, p.226. 6. Amur, G.S. (1977). ―Kailasam‘s Quest for Greatness‖. Critical Essays on Indian Writing in English. Madras: Macmillan, p.186. 7. Kumar, Satish. A Survey of Indian English Drama. Barielly: Prakash Book Depot, 1993, p.7. 8. T. Shashikanth Reddy (2012). ―The Trajectory of Post-Independence Indian English Drama – A Over View‖, Emergent Trends and Issues in Indian English Drama. Jaipur: Aadi Publication, p.55. 9. Eunice De Souza: Some Recent Plays in English,‖ Perspectives on Indian Drama in English, p. 163. 10. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar (2001). Indian Writing in English (New Delhi: Sterling, 2001). 11. Mahesh Dattani (2000). Collected Plays (New Delhi: Penguin, 2000). Cover page. 12. M.K Naik (2001). Cinderella Still: Recent Indian English Drama,‖ Littcrit, Vol.27, Number 1 and 2, June December 2001. 13. The New Indian Express, Friday, October 15, 1999. 6. The Hindu, Sunday, March 9, 2003.

House No. – 61, Sector–13, Part–2, Hisar, Haryana