REPRESENTATIONOFWADACULTUREINTHEPLAYOLD STONEMANSIONBYMAHESHELKUNCHWAR
AbhayNathThakur,BidhanChandraChaudhary
1ResearchScholar
2AssistantProfessor,DepartmentofEnglish,M.L S.MCollege,Darbhanga,Bihar
ABSTRACT
MaheshElkunchwar'snameissynonymouswiththegreattraditionofplaywritinginIndia.Hisnameisofteninvokedinthesamebreathasthatofplaywrightslike Vijay Tendulkar, SatishAlekar and Mahesh Dattani. His plays deal with the sense of tradition that is so deeply rooted in the Indian psyche. His play 'Old Stone Mansion' hasaverysuccessfulrunandisregardedasacanonicaltextofMarathiliterature.TheobjectiveofthispaperistopresentthedecliningWadaCultureandits impactonlifeandtheatre.
KEYWORDS:Declining,Aristocratic,Patriarchy, Gender,Family
INTRODUCTION
MaheshElkunchwarhasalwaysbeenself-critical.Itmadehimstopwritingfor eightyears.Elkunchwarhasdrawnmorefrompersonalexperience,andsmalltownculture.Hisshortplayslike"Reflection"and"FlowerofBlood"strikehard. Hisbest-knownworkisTheWadaTrilogy (Seagull,2004),startingwiththeclassic "Old Stone Mansion ' Elkunchwar has been influenced by Western playwrightsandtheatres,suchasAntonChekhov,Sartre, EugeneIlIlonesco,AntonioArtaudandSamuelBeckett.Thephilosophyofexistentialismandabsurdism isembeddedinthewritingsofMaheshElkunchwar Hehaslivedandworkedin Nagpur NagpurisawayfromthecentreofMarathiTheatreinPuneandMumbai. Maybeitisthisperspectiveofan''outsider" thatenableshisplaystoworknot justasgoodtheatrebutaspowerfulsocialcommentaryaswell. Paradoxically Alekarachievesthesamebybeingan“insider”.MaheshElkunchwarwritesand alsoactsinhisplayssometimes.Hisrangeisremarkable.Andthemyriadissues thathavetakenhimupareextremelyinspiring.
The play Old Stone Mansion presents the issues of the Wada community in a waytohelpthereaderrelatetothoseissuesevenwhenhe/sheislocatedinadifferentculture. Theterm“Wada”referstotheentireculture/traditionoftheold, decliningfeudalstructureofaregioninMaharashtra.ItisaMarathiwordwhich referstoagroupofhousestogetherwherepeoplelivetogetherinjointfamilies. They sharetheWada.'WadaTrilogy'comprisesthreeplaysinsequentialorder: OldStoneMansion(WadaCheribundi),ThePond(MagmaTalyakathi)andApocalypse(Yugant).
Old Stone Mansion isaproductofthelargejointfamilywithitshierarchicpatriarchy Thispatriarchalsystemholdsthetensionsincheckunderafacilepretence of patriarchal authority When Elkunchwar wrote Wada he was through many problems.Heknowshowtocopewithcertainsituations,.hebegantounderstand otherpeoplewhenhebegantolookintohimself.
Inaninterview,Elkunchwarsays:
AndWada is a way of a very personal kind of experience, because I come from such a family, although my family has never fallen on bad days, becausemyfatherwasaverysensibleperson,andmadesureeveryonewas educated…ButsincetheLandceilingAct1949,Ihaveseenfeudalfamilies crumblingunderthepressure.
Three years of Mahesh Elkunchwar's life were spent in a place called 'Wani' where a lot of rich families lived. They were all Brahmins. There were about twenty or twenty-five families. It was a place known for its rich people. And MaheshElkunchwarcouldseetheirstateofdecay Thosefamiliesarestillthere, andallofthemhavefallenonbaddays.AndMaheshElkunchwarcouldseewhy it was happening. They had lost the work habit centuries ago. They had never workedontheirlives.
Thebasicissuesdealtwithinthetrilogyarethatofrural/urbandivision,migrationanddisintegrationofthefamilyofDespande (belongingtotheWadacommunity)andhowthesesocialandculturalmetaphorsareusedandemployedby thedramatisttocommentupontherealitiesofnotjusttheregionbuttheentire Indiancommunityasawhole.
ItisveryinterestingtofindthatbothplaywrightsChekhovandElkunchwarhave autobiographicalelementsintheirplays.SeveralexperiencesinChekhov'sown lifearesaidtohavedirectlyinspiredhiswritingof"TheCherryOrchard."When
Chekhov was sixteen, his mother went into debt after having been cheated by somebuildersshehadhiredtoconstructasmallhouse.Aformerlodger,Gabrier Selivanov,offeredtohelpherfinancially However,hesecretlyboughtthehouse forhimself.
At approximately the same time. His childhood home inTaganrog was sold to pay off its mortgage. These financial and domestic upheavals imprinted themselves on his memorygreatlyand would reappearin the actionof "The Cherry Orchard.".ChekhovalsotouchesonthethemeofthedecadenceofRussianfeudal society in "The Cherry Orchard ". It focuses on the tensions of changing times. On another level, the play centres on the complications with major changes in contemporary Russian society - the freedom of the serfs and the decayingpowerofthearistocracyaretwomoregeneralaspectsofRussianhistorythattheplaydealswith.
Elkunchwar had already left behind his obsession with the 'absurdity' of existenceimperilledbytheinroadsofrepressedsexualityandsecretviolence.When Elkunchwar began to write Old StoreMansion, He found himself going out of himself,lookingattheworldWithsympathy Heobservedtheprocessofsocial collapse which is the fate of aristocratic families. In "Old Stone Mansion", he takes a close look at one of those families still struggling against time in some smalltownorvillage.Theelderlymenarelazydrones,theelderwomenarethe patientupholdersandpreserversoftheorthodoxsystem,andtheyoungermenof thegenerationsareassubservientasthewomenintheirsubmissiontoauthority
Itisonlythenewgenerationthatbristlesinseveralvariationsofrebellionrangingfrombittercynicismtoescapetoirresponsibility Itisinawayakindofsurrender to commercialism or careerism to total disaffiliation. Elkunchwar takes greatcaretochartoutthepositionsandroles.Herulesoutofthisgreatbattlethat isactedoutagainstahistorythatdrivestheBrahmingentryintobankruptcy
Itisthefamilyoftheaveragepresent-dayvillagecommuter Itsspecificidentification, however, makes it the archetype of all families at all times. It becomes everyfamily Alltheimagesareblendedinresponsibility Therehastobeacrisis torevivethelooseningtieswithinthefamily Oneoftheseverallinkingdevices used by Mahesh Elkunchwar is the disintegration of relationships within the Deshapandefamily Inthefirstpartof "TheOldStoneMansion"thescattered familycomestogetherforthefuneraloftheirfather,Venkatesh. However,they endupfightingoverwhoshouldgethowmuchshareinthefamilyfromthe'wada thathasbeenleftbehindbythedeceased. Nomemberisreadytospendonthe post-funeralrites.
Vahinisaysthateveryoneshouldsharethecost.Shesaysthathewaseverybody's father Shefurthersaysthatitwasnottheindividualresponsibilitytokeepupthe Deshpandefamilynameallalone. ThemotherorAaiassheisknownasawitnesstoallbickeringthatgoesoninthehouseaboutwhowouldtakechargeofthe post-funeral expenses of her husband. A compromise is reached when she decidestosellhershareofWADAtomeettheexpenses.
Shesaysthatsheisawareofwhatisgoingon.Shefurthersaysthatthingswere differentwhenhewasalive.
She can see the old Wada crumbling. The collapse of Wada would collapse an entirenetworkofrelationshipsandanentirecultureoflivingtogetherinacommunity Indianaudiencescanimmediatelyrelatetofightsthatgooninmanyfamilies where everyone wants to get out of responsibility and just grab his or her
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shareoflandandmoney Onemustbeabletorelatetothedisparitiesofafamily deeply rooted in a region. Such discrepancies carry meaning for the audience whichisbeyondthe WADAculturaltraditions.Howeverintheplay'TheCherry Orchard' notonlydocharacters'classandsocialdifferencescomeout,butthe wayintheywhichtheyinteractinvariousmomentsemphasizesboththeextreme differences between their personalities and the similarities. Paradoxically, it is theseexaggerateddistinctionsbetweenthesecharactersthatcreateanawareness ofsomequalitywhichunitesthemall.Thecharactersintheplay'OldStoneMansion'areallremarkablydistinctfromoneanotheronanindividuallevelbutina greater sense, they are similar because they all possess a tendency towards excess.
The play's finely drawn character sketches are informed by Mahesh Elkunchwar'sownexperiencesofgrowingupinaWada(ormansion)inthevillageofParwa. Inaninterviewpublishedinthe2004editionoftheWadatrilogy, MaheshElkunchwarsaysthathealwaysfeelslikeanoutsiderinthismilieu.This distanceallowsMaheshElkunchwartowriteabouttheDeshpandeswithremarkable scientific precision. The playwright is often strongly critical of the Deshpande family Elkunchwar portrays the characters of Sudhir and Anjali who live in Bombay under spiritual traumas.Thisis typical of every village in India.Theyhideinhypocrisyintownsandcities.However, whentheycometo thevillage,theywanttoberecognizedasrichpeople.However, theyhavenothingtoeat.MaheshElkunchwardealswiththeissueoffamilycrisis–acrisisoftraditional culture against commercial or consumer culture. He says that Wada is notasimplefamilydrama,Itismorethanthat.Itisa documentofsocialchange. Itisadocumentofpoliticalchange.”
Theplaydealswiththedisintegrationoftraditionaljointfamily,andvillagelife undertheonslaughtofthemodernforceofurbanization.Wadashowsthedeteriorationofthetypicalaristocraticfamilyof Deshpendeinthirtyyears.Theplay presentswomenasvictimsofcastebiasandapatriarchalmindset.However, on theotherhand,theplayalsopresentswomenasagentsofchange.
Prabha is the sister of the three brothers-Bhasker, Sudhir and Chandu. She reflectsacasewherethewomanismadeasenselessanduselessimpedimentto thetraditionalfamily Sheisnotallowedtogotocollege. Prabhaisanextremely intelligent girl. She is prepared to continue her studies. However, she is not allowedtodoso.
Sudhir, in the play, is often the voice of reason. He chastises Bhaskar who, thoughtoopoortopayhisgrocerybill,decidestofeedtheentirevillageaspartof theirfather'sdeathrituals.
Even though families like the Deshpandes are on their last legs, 'Wada Chirebandi' isanimportantplay ThisisbecauseitdealswiththeorthodoxtraditionthatissodeeplyrootedintheIndianpsyche.Hisversionoftheplayquestionsthecohesivenessofajointfamilybytellingthestoryfromthepointofview ofthe“outsiders”. Charactersareforcedtoleavethefamilyatvariouspoints.
Mahesh Elkunchwar's celebrated play " Wada Chirebandi "reminds one of Ramsha Lokapur's "Taayi Saaheba". Both the play and the novel record the declineanddisintegrationofthehugewadas'aswellasthesmotheringofBrahminfamiliesthatlivedinvillagesinpost-independentIndia.Theplayalsojuxtaposestheemotionsofpeople.
ThedistancebetweenVidarbhavillagewheretheplaytakesplaceandBombay where the films are made shows the distance between declining feudalism and megalopolis.Intheplay,thepartofthefamilythathassettledinBombaylivesa hardlife.A typicallower-middle-classlifeinacrampedtwo-roomflat However,inthevillagetheyrepresentprosperity
Conclusion
To sum up, the play 'Old Stone Mansion ' projects the life of a family living in Maharastra.Itdescribesrealisticallytheage-oldWadaCulturecarriedoutbythe dominantBrahmincommunitiesinIndia.Theplayexploresgreed, hypocrisy andorthodoxviewsofthefamilymembers. However, thefamilydisputedoesn't set them apart from each other They maintain love and affection for each otheranddon'tkeepresentmentforlong.
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