ENG-02-17 Institute of Distance and Open Learning Gauhati University MA in English Semester 4 Paper 17 Contemporary Indian Writing in English II Contents: Block I : Indian Drama Block II : Indian Prose (1) Contributors: Block I: Indian Drama Unit 1 : Rimi Nath Reseasch Scholar Dept. of English, GU Unit 2 & 3 : Manab Medhi Guest Faculty in English IDOL, GU Block II: Indian Prose Unit 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 5(half) : Dr. Uttara Debi Assistant Professor in English IDOL, GU Unit 5(half) : Dibyajyoti Borah Assaitant Professor in English, H B Girl’s College, Golaghat Editorial Team Dr. Kandarpa Das Director, IDOL, GU Dr. Uttara Debi Assistant Professor in English IDOL, GU Sanghamitra De Guest Faculty in English IDOL, GU Manab Medhi Guest Faculty in English IDOL, GU Cover Page Designing: Kaushik Sarma Graphic Designer CET, IITG February, 2012 © Copyright by IDOL, Gauhati University. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise. Published on behalf of Institute of Distance and Open Learning, Gauhati University by Dr. Kandarpa Das, Director, and printed at Maliyata Offset Press, Mirza-781125. Copies printed 1000. Acknowledgement The Institute of Distance and Open Learning, Gauhati University duly acknowledges the financial assistance from the Distance Education Council, IGNOU, New Delhi, for preparation of this material. (2) Contents Page No. Block 1: Indian Drama Block Introduction 5 Unit 1: Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq 7 Unit 2: Mahesh Dattani’s Where There’s a Will 29 Unit 3: Manjula Padmanabhan’s Lights Out 53 Block 2 : Indian Prose Block Introduction 71 Unit 1: Raja Rammohan Roy: Letter to Lord Amherst, 11 Dec., 1823 73 Unit 2: Aurobindo Ghosh: “A System of National Education” Objectives 93 Unit 3: Rabindranath Tagore: “Nationalism in India” 109 Unit 4: MK Gandhi: Speeches 133 Unit 5: Nehru’s Autobiography 161 Unit 6: Nirad C. Chaudhuri: A Passage to England 197 (3) (4) Block I Indian Drama Block Introduction: This block brings to you three plays by three major contemporary playwrights namely Girish Karnad, Mahesh Dattani and Manjula Padmanabhan. Though the block is entitled Indian Drama, we are referring to drama written originally in English. Mahesh Dattani and Manjula Padmanabhan use English as their first language in their artistic creations. On the other hand, Girish Karnad composes his plays in both English and Kannada. Most of his plays are first written in Kannada, but he translates them to English soon; as such, his works are also considered within the paradigm of Indian English plays. It is interesting to note that, the English versions of Karnad’s plays, in many occasions, are deemed far superior in their artistry, aesthetic and intellectuality than their Kannada versions. India has a long history of highly rich, popular and different theatrical traditions spanning across the vast geographical area. Different dance and music forms have been integral parts of Indian theatrical traditions. Though theatre is an art form that works within the domain of performativity, there have been literatures, both critical and creative, produced throughout ages. Among the classical texts, Bharata’s Natyashastra is hailed as the Fifth Veda. Indian-English drama got influenced by British drama in the last part of the nineteenth century. In its early days, with initiatives from playwrights like Krishna Mohan Banerjee and Michael Madhusudhan Dutt, vernacular plays modelled on Western lines began to be performed, mainly in Calcutta. Later, playwrights like Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and others contributed towards Indian English drama during the pre-independence period. After independence Indian theatre saw playwrights like Asif Currimbhoy, Nissim Ezekiel, Girish Karnad, Mohan Rakesh, Badal Sircar, Vijay Tendulkar, Mahesh Dattani, Manjula Padmanabhan, among others. These playwrights have touched upon different themes starting from the earliest nationalistic concerns to the radically subversive and daring themes like homosexuality, communal violence etc. (5) One of the earliest debates surrounding Indian English theatres is the question of expressing an Indian sensibility in a language which is not native to the soil. The other important challenge that the Indian English theatre activists faced was to negotiate between the rich Indian theatrical tradition and the Western performance forms. So, Indian English theatre saw series of experimentations on the form and technique of the plays where, on various occasions, everything except the language seemed to be Indian. With the increase of literacy in English, English theatre in India is witnessing a rapid growth of popularity in the metropolis like never before. Today, Indian English theatre has posited itself at a respectable position in the larger field of Indian theatrical traditions. The three plays that you will be reading in this block will deal with some of the themes that the Indian English dramatists take up. While Karnad’s Tughlaq deals with the question of rewriting history and reconstructing the past, Dattani’s Where There’s a Will and Padmanabhan’s Lights Out deal with issues based on the changing terrains of Indian urban life. It is important to note that all these three playwrights make extensive use of the stage space and apply different innovative techniques in the stage performance of their plays. As such, while reading the plays as literary texts, do follow the directorial notes because they tell much more than what the characters on the stage do. Take the following three units on the three plays as the window to peep into the creative worlds of the playwrights you will read. Your actual reading will take place only after you move forward to explore these playwrights by reading more on them and their contexts. This block contains the following units: Unit 1: Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq Unit 2: Mahesh Dattani’s Where There’s a Will Unit 3: Manjula Padmanabhan’s Lights Out (6) Unit 1 Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq Contents: 1.1 Objectives 1.2 Introduction 1.3 The Playwright 1.4 Stage History of the Play 1.5 Reading the Play 1.5.1 A Post-colonial text 1.5.2 The Title of the Play 1.5.3 Historical and Political Underpinnings in the play 1.5.4 A Play of Contradictions 1.5.5 Symbolism in the Play 1.6 A Critical History 1.7 Summing up 1.8 References and Suggested Reading 1.1 OBJECTIVES: This unit is designed to help you read the play Tughlaq and relate it to the context in which it was written. With the information provided in this unit you should be able to: • situate this play in the development of Indian English Drama in the post- colonial context • analyse the notions of history and historiography through the study of the historical subject • explain Karnad’s inclination towards the ‘theatre of the roots’ • describe the psychological domain of the protagonist • trace the symbolism in the play (7) 1.2 INTRODUCTION: Drama has had a rich and glorious tradition in India. Bharata’s Natyashastra was hailed as the Fifth Veda, which was revealed to Bharatamuni by the Creator, Brahma, to celebrate ancient rituals and seasonal festivities of the country. These rituals, traditions and festivities constitute the backbone of Indian drama. Indian-English drama got initiated with playwrights like Krishna Mohan Banerjee and Michael Madhusudhan Dutt. The British drama influenced Indian English drama in the twentieth century. In fact, in the last part of the nineteenth century, plays modelled on Western lines (in Indian languages), began to be performed, mainly in Calcutta. Playwrights like Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and others contributed towards Indian English drama during the pre-independence period. By the time India attained independence Indian theatre was trying to cope with the rising popularity of Indian cinema.The post-independence era saw playwrights like Asif Currimbhoy, Nissim Ezekiel, Girish Karnad, Mohan Rakesh, Badal Sircar, Vijay Tendulkar, Mahesh Dattani, Manjula Padmanabhan, among others. These playwrights have shown that the language (English) can conveniently be drawn into the Indian setting with Indian characters. Modern Indian theatre seems to counteract dislocation from tradition. In the formation of national identity in this context, historical fictions play a remarkable role. Mohan Rakesh’s Ashadh ka ek din (1958), Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq (1964), Badal Sircar’s Baki Itihas (1965), for instance, narrativize history for contemporary audiences. Tughlaq was Girish Karnad’s second play. Its primary source was the Tarikh-I Firoz Shahi (1357), a chronicle history by Zia-ud-din Barani. Karnad uses Barani’s basic narrative and thus arranges the thirteen scenes of Tughlaq putting bits of his own narrative discourse into the play. In the representations of myth and history in his plays, Karnad explores the choices of the individuals who have to confront the burden of culture and history. The inspiration for Tughlaq is said to have come from Camus’ Caligula, which provided the playwright with the conception of existential human situation and the technique for handling a historical myth for the modern theatre. As for the form of the play, Karnad relied on the traditional indigenous theatre. (8) SAQ: Write down at least two points of resemblance between the historical figures of Muhammad Tughlaq and Caligula. (50 words) .............................................................................................................