ELSA
MEET
MY FAVOURITE PLAYWRIGHT\DRAMATIST
Goverdhan Hotel, Delhi Gate Agra, 30th June 2019
The
topic of the meet was introduced and accelerated by Dr. Nibir K. Ghosh with an
apt reference from the leading American dramatist, Arthur Miller: “Great drama is great questions or it is
nothing but technique. I could not imagine a theatre worth my time that did not
want to change the world.” Remembering Girish Karnad, who recently passed away,
he reiterated how Girish Karnad, like Arthur Miller, could see drama in
close connection with life. He contemporarised Girish Karnad with Badal Sircar,
Vijay Tendulkar and Mohan Rakesh in the Indian English theatre. Dr. Rajan Lal
tried to elaborate the unique personality of legendary freelance actor and
playwright, Girish Karnad. He deemed that Karnad was a non-conformist and
trendsetter who attempted to blur the cultural boundaries in human societies. Dr.
Santosh highlighted Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana, wrought with the themes
of absurdity and incompleteness through the pivotal characters of the play, Devadatta,
Kaplia and Padmini. He narrated the incident of Lord Ganesha’s physical
transposition of his head. He also voiced the extra-marital relationship, an
ideal of perfection leading to ambiguous insatiable desire in human life. He
said that the play revolves round this insatiable human desire. Dr. Shrikant
Kulshretha posed a question against Girish Karnad referring to his rebellion against
Hindu fundamentalism. He further made a special mention of T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland highlighting the cause of
infertility to our inclination towards materialism, loss of self-control and
aversion to spiritualism in our life. He also made a reference to the Ganga,
portrayed by Eliot in the poem. Dr. Anjali Singh shared the biographical sketch
of George Bernard Shaw in detail. She also provided point-wise factual
information about his life, literature and creation. She made a special mention
of some of his key plays like Pygmalion and Man and Superman. She
specially highlighted Arms and the Man, an antiromantic play. She said
that war cannot be romanticized. She identified herself with Raina Petkoff in
her life. The meet concluded with Prof. Ghosh conveying ELSA’s appreciation of a
children book entitled – Enchanted
Unicorn – authored by Gayatri Singh (daughter of Dr. Anjali Singh).
Mahesh Dattani: A Man of Realistic Imagination
Manju
Though Drama or Natak has always
been an inseparable part of Indian Literature as various playwrights like
Kalidasa, Bhasa, Aswaghosha, Harsha etc. offered their imaginative
compositions to the world many years ago and it made them immortal, yet drama
observed its decline as a genre of literature during and after the colonization
period. Despite various forms of dramatic performances like Ram Leela,
Nautanki, Raasleela etc., very few efforts were made to revive drama as a
source of creative expression until playwrights like Girish Karnad, Badal
Sircar and others made remarkable efforts to make this genre popular. Mahesh
Dattani is also one of such names.
These new playwrights are realistic
and more concerned with the society and its individuals while the old ones were
mythical and more imaginative. The new playwrights have also made abundant use
of mythology but in such a way that it makes their plays socially more
relevant. All the plays of Mahesh Dattani deal with wide range of contemporary
social issues like gender discrimination, religious tensions and homosexuality
and this has imparted a universal appeal to his plays. In his Dance
Like a Man the playwright challenges the society which considers Jairaj,
the protagonist, effeminate as he wants to live his dream of being a dancer but
he is ridiculed as dance is considered a woman's territory. His father says, “A
woman in man’s world may be considered progressive. But a man in woman’s world
is pathetic.” The play raises a question
on such society and its unwritten laws which compel Jairaj to live the life of
frustration and dejection although the idol of Natraj is worshipped in the same
society. Mahesh Dattani does not believe in art for art's sake rather he writes
for society's sake. His works are the studies of the individual in relationship
to the society, the common man and his never-ending battle to gain stature
amidst corrupt social values. The focus of the playwright is not on individual
criticism but on the society which promotes perverted values and ultimately
destroys the individual. His plays unfold identify and come to a logical
conclusion through sensibility and reasoning.
Dr.
Manju
is Associate Professor at Chandigarh University, Punjab.
Girish
Karnad: An Inborn Multidimensional Personality
Rajan
Lal
William
Shakespeare, the hero of the millennium and bard of Avon, through the mouth of
Malvolio, in Act II, scene V in Twelfth
Night or What You Will, makes a categorisation of great people as “Some are born great, some achieve greatness
and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Keeping in view the
categorisation discussed here, I wish to place Girish Raghunath Karnad (19 May,
1938—10 June, 2019) under the first category because he was a versatile,
prolific and multidimensional personage. He is said to be the wizard of words
and he was of the view that one should have a deep insight of words for
ideological perspicuity i.e. one must be well acquainted with nuances and
subtleties of words and language. His sudden demise because of multiple organ
dysfunction syndrome has created a void in the Indian creative and innovative
ethos which is irreparable and irrevocable. Because of his multidisciplinary
approach, he was conferred upon honours and awards including – Padma Shri
(1974), Padma Bhushan (1992) and Jyanpith Award (1998) and various other
awards. Yashwant Deshmukh, a celebrated figure in media and communication
industry tweeted, “Girish Karnad’s final exit is an irreparable loss for the
Indian literature, theatre, and celluloid industry. Ideologically, he had often
been a leftist even though he had been able to achieve honour from every
section of society. He defended his own values with absolute integrity and
downright reliance.” Duty and literary beauty journeyed parallel in Karnad’s
life. While gracing managerial post in the Oxford University Press, Chennai, he
penned his works like—Tughlak, Hayavadan,
Anjumallige, Huma, Hunja, Nagmandala, The Fire and the Rain, etc. All these
works wrought with social values and experiments are considered to be
prosperous and effective.
Dr. Rajan Lal
teaches English at G.I.C. Agra.
My Favourite Drama: Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
Anjali Singh
It
is a Romantic Comedy in 3-Acts, Produced in 1894 and published in 1898. Also,
it is set during the 1885 Serb-Bulgarian War. It is the story of Raina, a young
Bulgarian woman and her chance encounter with Bluntschli, a Swiss mercenary
soldier in the Serbian army. Raina Petkoff is an immature woman who has grand
notions about romantic love and she also romanticizes war. She belongs to a
wealthy family. Her father Major Petkoff is a decorated officer in the
Bulgarian army. She is engaged to marry Sergius, another young officer in the
Bulgarian army. Captain Bluntschli is a soldier who barges into her bedroom at
night. He is on a run to escape the Bulgarian soldiers who are on his trail. He
begs to be hidden in her room. Later, it is shown how Raina’s affections and
feelings sway from her Fiancé to her ‘Chocolate Cream Soldier’- Bluntschli.
So,
that was a little bit about the play. Now, let me elaborate on the quote: “It
is our duty to live as long as we can.” (Act I, p. 7). Spoken by
Bluntschli to Raina, she is repulsed by this attitude of his; she has delusions
about war and heroics. She believes that every soldier considers his duty to
die on the battlefield, and that’s so heroic! Bluntschli is not afraid to air
his opinion about his desire to live and the fact that he is afraid to die. He
believes that it is the duty of the soldier to stay alive. Raina, who is an
idealist, is shocked by the pragmatic and cynical attitude of Bluntschli. He
also admits that he carries chocolates in his ammunition pouch rather than
cartridges for his pistol. Captain Bluntschli is an interesting character and
my favourite too. He is a practical man. Even though he is skilled in warfare,
he is not disillusioned with war. He is far away from romanticizing war. For
him, the ‘circumstantial decision-making’ is higher that one’s inner traits.
With this attitude, he is able to survive in his life – including war and
winning over Raina. He has something that is termed as a ‘fluid morality’ –
dictated by the circumstances. One’s lies are acceptable provided it is to
protect one’s life. Thus, he is able to overlook Raina’s mistakes as he
believes that this is a must in a relation based on affection. Something
similar to what a soldier would want in a battlefield – to survive rather than
to die. Raina influenced by Bluntschli’s attitude, admits that she too has her
own imperfections. Shaw too believed in this ‘circumstantial ethical
decision-making’.
This
was the first play I read of during my school days as it was a part of our
syllabus. In these last 25 years since then, I too have grown from being in
‘Raina’ shoes to the pragmatic Captain Bluntschli!
‘Death is dead, not he’: A Tribute to Arthur Miller
Nibir K.
Ghosh
From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods there be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That
even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.
--A.C. Swinburne
It is perhaps a strange coincidence
that Arthur Miller died on February 10, 2005, 70
years to the day that his immortal classic Death of a Salesman began its life on Broadway. Death of
a Salesman brought Miller not only the Pulitzer Prize but also
international acclaim. Set against the backdrop of a nation emerging out of the
great depression of the 1930s and the Second
World War, the catastrophe of the tragic hero, Willy Loman, reflected the catastrophe
of an average American caught in the nightmare
of the American Dream. The play brought to the forefront the inhuman dimensions
of capitalism where a salesman approaching 60 who has served his employer
faithfully for more than half his life is thrown away, as he says, like a piece
of orange peel. Weaving together, with exquisite skill, realism and memory,
Miller brought broad societal themes within the ambit of the ordinary lives of his characters. And yet the play refuses to be circumscribed
as a period piece because it foregrounds Willy not as a mere victim of inhuman
forces that control the economic and social environment but of his own
delusions. Knowing that he is worth more “dead” than “alive,” on account of the
$20,000 life insurance he carries, Willy believes that this attractive sum can
be used to restore his son Biff’s love for him, a belief that sends him to his
death.
Miller endowed his hero with the
tragic appeal that would endear him to readers beyond the limits of space, time
and clime. Miller’s protagonist is not a man of renown but an ordinary soul who
yearns for the bare minimum to keep his life and that of his family going. In
his own words:
I don't say he's a great man. Willy
Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the
finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing
is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall
into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to
such a person (Death of a Salesman).
I am sure these words
of Arthur Miller would reverberate in human memory till we continue to remain
sensitive to anything that is essentially human.
Besides Death of a
Salesman, Miller’s probing dramas - All My Sons, Crucible, The Price,
The Misfits etc. would remain as barometers of conscience of the
times in which Miller lived and wrote. Like a perfect physician he could feel
the pulse of economic pressures that drove a human being to desperation. He
stated in The Price: “The car, the furniture, the wife, the children –
everything has to be disposable. Because you see the main thing today is –
shopping.” To the critics who would be quick to label his works as mere “social problem plays”, he would say: "I've never
written about society that way. If my plays were about the social problems of
their day, nobody would keep doing them. The problems would have changed."
His plays portray an instinctive striving to
understand how people confront disasters and strive to survive in a world they
never made. Miller's strongest plays are fired by convictions that
assail some of the central ideals enshrined not only in American culture but in
all cultures the world over. "Great drama is great questions," he
wrote in his autobiography, "or it is nothing but technique."
Made out of the stuff that go on to
provide themes for immensely popular bestsellers, the story of Miller’s life,
like that of his plays, had an intense dramatic appeal. Miller was married
three times: to Mary Grace Slattery, to Monroe and to Inge Morath. He married
Morath in 1962; they were together for 40 years, until her death in 2002. His tumultuous marriage to screen legend Marilyn Monroe
created tremors in the American society. In the words of Norman Mailer, “Theirs was a union
between ''the Great American Brain'' and ''the Great American Body.'' The
marriage, which ended in divorce, did provide material for two of his plays: After
the Fall and Finishing the Picture. In a 1992 interview with a
French newspaper, he called her "highly self-destructive" and said
that during their marriage, "all my energy and attention were devoted to
trying to help her solve her problems. Unfortunately, I didn't have much
success." In 1995, he reportedly punched a male journalist who asked him
whether he still dreams about her.
Alongside the writing, Miller’s
life demonstrates his faith in the ability of an individual to resist
conformist pressures. All his life he remained a staunch supporter of free
speech. He stated: “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to
itself,” a statement that should remain the guiding principle of the fourth
estate all over the world. His courageous stand against McCarthyism and the
House of Un-American Activities Committee that had tried to frame him in 1956
over a supposed Communist conspiracy to misuse American passports speaks about
the strength of his conviction. He willingly answered all questions about
himself but he refused to name names on a point of principle saying: "I
could not use the name of another person and bring trouble on him." Like a
crusader, he involved himself in the defense of foreign writers through the
International P.E.N. organization. He was undoubtedly a bold playwright whose
convictions challenged conventions.
Arthur Miller is
dead and seeks his happiness in another kind of wood from where no traveler
returns. But so long people continue to see or read Miller’s plays and say for
his endearingly human creations, “That was my father. That was my uncle. That
was me,” we have every reason to believe ‘Death is dead, not he.’
Prof. Nibir K.
Ghosh
is UGC Emeritus Professor & Senior Fulbright Fellow 2003-04, University of
Washington, Seattle, USA. This tribute to Arthur Miller was initially published
in Re-Markings www.re-markings.com
