Sadaf Fareed

Mahesh Dattani’s Tara: a Voice of Voiceless

The Indian English Drama has given voice to the unvoiced section of our society. It is a medium to reflect the mean, ugly and unhappy aspects of life. Drama is considered to be the most effective and powerful genre in the world literature. The birth of Indian drama emphasizes that it is an integral part of our society and culture. Krishna Mohan Banerjee presented the first light of drama in India in 1813 in “The Persecuted”. However, the real journey of Indian drama started in 1871 with the emergence of Michel Madhusudan Dutt’s “Is this Called Civilization”. Earlier the themes of drama were concentrated on the religious convictions, philosophical approaches and the political changes of the country. Later on there came the issues related to contemporary politics, social and economic problems, art, human life etc. The modern Indian drama concentrates on the several current issues and the real life problems. Some of the modern drama writers include Badal Sircar, Mahesh Dattani and Manjula Padmanabhan etc. The topic of  discussion here is Mahesh Dattani’s “Tara”(1990). About Dattani’s wrting style, R.K.Dhawan says, “Very recently Indian English Drama has shot into prominence. Younger writers like Mahesh Dattani and Manjula Padmanabhan, have infused new life into this branch of writing”.(24)

Mahesh Dattani is one of India's best and most serious contemporary playwrights, writing in English. He is the first playwright in English to be honoured with the “Sahitya Akademi Award”. A director, actor, dancer, teacher and writer, Mahesh Dattani was born on August 7, 1958. Before entering the world of theater, he worked as a copywriter in an advertising firm. In 1986, he wrote his first play ' Where There's a Will'. Since then he has never looked back. There is a long chain of plays written by him as “Tara”, “Night Queen”, “Final Solutions”, “Dance like a Man” and many more. These are the plays, which embody many of the classic concerns of the drama world. His plays deal with the social and contemporary issues. Apart from theater, he is also active in the field of filmmaking. One of his films “Dance like a Man” has won the award for the best picture in English awarded by the “National Panorama”. In the domain of Indian English Drama, Mahesh Dattani’s plays have emerged as ‘fresh arrivals’. His plays present real problems and sometimes cause controversy. Dattani’s plays are “about the marginalized sections of our society: minorities, women, gays, and hijras (eunuch).” They expose the violence of our private thoughts, and the hypocrisy of our public morals. His work expresses his political beliefs without being instructive or revolting. His plays question all kinds of discrimination, including religious prejudice, gender discrimination and homosexuality. The subjects of recognition and power struggles, run right through all his plays. His plays not only bring up gender issues and the space allotted to women in a patriarchal society, but also they deal with gender biases and prejudices which still affect the lives of many girl-children even amongst educated, urban families.  

Here I have selected Dattani’s play “Tara” for the study of gender discrimination in our society. “Tara” is not just the story of the protagonist of the play, but it is the story of every girl child born in Indian family whether urban or rural. “Tara” is an enthralling play that questions the role of a society that treats the children of the same womb in two different ways. Tara is a girl who wants to twinkle and shine, just like her name. It is a play about two children, joined together at the hip. Out of them, one is a boy and the other is a girl, they can be separated only surgically. This surgery means the death of either of the two. The partiality and injustice starts here. It proves true that a woman herself is the worst enemy of other women. The mother prefers the male child and thus strengthens the chain of injustice. The first thought behind selecting the male child is, he will carry forward the family name, and on the contrary, the word girl is a synonym for “dowry”. The situation becomes worse, if the girl is physically challenged or there is any physical or mental deformity in her, then the dowry too will not work out. She will remain unmarried and bring defame to family. It is a bitter example of child abuse prevalent in the Indian society. Every girl child born in an Indian family suffers from some kind of exploitation and if there is a boy child in the family, the mistreatment is very much visible as consciously or unconsciously all the privileges are offered to the son. Dattani as a playwright breaks the unity of place, time and action in the very beginning of the play. After the soliloquy of Dan, when he is shown in London at the lightening speed, then he appears in Mumbai from present to past. Here, he is able to disregard the unities by the help of lighting along with the music effects. Dattani very cleverly uses the lights to highlight the action wherever he wants, at any level without any breaks for change of scene. It is the use of lights and music, which gives the play the feeling of unity of action. Music is so well used that it creates and enhances the mood of characters. Fade music for past and flash backs and different music when Tara is hurt or fight between Bharti and her husband or when the secret is revealed. Dattani very successfully uses all the resources of theatre. Like most of his plays, here also Dattani forces the present to confront the past-a past that is dark, hidden, and shameful. Dattani seems to suggest that unless we as individuals, families, and communities frankly tackle our past, and sweep off the skeletons in our cupboards, we will not be able to exorcise the ghosts of the past either in the present or in the future.

“Tara” is a play in two acts.It opens in London. The scene is that, Chandan, (Dan) now a playwright is remembering his childhood days spent with his sister Tara. He is trying to write a story about his own childhood but he has to write Tara’s story. As Tara and Chandan are the two sides of the same self, rather than two separate entities. The play revolves around these two Siemese twins. The operation at the time of birth to separate them, leaves Tara crippled for life whereas Chandan is privileged one. Now he wants to turn his anguish into drama by writing about his sister’s childhood. Even after their unfair and manipulated division, which is done against the law of nature, they are emotionally united. They share the same agony, which Dan tries to delineate by writing autobiographical drama, though a futile attempt:

Dan: Give me a moment and the pain will subside. Then I can function again.[pause, more controlled now] Yes. The material is there. But the craft is yet to come. Like the amazing Dr. Thakkar, I must take something from Tara and give it myself. Make capital of my trauma, my anguish, and make it my tragedy. …. Slowly, as if in a trance, picks up the typed sheets and starts tearing them as he speaks). My progress so far, I must admit, has been zero …. (379)

Throughout the play, she bears some kind of grudge against the society. She seems to have some kind of hatred towards the outside world. Her world is compressed, it consists of her parents and her brother whom she is very close to. Besides exposing the typical Indian mindset and preference of a boy child to a girl child, the drama looks at the triumphs and failures of an Indian family, comprising of father (Patel), mother (Bharati) and two children ( Chandan and Tara). Tara is a lively girl, who does not get enough opportunities as his brother gets, eventually wastes away, and dies. Chandan escapes from the reality and settles in London; there he changes his name to ‘Dan’. Dattani has presented the bizarre reality of women playing a secondary role to man. In this play, the idea of female infanticide is presented. This filthy practice is still present in some places of India. The drama also suggests Patel’s hegemonic patriarchy, when he insists that proper division should be made in the gender roles. Tara, symbolizes the modern society, which claims to be liberal and advanced but Infact it has a cripple mentality. It is a society, where mothers are educated today, and women are considered ‘Devis’ like ‘Durga’, ‘Kali’, ‘Saraswati’etc. Still there are differences between male and female child. All the promises of equality between male and female, equal opportunities to women in all the fields are false. Mahesh Dattani reveals in one of his interviews with “Lakshmi Subramanyam”, “I see Tara as a play about the male self and female self. The male self is being preferred in all cultures. The play is about the separation of self and the resultant angst”. [134].. Whereas the famous theatre director “Erin Mee” writes in the note of the play that:

Tara centres on the emotional separation that grows between two conjoined twins following the discovery that their  physical separation was manipulated by their mother and grandfather to favour the boy [ Chandan] over the girl [ Tara] . …Woven into the play are issues of class and community , and the clash between traditional and modern lifestyles and values.  [319].

Tara’s parents are educated even then they had made such discrimination. Bharati’s father can also be considered responsible for this mishap. Nevertheless, the question arises here is, if Bharati had been influenced by her father’s decision then why didn’t Patel come forward and stand against that? He was the father of both the children and he should be strong enough to fight the discrimination. The relationship of Bharati and Tara becomes weaker on the discovery of truth. Although she loves Tara a lot, but her subjugation to the expectations of society and her preference for her son, makes her compassion for Tara weak. When Chandan enquires, whether she has any plans for Tara, she says, “Yes! I have plans for her happiness. I mean to give her all love and affection, which I can give. It’s what she deserves.”( 9). Bharati is quite fearful about the future of her daughter; “It’s all right while she is young. It is all very cute and comfortable when she makes witty remarks. But let her grow up. Yes, Chandan the world will tolerate you. The world will accept you- but not her! Oh! …….when she sees herself at eighteen or twenty, thirty is unthinkable and what about forty and fifty! Oh God! (349). To shed her burden of guilt and to assert her moral superiority over her husband, she shows extra maternal love and concern towards her daughter. She also tries to expand her love by the act of donating her kidney to Tara, which ultimately turns futile. Dattani establishes that mother and daughter relationship proves secondary to the orders of patriarchy. Mr.Patel, Tara’s father is an emblem of male chauvinism. He holds the absolute position in decision making about the family. Bharati has to follow his wish. She is a pathetic victim of patriarchy. She exceptionally cares for Tara, to overcome her own guilt. Tara represents the subaltern and the subjugated. She does not have any choice, she has to accept whatever is given to her. The suffering of Tara and Chandan is a symbolic validation to the perception that the elegance of the relationship exists not in their separateness but in their moving in a coordination or interdependence. Erin Mee says , “Dattani sees Tara as a play  about the gendered self, about coming to terms with the feminine side of oneself in a world that always favours what is ‘male’, but many people in India see it as a play about the girl child.” (320) P-atel’s attitude is always negative. He blames his wife and father- in- law for the damage done earlier, but his position cannot be denied. He gives greater chances to Chandan, plans for his education and future career, but nothing for Tara. She is a victim of collective social system. Her father is not much different from her mother. She had favoured Chandan at the time of operation and then onwards their father has been preferring Chandan. When it is about education or other facilities, he only thinks of his son. Patel makes Bharati responsible for everything and gets an escape from his responsibilities. He says, “…Look at the way you treat Tara .As if she is made of glass. You coddle her, you pet her, you spoil her, She’s grown up, .. feeling she doesn`t need anyone but you.!

BHARATI:  All right .You stay at home then! You stay at home and watch what they can do and what they can`t .You remind them of what they can`t be. It’s easy for you to talk about their future and your plans. But tell them what they should do now .This day, this hour, this minute.Tell them! I want to hear.
Patel: Chandan is going to study further and he will go abroad for his higher studies.
Bharati: And Tara?
Patel: When have you ever allowed me to make any plans for her? (352).

Dr. Thakkar stands on the highest level throughout the play. He operates the two Simese twins, but he has done an unfair and unequal operation under the pressure of Bharati’s father. He was a wealthy man and very soon supposed to become Chief Minister. Dr. Thakkar collaborates with them and gives the male child better chances physically-the second leg to Chandan. Dr. Thakkar, the god-like, ‘life giver’ is aware that the third leg would adhere better to the female half, and yet becomes party to the decision. Dan tries to define his other half, the spirited Tara, “She never got a fair deal. Not even from nature. Neither of us did. May be God never wanted us separated. Destiny desires strange things-----But even God does not always get what he wants. Conflict is the crux of life.” (330). The question remains, why was then Tara denied the privilege of the good leg. Why? Is it only because she was a girl? Dattani aptly shows that in this society it is a curse to be a girl. In this country so much partiality and differentiation is there for women. However, a rich heritage we have and women are otherwise placed on the high pedestals. Dr. Thakkar disproved his godly profession and let himself bribed by Bharati`s father and became a co-conspirator in the bizarre act of severing the leg. He should have endorsed his profession by disapproving the decision at his inception, whereas he in a way took Tara`s life by severing the leg. His wise decision could have given Tara a safe, secured and complete life. But Tara`s maternal grandfather had also cheated her. He was in politics and came very close to becoming the Chief Minister. Dattani cleverly tears off the mask from the faces of Indian politicians. On the one side they promise for women security, education for girls and prevention of female feticide, and in their own family they are partial enough. When it comes to a male grandson, Bharati’s father at once chooses life for Chandan. Even he leaves all his property to Chandan and not a single penny for Tara. Mr. Patel and Chandan are talking,

Patel: He [ grandfather] left you a lot of money.
Chandan: And Tara?
Patel:  Nothing
Chandan: Why?
Patel: It was his money. He could do what he wanted with it. (360)

When Tara comes to know that it was her mother who made such a decision, which she trusted most, she cannot bear this truth and the shock takes away her life. She is not dead, but she is killed by the society. Nevertheless, Tara could have made her boldness, her strength and fight the society to engrave a place of her own. Even though she is more intelligent, sharp and witty and would have performed much better than the male child would, if only she had been given a chance. She is not deterred by the injustice done to her, but she thinks that, “I will spend the rest of my life feeding and clothing those. ----starving naked millions everywhere. May be I can start an institution that will ---- do all that. Or I could join Mother Teresa and sacrifice myself to a great cause. That may give--- purpose to my ---existence.” (370). She is discouraged from the very first day of her life. She was bubbly and energetic girl who had all the qualities of a normal girl. If her parents had given her moral support, she might have shone like a star as her name signifies. Her life was considered to be a burden on this earth. This made her lose interest in life altogether. Further, she refuses to go to physiotherapy or fill forms for college. It is noteworthy that discrimination with Tara continues, even after her death. Chandan, who was always interested in writing a story, makes the story, he writes, his own tragedy. Dan apologises to Tara for doing this, “Forgive me, Tara .Forgive me for making it my tragedy.” (380).

Mahesh Dattani has very deftly revealed the theme of gender discrimination in this play. The social norms, economic standards and cultural factors have been responsible for the injustice against the girl child. All these factors combine to create the social system in which the girl child has to live and die. Tara is killed by this social system, which controls the minds and actions of the people. The trauma of coming to know the role her mother had played in her life, and the discrimination becomes too much for her. Tara`s potentiality was sacrificed at the altar of gender. Identity crisis becomes a chain with which a female is bound when the question of choice between male and female comes up. If we think, why is she killed? The answer is crystal clear that Tara is not wanted, because she is a girl. In our society, “Girls” are not wanted. For a moment, if we imagine that Tara’s mother had preferred her at the time of operation instead of Chandan. Would she have forgiven? No, Never! Because she also is a Woman. Here women are not made to think or decide but are made to submit to the wishes of man. This man can be a father, husband, brother or son, who ever he is; at the end, they have an identity. But a mother, a wife, a sister and a daughter at last turn out to be only “women, submitting to their wills and losing their own identity.”

 

 

Works Cited

Dhawan, R.K.,Flowering of Indian Drama. Prestige Books, New Delhi, 2004.

Dattani, Mahesh, Collected Plays, Penguin, New Delhi,2000.

Mee, Erin, A Note in the Play, Collected Plays, Mahesh Dattani, Penguin Books, New Delhi.

Subramanyam, Lakshmi(Ed.), Muffled Voices: Women in Modern Indian Theatre, New Delhi, Shakti , 2002.

www.mapsofindia.com

http://anitanair.net/profiles/profile-mhesh-dattani.htm.