Paper No - 202 : Assignment
Communism in the play 'Final Solutions'
Name - Hina Parmar
Batch - M.A. Sem 3 (2022-2024)
Enrollment no - 4069206420220021
Roll no - 10
Subject code - 22407
Paper no - 202
Paper - Indian English Literature - Post Independence
Email address - hinaparmar612@gmail.com
Submitted to - Smt.S.B. Gardi Department of English M.K.B.U.
Date of submission - 27 November 2023
This blog is written as an assignment on paper no - 202 Indian English Literature - Post Independence. This assignment is assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir H.O.D of English Department M.K.B.U. In this particular blog I am going to illustrate and deal with the topic Communism in the play 'Final Solutions'.
Mahesh Dattani
Mahesh Dattani is a well-known modern Indian playwright as well as the first Indian playwright to be awarded the Sahitya Academy Award in (1998), which is regarded as the highest award in the writing field for one of his best creations, Final Solution And Other Plays. He is not only a playwright but also a stage director, an actor, a screenwriter, and a film-maker. He is continuing to contribute to Indian-English drama.
The theme of his plays is extremely out of mind and unconventional as he always focuses on the burning concepts of society like problems of women, gender-discrimination, taboos, husband-wife relationship etc.
Dattani remarks himself, “The function of the drama, in my opinion, is not merely to reflect the malfunction of the society but to act like freak mirrors in a carnival and to project grotesque images of all that passes for normal in our world. It is ugly, but funny”.
His plays are somewhere subjective and he has successfully staged his plays in the whole country. He set himself as a successful playwright among some remarkable playwrights and directors such as Badal Sircar, Vijay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad and Mahesh Elkunchwar, who no doubt contributed a lot to the growth and development of Indian drama.
Dattani’s art of writing expresses different mental states, emotions and ideas, desires and aspirations, strengths and weaknesses, basic moral and social questions as well as individual predicaments. They also introduce a real and true picture of the social, political, economic and cultural life of present times.
His plays like-
Where There’s a Will (1988),
Dance Like a Man (1989),
Tara (1990),
Bravely Fought the Queen (1991), Final Solutions (1993),
Do the Needful (1997),
On a Muggy Night in Mumbai (1998),
Seven Steps Around the Fire(1999) Thirty Days in September (2001)
Mahesh is famous for using unconventional issues and presenting the human relationship and cultural values on the stage through actors’ performances which connect each and every person with reality. He uses the unique strategies, tools and techniques which play an important role in his plays and this is enough to win the heart of common people. I observed the two phases of Dattani. On the one hand, he started writing in English while at that time drama in English was not exactly flourishing; on the other, he often selects unusual themes for his dramas.
In short, the multi-talented playwright Dattai has no boundaries in his writing field. As we all know, Mahesh Dattani is the playwright of modern Indian drama.
Final Solutions
Final Solutions is a play that portrays the religion and gender bias in two different eras and the generation gap that is accompanied. The two eras that are shown are the times when India gained independence only recently and the present day.
The two names Daksha and Hardika are used in this play for the same character to represent the 1940s and the twenty-first century, respectively. The character has two names because her first name was changed to Hardika after her marriage to another character named Hari in the story.
Final Solutions is a three-act play written and directed by Mahesh Dattani. It was first performed at Guru Nanak Bhavan, Bangalore, on 10 July 1993. He received the Sahitya Academy Award for this play in the year 1998.
The main themes of this playare communal riots and sexismin society throughout three generations. The generation gap is also a central theme that is a part of this story. The generation gap is expressed through the ideas of rigid cultural beliefs versus liberalism and secularism in the play.
The term ‘communal riots’ is defined as conflict between two or more communities owing to conflicts of communal interests. The communal riots in Final Solutions take place between Hindus and Muslims in India (and Hussainabad, too, right after the India-Pakistan partition in 1947 post-independence.
Sexism means discrimination on the basis of the ‘sex’ or ‘gender’ of a person. In this world,sexism usually takes place against women, and the masculine gender is considered the superior one. In the play, the characters Hardika (or Daksha), Aruna, and Smita have to face sexism from their own family members.
What is Communism ?
Communism is a social and political ideology that strives to create a classless society in which all property and wealth are communally-owned, instead of by individuals.
The ideology of communism was developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848.
A true communist society is the opposite of a capitalist society, which relies on democracy, innovation, and the production of goods for profit.
The Soviet Union and China were prominent examples of communist systems.
While the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, China has drastically reformed its economic system to include many free-market elements of capitalism.
Introduction
India, a multi-religious, multilingual and multi-racial country, always enjoys the essential unity of culture amidst diversities that keep her people united. After independence, narrow religious, regional, and communal feelings attract the country. The apparently mindless communal tensions and bloody riots that take place occasionally create a sense of mistrust among the two principal religious communities involved in clashes. The country pays a heavy price for such disturbances through loss of life and property.
Religion is one of the fundamental organizations of any general public. Religion serves as a base for Indian’s culture and in-turn is reflected in its politics and society. All religion teaches the world love and peace.
Prophet Mohammad teaches universal brotherhood. Hinduism teaches “Sarvejanah Sukhino Bhavantu”.
In the book, America: Religions and Religion, Catherina L.Albanese says, “Religion is a system of symbol (creed, code, culture) by means of which people (a community) orient themselves in the world with reference to both ordinary and extraordinary powers, meaning and value”.
The majority of the population of India belong to Hinduism whereas the majority in Pakistan are Muslims. Hindu and Muslim tension extends beyond Kashmir. Since the time of Independence India has been affected with unrestrained communalism. People are torn apart by communal hatred and ravage in the pretext of religious adherence.
Mahesh Dattani has impudently portrayed the scenario of religious intolerance in Final Solutions.
Communism in the play 'Final Solutions'
Playwright Mahesh Dattani's play "Final Solutions" talks about the problem of communalism, focusing on hate, aggression, and exploitation during riots between different groups of people. The play also looks at things like who we are, what we remember, the pain we suffer, and what we lose, all within the larger political situation. It doesn't directly tell you what to do but strongly says we should love and understand each other better.
In the play, Dattani bravely shows how people from different communities clash in India. He explores the idea of being open-minded about communalism and deals with this important social issue successfully. His plays are known for catching people's attention with their unique and exciting themes in Indian English drama.
The main idea of "Final Solutions' ' is summed up by Aleyque Padmsee's note, saying that the hate between different groups isn't just on the streets but can also be found within us.
The play tells the story of two Muslim men joining a Hindu family during a riot between Hindus and Muslims. Smita introduces these men to her family. The grandmother, Hardika, is scared because of memories from earlier Hindu-Muslim riots. We see flashbacks of her own experiences during those times as a young girl named Daksha. Aruna, the wife, strongly believes in Lord Krishna's protection. Ramnik, feeling guilty about his ancestors' actions, secretly helps the two Muslim men.
In the play, the Hindu-Muslim tensions are shown through a chorus of men wearing masks of both Hindu and Muslim faces. They represent the views each group holds about the other. Padmsee says the mob in the play reflects our own hate and fear. Each person in the mob is an individual, but they come together as one angry group when politicians use their fears and worries.
Daksha's diary in the play talks about the Hindu-Muslim riots during the partition. She describes it as a terrible event where everyone stayed awake, not out of happiness for the midnight hour but because of fear due to violence and bloodshed.
After forty years of independence, Hardika experiences another Hindu-Muslim riot. When two Muslim men seek shelter in her house, she sees things differently this time. She's scared not of the people throwing stones but of the two boys running away and begging for their lives. She worries that these men might hate them for helping, feeling inferior for needing assistance, and having a sense of wounded pride.
The Hindu-Muslim violence is highlighted through the characters Javed and Bobby, who try to conceal their identities while being pursued by Hindu extremists. The main cause of this violence is the lack of understanding between people, leading to communal hatred. The Hindu fanatics begin searching for Muslim men because they believe these men destroyed a chariot carrying a Hindu god. When items belonging to Javed (a prayer cap) and Bobby (a knotted handkerchief) are found, the mob becomes angry and accuses them of disrespecting their gods, demanding to drive them out or kill them.
Similarly, the Muslims also react aggressively. The tension between the two communities stems from a complete lack of understanding between them.
Muslim chorus 1&2:
They hunt us down!
They're afraid of us!
They beat us up! We are few!
But we are strong!
They're afraid of us!
They hunt as down!
They want to throw us out!
In this play, Dattani also shows that fear of seclusion and isolation creates frenzy which leads to violence. And all this happens because of the tendency to treat the person belonging to a separate community as the 'other'.
SMITA : (to Ramnik) they hire him! They hire such a
people.
RAMNIK : They who?
SMITA : Those---parties! They hire him! That's how he makes a living. They bring him and many more to the city to create riots. To throw the first stone.
Smita disagrees with how politicians use people to start riots, but she doesn't know the full truth, which adds more tension.
When Ramnik offers Javed a job, Javed rudely declines, saying he didn't ask for it. Bobby explains that Javed's attitude changed after a Hindu in their area humiliated him. This person was scared of being touched by Javed and his behavior led Javed to develop hatred towards the Hindu community.
Dattani's Final Solutions presents different shades of the communal attitude prevalent among both - Hindus and Muslims. This play is different from other plays, because it is neither sentimental nor simplified in its approach. Here there is a clash between traditional and modern age.
Conclusion
Dattani has also tried to show how communal violence breaks our social fabric. Kenneth Pickering rightly observes: The problem play is that 'which explores a particular social problem, raising many questions about it and provoking the audience into finding answers. Such plays, sometimes known as, 'thesis play' because they mount and work out an argument may be tragic or comic in essence but their ideas constitute some issues of deep concern to the dramatist with which he wishes to engage the minds and consciences of the audience.
Resources
Agrawal, Dr. Rameshchandra F. “Communal Conflicts in Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solutions.” A Half Yearly National Peer-Reviewed & Indexing with SJIF Impact Factor Research Journal.
Dubey, Shweta. “Mahesh Dattani: A Strategic Playwright.” JETIR, vol. 5, no. 5, May 2018.
Longley, Robert. "What Is Communism? Definition and Examples." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2021, thoughtco.com/what-is-communism-1779968.
SHEYAMALA, M. “Communal Disharmony in Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solution.” KAMARAJ JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH , vol. 1, no. 1, 2019.
Telang, Pragati. “Peace and Harmony in Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solutions.” International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) , Mar. 2023.
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