Page 222 - DENG503_INDIAN_WRITINGS_IN_LITERATURE

Indian Writings in Literature

Notes managed to find a lover! Tell me who it is, who did you to with your sari off. But Rani who has
not committed any crime swears to him about her innocence: swear to you I have not done
anything wrong. Women are sexually oppressed. It is reflected in the concept of chastity, a
patriarchal value. It is one of the most powerful, yet invisible cultural fetters that have enslaved
women for ages. Extra-marital enjoyment for women is a taboo in this ultra-modern age. But
Appanna reports the matter to the village elders who pass orders that she must undergo chastity
test either by putting red hot iron on her palm or putting hands into the whole of cobra. With great
fear and trepidation Rani puts her hands into the hole of cobra and vows: Since coming to this
village. I have held by this hand, only two. My husband. And this Cobra. The Cobra instead of
stinging her ways its hood gently for a while, then becomes docile and moves over her shoulder
like a garland. At this the villagers, who were determined to declare her a whore a minute ago,
exclaim: A Miracle! A Miracle! She is not a woman! She is a Divine Being. The villagers fall at her
feet. The crowd surges forward to prostrate itself before her. They elevate her to the status of a
goddess: Appanna your wife is not an ordinary human. She is goddess incarnate. Don’t grieve
that you judged wrongly and treated her badly. The transformation of Rani and her emerging
identity is a direct outcome of the emotional support and succor that she receives from Naga.
In the end, Appanna changes his behaviour and attitude towards Rani, may be under the pressure
of the village community or because of the pricks of his conscience. He falls at her feet and says:
Forgive me. I am a sinner. I was blind. Now he realizes the beauty of her long tresses and dignity
as a human being. When the dead Naga falls from her hair, Appanna says: Your long hair saved
us from the deadly Cobra. When Rani expresses her wish that the cobra has to be ritually cremated,
the fire should be lit by our son and every year on this day, our son would perform the ritual to
commemorate its death, Appanna agrees: Any wish of your will be carried out. Now Rani plays
an active role in the familial affairs. She is fully confident of her role and status, and assertive of
her thoughts and decisions. In the alternate end to the play, Rani’s acceptance of Naga as her lover
within wedlock presents a much more bold and rebellious character of the protagonist. She invites
Naga Get in (to my hair). Are you safely in there? Good. Now stay there. And lie still. You don’t
know how heavy you are. Let me get used to you, will you?
Thus, Rani moves from the marginalized position to the central one in the arduous journey of her
marital life. Though the journey is fraught with pains and privations, she occupies the central
position in the familial affairs by collecting courage and confidence and by disconcerting the male
ego and his inflated sense of power over women. Though Rani emerges a completely changed
woman with modern outlook, entirely in harmony with her desires and decisions and true to her
wishes and instincts, she does not reject the world of Appanna. The fact remains that the non-
human world and the human world form a part and parcel of each others existence.
A Reluctant Master
Girish Karnad says that, though the English writers and the thought of writing in English influenced
him, it was unknowingly that he became a playwright and started writing in Kannada. 'Yakshagana',
the traditional folk theatre of Karnataka, influenced him. Karnad's plays, Yayathi, Hayavadana,
Tughlag, and Nagamandala certainly reveal this influence.
Two Folktales and a Play
The play Naga Mandala is based on two folk-tales of Kannada. It was first staged at the University
of Chicago. Karnad says:
The energy for the folk-theatre comes from the fact that although it seems to uphold traditional
values, it also has the means of questioning these values. The various conventions- the chorus, the
music, the seemingly unrelated comic interludes, the mixing of human and non human worlds
permit a simultaneous presentation of alternative points of view.

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