Page 246 - DENG503_INDIAN_WRITINGS_IN_LITERATURE

Indian Writings in Literature

Notes • Mahesh Dattani won the Sahitya Akademi award for Final Solutions in 1998. The theme of
the play is to highlight human weaknesses, selfishness, avarice and opportunism. Woven
into the play are the issues of class and communities and the clashes between traditional and
modern life style and value systems. The problem of minorities is not confined to only
Hindus and Muslims, it eats the peace of any minority community among the majority.
• The play, Final Solutions, is also the story of a young baffled boy Javed, who becomes a
victim and a terrorist and is exploited by politicians in the name of 'Jahad'. He is trained for
the terrorist activities and sabotaging. He is sent to a Hindu 'Mohalla' where a 'Rath Yatra' is
taking place. Javed is so over-whelmed with the fervour of 'Jehad' that he throws the first
stone on the 'Rath' causing chaos, ending up in the killing of the 'Pujari' and crashing down
of the 'Rath'. Bobby a close friend of Javed, saves him from the violent mob and gets him
sehtler in Ramnik Gandhi's house, where causes of Hindus and Muslims hatred are being
discussed and strange secrets of terror, greed, avarice and communal hatred are being
revealed.
• The details of stage given in the play help the audience to experience the shifts in time,
Dattani keeps shuffling the frames.

29.4 Key-Words
1. Gender discrimination : The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people,
especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.
2. Prejudices : Pre-conceived opinion not based on reason or experience bias.
29.5 Review Questions

1. Discuss the role of Javed Ramnik.
2. Briefly discribe the play Final Solution. What does Dattani try to provide by this play.
Answers: Self-Assessment
1. (i) 1995 (ii) Aggressive youth
(iii) Javed (iv) Babban

29.6 Further Readings

1. Manoher Malgonker, A Bend in The Ganges (Delhi : Oriental Paperback, 1994)
355.
2. Asha Kuthari Chaudhuri. Contemporary Indian Writer in English: Mahesh
Dattani (Delhi : Foundation Books, 2005), 77-78.
3. Mahesh Dattani. Collected Plays (New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2000), 168.
Subsequent reference are incorporated in the text-with an abbreviation,
FS Satchinand K. Indian Literature: Position and Preposition (Delhi: Pencraft
Internat.

240 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY