Epic sisterhood
UNEXPLORED The play is about the relationship between Draupadi and Kunti
"Dhareyolagina Rajakarana", written and directed by N. Mangala, is the product of a unique play-writing workshop organised by the Karnataka Nataka Academy, to get a group of women to write plays based on Kumaravyasa Bharatha, one of the finest versions of the Mahabharatha in Kannada. A festival of three of the plays scripted at the workshop and directed by women, was held at the Ravindra Kalakshetra a couple of weeks ago as part of the International Women's Day celebrations. "Dhareyolagina Rajakarana", scripted and directed by Mangala for her group Sanchari, perhaps the best play of the lot, saw a repeat performance at the H.N.Kalakshetra recently.
Using Kumaravyasa idioms, phrases and a few situations Mangala fused together two other works based on the Mahabharatha - S.L.Bhyrappa's well known novel "Parva" and the less known, but equally significant work "Jaya" by Veda with her own response to the three works. It wasn't easy because there were very few instances of any significant interaction between the two women although they must have lived under the same roof and loved the same men. Mangala had to read between the lines and make something of their absence.
The focus of "Dhareyolagina Rajakarana" (Politics of the earth), as the title itself suggests, is on the politics behind some of the crucial events in the Mahabharatha - be it the sharing of Draupadi or the game of dice or the killing of the Pandava children. The way Draupadi is objectified through the farce of a swayamvara and is blackmailed into accepting all the five Pandava brothers as husbands is powerfully brought out. Since the focus is on the relationship between the two women, Mangala is more interested in presenting Draupadi's account of the game of dice and her own humiliation and Kunti's response to it, than the actual events themselves. The same is true of Draupadi's discovery of her murdered children. She does not mind owning her responsibility towards the war, which she had thought would avenge all the wrongs done to her. (As part of a patriarchal society she too has begun to think like men!) But now she realises `war is nothing but mass-hysteria' and that it wounds women even more than the men. The men at least have their place in the heaven reserved for war-heroes. What do the women who have lost their children and husbands in war have? Wailing for the five children she has lost to war, Draupadi appears to speak for all the women victims of war .
An interesting point in the play is the gradual reversal of roles by Kunti and Draupadi as the play progresses. In the initial scenes Draupadi is the young, innocent, helpless girl and Kunti, a big force. But after Karna's death we see Kunti as a broken woman tottering with grief and Draupadi consoling her like a mother. They forge together a strong bond, as fellow victims of the same political system. Mangala avoids any realistic presentation of the events. Sets and props are symbolic and moves deliberate and stylised.
The two women are constantly engaged in sewing a patchwork quilt which appears to symbolise their efforts to create something out of the shattered pieces, to keep the family together, to patch up their differences, their memories. Arun Sagar's imaginative set design enriches the symbolism of the play. Costumes designed by Mangala are in keeping with the nature of each character. Music (Gajanana Naik) used more as a narrative device, designed to remind us of the recitals of Kumaravyasa Bharatha.
Though the play appears rather verbose at times, the words do make an impact. Nirmala does a commendable job as Draupadi. But her constant screeching and wailing jar a little. Sandhya makes a sincere effort as Kunti, but the role demands a more mature woman. Some of the movements, particularly of the Pandavas and the narrators remind one of workshop productions by children.
LAXMI CHANDRASHEKAR
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