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Baragur’s “Shabari” is not just a name of the character in the novel. Shabari is commonly used as a metaphor for an endless wait for God. But here the author gives a new meaning to this wait by attributing it to a silent preparation for the ultimate freedom through struggle. This core message of the novel slowly gets unveiled through the changes in the inner world of Shabari who makes a commitment to struggle at the climax of the plot. In that sense, Shabari is also used as a metaphor for the lives of Adivasis. In fact,all the three important characters in the novel Shabari, Surya are used as metaphors to describe the plight of the Adivasis.

Shabari is a young Adivasi girl and Chandra is a rebellious young Adivasi boy who are in love. Not only the daily lives of Adivasis but also their personal lives including love and marriage are controlled and exploited by the landlord Narasimhappa, who is fed with ploys by the Brahmin priest Rama Joyis. The Adivasi community does not have land and solely depends on the labour provided by Narasimhappa in his fields. The plot of the novel opens up through the murder of Chandra on the day of his marriage with Shabari, in suspicious circumstances. Surya and Shabari eventually fall in love and Shabari becomes pregnant which again comes as a meaningful metaphor in the story. The novel ends with the new challenge where government land on which the Adivasis had built dreams of a new life is handed over to a multinational company for mining. Surya is arrested and killed in police custody. The novel ends with Surya’s bag slung over Shabari’s shoulders which carries in it a pistol. This kind of novel is almost unusual in Kannada. Even though novel is a literary form which is supposed to be a realistic portrayal of life, it seldom takes into account the lives of the marginalised. With the advent of Navya genre, the personal account of middle class life engulfed all the space of the novel and the life of the exploited hardly became a subject matter of fiction. That too the story of Adivasis and the Dalits is a formidable challenge to a fiction writer since their personal life can not be isolated from the life of the community. A glaring aspect in the Kannada world is also the total absence of public space in the personal life. For example public demonstrations, mass struggle are part of the real life of the marginalised people. But this public space of personal life seldom becomes the subject matter of artistic expression especially in the genre of novel. And those who have made attempts are looked upon as those using art for propaganda. Baraguru, among the forerunners of the Bandaya genre of literature in Kannada, has always confronted this question boldly. Of late he is trying to find answers through his creative works. “Shabari” is one such attempt by him. One can not say that Baraguru is successful in his endeavour. Particularly, with works like Niranjana’s “Chirasmarane” and Basavaraj Kattimani’s “Maadi Madidavaru”. The novel has a contrived plot, artificial characters, and a filmy climax. With all its limitations “Shabari” is a welcome addition to creative works in Kannada.

After the mysterious murder of the King, Amoghavarsha, (and also his children, who are murdered on the allegation that they have murdered their own father), there are many to claim the Kingship. Power, particularly political power, cannot be shared. It has to be enjoyed singularly. The three important contenders who are already enjoying power of their own fiefdoms, Vesaraprabhu, Ganapathi Maharaja, and Kudereraja do not want to share the power of the Kingship. Each one wants to be the King himself. Each one is pitted against other by the clever aspirant Siddipurusha. Ashwagandhi, the female contender, though not in any way less ambitious, cannot make it to the position. Siddipurusha murders her. Even the notion of democracy wherein any citizen of the country can become the ruler is also brought in. But, ultimately no one seems to win.

The lack of demarcation between religion and politics is brought out effectively. Each religion claims to be ancient and superior. They have their own reason for choosing a particular ruler. Interestingly, the clash for power takes place in front of the temple. The temple, not the throne, is the symbol of power. The characters of grand children of Amoghavarsha are poignantly brought out. Their dialogues are sheer poetry. The play contains innumerable poetic statements, which could be used as quotations. The sane, lone but inconsequential minority voice is represented in the character of Parupattedara. The two ingredients of any healthy society, the writer and the scientist, Saraswathisamana and Tantrapatantra, are also brought in to critique the on-going power struggle in the country. The common man’s perspective of power is revealed through the words of Parappa, Elesouthe, Gajamukhi, and Chigarichinnaka.

But, despite repeated readings, one cannot really make out why the mention of specific time of the day and night is made in each of the scenes. The play is rather obscure, not really intelligible in a single reading, in spite of a preface by the author and forewords by many important critics. The obscurity is not because of the language – in fact the language of the play is simple. It is more because of too many characters that say too many different things simultaneously. Could not the author have told the same thing in a simpler form?

This is an unusual and ambitious play of recent times. It is going to be a challenge for any director to bring it on the stage.

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