Ghashiram Kotwal

Hello everyone, This blog is a part of my thinking activity. In this blog I will discuss about Vijay Tendulkar's play" Ghashiram Kotwal"

Introduction

Ghashiram Kotwal, this play written by Vijay Tendulkar. Vijay Tendulkar was known as one of the very famous Indian playwright.

“Grihasth” was his first play that appeared in 1955, followed by “Silence, Court is in Session!”, Shrimant”, “Sakharam Binder” and “Safar” in 1992. He also scripted for films giving stories of violence, power and repression in different forms in the contemporary Indian society.

About Author

Vijay Tendulkar famous for his bitter satirical writing, Ghashiram was one of them. Vijay Tendulkar was very choosy about the words. His each and every word came to represent the reality. Tendulkar’s great strength lies in his dialogues. He indicates every moment and it carries as much narrative force as speech, song and action.

The list of characters:

 Ghashiram Kotwal

 Nana Phadnavis

 Lalita Gauri

 Sutradhar(Narrator)

 Gulabi

 Brahmans (chorus)

1. Ghashiram Kotwal:

Ghashiram is a Kannoj Brahmin who comes to city of Poona to try his luck and earn his livelihood. He leaves Kannoj for good but ends up falling a victim to hypocrisy, evilness, duality, and corruption rampant at Poona. He comes with his wife and a young and pretty daughter. He is not an egoist or a proud man.

2. Nana Phadnavis:

Nana as depicted in the novel is a womanizer from head to toe. Drenched in corruption, lechery and evil, he is a Prince of Power and a cruel despot. In order to achieve his objectives he can fall to any low and cares a damn even about God. From the beginning to the end he becomes an audio visual incarnation of lust and cruelty. He is an evil incarnate.

3. Lalita Gauri:

Gauri is a daughter of Ghashiram Kotwal. Gauri becomes a sacrificial goat in struggle for power. She is described as young, pretty and innocent and falls at once a victim to Nana’s greed. Gauri is voiceless, disempowered and victimized. She silently bore the dictates of her father. She is the symbol of exploitation of female sexuality to represent the loss and destruction in their struggle for power. The pathetic Gauri represents the flip side of Indian Women especially for their use and abuse in almost all walks of life especially politics and power.

4. The Sutradhar:

He is the narrator, commentator and interposer. He keeps audience abreast with the information both on stage and off stage. He comments on the past, present and future. He holds different moods, situations and characters in one organic whole. Sutradhar is the good friend of protagonist- Ghashiram. The Sutradhar is bold and fearless enough in stalking the Brahmins in the opening scene and constantly question them to extract the truth.

Ghashiram Kotwal: A Critique:

It is deals with the “History of Maratha Samrajya”. Though Vijay Tendulkar denied but it is highly represent the history. Nana Phadnavis has been portrayed in dark shade who as per the chroniclers was an able administrator and shrewd politician who with his presight kept the Maratha Empire integrated for more than 20 years. Even in “Bajirav Mastani” film Nana sahib Peshwa portrayed very cunning and shrewd.

The religiosity, sex, and power often go hand in hand. Nana purchases sex by dissipating power into the hads of a humiliated man who is starved of power. Morality and God are the strengths of the weak.

Sexuality especially the female sexuality has been used to represent loss and destruction in struggle for power. The Poona Brahmins who represent the different places of India are degenerated and morally bankrupt. They are hypocrite, clever schemers. Instead of treading the path of spirituality they visit the prostitutions. They do not see the difference between a Kirtan and a Lavani. For them it is invariably the same. The Sutradhar inhis Lampoon describes the gardens of Krishna at Mathura descend on to Bavannakhani.

Poona prahmans go

To Bavannakhani…

They go to the cemetery.

They go to the Kirtan.

They go to the Temple-as they have done every day.

The street of Bavanna became for a while.

The garden of Krishna.

The garden of Hir

The garden of saras

The garden of Moti

The garden of Poona

Become the gardens of Mathura

Where Krishna played.

Nana with his insatiable desires for sex and with his numerous wives parodies Lord Krishna.

Themes 

Religion

While the army and police are used by the state to maintain control within societies, there are other subtler strategies that are also used. For instance, religion. Most religions tell us to turn the other cheek if we are hit. This prevents us from reacting against tyranny and injustice. When we imbibe these values during childhood, first in the family. then in the school and finally in society at large, they become so deeply ingrained in us that they do not allow us to challenge or change our social situation. Such values are imparted to us so subtly that we do not question if they are right or wrong. Take the case of Ghashiram Kotwal. The play begins with a religious hymn and the popular gods dancing on stage. This sets the context against which the drama unfolds itself. The Brahmans go to Bavannakhani to see the dancing girls and say they are going 'to the temple' to give a sermon oil 'Vishwamitra and Menaka'. They justify their decadence by comparing Bavannakhani to holy Mathura.

The 'abhanga' or devotional song is often sung with the 'lavani'or love song in his play. Scenes of violence arid cruelty are alternated with devotional songs. When Nana tries to seduce Gauri in front of the statue of the holy Ganapati, he simply dismisses her fears saying: That all holy Ganapati? The maker of Good? Look, he has two wives. One on this side, one on that side'. Further on in the play, when Gauri is dead and the distraught Ghashiram confronts Nana and accuses him of his daughter's death, the latter reassures him: 'He - the Omnipresent - He makes everything happen … We are merely instruments ….' He then urges him to ' forget what has happened. All merges into the Ganga. 'Thou shalt not grieve over what is gone. The Vedas have said that' . "Don't you think here is a case of the devil citing scriptures to suit his purpose? Religion then becomes a useful alibi in covering people's misdeeds. By invoking religion, all kinds of evils are glossed and even sanctified. Rituals are encouraged to fill the pockets of the greedy Brahmans. Moreover their position as the 'twice born' is reinforced by the prevalence of the caste system.

Caste

Alorigwith religion, caste is also a major factor in the play. Is it a comment on the decadence of the Brahmans? When the play was first performed it was banned for being anti-Brahman and for fear of there being a revolt in the audience. Is it really meant to expose Brahmans, their corruption and moral degradation? According to the playwright he was more interested in 'the emergence, the growth and the inevitable end of the Ghashirams ..... The decadence of the class in power (the Brahmans, incidentally, during the period which I had to depict) also was incidental though not accidental. Caste is used as an instrument of power. The Sutradhar reports that according to Ghashiram 'to eat with a lower caste person is a crime' (p. 26). To sleep with a 'Maliar woman' (a lower caste among the untouchables) is also considered a crime. On the other hand, the Bralimans, have no hesitation in chasing and pestering a white Sahib for money. This shows that race and colour constitute a higher position in the social hierarchy. And the white Sahib ranks higher than the privileged Brahman who is feasted and showered with gifts in the Peshwa's Poona.   

Tendulkar has depicted the hypocrisy of the Brahmans, their arrogance, authoritarianism and their, debauched and adulterous behaviour. Rather than being identifiable by their good deeds and noble behaviour, the Brahmans are known by their 'shaven head', 'holy thread' and 'pious look'. It is this pious look that conceals their petty deeds. Nana himself a Brahman is marrying for the seventh time not to mention his lusting after numerous young girls, Lalita Gauri among them. Though full of revenge and hatred for the Brahmans, Ghashiram is himself a Brahman. And his conduct in bartering his daughter's virtue for the dubious distinction of becoming the Kotwal of Poona, can hardly be justified and speaks of his inhuman opportunism as well as total lack of paternal sentiment and sensitivity. The total picture of the Brahmans that emerges from this play is one of hypocrisy. double standards, self-indulgence and moral degradation. It exposes the rottenness of the caste-system that privileges a person on the basis of birth rather than merit and maintains the rigid hierarchy to control and suppress persons.

Sexuality

 

Women too, as we have seen, have become a pawn in the power game. In fact there is a close nexus between sexuality and power.Consider, for example, Nana's statement with reference to Lalita Gauri: 'Our grandeur's gone if she's not had' (p.20).A man's self-image, identity and machismo is definable only, it seems. in relation to the conquest and oppression of women. There is a close connection between sexuality and religion as lavanis (love song) and abhangas (devotional song) are sung at the revelries in Bavannakhani which is likened to Mathura and the erotic dances to Krishan Lila.

The garb of religion helps to justify and whitewash the debaucheries of the Brahman men. Gulabi's tantalizing dances, the Nana's lustful pursuit of Lalita Gauri, the clandestine meeting of the Brahman wife with a Maratha lover, all serve to create an underlying strain of eroticism throughout the play.

Violence

 

Tendulkar did research on violence in India because of which he has explored its many dimensions. He is not only concerned about the violence of the State against the people but against the violence of people against other people. This is clear in Ghashiram's torture of innocent Brahmans and the belligerence of Gulabi's men against Ghashiram when he is forcibly divested of the necklace that Nana had given him. A stark example of this violence is the ordeal-by-fire episode. An innocent Brahman, accused of theft, unsuccessfully tries to convince Ghashiram of his innocence. Even though the evidence indicates that the Brahman has been unjust!y implicated, Ghashiram has an ordeal set up to test his innocence. The nails of the Brahman's right hand are pulled out and his fingers are washed with lemon juice and soap and then hands are sealed in a bag. Seven Rangolis are drawn on the floor and an iron ball is heated red hot. The ball is then placed forcibly on the hands of the protesting Brahman. Naturally, his hands burn and the cruel Ghashiram triumphantly proclaims that this would not have happened had he told the truth for only liars get burnt.

 He then urges the agonized man to 'confess' or else tlie ordeal would be repeated. Left with no choice, he falls into the trap - '1 confess that I stole'. (p.36). Instead of letting him off Ghashiram orders the soldiers to 'cut off his hands and drive him out of Poona'. (p.36). Here is an example of the extreme physical and mental violence that can be perpetrated by one human beings on another. How does this square with the so-called religious commitment of the Brahmans? In addition to this is also the more subtle violence that human beings are capable of. This is the violence of mental cruelty-the kinds we witness when Nana subdues Ghashiram's agony and anger at the death of his daughter by invoking protocol.

 

Conclusion

Ghashiram Kotwal though uncouth and rough is a man of action. He is not an idealist or a visionary. He belongs to our present lower rung of the police officials who may not necessarily be good administrators are the best for the field job that he does par excellent.