Rudali

Based on the Book Rudali

1. RUDALI MAHASHWETA DEVI Prepared by Abhyudita Gautam (with the major contribution from my son Katyayan Singha ) 17/04/2020

2. INTRODUCTION About the Author Maha Shweta Devi Mahasweta Devi ( 14 January 1926- 28 July 2016) was an Indian fiction writer in Bengali and a socio political activist. She was honoured with various literary awards such as the SAHITYA Akademi Award JNANPITH Award. Mahasweta Devi was a woman who utilized her privilege to uplift the minorities. She fought for  tribal  rights and gave them space. Her 1977 novel  Aranyer Adhikar  (Right to the Forest) was based on the life of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda. She teaches us how to be a good ally in a time where caste issues are less talked about but are still as prevalent. Devi knew how to connect to marginalized communities at the ground level. Although she wrote about their struggles, she never let her own voice dominate. The narrative belonged to the oppressed communities that was only aided by her skillful writing.

3. Rudali is a powerful short story written by Mahasweta Devi. Revolving around the life of Sanichari, a poor lowcaste village woman, it is an acidly ironic tale of exploitation and struggle, and above all, of survival. In 1992 it was adapted into a play by Usha Ganguli, a leading theatre director of Calcutta, and instantly became one of the most acclaimed productions of its time. In both incarnations of Rudali, it has been a woman who has wrought and rewrought this text which revolves around the life of a woman; and each version of Rudali can be read as an important feminist text for contemporary India. Both the short story and the play, are included in this volume, along with an introductory essay that studies how and why the versions are different and what the changes signify, leading to an analysis of how the metamorphosis of Rudali allows us to address the simultaneity and asymmetry of feminist positions in this country today. Anjum Katyal, who has translated and introduced the texts in this volume, is a writer and an editor based in Calcutta. Mahasweta Devi is one of India s foremost writers. Her powerful fiction has won her recognition in the form of the Sahitya Akademi (1979), Jnanpith (1996) and Ramon Magsaysay (1996) awards, the title of Officier del Ordre Des Arts Et Des Lettres (2003) and the Nonino Prize (2005) amongst several other literary honours. She was also awarded the Padmasree in 1986, for her activist work among dispossessed tribal communities.

4. Mahasweta Devi’s  Rudali  centers on the two women who develop a partnership for survival.  Rudali  is one of the haunting stories that come from remote villages in Rajasthan. The novel depicted the struggle Sanichari oppressed against poverty, humiliation and wrecked by an exploitative patriarchal caste-based social system. Damaged by their own family, community members or the ruling rich, these women either submit to a relegated existence, which became prostitutes for survival; or like Sanichari and Bikhni, challenges their subjugation.

5. The novel represented the miserable condition of a low-caste starving family in post-colonial Indian society. It highlighted the particularly miserable position of backward class women in rural India. Mahasweta Devi was born in 1926 in the city of Dacca in East Bengal. Born into a literary family, Mahasweta Devi was also influenced by her early association with Gananatya , a group who attempted to bring social and political theater to rural villages in Bengal in the 1930s and 1940s. After finishing a master’s degree in English literature from Calcutta University, Devi began working as a teacher and journalist. Her first book,  Jhansi Rani ( The Queen of Jhansi ), was published in 1956. In 1984, she retired from her job as an English lecturer at a Calcutta university to concentrate on her writing. Devi has been the recipient of several literary prizes. She was awarded the Jnanpath , India’s highest literary award in 1995.

6. The story begins with Ram Avtar, the zamindar (transl. landlord) of Barna (a village in the desert) realizing his imminent death, and the fact that none of his relatives would mourn him. He thus requests for the services of a famous rudaali named Bhikni ( Rakhee ), to mourn for him once he dies. Bhikni ends up staying with the widow Shanichari, who lives within the Thakur's compound. As they both begin to bond, Shanichari tells Bhikni her life's story, which is revealed to us in flashbacks. Shanichari was born on a  Shanichar  (Saturday), which is concerned to be an  ill omened  day, ruled by the planet  Shani  ( Saturn ) in astrology. Shanichari is blamed by the villagers for everything bad that happens around her - starting from her father's death, to her mother Peewli's running off to join a folk theatre troupe. While still young, Shanichari is married off to Ganju, a drunkard, who ends up dying due to a plague at a village fair. Her only support is her son, Budhua, whom she loves very much. However, he likes to roam around aimlessly, just like Peewli did. Meanwhile, the Thakur's son Lakshman Singh reveals that he likes her and offers her a job at the Thakur's  haveli . She then serves under his wife, who has been spoiled but is secluded from others. Lakshman tries to teach Shanichari to empower herself and understand her rights, and encourages her to "look up" into his eyes when speaking to him. One night, after Shanichari's singing performance at the  haveli , he gifts her a house of her own, along with two acres of land. Soon, the adult Budhua brings home a wife, Mungri, who is a young prostitute pregnant with his child. However, the couple keeps fighting, and one day in a fit of rage, Mungri  aborts  the child. Budhua, upset, runs away from home, leaving his mother all alone. It is revealed that throughout her hardships, Shanichari had never shed a tear. One night, Bhikni is called to the neighbouring village to meet Bhimdata. The Thakur passes away a few hours later. Lakshman Singh and Shanichari are then seen bidding farewell to each other as Singh plans to leave the village after his father's demise. They are interrupted by a messenger from Bhimdata, who reveals that Bhikni succumbed to the plague, and in her last few minutes requested that Shanichari be told that she was her mother, Peewli. Shanichari then begins to weep profusely, and takes over as the new rudaali, crying at the Thakur's funeral. The Film Adaption