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Domination of Patriarchal Authority in Mahesh Dattani`s ``Where There Is A Will``
Domination of Patriarchal Authority in Mahesh Dattani`s ``Where There Is A Will``
BY
Dr. Ram Sharma
Senior Lecturer In English
J.V [P.G.] College, Baraut, Baghpat, U.P., India
Mahesh Dattani`s first play `Where There Is A Will` is embedded within the mechanics of the middle class Gujrati family,Dattani has often referred to the subversion of patriarchy in the play as one of the major concerns.Dattani has in a sense chronicled the follies and prejudices of Indian society as reflected within the microcosm of the family unit the most tangile and dynamic reality in middle class Indian lives.Dattani calls the play an `` exorcism of the patriarchal code``[ Dattani,Collected Plays,p- 449] 1
Sita Raina , a well known theatre director writes on the note of the play,
```In Where There`s a Will `,has control over his family through his money and forgoes an opportunity to improve his interpersonal relationships.As do most of us .Consequently , when he became the watcher of his actions ,he perceives that his desire for control has led him to be the victim of his machinations.``[ Dattani, Collective Plays, p-449]2
Datttani explores the dichotomy between the male/ female roles within the archetype of the family headed by a man and what happens when a woman takes over.
Where There Is A Will works with clever dialogues , replete with direct-to-audience addressed by the dominating patriarchal presence[ both dead and alive] of Hasmukh Mehta.The archetypal picture of an overbearing father and domineering husband, unpleasant and even nasty, Hasmukh is unequivocally unhappy with everyone around him- with no one having lived up to his expectations , the way he had fulfilled his father`s .He makes a list of categories;
``Why does a man marry? So that he can have a woman all to himself? No .There`s more to it than that.No. What?May be he needs a faithful companion?No. If that was it, all men would keep dogs .No , No , I think the important reason anyone should marry at all is to get a son.Why is it so important to get a son?Because the son will carry on the family name? [ C.P. p-474-475]3
The list holds good , and, yet , he says that his son has made his life worthless.Meanwhile ,Ajit fiercely resists Hasmukh and will kowtow to his father`s wishes , wanting to be his own man.
HASMUKH [ to the audience] .Well I tried ,didn`t I ?[To Ajit] I do not think that educating you is a waste of breath .It is my duty to see that you are capable of fending for yourself when I`m not here.
AJIT. Why ? Where are you going?
HASMUKH. Should God permit me, I intend to stay right here.But everyone has to go sooner or later.I will retire one day, either from the company or from this world .What will become of you then? I have to season you now.You need seasoning.
AJIT. Seasoning ! What do you mean ,seasoning ? I`m not a block of wood!
[ C.P., p-460]4
Dattani brings in reference to three successive generations of the male line , and indicates the compulsions under which Hasmukh behaves in the way that he does , on him lies the onus of perpetuating patriarchy and its stereotypes `` You are raw! Under all the pressures in the office , you wil bend .You will break .That`s why I`m toughening you .Somebody tough has to run the show.``
[ C.P.-P-460]5
Each character in the play provides an appropriate foil to his / her counterpart .If Hasmukh is dictatorial type husband , his wife Sonal is a submissive housewife dedicated to the choices of her husband. Business world is also dominated by Hasmukh ,Sonal occupies the spaces in kitchen and pooja room. Hamukh Mehta exercises hegemonic power over the rest of the family members to perpetuate his conception of self which he has in turn received from his father. He doesn`t allow Ajit to speak to government officials .He challenges the identity of Ajit `` Hasmukh Mehta , has evry right.It`s my phone you are using in my house , and it`s my business secrets you are leaking to government officers , and my typist your friend is flirting with.[ C.P-458]6
Ajit remains a subaltern who can`t speak before his father
AJIT. I mean that you want to run the show , play Big Boss as long as you can.Or as long as God permits .And when all of a sudden , you are ` called to a better world `, you will still want to play Big Boss.And you can do it through me.In short , you want to be you.
HASMUKH.. I should have prayed a daughter.Yes, I want you to be me! What`s wrong with being me?
AJIT .And what becomes of me? The real me. I mean , if I am you, then where am i?
HASMUKH. Nowhere! That is just my point ! If you are you, then you are nowhere.You are nothing just a big zero. No matter what you do, you`ll remain a zero. Over the years yo`ll just keep adding zeroes to your zero.Zero, zero, zero.On their own , the zeroes don`t mean a thing .But if there`s a number one standing before all those zeroes , then really add up to a lot.` [ C.P.-P-461]7
Hasmukh accuses his wife for wasting money in preparing rich dishes .He acknowledges Sonal`s company as the greatest tragedy of his life but she is everytime careful for his tablets , high blood pressure and heart attacks. He condemns his wife for her unability to realize the intricacy of business and even her failure to provide him a good and healthy married life..Hasmukh takes it as his right to display his dreams in which there is no space for the desires for others.Hasmukh`s statement about his wife strikes a note of sarcasm and sexual colonialism.For him a faithful wife is as good as a faithful dog.
`` Then I should be a very happy man .I`ve got a loving wife who has been faithful to me like any dog would be`` [C.P. P-473]8
HASMUKH [to the audience] It`s so easy for her to forget that we were a middle class family once.She keeps cooking food like it`s a new invention.Rich food , wasting so much ghee and oil .Of course , she can afford it .She has been affording it for years . She has me , doesn`t she? But don`t think she slogs over the stove every day.We have a cook –a maharaj we call him.He has gone back to his town for a few days. The rich food he eats here gave him indigestion, I think.
[ C.P.-P-465]9
Hasmukh`s consciousness of his authority , his contempt for the simplicity of his son , his mockery of the submissiveness of his wife prepares a very ridiculous image of patriarchal authority.For him Ajit is his investment and he seeks the return of his investment.
``Why am I unhappy ? Because I don`t have a son .Who is Ajit ?Isn`t he my son? No. He`s just a boy who spends my money and lives in my house. He doesn`t behave like my son.A son should make me happy.Like I made my father.----happy.I listened to him .I did what he told me to do.I worked for him .I worked hard for him.I made him--- happy. That is what I wanted my son to make me [ Gets a little worked up] .But he failed ! Miserably ! He has not a single quality I took for in a son! He has made my entire life worthless! He is going to destroy me ! it won`t be long before everything I worked for and achieved will be destroyed ! Finished because of him! Well , I won`t let it happen! I won`t let it happen! I won`t let it----``
[C.P.P-475]10
Hasmukh has no love for his wife and his daughter-in-law whom he describes,
As ``Pretty , charming , graceful and sly as a snake `` and sums her up as a girl who`` has an eye on my money``And all this goes towards explaining why towards the end of the first scene , he dies in bed where his wife discovers his dead body a few minutes later.
However the ghost of Hasmukh lingers on in the house , wandering through its walls [and occasionally sitting cross –legged on the dinning table] keeping on passing acerbic comments on the actions and attitudes of the other living characters, though unheard by , invisible to them .It is Hasmukh Mehta who dominates both in the couse of his life and after. As Ajit confesses after his father`s death ,`` Ever since I was a little boy , you have been running my life .Do this , do that or don`t do that , do this.Was I scared of you! [p-465] 11
Hasmukh Mehta`s parental`s authority was a tension not only for Sonal and Preeti, but also for Kiran .She confesses that she managed her relationship with an old and erratic man like Hasmukh , only for money.Sonal discards the authority of Hasmukh with this comment`` He was like a village buffalo .What did he understand about other people`s feelings.[ p-465]`12`Dattani manipulates the events in the play to tear the veil of illusion of parental authority .`Will` was designed to control the fate of all those who depend on him,., He also had a mistress named Kiran Jhaveri about whom he has high opinion and had made the trustee of his property
KIRAN I think I must clear some misunderstandings you may have about my authority.I am only the trustee of all his wealth.Not the owner .I get a fixed salary for my job. Everything rightfully belongs to the three of you .Provided you follow his instructions .Ajit will have to attend the office as usual .He will get a detailed brief on his duties tomorrow .Mrs Mehta , you shall get the regular allowance to run the house , and a little more for your personal expenses. And Preeti, you too will get an allowance –when you become a mother.When your child is twenty one , the trust automatically dissolves .Its holdings will be transferred to Ajit for him and his heirs to enjoy``
[C.P.-P-493]13
Will assumes the dimension of a living character that controls and guides the action of each the member of the family. Even Kiran is subordinate to the will of Mehta. She is only an agent having no choice of her own.. She says,
`` My main duty is to run the Mehta Groups of Industries on behalf of Ajit Mehta .I have the authority to make all the major decisions in the interest of companies.`` [ C.P., P-493]14
Kiran reveals that Hasmukh`s own identity was subordinated to her care and protest.
KIRAN. He depended on me for everything .He thought he was the decision maker .But I was.He wanted me to run his life.Like his father had.[Pause] Hasmukh didn`t really want a mistress .He wanted a father.He saw in me a woman who would father him.[ Laughs. Hasmukh cringes at her daughter.] Men really grows up!
[ C.P.-P-510]15
Kiran also satirises the patriarchal authority of his father and brothers.
KIRAN . Isn`t it strange how repetitive life is? My brothers . They have turned out to be like their father ,going home with bottles of rum wrapped up in newspapers. Beating up their wives .And I- I too am like my mother .I married a drunkard and I listened to his swearing .And I too have learnt to suffer silently .Oh! Where will all this end? Will the scars our parents lay on us remain forever?
[ C.P.-P-508]16
Kiran appreciates Ajit who is at least free from the whims of his father to control the lives of others.
KiIRAN .He may not be the greatest rebel on earth , but at least he is free of his father`s beliefs.He resist .In a small way , but at least it`s a start .That is enough to prove that Ajit has won and Hasmukh has lost.``
[ C.P.- P-510]17
In the end I can say that Mahesh Dattani has portrayed and ridiculed the domination of patriarchal authority in this play `Where There Is A Will`
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1-Raina,Sita,`A Note On the Play,Dattani,Mahesh,Colllected Plays[ New Delhi,Penguin,2000]p-449
2.ibid p-449
3-Mahesh Dattani, Collected Plays[ New Delhi, Penguin, 2000]p-474-475
4-ibid p--460
5-ibid p-460
6-ibid p-458
7-ibid-p-461
8-ibid p-473
9-ibidp-465
10-ibid p-475
11-ibid p-465
12-ibid p-465
13-ibid p-493
14-ibid p-493
15-ibid p-510
16-ibid p-508
17-ibid p-510
BY
Dr. Ram Sharma
Senior Lecturer In English
J.V [P.G.] College, Baraut, Baghpat, U.P., India
Mahesh Dattani`s first play `Where There Is A Will` is embedded within the mechanics of the middle class Gujrati family,Dattani has often referred to the subversion of patriarchy in the play as one of the major concerns.Dattani has in a sense chronicled the follies and prejudices of Indian society as reflected within the microcosm of the family unit the most tangile and dynamic reality in middle class Indian lives.Dattani calls the play an `` exorcism of the patriarchal code``[ Dattani,Collected Plays,p- 449] 1
Sita Raina , a well known theatre director writes on the note of the play,
```In Where There`s a Will `,has control over his family through his money and forgoes an opportunity to improve his interpersonal relationships.As do most of us .Consequently , when he became the watcher of his actions ,he perceives that his desire for control has led him to be the victim of his machinations.``[ Dattani, Collective Plays, p-449]2
Datttani explores the dichotomy between the male/ female roles within the archetype of the family headed by a man and what happens when a woman takes over.
Where There Is A Will works with clever dialogues , replete with direct-to-audience addressed by the dominating patriarchal presence[ both dead and alive] of Hasmukh Mehta.The archetypal picture of an overbearing father and domineering husband, unpleasant and even nasty, Hasmukh is unequivocally unhappy with everyone around him- with no one having lived up to his expectations , the way he had fulfilled his father`s .He makes a list of categories;
``Why does a man marry? So that he can have a woman all to himself? No .There`s more to it than that.No. What?May be he needs a faithful companion?No. If that was it, all men would keep dogs .No , No , I think the important reason anyone should marry at all is to get a son.Why is it so important to get a son?Because the son will carry on the family name? [ C.P. p-474-475]3
The list holds good , and, yet , he says that his son has made his life worthless.Meanwhile ,Ajit fiercely resists Hasmukh and will kowtow to his father`s wishes , wanting to be his own man.
HASMUKH [ to the audience] .Well I tried ,didn`t I ?[To Ajit] I do not think that educating you is a waste of breath .It is my duty to see that you are capable of fending for yourself when I`m not here.
AJIT. Why ? Where are you going?
HASMUKH. Should God permit me, I intend to stay right here.But everyone has to go sooner or later.I will retire one day, either from the company or from this world .What will become of you then? I have to season you now.You need seasoning.
AJIT. Seasoning ! What do you mean ,seasoning ? I`m not a block of wood!
[ C.P., p-460]4
Dattani brings in reference to three successive generations of the male line , and indicates the compulsions under which Hasmukh behaves in the way that he does , on him lies the onus of perpetuating patriarchy and its stereotypes `` You are raw! Under all the pressures in the office , you wil bend .You will break .That`s why I`m toughening you .Somebody tough has to run the show.``
[ C.P.-P-460]5
Each character in the play provides an appropriate foil to his / her counterpart .If Hasmukh is dictatorial type husband , his wife Sonal is a submissive housewife dedicated to the choices of her husband. Business world is also dominated by Hasmukh ,Sonal occupies the spaces in kitchen and pooja room. Hamukh Mehta exercises hegemonic power over the rest of the family members to perpetuate his conception of self which he has in turn received from his father. He doesn`t allow Ajit to speak to government officials .He challenges the identity of Ajit `` Hasmukh Mehta , has evry right.It`s my phone you are using in my house , and it`s my business secrets you are leaking to government officers , and my typist your friend is flirting with.[ C.P-458]6
Ajit remains a subaltern who can`t speak before his father
AJIT. I mean that you want to run the show , play Big Boss as long as you can.Or as long as God permits .And when all of a sudden , you are ` called to a better world `, you will still want to play Big Boss.And you can do it through me.In short , you want to be you.
HASMUKH.. I should have prayed a daughter.Yes, I want you to be me! What`s wrong with being me?
AJIT .And what becomes of me? The real me. I mean , if I am you, then where am i?
HASMUKH. Nowhere! That is just my point ! If you are you, then you are nowhere.You are nothing just a big zero. No matter what you do, you`ll remain a zero. Over the years yo`ll just keep adding zeroes to your zero.Zero, zero, zero.On their own , the zeroes don`t mean a thing .But if there`s a number one standing before all those zeroes , then really add up to a lot.` [ C.P.-P-461]7
Hasmukh accuses his wife for wasting money in preparing rich dishes .He acknowledges Sonal`s company as the greatest tragedy of his life but she is everytime careful for his tablets , high blood pressure and heart attacks. He condemns his wife for her unability to realize the intricacy of business and even her failure to provide him a good and healthy married life..Hasmukh takes it as his right to display his dreams in which there is no space for the desires for others.Hasmukh`s statement about his wife strikes a note of sarcasm and sexual colonialism.For him a faithful wife is as good as a faithful dog.
`` Then I should be a very happy man .I`ve got a loving wife who has been faithful to me like any dog would be`` [C.P. P-473]8
HASMUKH [to the audience] It`s so easy for her to forget that we were a middle class family once.She keeps cooking food like it`s a new invention.Rich food , wasting so much ghee and oil .Of course , she can afford it .She has been affording it for years . She has me , doesn`t she? But don`t think she slogs over the stove every day.We have a cook –a maharaj we call him.He has gone back to his town for a few days. The rich food he eats here gave him indigestion, I think.
[ C.P.-P-465]9
Hasmukh`s consciousness of his authority , his contempt for the simplicity of his son , his mockery of the submissiveness of his wife prepares a very ridiculous image of patriarchal authority.For him Ajit is his investment and he seeks the return of his investment.
``Why am I unhappy ? Because I don`t have a son .Who is Ajit ?Isn`t he my son? No. He`s just a boy who spends my money and lives in my house. He doesn`t behave like my son.A son should make me happy.Like I made my father.----happy.I listened to him .I did what he told me to do.I worked for him .I worked hard for him.I made him--- happy. That is what I wanted my son to make me [ Gets a little worked up] .But he failed ! Miserably ! He has not a single quality I took for in a son! He has made my entire life worthless! He is going to destroy me ! it won`t be long before everything I worked for and achieved will be destroyed ! Finished because of him! Well , I won`t let it happen! I won`t let it happen! I won`t let it----``
[C.P.P-475]10
Hasmukh has no love for his wife and his daughter-in-law whom he describes,
As ``Pretty , charming , graceful and sly as a snake `` and sums her up as a girl who`` has an eye on my money``And all this goes towards explaining why towards the end of the first scene , he dies in bed where his wife discovers his dead body a few minutes later.
However the ghost of Hasmukh lingers on in the house , wandering through its walls [and occasionally sitting cross –legged on the dinning table] keeping on passing acerbic comments on the actions and attitudes of the other living characters, though unheard by , invisible to them .It is Hasmukh Mehta who dominates both in the couse of his life and after. As Ajit confesses after his father`s death ,`` Ever since I was a little boy , you have been running my life .Do this , do that or don`t do that , do this.Was I scared of you! [p-465] 11
Hasmukh Mehta`s parental`s authority was a tension not only for Sonal and Preeti, but also for Kiran .She confesses that she managed her relationship with an old and erratic man like Hasmukh , only for money.Sonal discards the authority of Hasmukh with this comment`` He was like a village buffalo .What did he understand about other people`s feelings.[ p-465]`12`Dattani manipulates the events in the play to tear the veil of illusion of parental authority .`Will` was designed to control the fate of all those who depend on him,., He also had a mistress named Kiran Jhaveri about whom he has high opinion and had made the trustee of his property
KIRAN I think I must clear some misunderstandings you may have about my authority.I am only the trustee of all his wealth.Not the owner .I get a fixed salary for my job. Everything rightfully belongs to the three of you .Provided you follow his instructions .Ajit will have to attend the office as usual .He will get a detailed brief on his duties tomorrow .Mrs Mehta , you shall get the regular allowance to run the house , and a little more for your personal expenses. And Preeti, you too will get an allowance –when you become a mother.When your child is twenty one , the trust automatically dissolves .Its holdings will be transferred to Ajit for him and his heirs to enjoy``
[C.P.-P-493]13
Will assumes the dimension of a living character that controls and guides the action of each the member of the family. Even Kiran is subordinate to the will of Mehta. She is only an agent having no choice of her own.. She says,
`` My main duty is to run the Mehta Groups of Industries on behalf of Ajit Mehta .I have the authority to make all the major decisions in the interest of companies.`` [ C.P., P-493]14
Kiran reveals that Hasmukh`s own identity was subordinated to her care and protest.
KIRAN. He depended on me for everything .He thought he was the decision maker .But I was.He wanted me to run his life.Like his father had.[Pause] Hasmukh didn`t really want a mistress .He wanted a father.He saw in me a woman who would father him.[ Laughs. Hasmukh cringes at her daughter.] Men really grows up!
[ C.P.-P-510]15
Kiran also satirises the patriarchal authority of his father and brothers.
KIRAN . Isn`t it strange how repetitive life is? My brothers . They have turned out to be like their father ,going home with bottles of rum wrapped up in newspapers. Beating up their wives .And I- I too am like my mother .I married a drunkard and I listened to his swearing .And I too have learnt to suffer silently .Oh! Where will all this end? Will the scars our parents lay on us remain forever?
[ C.P.-P-508]16
Kiran appreciates Ajit who is at least free from the whims of his father to control the lives of others.
KiIRAN .He may not be the greatest rebel on earth , but at least he is free of his father`s beliefs.He resist .In a small way , but at least it`s a start .That is enough to prove that Ajit has won and Hasmukh has lost.``
[ C.P.- P-510]17
In the end I can say that Mahesh Dattani has portrayed and ridiculed the domination of patriarchal authority in this play `Where There Is A Will`
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1-Raina,Sita,`A Note On the Play,Dattani,Mahesh,Colllected Plays[ New Delhi,Penguin,2000]p-449
2.ibid p-449
3-Mahesh Dattani, Collected Plays[ New Delhi, Penguin, 2000]p-474-475
4-ibid p--460
5-ibid p-460
6-ibid p-458
7-ibid-p-461
8-ibid p-473
9-ibidp-465
10-ibid p-475
11-ibid p-465
12-ibid p-465
13-ibid p-493
14-ibid p-493
15-ibid p-510
16-ibid p-508
17-ibid p-510
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