Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by meerut
moment
u
“He
was so insensitive to other people’s needs – yes. Mrs. Mehta. My father, your husband –
they were g
weak men with false strength – will the scars our parents lay on us remain
forever”
w
h
The truth that emerges
finally is that Hasmukh Mehta had wanted his son to live in his own image, just as he had lived his own life in
thrall to his father’s shadow : Kiran I should have hated him. Like I should have hated my father, my
brothers and my husband. But all I felt for him was pity.
Hasmukh (As a ghost ) Enough: I say, enough:
I paid you to do my work. Not ridicule me! Kiran: Even his attempts at ruling over you after his death, through
his will, are pathetic ( Hasmukh sticks his fingers into his ears and shuts his eyes ) The only reason he wanted
to do that is because his father had ruled over his family. All his life he was being a good boy to his
father.
Sonal: How little I know him. If I had
understood his when he was alive, I would have died laughing. (510) It emerges too that Mrs. Sonal Mehta
had lived her life under the total dominance of her sister Minal, who always “decided what we should
wear, what games we should play” and “Even at my husband’s f……. - - sat
beside me and told me when to cry.” But to the play is not yet over, for in a surprise twist at the end it
is revealed that Preeti had actually hastened, if not caused, the death of her father-in-law. Kiran holds this truth
against Preeti, not to blackmail her, but to achieve a proper comic resolution by which the wife bonds wife the
husband, and the family bonds with Kiran and the Ghost of Hasmukh leaves the house forever.
Kiran : No, they are not. These are your father- in- law’s tablets. They controlled his blood pressure.
They kept him alive. (Shows her the tablets in her other hand ). These are your vitamins. Now I’ll mix
them up. ( Mixes them and throws them on the bed ) can you tell the difference? No, you can’t. unless
you look very close. The companies names are embossed on the tablets. But a person who is used to taking
them every day will not look so close
(Studies Preeti, who is trembling now) The tablets you throw out
of the window where the ones for high blood pressure. The tablets I found on his dressing table were your - - Vitamins (Preeti starts sobbing) When did you exchange them? Oh, you could have done it any time. You had
plenty of opportunity. He was right – you are very clever.Of course you didn’t kill him. You
just let nature do the work for you. Were you so impatient? Couldn’t you want a few more years? Oh,
I’m glad he made his will ! you don’t deserve any of his money.Each of the family members
having discovered his or her own identity finally separate from Hasmukh over whelming self.All of them
cheer to that. Hasmukh enters. But he stops at the doorway. The others continue a light animated
coversation.Hasmukh . No, I don’t think I can enter this house. It isn’t mine - - more. I will rest
permanently on the tamarind tree. ( Laughter at the table ) They are not my family any more. I wish I had
never interfered with their lives. They look quite happy together. With Kiran Sitting in my place. Oh, I wish I
had been more – I wish I had lived ( Exists ) Sonal : Oh, by the way, Aju, I wanted to tell you our
neighbours complained today. Our tamarind tree is over------ and abstracts their electric wires. Why
don’t you have it trimmed ?Where There is a Will is quite evidently a young man’s play which
shows fairly optimistically that there is a way by which men and women can find happiness on their own
terms. The developments, twists and surprises in the action are not however not facilely based on contrivances
of plotting alone but for more appropreately on human motivations and wills. Each of the characters also
develops Ajit ( or Aju as his mother fondly calls him ) is first projected through his father’s
unsympathetic eyes as a mother’s darling and an ineffectual, nincompoop – an estimation which
even his wife seems to share – but is then shown to have resisted and even won, in however
infinitesimal a way, against his father in the battle of wills. Mrs. Mehta who had lived and suffered so long
under the dominance of her husband and her sister, is shown to come into her own at the end of the play.Kiran
: Wrong. I learnt my lesson from being so close to life. I learnt my lesson from watching my mother tolerating
my father when he came home everyday with bottles of sum wrapped up in news paper. As I watched him
beating her up and calling her name. I learnt what life was when my mother pretended she was happy in front
of me and my brother, so that we wouldn’t hate my father. And I learnt when I kept my mother away
from my father, so that in return he would remain silent for those three hours when he came home, and before
he fell asleep on the dining table, to drunk to harm us anymore. I served him those drinks, waiting for that
moment when he would become unconscious and I would say a prayer - - Thank God he was too drunk to
impose himself on us ! yes, Mrs. Mehta. My father, your husband – they were weak men with false
strength.While Kiran Jhaveri finds the happiness that had so long eluded her in her past existence as a business
executive cum – mistress to a rich man and as daughter to a drunkard and wife to another.The
liberation of these characters from the strange hold of their past is of course also the defeat of Hasmukh
Mehta. This domineering husband, heavy father and tyrannical boss is gradually dwarfed and diminished to
the point of insignificance. Of course he never quite loses our sympathy for he is given an engaging, comic
vitality and verse
( both in the flesh as well as a spectra) but we can not help being unused when we hear
that his erstwhile family has made plans to cut down the tamarind tree in the garden – his last terrestia
haunt. The truth underlying the comedy is serious enough, the man who would rule over his family ever after
his death is exposed at the end to be what he really was – comitragic weak ling who had constantly
quested for a father- substitute, a man who was rude to everyone because he was e insecure himself, an
unfaithful husband who didn’t really want a mistress - - - [but] a woman who would father
him.”The so-called “Thesis Play” in which a well – made plot provides
opportunities to the characters to interact and to illustrate through their relationship the dramatist’s idea
is of course as old as Ibsen. That Dattani draws upon and exploits the resources of this convention of theatrical
is manifest in the way Preeti’s substitution of her vitamin pills in the bottle of her father- in law’s blood pressure tablets is discovered through a series of logical steps. Preeti’s frustration at
not having inherited Hasmukh’s money leads her to abuse her husband and subsequently to burnt into
tears. Ajit’s concern about the well being of his pregnant wife leads him to book for tranquillizers and
he comes upon his father’s tablets in Preeti’s vitamin – pill bottle. Preeti cleverly seems
her husband away from the room before he can inspect the tablets and throws them away together with the
bottle out of the window, only to see Kiran pick them up below. Ajit still looking for the tranquillizers finds
the tablets his father used to take for his blood pressure ( in reality Preeti’s ineffectual vitamin pills )
and leaves them on the dressing table in Hasmukh ‘s ( now Karan’s ) bedroom. Later, Kiran
comes across this bottle compares its contents with the tablets in the bottle she had picked up, and deduces
Preeti’s dead of substitution.
“ Kiran ( shows her the tablets ) What are these ? ( No
response ) you should know. You threw them out of
window. Don’t deny it ! I saw you.
Preeti – Oh those. These are my vitamins.Kiran – Are they ?Preeti – YesKiran –
Are you sure ?Preeti – YesKiran – Why did you throw them out of the window ?Preeti –
I didn’t need them any more.Kiran – So these are your vitamins, are theyPrity (weakly )
– yes.”Yet, what adds a new freshness to the old way of the thesis play is the sparkle of the
dialogues and the text we of its presentation. To cite an example, here is the dead Hasmukh contemplating his
photograph, put up by his son in a “ conspricuous place.”What’s this ? A sandalwood
garland ? Don’t I get fresh flowers everyday ? when my father died, I used to put fresh flowers on his
photograph everyday for a whole month before getting a sandalwood garland. I wonder what became of his
photograph ? It was much bigger than this one. I also had it touched up to make look more - - - dignified. Of
course, I don’t need help in that department. These cheeks are toohollow. The lips are too tight. ( stares
for a while, them to the audience, seriously ) I don’t have such mean little eyes, do I ? My father had.
Thirty wears of living in the city and he got mean little eyes. Now where did that photograph of his go ?I had
taken it down when the walls were repainted. It’s locked up in some trunk some where. I suppose (
Takes a final look at his picture ) so that’s it. This is how the world will remember me. Until my son
locks me up in a trunk. ( Turns to Ajit ) Then all that remains of me is ( points to Ajit ) That’ ( pause )
This calls for some fresh air. I think I’ll go out side and swing on the tamarind tree. Upside down,
t------ clear my head. (Exits through the main door ) ( 487 – 88 )The first thing that strikes about this
speech is that it possesses a typically Indian flavour in its references to fresh flowers, sandalwood, garland,
trunk and tamarind tree. The rather typical carping of the urbanized and more materially successful son ( even
though dead ) about a rustic dehati father comer out in the lines“ I - - - ha it touched up to make him
look more - - - dignified” and “ thirty years of living in the city and he got mean little.”
Some other dialogues in the play have an almost w------- hue of wit, as in Kiran’s “ useful.
What a useful thing to be. ) But what is far more innovative and original on the part of Dattani as a dramatist
is his use of the injected dialogues of Hasmukh which, through unheard by the other characters, introduce a
further dimension of implication for the benefit of the audience.Kiran – He was just like his father,
wasn’t he ?Hasmukh – No, I wasn’tSonal – Yes. He wasHasmukh –
Don’t contradict me, woman !Kiran – The same bossy nature ?Sonal ( together ) No
!Hasmukh Yes !Kiran - Did he ever disgrace with his father !Sonal
( together ) No !Hasmukh
Yes !Kiran – Did he ever do anything at all without consulting his father first ?Sonal
( together )
No, never !Hasmukh Yes always ! (509 )
Superficially comic and evocative of laughter, this finitely
embodies a kind of dialogic strategy in that we are privileged to hear two contradictory statements about the
same person. Un like the Bakhtinian model of the dialogic in which there exists “ a plurality of
independent and unmerged voices and consciousnesses, a genuine polyphony of fully valid voices”.
We are of course expected to em-------- with Sonal here is, in other words, ironic. But the device of an
apparition’s dialogues accomplishing the irony is also an extension and a radical one, of the older
tradition of having a character say something in an aside and then of showing him to do or say something in an
aside and then of showing him to do or say something contrary in the presence of other characters. In any case,
Dattani’s use of visible / invisible, audible / inaudible ghost significantly pushes back the accepted
borders of naturalistic drama.In Where There’s a Will, we meet characters drown from two
generations, the father and the mother in Hasmukh and Sonal Mehta, and Ajit their son and his wife Preeti.
Hasmukh is not happy about the prodigal behaviour of his son and also with the vain glorious attitude of his
wife, Sonal. What he expects is implicit obedience to him, as he practiced it in his father’s case. When
things drift away from his control he thinks of a checkmate. He creates a trust and appoints his mistress Kiran
Jhaveri its trustee. This move renders all the members of the family to the position of pensioners. Even after
his death. Hasmukh haunts his houseas a ghost.The evil of patriarchy take centre stage in this play. Dattami
covertly asserts that where there is a will there is a way.Dattani’s dramatic art has been appreciated for
its fine fabric of philosophic undertone and social consciousness. The philosophic reflections on the
predicament of human destiny against the odds of socio- cultural practices, impart an exceptional depth and
richness to his plays. However, Where There is a Will is a positive justification to the observation that
Dattani’s genius is equally fertile both in comic plays and serious plays. The comic mode has even
have a far reaching effect than tragedy. It is predicted “ Satire, irony, gallous, humour and other
mutations of the comic spirit will be the guiding force of over theatre in the coming years and tragedy has little
to
offer
to
a
rebellious
generation
obsessed
by
the
danger
of
the
megadeaths."
The play Where there is a will is a comic caricature with
the family as a local. The focus of the dramatic is on the issues like gender discrimination and the domination
of patriarchal authority. The dramatic structure. The setting of the play, verbal repartee and incongruity in
human behaviour makes play a fine entertainment. Sita Raina, a well know Delhi based actress and theatre
director writes in the note of the play.
“ Where There’s a Will as several interesting
aspects. Mahesh described it as the exorcism of the
patriarchial code. Women- be it daughter- in- law,
wife or mistress. are dependent on men and this play shows
what happens when they are pushed to the
edge. What interested me particularly was its philosophical twist. To be the watcher of one’s a will, has
control over his family through his money and forgoes on opportunity 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 head led him to be the victim of his own machinations unlike Kiran who uses powers play to
essentially improve her relationship. The play is originally set in Gujarati family, but since I was not familiar
with that millierr, Mahesh agreed to localizing it.”
Besides, the ease and brilliance of dialogue, the straight expontion of action, provide better opportunity for
the
direct communication between the audience and the actors. Mahesh Dattani describes it as the exorcism of
patriarchal code. Sita Raina, the well known theatre direction appreciated it for its ‘philosophical
twist’ because Dattani efficiently manipulates the incidents for self enlightenment to expose the
illusion of false authority. He promotes the idea that the passion for power and domination signifies the
insecurity of an individual. One can nourish the dream of dominating others for a short while but the fact is
well known that each individual fames his own dreams of life and their essential spirit can never be checked.
“ What interested me particularly was its philosophical twist. To be the watchers of
one’s self is to make intelligent charges in this life. In Where There is a Will Hasmukh has control over
his family through his money and forges the opportunity to improve his interpersonal relationship. As do most
of us. When he became the watcher of his actions, he perceives that his desire for control had led him to be the
victim of his own Machination - -.”
The humour in the play through the visible and invisible presence of Hasmukh, especially after his
appearance as a Ghost, his mute observations and the free display of the inner feelings of different characters
against the authority of Hasmukh, is a unique device for self-assessment for the characters.
The central action in the play Where There is a Will take place in the lavish house of Hasmukh Mehta.
There are three spaces : dinning room cum living room, bed room of Husmukh Mehta and Sonal Mehta, and
the decorated room of Ajat, their son and Preeti, his wife.
Act I (1)
The lavish house of Hasmukh Mehta. There are three spaces, the fancy dining
cum living room, the bedroom belonging to Hasmukh and Sonal Mehta and the hideously trendy bedroom, of
their son, Ajit and his wife Preeti. Ajit is in the living room, talking on the Phone. Preeti is drifting in and out
of the kitchen, loading the table with food for dinner. She is pregnant, Hasmukh enters through the main door
with his walking stick.
Each character in the play provides an appropriate foil to his/her counter part. If Hasmukh is dictatorial
type husband, his wife Sonal is a submissive housewife dedicated to the choices of her husband. Business
world is dominated by Hasmukh, Sonal occupies the space in kitchen and Pooja room.“Hasmukh
There’s enough here to feed an elephant’s family! Sonal it’s all right for you say that,
you are on a died. But what about our growing son. He needs proper nourishment. Hasmukh (scoffing)
Growing son ! I tell you we are all getting enough nourishment. There’s no need to make
parathas.
Sonal. May be you are getting enough. I’m making them for Aju (Moves towards
kitchen again)
Hasmukh wait : (Sonal stops) I say there’s no need to make parathas
Sonal
– Aju wants them
Hasmukh – He does not
Sonal – How do you
Know?
Hasmukh – I know my son better than you know him.
Sonal – Oh. So now I
don’t know my own son. What makes you so sure you know him?
Hasmukh – I
don’t. But I know he doesn’t want parethas right now.”The similar contrast is seen in
Preeti and Ajit. He is weak and insignificant in presence of his father but Preeti is calculative to observe all
activities of the household.
“Hasmukh (Applauds). Well done!
Preeti (Coming to the
landing) what’s the matter?
Sonal - He’s gone!
Preeti – Oh no, don’t
say that. He may come home late, but he won’t run away or anything like that
Sonal –
Who - - What?
Preeti – Look, there’s no needs to get worried. If you want, I’ll call
Deepak and find out whether Aju is there with
Him
Sonal – (Hysterically) No! I
don’t mean him! His father. He gone!
Preeti – Gone where? Sonal (Screaming)
Don’t you understand? He’s - - gone ! Preeti slowly understands. Screech of tyros and the
sound of a car coming to a halt. In the mean time, Preeti confirms that Halmukh is dead, she comes down to
the landing stops and screams. Ajit comes rushing in.Ajit – what’s the matter?Preeti, Your
father. He’s - - goneAjit – (moves towards them) what!
The two women start sobbing.
Lights fade out on them. Spotlight pricks up Hasmukh or rather his ghost he stands arms akimbo. And for the
first time in the play, he grins form ear to ear.”
Hasmukh Mehta exercises hegemonic power over
the rest of his family members to perpetuate his own conception of ‘self’ which he has in turn
received from his father. He does not allow Ajit to speak to government officials or to discuss business matters
with his friends. His aboo……….. authority over his business, house and other articles is
amazing and ridiculous.
“Ajit (on the phone) Five lakhs that’s all. Give me Five lakhs and
I’ll modernize the whole bloody plant. That’s what I tell my dad. I mean, come on, five lakh is
nothing!
Hasmukh (to the audience) My sone the business man? Just listen to him.Ajit – I mean,
it’s not as if I want the money for myself. It’s for his factory. But he just won’t listen to
me. I don’t think he has listened to me entirelife.Hasmukh – Do you blame me for not listening
to him? If I paid any attention to even one of his crackpot schemes. I wouldn’t be around to listen to
anybody. Ajit – After all, I am the joint managing director.Hasmukh – Believe me, appointing
him as the JMD was a big mistake. Ajit – And, after all, I am his son.Hasmukh – That was an
even bigger mistake, what makes it worse is knowing that I actually prayed to get him. Oh God : I regret it all.
Please let him just drop dead. No, no. What a terrible thing to say about one’s own son. I take it back.
Dear God, don’t let him drop dead. Just turn him into a nice vegetable so he won’t be in my
way. Ever since he entered my factory, he has been in my way. (CP p.455)
Hasmukh Mehta exercises
hegemonic power over the rest of his family members to perpetuate his own conception of ‘self’
which he has in turn received from his father. He does allow Ajit to speak to government officials or to discuss
business matters with his friends. His absolute authority over his business, house and other articles in amazing
and ridiculous. “Hasmukh -That is too much ! (Goes to his room and pricks up the extension) Listen,
you idiot. How many times have I told you not to speak to government officials : Fool!
Ajit –
Daddy!Hasmukh – And how many times have I told you not to talk to your friends about business
matters! Swine! You won’t rest until you, he seen us all on the streets!
Ajit – Daddy.
Don’t shout, please what will Deepak think?
Hasmuk - And you listen too, Dilip
Ajit
– Deepak, Daddy, please!
Hasmukh – Deepak or Champak, whatever your name may be.
If you are the same boy who comes to my office and flirts with my typists, then take some advice from an
elder. Go home and mind your own business, or your father’s business. Yes. Go to your father’s
typists. Then when he is fade up with you and throws you out. Come and join my son – on the roads.
The two boy you can go singing on the highways like they do in films (Slams the phone down, painting) Ajit
– (on the phone) Listen, Deepak I’ll call you again. What? Sure, take all the typists to the disco
of you want. I don’t care. (buts the receiver down)Hasmukh - you think my son is the cause of my
hypertension? Wait till you meet my wife (Enters the living room)Ajit – Daddy, you have no right to
humiliate me in front of my friends!Hasmukh – I am not trying to humiliate you. I am trying to put
some
sense
in
you.
Trying
to
fill
up
empty
scaces.”
(CP- 458)
In the presence of Hasmukh, Ajit survives as a subaltern who can’t even
speak. He has a realization of his
position but his no power to express his choice. He expresses his anguish “Anything I do is wrong for
you! Just because you are a self – made man and had a deprived child hood.” (C P –
454)
The over interference of Hasmukh in the life of Ajit manifests the horrors of patriarchy that aims to control
freedom and selfhood of all these who come under its umbrella.
Hasmukh –
You have the right to listen to my advice and obey my orders.
Ajit – Thank you, You are so generous. I could kiss your feet. Hasmukh – There’s no
need to do that. Just polish my shoes every morning and I’ll be happy.
Ajit – You will never happy. Not until all of us dance to your time. And I will never do that.Hasmukh
– Don’t be so stubborn! Ajit – You are stubborn too!Hasmukh – I’m
stubborn because I know I’m right. You’re stubborn because you are a nincompoop!
(CP P. 458)
Ajit in ispite of being a simpleton, is aware enough to ridicule the passion of his father “ 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 be a better world’ you will still want to play Big Boss”
Hasmukh is confident that Ajit would not able to make spaces for himself without his protection and
guidance. He calls Ajit a ‘zero’
“Hasmukh – Nowhere! That is just my point! If you are you, than you are no where. You are
nothing just a big zero. No matter what you do, you you’ll remain a 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 they really add up to a lot.
Ajit – And I suppose you think you’re the number one In front of my zeroes.
Hasmukh – Yes! Now you understand ! You do understand? At last!
Ajit – How can anyone in this world be such a pompous fool?
HASMUKH – A fool – yes Pompous? No , I don’t think you are pompous. You need
brains to be pompous.
(CP 461)
In Hasmukh’s life, there are to distinctive spaces representing his interpersonal relationship –
his relationship with his wife and son, and his relationship with his business world.
“Sonal – How many times have I told you not to smoke? (Snatches the cigarette from
Hasmukh) who do you think the doctors will blame if you get another heart attack? Me, who else? (stubs out
the cigarette in an ashtray) And my sister Minal? Do you know what she told me when you got your first
attack? You are not firm with him, she said. You know he has an abnormal heart but you still let him carry on
smoking and drinking. My own sister blaming me for your condition! As if you would listen to me even if I