A Play Tara by Mahesh Dattani
Mahesh Dattani: The Playwright Who Shows Us Our True Selves
Mahesh Dattani is one of India’s most important modern playwrights. Think of him as a sharp-eyed observer of our everyday lives. He holds a special place in Indian theatre because he was the first playwright writing in English to win the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1998. This award was a huge deal because it proved that plays about modern India, written in English, could be serious and powerful art.
What makes Dattani so special is that his plays feel real. He doesn’t write about a romantic or old-fashioned India. Instead, he tackles the hidden problems, secrets, and pressures of urban, middle-class families. He brings topics out into the open that people often prefer to keep behind closed doors.
What Are His Plays About?
His stories focus on the struggles of ordinary people. The main themes in his work are:
- The Pressure to Be “Normal”: Dattani brilliantly explores issues of gender and sexuality. His play Tara looks at how a family treats a daughter differently from a son. Another play, On a Muggy Night in Mumbai, was groundbreaking for its honest portrayal of gay relationships at a time when it was rarely discussed on stage.
- Family Secrets: He shows that the “perfect” family is often an illusion. In his plays, the home becomes a place where secrets, unfulfilled dreams, and quiet frustrations simmer beneath the surface. A great example is Dance Like a Man, which uses the world of classical dance to show the conflicts between parents and children.
- Prejudice and Hatred: Dattani isn’t afraid to tackle social issues like religious intolerance. His most famous play, Final Solutions, is about prejudice and riots. It powerfully gets inside the minds of both the victims and the prejudiced to ask difficult questions.
- Giving a Voice to the Unheard: His plays often focus on people who are pushed to the margins of society—women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those who are just different. He makes us listen to their stories.
Why is His Style So Effective?
- Real Conversations: The characters in his plays talk like real people. The English they speak is the kind we use in our daily lives in Indian cities, mixed naturally with Hindi words. This makes the stories instantly relatable.
- Made for the Stage: His plays are not just meant to be read; they are meant to be seen. He uses creative techniques like showing two different locations on stage at the same time or using flashbacks to keep the audience engaged.
In short, Mahesh Dattani holds up a mirror to our society. He makes us look at the uncomfortable truths we often ignore. By doing so, he has changed Indian theatre, making it more relevant, bold, and thoughtful. His plays continue to be performed and loved because they speak directly to the heart of modern Indian life.
summary of tara – The Main Characters
- Chandan (later Dan): The brother. As an adult, he lives in London and is trying to write the story of his past to deal with his guilt.
- Tara: Chandan’s sister. She is bright, witty, and full of spirit, but she uses a wheelchair because she has only one leg.
- Bharati: Their mother. She is overly protective of Tara and is weighed down by a hidden guilt.
- Patel: Their father. He is a practical businessman who feels distant from his family and is frustrated by the situation.
What Happens in the Story?
The play moves back and forth between the present and the past.
The Present:
The story begins with Chandan, who now calls himself Dan, in London. He is a writer who is struggling to tell his story. He speaks directly to the audience, explaining that he is writing a play about his sister, Tara, as a way to confess his guilt and seek forgiveness.
The Past:
We then flash back to when Tara and Chandan were teenagers living in Bangalore with their parents. We see that Tara, despite having only one leg, is often more confident and sharp-tongued than her brother. The two have a close but competitive relationship.
Their family life is tense. Their mother, Bharati, clearly favors Tara, which causes resentment. Their father, Patel, is often absent and seems uncomfortable at home. We learn a crucial piece of their history: Tara and Chandan were born as conjoined twins, joined at the hip and sharing three legs. A surgery shortly after their birth separated them, but it left Chandan with two legs and Tara with only one.
For years, the family believed this was the only possible medical outcome.
The Shocking Truth is Revealed
As the play continues, the real, horrifying reason for the surgical outcome is revealed. It wasn’t a medical necessity—it was a deliberate choice driven by gender bias.
Here’s what actually happened:
The twins shared a vital blood vessel. The doctors believed they could save both children, but it would mean Tara would have a weaker leg. However, Bharati’s father (the family patriarch) intervened. He insisted that the male heir, Chandan, must not be physically impaired. He pressured Bharati and the doctors to ensure that Chandan received the two fully functional legs.
The third leg, which was always meant for Tara, was deliberately made weak during the surgery and given to Chandan instead. This cruel decision was justified by the twisted logic that a boy needs two strong legs to be the breadwinner, while a girl can manage with an artificial limb because her life will be confined to the home.
The Aftermath: How the Secret Destroys the Family
The truth of this decision poisons everything:
- Bharati is consumed by guilt for agreeing to it. Her over-the-top love for Tara is her way of trying to make up for her sin.
- Patel resents his wife and her father for this decision. He feels trapped in a miserable situation he didn’t create.
- Tara eventually pieces the truth together from the family’s arguments. The knowledge that her own family sacrificed her well-being simply because she was a girl breaks her spirit. Her health declines, and she dies young.
- Chandan is overwhelmed with guilt when he realizes he benefited from his sister’s suffering. Unable to cope, he abandons his family, changes his name to Dan, and flees to London to escape his past.
Conclusion
In the end, Dan finishes writing his play. He admits that even this act is somewhat selfish—an attempt to free himself from Tara’s memory. The play leaves us with a poignant question: is his confession truly for Tara, or is it just for his own peace of mind? The guilt, it seems, will always be a part of him.
More From “Introduction to Litrary Studies”:
- Class By Gary Day
- it must flow a life in theatre habib tanvir
- A.N. Kaul’s essay “A New Province of Writing”
- Narratology Form and Function of Narrative
- Introduction to versification and poetic syntax
- Where the Mind is Without Fear
- Emily Dickinson 341 After Great Pain
- Composed Upon Westminster Bridge By William Wordsworth
- John Milton On His Blindness
- summary of pride and prejudice by Jane Austen
Other Links
- Syllabus of English Honors
- Introduction to Litrary Studies
- Indian Classicle Literature
- European Classicle Literature
- DU BA English Previous Year Questions Paper
