Seldom do we come across a play written by a group of women who prefer to remain anonymous. ‘To the Workplace’, arguably the first feminist play in Malayalam, was written and staged by the members of the Antharjana Samajam of Thrissur in 1948.
The aim of the Samajam, an organisation formed in 1931, was primarily to transform the lives of Namboothiri women caught in the mesh of rigid systems and practices imposed by tradition. These regressive observances ascribed no dignity whatsoever to the women and the agenda of the Antharjana Samajam was to put an end to specific practices such as marriage of young girls to elderly men, polygamy, and compulsory widowhood.
The major challenge before these women was to cast out the sense of inferiority deeply ingrained in their psyche and instil a sense purpose and power. The play ‘To the Workplace’, was based on the real life experience of 13-year-old Kavungara Bhargavi, sold off to a mean and spiteful Namboothiri, and rescued by the workers of the Antharjana Samajam.
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The play represents the period when Namboothiri social reformers such as V.T. Bhattathirippad, M.R. Bhattathiripad, and M.P. Bhattathiripad were active under the aegis of the Yogakshema Sabha, an organisation formed for bettering the social conditions of the Namboothiris.
They wrote plays and stories with the intention of exposing the oppressive practises prevalent in the Namboothiri community of the time. They were also exhortations to the women who were silent sufferers of various forms of injustices. Accordingly, V.T. Bhattathirippad’s ‘Adukkalayil Ninnu Arangathekku’ has at its centre a character who escapes from the confines of the kitchen to the broad arena of life.
As far as the reformers were concerned, the woman had to be transformed in keeping with the needs of modern society. Educating the
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But this ended in keeping the woman confined within the systems of patriarchal domination ingrained in the structure of the family. The new role the woman was assigned to play as the custodian of the ‘purity of the home and their inner world’, indeed tied them to a ‘new, and yet perfectly legitimate subordination.’ Public space was still inaccessible to the women; it remained the domain of men.
Interestingly the references to the two male characters in this play are marked by profession or kinship. Devoid of proper names, they are referred to as Palapprathu Mahan Vakkil and merely as Aphan.
They are represented as types who display an inability to come out of ascribed roles of the male at that time among the Namboodiri’s in spite of Namboodiri reformism. The female characters on the other hand, particularly Devaki, Parvathy, Savithri and Devasena are bold and defy male authority at all costs. They show individual characteristics: while Devaki is shown as indulging in luxury with little attention to studies, Parvathy, leading a spartan life, is studious and takes up a leadership role in the second half of this play of 10 scenes.
A play like ‘To the Workplace’ assumes tremendous significance as a critique of the soft patriarchy ingrained in the male-oriented reformism. As a corrective to soft patriarchy, it advocates a move to economic self-sufficiency and political sovereignty made possible through the collective efforts of women. The play asserts that as far as a woman was concerned, reforming does not end with getting sufficient education that would equip her to be a good educated wife and mother.
There were other aspects such as financial independence, decision making power and the freedom to act at will that demanded immediate attention.
Boldly stating the need to take reform beyond the mandate of the male leadership, ‘To the Workplace’ touches upon the changes that had to be brought about if the women were to emerge from the domestic space attributed to them.
(A fortnightly column on the many avatars of women in Malayalam literature. G.S. Jayasree is Editor, Samyukta and head, Institute of English, University of Kerala.)