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 delOrdre 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(TheQueen 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