Ashadh Ka Ek Din
Encyclopedia
Ashadh Ka Ek Din is a debut Hindi play
by Mohan Rakesh
in 1958 and is considered the first Modern Hindi play. The play received a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
for best play in 1959 and has been staged by several prominent directors to critical acclaim. A feature film based on the play was directed by Mani Kaul
and released in 1971, and went on to win Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie
for the year.
Before it Hindi plays to date where either idealistic or didactic, devoid of connection with contemporary reality, above all their language remained the language of literature, which wasn't suitable for stage, but this play changed it all. Mohan Rakesh went on to write two more plays, and left one unfinished by the time of his death in 1972, but he had shifted the landscape of Hindi theatre
.
dramatist Kalidas
's play Meghadūta
. It literally means One day in (the month of) Ashadh
. Since the month of Ashadh is usually the onset period of the monsoon
in North India
, the name can be understood to mean One day during the Monsoon.
's court in far-off Ujjayini
. Torn between his current idyllic existence and love on one hand, and the desire to achieve greatness on the other, he leaves for Ujjayini in a conflicted state of mind. Mallika wants the best for the man she loves, so she encourages him to go to Ujjayini. In the second act, Kalidas has achieved fame and is married to a sophisticated noblewoman, Priyangumanjari, while Mallika is heartbroken and alone. Kalidas visits his village with his wife and a small retinue. He avoids meeting Mallika, but Priyangumanjari does. Priyangumanjari demeaningly offers to help her by making her a royal companion and marrying her to one of the royal attendants, but Mallika declines. In the third act, Kalidas reappears in the village. Mallika, who is now a prostitute with a small daughter, learns that he has renounced his courtly life and the governorship of Kashmir
that he had been granted. Kalidas comes to see Mallika but, learning of her situation, despairs. The play ends with him leaving her house abruptly. Mallika, in a soliloquy
says, "Even if I did not remain in your life, you always remained in mine. I never let you wander from my side. You continued to create and I believed that I too am meaningful, that my life is also productive."
One critic has observed that each act ends "with an act of abandonment on the part of Kalidasa: when he leaves for Ujjayini alone; when he deliberately avoids meeting with Mallika during he subsequent visit to the village; when he leaves her home abruptly." The play portrays the personal toll that both Kalidas and Mallika pay for his decision to reach for greatness. As Kalidas deserts Mallika and moves to Ujjayini, his creativity begins to evaporate, though his fame and power continue to rise. His wife, Priyangumanjari, struggles in vain to replicate his native surroundings but "she is no substitute for Mallika." In the final meeting between Mallika and Kalidas at the play's conclusion, Kalidas admits to Mallika that "that the man she had before her was not the Kalidasa she had known." He reveals to her that "Whatever I have written has been gathered from this life. The landscape of Kumarasambhav
is this Himalaya, and you are the ascetic Uma. The Yaksha
's torment in Meghaduta is my own torment and you are the Yakshini crushed by longing. In Abhijnanashakumtalam
, it was you whom I saw in the form of Shakuntala
. Whenever I tried to write, I reiterated the history of your and my life."
(1960) and subsequently by Ebrahim Alkazi
at National School of Drama
Delhi in 1962, which established Mohan Rakesh as the first modern Hindi playwright.
The authorized English translation, One Day in the Season of Rain, was authored by Aparna Dharwadker and Vinay Dharwadker in 2009. It premiered at Carthage College
, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 19 March, 2010. The production then traveled to the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in East Lansing, Michigan, with performances 6-7 January, 2011.
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
by Mohan Rakesh
Mohan Rakesh
Mohan Rakesh was one of the pioneers of the Nai Kahani literary movement of the Hindi literature in the 1950s. He wrote the first modern Hindi play, Ashadh Ka Ek Din , which won a competition organized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi...
in 1958 and is considered the first Modern Hindi play. The play received a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...
for best play in 1959 and has been staged by several prominent directors to critical acclaim. A feature film based on the play was directed by Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul was an Indian film director of Hindi films. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Started his career with Uski Roti , which won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, he went on to win...
and released in 1971, and went on to win Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie
The Filmfare Awards are the oldest and most prominent film awards given for Hindi films in India. The yearly awards started in 1953. Movie awards were first given by popular vote...
for the year.
Before it Hindi plays to date where either idealistic or didactic, devoid of connection with contemporary reality, above all their language remained the language of literature, which wasn't suitable for stage, but this play changed it all. Mohan Rakesh went on to write two more plays, and left one unfinished by the time of his death in 1972, but he had shifted the landscape of Hindi theatre
Hindi theatre
Hindi theatre primarily refers to theatre performed in the Hindi language, including dialects such as Khari boli and Hindustani. Hindi theatre is produced mainly in North India, and some parts of West India and Central India, which include Mumbai and Bhopal...
.
Title of the play
The title of the play derives from the opening line of SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
dramatist Kalidas
Kalidasa
Kālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language...
's play Meghadūta
Meghadūta
Meghadūta is a lyric poem written by Kālidāsa, considered to be one of the greatest Sanskrit poets.A short poem of 111 stanzas, it is one of Kālidāsa's most famous works...
. It literally means One day in (the month of) Ashadh
Aashaadha
Aashaadha is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Aashaadh is the fourth month of the year, beginning on 22 June and ending on 22 July. The month is known as Aadi in Tamil...
. Since the month of Ashadh is usually the onset period of the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
in North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
, the name can be understood to mean One day during the Monsoon.
The plot
Ashadh ka ek din is a three-act play centered on Kalidas' life, sometime in the 100BCE-400CE period. In the first act, he is leading a peaceful life in a Himalayan village and is romantically involved with his sweetheart, Mallika. However, he is approached to appear at King Chandragupta IIChandragupta II
Chandragupta II the Great, very often referred to as Vikramaditya or Chandragupta Vikramaditya in Sanskrit; was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta empire in northern India. His rule spanned c...
's court in far-off Ujjayini
Ujjain
Ujjain , is an ancient city of Malwa region in central India, on the eastern bank of the Kshipra River , today part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative centre of Ujjain District and Ujjain Division.In ancient times the city was called Ujjayini...
. Torn between his current idyllic existence and love on one hand, and the desire to achieve greatness on the other, he leaves for Ujjayini in a conflicted state of mind. Mallika wants the best for the man she loves, so she encourages him to go to Ujjayini. In the second act, Kalidas has achieved fame and is married to a sophisticated noblewoman, Priyangumanjari, while Mallika is heartbroken and alone. Kalidas visits his village with his wife and a small retinue. He avoids meeting Mallika, but Priyangumanjari does. Priyangumanjari demeaningly offers to help her by making her a royal companion and marrying her to one of the royal attendants, but Mallika declines. In the third act, Kalidas reappears in the village. Mallika, who is now a prostitute with a small daughter, learns that he has renounced his courtly life and the governorship of Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
that he had been granted. Kalidas comes to see Mallika but, learning of her situation, despairs. The play ends with him leaving her house abruptly. Mallika, in a soliloquy
Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters, and is delivered often when they are alone or think they are alone. Soliloquy is distinct from monologue and...
says, "Even if I did not remain in your life, you always remained in mine. I never let you wander from my side. You continued to create and I believed that I too am meaningful, that my life is also productive."
One critic has observed that each act ends "with an act of abandonment on the part of Kalidasa: when he leaves for Ujjayini alone; when he deliberately avoids meeting with Mallika during he subsequent visit to the village; when he leaves her home abruptly." The play portrays the personal toll that both Kalidas and Mallika pay for his decision to reach for greatness. As Kalidas deserts Mallika and moves to Ujjayini, his creativity begins to evaporate, though his fame and power continue to rise. His wife, Priyangumanjari, struggles in vain to replicate his native surroundings but "she is no substitute for Mallika." In the final meeting between Mallika and Kalidas at the play's conclusion, Kalidas admits to Mallika that "that the man she had before her was not the Kalidasa she had known." He reveals to her that "Whatever I have written has been gathered from this life. The landscape of Kumarasambhav
Kumarasambhava
Kumārasambhava is a Sanskrit epic poem by Kālidāsa; the first eight cantos are accepted as his authorship...
is this Himalaya, and you are the ascetic Uma. The Yaksha
Yaksha
Yaksha is the name of a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist mythology. The feminine form of the word is ' or Yakshini .In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist mythology,...
's torment in Meghaduta is my own torment and you are the Yakshini crushed by longing. In Abhijnanashakumtalam
Abhijñānaśākuntalam
Abhijñānashākuntala or Abhijñānaśākuntalam) , is a well-known Sanskrit play by Kālidāsa. Its date is uncertain, but Kalidasa is often placed in the period between the 1st century BCE and 4th century CE....
, it was you whom I saw in the form of Shakuntala
Shakuntala
In Hindu mythology Shakuntala is the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Her story is told in the Mahabharata and dramatized by Kalidasa in his play Abhijñānaśākuntalam .-Etymology:Rishi Kanva found her in forest as a baby surrounded by Shakunta birds...
. Whenever I tried to write, I reiterated the history of your and my life."
Playwright's comment
Mohan Rakesh noted in the introduction to a subsequent play, King-swans of the waves, that, whenever he read Kalidas' Meghdoot, he felt that the poet had distilled out his sense of acute guilt and alienation from his own being into that play, and that this realization is what motivated Mohan Rakesh's writing of Ashadh ka ek din.Production
It was first performed by Kolkata-based Hindi theatre group Anamika, under director, Shyamanand JalanShyamanand Jalan
Shyamanand Jalan was an influential Kolkata-based Indian thespian, theatre director, and actor. He is credited for the renaissance period of modern Indian theatre and especially the Hindi theatre in Kolkata from the 1960s to 1980s...
(1960) and subsequently by Ebrahim Alkazi
Ebrahim Alkazi
Ebrahim Alkazi is one of the most influential Indian theatre directors and Drama teachers in 20th century Indian theatre. He also remained the Director of National School of Drama, New Delhi He has also been a noted art connoisseur, collector and gallery owner, and found Art Heritage Gallery in...
at National School of Drama
National School of Drama
National School of Drama is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India, established . It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and became an independent school in 1975...
Delhi in 1962, which established Mohan Rakesh as the first modern Hindi playwright.
The authorized English translation, One Day in the Season of Rain, was authored by Aparna Dharwadker and Vinay Dharwadker in 2009. It premiered at Carthage College
Carthage College
Carthage College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Situated in Kenosha, Wisconsin midway between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the campus is on the shore of Lake Michigan and is home to 2,500 full-time and 900 part-time...
, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 19 March, 2010. The production then traveled to the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in East Lansing, Michigan, with performances 6-7 January, 2011.