Class Prologue
Class Part 1
"So have you read the text?", asked Ben.
"I have read four pages. I actually didn't find time. I was busy this week", said Ritesh.
"I have read a few chapters" , said Neha.
" I have read it completely", said Ajay.
There was another person who had joined the gathering. "I'm here to see what is happening, can I see and observe if you don't mind. My name is Sunil"
"Sure", said Ben.
"So only Ajay has read it completely", said Kay.
" So what do you feel about the text", said Ben.
" It is quite contemporary, now particularly in the view of the Delhi rape case and the other rape case. I am for equality of women and all that but even people like me are feeling scared to go out in the night, or in dark alleys or wear provocative dresses. Because people say it is all because of it", said Neha.
" It is very much there I have a nineteen year old daughter and I am worried if she doesn't reach home by eleven", said Ajay.
" I think rape here is being used as a weapon against women, historically even in wars rape has been used as a weapon to put the woman in her place. It is used to scare and show her, her place which is decided as home. It is always the woman who is blamed, instead of the perpetrator it is the victim who is blamed",said Nishita.
"You know in India, five years ago in a rape case a minister went on to say, the woman dressed provocatively and hence it was her mistake. If someone in power says that", said Neha.
"I live alone and I can talk from my personal experience that it happens. Even if you take the recent ads on protection apps, it is the man who is the protector and the woman is always depicted as weak", added Nishita.
"I remember one of my friends had made a comment, he is thirty five married and all that but he had said if a woman is not married till long then men start looking at her differently. Till that time she was a daughter but after that she ceases to be that. It is his opinion..."
" Is there a cultural link to it?", asked Kay.
" If you take any religion for eg.,the Hindu texts women have always been designated a lower space. There are supposed to be put in her place. It is said that she always has to be protected by her father, brother, husband. She is never supposed to be left on her own. Her sexuality has always been considered a threat", jumped in Nishita.
" It is not like that, in the ancient time the woman were treated equally, then there was a case where she was allowed to have four husbands, then over time it has changed", said Prashant.
"Draupadi had five husbands", said Ritesh.
"It is also interesting as to how it is justified in the current situation.
"It was probably right according to that time also. The purdah system had started with the invaders.", said Neha.
"But who are the invaders?"
"This is how it is projected. The Muslims or the Christians are portrayed as the invaders but it is not true. Kerala has the world's oldest churches, mosques and synagogues to call them invaders is not right. At the most they can be called traders. ", said Nishita.
"No there was this man, who is it yar... my history is so bad. Ghazni yeah!", said Neha.
"Oh so we now have a man", smiled Kay.
"It was not that he was the only invader even the Hindu kings were invading each other. They also destroyed several things, there was no India as such it was all for financial reasons", said Nishita.
"She is right, the discrimination of women had started much before the invasions", said Ajay.
"If one has to say why it started probably it is private property as Marx suggests", said Neha.
Ben smiled to himself.
"Even we tried to read the Ramayaaana and Mahabarataaa, but there are so many versions of it.... ", said Kay.
"Yes, there is Valmiki's Mahabarata then Pamba's Mahabarata..... ", said Ritesh.
On hearing this Sunil almost convulsed.
Ben intervened, " I would like to interrupt the discussion at this point of time. I see that it is taking a direction where it is about saying have you read this text, have you read that article, Ramayana says this, Marx says that. "
"I don't know how to put it, but let me any way say it. We come from a very westernized way of defining art. While there are these sculptures art is about creating some thing. We don't want you to hide behind the text, infact we want the text to liberate you. Now we are trying to legitimize what we want to say by hiding behind some theory. Behind the Ramayaana, Mahabaraata, Marxism what have you. If Ramayana and Marx are the only two options then I'd go with Marx, but the point is we are not here to discuss this. We are here to use the text as a base and respond to it"
"For example I have seen you both on stage, how do you do it", Ben asked pointing to Ritesh and Neha.
"For me theater is an expression, whatever the director says imagining oneself in that place and attaching attributes to the character. For example, if one says Alexander, one imagines muscular, brave so I would think how would I behave in case of muscular. It is not Alexander but me in place of him.."
"I agree with him, that is what I like about theater. Irrespective of what the director says it is one's expression", Ben added and looked towards Neha for her response.
"For me theater is an emotion attached, it is not just yours but it has to evoke it in the audience..."
"No I mean how you do it?"
" So actually I didn't like the script of the play. In it almost all the women characters are being laughed at. Except mine, my character is dominating but all other women's characters are suppressed, though it is comedy and all that I didn't like it. Particularly Einstein story where he says I wan't a woman without brain as my wife or the doctor who says who wouldn't want his wife to be dumb... and all the audience laugh. Particularly the men, would say it is true"
"So we would want you to not depend totally on the text just take it as inspiration and say your own opinion. We want you to come out and say boldly what you want to say, not bothered about whether it is right or wrong, whether any concept justifies it...", said Kay
"This one thing could be about this woman, who is non existent and about her world, how she wants her world to be, what she likes...but the woman is non existent", said Sunil.
Everyone looked a little confused.
"Probably she is not non existent, she exists and we are not letting her exist...", said Kay
"But she will come into existence at the end...", added Sunil
"I have a doubt, is it a one thing? I mean is it a collaborative thing or an individual opinion", said Nishita.
"For me the only collaborative thing is that we are coming together to discuss it, it is essentially an individual opinion", said Ben.
"We want your opinion to come out aloud. If it is about just reading the text or performing some chapters how boring would it be. We want you to express yourself, free from the text. If it is in the context of the book, of the gender issue then it is good, but it is okay if it is not."
Then there was a long pause.
"Is there anything you want to talk, ask?", said Kay.
"What do you intend to derive out of this?", asked Neha.
"We have been working with the German Cultural center what you call the Max Muller Bhavaan since some time. It is usually going to a country and performing three shows and that is it. We wanted to do something different, we want to interact with the people of different backgrounds, we wanted to see how it turns out and then see if we could use the social sculpture construct.", said Ben.
"For me, I have worked with the refugees and human trafficking, I have always seen that the locals do not have a voice or they are not heard, I being a white woman I get heard, so I wanted to create a space where people could express their opinion loud and clear without worrying whether it is right or wrong.", said Kay.
"Why Virginia Woolf?"
"For me this text though written in the Nineteen twenties, is very contemporary. It is very relevant. We come from a different country, different culture the issues are different but the text is very relevant. It can be any country but it still makes sense.", said Kay.
"The next time if you all come after reading the text completely, we can have a much richer discussion. What would be the time you would require to finish reading it", asked Ben.
"Say Monday, is it alright?", asked Neha to the group.
Ben looked at Ritesh expecting a response.
"But I would have to read it multiple times....", Ritesh said.
"No, we all might want to read it two-three times but I'm just talking about the preliminary reading..."
People nodded in unison, "Monday seems to be okay"
"So would you want to join us", asked Kay to Sunil.
" I will join you with a camera, I want to document these discussions", he rose to leave.
"Have a Good evening", said Kay.