This review was translated from Kannada by Anisha Sheth.
Daklakatha Devikavya and Shudra Shiva, two plays that were staged in Bengaluru in February, are important experiments in theatre. While Shudra Shiva is the story of the pain of the Billava/Ezhava community that was once "untouchable" but is now politically and socially influential, Daklakatha Devikavya is the story of the pain and rage of the Dakkaligas who were and still are "untouchable" even among "untouchables," and still experience hunger and humiliation.
Shudra Shiva is about the social revolution that the reformer Narayana Guru wrought for the Billava/Ezhava community who were not allowed to even appear near the paths and temples that Kerala’s Namboodiri Brahmins frequented. By building a temple for them and introducing a revolution of literacy towards the end of the 19th century, he broke the walls of dharma, caste, and discrimination through spirituality.
The play narrates how Narayana Guru built a Shiva temple as a counter to the atrocities committed by the Namboodiri Brahmins and thus, questioned their authority. And when the Namboodiri Brahmins objected to the installation, he warded them off saying he had dedicated the temple to Shiva who is from a Shudhra community. Gradually, he drew the attention of the Ezhava community towards education and a principle of life that focuses on the inner self.
Initially, Narayana Guru installed an idol of Shiva in the temple for Billavas/Ezhavas, but in his later days, he replaced Shiva with a light, and began to insist that "Light is education and education is our god."
Inspired by Narayana Guru, Billavas/Ezhavas set out to establish a temple for Shiva, but a dispute over whether a Shiva linga or an Ardhanareeshwara idol should be installed turned into a fight. Narayana Guru intervened and chose neither the Shiva linga nor the Ardhanareeshwara idols. Instead, he placed a mirror in the temple, saying that spirituality was the ability to understand oneself.
Thus, Narayana Guru’s understanding of god gradually changed and he began to organise all-religion sammelanas. He had the words "This sammelana is not for debate but to understand and to enable one to understand'' written outside the sammelana hall. All this has been movingly depicted in the play Shudra Shiva.
The talented theatre director Viddu Uchil directed the play authored by playwright Babu Shiva Poojary. It was adapted for the stage by Sharath S Ninasam and Manoj Vamanjoor of Samudaya. Shashidhar Adapa did the stage design while lighting and sound design were done by Nitesh Bantwal and Rajesh. Youth activist Yogeesh Jeppinamogaru managed the play which involved actors from 13 districts.
The self-respect movements of the Billavas (in coastal Karnataka) and the Ezhavas (in Kerala) are underpinned by Narayana Guru’s philosophy. However, in the play, the force behind Narayana Guru, the architect of this social revolution, is Shiva himself. The play opens with Shiva dancing the tandav, damroo (percussion instrument) in hand, even as viewers simultaneously see Narayana Guru in his anger against oppression along with his followers. It often seemed in the play that Narayana Guru, the protector of the Billavas/Ezhavas, had become Shiva, as if Shiva himself had taken on the avatar of Narayana Guru. To see Shiva as a character, dancing the tandav, is a travesty, for Narayana Guru’s spiritual journey started with a Shiva linga, but later in life he declared that neither a Shiva linga nor an image of god were required. Instead, he said, “Let us install a mirror that would help us understand ourselves.”
Perhaps it was necessary to use Shiva as a shield to critique the Billava community, given the communally charged atmosphere in coastal Karnataka. Whether that was the case or whether it was a scheme to orient the audience towards religiosity, the nature of Shiva’s portrayal is a shortcoming – it is not gods who carry out a revolution, but people. To turn a revolutionary into a god is also a Brahminical ploy which the director appears to not have understood and has faltered.
Still, the influence that this play can have on the highly communalised Billava/Ezhava communities in the coastal and Malnad regions of Karnataka and the Kannada-speaking regions of Kerala is immeasurable. Shudra Shiva can play a crucial role in conveying to communities that once danced to the tunes of Brahmins, the problems that their ancestors faced and their struggle to overcome those difficulties.
Even though on the surface it appears to be a play that was written by Billavas for Billavas, it also talks about the kind of atrocities Billavas have unleashed on Dalits once they emancipated themselves from untouchability. Had their most important leader, Narayana Guru, known this, he would have stood not on the side of the Billavas, but with Dalits. He would have told his followers, “You must ensure that the freedom that you seek from those above you, is ensured to those who are below you.” This message of Narayana Guru conveyed in the play is relevant across time.
In terms of its message, Daklakatha Devikavya far surpasses Shudra Shiva. Even as the play shows the illiterate Dakkaliga community, which is treated as untouchable even by Madigas, worshipping the Devi, it says loud and clear that god is not the panacea that will end hunger and humiliation. It resoundingly says that Ambedkar, Buddha, and Basavanna are the lights that guide us.
In the play, the Devi appears before a Dakkaliga man and grants him a wish. He wishes for the village lake to be turned into alcohol and the banks of the lake turned into buffalo meat. She warns that he would have to give up his life for his wish to be granted. Through this scene, the play brings home the cruelty of hunger. The Dakkaliga man carries one of his children on his right shoulder and the other on his left, descends into the water and has his fill of drink and food. He ignores the Devi when she appears and instead, turns to his children and asks, “Have you eaten well? Did you drink well? … Sleep now.”
The next day, the Devi returns and asks him to sacrifice his life since she had granted his wish. He retorts, “Forget that I made that promise, go away.” This may appear to be a comic scene, but food, water, and sleep are fundamental rights. Why should someone have to seek a boon from a god for that? That line in the play, addressed to the goddess – but aimed at society – raises the question of why Dalits should lose their lives for their fundamental rights to food, water, and sleep.
Designing the scene, in terms of the Dakkaliga man placing his children on his left and right shoulder, may also be an attempt at addressing the untouchability practised by castes such as the Madigas and Holeyas against castes such as the Dakkaligas. However, all of these castes are avarna, and treated as “untouchable” by the savarna castes. This scene could be interpreted as a reference to “untouchability” within the Dalit community, and a call for the left-hand and right-hand castes to unite in the face of a centuries-old common enemy — hunger.
On the whole, the play Daklakatha Devikavya brings home to viewers the folk culture, hunger, anger, and resistance of the Dakkaligas. Dakkaliga Devi might be the focus of the play, but the message that the goddess is neither the cause nor the solution of the Dakkaligas’ predicament is clear. For instance, in one scene, a challenge is thrown to the goddess — Can she take the “untouchable children” into the village and enable them to play there?
On social media, Gandhians have criticised what they call the play’s unnecessary portrayal of Gandhi as a comic character. They said it was not right to criticise only Gandhi, who appears along with Buddha, Ambedkar, and Basavanna. Dalit communities have an old disagreement with Gandhi, due to which he has been made the object of a joke.
A character playing a Dakkaliga is shown struggling to pronounce the name of Gandhi and refers to him as 'Ganjhijii', which has annoyed some Gandhians. The character says, “You know this man Ganjhiji, he apparently sat on a fast and drove the British away. Mahatma Ganjhiji had a grand meal in front of him, and yet he fasted. We, who have little to eat, fasted then too and we continue to fast to this day.” While this may appear to be funny, it is neither humour nor is it necessarily a criticism of Gandhi. Rather, these lines express the Dakkaligas’ hunger and anger. How does it become an insult to Gandhi when Dakkaligas point out that the British may have run away because Gandhi fasted, but their own fasting continues?
Upcoming theatre director KP Lakshman adapted the writings of KB Siddaiah – whose life could be considered the biography of the whole community – into Daklakatha Devikavya, a play that stamps viewers’ hearts with the pain of the Dakkaliga community. The play was directed by Bengaluru-based Jangama Collective.
While the two plays have many differences, there are some similarities. While one play is a folktale about Shiva (a male god), the other is centred around a goddess (female). Both plays contain revolutionary visionaries, Gandhi, and hunger and humiliation speak as characters. Still, on the question of gender equality, Dalit struggles, anti-untouchability struggles, the struggle to end hunger and humiliation, Daklakatha Devikavya surpasses Shudra Shiva. Even so, the two plays are very important in the context of today’s socio-political atmosphere.