Can we truly say that we live in a society free of discrimination based on gender and disability?
Mahesh Dattani in his play Tara, has very skilfully tackled the knotted issue of disability and gender based oppression. In the play he has accomplishes the goal through the device of conspicuous conjoined twin protagonists, Tara and Chandan.
His deep pre- occupation with gender issue results in the emergence of the thought of the dual side of oneself – quite literally embodies in one and therefore the separation that follows.
He has also explored the ticklish issue of the middle- class preference for the male child which results in an unequal and an unfair operation. The doctors are well aware that the third leg would suit Tara better than her brother Chandan, but they are mute participants in the conspiracy plotted by her family which leaves Tara crippled.
The play privileging of Chandan’s interest over Tara did not end with an unequal surgery. Her parents discriminate against Tara by not allowing her to inherit from her maternal grandfather. Her father, Patel, carries on the patriarchal legacy by not having any plans for Tara’s future while he ensures Chandan’s studies abroad.
The play subtly exposes this embedded attitude of Indian Society that makes elaborate plans for sons but decimates the daughters even in educated families. Dattani has often talked about the cultural construct of gender in India which is invariably biased towards the marginalisation of the female.
There is some truth in the joke Rupa cracks about the Patels drowning their daughter in milk.
“The modern day liberated family”, is still not free from the gender bias practised for ages in the Indian society. The feudal mindset of the Patel family is not very different from the conservative families of ancient societies that practised infanticides by drowning their daughters in milk.
The play offers a powerful discourse or narrative that expresses the destructive discourse of gender discrimination intricately mixed with the disability trope.
The play seems to question the confident and critical gaze of the so called ‘normal’ people of the society like Rupa and Prema who look at Dan and Tara as freaks but in reality they are no less freaks than themselves.
The play is empowering in presenting the perspective of the disabled by directing their ridicule and sparring as seen in the confident attitude of Tara and Chandan.
The playwright has successfully engaged in rigorous questioning of societies discriminatory mindset and attitude through the narrative of our conjoined twins.
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