Sh u k la Ch a t t e r j e e ( M a n da l) : Vij a y Te n du lk a r ’s H is

Fift h W om a n

Vij a y Te n du la k r . Cour t e sy- e n - w ik ipe dia .or g. Sa t ye n Bor doloi.

A Te x t for Pe r for m a n ce or a Pe r for m a n ce Te x t

Perform ance St udies is a relat ively new field of st udy. The em ergence of
Perform ance St udies as an academ ic discipline is a result of a num ber of
shift s in t he hum anit ies over t he course of t he 20t h cent ury, which
broadened it s focus, first from t he st udy of dram a t ext s t o t he st udy of
t heat re and t heat rical pract ice, and t hen from t heat re t o perform ance,
expanding it s scope out side of t he convent ional t heat re t o include rit ual,
play, social int eract ion and cult ural m anifest at ions of all kinds in it s gam ut .
I n t he present age t herefore, Dram a St udies, Theat re St udies and
Perform ance St udies are recognized as different academ ic disciplines
alt hough t hey are all relat ed t hrough various act ivit ies,
t heknowledge produced, reproduced and st udied in each of t hese fields m ay
use different m et hods of analysis or focus on different elem ent s associat ed
wit h t heat rical act ivit ies. I t can be t herefore broadly t erm ed t hat dram a,
t heat re and perform ance co exist s wit h each ot her. Thus when expert s say
t hat t he writ t en word is t he foundat ion for all perform ing art s, t he genre of
dram a, t heat re and perform ance art s get it s com plet e form and lit erary
scholars t he scope t o view and evaluat e where, when and how a dram a is
perform ed, prom ot ed and received by different audiences. I n spit e of t his
int erdisciplinary approach, t here is a wide difference bet ween " t ext s" for
perform ance and " perform ance t ext s". This paper is an at t em pt t o
underst and t he difference wit h special focus t o Vij ay Tendulkar'sHis Fift h
Wom an.

The t erm 'dram a' originat ing in Ancient Greece was used by Arist ot le t o
apply t o form s of poet ry t hat were act ed in t heat res of his day, t his t erm
now incorporat es a range of different t ext s, act ivit ies and m edia. I n t he
eight eent h cent ury, t he t erm 'dram a' was also adopt ed t o describe a
part icular form of t heat re t hat developed in France ( called 'le dram e' in
French) . This t heat rical form em phasized t he m oral seriousness of life and
encouraged reflect ion upon t he norm s and m ores of French societ y. The
t hem es and issues represent ed in t he t ext s reflect ed a growing cult ural
em phasis on developing a fair and civil societ y t hat developed during t he
period of t he French Enlight enm ent . As a result of t his different em phasis,
t he word 'dram a' is st ill used t oday t o describe form s of dram a t hat can be
ident ified as em ot ionally 'com pelling' or m orally 'serious' rat her t han com ic
or t ragic. Cont rary t o t his west ern idea of 'dram a', anot her very influent ial
dram a t heory produced independent ly in I ndia was The Nat yasast ra ( or Art
of t he Play) . The Nat yasast ra is a classical Sanskrit syst em of classifying
dram a writ t en around t he first cent ury B.C. by t he I ndian t heorist Bharat a.
Before t he west ern influence on I ndian dram a, t he Nat yasast ra and it s
t heories had been a profound influence on t he developm ent of I ndian
dram at ic form s and t heories. The t reat ises of t his work offer m uch longer
and m ore det ailed assessm ent s of t he com posit ion and const ruct ion of
elem ent s in t ext s and perform ances. I n addit ion, t hese works also cont ain
com prehensive account s of t he elem ent s required for perform ance including
what is needed for successful delivery and cast ing of roles. During t he m id-
ninet eent h cent ury, wit h t he change in t he polit ical set up, adopt ion of
west ern idea of dram a began t o influence and I ndian Dram a since t hen
began it s new j ourney t hat not only concent rat ed on t he dram at ic
perform ance but also evolve a com plet ely new form t hat would keep t he
I ndian essence int act . I t is perhaps from t his period t hat a close look int o t he
difference bet ween " t ext s" m eant for perform ance and " perform ance t ext s"
began t o draw t he concern of scholars and crit ics.
I n general, a writ t en lit erary " t ext " can be viewed as a piece of lit erat ure
t hat exist s separat ely from t he act ions or im ages used t o perform a t ext ,
whereas " perform ance t ext s" , oft en ident ified as plays and t hese t ext s can
form t he basis of t he script s used and present ed by perform ers explore and
describe various kinds of hum an act ions t hrough carefully const ruct ed
lit erary and poet ic form s. These Perform ance t ext s need not always be
poet ic or refer t o 'real' or even 'hum an' event s, act ivit ies, languages or
im ages. While writ t en dram at ic t ext s are usually regarded as lit erary t ext s
t hat are com posed for perform ance, writ t en t ext s t hat have not been
com posed for perform ance m ay also be ident ified as Perform ance t ext s if
t hey refer t o or include act ion. Thus in t he I ndian cont ext , st art ing from
Kalidas' Sakunt alam or Meghdut am t o Rabindranat h Tagore's Rakt a
Karabi and m ore recent ly from Tendulkar's Ghasiram Kot wal t o Mahesh
Dat t ani'sDance like a Man are all " t ext s" com posed for perform ance. Yet
t hey are also Perform ance t ext s as t hey reflect t hrough it s cont ext t he
cult ure, t radit ion and societ y.

I t is a fact t hat t heat re/ dram a is one of t he oldest perform ance art s in I ndia.
Owing t o it s age t he " et hnic" elem ent s do give som e brilliant , dazzling
m om ent s of t heat re experience and st and as an ident it y for t he count ry's
cult ure and t radit ion. But a m odern, urban I ndian who const it ut es t he
prim ary audience is not int erest ed in such t heat re/ dram a as t hey cannot
relat e t he plays t o t heir own experience. The aest het ics of dram at ic poet ry
found in t he works of our classical writ ers are adm ired but not realized in
real life. Keeping in m ind t hese aspect s, a handful of lit erary figures from
Vij ay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad, Mohan Rakesh, t o nam e a few began t o
experim ent wit h bot h form and t echniques of dram a t o bring forward works
of lit erat ure whose t ext s and cont ext s appeal t he audience and at t he sam e
t im e draw t he crit ics at t ent ion wit h it s aest het ic elem ent s. A st udy and
analyses of cont em porary dram a/ t heat re t hrough t he relat ively new field of
st udy, Perform ance St udies, is t herefore t he need of t he day.

His Fift h Wom an, t he only English play writ t en by Vij ay Tendulkar and also
t he last of his creat ion, is a unique play bot h by form and cont ent . While on
t he one hand, it crucially t ackles love, dut y, gender and religion all in a
single act , on t he ot her hand, it is perhaps one of t he best of his creat ions
t hat can be m arked for it s int uit ive and vibrant explorat ion of life, deat h and
devot ion. Balancing t his serious cont ext in t he form a prequel t o one of his
very popular dram at ic t ext Sakharam Binder, t his play st ands out bot h as a
Perform ance t ext as well as a t ext for perform ance.

I t is said t hat aft er penning down Massage in 2002, Tendulkar had alm ost
st opped writ ing plays. I t was out of a genuine request from t he Art ist ic
Associat e, St urgis Warner, of The Lark Play Developm ent Cent re t hat t he
play t ook it s shape. The Lark always had a m ission t o serve playwright s in
t he developm ent of new plays. I t is because of t his reason t hat it want ed t o
present som et hing com plet ely 'new' from t he playwright in t he m ont h long
t heat re fest ival on Tendulkar in New York by I ndo Am erican Art s Council.

His Fift h Wom an writ t en for t he m ont h- long Tendulkar Fest ival in 2004 was
not perform ed but present ed as t he first public reading of his new play in t he
St udio Ret reat Program m e for t he Tendulkar Fest ival sponsored by I AAC on
14 t h Oct ober 2004 at t he Lark Play Developm ent Cent re. As it has been
writ t en in English, in spit e of being a good t ext deserving full product ion,
t here has not been a single full product ion of t he play as such. Recent ly of
course, Dr. Chandrashekhar Pansalkar, a not ed Marat hi playwright has
at t em pt ed t o t ranslat e t he play int o Marat hi, t he playwright 's m ot her
t ongue, hoping t o see som e good product ions of t he play in Marat hi Theat re.
Tit led Tiyachi Pachvi, t he t ranslat ed play is said t o be a t ribut e t o t he
playwright on his 81 st birt hday anniversary.

St ruct ured and fram ed in four scenes, His Fift h Wom an is a play t hat has a
very sim ple st oryline. But at t he sam e t im e it carefully handles m ult iple
issues. More specifically it at t em pt s t o explore t he quest ions of deat h, and
aft erlife in t he cont ext of inj ust ices suffered by wom en in m ale- fem ale
relat ionships. The play begins wit h t he t wo prot agonist s Sakharam and
Dawood wait ing out side a hospit al wit h a wom an's body in a handcart . This
wom an is t he 'fift h' wom an of Sakharam 's life. As t hey wait out side for t he
doct or t o observe t he wom an who is alm ost half dead, Sakharam falls asleep
and begins t o dream . I n his dream , he sees his fift h wom an, who in spit e of
having been an out cast e, reveals her devot ion t owards her lost husband. I n
t he conversat ion t hat Sakharam dream s, t he wom an at her deat h bed t ries
t o assure Sakharam t hat her living and surrendering herself t o Sakharam
t oo, is what her dead husband guides her t o do. I nt erest ingly in Scene I I , as
t he doct or report s t he deat h of t he wom an in t he hospit al, Sakharam refuses
t o claim t he body and relat es t o Dawood about her recollect ing her husband
at deat h bed. So long as t he wom an had served him as his live- in m ist ress,
he had t aken care of her. Aft er her deat h, she owes not hing from Sakharam .
So Sakharam is all ready t o m ove ahead in his life wit hout wast ing m uch
t im e for t he dead wom an. But Dawood, t he Muslim friend of Sakharam ,
believed in rit uals and t herefore convinced Sakharam t o perform t he last
rit es so t hat her soul m ay not haunt t hem . I n Scene I I I , t he last rit es are
perform ed by a Brahm in. Sakharam , a very st raight - forward person and
also t rue t o him self is not willing t o m ake false prom ises and call him self her
husband t o perform t he rit es. But Dawood bribes t he Brahm in and som ehow
m anages t o hold Sakharam back for t he final sacram ent . I n spit e of all t his,
Sakharam is daring enough t o leave t he rit es incom plet e as t he crow s do not
st art t o feed. He is rat her shown t o be ready t o plan out for bringing t he
next wom an of his life as t he boy ent ers saying - " A wom an on t he road! No
one wit h her. Crying..com e." ( 69)

At t he end of t his scene, t he t alking crows are int roduced who discuss t he
pros and cons of a free m arket econom y as well as rem ind t hat t hey 'shit ',
'procreat e', 'kill' and are 'ever curious'. The final scene is very im port ant as it
depict s t he world of t he dead. Wit h t he use of t he elem ent of t he Absurd t his
depict ion of aft erlife by Tendulkar is not j ust a depict ion in accordance t o t he
spirit ual belief of t he aft erlife, but also a crit ique of it . Tendulkar purposely
brings in t he charact er of t he fift h wom an's dead husband t oo in t his scene.
Bot h of t hem are devoid of t heir body. But t he irony is t hat while t he fem ale
or t he fift h wom an is shown t o be happy, her husband is proj ect ed as
dej ect ed, dist urbed and hum iliat ed. Tendulkar t ries t o im ply from t his
inst ance t hat t he wom an, having lost her body aft er deat h, is relieved. But
for t he m an, t he loss of his 'dick' im plies his loss of m asculinit y, power and
t herefore he feels insecure. The play ends asChit ragupt a ent ers and direct s
t hem t o t he way t o anot her world - perhaps t heir next life and t he crow's
last com m ent s.

I n t his play, Tendulkar crucially handles bot h nat uralist ic and surrealist ic
form s. Apart from t he real charact ers, t he int roduct ion of t he crows is very
int erest ing. I t is t he use of t he 't alking crows' t hat t ranscends t he play's
form from realism t o surrealism . I n m yt hology and folklore as a whole,
crows are considered t o be sym bolic m ore of t he spirit ual aspect of deat h, or
t he t ransit ion of t he spirit int o t he aft erlife. More specifically in Sout h I ndia,
according t o t he last sacram ent of Hinduism ,

There is a pract ice of offering riceballs t o t he crows near t he crem at ion

grounds t o t est whet her t he soul is happy or not wit h t he rit es perform ed. I f
t he crows eat t he riceballs, it is a confirm at ion t hat t he soul is happy wit h
t he offerings and t he rit uals and set t led in t he ot her world. i

I n keeping consonance wit h t his belief, Tendulkar int roduced t he crows t o

t he audience as Sakharam perform s t he funeral rit es of t he fift h wom an. But
quit e surprisingly, Tendulkar art ist ically port rays t hese crows as 't alking
crows'. As t he 't alking crows' discuss t he pros and cons of a free m arket
econom y as well as rem ind us t hat t hey 'shit ', 'procreat e', 'kill' and are 'ever
curious'. Tendulkar sat irically t ries t o crit ique and quest ion t he religious rit es
and cust om s t hrough t he st raight forward Sakharam .

SAKHARAM: …Dawood, can it be t hat t hose crows here are playing foul? Can
it be t hat t hey don't represent her? That t hey have becom e clever and play
gam es wit h t he elat ions of t he dead who com e here t o free t hem selves from
t he pangs of t he dead?? Or can it be t hat t hese Brahm ins here t rain t hose
crows t o earn m ore bucks from people like us? ( 69)

Again, in Scene I V, quit e drast ically one of t he crows of t he burning ghat s is

represent ed as a creat ive crow and act s as a chorus t hat can narrat e t o t he
audience t he pat h of t he dead wom an's soul. I t is t his crow t hat first report s
t o t he audience -

So t his is heaven, t he ot her calling for which is hell, and t he wife of t he dead
husband and t he fift h in t he line of Sakharam 's wom en has reached here.
( 71)

Lat er on as t he bodiless souls of t he m an and t he wom an m eet each ot her

wit h different m oods and feelings; it is t his crow t hat t ries t o generalize t o
t he audience t he reason behind such condit ions of t he m an and t he wom an.
Finally, at t he end of t he scene and also t he play, t he crow as a narrat or
brings t he play t o an end by revealing t he significant det ails and also raising
m oral quest ions in t he m inds of t he audience.

Tendulkar's use of surrealism and t he elem ent of t he Absurd reach it s height

as he dedicat es t he whole of scene four in depict ing heaven or hell, i.e., t he
whole world of t he dead and aft erlife. At t he m ost basic and fundam ent al
level, Hinduism defines 'heaven' as a world inhabit ed by devas, sages and
noble souls who perform ed good deeds upon eart h. I t is a pleasure orient ed
world in which t he beings experience unlim it ed pleasure, but no pain.
Wit hout discom fort s of eart hly exist ence, such as aging, worry, hunger,
disease and deat h, t hey lead pleasant lives, surrounded by heavenly m usic,
auspicious obj ect s and sceneries, celest ial dancers, chant ing of divine words
and incredible j oy. Furt her, it defines 'hell' as a dark world filled wit h evil
doers and t heir relent less cries of pain and agony, undergoing different kinds
of t ort ure and punishm ent as a consequence of t heir bad deeds in t heir
previous lives. Tendulkar's heaven or hell t oo is a place full of pleasures for
t he wom an as well as a place full of doubt s, dist ress and worry for t he m an.
I t can be said t hat Tendulkar m ingles t he idea of heaven and hell t o rat her
im ply t he fact t hat it is one's deeds, t he t heory of Karm a and t he influence
of his or her code of conduct upon eart h t hat would decide whet her t hey are
in heaven or hell. Tendulkar port rays t he wom an's soul as happy and
carefree enj oying all t he pleasures. So for her, t his world is heaven. At t he
sam e t im e t he m an's soul is sad, depressed and always w orried. So for t he
m an, t his world is equivalent t o hell.

Tendulkar, as in all his ot her plays, had been always concerned wit h m an-
wom an relat ionships. I n His Fift h Wom an, he t ranscends t his concern t o
explore t his relat ionship even aft er deat h. I nt erest ingly, t hrough t his
explorat ion, Tendulkar raises quest ions of deat h, aft er life, hum an exist ence
and t he syst em of ident ificat ion. Though t he
t erm m asculine and fem inine are used sym m et rically only as a m at t er of
form , as on legal papers, in act ualit y, t he relat ion of t he t wo sexes is quit e
com plicat ed in t his life. The t wo sexes are not quit e like t hat of t wo elect rical
poles. According t o Sim one de Beaviour in The Second Sex,

Man represent s bot h t he posit ive and t he neut ral, as is indicat ed by t he

com m on use of m an t o designat e hum an beings in general; whereas wom an
represent s only t he negat ive, defined by lim it ing crit eria, wit hout reciprocit y.
( 27)

I n t his life, m en are always m arked as superior and t he powerful whereas

t he wom an as t he Ot her. This ident ificat ion is m ade in t erm s of body as well
as of qualit ies. I t is oft en said t hat wom an has ovaries, a ut erus: t hese
peculiarit ies lim it s of her own nat ure. She t hinks wit h her glands. 'The
fem ale is a fem ale by virt ue of a cert ain lack of qualit ies,' said Arist ot le and
furt her added t hat 'we should regard t he fem ale nat ure as afflict ed wit h a
nat ural defect iveness.' On t he cont rary, t hough m an t oo possesses t est icles,
t hat secret e horm ones, he superbly t hinks his body as a direct and norm al
connect ion wit h t he world, which he believes he apprehends obj ect ively. St
Thom as for his part pronounced wom an t o be an 'im perfect m an', an
'incident al' being. This is sym bolized in Genesis where Eve is depict ed as
m ade from what Bossuet called 'a supernum erary bone' of Adam . This belief
of m an's superiorit y is also explained t hrough t he psychoanalyt ic t heory of
Lacan. Jaques Lacan t ried t o define m asculinit y and fem ininit y in t erm s of
t he 'phallus'. Lacan specifically used t he t erm 'phallus' in place of 'penis' in
order t o em phasize t he fact t hat what concerns psychoanalyt ic t heory is not
t he m ale genit al organ in it s biological realit y but t he role t hat t his organ
plays in fant asy. I n The Significance of t he Phallus Lacan art iculat es t he
difference bet ween 'being' and 'having' t he phallus.

Men are posit ioned as m en insofar as t hey are seen t o have t he phallus.
Wom en, not having t he phallus, are seen t o " be" t he phallus. The sym bolic
phallus is t he concept of being t he ult im at e m an, and having t his is
com pared t o having t he divine gift of God." ( Lacan A Select ion 1958)

The phallus is t he sym bol of sexual difference, in t hat t here is no

corresponding fem ale sym bol or signifier, bot h m ale and fem ale subj ect s are
const it ut ed as m ale and fem ale wit h reference t o it . So t he phallus st ands as
a m ark of ident it y denot ing wom an as t he Ot her, as well as a sym bol of
power for m en.

Tendulkar uses t his concept of psychoanalysis t o quest ion and crit ique t he
hum an inst inct s of t his life. He shows t he wom an and t he m an in heaven as
bodiless souls. As bodiless souls, aft er- life should have given t hem im m ense
pleasure. But t his does not happen. Bot h of t hem st ill t ry t o ident ify t hem in
t erm s of body. As t he presence of ovaries and ut erus im prison a wom an in
her subj ect ivit y and lim it s her freedom , t he loss of such bodily organs
renders t he wom an in t he play freedom aft er life. So she is shown t o be
happy and carefree. I t is t he 'body' t hat defines wom an in t erm s of sensual
ent anglem ent , procreat ion and new birt h. I t is again t his fem ale body t hat
draws in physical, psychological and sexual exploit at ion of m en. So devoid of
t his body, t he wom an is free.

WOMAN ( she dances a j ig t o t he t une of an erot ic film song) : Wow. How I

wish t hat I knew about places… no quest ion of having body. Get t ing beat en
by m en. Having m enst ruat ion every t hree weeks. And t he bot her of carrying
som eone in your belly for bloody night m ont hs. And t he pain of giving birt h
eulogised by m en as t he j oy of m ot herhood. ha! Joy! Let t hem get fucked by
sex hungry m en day and night and get pregnant and deliver wit h deat h
pangs! … at last here id in fr eedom from being a wom an. ( 71- 72)

On t he cont rary, as 'penis' or phallus in t erm s of Lacan denot es m ale

superiorit y, power and dom inance over t he ot her sex, t he loss of such an
organ for t he m an in t he play m akes him depressed dist ort ed and worried.
Tendulkar t ries t o em phasize here t hat 'Power' is such an obsession t hat
even aft er deat h, t he m an is in search for his power and posit ion as a
husband and as a superior sex. He is at a com plet e loss and cannot even
ident ify him self wit hout his " sym bol of power" , " his m ark of virilit y" . A sense
of insecurit y works wit hin t he m an once devoid of t he phallus. Even aft er
deat h t he m an is t herefore not willing t o believe his loss. Wit h a cynical t one,
t hrough t he voice of t he crow, Tendulkar brings int o not ice how t he law of
Nat ure at t ribut es t his organ t o every species of living t hing. But it is only t he
hum an beings who assert t his organ as a sym bol of power and t he m ark of
m anhood.

CROW ( perching on a branch, looking down and now t o t he audience) : I

shall t ell you why he looks so dist ressed and what he is t rying t o find. His
dick. I t happens t o all m en when t hey arrive here. They m iss t heir dick.
Nat ural when what has been wit h you from your birt h and is a m ult ipurpose
t hing, suddenly disappears. And you are t aught t o be proud of it . A sym bol
of your m anhood. For your inform at ion, we t oo have such an organ but no
one has t old us t o be proud because we have it as against t he fem ale. We
are not bot hered except of course for t he m om ent ary int ercourse we have t o
do for Nat ure's sake. Not so wit h your species. For you it is THE t hing, a
sym bol of your pow er, a m ark of your virilit y, t he longer, t he st ronger. ( 72-
73)
Thus by port raying t he m an and t he wom an as disem bodied souls and yet
const ruct ing t heir self t hrough t he body, Tendulkar seem s t o not j ust sat irise
t he very com plex m an wom an relat ionship but also t ry t o quest ion as t o
what is t heir act ual ident it y. I f 'At m a' or t he 'Soul' is t he t rue self according
t o Hinduism , is it not t he syst em of ident ificat ion in t his world and t he not ion
of const ruct ion of 'self' t hrough t he 'body' at fault ? Again, if t he hum an
ident it y is only relat ed t o t he body, t hen what is t he soul? I t is again very
st range t hat t hough Tendulkar port rays t he wom an t o be happy and carefree
because she is beyond t he exploit at ion and suppression of m an, when t he
wom an finds t he m an so dist ressed and dist ract ed, she wishes t o have her
body back t o ent ice t he m an and at t ract him .

WOMAN( t o t he audience) : How I wish I had m y body now! Could have

ent iced him int o accept ance. ( 74)

Furt her, as Chit ragupt a escort s t hem t o t he next world, she is eager t o know
about what kind of t he world she would ent er. The next world t hat she will
have t o ent er can be equally painful as t he one she had left or perhaps even
m ore. But she does not t hink and care about t he pain and oppression t hat
she had faced and m ight be facing again in t he next world.

WOMAN: … what kind of world will we be ent ering aft er here and
approxim at ely how long will be t he st ay before we are t old t o shift again and
where. ( 74)

I t is st range t hat she enj oys t he pleasures of heaven but does not long t o
rem ain t here forever. This in a sense hint s t hat even t he wom an t ries t o
ident ify herself wit h her body rat her t han her disem bodied soul. This m akes
Tendulkar's query about t he hum an exist ence and t he exist ence of soul even
st ronger.

Hinduism believes in t he rebirt h and reincarnat ion of souls. The souls are
im m ort al and im perishable. A soul, according t o t he script ures, is part of t he
'j iva', t he lim it ed being, who is subj ect t o t he im purit ies of at t achm ent ,
delusion and t he law of karm a. Deat h is t herefore not a great calam it y, not
an end at all, but a nat ural process in t he exist ence of a j iva ( being) as a
separat e ent it y, a rest ing period during which it recuperat es, reassem bles it s
resources, adj ust s it s course and ret urns again t o t he eart h t o cont inue it s
j ourney. I n Hinduism , unless a soul is liberat ed, neit her life nor aft er life are
perm anent . They are bot h part of a grand illusion. Deat h is a t em porary
cessat ion of physical act ivit y, a necessary m eans of recycling t he resources
and energy and an opport unit y for t he j iva t o reenergize it self, review it s
program s and policies and plan for t he next phase of life. Each life
experience on eart h and each incarnat ion of soul offers t he j iva an
opport unit y t o learn and overcom e it s inconsist encies and blem ishes so t hat
it can becom e t he whole. We cannot have likes and dislikes, preferences,
prej udices and at t achm ent and yet expect ourselves be liberat ed. Even a
preference for purit y becom es an im pedim ent at som e st age of lives. The
soul t herefore needs t o be born again and again t ill it overcom es it s st at e of
delusion, achieves t he st at e of equanim it y and realises it s com plet eness.

Aft er having explored t he com plex hum an nat ure for about four decades, at
a m at ure age of sevent y six, Tendulkar t ries t o find solut ions t o hum an
problem s t hrough t radit ional east ern at t it udes t o life, deat h and aft er life.
Though, it is doubt ful whet her t his enquiring m an really believed in such
concept s. But at least it seem s t hat t owards t he end of his career, he
at t em pt s t o find solut ions t o t he problem s he had been enquiring about in
east ern philosophical ideas. Or perhaps it can be Tendulkar's crit ique of t he
hum an inst inct s of life as well as t he so called philosophical j ust ificat ion of
t he hum an inst inct s. . His Fift h Wom an only ext ends t he quest ion " Where do
I com e from ?" t o a fant asy level.

CROW 1 ( t o audience) : … what happens t o t hese bodiless, dickless bum less

and bust less hum an souls ..aft er t his? ( 75)

From t his close crit ical analysis of t he play it becom es clear t hat unlike ot her
plays, Tendulkar's His Fift h Wom an m oves a st ep forward t o know in t rue
sense about t he exist ence of souls. What happens t o t he hum an souls? Do
t hey really exist is t he quest ion t hat Tendulkar seem s t o ask. Religion and
philosophy claim s t hat our soul is t he t rue self. But if it is so, t hen why does
aft er deat h, t he bodiless souls reincarnat e and ret urn t o eart hly life
again? His Fift h Wom ant heat rically present s concept s of deat h and aft erlives.
The grand exist ent ial quest ion of " Who am I ?" rem ains always unanswered.
And in port raying t his grand exist ent ial quest ion, His Fift h Wom an becom es
m ore a Perform ance t ext t han a " t ext " for perform ance. No doubt t hat in
spit e of being writ t en in and around 2004, in t he span of alm ost a decade,
t he play has at t ract ed at t ent ion of crit ics and scholars, but not of any
direct ors or t heat re groups t o give it a st age product ion.

W or k s Cit e d:

Beauvoir, de Sim one. " The Second Sex: I nt roduct ion Wom en as Ot her."
1949. The Second sex. .

Cam us, Albert . Le Myt he de Sisephe. Paris: Gallim ard, 1942.

Esslin, Mart in. The Theat re of t he Absurd. 3rd edit ion. USA: Penguin
Publishers, 1983.
Lacan, Jacques. " The Significance of Phallus." Ecit s: A Select ion ( 1958) .

Tendulkar, Vij ay. Two Plays by Vij ay Tendulkar: The Cyclist and His Fift h
Wom an. Trans. Balwant Bhanej a. New Delhi: Oxford Universit y Press, 2006.

V. Jayaram . Hinduism and Deat h. June 3, 2010. www.Hinduwebsit e.com

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'Hinduism and Deat h' by Jayaram V. www.Hinduwebsit e.com . June 3 2010