Exploring the Indian Absurd: A Review of J.P. Das’s “Absurd Play”
My reflections on “Absurd Play” by J. P. Das
Post-modernism in Odia literature is as unexpected for me as Marie Lu’s Bruce Wayne, but this time, the surprise was pleasant. My friend from my undergraduate programme told me about her experience with A Time Elsewhere (2009), a novel by J. P. Das, translated from the Odia by Jatindra K. Nayak (Odia: “ଦେଶ କାଳ ପାତ୍ର” “Desha Kala Patra” (1991)). So I had already made up my mind to read the author. Then, some friends from my master’s recommended I read “Absurd Play” (1989) (Odia: “ଅସଂଗତ ନାଟକ” “Asangata Nataka” (1981)). Again written by the same author in Odia and self-translated into English. I was expecting great things here already, but this play went above and beyond my expectations.
I could never expect a subtler spoof of what forms one of the major pillars of absurdism: time. It stands true for all literature too, not just absurdism. “Who killed time?”, a character asks. It was the playwright, yes. But it was also I, who read the play, witnessing what happened in the midst of the covers. A play about time, or perhaps, is it a commentary? But a commentary on what, if it is one? The reader, the critic, time, anything at all? I do not think the answer calls to be found.
The play begins with a style that resembles “Waiting for Godot” and glides over the underlying turbulence that is let loose in waves of subtle mockery of regulations, becoming more and more unpredictable as well as personal as the play progresses. Characters keep coming; they enter with or without introductions. Sometimes, they just seem to appear out of nowhere as well. One seems to lose track of them. Then suddenly, the act ends. It ends with a murder. Time is dead. And now the Kafkaesque enters the play. Everyone is a lawyer, everyone is a judge, and the stage is a court of law, and so is the rest of the world. A realization of a split. And then Act One ends again. What happened? We witness what transpires, but do not understand it. Is it God’s will we see? Or is it what existence feels like?
The character nomenclature is given a treatment that is as generic as the title, giving each of them the Christian Everyman effect. We have the Old Man, the Middle Aged Man, Girl 1, Girl 2, Police, Clock, and so on, as our characters. Absurdity, here, stems from the universality of these characters. They are entropy embodied, and the entropy too is as universal as these characters. They are us, and we, them. Who is the playwright then? You tell me. Why do I ask you? You have not read/seen the play, you say? Yes, that is precisely why I ask you, dear reader. You remain untainted.
All the aforementioned components give rise to ordered chaos. But how does this “ordered chaos” add to the absurd? Is not complete and utter disorder the basis for it? Yes, that is true for the western idea of the absurd. In the Indian context, however, chaos rises out of reason. The Indian tradition bases itself on explanations, and therefore, the unexplainable hardly appears in any of the cultural forms that it presents itself in. So, while it may not aid in the creation of the absurd, it controls the chaos. This is a trait that is unique to the Indian Absurd Theatre.
J. P. Das’s “Absurd Play” is an experiment in literature. Das selectively picks some characteristics of the Western tradition of the Absurd and amalgamates them with that of India, produced by the likes of Manoranjan Das in Odisha. The play was written in Odia originally and that adds to the aforementioned. While I have not read the original Odia text, I am sure that the original text is more Odia, as opposed to Indian. Only through translation has it become part of the Indian absurdist tradition. I say so because of how different this play is as compared to those of Badal Sircar, Mahesh Elkunchwar and other contemporaries of his.
This play is the perfect introduction to the Indian absurd tradition for someone familiar with the western idea of the same. But it goes the other way around as well. So, if you are someone who is looking for an introduction to Indian absurdist literature, this play is a great starting point.
(You can read some excerpts from the play here.)
If you wish to get a copy of it, reach out to me at @thebiblioraptor on Instagram so that a bulk order may be placed with the publishers, that is Writer’s Workshop, India. Writer’s Workshop will only be printing another batch if they get an order of at least 30 copies.
Written by: @_raptor_kyrios_
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