Trace the evolution of Sarita
from a docile housewife to a self-assertive woman.
Sarita is lead character from Vijay Tendulkar’s play
‘Kamala’.The story of Sarita is
that of an intelligent young girl who is bound in the four
walls of her house and is taken for granted by her husband, who in a way seems
modern, since he urges her to drink with him, but his other expectations are
very much the same as that of a male chauvinist.With the entry of Kamala a
woman who has been sold to Sarita’s husband, Jaisingh; Sarita realises her
place in the household and in her husband’s life. She realises that for all
these years she was nothing but a slave and that her place is no better than
that of Kamala’s. Kamala without saying much but rather through her innocent
questions makes Sarita realise that she is nothing but a slave, a prostitute
and a housekeeper; rather a puppet who is dancing on Jaisingh’s tunes.
Like Kamala, Sarita is also an object that merely provides physical
enjoyment, social companionship and domestic comfort to Jadhav. She is indeed a
"Lovely bonded labourer", taking note of all phone calls, attending
to Jadhav's physical needs and running about in the house carrying out all his
presumptuous instructions, an obedient and loyal wife. Kamala's unexpected
question to Sarita that "How much did he buy you for?" enlightens
Sarita on her position in the family. Though Jaisingh took a handsome
dowry in marrying her, she feels like saying "seven hundred". Kamala
proposes that she will do all housework while Sarita will look after accounts
and such "sophisticated" Things. She adds that cache of them
will share their master's bed half a month each. To illustrate, we can quote
Kamala's a rather long dialogue with Sarita in this reference:
“Mwmseheb. If you Won't misunderstand, I'll tell you. The
master bought you : he bought me, too.........so, memsaheb, both of us must
stay here like sisters. We'll keep the master happy.......the master will have
children. I'll bring them up. You Keep the accounts and run the
house.....Fifteen days of the month, you sleep with the master; the other
fifteen, I'll sleep with him. Agreed?”Sarita agrees to this. Somehow, she
painfully and shockingly realizes that she too, like Kamala, functions as a
mere pawn in Jadhav's game of chess. Kamala to jadhav is only an object that
helps him win instant fame while Sarita is also an object to be paraded as a
wife at parties, to enhance his status as a successful journalist. Jadhav is
referred by Kakasaheb and Jain as an irresponsible husband whose craze for
publicity overwhelms him so much that he totally ignores his wife's existence.
To quote Jain's words while he addresses Sarita:
“Hi, Bhabhiji, I mean, an English 'he' to him, and a Marathi
'hai' to you. This warrior against exploitation in the country is exploiting
you………… 'Hai', 'Hai' (Theatrically to Jaisingh) Shame on you! Hero of
anti-exploitation campaign makes slave of his wife.”
