Vijay Tendulkar is one of India's foremost playwrights. His plays are performed in various languages, translated from their original Marathi. Kanyadaan is the first English translation of a major, award-winning Marathi play of the same name by Tendulkar.
This play is a characteristic one by Tendulkar, charged with certain central social and moral questions that are deeply thought-provoking, and to which there are no easy answers. A young woman from a politically active family that regards itself as progressive has decided to marry a socially inferior, but talented man. Though the gulf between them is vast - she is an educated, affluent Brahmin and he is from a desperately poor, rural, low-caste background - her father encourages her in the belief that the marriage would set a progressive example.
Is the decision the right one? Is communication possible between persons of different classes? Are caste and class still inextricable? Tendulkar explores the texture of modernity and social change in India through the forces this marriage unleashes. The tense, gripping play, charged with an undercurrent of violence, uncertainties and anger, concerns itself with questions that are crucial to all societies which have to grapple with change and with social barriers.
This is the first English translation of this play, authorized by the playwright. It is essential reading for all interested in contemporary literature and theatre.
Vijay Tendulkar has been in the vanguard of Indian theatre for almost 40 years. This play, translated from the original Marathi, is one of his most gripping, socially relevant ones.
