The source of "The Fire and the Rain" lies, as is common knowledge in The Mahabharatha. It is an obscure story which a certain sage narrates to the Pandavas, and to a lay reader, passes off as insignificant.

What however, Girish Karnad has done is to transform it into a masterful piece of drama by depicting conflicting human emotions through the characters. It is an excellent combination of the elements--human, metaphysical and supernatural that constitute the core of the play. Karnad successfully makes use of the divine element--especially in the climax where the hero holds a conversation with the Gods, and the final result of the rain pouring on a drought-ridden land.

The play also focusses both on the negative and positive human emotions--jealousy, betrayal, deceit, as well as selfless love (evidenced by the hero and the heroine, Nittilai)and sacrifice. The hero, like most of Karnad's heroes is a man torn between moral righteousness, love and duty. It is interesting to trace this path of the hero to its fitting end.

Karnad has stated that "the play lived in my mind for 37 years" before assuming its present form. It is in short, a splendid culmination of his creative intelligence. As stated earlier, the story is so obscure that none gives a second thought to it, and to translate the same to a play requires immense skill, which is evidenced by the book. It only shows that with each of his play, Girish Karnad is only getting better.

A must read!

This is probably different from other book reviews because I have read the play, and seen an excellent theater production of it too. It is the combined effect of the two that remains in my mind; during both phases the experience was gripping and the effects linger even today.

I have waited for a long time for Girish Karnad to return to his roots in theater, after his sojourn in the world of cinema and commercial movie making. In my opinion, he has exceeded all expectations. The Fire and the Rain is a complex play that weaves contemperory and ancient, Indian and European themes and metaphors.

It is a must read (and perform) GrecoVedic tragedy for theater buffs of all cultures around the world. It is so insightful in its observation of fundamental human behavior, and theatrically so malleable that its relevance to local contexts and audiences, worldwide, will be obvious. It is truly a play for global audiences, transcending political, cultural, and geographic boundaries.

I haven't read a better book in recent times. It's another great piece of work from a person so talented. A must read.

Girish Karnad is, first and foremost, a playwright, that too a playwright in Kannada. Since he has tranlated many of his plays into English, he has achieved world wide fame. The book under review includes nearly thirty essays written on different occasions and published previously. Some of them are new. The book provides biographical, bibliographical and crtical studies about the playwright and his plays. His major play "Tughlaq" continues occupy more space than any other play. Recent plays like "The Fire and the Rain" and "The Dreams of Tippu Sultan" have not been discussed. For the breadth of discussion and information, "The Plays of Girish Karnad" will be useful to research scholars, teachers and students of Indian Drama.

This is not a review, but your correction form lacked an "editorial review" section. It is "Badal Sircar," not "Babal."

Hilary H.

"Talâe-daònòda" (prounounced "THALE DANDA--the "d" as in dog)is a word from Kannada, a South Indian Language, which literally means, "Head Price/Tax." The play is set in the 13-14th century Karnataka where the political situation is in a state of turmoil.

The plot relates to the saint-poet-philosopher-minister, Basvanna, his life and times.

Talâe-daònòda, keeps in tradition with Karnad's selection of plots--from popular Indian folklore as in "Nagamandala," mythology, as in "Yayati and Agni Mattu Male (translated as "The Fire and the Rain" in English)or socio-political themes as in "Tughlaq" and the present play.

In essence, Talâe-daònòda captures the entire history, especially the later part of Basvanna's life in a play, which is something remarkable, as there are countless books and theses written on Basvanna.

Specifically, Talâe-daònòda depicts the struggle of one man for social reformation--this is just the surface. A deeper look into the play provides immense food for thought what with tales interwoven into the play, and how the destiny of a society is swayed by whims of a few.

Talâe-daònòda brings out the intricate complexities of a social order prevailing during that period, when the caste system was at its rigid worst.

The best part, I feel about Talâe-daònòda is its pre-climax(which incidentally is powerful in all Karnad's plays)when the protoganist faces moral dilemma. Karnad has pictured it with depth, that each reading furnishes new meanings, and new possibilities.

Though not on the scale of Tughlaq, Talâe-daònòda is based on a theme which is very relevant to present day Indian caste-communal based politics, coming especially in the wake of the Babri Masjid riots.