“Tara,” a play written by renowned Indian director and writer Mahesh Dattani, was written in 1990 and originally published in 1995. The story of “Tara” is set in Mumbai and London. The play was awarded the Sahitya Kala Puraskar in 2000.
Tara By Mahesh Dattani
Tara By Mahesh Dattani Characters
Tara : Tara is our protagonist of Drama who is a victim of gender discrimination and inequality in male dominating Indian society.
Chandan : A conjoined twin brother of Tara and a son of Mr Patel and Bharti.
Mr. Patel : A father of Tara who favours Chandan as compared to Tara.
Bharti : A loving mother of Tara who loves her with all her heart.
Roopa : A good friend and neighbour of Tara.
Dr Thakkar : Dr. Thakkar is a doctor who suggested Tara’s parents to separate Tara and Chadan as they were conjoined when they were born.
Summary of Tara By Mahesh Dattani
The story of the play begins with Tara’s mother, Bharti, and father, Mr. Patel, who had a love marriage. Mr. Patel came from a Gujarati family, and his family was against his relationship with Bharti. Because Mr. Patel loved Bharti, he went against his family’s wishes and married her. Mr. Patel moved into Bharti’s home and lived with her family.
Eventually, he became financially dependent on Bharti’s father, a powerful politician in the state of Karnataka. Some time later, when Bharti became pregnant, she gave birth to twins whose lower bodies were fused together and had only three legs instead of four.
Two legs were attached to Tara’s body, while one leg was attached to Chandan’s body. However, Bharti’s husband and father decided to give Chandan two legs because he was a boy. Dr. Thakkar opposed their decision because the middle leg was more suitable for Tara’s body, but he coerced her into doing so by luring her with land. As Tara grew up, she became very weak. Therefore, Tara had to depend on others for even the smallest things.
On the other hand, we have Chandan, who was given two legs, one of which technically belongs to Tara. Just two days after the operation, Chandan loses his other leg because it wasn’t meant for his body. Due to so many operations and surgeries, Tara loses her life. After Tara’s death, Chandan moves from India to London where he becomes a writer. He also changes his name from Chandan to Dan because he regrets his sister’s death, even though it wasn’t his fault.
Six years after Tara’s death, Dan, now a writer, decides to write a story about his sister “Tara.” He calls his story “Twinkling Tara.” Through “Twinkling Tara,” Dan tells us the story of his family, and especially his sister.
The story of Twinkling Tara begins in Mumbai. It’s morning time, and Chandan and Tara are playing a game of cards. Tara, a smart girl, easily defeats her brother Chandan at the game. After losing the game to Tara, Chandan begins to tease his sister in a friendly manner. Bharti returns from her puja and finds that Tara hasn’t finished her milk yet.
Bharti sits next to Tara and begins to lovingly feed her. While Bharti is feeding Tara, Mr. Patel arrives and asks Chandan to accompany him to the office. Chandan replies to his father that he has no interest in accompanying her. He suggests that his father bring Tara to his office because she is very intelligent and will definitely help him grow his business.
Mr. Patel initially scolds Chandan in front of Bharti and Tara, but later agrees to take Tara to his office because Chandan is unwilling to go to office without his sister Tara. The story then shifts to Rupa, who begins to mock Tara and Chandan. To distract herself, Rupa goes to Tara’s house and starts talking to her.
Mrs. Bharti arrives, takes Rupa aside, and requests her to befriend her daughter Tara. Rupa tells them that she can’t be Tara’s friend because she already has two best friends named Prema and Nalini. Later, Bharti bribes Rupa to become her daughter’s friend. So, finally, Rupa agrees to be Tara’s friend.
One day, Chandan was sewing with his mother when Mr. Patel came into the room and saw Chandan sewing. Mr. Patel became very angry and scolded Chandan for doing women’s work. He also yelled at his wife, Bharti. At that moment, Tara came in and asked her father about Chandan. Mr. Patel told Tara that Chandan was going abroad soon to complete his graduation. Mrs. Bharti then asked Tara what happened. She asked about Tara’s future plans.
While Bharti and Mr. Patel were arguing, Tara fainted and fell to the floor. Mr. Patel and Bharti immediately took her to the hospital. At the hospital, Bharti learned that Tara was suffering from a serious kidney problem. Bharti decided to donate her kidney to save Tara’s life.
Later, Tara underwent surgery and received a kidney from her mother. During this time, Bharti suffered a nervous breakdown due to extreme stress and was hospitalized. When Tara returned home after the operation, Mr. Patel informed her that her mother had suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized.
Tara begged her father to let her see her, but he refused. Hearing this, Tara became deeply saddened. Frustrated, Tara decided not to undergo physiotherapy or attend college. Hearing Tara’s decision, Chandan also decided not to go to college without his sister.
One day, Tara, Rupa, and Chandan were watching a movie together. As the movie ended, they began discussing the character Sophie. They were wondering whether Sophie would sacrifice her daughter or her son. Rupa teased Chandan and Tara by saying that if she were Sophie, she would sacrifice her daughter like the Patels. Tara becomes very angry at Rupa’s remark and tells her to go back home.
Afterward, she asks Chandan why his parents are wasting so much money on him. He further explains that he wants nothing in life but to see his mother, nothing more. One day, Tara leaves her physiotherapy and goes to the hospital to visit her mother. There, she meets her father, who tells her the truth about her birth and how she and her brother were born. How they pressured the doctor to implant her brother’s leg. Meanwhile, while Chandan was writing Twinkling Tara, he received a call from his father, who told him about his mother, who is no longer in this world.
Amazon Link : Tara By Mahesh Dattani
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