Contemporary Relevance of Social Issues: A Study of Mahesh Dattani’s Dance Like a Man

Pages:144-147
Deepak Raj (Department of English, G. S. S. S., Gudiakhera)

Indian writing in English has its sharp awareness of the social context as its distinctive feature. The writers’ pre-occupation with social problems and their concern for social change have become more pronounced and unmistakable in the post-independence period. The writers today feel that they have a responsibility towards the society they live in. They just cannot afford to be apathetic towards the burning problems around them. The main thematic pre-occupation of the Indian writing in English, is portrayal of wide spread social evils and tensions. It is an examination of the survival of the past traditions and their relevance in the present, exploration of the devastating culture of the educated middle class. The social, political and economic inequalities, communal hatred and gender discrimination are frequently taken up by the modern Indian playwrights in English. We find that the modern writers in Indian Writing in English are fully conscious of these dichotomies of modern life which have been generated by the process of industrialization and modernization in the contemporary world. Contemporary Indian drama offers us a wide spectrum of life where playwright like Mahesh Dattani has shown a special penchant for the study of man and his social environment. In his dramas man seems to be a child of his own milieu and as a prisoner of society around him. Hence man in relation to the social institutions like family and society seems to be the focal point of their plays.