Rajput queens in history are portrayed as subservient to the concept of honour, that leads them to commit jauhar rather than be disgraced by conquerors of their fathers or husband's kingdoms, and be glorified for their purity. The men, of course, fought bravely at the battlefield, and often lost their lives, and then the wives were expected to commit sati.
There must have been exceptions to songs of the folk balladeers, and Queen Durga is one such, in Aditya Rawal's play, THE QUEEN, directed by Daniel D'Souza.
Set in 1567 in the fictional kingdom of Banasvan, Durga (Puja Sarup) has been discarded for a younger woman, her giving the king a male heir having had no effect on him. It was common for royals to have multiple wives, but she has been unable to bear the humiliation. She spends her days alone in her chamber, drinking and gossiping with her maid, Laila (Sharvari Deshpande). Her son, Prince Veer (Rohit Mehra) is affectionate but also withdrawing from her to seek his own future.
Then, one day King Amar (Mukul Chadda) comes by and asks her to accompany him to a banquet in honour of another king, who might help in saving the kingdom from annexation by Emperor Akbar and the Mughal army. The visitor, supposedly admires Durga's beauty and intelligence, and Amar has given a thought to letting him bed his wife, if it comes to that At the time, how could a king from a rival kingdom have had contact with Durga, and how likely was it, in a purdah-bound conservative society to have a queen attend a banquet in the presence of men?
If that is accepted as the playwright's imagination, then what comes across through the play is the injustice done to women in feudal societies. A woman who is capable of advising her husband in private, has no control over her life if the king abandons her. He still retains the right, however, to exert his husbandly authority, without offering her the respect and love she craves. This could happen in modern families too, with, perhaps, different consequences.
Durga is against capituating to the Mughals, while Amar wants to protect the kingdom and his people from annihilation by a superior force. The idea of honour looks quite different to her than it does to the opportunist king, and eventually, Durga has to do what she believes is right. From the petulant, slightly ridiculous figure, she is transformed to a woman who takes change (inspired by Lady Macbeth) and damn the consequences.
Puja Sarup plays Durga more like a spoiled teenager than scorned queen, and other performances could do with some improvement too, but there are interesting ideas explored here, about the demands made on women in a male dominated society, and also on menâ€"Veer is sensitive, which his father considers akin to weakness. The unseen second queen is as much a victim of an unequal society as Durga.
Deepa Gahlot is a journalist, columnist, author and curator. Some of her writings are on deepagahlot.com
