16. MATSYAGANDHI - M. SAJITHA (DEGREE I YEAR OU SYLLABUS)

(DEGREE I YEAR OU SYLLABUS)

16. MATSYAGANDHI

- M. SAJITHA

INTRODUCTION:-

Matsyagandhi was written by “M. Sajitha”, has been active in the Malayalam (Kerala) theatre and feminist. She was one of the Abhinethri (actress), the first women’s theatre group in Kerala. Matsyagandhi is one-act play about the travails, problem and challenges of the fishing community in the age of globalizations. The play Wright portrays the lives of the fishermen, their problems at sea, challenges at the fish market and threats and they have to face the mechanized fishing motor boats and trawler nets in the backdrop of globalization.

EXPLANATION:-

The one-act-play “matsyagandhi” deals with the plight of the lives of fishermen. Fishing is the big trade many poor people eke out their livelihood on it. Their lives are prone to tension and fear as a natural calamity such as cyclone will drag them to the roads, sometimes.

The writer portrays the hardships of the fisherman’s lives, their conventional ways of fishing and the financial difficulties faced by them because of modern changes in it. The story is a dramatic monologue. A fisher woman enacts on the stage and narrates her hardships to the audience. Their problems are compared to the stench of the fish.

The scene shifts from one place to the other. The sea shore, harbout, boats, market and ships find description in the one-act play. The advancement in fishing gives way to the rise of commercial boats and ships. The fisherman who eke out their living on the conventional mode of fishing can’t digest the changes, they undergo financial difficulties.

Urbanization led to establishment of colonies and construction of house. Manu ponds and lakes have disappeared in town and cities giving place to houses. The disappearance of water had affected fishing community. There came a lot of change in the lives of the fisherman with the advent of motor boats. They led a peaceful life. Though they were poor, they were happy and peaceful. The woman feels happy with the news of harbor. She hopes that the people on the shore will get jobs at the harbor and at the big hotels.

The women stands at the shore and recollects her memories with her mother. She makes a comparison between their present lif es and past lives. Their source of income is uncertain. Sometimes they are forced to bear the stench of the unsold fish. When the price falls down their financial difficulties increase.    Sometimes the woman is seen at market place. She explains the hardships faced by her at the place. They are affected by the arrival of trawler boats and foreign vessels. There are many instances of fisherman being killed by the rage of th sea. The tittle of the play “Matsyagandhi” is based on Satyavathi who was the adopted daughter of a fisherman. She earned reputation as a holy woman whose son, Vyasa was fathered by a wandering sage, Parashara. Since she has the smell of fish she is known as Matisya Gandhi. There is an element of irony in the story as the pathetic lives of the fisherman don’t match with Satyavanthi’s life in the original story. Their lives are tragic.