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Bakul: 'Oh! I am sitting properly' …(silence for sometime) last night I dreamt … near the ghat … at the very spot we were getting married … after marriage……..
Shefali: (with mocking anger) from there we get on to a Jeep … moving all over the city we announce through loud speakers - 'Ladies and gentlemen vote for us' … (disturbed, her voice becomes louder) you are standing above me saying 'vote for Dikshit, vote for …' People on either side of the road are moving towards their destinations. You want to draw their attention so you stop at one of the crossroads and say, 'ladies and gentlemen for a bright future vote for us … today it is this Harijan girl that is telling you. I just married her. (Louder) upliftment of the Harijans is as important as eliminating poverty. (Bakul is agitated) whatever efforts we made so far are not enough … (Bakul covers his ears and hangs his head) when I realized that all efforts towards the upliftment of the untouchables were in vain in a moment of desperation I first fell in love with this woman, then I married her, so ladies and gentlemen now all of you will cast your valuable votes in our favour'. This was your dream, wasn't it?

(Seetha 2005: 224-225.LS)

It is at this point of refusal to be a victim of exploitation for self gain, that the two voices are heard, one that of Shefali's mother and the other that of an astrologer. The mother as one who is weak and is willing to accept anything that is offered to her; if only to improve her family's social position; and the astrologer who went through the process of purgation when he was able to constrain himself from committing suicide on the banks of Yamuna, thus emerging a strong man. The astrologer is now able to give strength and conviction not only to him but also to others who come to him for help. It is when Shefali is struggling with the powers of love and of her own convictions that the people are speaking to her. She has to now choose whether she would be "consumed by life or would consume life". Her mother tries to convince her to compromise and accept the situation. Her only concern is a comfortable life devoid of 'self'. She is projected as one who has no courage to fight for recognition or acceptance. Her only concern is to get her three daughters married. She is unable to understand Shefali's rigid attitude towards society. Shefali's mother has no identity of her own. She is merely a mother figure, socially committed, only recognizes her duty towards the outward world. She is unable to perceive the struggle within Shefali, a struggle to assert an identity of her own, an identity that belongs to the mainstream. Shefali refuses to be marginalized.

Shefali has been meeting Bakul on the banks of the river Yamuna. On the ghat next to where they used to meet, is the astrologer. The play in fact opens, showing first the astrologer, Acharya Manan Dev in a typical atmosphere. He has all his paraphernalia displayed around him, a mat spread out, a bird in a cage, people consulting him and a little boy running errands for him. Why does he choose the banks of the river? Why is he not on the streets where there could be more people? He has reasons. He has a purpose. He feels that people in the streets merely want to know how better their life could be but people here on the ghat come to a point of desperation, a moment of crisis, when life's problems demand (re)solutions, they are forced to chose between life and death; so he could guide them to life and a better one too. He plays the role of an opposing force as against the weak assertion of Shefali's mother. He becomes a symbol of power, a mysterious power. However he reveals his true self only to Shefali, like Lord Krishna revealing his self to Arjuna on the battlefield. Like Arjuna, Shefali finds herself fighting her own people, her love and the rigid, divisive and exploitative forces in society. She refuses to become a pawn in the gamble played by politicians. The astrologer constantly uses poetry and song to infuse strength in Shefali.

Kick it off, hurt not thyself!
Impediments in your path we shall not be!
Whatever you wish to be..
You can be, but never a coward be!
(Manan forgets. Geru continues alone)
Suppress how long can be the laughter of peace!
What is this life to give and take!
Shall we not do? Or shall we strive?
Peans of one's own joy!
Whatever you wish to be…
You can be, but never a coward be!
(Manan recollects the poem and joins Geru)
Either win with the power of love
Or let the smuggler kiss your feet
Revenge is also a weakness
But cowardice is more vicious
(loudly) Whatever you wish to be..
You can be, but never a coward be!

(Seetha 2005:198-199. LS)

He sees poetry as the ultimate truth and astrology as falsehood or rather maya. The rhythm and pattern of words in poetry extend the power of expression. So we find in this play another dimension added in the structural pattern. A shift in the mode of translation is evident in that it moves from a realistic dialogue form to a symbolic poetic expression. Poetry is considered as the only reality. If poetry is seen as creativity at the levels of imagination, how could it be reality? Bhartrhari states that language gains its meaning only when it transcends language. Reality begins only when language ends. Translation of the dialogue is close to the speech patterns, "the uttered or fully sequenced speech" which can be placed at the level of Vaikari Vak.

Translations of poetry and song need a different approach wherein the rhythmic, metaphorical and idiomatic uses of language take the translator into the realms of imagination. The most difficult task is the translation of a song with its melody and music. To capture the cadence of music in translation is like the photographer in Listen Shefali who is taking the pictures of a group of singers. He wants them to sing and sing aloud. When asked why he expects them to sing aloud as he would not be able to capture the music, he replies that he would be able to capture different postures of their head and mouth.

Photographer: (To the singers) start, start singing…. I'm coming.
Dikshit: (Startled) why are you making them sing aloud? … That won't come in the photograph.
Photographer: Maza aata hai! I enjoy keertan sounds. If they don't sing so loud, how will I get the uneven expression of the faces on my film? Some with closed lips and some with open mouths. I like that.

(Seetha 2005: LS. 202)

Thus translating music and poetry is at the level of madhyama vak wherein thought and intuition are captured. There are four levels of expression, according to the philosophy of Nyaya Sastra wherein the surface value of speech, the speech act itself is called Vaikhari; a subtler level of speech, the level of thought, is called Madhyama; the sublest value of speech is called Pasyanthi and the transcendental level of speech on the level of pure consciousness is called Para which is the level of bliss.

Suno Shefali, therefore, is an appeal not merely to the sense of hearing but beyond. It is a call to the inner self, a call of awakening. Shefali's mother with her mere practical approach to life uses intensive dialogue form a level of vaikhari vak. Manan dev Acharya, the astrologer as the name suggests dwells at the level of thought or chintan and therefore could be related to the madhyama vak. At the end of the play when he says listen Shefali, Shefali is standing with her eyes closed. Manan says nothing; yet a statement is heard from behind the curtains. This statement is at the level of pasyanthi vak "an apparently imitative intuition" wherein "sequencing is present only as a pregnant force". It could be Shefali's ability now to hear beyond the word or Manan's attempt to communicate his thoughts without really saying them to someone on the same wavelength, or it could be a statement of reaction on the part of the reader/audience. Just as a writer has an identity by way of his/her culture, language and style, so does the speaker in a play. A statement heard without the mention of the speaker leaves the statement open to a wide interpretation and multiple reading. This is a statement that is merely heard without any mention of the speaker. We hear 'thus written are the chronicles of the brave.' However this last line could evoke other similar conclusions like, 'thus made are the statements of the power-hungry' 'thus exploited are the ignorant' and so forth. As the open ending of the play suggests various possibilities, so does a work of art in the process of transference from an idea to a text to an interpretation and an idea thus formulated again could suggest a cyclic process which though not reaching the same point but forming a spring pattern, sends forth ripples of consciousness with the text as focus.

Names of the characters gain special significance in understanding the play which could be missed in translation. As already suggested Manan signifies thought processes, the little boy Geru, meaning red-coloured mud found in quarries, running errands adds colour to the staid, serious and thoughtful attitude of Manan. The child in him and the innocence he represents becomes the link between Manan's sub-conscious and the conscious world around. Manan and Geru can be identified as a Sutradhar/Sthapaka and Vidushaka. If Manan introduces and holds the strings of action together, Geru adds a note of lighthearted element to the action. Shefali is a tree, bearing blue-coloured fragrant flowers. Blue coloured flowers are considered a special offering to Lord Shiva, the lord of destruction. Thus the Shiva temple in the play gains added significance. Kiran is married to Bakul in this very temple. Bakul is a small brown-coloured flower dear to Lord Krishna. Bakul walks away with Kiran, literally 'the sunray', thus causing darkness in Shefali's life. However, the silent presence of Manan is a ray of hope. The ghat on the riverside is symbolic of life and death, joy and sorrow, construction and destruction of flow and stasis. Listen Shefali is therefore not an idealization of life (of itihasa) like in Ramayana wherein the characters are presented as embodiments of perfection, but a down-to-earth practical approach to life with its struggle and strife like in The Mahabharata. It is on the battlefield of Kurukshetra that thought (Lord Krishna's Geetopadesha) is translated into action (Arjuna's).

Translating Suno Shefali is therefore a reaching forth of not merely the author/translator but also the characters in the play that become symbolic of the modern predicament of class, caste and gender struggle. Empowerment lies in recapturing by way of imagination the thematic and linguistic reconstruction of kutch bhi ban par kaayar math ban! "become anything but not a coward"

REFERENCES

Bonshek, Anna (2000) Mirror of Consciousness: Art, Creativity and Veda Delhi:  Motilal Banarasidas

Bronkhorst, Bhate Saroja Johannes (Ed.) (1993) Bhartrhari: Philosopher and Grammarian Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas

Devy.G.N. (1998) Translation Theory: An Indian Perspective in Tutun Mukherjee  (Ed.). Translation from Periphery to Centrestage New Delhi: Prestige.

Ganguli, Usha Antaryatra Tutun Mukherjee (Trans.) (2005) The Journey Within in  Staging Resistance: Plays by Women in Translation Delhi: OUP

Harold Coward, (1990) Derrida and Indian Philosophy New York: State University of   New York Press.

James MacDonald, (1998) Adaptation and the Drama Student in Christopher McCullough  (Ed.) Theatre Praxis: Teaching Drama Through Practice New York: ST  MARTINS PRESS, INC.

Keith. A. Berriedale, (1992) The Sanskrit Drama: In its Origin, Development, Theory and Practice. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas.

Kumar, Kusum, Suno Shefali, Seetha B. T (Trans.). (2005) Listen Shefali in Tutun Mukherjee (Ed.) Staging Resistance: Plays by Women in Translation. Delhi: OUP.

Matilal, Bimal Krishna (2001) The Word and the World: India's Contribution to the  Study of Language Delhi. OUP.

Wolf, Michaela, (2000) Culture as Translation - and Beyond: Ethnographic Models  of representation in Translation Studies, Austria: Department for Translation and  Interpretation, University of Granz. January 2003  <www.art.man.ac.uk/SML/ctis/events/Conference2000/ideology1.htm>

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