Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By O P Modi
This is a couplet written by some anonymous American about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New.....more

New Credit Policy

By Umashankar Phadnis
Shedding all the conservative in hibitions of a central banker in troubled times, The RBI Governor, Dr. Bimal Jalan, has decided to cut fund costs sharply in a bid to coax the economy to regain momentum. Not for him .....more

Vijay Tendulkar :
Born with theatre

By Ashok K. Choudhury
Vijay Tendulkar, an icon of the country’s vernacular theatre, has been chosen for the second ‘Katha Chudamani Award’ for the year 2001 by ....more

EDITORIAL

Home they bring

When the American strikes on the Taliban began, nobody had thought that the first casualities to be reported wide from the Taliban strongholds would those of Pakistani nationals. The talk of body bags always conjured up images of American soldiers being killed in operations there. There was also high alarm that the start of the arrival of body bags would be a determinative factor in shaping up the American popular opinions in America, which might lead to a turnabout in the actual proceedings of the war. Pakistani nationals succumbing to the bombings and being brought home, all sewn up in bags, was not an easily imaginable scenario. Yet, it is surprising that the eventuality was not visualized. As the original prompter, promoter of and participator in the terrorist activities, Pak nationals should have been expected to be killed all around. Perhaps the US propaganda that Pakistan was the 'front fighter' in the 'war on terrorism' caught the world in its wrap so well that its role in the whole game got conveniently camouflaged. But then can you ever escape the fruit of your karma? The results of your actions would always haunt your wake, says the Gita. How Pakistan is witnessing those truisms in slow replay!

They saw it in Kargil. They see it in the 'battlefield' they have turned the once peaceful Valley of Kashmir into; they see it daily in the high mountains of Jammu as the security men and the people rise to better them out. They rarely acknowledge it, however. Pakistan refused to accept the body bags from Kargil, and many of the soldiers fighting for their evil causes had to be buried here. They never accept the ones from the State who are invariably buried as unclaimed bodies. To escape its being found out head over heals in the game of terrorism. Pakistan has invariably refused to acknowledge the return parcels of the men it sends out to wage unholy wars as a well meditated plan. Though the world easily sees through this ploy, it has generally helped Pakistan in wriggling out of any diplomatic cornering on the count. At times, it has also 'helped' its fond 'allies' in maintaining a straight face about the involvement of Pakistan in acts of high terrorism.

In line with that plan they even refused to accept the newest body bags, now coming from their beloved Afghanistan initially, but had finally to accept them, probably, under popular pressure. Or was it because the US was involved? Indeed, the double standards of the American strategy are coming to light quite fast in this war on terrorism. Half a century ago, the WW II had given the lie to the British assertion that she was fighting a 'war for freedom' when it was widely shown that the Empire was the major trampler of right to freedom of peoples all over the globe. Though it did silence the initial plain speak of Eisenhower, especially the one about the Indian subjugation, the UK had finally to accept the unrelenting logic of that charge and the illogic of its practices. American here is faced with a like contradiction. Its 'ally' in the war on terrorism is the first suspect here. It is inconveniently the first one to have its nationals hit there. Fighting Pakistani terrorists with the Pak aid and assistance from the bases in Pakistan may be a good strategy but it is bad in logic and truth. It is an inconsistency in the American stand that it must correct sooner or later. And, sooner it does the better it would be for the Americans as well as the world, which is geared up for a total war on terrorism, not avenging the American wrongs alone.

Fiscal discipline

The Union Finance Minister has again pointed out that the country needs to get realistic on the front of economic reforms if it aims to garner the benefits of the market economy. And, rightly so. India as he says, was the last major country in the world to embark on the market economy. Though China has been only recently admitted to the new world trading regime, she has been practicing the principles of the capitalist economy for the last twenty years. Yet Marxist ideologues, politicians and economists -- they are all of one shade and slant, there - in this country continue to confuse the people and the industry about the role and relevance of the protectionism, conveniently forgetting that this last bastion of communism adopted the policies of capitalist economy when Soviet Union was alive and kicking. Deng's Modernizations are capitalism in its most brazen form. The practices that they have been following would shame even the most heartless capitalist. For one he would not have a heart, or the ability, to underpay his workers and undersell the goods in single-minded pursuit to earn dollars. Yet that is what the Chinese have been doing. And thereby, subjecting the Indian and other economies to the devil of dumping. The industrialists here would not be allowed to lay off millions of workers without even as much as a 'thank you', as they are doing there in China.

Back in India, people who still are enamoured of the Chinese revolution would not allow the inclusion of the 'exit' clause to enable the industry to trim its labour force. Of course, touching the PSUs is high sacrilege here. The nation must keep paying for inefficiency and corruption, it must continue supporting these white elephants whether in road-transport, power or heavy industry, even when the undertaking have lost all meaning, social and economical. The hula-hoo whipped up in the wake of the Starlite sale is just one instance. There are hundreds of these white elephants riding on the backs of the State and Central Governments and eating into the hard resources. In fact, the whole liberalization debate is being resurrected through backdoors here, for purely political, thoroughly uneconomical reasons. To qote the Finance Minister again, ten years after the liberalization we are still debating the pros and cons when we should have been doing some hard economic thinking. And taking some apt decisions. On PSUs for one. On subsidies for another. On instituting labour laws for a third. And many more to reorient the nation towards growth. That fiscal disciplining in of the whole mindsets is well nigh needed.

Will America be the same again?

By O P Modi

This is a couplet written by some anonymous American about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York:

Not all of us lost a loved one,
however we all did lose our faith
that nothing as horrific could happen here,
this land is Free ........or so we thought.

Psychologists tell us that when some one is struck with a tragedy his or her first reaction is that of shock which is followed by anger. As the time passes the anger is replaced by sorrow. In due course the sorrow may pass into either nagging fear or one may return to normal state of mind. Nations too behave like individuals.

The unthinkable attack on the twin towers of World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, on 11th September, shocked the American nation beyond words. While those who were directly hit by the tragedy may not have recovered as yet, the American people on the whole, having overcome the shock, are presently passing through the period of intense anger against the terrorists. 90 percent of the population is reported to be supporting president George Bush’s orders to attack Afghanistan. Revenge is the buzz-word of the people of USA currently.

As the fear of another horrible attack by the terrorist has started replacing nation’s anger and sorrow, the day to day life of an American has been dramatically affected. Gone are the days when people, throughout the length and breadth of the continent, fearlessly traveled by air, not only as the fastest means to reach their destination but also as an opportunity to relax and enjoy the journey. With strictest ever security checks and other hassles before boarding the air planes and the presence of the Sky Marshals, uneasy feelings and fear of possible hijacking of the plane have taken away all the joys of the air travel. Prior to the attack everyone in the United States preferred traveling by air and the journeys by trains and buses were not much in vogue. From New York alone 2500 flights used to take off daily. However within days of the attack over 1.5 lakh airlines workers lost their jobs as their employers started incurring huge losses on account of 30 to 40 percent fall in the passenger bookings.

Though no one can say, for sure, as to what the nature of the next terrorist attack on the American main land might be, every one is talking of its probability in one form or the other; more so as a retaliation against the attacks on Afghanistan. A number of confirmed cases of the deadly disease anthrax, in Florida, and in New York, amid reports of many more suspected cases in other cities, are believed by many Americans as a biological attack on their homeland. This has been voiced by Vice President Dick Cheney as also some experts.

The administration has warned the people to be cautious while handling suspicious looking objects such as envelops or parcels and in case of doubt to contact police immediately. Even the slightest disturbance created by any passenger on board, which in normal times would have passed off as trivial, results into planes being escorted by fighters and diverted to the nearest airport for immediate landing and investigation by the FBI. In one incident white powder found on the floor caused so much fear that the plane was immediately made to land and investigation was started for possible anthrax attack. With post offices in America handling 68 crore letters and other mail daily one can well imagine the extent of scare that the envelops and parcels are causing. In many post offices in the country the postal staff is afraid of entering the post offices. The air spray of pesticides etc. was suspended because it was feared that the terrorists might get hold of aircrafts and spray poisonous chemicals on the crops.

In India, during the past two decades, we have suffered huge loss of human life as a result of surprise attacks by the terrorists. Besides car bombs there have been attacks by parcel bombs, letter bombs and through innocent looking objects like children’s toys, abandoned suitcases, transistors, tiffin carriers etc.. Touching these items, by unsuspecting persons, have resulted in explosions causing deaths and injuries. In many cases RDX is placed in the baskets of cycles or under the seats of buses or trains, which are exploded by remote control devices and timers fitted in innocent looking objects. Acts of this kind taking place in America too cannot be ruled out. Even busting of dams and poisoning of water supply system, or pushing of poisonous gas through the air-conditioning ducts and sabotage through underground tunnels are the possibilities which will have to be guarded against by all the countries.

The ill effect of the terrorist acts that have already taken place or those of which the people have become apprehensive, has started taking its toll. Psychiatrists in the United States have reported manifold increase, in the number of patients consulting them for depression and sleeplessness after the 11th September attack. It is reported that the sexual activities have increased; possibly due to fear of an uncertain future. The chemists have reported huge rush for Ciprofloxin and gas masks as a result of anthrax attack. In September 1995 we too experienced large scale panic resulting from rumours of plague epidemic starting from Surat. Unprecedented rush for masks and antibiotics was reported from all the cities of Gujrat. There was mass exodus from some localities that were thought to be infested by the disease spreading rats. It was rumoured that Pakistan’s ISI had attacked the country with rats infected by plague. The fear of impending threat of attacks by the terrorist, anywhere and at any time, is naturally bound to affect the daily life of the people in any country.

Massive demonstrations by Muslims around the world, denouncing the attack, underline the growing opposition to the American’s reprisal plan in Afghanistan. Talibans have pooh-poohed President Bush’s offers, to stop the air raids, if Osma-bin-Laden is handed over by them. Continued military action by the United States, involving greater civilian causalities, is bound to further alienate the Muslim world from the West. Thoroughly brainwashed Jihadis, coming out of thousands of madarsas in Pakistan and Afghanistan, will spare no opportunity to strike terror in Europe and America. India too will continue to remain on their hit list.

Capturing Osmana-bin-Laden "dead or alive" would not mean the end of war against terrorism. Even the defeat of the Talibans and installing of a so called friendly government in Afghanistan will not bring back peace. The cult of terrorism is so wide spread and so deeply ingrained, among its followers, that not to speak of America, the menace will rock the whole world for years to come. But for the Americans the days ahead are going to be of great anxiety. Even prior to the attack the country was facing economic depression. With large number of employees being retrenched and the exports, particularly that of arms to the third world being made selective, the industrial growth is bound to be hit hard in the US.

United States is a multicultural, multiethnic and multi-religious country where every one of its citizens enjoys equality and freedom. But after the 11th September attack the immigrant communities, particularly those from Pakistan and the Arab world, are being subjected to harassment and scorn by the whites. In days to come the suspicion against the immigrants is bound to grow. The result of all this is going to be mutual distrust between the employer and the employees which will adversely affect the economy of the country.

The Bush administration will have to reshape its foreign policy. The present policy is laced with arrogance of power. The power of which the administration is proud comes from sophisticated killing machines which America has developed over the years. On the other hand Osma-bin-Laden and his followers believe in the power of their hatred for other people’s faith. Osama’s suicide squads destroyed the World Trade Centre and partly smashed the Pentagon, killing thousands. In retaliation the USA has destroyed already ravaged cities of Afghanistan and killed hundreds. Seeds of hatred were sown long before resulting into the present conflict. One day the world will have to return to a permanent peace. America being the super-power it devolves upon the leaders of that country to lead the world to that peace.

New Credit Policy

By Umashankar Phadnis

Shedding all the conservative in hibitions of a central banker in troubled times, The RBI Governor, Dr. Bimal Jalan, has decided to cut fund costs sharply in a bid to coax the economy to regain momentum. Not for him anymore the rather strange logic of making the Midterm Review of Monetary and Credit Policy a non-event. Staring at the array of domestic and external uncertainties, the RBI has wised up to marking down the Bank Rate to 6.5 per cent from 7 per cent and the CRR from 7.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent in two stages, however tenuous or strong the links between interest rates and economic growth. With GDP growth estimates for the current year notched down from 6-6.5 per cent to 5-6 per cent, the RBI has taken upon itself the tough task of bringing up capital investment at a time when the capital goods sector output in April-August 2001 is down 8 per cent over that a year ago. The environment is just right for the RBI to take the risk: Inflation is down, current account deficit is expected to be well below 2 per cent of GDP, and forex reserves are up from $ 34.9 billion a year ago to $ 45.1 billion.

The Credit Policy's anxiety to make lending easier is also evident in the changes effected in the loan system with banks given the freedom to raise the cash credit component in working capital loan to over 20 per cent if they so desire. At the same time, the RBI has at last decided to be firm on private placement, a suspect area with none sure of the final destination of the funds taken by public and private sector outfits. Effective October 31, banks and financial institutions can make fresh investments only in dematerialised bonds and debentures, privately placed or otherwise.

In the absence of an adequate fiscal impulse to promote growth, the additional liquidity provided may find itself used in undesirable avenues. But it must be said to the credit of the Governor that he has cautioned the banks against misapplication of the additional resources.

Dr. Jalan has made a reference to the decline in the global economic prospects, especially since September 11. He has also referred to the various measures the RBI took in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 events, saying that these measures have had the desired effect of moderating possible panic reactions. He notes, however, the paradox that while the financial markets are generally stable, liquidity is adequate and the interest rate environment favourable, so far, there has been no perceptible upturn in industrial output. This continues to be a matter of serious concern.

Turning to the foreign exchange situation, Dr. Jalan rightly takes credit for the sharp increase in reserves by nearly $10 billion from October 2000 to the current level of nearly $45 billion. He notes that India's sustained efforts to build an adequate level of foreign exchange reserves in the past few years have been fully vindicated.

He notes that the foreign exchange reserve management policy is reflected in the liquidity risks associated with the different types of flows, the size of the current account deficit, the size of short-term liabilities, the variability in portfolio investment and unanticipated pressures on the BoP arising out of possible external shocks. The present level of reserves can be no cause for complacency. The Governor's policy statement expresses concern that exports have not done well during the current year. In the first five months of the current financial year, India's exports stood at $17.1 billion, a decline of $2.3 billion over the corresponding previous period. There has, however, been a let-up in the BoP situation, due to the moderation of international oil prices.

The need for enhancement of exports is, however, imperative. As part of the RBI's efforts to provide support to exporters during the prevailing global uncertainty, it has advised a reduction in the ceiling on interest rate on rupee export credit by one percentage point across the board for six months.

The Governor, however, repeats the conventional wisdom of the central bank when he says that the effective interest costs on six-month export credit is only 3-4 per cent, assuming that the exporter takes forward cover - a view that may not be shared by exporters. Exporters generally feel they still have an uncompetitive credit structure. Dr. Jalan has promised a further look into this situation with the help of a NCAER survey.

On financial sector reforms, the policy statement proceeds on expected lines. Referring to the problems faced by the Urban Cooperative Banks, the Governor mentions that his proposals for transformation of a suitable supervisory structure to avoid the current implication of authority are under the Government's consideration. Similar is the situation regarding various other items of legal reform, proposals for which are at various stages of consideration by the Government. When will they ever see the light of day?

The Governor has not reacted to the incipient controversy whether the exchange rate is adequately competitive. The obvious implication is that the Governor will continue with the current policy of keeping the exchange rate under watch and will not allow it to fluctuate too sharply.

The statement devotes a good deal of space to the development of the government security market. Much of it concerns the development of negotiated dealing system and the coming into effect of the Clearing Corporation of India. In the last few years the RBI has, indeed, developed a sophisticated gilt market.

The announcement in the latest Credit Policy regarding further development of the government security market are in line with the steps taken by the central bank. The Governor indicates the possibility of further innovation in the form of expansion of retail participation. The details of the scheme are being finalised.The Credit Policy is, by and large, a pragmatic response to the situation the country faces. Given the impact of the international slowdown, there would be little more that the central bank by itself could have done.

The Governor has nudged the interest rate structure downwards, albeit as a token gesture. Dr Jalan's latest policy statement is a model of triumphant pragmatism.The RBI Governor has let sleeping dogs lie and rightly left the problem of stimulus to the more capable hands of the Government. The billion-dollar question, however, still remains: Will the Government undertake the task of fiscal stimulus adequately and competently? The Governor has done the necessary monetary easing. Over to Mr. Yashwant Sinha and his colleagues. INAV

Vijay Tendulkar : Born with theatre

By Ashok K. Choudhury

Vijay Tendulkar, an icon of the country’s vernacular theatre, has been chosen for the second ‘Katha Chudamani Award’ for the year 2001 by Katha, a leading organisation working in the field of education, translation and other forms of creative communication. ‘Katha Chudamani’ is awarded for a work of exceptional merit in literature. It is given to a writer of enduring excellence with a true empathy for, and an understanding of, life and living. The Award was initiated two years ago when Krishna Sobti got the recognition conferred on her by Dalai Lama. Receiving the award, Vijay Tendulkar says: I am happy but not excited. It is just one more award for me.’

Author, journalist, screenplay writer, Vijay Tendulkar was given the 3rd ‘Saraswati Sarmman’, by K. K. Birla Foundation in 1993 for his play Kanyadan (Giving a Daughter Away, 1983). A landmark in the development of dramatic writing, the play has socio cultural reality of contemporary relevance as its nucleus. It is a theatrical masterpiece in its presentation of emotional attachments and clashes between the oppressed and the higher classes. It raises some basic social and moral questions even as it depicts the intellectual confusions and defeat of a whole generation of progressive liberals in independent India,

Tendulkar unmasks and debunks the so-called radical Dalits who use cast as trump card playing the same old game of balancing hypocrisy and vested interests. He raises some extremely pertinent questions and which call for retrospective thinking about the means and goals of the Dalit movement and the uncomfortable relationship between the Savarn (higher class) and Avarn (oppressed) classes in the society.

Though the book received ‘Saraswati Samman’, it provoked, ‘chappal-throwing’ when the play was first staged in Marathi. Tendulkar says," As its creator, I respect both verdicts". Dwelling on his writing, he said that he could not have written anything else other than ‘What I wrote’. On the incident (of slippers being thrown at him), he said, perhaps it was the tale of the play to have earned both these honours ‘Saraswati Samman’ and that ‘chappal’.

The doyen of avant garde ‘Indian theatre’, Vijay Tendulkar, born in 1928, abandoned formal education in 1943. To join the freedom struggle. It was not really a well-thought out decision. What most people do not know is that he started working at the age of 15 in a bookshop, rising to the position of a proof reader and eventually managing a printing press.

Tendulkar soon switched over to journalism where he worked as an assistant editor in dailies like Navbharat, Maratha, and Loksatta. His stint as an editor of literary magazines like Deepavali and Vasudha fanned his creative urge which first expressed in a short story, ‘Amachyavar Kon Prem Karnar’ (Who Love Me), around 1948-49 in a Marathi magazine. Encouraged, launched himself as writer of short stories, later on moving to plays, film scripts and non -fiction. Of late, he has become a television serial maker. "Creative writing has never been my first love; my primary interest has always been life itself. I would rather play with a child or meet an interesting person or learn a new skill than write. Writing to me like talking and I am not the one to fall in love with my own voice. I am more interested in other people’s voice’, said Tendulkar, to whom theatre came naturally.

Tendulkar made his debut as a dramatist with Grihasta (house holder, 1955), a first full - length play, followed by ‘Shrikant’ catching the attention of the amateur Marathi theatre circuit. After these two plays, Tendulkar was first noticed for his shock value three years later, when he penned the play called Manus Navhache Bet (An Island Called Man, 1985). It was instantly hailed as a powerful expression of the existential against, and alienation of, an individual in a materialist world. With these three plays, written for struggling avant garde groups, Tendulkar came to acquire the reputation of a man of theatre, a writer who understood both the stage and its language requirements.

During a professional career spanning over 50 years, Tendulkar has written 27 full -length plays, 25 one -act plays and 16 plays for children, five anthologies of short stories, a biography, T.V. serials, 8 screenplays in Marathi and 11 in Hindi. However, the most critically acclaimed plays through which he has brought modernism to Marathi drama and stage are Shantats! Court Chalu Aahe, Ghasiram Kotwal, Gidhade, Kamala, Sakhram Binder etc.

Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (Silence, the Court is in Session) was written in 1963, for Rangayan, a theatre group. A pungent satire on middle class hypocrisy, political games of power and redundancy of values, the play won for him international acclaim and national recognition for the creative impetus to contemporary drama. He got national recognition in the form of the ‘Kamala Devi Chattopadhyaya Award’ for drama in 1970 and "Sangeet Natak Akademi (National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama) Award" in 1971 for playwriting. The play has been translated into some sixteen languages in India and abroad, and filmed by Satyadev Dubey. B.B.C. broadcast an English version.

It still continues to attract, stage directors and audiences. As its title indicates, the play is about a mock-trial to be staged by an amateur theatre group. It deals with Miss Sulabha Benare who is accused by the other members of the travelling theatre company of having murdered her unborn child - ‘bhroon hatya. ‘Shantata’ brought Tendulkar recognition on a national level and he came to be regarded as a leading light in India’s theatre movement.

Vijay Tendulkar was fascinated by the forces of terror and violence in society. His protagonist in the play Gidhade (Vulture), written in 1971, discovers this vulturous tendency in the immediate family, but caught in the net of clannish ties finds himself impotent. In Sakharam Binder (1972), Tendulkar raises a controversy over obscenity, and violence. It is a merciless satire on contemporary values. Girish Karnad, himself a distinguished playwright and former Chairman of Sangect Natak Akademi, hailed Sakhram Binder as ''the best play written in the fast thousand years". Ironically, the play was soon banned by the Maharashtra Government.

Refreshingly different is the structure of Ghasiram Kotwal (1973). It is a controversial drama full of dance and music. The play draws on different folk theatre elements, i.e., bhajan. kirtan. bharud bait. It narrates the meteoric rise of Ghasiram during Peshwa’s rule in Pune and the city Kotwal’s dramatic fall from grace after the ruler of the land ravished Ghasiram’s daughter. It exposes and attacks the decadence of the ruling class - the Brahmins of Pune, who consider themselves custodians of public morality.

The play created a furore in the community and took a while before being accepted as an ‘unhistorical’ play based on some facts of history. It was another instant success transcending barriers of culture and time. Tendulkar says in a brief introduction to the play that "it is not a historical play. But is a fictional legend on historical facts".

Though banned by the then government for its anti-Brahmin stance, the play, which employed indigenous theatrical idiom, became an important landmark. It opened altogether new avenues for directors, enabling them to adopt different approaches to production design involving the actor, his art, the music composer and the spectator. The play has been translated into several Indian languages and also into English.

Both the plays, Sakhram Binder and Ghasiram Kotwal, predictably roused strong protests of casteist and reactionary elements. For his keen insight into the nature of social tensions and his ability to translate his findings into an artistic and dramatic equivalent, Tendulkar was awarded the ‘Jawaharial Nehru Fellowship" (1974-75). His project was a enquiry into "the pattern of growing violence in society and its relevance to contemporary theatre".

His grasp of the harsh realities in our social fabric is also expressed in his other well-known plays: Kamala, written in 1982, exposes a flesh trade scoop and its aftermath. It deals with the issue of buying and selling of tribal women. Similar was (My Friend’s Story) published in 1982, dealing with Lesbianism and complex pattern of relationships. It still raises hackles for its exploration of homo and heterosexual relationships.

His latest coup being maiden Marathi novel, Kadambari : Ek, which explores the sexual fantasies of the ageing male. The 260-page novel is a peep into the mind of a retired gentleman. Most of the action in the novel takes place in his mind. Having lived a normal, happy family—centred life, he suddenly takes refuge in sexual fantasies. The gent is unable to reason it out himself and comes to believe that it is a fallout of male menopause. Tendulkar has articulated the protagonist’s musings, complexes, predilections and fears.

Tendulkar is equally at case in the medium of films. Field work and travel gave Tendulkar a deep understanding of the way violence expresses itself in society and the working of the power structure in both rural and urban India. Out of this experience were born the following screenplays: Manthan. a film on rural cooperatives ending on an optimistic note written in 1977; Ardha Satya (1983) marks the isolation of individual and alienation from the power brokers of the society’, Nishant(1975), a sardonic satire on rural feudalism, directed by Shyam Benegal: and more recently, Aakrosh directed by Govind Nihalani. He also worked for Ketan Mehta’s film Sardar on the life and times of Vallabhbhai Patel. He has written dialogue for films in Marathi - Simhasan, Samna directed by Jabbar Patel, Arkfit by Amol Paickar and Umbarta. Almost all these films won national and stage awards for the directors and for Tendulkar who emerged as an eminent writer of screenplays. Tendulkar has also written for TV and created a serial ‘Swayam Siddha starring his daughter, Priya Tendulkar.

Tendulkar believes in posing the problems in a proper perspective. The same social awareness encompasses his short stories in five volumes. His journalistic writings on people and events collected in Raatrani and Kovali Unbe (both in 1971) and Phuge Sobanche in 1974. As early as the sixties, his sketches/profiles, and his daily column in the Maharashtra Times established his status as an essayist of considerable calibre. He is also an excellent photographer and his album Chehare (Faces) is an eloquent comment on the personalities he has met.

He has enriched Marathi literature by translating several plays from other Indian languages into Marathi i.e., Mohan Rakesh’s Adhe Adhure, Girish Karnad’s Tughlak and plays from the American Theatre: the works of Tennesse Williams, Wilia Cather, Henry James, Mark Van Doren and John Mark Patrick.

Tendulkar uses the old technique of soliloquies effectively. His characters make self-justifying speeches. He does not use humour at the cost of characterisation. He uses the irony of communication, and that of situation. Ghasiram Kotwal and Shantata are examples of the effective use of irony. He explains: "I never wrote anything shocking. It may have shocked the middle class mentality, but that is because of their ignorance. They are not even aware of what is happening around them or they don’t see anything wrong in themselves ... I wrote about common man, their basic problems, intricacies of human relations, minds and their tragic and horrific consequences. Sex and violence are not the major issues in my writing. As they are part of human life, they are part of my writing too."

Giving a vivid accent of his love for playwriting in the 10th Shri Ram Memorial Lecture on ‘The Play is the Thing’, Tendulkar said, "I love to indulge in the physical process of writing and 1 never get tired of it. Writing with my hand, especially in my mother tongue, Marathi, gives me immense pleasure." Describing his life as journalist and writer, he said, "Economic hardship forced me to turn into a playwright’. Playwriting is "endless learning by experimenting and committing mistakes. It is not mere grammar, it is expression. Theatre is for the thick-skinned and stubborn", he said. After years of writing controversial plays, now Tendulkar writes "for the sheer of joy of writing."

What sets him at par and yet takes him beyond his illustrious contemporaries like Badal Sirkar, Girish Karnad and Mahan Rakesh is his deep concern with an infinitely broad range of contemporary issues and his boldly experimental techniques which make each one of his plays unique. ''Tendulkar's plays are very tightly constructed and display tremendous control over dramatic structure'', says Nemi Chandra Jain, a theatre critic.Tendulkar admits to have been influenced by the western films of the 40s and playwrights like Arthur Miller, Tenessee Willims and J B Prestley.

He is no doubts a milestone in the development of Marathi drama. Tendulkar's statement ''Like a Seagull, I have flown over the ocean of life patiently, calmly, without discussion, without a purpose. There is only one curiosity. How deep will this ocean be? How will the bottom look like ?- CNF