Rudali :From Fiction To Performance

Rudali is a powerful short story by Mahasweta Devi. Revolving around the life of Sanichari, a poor lowcaste woman, it is an ironic tale of exploitation, struggle and survival. In 1992, it was adapted into a play by Usha Ganguli, a leading theatre director of Calcutta, and instantly became one of the most acclaimed productions of its time. Both the short story and the play are included in this volume.         In certain areas of rajasthan, women were hired as professional weepers they were referred to as rudalis their work was to mourn in public for families that hired them for the job in this story, shanichari is a woman who has faced many difficulties in life apart from her father s death and her mother eventually leaving her to fend for herself, she was married to a man who failed to be a responsible husband however, she has never cried for anything her entire life now, she seeks a better life for her mentally challenged son and herself, and has found a job as a rudali this proves difficult for her as she does not know how to cry soon, she and a local landlord s son fall in love with each other, but she refuses to ask him for financial help and ruin their love for the sake of money