Badal Sarkar’s Absurd Play ‘Pagla Ghoda’ : A Review

Abstract

‘Pagla Ghoda’ (1967) written by Badal Sarkar, is a representative play of the playwright. In this play, he explores the nature of human values, pain, emotions, and commitment. It serves as a clear example of how people navigate various events in life to overcome suffering and turmoil, ultimately striving to attain the ecstasy of life.

The play revolves around four individuals from different professions who, while conducting the funeral of a young girl, engage in drinking and sharing stories of their failed love. Neglecting the true essence of love and distancing themselves from the young girl, the inner turmoil of the human mind is poignantly portrayed.

Badal Sarkar skillfully encapsulates the history of an entire decade through the events of just one night. The play also sheds light on societal discrimination between men and women, which remains a dominant theme. Drawing inspiration from the Ramayana and various mythological traditions, the female characters embody the archetype of the Indian woman. Badal Sarkar highlights the oppression of women across the world, offering the audience a compelling and fair perspective on their struggles.

               This play also reveals how the people of this middle class society are trapped in the trap of social norms and values and are forced to lead a miserable and helpless life sacrificing all their hopes and aspirations and sometimes they are forced to bow down to the pressure of society to maintain their respect in society. Badal Sarkar wants to present all those social problems of the time through this play and the contemporary cultural crisis, economic situation and political situation are also realistically presented to the readers.

 Badal Sarkar has portrayed romantic love in ‘Pagla Ghoda’. The female characters in the play, Malati, Lakshmi and Mili, each suffer from extreme depression due to the deprivation of their lovers, which leads the female characters to make a terrible decision about their lives. So the interpersonal conflict of each character in the play is revealed through the characters of Shashi and Malati, Himadri and Mili, Satu and Lakshmi. Through the symbol of burning the dead body in the crematorium, the playwright presents the inner conflict and pain of the characters to the reader. The playwright has cleverly used the name ‘Pagla Ghoda’ to reflect an absurd and restless human mind by creating contemporary social conditions, economic conditions and life after death in modern life and attitude.