Badal Sircar's "Evam Indrajit"

Badal Sircar was a dramatist with a didactic purpose. He had a social commitment and it is reflected in his plays. His "Third Theatre was formed imbibing.ideas from the traditional and folk theatre. However, at the same time it had an identity of its own. It arose from that educated minority of feudal society who neither belonged to the peasants or the landlords. Sircar's dramas do not have a plot. Likewise, there is no concrete characterization. The actors are free to choose their roles and exchange them on the stage.Even the audience can take part in the same. Further, there is the freedom of movement and there is no restriction of space.Body language is made maximum use of than facial expressions.often the stage apparatus can be constructed by the mere utilization of body language. Thus the set of the drama becomes portable and can be performed anywhere. Often the structure of the drama and the presentation of dialogue also add to theme of the play. For instance, in Evam Indrajit, the structure of the play is cyclical, echoing the main idea of the play:the monotony of a mechanical existence .Sentences and scenes may be short, broken and at times, totally meaningless reminiscent of the Theatre of the Absurd. The plays often deal with the middle-class and their problems ,frustrations and conflicts.

Evam Indrajit is the story of a writer who painfully strives to write play in vain. Not having witnessed life at the primary basic realities, he is goaded to write about those sitting only in the audience, but whom he finds undramatic. The writer gets really angry and tears up his manuscripts,
when he finds inspiration in the form of a woman named Manasi. Manasi is the Indian counterpart of Jung's Anima, an entity serving as a pointer to the collective consciousness. The very title Evam Indrajit or 'And Indrajit' exemplifies that Indrajit's identity is not 'just Indrajit' but 'and Indrajit and is described in terms of society and not in terms of his own existence. He prefers to be called Amal, Kamal,or Vimal and conform to the dictates of society. His identity is also questioned when he is addressed by his teacher by a mere roll number.

The writer needs to Write at the cost of neglecting important biological functions, stressing for a purpose in life. The writer endeavors to explain Indrajit's life, love and his revolutionary tendencies against society. But the dictums of society begin to crush him gradually. Amal, Kamal and Vimal function as cogs in the wheel and we laugh at their humdrum existence. Indrajit resists himself from the monotonous existence; towards the end he realizes that there is no escape. He reaches a stage where even the fulfillment of his love would not have provided the answer. A visit to London is futile and he considers suicide; he finds himself incapable of the same. He concludes :"the past and present are two ends of a single rope". The realism of Evam Indrajit is a psychological realism as in Waiting for Godot. There is no concrete characterization as Amal, Kamal and Vimal are different aspects of the writer himself.