Dramatic reading of a play in English by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal 

‘Delhi Bengali’, Oroon Das and Canada-based ‘Bangladeshi Bengali’, Inji Zayba Zaheer explore the early origins of modern Bengali identity through the life of poet extraordinaire, Michael Madhusudan Dutt and his journey from alienation to a return to selfhood.

Episode II of the play will be presented as part of the IIC online programme schedule for 14th to 20th December 2020

Video recorded play-reading for IIC online programmes.

MICHAEL MADHUSUDAN DUTT (1824-1872), a maverick who changed the scope of Bengali poetry in the nineteenth century, especially with his free-verse epic, Meghnadhbadh Kabya, was a genius who never got his due. Throughout his life, Madhusudan was caught in an identity crisis: he wrote in the English language, changed his religion and was a restless traveller, yearning to belong somewhere. After an extended sojourn in London and Versailles, with misery and poverty as his constant companions, the poet finally found his métier in his mother tongue.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Namita Gokhale is the author of seventeen works of fiction and non-fiction. She is the founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, and Mountain Echoes, the Bhutan Literature Festival.

Malashri Lal has recently retired from the Department of English, University of Delhi, and is a member of the Sahitya Akademi advisory board. She has published fifteen books.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Oroon Das is a designer, theatre artist and performer, inhabiting diverse realms ranging from literature and the arts to planning and policy in the culture sector.

Inji Zayba Zaheer is a Bangladeshi-American actor now based in Vancouver, Canada, having worked for a decade in the US, Bangladesh, Thailand and Canada.