Prof Dr Avinash Kolhe reflects on a dramatic reading of Jyotiba Phule’s Trutiya Ratna, exploring its critique of caste, ritual and Brahminical dominance, and asking how much Indian society has truly changed since 1855.

Mahatma Gandhi is rumoured to have said about Mahatma Phule that, ‘Because you don’t know about Mahatma Phule, you call me Mahatma. Ask me, the only Mahatma is Jyotiba Phule’.

For a Marathi-speaking person like me, Phule [1827-1890] is not a foreign entity. One has read about him since childhood days. In due course, one reads his tracts like ‘Gulamgiri’, ‘Shetkaryacha Asood’ and many others. In these tracts, he mounted a scathing attack on the ills plaguing Indian society like Chaturvarna, caste system and Brahmin dominance. But I have not read his only play ‘Trutiya Ratna’ [Third Eye], which he wrote in 1855. The name of the play itself is apt for social reform as it refers to Lord Shiva’s Third Eye. It means destroying the outdated and leading to a better tomorrow.

Thanks to Rohini Mokashi-Punekar, who has translated this powerful play from Marathi to English, and Sharmistha Saha, who directed its dramatic reading held in Mumbai, this play has come into public domain.

Education Opens The Third Eye

The Peshwas lost power to the EIC in 1818. With that, almost all of India came under the control of a trading company. The sahib introduced English education in India in 1835. Methinks this was the most revolutionary step which meant opening the eyes of the natives to modernity and scientific temperament. Jyoti Phule was one of the early beneficiaries of this modern education which enabled him to read Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man. In 1848, he and his wife Savitribai started one of the first schools for untouchables in Pune.

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Theatre Becomes An Instrument For Reform

Phule soon realized the power of theatre to impact society. Out came his play Trutiya Ratna, in which he used a low-caste [Kunabi] couple. Here, Jogayi is pregnant. Her husband is a poor farmer who somehow manages to make both ends meet. A Brahmin priest, Joshi, arrives on the scene and threatens Jogayi that unless she performs some rituals and offers Dakshina to Brahmins, her baby will not be safe. Phule used Vidushak, who acts as his alter ego. Phule’s dialogues are laden with wit, wisdom and irony. For debate purposes, Phule brings in a white-skinned Christian priest and, for a rare appearance, a Muslim too. In due course, the Kunabi couple realizes the futility of these rituals and abandons them. Phule ends his play on a very positive note when the farmer couple decide to enrol themselves in the school run by Jyotiba and his wife.

A Reading That Feels Like Performance

The dramatic reading of Trutiya Ratna lasted for about 90 minutes. What an impact it created! The wonderful cast includes Joy Sengupta [Joshi], Padma Damodaran [Joshi’s wife], Kaustubh Harit [Young farmer], Mayuri Ravindran [Jogayi], Arpit Shashwat [Priest], Priyanka Charan [Vidushak/Muslim], Hrishabh Krati [Narrator].

Though this was a dramatic reading, Sharmistha has used costumes and music to great effect. This made the reading just a few steps away from full-fledged performance. The music is composed by Dhammrakshit Randive, a senior activist of Yalgaar Sanskrutik Manch. This play compels you to think about our society of the 1850s and even in the 2020s.

How much has changed?