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the English translation of Satish Alekar’s Marathi masterpiece Mahanirvan. The
magnanimous treatment assigned to ‘Death’ – a very mundane episode of human life –
by Alekar in Mahanirvan is awe-inspiring. Having been inspired greatly, the researcher
purchased the volume brought out by Oxford University Press, New Delhi containing
English translation of all the six plays of Satish Alekar and read all the plays. The
dramaturgy and ‘uneven springing from something even’ make this playwright unique.
Satish Alekar has touched a wide spectrum of themes in his plays. If Mahanirvan (Dread
Departure) is about post-death rituals presented in sardonic manner and the changing
pace of life in Indian towns, Mahapoor (Deluge) is about a young man facing great
struggles of life representing Indian youth, its hopes and despairs. Atirekee (The Terrorist)
deals with terrorism – the evil that is haunting entire world and all the progressive
nations, while Pidhijat (Dynasts) is a scathing satire on the rampant corrupt practices of
power monger politicians and the forgotten family values. Begum Barve and Mickey ani
Memsahib (Mickey and the Memsahib) present the precarious lives of small people
unable to face the stark realities of life and thus finding solace in the fantasy world. It
seemed to the researcher that Satish Alekar has enlivened the contemporary Indian
society with its pains and problems. He has voiced his anguish through his plays that true
development should make human life safer and secure but, it is surprisingly the opposite
in India. In such a scenario, the worst affected is the middle class man who has to make
great many compromises in the life. He can neither afford the luxuries of the rich nor can
beg like the poor.
The ills of modern life have been beautifully divulged by Satish Alekar by means of his
plays. He has violently attacked the corrupt political practices, intellectual snobbery,
reservation, divide between rich and poor, middle class mentality, unemployment, the
effects of globalization and westernization on society, caste and class difference, decay
in administration, pathetic condition of judiciary system and so on. It seems that the
playwright has presented the problems and predicaments of the modern society in all its
totality. It so appears that each play of Satish Alekar has multiple themes and they are for
all times and all ages.
The present research work has been carried out under the title Thematic Concerns in
Satish Alekar’s Select Plays and it is divided into seven chapters in total. It is worthwhile
to mention that only the translated plays of Satish Alekar have been selected for the
present study. Except the first chapter on Introduction and the last one on Conclusion,
each chapter has been assigned some broad title to cover constituent issues (themes)
under it.

Chapter-I throws light on ‘drama’ as a literary genre. This discussion is followed by
Sanskrit drama, Indian English drama in pre and post-independence era and special
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