NEW DELHI:History tells us a lot. But does it tell it all? The study of human affairs and statesmanship from time immemorial has often told us just a part of the story. The remaining part is based on speculation, imagination and suggestion. Very often, important events and characters associated with them, are overshadowed by those in power. Bloodlust is a play based on one such episode.
It picks a leaf from our antiquity and tells the story of five Gujarati slaves namely Malik Kafur, Kamala Devi, her daughter Deval Devi and eunuchs Hasan and Husamuddin, from around the end of the Khilji dynasty, after Rani Padmini, Ratan Singh and Alauddin Khilji have played their roles. Despite the monstrosity they faced, they rose to high positions in the court.
The story of these heroes is recounted by poet Amir Khusrau and political thinker of the time, Ziauddin Barani. It throws light on how rape is used as a weapon. “I have juxtaposed the horrors of rape with verses from the Kama Sutra that describe the ideal woman—the Padmini among women,” says the writer- director of the play, Anasuya Vaidya.
As women were faced with misogyny and bigotry, men were abducted, enslaved, sexually abused, and castrated. But Bloodlust is a story of triumph; of how these men still become successful warriors and Generals. “They represent what Barack Obama described as ‘the audacity of hope’. No wonder then, that they plan an audacious revolt to take control of the Delhi Sultanate,” she says, adding, “We learn about the politics of the time and the attitude of the conquerors. Running through this is Khusrau’s love for things he held close to his heart, two of them being Nizamuddin Auliya and India.”
Bloodlust is a rude recall of the blinkered colonial vision of history. How we, as a society, tend to succumb to one-sided viewpoints. This is seen in the way how very few people know about these five Gujrati slaves. “Their two-stage revolt against the Khilji dynasty is always seen as negative, one that reflects the Sultanate’s view. In another country they would be heroic, but in India they are obscure footnotes to history,” says Vaidya.
She draws our attention to how our history books extol Alauddin Khilji’s agrarian and economic reforms as marvels of medieval statesmanship, but if looked at closely, they were oppressive measures meant to keep the population powerless so they wouldn’t revolt, she believes.Bloodlust conceals nothing. It’s as ruthless story-telling of an ancient tale that traces its roots back to present day. How oppression and humiliation takes place in the name of policy, how people are indiscriminately slaughtered in the name of honour, how women are tyrannized under the grab of morality, and how personal expression is strangled in the same of it being a threat to social sensibility. The play may be set in 14th century but its resonance is felt even in the 21st century.Bloodlust: March 3, at 7.30 pm, and March 4 at 6.30 pm, at Akshara Theatre on Baba Kharak Singh Marg,
Connaught Place.