The Purpose by T.P. Kailasam

THE PURPOSE

                   -T.P. Kailasam

                    T.P.Kailasam is remembered as the father of modern Kannada drama, the man of genius whose plays revolutionized the Kannada stage. He gave refreshing realism and modernity and freed it once for all from the literary unrealities that possessed it.

                     Kailasam focused tradition on contemporary social problems, a deeply compassionate vision of the human struggle, an almost Shakespearian power to evoke sympathetic laughter and an amazing grasp of the living language of men, combined with the gift of using it artistically for dramatic purpose.

                   The story deals with lower caste student who is eager to lower to learn archery to protect the fawns from the attack of wolves’ .A small boy called Eklavya’s mother shows him the right path. She tells him to go to a teacher Drona. Drona taught the princes only so he refused to teach a “Nishada”. Before seeing Drona, Ekalavya was worried that he may not fit with the princes and so Drona might not accept him.

                    The motive of Ekalavya was good. In order to save innocent animals he wanted to be an archer. There was no pride in him. He was humble. When he was not accepted he did not lose courage. He went back to his abode. The second act violates the rule of action given by Aristotle. Drona and Arjun are seen on a path. While they were talking both of them suddenly heard the high-pitched yell of a wild beast. They saw a continuous line of arrows pierce through the head of the fleeing beast wolf. The bowman was none other than Ekalavya. He comes to Dronacharya and Arjun. If one has desire to learn something even mountainous obstacles seem to be a small hill. Making the mud statue of Dronacharya he started practicing archery and it is said-

  “PRACTICE MAKES MAN PERFECT”.

                    He becomes a perfect archer and achieved his goal. Ekalavya had no hunger of fame but his aim was the warfare of helpless fawns residing in the form. Arjun reminds Drona about the promise he had made to him to make him the world’s best archer. Arjun saw his dream shattered into pieces. Dronacharya’s pain as a teacher is universalized by the playwright.

                   Drona further highlights Arjun’s aim for being an archer. Ekalavya felt guilty as he thought that because of him his Guru’s promise is broken. He takes a firm decision to give his ‘Right Hand THUMB’ in “GURU DAXINA”. He walks up to the clay image of Drona and lays his right hand on the plinth; with an unflinching look on his face with one deft sharp stroke of his left arm, severs his right thumb; unheeding the gush of blood, picks up his severed thumb and walking back to Guru’s feet and stands mute! The other two have been to spell-bound to either follow or arrest Eklavya’s movements. After serving thumb he repents for his fawn. He is worried about the lives of those creatures-

“God! My Fawns in Distress! And I Too Helpless Myself to Help Them”.

                      T.P.Kailasam has skillfully depicted the main characters as minor and the minor as main. Ekalavya could excel even Drona in the knowledge of archery. The influence of the mother, similarly, is demonstrated to be a great force in shaping character, as we see in the case of Ekalavya and Karna.

                          “A person of no pride always remembers that no one can be perfect”. Over confidence is always dangerous. And “TO ERR IS HUMAN’ should be remembered. Here a minor character of Mahabharata, the great epic, is made a hero. T.P. Kailasam drew out a giant and capable character. His mythical characters are very powerful.