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dowry is a known socio-economic problem of India which is eating into the social fabric of our society. It leads to some, if not many, of the Indian middle class families to become poor which can be called dowry poverty. Eradication of dowry falls in the domain of human resource development (HRD) activities, including women’s empowerment, which is the need for all times to come. Dena Paona (Debit Credit) is a drama book on the dowry deaths in India.
The year was 1887. Tagore was a 26-year-old protagonist of the cause of women who started a struggle to stop atrocities and injustice committed against women. After four years of frustration, he wrote the story Dena Paona (Debit Credit) in 1891. It was the story of Nirupama, whose young life ended in the abominable social practice of dowry. When she grew up, her father Ramsundar Mitra fixed her marriage to a young magistrate, son of Raibahadur, a local potentate. Ramsundar raised a part of the dowry by selling some land, and the balance was arranged from a moneylender. Very close to the wedding, the moneylender backed out and Ramsundar could not come up with the entire amount on such short notice. On the day of the wedding, right under the wedding canvass, the groom’s father threatened that the wedding would be called off if the balance of the dowry was not paid then and there. Ramsundar begged him to allow the marriage to take place, and promised that he would come with the balance within six months. After the wedding, Nirupama was constantly harassed at her marital home by her mother-in-law and father-in-law for dowry. Surrounded by maids and servants faithfully reporting her every move, Nirupama’s life became a hell. Her husband did not abuse her, but he could not prevent his parents. After some time, he was transferred to another town, and Nirupama continued to live alone with her in-laws. Ultimately, Ramsundar started to have a gut feeling that Nirupama’s life was in danger in her marital home. In his desperation to save her life, he sold his own house to raise the balance of the dowry money. Nirupama came to know that the money had been raised by selling the house. She told her father not to pay. She took a vow that she would die if that money was paid to her in-laws. Earlier in his life, Ravi master lost his three daughters in the holocaust of dowry. His wife died in the terrible grief. Being all alone, old Ravi master would go to the banks of the river Padma and play his flute. He said he could talk with his dead daughters through his flute. The social evils of dowry and bride-burning is blazing harder every year, clouding all progress made by India and achievements on other fronts. What Tagore wrote 120 years ago is true even today. Today, thousands of lovely daughters-in-laws are being "burnt to death" for dowry every year in India. Under the leadership of achievers like Dr Karan Singh, to whom the drama is dedicated, people will remember Tagore’s love of life. It will strengthen the weak to defeat greed and uphold higher values of life. India will regain her high moral ground. Let us pledge to make the life of our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives be decent, dignified and free from fear and crime.
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The writer is taking us
in this drama to the land of Rabindranath Tagore on the bank of the
river Padma in Bengal. Although he has dramatised one story of Tagore,
I believe the writer actually tells us the story of the focus of
Rabindranath Tagore on social issues.