“THIS MAD DANCE OF INCOMPLETENESS”: THEME OF INCOMPLETENESS IN HAYAVADANA BY GIRISH KARNAD

This paper attempts to trace the theme of incompleteness in the play Hayavadana by Girish Karnad. Girish Karnad is an Indian playwright. His Hayavadana, has two plots, the main plot is the story of three characters, Devdatta, Kapila and Padmini. Devdatta is the man of wisdom and Kapila has good physical strength. Padmini, wife of Devdatta longs for a perfect husband with wisdom and physical strength. Her urge to have a perfect husband becomes the root cause of her agony. The sub-plot is about Hayavadana, a man with horse head, he is also in search for completeness. This theme of incompleteness is brought out through the use of various techniques. Karnad employs the mixture of Eastern and Western dramatic techniques. He goes back to ancient myths and folklores to develop his plots. This theme of incompleteness is introduced in the beginning of the play where Bhagvata invokes Lord Ganesha, a symbol of imperfection as he has an elephant's head and human body. This conflict between mind and body is presented throughout the play. Through this search of perfection, the dramatist aims at depicting the state of modern man in this absurd world, where he has always longed for perfection but gains nothing.