MAHESH DATTANI'S SEVEN STEPS AROUND THE FIRE : A TALE OF OPPRESSION

Abstract

Mahesh Dattani’s Seven Steps around the Fire is primarily a tale of oppression of Hijra community. The playwright brings forth an unnoticed and neglected community in Indian society which doubly suffers, first in the hands of Nature then in the hands of their own fellow human feelings. Ironically, hijras are treated as untouchables but they dance and entertain us on the occasion of our marriages and birth occasions of our sons. They themselves are neither married nor they have children but we view their presence on weddings and birth occasions as good omens and ceremonious. Going by a myth, they followed lord Rama as true followers when he left Ayodhia, but our society gives them a raw deal instead of a preferential treatment. We forget that they too have a human heart. As a result they are leading a life of misery.  In this play the playwright tries to establish that the hijras are also human beings like us so they should not be made a victim of sufferings for something for which they are not responsible