Aajir- The Pathetic Plight of the Marginalized

Abstract

Abstract

?Aajir? by Mahasweta Devi is an exemplary play to comprehend the term ?the marginalized?. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary provides meaning to the term ?marginalize? is ?to make somebody feel as if they are not important and cannot influence decisions or events; or to put somebody in a powerless position? The term ?marginalized? occupied a prominent place in the Post Colonial dialects. The term ’s ubaltern? or marginalized incorporates the entire people who are subordinates in terms of class, caste, gender and office. The title of the play itself suggests the marginalized category. The word ?Aajir? means a slave who sells himself for a paltry sum. And this slavery is continued for the generations. It is the story of such a slave who remained as a slave till the end, out of ignorance. The slave, by name Paatan, was outwitted by the Master and the Mistress successfully. His ignorance and innocence was successfully misused by them. When he realized he repented a lot for his ignorance and illiteracy. Mahasweta Devi then talks through the character of Paatan about the suppressed plight of the marginalized. In the words of Paatan: