by, Diganta Oza
‘Instead of propping-up ideal character, here an effort is being made to underline the diversity of characters’—so wrote Jyotiprasad Agarwala, the prolific Assamese poet and dramatist in the preface of the RUPALIM, the drama he wrote in his mid- thirties, when it was first published.Roopkonwar, as Jyotiprasad is known, has drawn a parallel of love and lovers envy in this drama. Rupalim—the central character of the drama—is equally fond of Mayabo, her fiancé, and grandpa Junafa, which ultimately made her pay the price with her life. The pain of rejection by the prince gets the better of Itiven’s love for Rukmee kingdom, to avenge which Rupalim is murdered.
Amidst the contrast of love and jealousy in the RUPALIM, the character that attracts me is neither Mayabo, nor Rupalim, nor Itiven- but Manimugdha, who kidnapped Rupalim, on his way back home after his engagement with Itiven. Rupalim is beautiful; Manimugdha is also seduced by the tender physic which is ‘as tender as the baby leaves of the spring’. Yet he does not violet her. Manimugdha is a true man- who does not have lust only, but possesses self-control also. This ultimately is the pride of men. Rupalim finally agreed to surrender herself to Manimugdha in exchange of the lives of Mayabo, Junafa and other Rukmees. Incidentally, that very night Manimugdha’s lust transcends into selfless love. His senses are cleared, he feels: ‘it has dawned, yes, it’s dawned’. This feeling is revealed by Jyotiprasad through accompanying song too, i.e.:
‘Hail o’ beauty, truth eternal, eternally tranquil lord of the universe…’
(Joyo joyo suhndara satya sonatono/ siro proshanta biswa byapi…)
Through Manimugdha is revealed two opposite forms of cultures i. e. ‘xur’ and ‘axur’. In Jyotiprasad’s own metaphor-
Let this ascendance of Manimugdha be the ideal of every human being.
