Deyal - The Wall

Walls protect us, from insecurities of reality or virtuality. Do they? Or we simply create them to alienate ourselves? Whatever, we still live within walls, whether tangible or not. This wall has been the subject of Mathilukal (meaning Walls) - a Malayalam novel written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer in 1965. It is one of the most cherished and well-known love stories in Malayalam. It is no exception to his disguised simplicity and remarkable story-telling. Basheer weaves a web of drama that takes place not just within the four walls of a prison cell, but one that happens on both sides of a wall. The wall that separates two cells, two convicts, two souls, two entities, yet that unites them by love and longing. The theme of the novel, focuses on the love between Basheer, the protagonist - a political prisoner, and Narayani, a female inmate, who remains unseen throughout. The author's story telling is subtle yet intimate. He moves from one emotion to another with élan and poise and often sights experiences of his own life. Hence, though the broad frame is autobiographical and the narration is first person, the details seem to be full of fantasy, yet it is not an autobiography. Basheer, who is jailed for writing against the then British rule, befriends his fellow-inmates and a considerate young jailor. His loneliness becomes manifold once his prison mates are released one by one. His world revolves around his garden and a trance inflicted upon him by a fragrance - one of a woman. One day, Basheer hears a woman's voice from the other side of the wall – the women's prison. This voice mesmerizes him and eventually the two jailbirds become lovebirds. They exchange gifts, and their hearts, without meeting each other. Narayani then comes up with a plan for a meeting a few days later. But before that could materialize, Basheer is released, unexpectedly. For once, he does not want the freedom he had craved for.

  Just as the wall of the cell separates the lovers, Basheer uses the wall as a metaphor for every wall/obstruction that surrounds us. This creation of Basheer was translated into Deyal by Manabendra Bandopadhyay. It is not just any translation, but an effort to bring the best of Indian regional literature to a wider literary mass. 
 Noutonki Kolkata in its endeavour to break through the walls of rigidity in theatrical productions attempted a stage adaptation of Deyal as a tool to express theatrics in a form free from the walls of "Dos" and "Don'ts".  The presentation was an effort to establish a new form of expression via theatre where for the first time it ransacked the norms of the traditional form and gave way to a whole new dimension to theatre. One can see all the faces of Deyal coming alive through a solo actor. This was painstakingly achieved by balanced yet minimalistic usage of props, which defined each character very clearly. The portrayal of Basheer and Narayani at the same time was a critical edge, yet attempted through subtle variations of mannerism nuances.

Photography courtesy @ Kawshik Aki