Author: Karnad Girish

Brand: Oxford University Press, USA

Binding: paperback

Number Of Pages: 82

Release Date: 01-06-1997

Details: What defines who we are: the mind or the body? Girish Karnad’s masterpiece, Hayavadana, plunges into this timeless question with a brilliant blend of Indian myth, folk theatre, and startling modernity.
Devadatta, a man of intellect, and Kapila, a man of the body, are the closest of friends—"one mind, one heart." Their inseparable bond is tested when Devadatta marries the beautiful Padmini, and a complex love triangle emerges. A tragic turn of events leads to a miraculous, yet bewildering, solution: Padmini transposes the friends' heads onto each other's bodies, hoping to create the perfect man.
But this act unleashes a profound confusion of identities, challenging the very nature of selfhood, love, and desire. As the men's bodies begin to reclaim their original memories and instincts, Padmini finds herself trapped in a world of tangled relationships, questioning who her husband truly is.
Woven into this central narrative is the comic and poignant subplot of Hayavadana, a man with a horse's head, who is on his own desperate search for completeness.
Drawing from an ancient Sanskrit tale, reimagined through a modern lens, Karnad uses masks, dolls, and a story-within-a-story to create a bizarre and captivating world. Hayavadana is a profound and witty exploration of human identity, the limits imposed by nature, and the eternal, unfulfilled search for wholeness.

EAN: 9780195603828

Package Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.7 x 0.2 inches

Languages: English, Kannada