A FRIEND’S STORY BY VIJAY TENDULKAR : PROJECTION OF HOMOPHOBIC WORLD

Abstract

Homosexuality expresses some aspect of desire which appears nowhere else and that is not merely the performance of the sexual act with a person of the same sex and under the hegemonic structure of the heterosexual frame, homosexuals are suppressed and treated as ‘other’. The attitude of the ‘society’, in this respect, paranoiac(psychological disorder), it suffers from a false belief which leads it to discover all around it the signs of a homosexual argument that prevents it from functioning properly. The tension in the conflict between a homosexual and an individual who considers himself normal is created by the instinctive asking in the mind of the ‘normal’ individual. A Friend’s Story is a play by Vijay Tendulkar which represents the same sex sensibility in a very conventional manner. The play shows how the conventional orthodox society responds to a same-sex person. The play talks about lesbian relationship, like Mahesh Dattani has talked about on this issue on On A Muggy Night in Mumbai and Do the Needful. The play represents a young girl who suffers from physical imbalance. Her masculinity reflects through her behaviour, dressing sense, way of thinking etc. The family members haven’t understand her situation of being ‘homo’ and the society also doesn’t permit her to live a normal life along with the ‘homo’ identity which makes her restless. The paper tries to show the life of such a person throughout the life and how homophobia effects on personality due to the negative impact of a traditional society.