Dread Departure_Nana/Title of the play

 (e-content developed by Dr N A Jarandikar)

Nana:

Nana is a main character in the play ‘The Dread Departure’. He is the son of Bhaurao and Rama. He is around 25 years old. He is a sportsperson. When Bhaurao dies, he has gone to play the tournaments of Prisoner’s Base. He takes the dead body of Bhaurao to the crematorium. But there he finds that the crematorium is closed. So, he decides to cremate Bhaurao in the new crematorium. But Bhaurao tells him that he should be cremated in the old crematorium. Nana promises Bhaurao that after the thirteenth day rituals he will cremate him. And he brings the dead body back home. He keeps the body on the loft. When the thirteenth day ritual is over, Nana visits the old crematorium. Here, the watchman asks a bribe of two thousand rupees for the cremation. Coincidently, on insurance agent informs Nana about Bhaurao’s policy and gives him a cheque of ten thousand rupees. From this amount, Nana gives two thousand rupees to the watchman, and Bhaurao is cremated in the old crematorium. Thus, Nana represents a typical middle-class disobedient son who blindly follows the customs and tradition.

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Title of the play:  

The title of the play is ‘Dread Departure’. Here, ‘departure’ is related to depart from the world, that means ‘death’. The play opens with the death of Bhaurao. Bhaurao is a main character in this play. He is a middle-aged man. The term ‘dread’ means ‘fearful’. When Bhaurao’s dead body is brought to the crematorium, it is seen that the crematorium is closed. So, the dead body should be shifted to a new electric crematorium. But Bhaurao refuses to go to the new crematorium. He tells Nana, his son that he should be cremated in the old crematorium. Nana promises him to be cremated after his thirteenth day rituals are over. Meanwhile Nana brings the dead body back home. It is seen that Bhaurao lives all through this time on the loft. His body starts to rot. It is full of stink. Rama suspects that there must be a dead rat on the loft. Nana tries to remove the stink by using a bug spray. Finally, Nana manages to bribe the watchman from the old crematorium, and as per his death wish, Bhaurao is cremated in the old crematorium. Though, all these events take place in a comical way, the overall atmosphere in the play is very serious. Bhaurao’s rotten and stinking appearance is certainly very fearful. Hence the title is appropriate.

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