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5 Talking Back Gudipati Venkata Chalam (1894–1979), popularly known simply as “Chalam,” was a prolific and skilled writer of Telugu fiction. His social and literary contributions stemmed from his relentless advocacy of women’s social and personal freedoms (especially sexual freedom) and his talent for portraying women’s lives in their own voices as he imagined them. A master of spoken Telugu, he made dialogue, especially intimate speech, a major component in his novels and short stories as well as his plays. Sita Agnipravesam (Sita Enters the Fire) is representative of Chalam’s iconoclasm . It was originally published in a collection of five short plays, all of which recast puranic and epic tales by provocatively reversing stories of pativratas. Rarely produced, his plays were primarily read as literature. They imagined possibilities of women’s liberation through heroines who were confident, powerful, independent, witty, and sensitive, heroines for whom love and desire were inseparable . In this play, Chalam takes the paramount figure of the pativrata ideal, Sita, and rewrites her reunion with Rama after the battle in Lanka. Challenging Rama’s status as the ideal man, Chalam uncovers Rama’s patriarchal egoism and depicts Ravana, his arch-enemy, as a worthy rival. Chalam adeptly creates a psychologically convincing Sita with a complex subjectivity.1 Chalam transforms the famous scene in which Sita’s fidelity to Rama is tested by her entrance into fire into another kind of test altogether. [S.E.P.] Source: Gudipati Venkata Chalam, Savitri: Pauranika Natikalu [Savitri: Plays from the Puranas] (n.p.: Panduranga Press, 1924; rpt. Vijayawada: Aruna Publishing House, 1993), pp. 50–58. Sita Enters the Fire by gudipati venkata chalam In the ages to come, there will be neither sons like Rama, nor wives like Sita.2 Sita: Rama, my good fortune, at long last! How wonderful it is to see you again! Rama: Wait . . . Sita: (Unable to stop) 1. Chalam’s work proved so compelling that “quite a few Telugu feminist writers today trace their direct line of descent from him,” note Alladi Uma and M. Sridhar (2001:13). 2. The epigram at the beginning of the play is Chalam’s. Sita Enters the Fire, by Gudipati Venkata Chalam 59 Oh, Rama! After all that you’ve sacrificed for my sake, you must be dying to feel my love. You must have been so worried about me and everything I’ve suffered through. My hero, you destroyed this brutal demon with your amazing strength, with your bare hands! I’ve been praying constantly for this moment, this blessed moment, when I would turn and see you again. I knew I would see you again. Oh, those endless nights when I chanted your sweet name like a mantra—they are burned into my memory forever. With great compassion, you heard my prayer. It was my hope that kept me alive. Now that your love has saved me, I will never fear anything again, in life or death. This separation was a true test of our love. It has strengthened the bond that unites us. Our love is now stronger than ever, eternal, unwavering. This great war has proven how completely my heart belongs to you, how steadfast my heart has remained. In the face of all temptations and terrors, no matter how long we were separated, I knew your deep love for me would never disappear. Not even death frightens me now, because it cannot change my heart. I know now that your love for me is everlasting. Come, come, hold me in your arms. Ignore all these people around us. Think of them as our friends. They are my army now, my servants. Let me soothe your aching chest. It must hurt from warding off Ravana’s arrows. Rama: Sita, stop! You really need to listen to me. You were born a woman. You were abducted by my enemy. After living inside his palace for so many years . . . Sita: No, in the forest—3 Rama: Whatever you say, wherever it may have been. You were touched by another. You are impure. I am the moon rising over the sea of Bharat, the precious gem of the solar dynasty.4 You are no longer fit to be the queen of this great empire. Sita: (Not mincing words) What do you mean, I was “touched by another?” Rama: Ravana loved you. Sita: Is it my fault that he loved me? Rama: He stole you away. Sita: Is that my fault? Rama: You lived with him...

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