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Harvest by Manjula Padmanabhan Study Guide Keaton Shapiro - April 26, 2016 Tabl

Harvest by Manjula Padmanabhan Study Guide Keaton Shapiro - April 26, 2016 Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Play 4 The Characters 4 The Playwright 5 Synopsis 6 Life in Mumbai 9 A Map of Mumbai 10 A (Brief) History of India and England 11 Marriage and Home Life 13 The House 13 The Wife and the Mother-in-Law 13 What About Us? 14 Consumer Culture in America 14 The Rich at the Expense of the Poor 15 I Wanna Live Forever 16 Where Have I Heard This Before? 17 If you could have anything… (activity) 18 Online Resources Used 19 HARVEST STUDY GUIDE !2 Introduction Hi! Welcome to the Study Guide for Harvest by Manjula Padmanabhan. We’re so excited to have you join us for this wonderful production. We hope you ﬁnd this study guide enjoyable as well as informative, and hope that it serves to enhance not only the production you saw but also the conversations you have, and continue to have, about the play and its themes. Thank you so much! The Staff of Harvest HARVEST STUDY GUIDE !3 “Brieﬁng complete, initiate departure procedure” - Harvest, p17 The Play Characters as described by the Playwright The Donors: Om — 20 years old, he has been laid off from his job as a clerk and is the bread-earner of his small family. Jaya — Om’s wife. Thin and haggard, she looks older than her 19 years. Ma — Om’s mother and Jaya’s mother-in-law. She is 60 years old. Jeetu — Om’s younger brother, 17 and handsome. He works as a male prostitute and has a dashing, easy- going likable personality. Bidyut Bai — An elderly neighbor, self-effacing. The Guards A group of 3 commando-like characters who collect from the donors. Guard 1 — The leader of the team. A man in his mid-40s with military bearing. Guard 2 — A young woman, unsmiling and efﬁcient. Guard 3 — A male clone of Guard 2. The Agents Space-age delivery-persons. Roles are interchangeable with the guards but they do not belong to the same agency. The Receivers Ginni — blonde, white-skinned epitome of an American-style youth goddess, with a sweet and sexy voice. Virgil — never seen. Has an American cigarette-commercial accent — rich and smoky, attractive and rugged. HARVEST STUDY GUIDE !4 Fun Fact! The word Om is a mystic syllable, and is considered the most sacred mantra. It is often used in meditation and Yoga. About the Playwright — Manjula Padmanabhan Manjula Padmanabhan is an Indian ﬁction writer, artist, and playwright, as well as India’s ﬁrst female cartoonist, having illustrated 21 children books and created Suki, a long running cartoon strip in the Sunday Observer and the Pioneers. She was born in Delhi, but grew up in Sweden, Pakistan, and Thailand, eventually going to University at Bombay University, where she earned her BA in Economics and an MA in history. This is a cartoon from her famous Suki strip series. HARVEST STUDY GUIDE !5 Synopsis Setting: Bombay, 2010 ACT I After losing his job, Om, a 20 year old man who lives with his mother (Ma), brother (Jeetu), and wife (Jaya) in an extremely small room, must ﬁnd a job. While he is out applying for a job, Jaya and Ma bicker about Jaya and Om’s relationship — Ma is never satisﬁed with Jaya and feels as though her son deserves a better wife. Om returns from his application process with a new job, but the position comes with a catch. When Jaya questions him about what happened at the factory where he was hired, he tells her about how they had to stand in line for ever and many people collapsed due to heat, hunger, and dehydration. Ma remains oblivious. In preparation for the Guards to arrive, Om tells his mother to simply stay quiet — she wont. The Guards arrive, enter, and begin to set up equipment and dismantle the kitchen. As they do so, one begins to question Om, making sure that those who live in the house are accounted for. At this point Jaya must begin to act as though Om is her brother, and Jeetu is her husband. Once the questions have been answered and the contact module has been set up, the Guards leave. As Jaya and Om explain to Ma what his new job is, it begins to become clear to us that Om is being groomed to donate a part of his body. What part that is they do not know. While they are speaking, the contact module lights up and Ginni appears. She questions Om, as well as everyone else in the home, while looking at the squalor in which they live. When they tell Ginni that their home has no toilet, she is shocked and immediately sends one to be put in. While asking about the conditions in which they live, Ginni upsets Jaya. Jaya goes out to ﬁnd Jeetu, who has been working on the streets as a prostitute, as he needs to be in the house the next time the Guards arrive or they will seem to have been lying. The two have been having an affair, but Jaya intends to stop it. Jeetu has other ideas, however, and pleasures Jaya while they speak. He also makes it clear that he will not be coming back to their home. ACT II Two months later, the residence has started to transform into a sleek new home, with brand new appliances, a television, a bathroom in home, and convertible furniture to allow for more functionality within the small space. Ma has begun to spend all of her time watching television, but still yells and barks at everyone who addresses her. Om realizes that he is late to eat, a problem because Ginni is about to call at any moment and Om is meant to be sticking to strict meal times. They also realize that there is a neighbor using their bathroom, which is itself a problem because Om is meant to be isolated so as to not get sick or damage any parts of his body. As the neighbor ﬁnally leaves, the ring from the contact module sounds and Ginni appears on screen. As they talk, Ginni reminds them, “The most HARVEST STUDY GUIDE !6 important thing is to keep Auwm smiling. Coz if Auwm’s smiling, it means his body’s smiling, it means that his organs are smiling,” (38). All of a sudden there is a knock at the door, something Ginni is not allowed to know about. When she ﬁnally hangs up, they open the door. In staggers Jeetu, for the ﬁrst time since before Om’s new job, covered in muck with torn clothing and matted hair. Ma has no interest in him staying, and wants him out immediately. Om is more concerned about his own health and wellbeing than his brother’s and also wants Jeetu to leave, but Om blames it on the expiry of Jeetu’s contract to live in the home. When Ginni is expected to call again, Om begins to panic. He cannot have a dirty, unaccounted for person in his home or Ginni will be very unhappy. Then there is another knocking at the door. They stand there, wondering and arguing about who it may be as the knocking continues. Jaya, Om, and Ma are all very nervous and scared about who it could be. When Jaya ﬁnally answers the door, it turns out to be a package for Ma which she ordered from the TV. Though Jeetu has been cleaned up, Om is panicking about Ginni’s reaction to the new, unaccounted for addition to their household. Ma pays no attention while Jaya attempts to reason with Om. Ma’s only focus is the television. There is a big ﬁght between Jaya and Jeetu and Ma which results in Jeetu telling them all of his affair with Jaya. As they argue, they hear booted steps arriving. The Guards begin to pound on the door and everyone in the home panics. Jaya ﬁnally opens the door and the Guards rush in, headed straight for Jeetu. To the protest of Jeetu and Jaya, following the direction of Ma and Om, the guards take Jeetu as the donor, thinking he is Om and refusing to listen to any argument to the contrary. While Jaya and Om discuss what to do upon Jeetu’s return, they hear him approach. He comes into the living area, his eyes wrapped in heavy bandages. It is clear that his eyes have been donated. ACT III Jeetu, who now wears goggles over his lack of eyes, is very angry with Om and Jaya. Ma sits and watches TV with headphones on. As Jeetu and Om argue over why Om took the job in the ﬁrst place, and why he offered up Jeetu in the ﬁnal moments, the warning sound from the contact module plays. Once Ginni is on screen, she looks for Om. Jeetu is suddenly able to see, but only what Ginni sees, uploads/Geographie/ study-guide 44 .pdf