The Cultural Silencing of LGBT Voices in India with Reference to Do the Needful: A Radio Play

Abstract

Culture deliberates the arts and philosophy, which are considered to be important for the development of civilization and mentality of the people. In a multicultural and multilingual country like India marginalisation of certain communities, including homosexual, is a significant problem that threads the fabric of our society. In modern society, gender and sexuality-based discrimination are witnessed all over the world. The term homosexuality has never gained social acceptance and has been treated down the ages as taboo subjects. Although sexual desires are a matter of instinctive behaviour, yet are controlled by social norms and morals. Therefore, heterosexuality is the only acceptable mode of relationship and is considered as a centre to our culture. The homosexual relationships are still stigmatized as unnatural and unacceptable in Indian social context and therefore often hidden under the shroud of privacy. Mahesh Dattani, an Indian writer, has chosen such taboo subjects and treated them with great confidence and sublimity to bring them from the boundary to the main stream. This paper focuses on the pathetic conditions of those who struggle between instinct and social culture concerning queer theory in the play DO THE NEEDFUL: A RADIO PLAY by Mahesh Dattani.