The Title of Vijay Tendulkars SILENCE THE COURT IS IN

SESSION
The original title of the play is SHANTATA! COURT CHALU AHE.
The words of the title are very common in law courts where the
honourable judges pronounce the words to bring back order
and decorum if the parties concerned or the mob present in the
court become unruly or create chaos and commotion. In other
words the very words SILENCE THE COURT IS IN SESSION
indicate the absolute authority of the judge in the court room
to decide upon the manners of others. The judge has also the
final authority to pronounce contempt of court in case of
breach of discipline. In a civilized society the court system is in
vogue for the sake of justice. The judiciary is considered to be
one
of
the
four
main
pillars
of
democracy.
In the present play Vijay Tendulkar chooses a term of judicial
register as the title of his play to make a powerful comment on
a society with a heavy patriarchal bias that makes justice
impossible and that converts the august judicial system into an
instrument of oppression of women and the vulnerable. Ideally
justice can be provided only if the judge and the judicial system
are objectively detached. But the same objective detachment
can become the face of a very repressive and dehumanized
system if the persons involved in the process of justice are
themselves devoid of human value and compassion.
In the present play we find how Benare becomes the victim of
sadism of his male counterparts. The audience is made to
witness a mere enactment of what is a rehearsal of sorts of a
mock-trial to be staged later in the day. But what begins as a
harmless game begins to assume a grim aspect before long.
At first all the characters vie to be the accused in the mocktrial. Then, on Sukhatmes suggestion they decide to make
Benare the accused. It is notable that Benare is allotted the role
of accused in her absence. As soon as Benare enters the room
singing, and wiping her face on the towel, she is caught
unaware by Ponkshe,Miss Leela Benare , you have been
arrested on suspicion of a crime of an extremely grave nature,

and brought as a prisoner before the bar of this court.

Kashikar, assuming the role of the judge accuses Benare of the
crime of infanticide. The way Benare is made the accused
without her consent shows the functioning of the patriarchal
system. It is as if a woman is perpetually on the dock, under
the
judicious
gaze
of
a
patriarchal
society.
The accusations against Benare are based partly on conjecture,
partly on hearsay. It is suspected that she is a coquette and
that she has an illicit love affair with Prof. Damle, whose son
she is bearing. Even Samante who is innocent and ignorant
reads out a passage from a novel and the details seem to fit
Benares case. What begins as a game evolves into a hunt.
Benare is the quarry and the group, accuser and judge rolled
into one. Kashikar, the judge, comes down to the witness-box
to participate vigorously in this woman-hunt. Mrs.Kashikar,
despite being a woman takes side with the sadist and hypocrite
men. It is indeed an irony that a woman becomes the enemy of
woman. All present with the exception of Samante bring out
their personal equations like fangs. They defend their evil in
the name of social justice, ideologies and tradition.
The sentence meted out to her is savage. The infant in her
womb must be destroyed and she must be dismissed from her
job all in the name of purifying the society and glorifying the
lofty ideals of motherhood. There is no mention of the
intellectual who abandoned her, the absent Damle.
When Benare wants to protest she is ordered to be silent
because the court is in session. Again when she keeps silent
she is ordered to break the silence in the name of law and
threatened with contempt of court. When she wants to leave
Ponkshe blocks her way Mrs. Kashikar, catching hold of her
drags her to the dock. Everyone relishes her victimization. She
is
driven
to
despair
and
attempts
suicide.
In such a grim scenario, every word of the title SILENCE THE
COURT IS IN SESSION assumes symbolic significance. The word
silence symbolizes the patriarchal conspiracy to silence the
voice of woman in the name of social justice and ideology. The
word court symbolizes a repressive system sanctioned by the

state. The court is perhaps also the symbol of an attitude to

judge, that pretends to be concerned of the greatest benefit of
mankind, yet terribly lacks in humanitarian value and has a
typical patriarchal mindset. The phrase in session represents
the prevalent social structure which is biased against women.
The title evokes legal sense. The writer, perhaps, uses it in an
ironic sense to show how dry law devoid of any humane
feelings is not adequate protection for vulnerable citizens to
provide justice.