Seven Steps Around the Fire

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty". What happens when there are more than just a few dirty drops? What happens when the ocean of humanity is brimming with conventionally merciless people?

We ask ourselves, is it now time to lose faith?

India's constitution however meticulously drafted and ingeniously compiled, has failed to ensure the human rights of a majority of its citizens. The LGBT community, commonly referred to as the gay community, is a loosely defined group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and LGBT-supportive organizations, united by a common culture. The Indian societal attitude towards this community is appalling and is leading to a further decay in their social status. Even though the constitution of India clearly mentions under the Right to Equality that 'The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India', this community continues to be discriminated against even in today's world. This is evident from an analysis of the play, 'Seven Steps around the Fire' by Mahesh Dattani.

The play introduces to its readers, Uma, the forward thinking Sociology professor who wants to write a thesis on the hijra community. Her interests lie in their origin, class-gender-based power implications, the privileges that they are denied and the truth behind her mother's stories. She visits Anarkali, a hijra, detained in the central jail of Bangalore looking for answers. She cajoles Anarkali into opening up to her and considering Uma her sister. When Anarkali realises that Uma is different from other nasty people she had encountered, she wins over her heart and soon Uma finds herself tracking down Champa, the head of the hijras, to grant Anarkali bail. Uma's independence and progressive thought process is refreshing. Many questions cloud Uma's mind regarding how the hijras came into the Indian community, why they are so obsessed with weddings and childbirth, how they come to know of these weddings, why they show up without being invited and if they are extortionists. Her character is a stark contrast to that of her husband, Chief Superintendent Suresh Rao.

Suresh Rao ironically has completely opposite views about the hijras compared to his wife, Uma. "Don't believe a word of what it says. They are all liars", Suresh states convincingly when Uma describes her meeting with Anarkali. This sentence exposes his deep-seated loathing towards the LGBT community. "They are all just castrated degenerate men", he says, when Uma talks about Anarkali's sister. Suresh has pre conceived notions about the hijras and thus stands as a symbol for the general Indian public and their opinions. He tells his wife that the reason for Anarkali being in a male prison was because the hijras are as strong as horses.

While Suresh Rao detests the hijras, the police men under