Beediyolagondu Maneya Maadi' in a satirical and a humorous vein comments on the degenerating nature of religious festivals and disproves traditional dogma in a realistic setting. The occasion is the much celebrated Ganesh Chathurti right in the thick of Pune's middle-class, Maharashtrain-Brahmin dominated locality where the protagonist, Shreepad and his wife Sukanya have come to an agreement that every alternate year the razzmatazz of the Ganesh Chathurti will not disturb the sanctity of their home which in simple terms mean, no celebrating the festival and not even allowing its slightest sound or whiff to penetrate their house.
Despite Sukanya's minor complaints everything seems to go well until Shreepad's old aunt, her son and daughter-in-law unexpectedly turn up with their infant son with the solitary intent of watching the procession. The aunt's voracious desire to witness the procession and Shreepad's staunch refusal to allow her to do so sets the tone of this humorous and remarkably pertinent play. As aunt and nephew take turns to explain to each other, and with the aunt often scheming with the others to sneakily see the procession, the plot thickens.
Shreepad's logical, reflective and philosophical rationalizations are balanced by the more immediate necessity of the situation that is both habit and religion driven. The processions approaching tenacity becomes a barometer for the muted tension that the characters begin to reel under and resonate the fallacious arguments of the brigade. The play also successfully evokes the mores of a middle-class, Kannada household as everybody awaits the final outcome of the battle of ideologies.
The play is an adaptation of Champra Deshpande's Dholtashe, also available in the original Marathi on the Drama Library.