The Bull
Bhimnidhi Tiwari is a well-known poet, story writer, and playwright from Nepal. He was fervently committed to social reform. He founded the Nepal Natak Sangh organization to promote Nepali plays through stage performances. In 1970, he also received the Madan Puraskar for literature. “The Bull” is a one-act play by Bhimnidhi Tiwari. It serves as a reflection of the late eighteenth-century feudal system.
The author dramatizes a situation involving Ranabhadhur Shah's obsession with bulls. This drama aims to depict the feudal society of the time, where common people were dehumanized. The play's main themes include slavery, dehumanization, and subjugation. The 23-year-old king Ranabahadur Shah, the bull doctor Laxminarayan Dahal (Jaisi), the cowherds Jitman and Gore, and the Samarjug Company Subedar are the characters in this one-act drama. The play is split into three scenes: scene I, scene II, and scene III.
Scene I depicts the bull's (Male) demise. The cowherds, Gore and Jitman, are frightened by this and rush to Laxminarayan's house, where he is upset with his seven wives for not bringing him a hookah puff. The information of Male's passing also terrifies Laxminarayan. They all get quite concerned about the potential punishment from the king. According to both cowherds, the bull died because it didn't eat enough grass and couldn't digest fine rice and red-gram lentil soup. Then Laxminarayan orders them not to notify the king, after which he proceeds to Basantapur Palace to inform the king about the bull's ill health.
In scene II, Laxminarayan enters the palace, bows respectfully in front of the king, and informs him that the bull is sick. He claims that the bull doesn't get up and eat breakfast. It does not talk or move. It does nothing except gaze without moving. He also extols the bull's beauty, walking style, and valiant fight and suggests that the bull be moved to a hill for healing and climate change. Following Laxminarayan's advice, the king decides to assess the condition of the bull on his own and sends a convoy riding on a palanquin to the cowherd located at Thulo Gauchara.
In scene III, Laxminarayan runs ahead of the convoy at Thulo Gauchar to tell the cowherds who are waiting to hear the king's choice to massage the bull's back feet and wave a fan at it. When the king gets there, Laxminarayan tells him that they have been taking care of the bull since midnight. On the mattress lays the dead bull. There isn't any movement. It is not eating or breathing. Its ears have dropped and its tail has become loose. The bull has died, according to king Ranabahadur Shah. Jitman begins to cry and claims that since the bull's death, he has been an orphan. The king tells him to be quiet and proclaims a gratuity of 400 rupees. Upon witnessing this, Gore breaks down in tears and declares his love for the bull surpasses that of his mother, father, wife, and kids. Either he goes with the bull or hangs himself, he declares. After hearing him out, the king declares a gratuity of 500 rs and tells him to stop talking. Finally, Laxminarayan begins to cry as well and acts as though he is in excruciating pain. However, the king reprimands him and instructs him to oversee the funeral ceremonies, supervise the bull's burial, and make sacrifices to the priest himself. Gore and Jitman finally express their joy at being alive.
This one-act drama, "The Bull," as a whole, clearly depicts and makes commentary on the feudal society of the time, when local people were oppressed, ruled, and dehumanized and the animals of feudal lords were revered more than the locals.