Pregnant Father: An idea well-conceived

Vibha Rani’s stinging satire won the Nemichandra Jain Playwriting Award this year

Women often wish longingly that men would get pregnant at least once in their lifetime to understand just what women go through in those nine months. In Vibha Rani’s play, Pregnant Father, the wish comes true, and we get to once again discuss gender roles in a patriarchal society. Winner of this year’s Nemichandra Jain Playwriting Award, the stinging satire tells the story of a mama’s boy named Shikhandi who gets pregnant. It spirals not only into domestic and emotional upheaval but a social crisis as well, with the role of doctors and the media exposed. “It is very normal for people not to understand what pregnancy entails for a woman. The physical aspect is handled by the doctor but what about the emotional and psychological issues. The upbringing of boys is such that even today only about 1% of them are perhaps sensitive to the emotional needs of their spouses,” says Vibha, who has more than a dozen plays to her credit.