Summary of Thirty Days in September by Mahesh Dattani - Question Answers

 

Summary of Thirty Days in September by Mahesh Dattani

Mahesh Dattani’s Thirty Days in September is a powerful psychological drama that exposes the long-term trauma of child sexual abuse and consequence. The play revolves around Mala Khatri, her mother Shanta, and her uncle (Shanta’s brother). Through a series of therapy sessions, flashbacks, and confrontations, Dattani portrays how silence, guilt, and denial destroy lives, and how confronting truth becomes the only way to healing.

 

Act I

The play opens with Mala’s conversation with her counsellor. She introduces herself hesitantly, unsure of her identity and burdened with guilt. She blames herself for everything that happened to her as a child, repeatedly saying “It must be my fault.” This recorded conversation sets the tone of her fractured psyche and self-blame.

The action shifts to Mala’s relationship with Deepak, a sincere young man who loves her but cannot understand her emotional instability. Mala often engages in short-term affairs—each lasting about thirty days—before feeling disgusted and leaving. Deepak urges her to seek professional help, suggesting she might need psychiatric support.

Meanwhile, Shanta, her deeply religious mother, lives in denial, taking refuge in prayers to Krishna instead of addressing the past. She avoids any confrontation with painful realities.

A key scene introduces Deepak visiting Shanta when Mala is away. He wants to understand Mala’s behavior and help her heal. Shanta initially hesitates to talk, fearing her daughter’s anger, but gradually opens up. She reveals Mala’s pattern of lies and restlessness but defends her fiercely, claiming she only prays for her daughter’s happiness.

As their conversation progresses, Shanta receives a terrifying phone call from Mala, realizing that Mala has discovered Deepak’s visit. The moment is filled with panic—indicating Mala’s fragile emotional state and the tension between mother and daughter.

Act I ends with Mala’s haunting recorded confession: she believes she was “born that way,” destined for suffering and abuse. Her voice fades into guilt and silence, while her mother continues her prayers—symbolizing the unspoken trauma between them.

Act II

Act II begins in the counsellor’s office again. Mala is now calmer and more self-aware, indicating progress in her therapy. She speaks confidently, using her full name—Mala Khatri—and declares that she has nothing to hide anymore. The turning point comes when she says, “It wasn’t my fault,” showing her movement toward healing and empowerment.

Her taped voice from earlier sessions interweaves with the live dialogue, revealing the root of her trauma: sexual abuse by her uncle when she was a child. She had internalized guilt for years, that she was “born bad.” The therapist’s sessions help her recognize that she was a victim, not the cause.

Mala describes her new sense of freedom—how she can finally feel sensations, enjoy life, and love Deepak genuinely. However, her peace is disturbed when she learns that her uncle is returning to Delhi to stay with them.

The Return of the Uncle

In a tense domestic scene, Shanta and Mala sit nervously as they await the uncle’s arrival. Shanta, unaware of the depth of Mala’s trauma, insists that he is a good man who has helped them financially after Mala’s father left. It is revealed that the money they had received for years was from the uncle, not from Mala’s estranged father. Shanta had lied to protect her daughter from more pain, never realizing that the very man who supported them was her daughter’s abuser.

The uncle enters, bringing an envelope—the title deed of their flat—as a “gift” to his sister. He claims he wants to ensure their security and proposes that after Mala’s marriage to Deepak, he will use her room whenever he visits Delhi. Mala interprets this gesture as an attempt to “buy silence” from both women.

The situation erupts into confrontation. Mala accuses her mother of knowing about the abuse all along but choosing to remain silent. She recounts the horrifying memories: the uncle locking her in the bedroom every day for “fifteen minutes” during summer holidays—fifteen minutes that ruined her entire life. Shanta breaks down but continues to deny complete awareness, insisting she “forgot” or “did not understand.”

The Mother’s Silence

In a shattering monologue, Mala recalls how every time she tried to speak, her mother would feed her alu parathas to silence her pain. Food became a substitute for comfort and a symbol of avoidance. She screams at her mother for praying to God while ignoring her suffering, yelling, “You were never there for me! You were too busy praying!”

The confrontation escalates as Mala demands her mother to remember. Shanta, cornered and trembling, finally confesses the truth of her own childhood trauma. She reveals that she too had been abused by the same brother when she was only six years old. For ten years, she endured the same pain and silence. Her way of coping had been through suppression—by becoming numb, prayerful, and mute.

In a moment of emotional collapse, Shanta says that her “tongue was cut off years ago” — she had lost the ability to speak out against injustice. Overwhelmed with guilt, she grabs a shard of glass from the broken picture of Krishna and injures herself. Mala rushes to her side, crying and holding her mother as Deepak calls for help.

The play circles back to the opening scene in the counsellor’s office. Mala now speaks with calm dignity. It is February 29th, 2004—a symbolic “extra day” that she calls her Freedom Day. Her abuser is dead. She declares she will celebrate the day with her husband Deepak. Her tone is one of triumph and emotional release.

In a deeply moving closing monologue, Mala speaks directly to her mother in the temple:

“It just isn’t easy to forget. But it doesn’t matter. He as a person is not important anymore. While I accused you of not recognizing my pain, I never recognized yours.”

The play ends with Mala kneeling beside Shanta in prayer, saying, “It’s not your fault, mother. Just as it wasn’t my fault.” Shanta continues her prayers silently, but Mala rests her head in her lap, symbolizing reconciliation and the first step toward generational healing.

 

I. Answer the following in two or three sentences

1. What social taboo does Dattani confront in the play?

Mahesh Dattani confronts the taboo of child sexual abuse within the family—a subject often silenced and ignored in Indian society. He exposes how victims are forced into guilt and secrecy, while society avoids acknowledging such crimes to maintain family honour.

2. Why did Shanta neglect Mala's complaint?

Shanta neglected Mala’s complaint because she herself had been a victim of her brother’s abuse in childhood and had chosen silence as a means of survival. Her deep psychological repression and dependence on religious faith prevented her from accepting the truth about her daughter’s suffering.

3. Where did Mala meet Deepak for the first time?

Mala met Deepak for the first time at a friend’s party. They were immediately drawn to each other and soon began a relationship, which later revealed Mala’s emotional conflicts and her inability to sustain love due to her past trauma.

4. Why is Mala ready to reveal her name?

Mala is ready to reveal her real name because she has overcome her guilt and shame. After years of therapy, she realizes that the abuse was not her fault and that her abuser should be the one to hide in shame, not her.

5. How did Mala react to the questions posed by Deepak?

Mala reacts with anger, fear, and confusion to Deepak’s questions. She finds it difficult to trust him or express her true feelings. Her emotional instability reflects her inner trauma and her fear of intimacy caused by years of abuse and betrayal.

II. Answer the following in about 100 words each

1. What is the central theme of the play?

The central theme of Thirty Days in September is child sexual abuse and its lifelong psychological effects on victims. Mahesh Dattani explores the deep emotional scars left by incest, guilt, and societal silence. The play also highlights the cycle of denial that passes from one generation to another, as seen in Mala and her mother, Shanta. Through the process of confession and therapy, the play emphasizes that healing begins only when silence is broken and the truth is confronted with courage and compassion.

2. Discuss the significance of the title "Thirty Days in September".

The title Thirty Days in September symbolizes Mala’s recurring pattern of short-lived relationships, each lasting for thirty days before she ends them. It reflects her inability to form lasting emotional bonds due to her traumatic past. The number also signifies the cyclic nature of her pain and guilt, which repeats every month like the days of September. At a deeper level, the title suggests the limited period of her control over relationships and the temporary escape she finds before the memories of abuse return to haunt her.

3. Comment on the importance of the mother–daughter relationship in the play.

The relationship between Shanta and Mala lies at the heart of the play. Both women are victims of the same man—Shanta’s brother—but are bound by silence, guilt, and misunderstanding. Shanta’s denial of Mala’s suffering deepens her daughter’s trauma, while Mala’s anger stems from her mother’s failure to protect her. In the end, when both realize their shared pain, their mutual understanding and forgiveness begin the healing process. The relationship symbolizes generational trauma and reconciliation through truth.

4. Analyze the character of Mala Khatri.

Mala Khatri is the protagonist of the play—a modern, successful, yet emotionally broken woman. Outwardly confident, she carries deep scars of childhood sexual abuse by her uncle. Her self-destructive pattern of brief affairs shows her struggle for the control of personal life. Through therapy and support from Deepak, she gradually learns to accept that she was a victim, not the cause of her suffering. By the end of the play, Mala emerges as a symbol of courage and healing, reclaiming her identity and self-worth.

 

III. Answer the following in about 300 words each

1. Thirty Days in September addresses the issue of societal silence around sexual abuse. Comment.

Mahesh Dattani’s Thirty Days in September boldly confronts one of the most suppressed issues in Indian society,sexual abuse within the family. The play exposes how victims are silenced by guilt, fear, and the pressure to protect the honor of the family. Through the story of Mala and her mother, Shanta, Dattani shows how silence becomes a weapon of oppression, forcing generations to live with hidden trauma.

Mala’s uncle abuses her when she was a child, but the real tragedy lies in her mother’s refusal to acknowledge it. Shanta’s silence is not just ignorance but a continuation of her own trauma; she too was abused by the same man when she was a child. This cycle of silence and denial becomes a central theme of the play.

Dattani’s use of therapy sessions, recorded tapes, and fragmented memories reveals the psychological depth of abuse and the struggle to articulate it. The counsellor’s unseen presence symbolizes society’s need to listen, while the tapes represent the process of speaking the unspeakable.

Through Mala’s journey—from shame and confusion to empowerment—Dattani urges society to break the silence surrounding sexual abuse. The play calls for empathy, awareness, and open dialogue instead of denial. It insists that confronting truth, however painful, is the first step toward freedom. In doing so, Dattani transforms a private trauma into a public call for social awakening.

2. Elaborate on the role of memory in the play. How does the play use dramatic devices to convey its message?

Memory plays a crucial role in Thirty Days in September, functioning as both a source of pain and a path to healing. The entire play revolves around Mala’s fragmented recollections of childhood abuse and her gradual confrontation with those buried memories. Each remembered moment brings her closer to understanding herself and the root of her suffering.

Dattani uses powerful dramatic devices to represent the working of memory. The recorded counselling sessions, flashbacks, and overlapping dialogues recreate the disjointed rhythm of trauma. The use of lighting and stage areas such as the prayer room, the counsellor’s space, and the living room symbolizes different layers of memory and repression.

The recurring image of the broken portrait of Krishna reflects shattered faith and the illusion of purity within the family. The taped voice of Mala from the past contrasts sharply with her confident present self, showing her emotional transformation.

Through these devices, Dattani portrays memory not just as a recollection of events but as a process of rediscovery and liberation.