A Tradition of Loss
One of the earliest playwrights to have written an absurdist drama outside of pre/post-war Europe happens to be mostly unknown to non-academic readers. Bhuwaneshwar, a protégé of Premchand’s, published his first play in 1933. In 1946, he wrote Tambe ke Keede (Copper Maggots) – his absurdist magnum opus. In 1957, at the age of 47, Bhuwaneshwar passed away, purportedly in an ashram by the Ganges in Banaras. Years after his death, the internet somehow got hold of Bhuwaneshwar, r