Though the merger of their province with the Union of India brought the curtains down on the Nizams’ two-hundred year misrule, the exploitation of the rural dalits by the dora-patel-patwari nexus continued unabated. And that led to the formation of 'communes' as part of a peasant movement in July 1948 under the Telangana Struggle that didn’t take off any way. On the other hand as the seeds of egalitarianism began to take roots in the urban Indian soil, in time, these “slighted souls” too began to envision the dawn of an equitable era for them. However, the nascent upward mobility of the downtrodden was at odds with the vested interests of the feudal order, and to nip the dalit moral assertiveness in the bud, the ‘axis of evil’ saw to it that such were brutalized to make an example of them.
“Slighted Souls” scripts the life of the downtrodden of Rampur nearly a decade after the famous but failed peasant struggle of Telangana. Making cohorts with Muthyal Rao the dora in oppressing its dalits are Papa Rao the Police Patel, Rami Reddy the Patwari, Papi Reddy the landlord and Shaukar Suryam the moneylender. Beginning with the life and times of Yellaiah and his wife Mallamma this play unfolds the urge of the deprived to unyoke themselves, and the desperation of the privileged to rein in them.
[Curtains up: Mallamma sits in front of her thatched hut in the dalit mohalla weaving a bamboo basket. Enter: Yellaiah, and seeing him, she goes into the hut to fetch some water for him, and he takes over the work.]
Mallamma [Back with a glass of water]: Why make a mess of it maava.
Yellaiah [Taking over the glass]: Take it I’m giving them their due.
Mallamma: I wonder how they’re harming you.
Yellaiah [Having empted the glass]: Aren’t they harsh on my darling’s delicate hands?
Mallamma [Taking back the glass]: I’m glad you’re still fond of your old woman.
Yellaiah: Who said you’re old dear. I’m ever scared that some dora or a patelmight grab my Malli.
Mallamma[Taking the bamboo work]: You know it would never be the case.
Yellaiah: Well but still.
Mallamma: Leave alone the patelsand the patwaris, would the dora ever forget that incident in a hurry? Besides, I’m behind the bamboo curtain, am I not?
Yellaiah: Well who can forget that potential tragedy turned farce? [He laughs heartily]. But still it hurts to let you toil day and night.
Mallamma: So be it, till our Narsimma becomes a big officer. Till then, the fact that you care keeps it going.