If you go by the views of famous Indian playwright, Javed Siddiqui, then the recipe for an ideal marital relationship is actually post-divorce. And on watching his play, Salgirah, (running at the Arts Council from Dec 15-23) one realises how meteoric a pace it comes through to make the audience think, maybe he’s right.

For if a man and wife are considered two wheels of a vehicle, why shouldn’t they be equal partners in a marital relationship rather than one yielding to the whims of the other? If marriages give more pain than happiness, is the institution becoming redundant?

The ongoing Napa plays, Salgirah by Javed Siddiqui and Sham Bhi Thi Dhuaan Dhuaan by Rafi Anjum, portray stories of a man and wife who divorce each other after 15 years of marriage; and a man and a woman who meet at a strange juncture in life to realise that they can put up with each other and live together, respectively.

Salgirah is a wonderful manifestation of a nuptial relationship that does not find rapprochement until it is given space. The cogent text mostly speaks to the audience through its sub-text which, one reckons, we all have faced as husbands and wives at some point in time: a sense of suffocation from an endless bout of expectations from each other.

Javed Siddiqui argues all the way that it’s the quality of a relationship that matters and not the number of years put into it.

Sameer (Rahat Kazmi) tries to seek companionship in ‘alternate’ love, but that does not compensate for his emotional need.

Sonali (Nyla Jafri) desperately needs a sense of security from a sought after writer-husband (Rahat Kazmi) but feels betrayed all the way. She seeks psychiatric help and drowns in drinking but realises that the institution of marriage does not procure the sense of security that she needs. Their children (Sahil and Tina) however, will throw them back together again and again.