Historical Context

(Sale of Body Parts, India- Ramanan50)

Manjula Padmanabhan creates a sci-fi play titled Harvest. Through this play, Padmanabhan dramatizes the relationship between First and Third World countries during the 1990's. Padmanabhan says that the play is about the "power equation" between First and Third world countries and how it flows back and forth ("Character Analyses"). This power play does not even start until after the end of the Cold War, when Russia becomes decentralized. This takes a toll on India, who was dependent on Russia. India then turns and reinforces their reliance on the United States of America, leading India to break away from their non-alignment policies (Mohan). India now becomes incredibly dependent on the U.S. from here on out. 

Globalization begins to come into play with India turning over a new leaf and changing their policies. Third World populations (such as India) begin providing raw materials for First World countries, even though attitudes at this time were overly negative; Third World countries were ridden with disease and they were incredibly unsanitary (Worthen). This sort of attitude is explicitly expressed through "Ginni" or Virgil, when she refuses to come to Om's house or let Om live the way he is living because of how unsanitary it is. Padmanabhan focuses in this play on organ trading because this was a big thing for India at this time since for most lower class people it was an easy way to get money. Third World countries were increasingly willing to be "preyed upon" by First World buyers because organs are products that don't require any sort of real labor (Nancy-Scheper Hughes, Pravinchandra). This mindset becomes the basis for India's economy. 

Millennial capitalism was on the rise and was based on occult economics. Jean and John Comaroff define occult economics as an economy where no labor is required in exchange for wealth; it included organ trading, tourist industries based on ghost stories, or fortune-telling. Organ sales were able to promise copious amounts of money, with little to no labor, to impoverished Third World nations. 

(Perry)

This idea is found as a main point in Harvest, where Om and his family are incredibly underprivileged. Om does what he feels he has to do by giving away his body to a person of the First World in exchange for wealth. His mother, Ma, is a huge supporter of this as a stereotypical woman, staying out of the way so that the man of the house can do what he can to provide for the family. Ma also plays into the seduction of the First World. She is lured by the advanced technology and luxuries provided to them, just from her son sitting around and staying healthy. Padmanabhan even notes that people of the Third World are encouraged to think that they have nothing to give but their minds and bodies (Character Analyses). Millennial capitalism provided this mindset that the less fortunate from these areas can get whatever they wanted, for a small price to pay. 

Some people of the Third World were aware of this 'small price to pay'. In India, this awareness is known as the Kantian idea. This idea referenced human dignity and that selling your body parts violates human integrity (Pravinchandra). This was a big deal to some. This idea is personified through Jaya, who is the last one standing at the end of the play. Jaya maintains her identity and dignity throughout the play and is the only one to survive the power play by Virgil (indirectly, the First World). 

Third World countries are often clinging onto hope and despair to survive. They are usually desperate for a better life and will do what it takes to survive, even if it means being at the will of First World populations. Unfortunately, even after the '90's, this sort of reliance on First World countries has continued and still goes on today. First World countries have successfully made most Third World countries feel as if they wouldn't be able to survive without money and advanced technology. This allows countries like America and the UK to continue to win the power play between these two contrasting areas. 

Sources Cited:

“Character Analyses.” Character Analyses, public.wsu.edu/~converse/Harvest7/pages/54.html.

Pravinchandra, Shital. The Third-World Body Commodified: Manjula Padmanabhan's Harvest. The Third-World Body Commodified: Manjula

Padmanabhan's Harvest, www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_41208_en.pdf.

Worthen, W. B. “The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama by W.B. Worthen

Mohan, Raja C. “Http://Www.nbr.org - NBR - The National Bureau of Asian Research.” India's Foreign Policy Transformation, NBR, Jan. 2012,

www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=601.

Boyle, Alan. “10 Shocking Ways The West Abuses Developing Countries.” Listverse, 21 June 2014, listverse.com/2014/02/14/10-shocking-ways-

the-west-abuses-developing-countries/.

Ramanan50, Author. “Human Organ Human Trafficking Price Profits.” Ramani's Blog, 9 July 2014, ramanan50.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/human-

organ-human-trafficking-price-profits/.

Perry, Philip. “What You Need to Know about Illegal Human Organ Trafficking.” Big Think, 25 Apr. 2016, bigthink.com/philip-perry/what-you-need-to-

know-about-human-organ-trafficking.