PROJEKT iVIEW : IPTA warms spirit of Independence
iVIEW AUTHOR:
Kumar Gautam (Bombay, India)
email: writerdirectorgautam [at] gmail.com
The year 2007 sees 150th year of first war of Indian Independence and look there are no media players to cash on this occasion. And why will there be one? Nationalism is a feeling of past and it doesn’t sell. They say love for motherland is the most exaggerated form of love and only fools fall for exaggeration. Even the responsible channel of government has shut it shop because in 1857 there was no congress party. Sahed bhagat Singh (2007 celebrates his centenary too) in no way was associated to congress except for rebelling against their ideologies and defaming congress. But there is a saying, “Ek chirag se sau chirag jalte hain” (One lit candle can light hundred other unlit candles). To celebrate 150th year of the 1857 – war of Indian Independence, one flame is spreading light around irrespective of being called old – fashioned. “Hum Deewane, Hum Parwane”, two one act play in Hindustani by IPTA (Indian people’s Theatre Association) is a gesture of their social responsibility in today’s commercially intriguing domain of slapstick comedies.
The presentation of IPTA made me remember something which is very near to my heart. My music guru Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar used to say, “Can principles and values ever be old? If not, then how can you see a life without principles and how far can there be a life without principles?” “Hum Deewane, Hum Parwane” similarly follows the certain irremovable principles of theater. A good script, some passionate actors who feel and mean what they do and decent threading of live music in between the performance to keep audience entertained.
The first one act, ‘Hum Deewane’, shows the insensitive side of military at border. The paranoia at border force them do something heinous, brutal and disgusting on regular basis and people suffering are those innocents living around border who are merely living for the sake of survival, just because they were born. Is not this issue contemporary? It has been 60 years of independence and we are still trying to realise the real meaning of freedom, sip the real dew of Azadi (Independence).
The second one act, ‘Hum Parwane’, narrates the tale of Ashfaqullah Warsi one of the culprits in Kakori train dacoity who was tried and hanged to death in 1927. ‘Hum Parwane’ is not mere a tale of a revolutionary, it is a medium to recount the Hindu – Muslim unity prevalent in pre-independence era. Is not this relevant today, when riots are pre – election warm up exercises? Are not educated, enlightened, commercial and globalised Hindu – Muslims still fighting with each other on that few percent differences in ideologies and life – style. Rest forbids, we are all humans.
IPTA brand may look and sound old. But it is the old seed which gives birth to a new plant.
Tags: Theater
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Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
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Ramu Ramanathan
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Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
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Sam Langoria
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=Kumar Gautam:
May be I am wrong and please excuse me for that, but political tone present in your article has ruined a nice subject.
This is not necessary that PM or president should celebrate 100 years of Bhagat Singh or for that matter for any freedom fighter. It should come from the people. More people will recall these great souls and more politicians will feel to be associated with the celebrations.
For 1 minute it can be understood that Bhagat Singh was against Congress (though this congress has nothing to do with that congress of 1920s and 30s) but with your logic, communist parties (at least Marxists )should celebrate 100 years of Bhagat Singh because, atleast for few years he was a known believer in marxism.
IPTA has been associated with leftists and we have yet to see a leftist writer or historian who give true respect to freedom struggle of 1857, they say it as random sepoy mutiny which had no plans to bring freedom to India.
It will be so good if many many people recall these struggles and celebrate 150 years of 1857’s struggle and 100 years of Bhagat Singh but your efforts to connect the dissatisfaction with political parties that too with particular, bringing the dilution to the real cause.
With this logic, people may ask if IPTA will make plays dealing with lives of Gandhi, Nehru, Subhash Bose, and Arvindo and Tilak? I am not aware if they have enacted such plays in the past.
leave politicians apart atleast we common people should not divide them(freedom fighters) in different sections. their ways could have been different but they all had same goal.
Again nice topic, which has gone awry becasue of frying with political ideas. It could have been much more impressive with non political approach. Sorry to have disagreement.
@RK,You made a very valid point. Art in any form and especially theatre be not confined to political ideologies.
Hi there !
Will email next week ok ?
Have to read it all properrrly, ofcourse, aparrrrt from understanding it, as wellllll !
Have also just written on the New Wave Alternative Cinema of India, myself, in the form of an Interview with me
Love,
Nina Sugati SR
Thanks RK and Krysh for your comments. I appreciate your viewpoint. Well, the idea was not to add political overtones to article but to highlight role of government and search for a pragmatic reason behind apathy of government in glorifying 150 years to first war of Indian Independence.
Let me give you an example, Indian classical music has comparitively no takers in market. Yet a certain class knows its importance and somehow wants to protect and preserve it. Lot of musical enthusiast (read;corporate, NGO, Rasiks) do their level best to promote Indian classical dance and music but all that is again comparitively minuscle when compared to work of Dordarshan and All India Radio.
So, the moral of the story is as the media wing of government spends so much to glorify Indian history, art and culture…then why not 100 years of Bhagat Singh or 150 years of first war of Indian Independence. And the analyst in me searched for answer. I got the answer.
“Politics you just can’t avoid it…freedom makes a route out of its womb…whether its artistic freedom or rights to freedom – Kumar Gautam”
To commemorate the 150th year of the1857 uprising against British colonialists, a grand function was organised at the historic Red Fort in Delhi 11th May, 2007.
The event was attended by
President A P J Abdul Kalam,
Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat,
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi,
Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh,
NDA Chairman Atal Bihari Vajpayee and
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.
As many as 40,000 youth from the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), the National Service Scheme (NSS), the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and the Scouts and Guides reached the venue after a march from Meerut’s Victoria Park, exactly 150 years to the day that mutinous soldiers stormed the Walled City of Delhi and attacked British officers and their families.
The celebrations were also marked by a cultural programme and creative performances in which 2,000 folk performers from seven Zonal Culture Centres of the Ministry of Culture along with eminent artistes of national and international repute participated.
The celebrations were organised by the Ministries of Youth Affairs and Sports and Culture.
Multi-media screens were put up to provide important highlights of the uprising.
The Delhi Government had declared a public holiday to commemorate the event.
The prime minister reminded Indians that during the 1857 mutiny, people had stood together shoulder to shoulder to fight the British, irrespective of their religion or community. He emphasized the need to draw a lesson from this, and called on the people to build an India marked by national unity and harmony between communities.
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There goes your argument of apathy of the govt!! The top brass of the Congress govt was present in full force and so were the other illuminaries from politics and art. The days preceding and after the function made huge news headlines too.
Similarly, you will get the info on celebrations held in Punjab, Delhi, Pune and other parts of India on Bhagat Singh’s 100th birth anniversary, by doing a simple google search. In fact, in Punjab two CPI frontal organisations – All India Youth Federation(AIYF) and All India Student Federation(AISF), in association with several other NGOs, launched a campaign on the 90th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh (1997) to celebrate the centenary year of the great martyr in a big way throughout the state. So at least in Punjab, Bhagat Singh’s cnteneary year celebrations were under preparation for the last ten years.
To an extent, media can be blamed for ‘comparatively lesser coverage’ of such issues. But then, they run a business and they cater to people what they wish being catered to.
It is the current mindset and orientation of the people, that such functions and news fade away from their memory much faster than those of a certain Abhi-Ash’s wedding and that of a girl attempting suicide outside their house on the wedding date (I bet many people would remeber the date and the name of the girl even today).
Blame media and govt only after thorough self-analysis. Coz usually you get what you ask for.
Me…thanks for writing…i appreciate your in depth analysis and comment…but we are deviating away from the topic…the discussion is “Role of media in glorifying 150 years to First war of Indian Independence and Responsibilities of media channels run by government when Private channels shut door to non TRP raising stories pertaining Nationalism”
RK…sorry couldn’t write back to you about Ravan…No we didn’t refer to Book of Dr.Rahi Masoom Raza while writing Ravan…:)
=Kumar Gautam,
Thanks for reply abt Raven:)
your point is important abt govt. controlled TV Channel,i.e. Doordarshan or DD. But In my thinking it has less to do with govt and more with us the common people. We are the real culprit behind ruining the DD and its real motives. We cursed DD’s programmes which it made in 80s and they are termed as clasics today. we Cursed DD is so slow, DD is without colour before these pvt channels and we rushed towards cable TV and forced DD to become immitator of other channels. Audience who had money and were residing in big cities they forced DD to change its pattern and hence today its in that position where it cant decide independently what to show and what should be shown. Ministers controlling DD could see where Janta Janardan was running and hence pressure of becoming self sustained and market really does not believe in any ism, be it Bhagat Singhism or Gandhism. Whatever sells more they will hanker after that only and this we can see on various pvt channels.
Govt. is using tax payers money in running DD, this is the biggest force of middle and upper class to control DD’s directions. Whatever control was on DD, it was beaurocratic or whatever case was there but it provided us quality programmes.
This TRP fever has been imposed by people on DD by cursing its simple ways. We have a joke all over who sees DD and its an years old joke. Those who sees DD only are understood as poor, less intelligent, lower standard people and hence ghost of market has been imposed over DD also.
we have brought this situation ourselves. If DD telecast good programmes on classical music, to save wonderful arts of India and audience are less then people(tax payers) ministers and higher officials will twist the ears of responsible people working hard in DD. Its not that DD was not doing it. we killed that era ourselves.
But this is good that people are showing expectations from DD. Its a change.
Thanks for raising this point.