Month: March 2014

An OPEN LETTER to the Future Prime Minister

Celebrations are all around me. After all, the world’s largest democracy and the only one in the third world of any consequence, is gearing up for its 16th general elections. As a first time voter, I am more than eager to seal my destiny at the polling booth. I firmly believe the potential of participatory democracy is unparalleled, and as a young voter, I have expectations.

Dear Mr. (Future) Prime Minister,

Sir, approximately 75% of India’s population resides in rural areas. So, the first thing on your agenda should be to make the rural villages fit for human habitation and at the same time provide sustainable means of livelihood for our village folk. As a consequence, this will automatically check the indiscriminate migration from rural to urban areas. Agriculture, the mainstay of our economy, which has always been accorded a step-motherly treatment,   ought to be at centre of the next plan and be modernised. The Indian farmer today, who works day in and day out, is unable to secure two-square meals a day for his family is treated so casually by the political establishment. All this must change. Thus, creation of adequate employment opportunities and incentive-based schemes for our farmers must be devised and implemented.

Sir, today there are a plethora of government schemes that cut across various sectors-industry, services, agriculture etc. Unfortunately, all these schemes haven’t been implemented properly and uniformly across all regions. ‘Good Governance’ must be your slogan for the overall development of our economy.

Today, our cottage and small-scale industries are languishing on ventilators. The talented artisans and handicraft artists virtually find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle of debt trap. Provision of loans at low rates of interest can go a long way in securing the financial autonomy of our artisans and prevent them from falling into the trap of indigenous bankers and malicious moneylenders.

Education is a powerful tool for empowerment and can act as an agent of change. No doubt, the Right to Education has been a milestone in our democracy. More than 50 percent of children in urban India attend the government schools. There is an urgent need to revamp and refurbish the facilities offered there-both in terms of infrastructure and quality of teaching. How will these children contribute to nation-building if the society and the state do not look after them in their formative years?

Our economy is doing fairly well and we have a lot to celebrate about.  The economic think-tank is too obsessed with augmenting India’s economic growth. Numbers, however, indicate only a part of the picture. Sir, human development is a crucial ingredient to the overall development. Women empowerment and reservation will make gender issues more focussed.

Mr. Prime Minister, India can be among the best and the most prosperous. But for this, it needs to spring clean its politics. Electoral reforms are a must in order to make the political system more democratic in the way it functions.

My India of tomorrow is where there is equality of opportunity for every Indian, rich or poor, male or female.  Where performance is what matters and one’s caste, creed, sex or religion is no deterrent.  I foresee a brighter, better and stronger India. Sir, I am confident of the future. All I ask for on behalf of millions of other Indians is to make the system more accountable, transparent and delivery-oriented.

Yours faithfully,

A first-time voter.

BOOK REVIEW: Women Extraordinaire- A Novel by Suchita Malik.

Suchita Malik’s Women Extraordinaire is classic work of fiction, a marked departure from her previous two novels. The author like a sculptor carves an incredible and intricate chronicle of three determined and indomitable women with an unwavering zeal who, despite facing the ugly wrath of destiny, are not ready to give up and accept defeat. The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her; but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes. The protagonist of the novel, Kaushalya, is just that, an embodiment of never-say-die attitude.

Women extraordinaire’ is a story of Kaushalya, a free-spirited soul who is a lot like the modern-day woman.  Her scientific temper and rational frame of mind is remarkable, likes to live life by her own terms, and unequivocally questions the stereotypical customs and traditions that have been followed by her community since time immemorial. She is the only child of her parents, who is bequeathed with all the riches of her family.  She has faced and lived through her share of lows in life. As the story unfolds, Kaushalya is married into an ordinary middle class family which is not conventional for someone of a higher social status. As time winds its way through the cosmic clock, she is widowed and left with a child. This is the second time life has been unfair with her. Determined and strong-willed, she does not give up.  She goes on to marry her brother in law. Just when her personal life starts to gather pace and a dash of positivity gleams in, the political situation turns ugly. She would never get to see her motherland, Punjab, ever again. The author sends a chill down the reader’s spine when she paints a rather emotional picture about the poignant and horrific vivisection of India. Malik’s style of writing is unparalleled; her calibrated selection of words and an unpretentious vocabulary makes the book a worthwhile read with the gravity of a common thread shining through. The author weaves a beautiful veil with distinct and vivid patterns through her characters and a deep understanding of human emotions, thereby creating an impeccable prose. Malik, like an expert artist paints mystic images which leave the reader spellbound. Kaushalya, is the quintessential Indian woman, with extraordinary resilience and the will to live in spite of all hardships that life has to offer. The book is a must read for all those who have an appetite for contemporary history, and wish to go back into time to experience the wrath of India’s partition through the lives of these 3 generations. The writer apparently prefers intensity and variety, and the result, if not dazzling, is definitely warm and engaging. Delving into the pages of this novel is like sipping hot chicken soup at the end of an extremely rough day: it just soothes your taste buds rather than exciting them and you are indebted for that. 

 

Dramatist Extraordinaire

For more than three decades, Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry, a Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi award-winning theatre director, has single-handedly and effortlessly established the theatre scene in Punjab. She spent her childhood years in England and then moved to Amritsar. She has lived in India’s national capital, Delhi, and metropolitan cities like Mumbai. A passionate globe trotter, her work has virtually made the world map her address. She is finally settled in Chandigarh, in the foothills of the shivaliks and runs a theatre group called, ‘The Company’, which has produced a number of grand and remarkable productions like The Suit, Yerma, Kitchen Katha and Nagamandala.

Today, Neelam is dressed in a black and white Punjabi suit, an intricate bandhej veil and subtle brass earrings, she is grace and beauty personified. To watch her ‘dancing eyes’ and ‘intense gaze’ do the talking is celestial.  “I don’t do homework or follow any school. For me, the play surfaces when actors’ bodies move in spaces,” she submits, rather unequivocally about her directorial style.

I am curious to know what attracted her to the stage and the world of drama. Our tête-à-tête takes us back to the Punjab of the 60s and 70s. Mansingh was brought up in an upper-middle class family in Amritsar and her parents, she says, “were quite de-contextualised in terms of an artistic background. It was a stereo-typical household where drama could be taken up as a hobby only.” Her father was a leading doctor and her mother a housewife. “The Amritsar of the 70s was suffocating!” she recalls and continues, “The escape from Amritsar to Chandigarh was one of the most defining moments of my life and made me what I am today”. Before she even knew it, she found herself pursuing fine arts in Chandigarh and that’s when her soul lost its virginity to the world of drama. Ebrahim Alkazi, one of India’s greatest playwrights, had brought two plays from the National School of Drama to the city. She knew right then that theatre was what she was made for.

You can feel a tinge of nostalgia in her tone when she recollects about her time spent at the National School of Drama. Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans. As time wound its way through the cosmic clock, change was on the cards for her. “Eventually, I got married and my husband was posted in Bhopal.” She pitches in. The less-glamorous Bhopal would be where she would be spending the next four years of her life. “That was a milestone. Bharat Bhavan was coming up with B V Karanth spearheading the project. I learnt a lot about theatre in those four years.”

It is equally captivating to learn about her mentors, role models, and teachers- ‘Ebrahim Alkazi’ and ‘B V Karanth’ who are perhaps one of India’s greatest playwrights. “They made you realise art was hard, yet a way to define life,” says Mansingh.

Curiosity settles in and I hesitantly ask her as to why she never considered entering mainstream Indian cinema like many of her counterparts from NSD did. “I can’t face the camera. It’s intimidating!” she smiles. Her uncanny and candid style is definitely her USP, I tell myself.

 We’re interrupted by an official clerk who is here to get some paperwork sorted. In the meantime, I scrutinize my surroundings and look around the studio where we’re seated. It is rather dilapidated and wears a haunted look. She apologizes for the interruption and we continue.

Neelam, who is currently an associate Professor at the department of Indian Theatre, at Panjab University, emphasises that, “Sadly, theatre is experiencing a financial crunch. There is no patronage from the administration. The system has turned a blind eye to this form of art. They perhaps don’t even know who ‘Neelam Mansingh’ is!” she laments and her tone is icy this time. At ‘The Company’, “It’s me and my team. We get together and arrange everything”, she beams with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Time runs out and our fascinating rendezvous comes to an end. When asked to sum up her journey in the world of theatre so far she states in a matter-of-factly tone, “Theatre is an ongoing process. You really cannot see it in retrospect. It takes a long time for a formation to take place. Thus, the journey continues.” I bid her farewell.

It is beyond doubt that it is people like Mansingh Chowdhry, who are making all the difference to society today by carrying forward the legacy of one of India’s greatest art forms, theatre and drama.  And that’s when you realise theatre is not just any other profession but a zeal and desire to express what lies inside you. Truly, there is much more to life-than just money!