Ninasam Diary:

Living with traditions

by Dr. Ajay Joshi

[Part 3]

As I sat through the discourses, at the annual culture course, organised by Ninasam, which had ‘Living with traditions’ as its theme, I couldn’t shy away from being amazed by the inadvertent allusion to the epics. Unwittingly most of the speakers drew references from the Ramayana. It was as if ‘Tradition’ was the ‘Ramayana’. What is in this text, as also in the Mahabharata, that draws this generation, which has otherwise moved on in leaps and bounds, to ‘come back and revisit’?

Films, theatre, poetry, literature, paintings, dance still draw their inspiration from the hidden folds of these texts. It is like the, ‘Athang Saagar’ (Endless Ocean), churning up more mysteries even as you struggle to comprehend and unravel, the earlier. I was probably in this state of bewilderment that I donned my critical glasses, and sat to watch the remaining two plays, coming away analysing them more intensely than one would feel comfortable getting done.

A scene from ‘Stories in a song’

The third play, ‘Jugari Cross’, though on the face of it, is a simple story of a theft gone astray, with the thieves desperately in search of their lost booty in an imaginary location called ‘Jugari Cross’, it adroitly paints a canvas in understanding the complexities of life.

And this almost certainly, demands of the viewer to look into the past of the playwright, who presents these intricate satin finish layers, which so easily slip away from the discerning eye. Purnachandra Tejaswini is an important Kannada Writer, well entrenched in the post-modernist Kannada Literature movement.

Awards

The recipient of many awards, he is a short-story writer, an environment activist with a penchant for social theories. And more importantly he is the son of renowned poet Kovempu, shackles of which he strived to break off from. He rebelled and left home. It was this act that triggered him to write some of his most memorable stories and put him on a pedestal of recognition and popularity. But all along, the undercurrent of despair and the search for the ultimate truth doesn’t go unnoticed in his work.

As the name ‘Jugari Cross’ suggests, in life we often come to crossroads, where we have to take crucial decisions, which will eventually chalk out our future. The choices are numerous but the precise path only one. This play philosophically questions this dilemma- what is right and what is wrong, should one turn left or right, go ahead or turn back, where is the ultimate joy and peace. And these musings are gently camouflaged in the comedy of errors which unravels on stage, as neatly defined characters, glide through their sequences to give an engaging presentation.

A simpleton couple pack their bag of grains to be auctioned in the local market. Unknown to them, a band of thieves, slip their loot into the sack of grains. However, they lose track of the couple and the bag exchanges hands, with the thieves hot in pursuit, picking threads to lead them to their steal. And all this unknown to the couple.

The play is delightful, with a chorus in place to patch myriad sequences and a vocal accompaniment to lead the story on. However, the realism in sets defies the sensuousness of the mysticism, of the search for the unknown, creating a shaky balance that rocks one’s sensibility, as you try to grapple with the strong referential undercurrents. The last production was, ‘Stories in a Song’, conceptualised by noted singer Shubha Mudgal and Anish Pradhan and directed by Mumbai based director Sunil Shanbag. There was much curiosity as the crowd thronged the auditorium, where with every seat full, the theatre lovers didn’t think twice before filling in the passageways. And they didn’t go away disappointed, as the play was a stealer from the word go.

Sunil is one of the important names associated with modern Indian theatre, having written and directed some thought- provoking and path breaking plays. Of late one sees him tackle research based themes, that draw from history and tie it to the contemporary, leaving the audiences to take the call, while abstaining from making any forceful comment or being overtly suggestive and preachy.

The play traces the tragic journey that Indian music has taken over the years, where many gems have faded into oblivion. It is a story of the plight of a people struggling to preserve their art, the debacle of an artistic community and their traditional musical practices at the hands of the unforgiving and opportunistic world. And interestingly it weaves stories which associate itself with this meandering journey.

These stories form a disturbing undercurrent, pulling you into history, while highlighting the plight of the artistes who practiced this art. A deeply researched experiment, the play works at various levels. At one end it informs of the fast fading notes of the quawalli, the shunning of the melodious and traditional renditions of the courtesans (Tawaif), the rift between the traditional and the contemporary music, the down rating of the traditional forms like the ‘Nautanki’, the blatant abuse and plagiarism of music in the fast-track and highly commercial world.

Claims

To substantiate these claims, stories are beaded in, which give historic references, to emphasise this predicament. The stately courtesan driven to prostitution, the political interferences in the arts, the exploitation of the local artistes by the colonial raj, the blatant condemnation of folk artistes, the desperation of families, otherwise rich in their cultural and musical traditions, as they run from pillar to post to make ends meet, the relentless and vastly globalised metros which swallow promising talent, the hounding music industry which shamelessly exploits the gullible.

With a comfortable balance between the textual narratives, in form of the stories, and a rich repertoire of musical accompaniment, the play is a run-away success.

Which otherwise was intended for a musical audience, it took even the theatric world by storm. Mellifous and powerful renditions of different genres of music styles interspersed with historic narratives and personal stories of the bereaved, went down well with the audiences. The singer-actors are brilliant in their performances.

Costumes

Minimalistic but artistic and highly suggestive sets, apt costumes and live accompaniment to music set the set in the right tone. Watching these four productions with their distinctive flavours, was enough to keep one charged enough to confront the onslaught arising through the deliberation on traditions and culture and their interrelation and contextualising, in the academic sessions. What transpired in the scholarly discourses easily meandered on to the rhythm of the productions, making this week- long intellectual and creative artistic extravaganza, a treat to bask in.