Finally, theatre with a voice

ON STAGE

"When we first went to perform a play in our village, the village men jumped on to the stage menacingly and threatened me against performing. They said it was against their honour that a girl from their village would come without purdah in front of men. I was scared but I stuck on. They threatened my parents who, in spite of fear of excommunication, supported me. And today, when I go to perform with the group, those very people are scared of us because we have succeeded in getting the women of that area to articulate their anger against injustice."

This was narrated by a young woman in Kurukshetra when I met the group recently during a theatre workshop. Another group member recollected, "When we initially went to a village to perform a play, the women were not allowed to come to the performance. Instead, they would watch from their terraces in large numbers. But, today, our reputation is such that we demand that we will perform only if the women are allowed to see the performance sitting in the audience, and they comply. Most important of all, this movement has given us a platform to express ourselves. We feel extremely empowered to be part of this collective which not only provides us creative space but also a space where we can share our common concerns." This was like a refrain from all young members of this group.

We, in theatre, know that theatre cannot bring about social change. At best, it can create awareness "" a positive environment for change. But this group of young, committed theatre workers/social activists have proved that this need not be so.

In about 10 years, their work at the grassroot level has actually succeeded in engineering a substantial change in attitudes and behaviour towards the marginalised sections of society by the oppressive and well-entrenched establishments in their region. And this has been brought about through theatre! And that too in Haryana! The tales told by the youngsters are heartning. Equally amazing are the battles that each one of them "" both men and women "" are fighting at their personal levels, even as they are committed to fight for social change.

This is presently a group of about 500 performers/activists, in the age range of 8-40 years. And their ranks are growing by the day as more and more people, fed up with this feudal, patriarchal society, want to join to free themselves and then participate in the process of freeing others.

This is the Haryana Gyan Vigyan Jatha, which has extremely sensitive and committed leadership that has gradually steered them in this direction through constant debate and practice. The large number of girls in the group who are extremely politically aware and articulate about issues that need to be addressed, is testimony to the achievement of this movement.

The turning point for the movement came in 1999 with the play, Ek Nai Shuruat (A New Beginning), which was based on a true story of a woman who was raped by upper class hooligans of the village and who had the courage to come out in the open and demand justice. Naturally, the panchayat did not take her side, but she took on even that establishment.

This play, when performed in about 52 villages to several lakh viewers, became a catalyst for change, questioning well-entrenched, patriarchal, upper-caste establishments like the panchayats. It was the beginning of a vibrant social movement with more and more youngsters, particularly dalits and young women, seeking to join this group to give voice to their oppression and also help free others like them through a combination of theatre and activism. If you met them you would know that they mean business. And the change has started becoming visible.

At a time when one has been very distressed with the callousness of the political leadership towards the marginalised, this initiative comes as a source of great hope and optimism. And if it can happen in one state, then why not in others?