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| Left empty handed? | |
| Kirti Jain / New Delhi June 07, 2009, 0:05 IST | |
The general election results might have an adverse effect on cultural activities in the North-east
As the election results poured in, everyone seemed exultant about the Left Front having been wiped out in the Lok Sabha, as it was made out to be a greater enemy than even the right-wing parties, coming in the way of reforms and the liberalisation agenda. It had, after all, stalled “developmental initiatives” attempted to be taken by the ruling alliance — and don’t ask whose development! Anyway, in the midst of it all what kept coming to mind was the small state of Tripura along the Bangladesh border, where I had recently attended a 10-day-long National Theatre Festival with 20 performances featuring 10 plays at two venues in two different cities, namely Agartala and Jerania. The festival was organised by the National School of Drama on a long-standing request from the Government of Tripura, in order to expose its people to national trends and achievements in the field of theatre.
The plays were largely from the North-east, but represented other regions as well. Unfortunately, the larger national representation had to be postponed due to the announcement of the elections and shortage of infrastructure, and will now happen in October-November instead. The languages of the plays ranged from Manipuri, Sikkimese, Assamese, Naga, Bengali, Hindi to their native Kokborok. This variety of tongues, or their unfamiliarity with them, did not deter the audience from attending these performances.
While the auditorium capacity in both the cities was around 750, on any given day the audience was not less than 1,000. In Jerania, the organisers were forced to put a large screen outside, as some of the performances had around 2,500 spectators. For us theatrepeople who are often starved for audiences, it was moving to see several members of the audience trying to sneak in with the previous day’s ticket, as it was housefull for all the shows. The atmosphere was absolutely electrifying at the two venues, nd a secret wish quietly crossed my mind — why wasn’t my play here? And then the natural question came — what is it that is creating this excitement for theatre in this tiny state which is not visible almost any where else?
Several answers to these questions also came in immediately, that there are hardly any movie halls in Agartala (though people own TV sets), that they are geographically landlocked, with travel outside the state not very accessible, hence they are starved for entertainment, any entertainment! That they carry the Bengali blood in them, and therefore also the theatre virus! Hence, the large audience showing. What also got docked in my mind was the fact that it had probably also something to do with the state having a Left government which has always given high priority to arts and culture, even if it is for the propagation of their political ideology.
Within the country we have IPTA as an example, and abroad we know the rich performing arts scene in the communist world, which has now crumbled. We know that this prioritisation has definitely initiated people in the arts in such regions. Otherwise would one have encountered armed personnel at the border posts totally clued in to the details of this festival? Wouldwe have had a large mix of enthusiastic rural and urban audiences who did not understand Hindi or English, or for plays in languages they did not understand? Or have large numbers from the cadres at the forefront of organising this mammoth festival working selflessly and tirelessly 24x7 throughout the festival?
With the collapse of the Left, will these small bastions of culture also collapse? Will there be no hope of spirited debates about the performance after shows, as we saw happening in Tripura?
Maybe I am reading too much into this political connection, but it was definitely heartening to listen to an extremely popular tribal singer and be told that he was earlier a dreaded Maoist and that it was through cultural activism that the government there had managed to get several extremists like him to surrender, and that today those former extremists lead the cultural brigade in the state. Such is the power of culture! You don’t need just more troops to counter terrorism!
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