Voice of countless women narrated in a play

One dark night unravels the secrets of two childhood friends, both widows. They have been carrying in their hearts the stories of all unborn girls and countless other women. The secretes have shaped all their decisions.

Telling their tales is the play "Jug Jug Jiyo" to be staged in the capital Saturday.

Well-known theatre and Bollywood actors Mita Vashist and Dolly Ahluwaliya Tewari play the protagonists who share a small house in a small village.

Their children, far away in Mumbai, are in live-in relationships, something not known to them.

The play opens on the night when the two decide to visit their mothers.

According to the director, Smita Bharti, the play is the voice of "countless women".

"This is not a mere play for me. It is the voice of all those countless women, who bear the impact of everyday violence in their personal domains; who are unable to recognise the violation of their fundamental right to a life of dignity," said Bharti.

"Those who are unable to speak up, or act, or seek their constitutional right to equality," she added.

Bharti said ignorance about sexual violations and assaults perpetuate fear among women which she aims to address through this play.

"We are largely a sexually immature nation who purports to consider all things sexual as taboo and so repressed except for the purposes of exploiting women and unabated voyeurism," she said.

The play will be staged on the on the eve of the International Day of the Girl Child at Kamani Auditorium at 6 p.m.