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By:

Shoma A. Chatterji

21 August 2024 at 10:49:40 am

The Pallbearer’s Tragedy

Three decades after its premiere, Rangakarmee’s Mayyat remains a searing theatrical indictment of caste. Rangakarmee is perhaps the only theatre group that has been producing and performing plays in Hindi in Kolkata for 50 years this year. Founded and headed by the late Usha Ganguly, it is still as active and dynamic in presenting Hindi plays mainly new and sometimes recreating for the new audience, old plays that are timeless in their content and their appeal. The amazing feature of Mayyat...

The Pallbearer’s Tragedy

Three decades after its premiere, Rangakarmee’s Mayyat remains a searing theatrical indictment of caste. Rangakarmee is perhaps the only theatre group that has been producing and performing plays in Hindi in Kolkata for 50 years this year. Founded and headed by the late Usha Ganguly, it is still as active and dynamic in presenting Hindi plays mainly new and sometimes recreating for the new audience, old plays that are timeless in their content and their appeal. The amazing feature of Mayyat is that it was first performed by Usha Ganguly and her troupe way back in 1997 and has already performed around 500 shows spanning 30 years and signifies the cross-generational reach and popularity of the play. We saw a group of absolutely new actors dedicated to Rangakarmee. Their performance defined the strict discipline, the constant workouts and rehearsals to keep mobile and flexible because the very big cast needed to be perfect in body, mind and spirit during each 45-minute performance. What does the word Maiyyat mean? It is said to have its roots in Arabic and literally, it translates as ‘dead body’ or ‘corpse.’ The play is rooted in the deep internalization among the low castes of their exploitation and torture by the Brahmins of their village. The Brahmins are proud in their gait, their body language and even in their pure form of dress with the holy thread of Brahminism proudly on display. The custom of the proud, arrogant and rude Brahmins is to choose at least one among the four untouchables to become the pall-bearer when someone of the upper-caste dies. Instead of feeling sad or insulted, the chosen untouchable feels blessed and proud for being allowed by this strange custom of becoming a fake “Brahmin” if even for one day. Lakku is one such untouchable who lives somewhere near Aurangabad and leads a miserable life of poverty with the burden of a mentally deranged, motherless son he takes care of. The pall is decorated heavily with flowers and instead of looking like a bourse, it is decorated with lots of flowers like a palanquin. Someone obviously among the Brahmins is dead and the other Brahmins draw lots to find out which untouchable will be chosen to offer his shoulder to the bourse. `When Lakku’s name comes up in the shuffling of the paper chips, he is thrilled that at least for one day, he will enjoy the ‘blessing’ of becoming a “Brahmin.” But forced to run through the village on an empty stomach and with a weak body, Lakku collapses and dies before the bourse can reach the crematorium. Now, the question is – who will carry his body and carry it to the cremation ground? The entire performance, with 23 theatre actors, originally scripted, designed and directed by Usha Ganguly, is now performed by a new young cast under the guidance, training and supervision of Amal Saha, Deepesh Rajak, and Anirudh Sarkar. It has been conceived and designed like a musical opera with every Brahmin member of the cast, including the young women, dressed traditionally in pristine white with lots of marigold garlands and a sandalwood tikka adorning their foreheads. Though there are dialogues in the performance, these are either among the leading and decisive members among the Brahmins or scoldings and threats from the Brahmins to the four members from the untouchable tribe, each one representing a different low caste. These four men, alongwith Lakku and his mentally retarded son, keep waiting eagerly in one corner of the proscenium for the results of the lots to be drawn. They hug each other for joy when their names are announced and Lakku specially is thrilled with the responsibility of being pallbearer and becoming a Brahmin for just one night. Whose corpse is being carried in the bourse is not important. What is important is who are the pall bearers? At least, the Brahmins are not. What one carries home after watching a performance-play like Mayyat is the marvellous synchronization of the entire female cast wandering right around the proscenium space singing songs in complete harmony with not a note of error and the Brahmin men discussing, arguing and quarrelling over not how the corpse will be cremated but which low-caste man will become the pallbearer for one night. The bottom-line is caste is a continuous, historical evil. But should it remain so? (The writer is a noted film scholar. Views personal.)

NCP (SP) likely to struggle to keep flock together

Updated: Nov 29, 2024

Heavyweight leaders who joined the party on the eve of the polls might start getting impatient soon

NCP

Mumbai: The sparkling showing at the Lok Sabha polls catapulted the NCP (SP) into the league of one of the most sought-after parties in the state. More than 20 senior leaders were welcomed into the fold, some invited by the party and other, wanting a safe seat after indications that they may be denied a nomination from the respective parties. Some of the most prominent among them are Harshvardhan Patil, Sandeep Naik and Samarjeet Ghatge. All are influential politicians who carry political heft. The party was banking on them to win their constituencies effortlessly. Surprisingly, all three lost. Keeping them with a routed and splintered party will be a challenge for Sharad Pawar.


Of these three, Patil and Ghatge began their electoral careers as independent candidates, moving into parties later. With their own fiefdoms and cadre in place, they are less reliant on the party structure and workers. Patil, for instance, was elected to the state assembly for three terms as an Independent and joined the Congress only later. He quit the Congress to join the BJP and then moved to the NCP (SP) on the eve of the polls. The party had hoped to capitalise on Patil’s hold over cooperatives in Indapur given his years of experience and his tenure as a minister for cooperatives. Similar is the case of Ghatge, who made a mark in politics without any party’s support system. Hailing from an erstwhile noble family with huge land reserves and businesses that employ a few hundreds, Ghatge inherited considerable influence in Kagal from his father. The BJP, who didn’t have a strong face in the area, had inducted him and given him a position of power. In a grand gathering, he joined Pawar’s party earlier this year with an eye on a nomination from Kagal. But they lost. With Naik, he effortlessly moved across parties without batting an eyelid.


Ideology and loyalty to a party have taken a backseat in recent times. As a member of the NCP (SP) says: “These are opportunistic inductions from both sides. We saw winnability in them and they saw an opportunity especially after the Lok Sabha polls. Keeping them in the party will be a challenge especially since their own local influence outweighs the party’s spread in that area.” Interestingly, all three big leaders have left the winning side to join the NCP (SP); all three were in the BJP. As they see their former colleagues get ministerial portfolios or plum positions in state boards, it might be difficult to keep them back. “The future of the NCP (SP) is currently hanging in balance; we don’t have a roadmap for re-building the party right now. It will take us time to analyse this defeat and plan the way ahead. We don’t know how many of these leaders will continue to be with us,” says a senior party member.


The exodus may not happen immediately for fear of getting a tag of being opportunistic. But with elections to local bodies likely to be held in the coming months, their next move will be worth watching.

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