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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.)

Responsible Reaction to Plastic Menace

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

Plastic Menace

India is now the largest producer of plastic waste, posing a serious threat to the environment and public health. How can we responsibly address this issue? While the ability to process waste defines the problem’s scope, individual responsibility is also crucial.

Two weeks ago, a paper published in the famous scientific journal Nature, which explained the enormity of the plastic waste menace, was quoted in this column. The paper pointed out that almost one fifth of the world’s plastic waste is produced in India. However, when labelling India as the largest producer of plastic waste, one also needs to factor in the fact that India houses around one-sixth of the total global population. The same paper also states that China was the biggest producer of plastic waste a few years ago, but by making investments in developing effective waste management systems, they have managed to tackle the issue successfully. The paper also suggests that developing countries should follow the example set by developed countries and invest more in waste management systems that would tackle the plastic menace.

However, the paper highlights that while inadequate waste management systems are the main issue in developing countries, the problem continues in developed nations even with robust systems in place. The paper attributes the growing plastic menace in these nations to irresponsible behaviour among the population. Is it not a more serious problem if people are irresponsibly throwing plastic anywhere in nature despite having some of the largest systems to tackle the issue in place? Shouldn’t we also demand that developed nations, which have established waste management systems, take action against the plastic menace in their own countries rather than focussing solely on developing nations where people’s behaviour regarding plastic seems to be more responsible?

The system of plastic waste management involves stages such as collecting, segregating, and sending recyclable materials back to the industry, with the final step being the incineration of non-recyclable items. One needs both the technology and trained human resources to develop a system to tackle the plastic menace. The paper published in Nature pinpoints India’s problem as its inability to collect plastic waste.

However, while thinking of sustainable development, one also needs to take into account the efficacy of the system developed for tackling the plastic menace. That would involve factors like availability, capacity, and the condition of the incinerators. Plastic waste going into nature due to the non-availability of incinerators and the air pollution that would be caused by improper operations or improper condition of incinerators would both finally add to the pollution, though one of those would be visible and the other would not be visible.

This demands a more evolved approach while looking at the plastic menace. Just counting the total plastic waste produced by a country does not completely reflect the problem. To be able to assess the issue of plastic menace completely, one will need to study the various types of plastic products being used in a particular country, their supply chains, as well as the whole lifecycle of such products till they go to landfills as waste. Such a study may show that some of the plastic products have actually proved to be eco-friendly.

Over the past few decades, plastic has replaced metal in several automobile components, bringing down the weight and boosting the fuel efficiency of the vehicles, which in turn has led to decreased emissions of greenhouse gases. One must also factor in the energy efficiency of the waste plastic management system, which involves the consumption of large amounts of energy. Additionally, correctly identifying the real problem areas is necessary. Some of our policies make the use of wrappers mandatory, and plastic wrappers amount to more plastic waste than plastic carry bags, which have been banned. A relook at and rationalisation of such policies too would help undo the plastic menace.

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