‘The world needs a Kabir’
During rehearsal, an arts organisation that is presenting the show, Raina is surrounded by young actors who are trying to get their dohas in rhythm.
Saints have preached of love and tolerance, but rarely is a mystic seen as a protestor. In his dohas, Kabir explained complex philosophical thought to the masses, the harmony of his words rarely revealing that the 14-15th century poet-saint was also a fearless fighter, opposing the high priests of temples and mosques. Playwright Bhisham Sahni illustrated the combat between Kabir and the mullahs and Brahmins of Varanasi in Kabira Khada Bazar Mein and Kabira Khada Bazar Meinstaged it in May 1982, generating a buzz that brought in audiences for the next 10 years as well as a request for a private show by then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Delhi-based Raina is reviving the play to mark Sahni’s birth centenary this year and also because “the world needs a Kabir today”.
During rehearsal at Sahmat, an arts organisation that is presenting the show, Raina is surrounded by young actors who are trying to get their dohas in rhythm. He plays the cymbals and launches into Na mein dharmi na adharmi (Neither am I a believer nor an unbeliever) and the cast follows, some frowning with their eyes shut, others striking the air to keep beat. “This doha is from Kabir’s protest phase. Later, he would speak of the supremacy of love. The third phase was when he talked of the need to realise that god is inside you, that Is ghat antar bag bageeche or within you is the universe,” says Raina. The play has around 15 musical renditions of dohas.
The plot begins with almost everybody complaining about Kabir. His father calls him wayward, the local kotwal calls him crazy and the priests of the temple and mosque unite to call for “something to be done about him”. Around them, the rigid Hindu social order is up against the Muslim political order led by Sikandar Lodhi, the ruler of Delhi. Kabira Khada Bazar Mein touches these raw nerve endings making the play, set 600 years ago, a metaphor for present times.
Raina had first heard of the play as theatre gossip. “Somebody said that Bhisham Sahni had written a play and (eminent director) BV Karanth had rejected it. I put my friend on the job to get the script. When it was in my hands and I read it, I took a six-month sabbatical to study everything written on Kabir,” he says. Kabira Khada Bazar Mein was staged at the amphitheatre of Triveni Kala Sangam when summer evenings were still balmy and audiences would bring cushions for comfort.
NSD graduate Rakesh Kumar Singh, who plays the title role now, was in junior school at the time. His approach to Kabir is contemporary and physical. “I researched and found a stamp that the Government of India had issued in the 1950s, showing Kabir wearing a garland of Tulsi beads, a band on his head and peacock feathers. I read and learnt that Kabir liked dressing up; when he went to meet Sikandar Lodhi, he wore peacock feathers on his head. Only when I got his physical aspects did I begin to internalise him as the man who preached inclusiveness,” says Singh, a former IPTA artiste from Lucknow.
The play will be staged at Shri Ram Centre on April 14 at 6.30 pm.
Entry: Free.
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Source:: Indian Express
