A play in the time of floods

New Delhi : Each year floods ravage Assam, almost like a ritual. Every time, lives are lost, property damaged and hundreds are forced to dislocate. He says he has "lived" with floods since childhood and watched what it does to the survivors too.

"As a human being and artist, I have been closely observing the pain and sufferings of the villagers. While successive governments have done little to improve the situation, some try to take advantage during the natural calamity. And this is how my Assamese play 'Raghunath' was conceived. I have no plans to adapt it into other languages as only the original one can justify the concept," playwright and director Bidyut Kr. Nath, whose play swept the recent META with six awards in different categories, including Best Production, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actor, Best Light Design and Best Stage Design, told IANS.

An alumnus of the National School of Drama Sikkim Theatre Training Centre, the 35-year-old Nath, who has acted in more than 50 plays, directed eight and written five plays was awarded the Kazironga Award for his cultural contribution to the state.

The play revolves around a poor village couple who lose their only girlchild in floods. The protagonist Raghunath believes that if a temple is built in the village, it will pave the way for development. He starts a rumour about finding a thousand-year-old god statue in his backyard. The script touches upon the education of the girlchild, the flood situation in Assam and the establishment's apathy towards it.

Smiling that winning so many awards was nothing short of a "miracle", considering his production was up against plays by many major directors, he feels there need to be more platforms for theatre in the country.

"There are hardly two or three, including META. Many more need to come up where young theatre practitioners can showcase their works along with experienced ones," he observed.

Since childhood, Nath has had a special fascination towards performing arts. He would watch 'Vaona' (an ancient play staged by Sankardev) and they influenced him a lot.

"However, post-joining NSD, my outlook completely changed," he recalls. Talking about the theatre scenario in Assam, which has a rich history of mobile theatre, he says that like the rest of the country, surviving on amateur theatre there is extremely tough.

"Yes, those associated with mobile theatre are earning decently," says Nath, who has been part of several Assamese serials and films, and also a Malayalam movie.

Believing that there is an urgent need to set up more repertories across the country so theatrepersons can earn a regular salary, he adds that it is high time for a national policy that entails a minimum wage system for theatre artists.

"Also, why cannot every state government organise an annual theatre festival and disburse a decent grant to the winning play? That will help them to roll out their next production," he concludes.

(Sukant Deepak can be reached at [email protected])