Rythu Bathuku Chitram, a poignant play moves all

Hyderabad : ''Rythu Bathuku Chitram', a poignant play on farmers' suicides organised by Caring Citizens Collective (CCC) at La Makaan, Banjara Hills on Tuesday evening, captured the essence of the agrarian crisis in the State and the country.

The small gathering that turned up at the venue despite a brief spell of showers was deeply moved by the sorry tale of Ramaiah, a poor farmer and the central character in the play. The scene where the grief-stricken peasant consumes pesticide to end his life and how the whole family reacts to the untimely death of their sole bread-earner stood out.

The novel approach took the viewers through several stages of a poor farmer's life and also brought out clearly and loudly a whole gamut of issues that plague farming. The focus was on seeds, fertilisers, debts, exploitation by money-lenders, government's apathy towards families affected by suicides, financial problems faced by such families in upbringing and education of children, and growing incidents of child marriages.

Applauding the actors for the brilliant performance, HMTV and The Hans India Editor-in-Chief K Ramachandra Murthy pointed out that the play needed to go places as it has to be viewed by a wider audience. Sajaya of Caring Citizens Collective, who was behind this initiative, pointed out that a beginning has been made to garner support for studies, particularly higher education of children belonging to families affected by suicides.

It would be a big morale booster if the society responds to the situation and lends a helping hand. Ganesh, Shwetha, Chandu, Srimathi, Durgaiah, Swamy, Prasad and Padma - all volunteers in CCC essayed different roles in this touching play in an impeccable manner. Interestingly, this is the first attempt by the group and they have come out with flying colours. They hope to give more such performances in the coming days to create awareness on the issue.