Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein gave its inaugural performance at the Prithvi Theatre Festival this month. It is about Kabir, the outstanding Indian saint-poet.
What the play is about (this is taken from the brochure):
The play traces some events in his life and the prevailing social conditions that shaped his thoughts and actions. His sharp intellect, rationality, undaunted courage and command over the spoken word gave him the unique power to communicate with the common people. He was a people's poet and sang from his heart.
In my words:
The main focus of the play is how he is tells the common folk to realize that God dwells within each one of us and thus not to mistreat other human beings, but treat them with dignity and love. He was born 600 years ago in India.
He was a courageous soul who imbibed what appealed to his intellect from all prevalent religions of the time. But at the same time, stated clearly that he did not belong to any religion.
Trying to explain the title:
Kabira khada bazaar mein, Mange sabki khair,
Na kahu se Dosti, Na kahu se Bair
Yes, this is a doha of Kabir.
To translate:
Kabira in the market place, wishes welfare for all
Neither friendship nor enmity with anyone at all
Kabir was adopted by a weaver couple and so he used to weave and sell his wares. But due to his simplistic nature and inherent spirituality, he did not, nay, could not, adopt tricky means that a businessman would, to sell. So he seldom sold any of the stuff he and his parents would make. Instead, he used to observe the goings-on at the marketplace, how people interact with each other (esp. with regards to caste and religion) and talk to the common folk around, spreading his simple message through his songs and dohas.
(Beyond the obvious, each of his dohas had a spiritual context - that's another chapter altogether..)
What I liked about the play:
Presentation format:
The presentation is a plus point as it combines music and story to weave the tale and keep our feet tapping as well as waiting to see what will happen next...!
Bhishm Sahni excels as the Director.
Music:
The hall mark of Kabir's poetry is that he conveys in his two line poems (Doha), what others may not be able to do in many pages.
Kabir's dohe are popular even today in India because of their simplicity.
Kuldip Singh as Music Director is extremely good. There are 16 children (some of these kids have recently appeared on the 'Sa Re Ga Ma' Children's Special!), singing the songs after every 10-15 minutes or so, each having relevance to the storyline. All well-picked songs of Kabir.
Sets:
Lovely sets! Two large beautifully woven colourful carpets form the backdrop, with a light emanating from behind each! To lend authenticity, the stage has a simple weaving machine too.
Humour:
Light jokes throughout the play keeps us interested, at the same time, not moving away from the main purpose of the story.
(I want to add here, that the great Shashi Kapoor, Prithvi's founder and actor par excellence, was sitting quite closeby, and he was enjoying the play as much as I. It was a treat to see him guffawing with class and dignity (!) throughout the play enjoying the humour.. yes, he's one of my fav ;) so it was a real treat for me)
Actors:
On the whole, everyone has done a good job. Surendra Gupta is quite good as Kabir, portraying humbleness and simplicity in his character, though at times he is monotonous and so he looks wooden-faced. He might do well to show a little excitement at times for greater authenticity, I feel.
Sulabha Arya and Vijay Rajauria as his parents are also good. Rita Joshi as Loee, Kabir's wife, plays her part extremely well. Sings well too!
All supporting cast have enacted their parts well and with great confidence. Not to mention the 16 school children, who play an important part as a group in the play's format.
phew! this became a long one...
Finally I would say that what we see in the play is relevant in modern times, in fact, more so now than before. Casteism, religious bigotry and the hypocrisy of our times is not very different from 600 years ago when Kabir lived.
A must-see for all!
I am tempted to leave you with another Kabir-doha:
Kabira Garv Na Keejiye, Uncha Dekh Aavaas
Kaal Paron Bhuin Letna, Ooper Jamsi Ghaas
Translation:
Says Kabir
Don't be so proud and vain, Looking at your high mansion
Death makes one lie on bare land, And grass will grow thereon
