Rajeshwar Singh ”Raju”
Dogri is our mother tongue. We are under an obligation to preserve and promote it through whatever medium of expression, we may. There are many organizations which are working with the sole purpose of inspiring the young generation in particular to accept the truth that ignorance of roots leads to identity crisis.
Now, it’s really commendable that Senior Citizens Support Service Club Chowadhi Jammu under the able guidance of its Chairman Dr. Kasturi Lal Gupta has been working hard to innovate more and more ideas for this noble cause and then execute the same successfully. Recently Samooh Theatre, a prominent theatre group of UT of J&K organized a 3 Days ” Dogri Rang Maha-Utsava” in collaboration with Senior Citizens Support Service Club . The festival, that was organized at Abhinav Theatre Jammu for three days wherein different theatre groups of the region staged six theatre productions with two theatre plays being staged on each day enamoured the theatre and language lovers.
The festival started with GALAT VYAKARAN written by Kumar A Bharti followed by BAWA JITTMAL written by Dr. Gian Singh, PENSION by Padmashri Mohan Singh, AE GHAR MERA NAHIN by Shivdev Singh Sushil, BANDA BOLDA AE by BasantViyogi and SAS PURAN written by Shashi Bhushan. The festival witnessed jam packed theatre thus proving that there is audience if sincere efforts are made to draw them towards theatre and serve them the productions to which they feel connected.It was a well-managed competition between six theatre groups and a jury comprising of Ravinder Koul, an eminent art critic, Arvind Anand, veteran Actor and Rajesh Raina, a well-known theatre activist evaluated the performances.
J R Sagar, an eminent veteran actor was adjudged Best Actor for his scintillating performance in AE GHAR MERA NAHIN. The play also bagged Best Production Award. Janak Khajuria, another veteran actor and director got 2nd Best Actor Award for GALAT VYAKARAN, the production also got 2ndBest Director Award for talented Mohit Chib whereas Usha Slathia was adjudged 2nd Best Actress for PENSION and Ridhima had the honour of getting Best Actress Award for SAS PURAN. BAWA JITTMAL was given the 2nd Best Production Award and its Director Ravinder Sharma was adjudged Best Director. The play also bagged Best Make Up award for eminent makeup artist ShammiDhamir. The festival that carried cash awards for the winners in each category was coordinated by eminent playwright and theatre director Rajneesh Gupta.
It is pertinent to mention here that whenever there is Annual Drama Festival organized by Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture & Languages (JKAACL) Jammu, then unlike in Srinagar where majority of plays are staged in their mother tongue Kashmiri, it is a total reversal in Jammu. Many theatre groups prefer to stage Hindi plays with an excuse that there are limited Dogri plays written for theatre which makes it tough for them to select one. Only a couple of productions are staged in Dogri and the regional language, mother tongue of Dogras is ignored and does not get its due share. This festival is an eye opener for them.It is said that there are more than 135 theatre plays written in Dogri. Ironically, the excuse makers don’t wish to work hard on new productions. They become just a copycat and prefer to go with already staged Hindi plays at national level or globally.
Here, I wish to add that the theatre activists should realize that whosoever has fulfilled responsibilities towards own existence by promoting own language and cultural traditions through Theatre, a potent form of expression, has marked a niche in this field. Padmashri Balwant Thakur and Late Mushtaq Kak have proved it with their critically acclaimed productions at National Theatre Scene.NATRANG has the honour of taking Dogri Theatre across the Globe now. There is absolutely no dearth of good Dogri theatre plays but the only point of concern is that the concerned groups should inculcate that spirit to work for a cause also.
If we analyze the efforts put in particularly through this Dogri Theatre Festival then it needs to be mentioned here that the efforts made are honest and the dedication and devotion shown while implementing it on a professional level shows the basic instinct for mother tongue. It is a welcome step and should inspire others also to work on similar projects that will surely help in giving a much needed pace to the Theatre movement also.
On the importance of such initiatives, Dr. Kasturi Lal Gupta says that this festival is in fact another step towards the destination which is far away but he is confident that if they succeed in making the Dogras aware of their rich language and traditions and infuse a spirit to save it from extinction then the distance will abridge automatically. He admits that a lot has to be done and individual efforts will yield the desired results but there has to be a spark within ourselves for own belongings.Dr.Sudhir Mahajan, a well-known theatre director and playwright is of the opinion that the Government Organizations like JKAACL having vast infrastructure should fund such initiatives by collaborating with different organizations working in this direction.Harvinder Kour (JKAS), Secretary JKAACL, who was also Chief Guest in prize distributing ceremony said that she is there to promote regional languages and culture and a good proposal is always welcome. She has rightly pointed out that Academy has started weekly theatre and every Saturday being reserved for a theatre production both at Srinagar as well as Jammu. Now it’s the duty of different theatre groups of Jammu to stage Dogri plays and come in huge numbers and invite others also to witness theatre productions to make the initiative a grand success.
(The writer is Sahitya Akademi and State Awardee for Literature.)
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