Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 28: Theatre group ‘Natrang’ staged Balwant Thakur’s Dogri play ‘Gatte-ch-Maanu’ (Man in the Ditch) here today at Rani Park.
Directed by Neeraj Kant, the play ‘Gatte-ch-Maanu’ was based on Krishna Chander’s famous Urdu classic short story ‘Khadda’.
The play shows that one and all tend to shrink their responsibilities and work and pass it on to others.
This is symbolized by a person fallen into a ditch whose pleas for help remain unanswered by one and all.
Many people pass by the person in distress giving different excuses for their inability to help him.
The unemployed youth are unable to find out of their fixed schedule of hunting for girls. The ‘Sadhu’ showers blessings and prays for his peace in as and where condition. The cop lodges an FIR and asks him to report to the Police Station. The foreigner lady enquires about his choice between India and Pakistan and the situation becomes more dramatic when a minister makes a round of the area.
The workers of Public Works Department instead of taking out the man from the ditch put wooden planks over the ditch and create a stage for minister’s speech. After public meeting, wooden planks are removed but no one pays any heed to the man in the ditch.
Finally a man from the audience appears and appeals everyone to lend a helping hand to this common man who is still in the ditch despite having celebrated about eight decades of India’s Independence. The play reflects the plight of the poor masses who continue to suffer for want of help from those at the helm of affairs.
Actors who performed in the play were Neeraj Kant, Pawan Vema, Mohd. Yaseen, Kartik Kumar, Aadesh Dhar, Kananpreet Kaur, Shivam Singh and Meenakshi Bhagat.
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