NATIONAL CENTRE F T E PE FO M NG ARTS

Quarterly Journal

Vo lume I Number 2 December 1972 Cover Picture: Recording Auditorium of the National Centre. NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Quarterly Journal

Volume I Number 2 December 1972

CONTENT' S

The Folk Legacy of Rajasthan ,.._, Komal Kothari 1

Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan,.._, An Obituary 9

Censorship and Sak.haram Binder ,.._, Ashok H. Desai 11

Mohan Rahsh-A Tribute,.._, Kamleshwar 21

Cinema, Television and Education ,.._,Shyam Benegal 29

An Indian Play\\Tight in New Yorl<: ,.._, Vijay T endulkar 44

Generating Instrumental Music by the Computer ,.._, M. G. Bidnurlmr and Padma Rangachari 55

Bool<: Reviev.- s 65

Record Review 73 THE FOLK LEGACY OF RAJASTHAN

Komal Kothari

In 1960 my friend Vijaydan Detha and I decided to establish a f:;'olldore Institute in a small village of Rajasthan. We selected the village of Borunda, which is about seventy miles east of Jodhpur, and right at the heart of the State's circular boundary. \i\1 e wanted to identify ourselves as much as we possibly could with the daily life of the people. \i\1e wanted our institution, Rupayan SanstTwn, to be wholly 'saturated' with the oral tradition of the inhabitants. Borunda is a small village of five thousand people and there are in a ll about six hundred families living there. \ i\1 e wanted to collect from this particular site one basic document. This was to be the foundation on which the variants collected from other areas in the State were to rest.

Our beginnings were te ntative, but the v•orl\: soon gathered momentum. \i\1 e managed to collect 13,000 folT<-tales, 10,000 songs, and literally thousands of proverbs and riddles. Every genre of the area's literary and musical he1itage helped us to understand the rural 'man' in his totality.

Our explorations followed h,·o main streams: documentation, through scripting the oral tradition or recording it: di.sseminati.on of this documented mate ri a l by mabng it avail able to fellO\"' researchers. \i\1e also tried to a nalyse and arrange our findings. \i\1e hoped to introduce a logical order into this documented material. And no\v \Ye are lool

vVe have published in all one thousand foll<-tales in a series entitled Batan-ri -PTw.lwadi. Each of the ten volumes is about five hundred pages. And w e plan to bring out another ten volumes. When '"e document a folT<-tal e. we use a ta pe-recorder or else w e mal

'The ta les with a specific na rrative interest h ave exponents who haYe evolved nn individual style of their own. They tend to embellish the la nguage, to mal

Kammu Khan playing the satara. Siddiqui playing the khadtal. National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. 2

A contemporary note is evident in the stories of Vijaydan Detha. since the world of his imagination is wholly absorbed in the modern man living in a rural habitat.

The tales \vhich \Ye collected ·were first published in Rajasthani. The Hindi renderings of these stories have been published in our monthly journal. LoT?. Sansf

F olf< ]\l]u.sic

In this field we have documented thousands of songs. We were convinced that merely to publish the text of these songs and to analyse their poetic content, without in any way referring to their musical aspect, would convey no idea of their essential character. A foil< song loses its flavour if it is not accompanied by melody and rhythm. We. there­ fore, worl

\;\!e record the songs. Then we prepare the text. When "\Ve write out the text, v.-e note down every syllable uttered in the song. This means \'Ve leave out only the melogenic notes of the song. After this, we try and fix the lines of the song. \;\! e take into account the rhythmic cycle before determining the lines and the break Punctuation, pauses, the use of silence all help to enhance the eHectiveness of a rendering. The division of the stanzas is often suggested to us by the refrain, the burden lines. They affect the form of the song itself. Thus tradition has a role to play in influencing the structure of a song and the style in which it is rendered.

On the musical side we find songs with a single melodic line or two melodic lines. The shape and size of the stanza grooves the musical composition of the song. Songs with a single melodic line appear to have no beginning, no middle, and no end. They are sung for hours on end or even for days and \·vithout any fixed text.

'fo mal

3 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vo l. I No. ~

Mani Kau/ working ll'ilh th e Fillagers of Borunda.

ln association with the National Centre for the Performing Arts. we recently made a short film of fifteen minutes in blacl< and whit . Directed by the eminent youn g film-m a ker M a ni Kaul. the film ha b een produced for strictly archival purposes. We h a d seven artists p arti ipa t­ ing, and they sang two son gs: Dlwmaldi, a Manganiyar song, prompted by the arid conditions in the region of Jai almer, extols the virtues of n raja who con structed a water tanlc Papeya pyara ri is the other Manganiyar melody sung b y them . It describes th e loneliness of the love-lorn heroine, Sorath .

4 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. 1 No. 2

The perlormers played on six instruments. The movie camera mana ged Lo capture the playing position of the artist and the \Yay h e handled the instrument in a manner no static picture could. For instance, the film manages to convey to the spectator a fair idea of the murli and the suri.nda which are both played by the Langas. The murli is a bagpipe with a gourd. The surinda is a chordophonic instrument: its bow is provided with bells (glwnghroos) \Yhich emphasize the time unit. with the beauty of the sound-texture emerging from the lightest jeri.;: oF the bow. The Langas also play on the sarangi, a type of improwd fiddle which is played ,.,-ith a bo,Y. They use t"o types of sarangis ...... the Gujaratan sorangi and the Sindf1i sarangi. The names bring to mind the contiguous areas of Rajasthan and the Sindhi sarangi is still played in the Sindh areas of Paldstan. Here we have yet a nother example of the way in which cultural bonds transcend both administrative and national barriers.

Musi.cal Styles As a caste, the main profession of the Langas is to sing for the families of their patrons, the Sindh Sipahis. These Sindh Sipahis are cattle-owners or herdsmen, and they pay the Langas in cash or kind. The Langas, as a matter of duty, attend all the ceremonies h eld in the homes of their patrons. During a \\" edding they lead the procession to the bride's house.

Both the L angas and the S indh Sipahis are Muslims, but mnny of th eir ril es and FesliYals hm·e th eir origins in Hindn customs. Another community \\"hich d epends for its livelihood on music alone is the Manganiyar community. The Manganiyars play on a chordophonic instrument, \\"hi ch has a belly Yery much like the sarod's. a nd which is called the Tuunayacha. 'fhey are lmown for their proficiency in playing the Mwdtal ·which consists of four strips of wood, two of which ure h eld loosely in each h a nd. The M eghva ls of the J a isalmer-Barme r a rea play the most complex putlerns on a n instrument lwo\\·n us the sa tara. They do so without the s upporl of vocal music. 'fhey can reproduce intricate phrases on the instrument, but find it hard to play n single nw lody. I The shepherd community plays the nurl1, a Lype of Lunsuri where one end is blown tra nsversely. Once again tl1 e player is nhsorbed onlv in note patterns and not in m elodies. The Bhopas of Pabuji are renowned for their renderings of the ballad of the local h ero , Pabuji. The instrument on v.·hich they perform is known as the ravanahatho. They u se a coconut gourd a nd a bamboo sticlc For the playin g siring ol. the ho,Y. h nir from n h orse's ta il is used.

5 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.

As a result, the texture of the music and its tonal quality differs from the sounds produced by u steel string or gut.

The Bhopas of Gujjar have their ovm distinctive instrument, the "jantar. It is a little lil

As a rule, the instrument itself seems closely bound with the musical styles of a caste. And so one feels that the standardization of

T he murli and !he surinda.

6 National Centre fo r the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.2

the music and even the style of composition is often determined by the potentialities of the instrument. The gorbund is sung both by the Manganiyars and the Langas but the melody diHers, for it appears that the instrument used by the caste inHuences the style of their singing.

Sometimes the musicians sing for their ovvn pleasure, without any rel'erence to audiences. But there are certain songs which are sung by the community itself e.g. the rambhanat cycle of songs sung at the time of harvesting. Jaggery is freely distributed in the village; the whole village arrives on the scene. In the fields they sing as they work. One leader picb up the refrain from the other. The rhythm patterns are vigorous. The words are improvised and have a specific reference to the day's activities.

The sun Tws paused in his run to watch us toil. The moon has paused to watch us toil. The stars have paused to watch us toil.

The basic pattern of the music remains the same for it seems to have no beginning, middle, or end. Only the words change.

In fact the quality of the rambhanat of an area is a sure measure of the texture of its foil< music. If the rambhanat is rich (as it is in Jaisalmer), then one can be l'airly certain that the music of the area will reveal an unexpected variety.

The Holi festival is rich in colour and music. The men sing the fag; the women folk sing the loor. Both have a fixed melodic form and a text which is subject to alterations. We collected two thousand such songs. But since the · content is quite overtly erotic, we could publish only two hundred of these, for our journal goes to schools and other educational institutions.

\i\1 e have in our collection at least a hundred songs sung by children---with a great deal of meaningless sound---play in them; and we also have their riddles \·vith the stress on common verbs which rhyme.

Then there are the lullabies sung by adults for infants. The women ,..,·ho sing them do not treat them as songs. So though they have a large repertoire in their possession, they find it hard to recall the music and the text.

The songs which girls sing are usually full of references to the tyranny of the mother-in-law and the awe-inspiring presence of the father-in-la w. Strangely enough, once a girl is actually married, h er songs contain scant references to the in-laws and their authority.

7 No.~ ~ Nati o na l Centre fo r the Performing Arts Quarterly J ournal Vo l. I I

F olT~ Ballads F oli( b a llads. lil(e those that relate the h eroic exploits of those pastoral h eroes, Pabuji a nd Bagdava t, are sung in villages night after night. Bagdavat-ri-pad is an eleventh century tale; Pabuji-ri-pad b elongs to the fourteenth century. The singers use the accompaniment of the ravanahatha and the jantar. They carry with them a scroll p a inting, twenty feet long a nd three fe et wide. illustra ting nearly lwo hundred a nd fifty incidents in the story. The music is accompanied by dance and the musician who plays the instrument dances in tune with the rhy thm h e creates. The R a jputs of M ew a r sing the bharat which d eals with Pauranic themes, or myths. or superstition and magic. The Nath Babas of Godwad recite a special form of narrative called the byavalo. It relates incidents in the life of an individual. right From the moment of birth to tha t dramatic moment during his wedding when he circles the sacrificial fire seven times with his bride. At that point the son g end s since the h ero b ecomes a yof.li and renounces the \\ Oriel. Blwjcm s folio\\· this climactic moment. ln a ddition to a ll these forms, there is the rich world of foil< h e li e fs, Brahmanical lore, and linguisti c proverbs. The stra nds are all inten,·oven , and in their tota lity. they offer 11 s a glimpse o f the foil( legacy of this region.

8 USTAD HAFIZ ALI KHAN

Vstad Hafiz A li Khan ll'ith his sons Ralunat and Amjad.

Ustad Hafiz A li Khnn died in D elhi on D ecembe r 28, '1972 . H e was ninety-fi ve years old.

In the course of an interview given only a few weeh b efore h e died, U stad H a fiz A li Khan said that his most ch erished m emories w ere linked with the rigorous training h e received from the legendary sit.ar maestro, Usta d \iVazir Kha n of R ampur.

" H e l a ~ght m e most a ffectiona tely. As a first lesson h e told me what h a d b een wron g with my portrayal of Darba.ri.-Kanada. Where ordinary connoisseurs saw a permissible portrayal of that complex raga, Wazir Khan Sah eb showed m e how v.dth a fleeting shadow of difference in the use of certain notes, th.e same Darbari had b ecome invested ' '"ith the sh ade of Desi-Todi a t one p lace, JVIa lhar a t another place, Vrinclavan.­ Sarang a t still another, a nd NayaT

9 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.2

He spol

"For example, my youngest son Amjad had an instinct for imbibing and using the hhayal gayaki style . .. Only one vvho has handled the sarod can realize how exceedingly difficult it is to blend this particular vocal style into the sarod technique ... This was a challenge to Amjad and, by God's grace, while still in his youth, he has worked hard to enrich the range and capacities of the sarod."

Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan used both the tabla and the pahhawaj as accompaniment:

" ... Aside from .the fact that the sonorous sound of the pakhawaj pleased me, and sounded well \•vith my playing, as it was much al

This is what he had to say about the changing style of the layaTwri:

"In the old days we did a tihayi to mah it end at the beginning of the mukhra of our gat, whereas today the tiTwyi most often ends at the sam itself. We considered it neater and more practised to end the uhayi at the beginning of the muM1ra so that one came to the sam more tidily and with a sense of leisurely approach."

*These excerpts are from an interview with U s tad Hafiz Ali Khan by Lalita Khanna (Courtesy: Lij;ika ).

10 CENSORSHIP AND SAKHARAM BINDER

Ashol< H. Desai

The changing fortunes of the Marathi play Sak.haram Binder \vhich fell foul of the Stage Performances Security Board of the Govern­ ment of Maharashtra until it was rescued by the Bombay High Coure well illustrate the occupational insensitivity affecting a censor. The office of a censor in ancient Rome slo,·vly changed its character from that of an official presiding over the census to that of the guardian of public morality. Our censors a lso tend to enlarge their limited burden of eliminating clearly offending parts of a script and assume the role of being the arbiters of morals and even of taste. Othenvise it is difficult to appreciate why this serious play by a distinguished play\·vright should have been mutilated by the Board v.·hich imposed as many as thirty-two cuts including the elimination of climactic scenes.

There is no uniformity in the law relating to stage censorship in India. This is in contrast with films -..vhich have been governed by the Central Cinematograph Acts of 1918 and 1952 ~ . Under the Cinemato­ graph Act, 1952 the Board of Film Censors has to determine the question of granting a certificate for the public exhibition of a film in accordance vvith the principles laid down in the Act and the directions given from time to time by the Central Government. The concept of pre-censorship for films subject to constitutional safeguards has been recently affirmed 3 by the Supreme Court in K. A . Abbas v/s. Union of lndia • On the other hand, pre-censorship for the stage is not a requirement in many states. But where it is prevalent, it has unfortunately become a part of the general Police Acts rather than of any specific statute dealing ·with the theatre. For instance, no censorship is required in Delhi or Goa where a play can be p erformed without a ny scrutiny of the script, although any violation of the law lih that of obscenity or sedition can always b e d ealt v;ith post facto.

CensorsT1ip in Maha.rashtra

The deli cate question of censorin!J plays in Maharashtra is curiously enough governed by the Bombay Police Act, 1951 '. This Act essentially d eals with the J:e gulation of the police force in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. It also incidentally reposes power in the Commissioner of Police to mal.;:e rules for various purposes relating to the regulation of traffic a nd for preservation of order in public p laces. In the motley cro\\"d of subjects under Section 33. which includes the power to m a l< e rules for regulating processions a nd for driving elephants in streets,

11 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterl y Journal Vol. I No. :

there is a lso to be found the power to mal

In NoYember 197 1 th e script of Scrf~harw.n Binder \\ritte n by Vijay T endullmr " Rs submitted to the S tage P erforma nces Scrutiny Board. The pl ay centrf's round three main c h aracte r s ~ Sa khor a m. Laxmi a nd C ha mpa . EvPn <1 La re outline of the plot \\ ould indicak the in sf'nsiti vit y of the censor's npproach . \ Vhen the curtain goes up. Sal

12 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. 2

morality but compelled to submit to Sal~haram. She does the household chores under the exacting eye of Sakharam. A t the time of the Ganapati festival Laxmi objects to Sakharam' s Muslim friend OmYood participating in the aarti. Infuriated by her attitude, Sa l~h aram beats her up. The scenes which follow sho'"' a deterioration of their relationship. In spite of her reluctance to leave, Sal-Twram drives a\Yay Laxmi from th e house.

In the Second Act Saldwram enters th e house. accompanied by Champa. He is repeating the same " ell-\\ orn lormula \Yith ''"hich he had awed Laxmi. But the person who no''" accompanies him is a vibrant. earthy being and his words have a hollo"· ring. Sal..::lwram is not able to a-a in ascendency over her. vVhen Champa's husband enters the house, Champa cannot control her Fury. She attach him. As l~ ed to explain her action, she teils Sal

In the final Act. Laxmi again tri es to enter the house when Sa l~h aram is a t worT< and Champa tal< es h er in. Sal

The play d eals with n ch aracter" lro has eYolved his cl\\ n a pproac lr to life and marriage. H e faces th e compulsions oF sex l'nrnl,]y a nd, there-

13 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.: I

fore, certain references to sex are to be expected in his speech. The play deals with a serious theme. Its total impact on playgoers is grim. It compels them to give some thought to the fate of characters lil

Initially this also appears to have been the view of the Board vvhich twice granted limited certificates of suitability to the play. The only conditions in these certificates were the elimination of four expletives (not four-lettered words and very much the current coin of the realm) and the curious direction that all scenes and references in connection '"'ith alcoholic drinks not conforming with the provisions of the Bombay Prohibition Act should be dropped. (Presumably Sakharam ought to have shovm his permit every time he took his drinl<).

The C ontrouersy

Sakharam Binder was first performed in March 1972 a nd was received with critical acclaim. There was also some adverse reaction by critics who proclaimed that the play d ealt with baser human instincts. (One peculiar objection was that a Hindu ·wife '"·as sho·w n assaulting­ her husband in spite of his divine rights 1) The first certificate granted on 4th March 1972 was again issued on 13th M a rch 1972. But on 6th April 1972. barely two days b efore further p erforma nce, the Board abruptly cancelled the certificate. The producer had to rush to the Bombay High Court ·which on 7 th April 1972 stayed the order of the Boa rd and p ermitted the scheduled performances. At the h earing for a dmission of the P etition the Board informed the court that it h a d not finally d ecided on the issue of the certificate of suitability and would do so within a month.

The final decision tal

14 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. i No. 2

development of the characters and the theme. These cuts in eHect destroyed the play as an artistic work. They rendered the action disjointed and no spectator could ever understand, much less appreciate, "the characters from what remained of the script. Some of the cuts are characteristic of the working of the Board. For instance a common word for impotent in M arathi is pauneath (literally "seven and three fourth", metaphorically

A scene fr om Sakha ra m Binder, objected to hy the censors.

15 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.2

incomplete). The Board deleted the \vord and suggested that namnrd (unmanly) should be used instead. The \Yord pauneath has no obscene overtones and it \Yould be absurd for Salcharam who is a boot:: binder to use the heavier " ·ord namnrd unless, of course, he had been reading the boob he ·was binding. Another statement by Sal

The Higl1. Court's Decision

The certificate of suitability in eHect made it impossible for the play to h e performed as a coherent w01l of dra matic art. Even though the earlier controversy had given a certain amount of publicity to the play, the producer and the director declined to cash in on this circumstance by performing the play with the deletions. They approached the Bombay High Court challenging the vires of the rules themselves on constitutional grounds. The freedom guaranteed under Article 19 (l) (a) of the Consti­ tution is of wide amplitude and guarantees to all citizens the right to the freedom of speech and expression. This includes the fr eedom of communi­ cation and propagation of ideas by dramas and cinemas. The Constitution does not prevent the State from maldng any law in so far as it imposes reasonable restrictions in the interest of the safety and integrity of India and the security of the S ta te, fri e ndly relations with foreign states, public order, d ecen cy or morality or in relation to contempt o f court, d efamation or incitement of a n offence. Such restrictions may ta l< e va rious forms although normally they a re post fa cto in th e sense of punishing a n offende r for the infringement of existing la ws. It is true that under the Constitution cen sorship is not impermissible. But at the same lime, su ch restrictions should meet th e test of reasonnbleness by b eing fsir. procedurally a nd substa ntially. AFter all the Constitution postulates

T he rules under the Bomhay J:>oJi cc Act " e re successfu!I y nssailed in the High Court on the grmmds th nt llwy did not impose a n obligation on th e Board to h ear tl1 e p a rty a ff ected "lw n a certificate \\·as b eing granted " ·ith conditions, that they did not impose th e oblig·ation to pass a "speal

16 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.2

decision, that they did not specify a time limit for a decision and above all because they did not contain a direction ·which would tend to preserve art and to promote it. In the result the Court declared that the existing scheme of rules was void and set aside the '"'hole chapter of rules relating to the Stage Performance Scrutiny Board. The decision of Mr. Justice Kania thus vindicated theatrical freedom by declaring tha t the rules were not reasonable and therefore ultra vires. The decision ho·wever leaves it open to the Government to formulate rules which \Yould be consistent with the principles laid do,Yn in the d ecision as also by the Suprem e Court in the case of Ahhas.

A strong case can be made out for elimination or restriction of the general censorship of plays. In this the distinction b etv,·een the stage and the screen is often missed . A film once shot and edited is a crystallised form of art a nd the screening would b e identical every time. But the very nature of the theatre as a form of art mal,es it difficult for a play to be censored merely from its script. The performance of a play can diHer completely from one group of actors to another group of actors and eYen from performance to performance. An easy example to consider is a bawdy performance of "The Taming of the Shrew" compared to a school performance of the same play. Thus censorship in the theatre, even if imposed , can only be regarding those parts of the script which can in no event b e p erformed \Yithout b eing offensive to a precise set of directions. Further the rare attendance of children at the theatre and the relatively greater sophistication of th eatre audiences also support the case for elimina­ tion of stage censorship.

The ultimate question in such matters is not so much of law as of the con stitution a nd operation of the Board. The wide selection of members often includes p ersons who h ave scant understanding of the strictly limited functions of censorship. In the present case one member of the Board so forgot his quasi-judicial function tha t h e condemned the play in advance as a rousing the passions of dogs and pigs (reminiscent of Khrusch ev' s a ttacl< on P asternal<). Another member of the Board was franl< enough to state tha t in his opinion no play h aving a sexual theme should be permitted at all. Evidently the member thought tha t the audience should subscribe to the belie f th at th e start brings babies. Such views \Yould not b e ta l;: en seriouslv but for the fact tha t they are l1 eld by a censor. The solicitude of m a ny \\·ell-meanin g but ill-read censors is nhvays for the fi gurnti\ e schoolgirl. 'T"h ev might h eed the " ·a rning of Mr. Justice S table in the case of Tlw PhiTanclercr. "Are \\·e lo tal

Chie f Justice Hidaytullah in the case of Ahhas h as admirably re ferred to the appronch required of a censor. "The tasl< of the censor

17 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Jo urnal Vol. I No. c

is extremely delicate and his duties cannot be the subject of an exhaustive set of commands established by prior ratiocination. But direction is riecessary to him so that he does not sweep within the terms of the direction, vast areas of thought, speech and expression of artistic quality and social purpose and interest. Our standards must he so framed that ' '"e are not reduced to a level where the protection of the least capable and the most depraved amongst us determines what the normally healthy cannot view or read. The standards that we set for our censors must mal

The most delicate question for any Board is to consider th e n eed to preserve art and to promote it. Jn this connection it is important lo note that the Hicldin7 test " ·hich was th e foundation of th e law of obscenity in England till recently has also b een modified in India. Jn that case Chie f Justice Cocldxun laid do\Yn, "I thinl< th e test of obscenity is this: whether th e tenden cy of the m a tter charged as obscene is to d eprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences, and into whose hands a publi cation of this sorl m ay fall." After the Supreme Court of India. had banished poor Constance Chau erley, 8 S. 292 of th e Penal Code 1860 " ·as mnended 0 so th at matter would not he obscene if its publi cation is proved to h e justified as being for the public good on the ground that it is in the interest of science, literature, a rt or learning or other objects of general concern. The principles in th e present code, (lil< e treating marriage as n sacred institution) if appli ed without discrimina tion , mi ~,J ht also bring within their mischief ]vJcr.dcr.me Bovarv, Anna Karenina and, for the matler of that, pnrls oF th e MoTwhTwmlcr. itselF . One of the most curious features of the -vd10l e approach of the censors is that unlil

18 National Centre fo r the Perfo rming Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.2

that they would not be seen in their nal<:ed splendour. This approach is particularly ironic because India has a strong tradition of a frank recogni­ tion of Twma as one of the ends of life, shringara as a classical rasa in literature and maithuna as a lmown door to liberation.

lJudgement dated December I, 1972 of Mr. Justice Kania in Misc. Petition No. 595 of 1972. (P. S. Dhurat v/s. C. P. Godse and others) ~ Act 2 of 1918 and Act 37 of 1952. 3A.J.R. 1971 Supreme Court 481. ·Jllombay Act 22 of 1951. '•The office o( the Lord Chamberlain has been abolished by the Theatres Act of 1968. GR v/s. Martin Seeker and Warburg-1954 2 All E.R. 638. 7Queen v/ s. Hicklin (1868) 3 Q.B. 360. SRanjit D . Udeshi v/ s. . State of Maharashtra- A.I.R. 1965 Supreme Court 881. DAct Amending Act 36 of 1969 .

.i.

19 Mohan R akesh.

20 ~IOHAN RAKESH A tribute

by Kamleshwar

Ralwsh, the writer .l\1ohan Rahsh was one of those rare literary personalities ''"ho never accept the traditional set-up but always aspire to find and project something which is challenging and ne''"· Ral~esh ''"as a pioneer in more than one fi eld of literary and creative "-riling. In the field of the short story, he initiated the New Story movement in Hindi. In the field of drama, he opened up new vistas by his untiring efforts. And in his novels and travelogues, he explored the vast expanse of man's inner and outer ' vorlcl. In fact, no genre of creative "Tiling was left untouched by him and it goes without saying that Rakesh brought a "·hiff of fresh air into each of them. ·

Not many of us perhaps lmow that Mohan Rahsh wanted to start his literary career by " ·riling for films. ln the 1940s, when h e " ·as still a youth, h e realised that "hat the Hindi Cinema really required was a creative touch. His conviction impelled him to go lo Lahore. l-Ie was determined to b ecome a script-writer. He did write a screen-play for the late D. M. Pancholi, but unfortunately other considerations rrevailed, and a d ejected Ral

vVhen Ralesh started \\Tiling hi s stories. the Hindi short story was still floating in a ''"oriel of m a l;: e-believe. That utterly roma ntic world in "hich the Hindi short story v\Titer and hi s ch aracters moved was accepted as 'truthJul". R akesh brought them a ll back to eartl.. H.al

21 National Centre fo r the Performing A rts Quarterl y Journal Vol. I No. 2

In the 1950s the Hindi stage was in a sorry state. Our classical drama had its own rich traditions. But . even after independen ce, the Hindi stage could not boast of any serious plays. \Ve had our mythologicals, our historicals and our pseudo-socials; but none of these made contemporary life their chief concern. Ral

Lahron Ke Rajhans won immediate accla im, both academic a nd popular. Ashadh Ka Ef~ Din won Ral

\ tV h e n Ral

Today nobody can ch a llenge th e assertion tha t th e nO\\ w e ll ­ establi sh ed moveme nt of the n ew H.indi cinem a sta rled with Us l~ i Roti , wrilten by Moha n R a l

22 Na tional Cen tre for the Perfo rming Arts Quarterly J o urnal Vol. I No. 2

Both in his plays and in his worl< for the screen, Rakesh sought to explore 'The Drama tic \tV ord'. This vvas the research project for which h e ' 'vas a-warded the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellov,rship. He tried to a nalyse the use of the dramatic vlord in the theatre, and in contemporary life. He wanted to investigate the linl< binding sound, silence and the image. H e was lool

A part of 1\llohall Rakesh's typescripl corrected by him.

23 N•tiuna l Contre fo r the Porforming Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. :

Rafwsh, the man

My friend had to stand in the dock a defendant in a number of law suits. H e was accused of many crimes. Not just ordinary crimes, but very serious ones, Ral

A ll these remarl.;:s relnte to an individual who was very easy to recognize. If you spotted a person, wearing a silk shirt with terribly long collars, v•ith old-fashioned cuff-buttons visible a good six inches belo\\' his coat sleeves; \\ ith a tie indifferently l..:notted round his n ed..:; with trousers of expensive material which seemed to apologise for the " ·earer, \\'ho himseH was furiously che\\·ing hi.s lighted Gold Flal.;:es, tal

The accused had a n aversion to money, and yet h e \\as nddict ed to it, n ever stopred ch asing it .

. . . My mind now races to\\ ards the house at Kirti Nagar whe re R a l.;: esh h a d pla nned m nrathon writing sessions. Its ominous, crawling sil en ce. My visits to him e nded with his usunl plen to go to Connaught Place. En route H.a l.;: esh "auld b ecome his real selF . Sharr. incisive, "itty as h e reported the misadventures of fri ends, h e would warm up the e\ ening with bursts ol la ughter , " ·hile bysta nders watched the srPne ;1g-hn st. \\oiling for R a l

People hud already b egun lo pile up rendy-mndc judgments 011 the m a n H ul

24 Nati onal Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. 2

... The joys of life had got chol(ed in those d a tl rooms of Kirti Nagar and my fri end ''"as once aoain on the run searchina for life a nd lor some m eaning in it. The ,,·orld \Y as aaainst him and ;; storm raoed within him and he was a vagabond on the move. Delhi, Jullundur. A.mritsar. Chandigarh, Calcutta, Jamsh edpur, Bombay~but there '' nS no respite for him.

. And on a cold morning, 7 th February 1962. to b e precise, I lound him a t my place...... -brol(en and b eaten. H e dried his eyes surrepti­ tiously and, even in his do,vn-and-out condition , insisted on ta l

vVe parted in the afternoon. Later when I " ·ent back home th ere \Y ere hYo practically empty bottles of beer and one single cigan: tte in the .tin. And a long with these, a note, '" Please receive mother tomotTO\Y morning on the Frontier M ail. 1. a m leaving b ehind your share of cigare l"l es and b eer". His spirit of fun \\ould nlways brenl( lhrou~h .

Then one day he disappeared hom D elhi.

At first glance he seemed irresponsible and thoroughl y exaspl'ral ­ ing. After a ll ,,·ha t did he La l.: e his fri ends for? \i\las he a li ve only Lo l1is own rights a nd not sensitive to th e feelings of others 7

But u d eeper lool( revealed a ,, · l ~o lly diHerent face!. H e \Y anted p eople; h e w as hungry for th em, their intimacy. This n eed extend0d from hl ood re lations lo those ,,·hom he has lmo\\n for just h\·o dnys.

\ t\lusn"t this th e reason why h e endured the biller cold of Kas hmir for three whole days 7 H e h ad b een to Pahalgaon th e previous year. On this trip h e had promised m e a paradise existence in Lents. But ,, f' coul d not get our Lents up...... - not b ecau se th ere \\ as a shortage of Ients but because Hal.:esh in sisted on '' a iling for th e m a n who had eredefl I lis Len I for him tl1 f' yeur b<·lorc. H e \\ a il ed for three d nys and tlu"n had tlw Si! li sfodi Oll of ho\" ing llw te n( put up by th e very Some p erson ond a lso th e sa li sfndion of hnYing" 'connected' with a nothe r human lw ing.

r\nd one day \\ c la nded ill th e Gurud\\ ara Rood T uxi S ta nd u nrl Rul.:esh stnrt ed lool.: in g out lor 1h su rn e loxi driver ,,·ho h od c iglll n10nlh s ago driwn him around D elhi. ond in complete sufety ... H e didn't f' \·en rem ember the name of the driver. But damn iL-he \\" a s lud:y en•n on those counts. The drive r tmned up. H al,f's h could nJ,, nys gP I \\"hot h e wanted.

25 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. 21

He could get all that. But h e did not find that !'or which he suHered every mome nt of his life. H e did not get that p eace which could give life a nev,r and healthy m eaning,...... that something which one calls one's own till one's dying day and for \vhich one is prepared to engage even death in a duel; that \vhich brings one joy in spite of all the suHering it brings in its \Yake.

He just couldn't stay put. Personal pressures turned him into a fugitive in Delhi itself. H e roved hom one mohalla to a nother, his personal belongings and bool

Evenings inevitably brought their spells of loneliness which Ral

\Vhenever e Fforts \Y ere m a d e to m a l.:: e him into a n \Y ell-oil ed machine- pa rt, R a l< esh brol.,:e a w ay, bringing the m achine itseH to a stop. P erha ps be d erived a painful sati sfaction from this refusal a nd once his mind w as ma d e up, the re w as nothing which could m a l< e him budge. But h e acted lil< e this only \Yh cn his individua lity was threatened a nd then there w as no price tha t h e was not prep a red to pay. R a l

26 Na tional Cen tre for the Perfo rming Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.1

"You need five hundred to live 7 Then borrow three thousand on interest and wo1-l< for six months and earn six thousand."

H e used to be full of qui..xotic schemes. An impractical optimist. But in spite of this, he was constantly troubled by the writer's dilemma. " Why can't a writer live with self-respect on what he earns b y writing?" To do this, he had to m a l< e a guinea pig of himself. get embroiled in quarrels and throw up jobs. H e was at his most intense when h e dis­ cussed this problem. H e lme\V only too vvell tha t the problem was not just a fina ncial one. Joined to it were innumerable problems '"hich demanded solutions,_..solutions, ena bling an honest man to lead a dignified existence. It was this search for a life on integrity which seemed to elude him all along. Sentiment and ideals w ere rocb on \vhich Rakesh constantly floundered. H e suffered for others, at the hands of others but he never g-ave up his search for a good existence,_..a better existence ,_..always reaching out for the b est.

This search of his disturbed him all the while, but it gave him the stren gth to face the challen ge which this sort of disturbance entailed. It provid ed tha t d elicate b ala nce during creative moments . . . moments which a re all too rare in the lives of most writers. H e succeed ed in relating his private griefs to a more universal sorrow. Lil

. . . This is why every creation of his 'hurts' a t m a ny levels a nd brings with it layers upon layers of m eaning. :!: * Falsehood a nd m al

But his sh arpened sensibility ma d e of him a l'ugilive, inYilin g dmrges or irresponsibility ond indiscipline. H e w as accu sed of b ein g oble to crcote onl y ttndPr co mpulsive tensions. of e nding up by g·c llin g upset a nd doing the \\Ton g things ond mal

27 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I N o.2

... On the face of it, all this appears to be true, for my friend did lead a disorganized life but deep underneath there was that fantastic discipline, the discipline of the mind, of the creative spirit. The process of his \

Ral

H e w as goaded lo ma l< e those trips to S imla. Pahalgaon, D a lhousie a nd to distant lonely places b ecause h e had to satisfy the hunger for b eauty. Lil,e the a Hlicted ynhsha h e co\'ered the lonely valleys for a creative word,...... the word which would also b e a solace. The breathtahng beauty of these places only h elped to underline the ultimate loneliness of life. It \\ as h e re that he could recreate the tragic loneliness of Miss Paul,...... a creature of the more populous urba n parts. * * \ Vhenever h e cam e down from the mounta ins, h e brought back beautiful 'creative' gifts, a nd this \-vas his major crime. V\lithout that, h e would have b een ignored, not tall,ed about-.

L et the h a rshest judgem ents b e passed on h;m,...... lle did not care. Though his sorro\YS and hardships multiplied, h e \\·ould not sp eal< of them. If you in sisted , h e would p

A stream of light filte rs lhrough the b a rs of this cage. L et's ta ll< of a sphere, of desires, soa rin g h eyond th em ...

[Translatetl from the Hindi by Satyatlev Dubey]

28 CINEMA, TELEVISION AND EDUCATION

Some notes lorvClrds tl1e cleuelopmenl. of Nfucalio11ol progmmnws for Tmlian Teleuis io11

Cinema oncl Television Cinema functions in a n environment of it s O\Yn mabng. A film is sho,Yn in a haiJ or a dorl.;: ened a ren with no so urces of distraction. TV. on the other hand, b ecomes part of a n nlrcady exi stent e nvironment of " home or a community group \Yith all the distractions that are p a rt of it.

Cine ma, when it records an event. real or staged , is already past by th ~ lime it is projected. Even " ·h en it d eals \Yith topical events. it s cumbersome distribution m ethods tend to mal.;: e it a record of the past. TV, lil

The Television Influence There are other differen ces as \\·ell. TV h as a continuing presence d ay after d ay. 1t brings to the vie\Yer a v ~ ri e ty of events simulta n eously. even as th ey tal

TT1 e Effective Use o[ T elevision

A lthough th ere is no doublin!.( th e po\\ er of TV. it musl b e m entioned th a t the n se it can h e put to h as huilt-in constmints in it. TV is h asically n source of e nl e rl r~ inm c nl. The formal of nny prog-mmn)(' T1 ns In ta l.o:e this faclor into account in order ln preYenl it from h ecomina <111 unbearable intrusion on th e printcy of th e h om e. Y ct. ,dwtcver th e forlll . TV cannot b e allowed to b ecom e yet another opiate. Therefore, it b ecomes n ecessary to find for it a n apo li cr~ tion in socia l IPrms,...... ,a s a n instrument of socia l dwn~ e . Out~irTC' of it . TV can onlv h C' anotlwr lnxur\' th rd India cr~n n o t <-l fford.

29 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.

The Role of Television in India Indian society has, within itself, many varieties of social norms and forms. There are several traditional concepts and institutions con­ fronted today by systems that have follo\ved in the v,·ah of industrialisa­ tion and increased doses of technology. TV would have to be used to help formulate common concepts and ideologies that blend the quasi­ religious and quasi-social laws of the country, v.•hich have their roots in the past, with the emerging social Forms of a developing economy.

ln communication terms, TV would have to play a role in helping to speed the transition from a bureaucratic demccracy to an essentially participatory democracy. lr has been shown that TV can help people to participate in changing their environment according to the pace they choose: by allov.ring them access to the use of TV.*

Again, in order to educate a whole mass of people, TV would have to be used as an extension of formal education. In overall educa­ tional terms, TV ·would have to he used to improve learning ability and extend human capability.

Finaily, TV \Vould need to be used as a means of re.flecting to people their own changing social relationships so as to help them to redefine their own place in society. India is a country that continually fluctuates in time. vVithin it are many centuries that appear to run simultaneously, one \vith the other. In a general sense, TV '"'ould have to serve as a linl<: between them.

:Educational Programming [or lnclian Television More specifically, Indian TV \Vould have to be educationally orienl:ed. This does not necessarily mean that TV has to be dull and prosaic. To quote the Children's Television \iVorbhop proposal on th e use of television to supplement their teaching of reading : "Television is a ce ntral source of interest and entertainment. It is also, for good or ill, a source of learning." As we can see, the medium itself holds on / account of its entertainment context. So any educational programme would have to h e , by its very nature, entertaining.

It \Yould, perhaps, he best to define the concepts of teaching and lea rning b e fore '"'e thinl< in terms of using TV. T eaching is, by its very n a ture, a b a sically coercive m etl10d. It implies pressure and force to channelise informa tion of any [.;ind tl11·ou~h n lenchcrlpupil re btionship. L e nrnin~ . on th e other h a nd, tnl.; es place in an environme nt suited lo enquiry.- The le rt ch er/ pupil formalisation is not ns imporln.nl in the learnin g process a s it is in th e tea chin g process. For in sta n ce, tl1 c methods

'I.·Cfwllenge for C hange P rogw mmes, Nati o nal Film Board of C anad a.

30 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. 2

by which a child learns to cope with its world is motivated entirely by its needs. A child learns to behave like the parent not necessarily because the parent forces it to do so. L earning is essentially the improvement of one's abilit-y to learn...... -often through imitation.

In addition to feeding information, educational programmes on TV would have to orient themselves towards improving the viewer's ability to learn. Apart from impa rting pedagogical instruction, TV \vould have a prime role to play in mal

These include: 1. An understanding of the principles of communication through TV;

2. W orbng out the effectiveness, credibility and m emorability of the communication;

3. Assessing the social validity of such a communication.

These would have to he applied to progra mmes for the d evelopment of literat':y·a nd the improvem ent of reading ability; the learning of sblls; and the improvem ent of vocational capabilities in different sph eres of life.

Learning Programmes

L earning programmes \·Vould basica lly relate to three a reas :

1. Programmes for children, both pre-school and in-school.

2. Programmes for both school-going and college-goin g students.

3 . Programmes for a dults.

For the purpose of this a rticle, 1 sha ll confine myself to the first.

The objectives of pre-school programmes would be to a im al involving children in rela ting themselves to their environment in ways tha t w ill not disadva ntage them in \vhatever area of functioning they a re lil

31 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. :

Indian children who have been raised in an extended family have had the advantage of having their initial learning within the context of the family. This tradition of learning,...... ,a 'hand me down' extending over many centuries-did not necessarily require literacy on the part of those elders in the home who imparted this learning to the young. More often than not, this learning took the form of lullabies, rhymes, traditional stories and precepts based on religion and secular experience. The rest of the learning followed the patterns of conduct observed by the household.

All of these concerned themselves with affective values, resulting in the development of concepts that related to everyday situations and social relationships leading towards a world view. The child got an opportunity to learn about family and community rituals, songs and the meaning of events, such as births, marriages and deaths. In this tradition, a child was exposed to reality, and armed both with rationality and with a philosophical base to cope with it. Added to this form of learning \

TV offers us an opportunity to tal

Literacy, initia lly at least, has a tendency to alienate the child from its environment by imposing principles that are basically theoretical and abstract. Compared to the oral tradition, these principles tend to formulate learning patterns that take longer to fit into the context of solving everyday problems.

However, the process of literacy can also be used as an adjunct of the forms mentioned earlier. It can bring to the child the alphabet, its sounds and its perception by challenging the child's imagination and relating it directly to its environment. These could then lead to programmes that would help in increasing reading abilities. The important principles in all such programmes is to offer easy identification and empathy in terms of character and situations.

Some Models Before we formulate a model for pre-school programmes for India it would be interesting to lool< at some of the better lmown series in different parts of the "orld. By far the most successful pre-school

32 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.2

programme has been the Children's Television Workshop's programme, "Sesame Street", in the United States.

The basic objectives of the programmes were to prepare dis­ advantaged children, particularly 'inner city' and ghetto children, for school. It was felt that children from poorer families, deprived of normal advantages and without an atmosphere of learning in their homes, ·would be at a disadvantage in learning ability terms compared to children ,vho came from more affluent homes and had a background of some form of pre-school education. However, the objectives have since changed as "Sesame Street" has now become the most popular children's programme in the United States. The basic instructional goals of "Sesame Street" are enumerated below:

1. Symbolic representation i.e. letters of the alphabet which include matching, recognition, labelling, letter wounds and recitation of the alphabet.

2. Words i.e. matching, boundaries of a word, temporal and spatial sequence correspondence, decoding, word recognition, reading.

3. Numbers i.e. matching, recognition, labelling, recitation and counting.

4. Numerical operations i.e. enumeration, recognition and counting' strategies. This a lso includes addition and subtrac­ tion, numeral and number correspondence and geometric forms.

5. Cognitive organisation i.e. perceptual discrimination and orientation, visual discrimination, part and whole relation­ ships, auditory discrimination needing sound identification, copying rhythms, rhyme words and subjective and objective discriminations.

6. Relational concepts in terms of 'same' and 'diHerent' size rela tionships, quantitative relationships, positional relation­ ships, distance relationships and temporal relationships.

7 . Classification. Sorting, classifying, multiple classification. property identification, differentiation and re-grouping.

8. Reasoning. Problem-solving such as mal

33 'I

girl

SINGULAR-PLUR AL .. From 'Sesame Street'.

34 bigger biggest

SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION : A sequence from 'Sesame Street'. /

35 RELATIONAL CONCEPTS : A still from 'Electric Company'.

36 RELATIONAL CONCEPTS (PRESENT/ PAST) From 'Children's T elevision Workshop'.

37 M:>LLY ,BOB,GORDON,RAFAEL, ~ AIRED______~0~------~~ SH~I~ SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION Jack 5 The b Stalk 1:17 VTR: Kermi;~ster 'B' Bit (6) 1:49. a-Painting 1:26 (Follow B Film) JHphabet Blackout •aw (277) :1 Letter(c) a a-Bear :20 b-bug :12 ReCap H a-wan :47 TilDe: . 6:00 M-Hungrv 1:34 m-milk :30 Alphabet Time: 1.00 VTR: Gangster Alphabet (236) 1:55 The wUNw Family (230) 1:13 Pre~g Skills VTR: Time: 2:00 Number B FILMS: King of Eight 1:12 VTR: Upside-Down B :20 Titne: 3:00 1 (Ta) Mad p~ i :>tor #9 1 .?] oc;DI>9'f>' F g~iRq l'l.~g&Q ("f;l) Counting (236) :22 Titne: 1:00 FIU1: (La) Penguins Count 1-20 1:02 Numerical Operation Time: 2:00 COUNTING STRATEGIES VTR: All1's try to Play Basketball (2&7) 1:'59 Geometric Forms Time: 1 :00 ------II . COGNITIVE ORGANIZATION VTR: Ernie Matches Cookies (169) 2:48 VISUAL MATCHING BY -- FORM Perceptual Discrirnir.atiOl'JFIUl: (V~) Ma tching Houses #3 :45 Time: 6 :00 VTR: Upside-Down Book (B/E) (311) 2:26 UP & DOWN Song: Up & DaNn (154) 2:47 Relational Concep~ILM: (La) George's Farm :26 Time: 6:00 Up & Down Dangerous l·JS Oa> whale Bp1shjnq Teeth 1 · 02,.. cla~~~If~~t~~ncLAss (Needs lead-in) Time: 3:00

III. 'lllE MIND & ITS POriERS FILM: House in Rouse 1:10 TRIAL & ERROR (La) Snowshoe Comedy 1:12 Reason and Problem Solving Time: 5:00 IV. THE CHILD AND HIS WORLD BODY PARTS VTR: Explains about Hands (342) 2:16 Self After the Bath (B/E) (347) 1:37 Time: 3:00

so~

Man-Made Environment Time: 3:00 FILM: Filrnfair Water 1:12 Na tural Environment {La) Starfish : 48 (needs lead-in) _____T_i_m_e __ : ___ 3_:_.o_o ______-4<~r~ 3~1~a~s.t~r~i~ch-Ba needs leac-in

Ecology Time: 3,00

V. MISCELLANEOUS

B -~oxer Spani~h FILM: :21 Pilmfair water 1,12

38 -.

GENERA L PRE-REA DING SKILLS: A m odule from 'Sesam e Street'.

I've just got a letter. I don't kn ow1 I can't re:. d. Well, open il up and \ Well, wh•l l el~'s ~k e ~ · ~;;• y1 \ \ J a look. . ~ . mber ru· ~0) .

SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION: A minute-long module on tht letter 'C' from 'Sesam e Street'.

39 -- What do )<>(.I me61\ •;t·.f arn o rock.

COGNIT I VE OR GANISATION (SUBJECrJVE/ OBJECTI VE D ISCRIM INATION) : A module from 'Sesame Street'.

,.

- ~} Q ~-@JJ,

COGNITIVE O RGANSATION (R ELATIO NAL CONCEPTS) : A m odule from 'Sesame Street'.

40 Nat ional Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly J ournal Vol. I No.2

9. The chilcl ancl his world. f<_elating to self, the mind and its powers, body parts and functions, audience participation and emotions. As part of this, the area of social units, roles and functions of fa mily a nd community such as home, the neighbourhood, the city a nd to\\ n.

I 0. Social i.nLeroctions i.e. differing perspectives, co-operation, division of labour. combining of sl

I I. Man -made environment, such as machines a nd tools, build­ ings a nd structures.

12. The rwLural environment. Land, sky and w ater, city and country, plants a nd a nima ls, natural processes and cycles.

From the above one can see that "Sesame Street" has a comprehen­ sive overall educationa l programme tha t allo\vs for a con siderable amount of Hexibility in presenta tion styles and m ethods to project ideas, a ttitudes and facts. The programme itself worh within a format that con sists of a street,...... ,Sesame Street. For easy ide ntification , the street is set in the 'inner city' which , in our context, "ould b e a \Vo rking-class or a lo\Yer middle-cl ass neighbourhood. The success of this progra mme h as a lot to do with the imagina tive usc of dia logue, n a rra tive, a nima tion, incidents and stories, using adults. children and muppets (puppets ) . Each learning d evice is in the form of a self-contained module of a few minutes each to a llow for repetition and reinforcement. These modules follow the pattern of tried and tested television styles, mainly based on TV commercia ls. The reason for using this pattern is obvious. TV commercia ls a re the most frequently repeated a nd h ave the high est impact.

Another successful programme for children of pre-school age is "Play School" in the U.K. This follo\Y S the methods of the " Open School" and, to some extent, of the Montessori type of teaching. The programme is relaxed a nd m a l

The third programme that m ay b e m entioned h ere is B. B.C.'s " Vision On". "Vision On", originally designed as a programme for d eaf a nd dumb children , n a tura lly concentrated on visually evocative, descrip­ tive and n arrative elem ents. Lil

41 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quartcdy Jo urnal Vo l. I No. 2

Two other programmes may also b e mentioned here. One, called "Zoom", a half-hour, once-a-week programme, ·which I had the opportunity to observe at the time of its inception. It has now gone into nation-\Yide broadcast in the United States. It relies entirely on contri­ butions of children as the content for the programme. There are playlets, films, things to mal

The second is "Electric Company", produced by the Children's Television Workshop, and is a programme for school children. The curricular goals in this case are more specific tha n "Sesame Street" since they follow, to some extent, the curriculae of schools in the United States.

A Model for Indian Pre-school Programmes If we accept the fact that th e learning methods in the oral tradition are still worth"·hile, vve automaticall y arriYe at the format :

1. A host, preferably a la dy who could b e identified as an Aunt or Grandmother, ''"ho could conduct the programme.

2. Use of a combination of modules to mal

Once the format has b een set, it ·would then b e necessary to worl< out the curricular goals. It would b e seen from "Sesame Street" that curricular goals for childre n arc more or less the sam e all over the world. The difference, however, \You ld be in the priorities given to each of them. In my opinion, the rriorities should b e rated thus:

l. The child and his world; 2. Socia l intera ctions; 3. Man-made e nvironme nt ; 4. Natural e nvironment; 5 . Cognitive organisation a nd values; a nd finally, 6. Symbolic re presentation in terms of learning the a lphabet, words and numbers.

42 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No 2.

This pattern will make the process of learning easier and more meaningful for the child. The programmes can be so designed that they would be useful both For viewing at home as v.-ell as supplements to education in school.

To make these programmes successful. the modules would have to be carefully worhd out. The use of symbols and situations ' 'vould have to take oH from familiar ground as far as the children are concerned. Talldng dovm would have to be avoided, and the spirit of enquiry consistently encouraged by a judicious use of scepticism. Each module would have to throw up an idea or a fact to be learned in as precise a manner as possible. Above all, the programmes would have to be entertaining. For without the element of entertainment, any programme on television can become unbearable.

The key lies in recognition of the fact that the audience cannot talk bad< to the television screen, and since a dialogue of this kind is ruled out, it will have to be simulated within the programmes themselves.

A guide to further reading on the subject :

1. 'Sesame Street in 1971-72'. A proposal (CT\\1).

2. Pre-school Programming. A Brief History (Ontario Educational Communications Authority).

3. Action for Children 's T elevision (Avon Books) .

4. A summary of the major finding in the second year of 'Sesame Street' : a continuing evaluation (Educational T esting S ervice. Princet·on NJ) .

5. BBC T elevision programm e s~Childr e n under fiv e.

6. The u se of Television to supplement the tea ching of reading. A Proposal (CT\\1 April 1971).

7. Models of T elevision-based educational progra mmes. A draft report (Rand Corporation).

43 AN INDIAN PLAYVVRIGHT IN NE\rV YORK \!ijay T endulkar \lijay Tenclulkar, one of our noted p/aywrigltts, recently uisitecl the U.S.A. as a guest of tfw Stale Departme nt. His lour in tfw country was arranged by tlw lntenwtiorwl Visitors' Centre. In tlwse two sketclws fw records Iris impr·essions of two stage productions wlriclt Tw smu in New YorT~. New Yorlc The w eather's terribly d a mp and musty. Quite chilly too. There's a drizzle. It's evening. An extre m ely unattractive, a ntiquated and dusty structure called 'The Playhouse'. The lights a re on inside, in the lobby. Men gathering around in sm a ll clusters like stagnant pools. It's as if these m en have b een fashioned f"or this sort of \\'Cather : nmsty. foggy and freezing cold. \tVe deposit our umbrella at the counter. \tVe own this ladies· umbrella in common. lt drips. (\iV e picl.;:ed it up in a junl< place on the w ay h ere . and h e m a n aged to repair it \Yith rare ingenuity.) I remove the warm top coa t " ·hich h e has le nt me a nd h a ng it on my arm. \tVe join those clus ters of m e n . Their number has increased. The lobby is fill ed with cigar a nd cigarette smol.;:e. A couple of lo\Y -pitch ed voices. Another voice ri sing suddenly to a sharp treble. Blad.;: s l

44 Na tional Centre fo rth.! Pt.!rforming Art s Quarte rl y Journ ~ l Vol. I No.2

vVho lmo\YS how long this lasts? N a me a nd place, the past and the future are sloughed off in the darlmess. Only that din lingers on. And the darlc And a vague sensation of self.

Then a ll of a sudden a beam of li ght Hid(ers in front. \ i\1 e, the audience, on those two lines of steps on the sides. And b etween th e two, tha t ever-growing b eam , lighting on a high cage constructed firmly a ll the way from the Hoor to the ceiling. Two creatures in the glare of that light. The creatures are human. One of them is seen climbing on a ll fours up the bars of the cage. The other is sucl

Both are nameless, without place. No individuality. There's only the body. And inside it a strange restlessness. For the time being, its name is life. Among other things, which include myself. (VVhere' s he? H e , who came with me?) \ iVithout place, without name. Entering this cave of darlmess, a ll labe ls have b een lost. Innumerable bodies \Yhich seem to be sitting there stupidly, occupying that space on those steps. (A stra nge experi e nce, tha t.)

The play has begun. "And they put handcuffs on th e Ho,Y ers". The author,...... ,Arra bal. a young Spa nish playwright. H e produced it first in Paris, in French. They made him com e lo N ew Yorl< to put on the play h ere, in English. The subject of the p lay,...... ,conditions in Fra nco Spain. Those two you see in th e cage a re political prisoners. The a n im a l existence to which they've bee n reduced. A dicta toria l regime has robbed the m of the ir human-ness.

Now they b egin lo sho,Y us the play of mind of these l\yo incarcera ted human animals. For the time b eing, they em erge out of the cage and b egin to live the ir daydreams. ln th e d aydream of the one, the other b egins to b ecome someone else.

Beasts actuall y fashioned b y som eone else. B easts in those d ay­ dreams. Beasts even in dreams of dreams. The inner and outer b eing reduced to a mindless. b estial stale. Outside th e cage, yet a nother invisible cage. Even outside the cage no trace of a free existen ce. Outside-inside that very sam e, wholly impregnable cage. Graduall y this b egins to b e expressed through the play.

45 .. A scene from And they put handcuffs on the flowers.

46 Natlon:JI Centre for the Pc.:rform ing Ans Quarterly J ourna l Vol. I No. 2

The state apparatus, the judiciary, religious institutions ...... these various aspects of the cage are slov,'ly projected in a symbolic manner and in various other ways simply to demonstrate hov.' they hold the individual in their iron grip. The individual. with his ghastly daydreams and sordid bodily functions, is preyed upon by these omnipotent and crafty forces. This condition can have but one end, and that is d eath. That, too, a sordid death, flaunting such attractive labels as 'martyr'. But actually no different from a cat' s or a dog's death. Perhaps a little more wretched than theirs. Except that it is accompanied by solemn religious and state ceremonies. The manner in which all this is presented in the play is particularly repulsive, almost impossible to bear . . . and yet it is overwhelming in its own 'vay. During the p erformance, nal(ed m en and women walk by in such dose proximity to you, they're reduced to such an animal state, they howl and squeal in such unbridled, unadorned and coarse language that b efore you lmow what's happening, a wave of disgust b egins to sv.,ell within you. And with equal speed the play· itself manages to fasten itself on you. The play which was enacted round the cage gradually engulfs new areas and starts roving at will all over the place. The spectators are caught in the vortex of the play. It w eaves and whirls round them. Between the play and the spectators there h as now grovvn a tight a lmost gluey bond of disgust. A play which is so impossible to bear, a nd which is such a disturbing experience .. . yet the spectators sluinl< and qual(e in their seats and gape at th.ose actors in silence. In this serious drama with nude figures they introduce the hull

47 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. 2

"I was Hoored,...... ,completely Hoored" . I shudder. ''An absolutely terrifying play. Can't get over it yet. Made my stomach turn. Never seen anything lil

"vVho I? I was fast asleep". This from my American companion.

"What 1" I, stopping in my tracl

"I swear to you. I went off to sleep in the first few minutes. That din at the end wol

"Impossible I" I just can't b elieve it. (He graduated with French literature as his subject and h e 's such a serious and cultured individua l.)

"Actually I don't understand much about plays. Anyway, right from the start this one seemed so loud and harsh that without realizing it I dozed off. I fell asleep". My American friend, stretching his limbs after his n a p .

"Sleep? After such a shattering play I" . I can't conceal my astonishment.

'Tm sorry, Vi-jaay. Th.at's the truth and nothing but the truth". My companion shrugs his shoulders.

We eat. H e is digging his teeth into the steal< a nd relishing his m eaL while every morsel of tha t 'favourite American food' which h e has ordered for m e seems lo sticl< in my gulle t.

That night 1 li e awal< e in my room in the h.otel. Can't sleep. S till that play in my h ead. A terribly repulsive, yet extrem ely pointed comment on the human situa tion. Overwhelming. lt churns up your insides. It is repellent, yet very e ffective.

At breaH ast 1 am still sta le. My American companion, fully rested , is fresh as ever.

"Well, Vij-aay, which play a re we going to see tonight?", h e asl

I merely stare at him.

48 Na ti onal Centre fo r the Perfo rming Art s Qua rterly Journal Vol. I N o.2

Ain 't supposed to die a natural death

" Ain't supposed to die a n a tura l d eath" . One of those productions of the N egro Sta(Je, now a hit on Broa dway. I'm eager to find out wha t exactly the N egro Stage (the Bla cl.; Theatre ) is ...... a ft er a ll, there a re blach on, b ehind, a nd in front of the sta ge in other American plays ...... a nd so I buy a ti cht. A balcony seat, since the a mount I h a d budgeted for stage sh o\Y S is running out. In the lobby, in the auditorium, n egroes upon negroes. O ccasiona ll y tm Yny-red or just fa ir faces. The la tter, also negroes in a sense, but one of the p a rents must have b een white. S o the difference in the colour of the sl.;in, a nd quite often of the eyes. But they m a l.;: e it a point to wear their h a ir lil

'The drop-curta in has a lread y b een ra ised. On th e A me ri can stage ...... b oth professiona l a nd non-professiona l ...... there' s no drop as such , unci if it's th ere, they ha rdly ever bring it d o,Yn. On the stage there sta nds a n exact replica of n squalid n egro qua rter. Old wooden houses with their dilapida ted storeys, roo ms, gall eri es a nd sta irs. A filthy a ll ey b elow. Old hits of furniture lyin g ab out. A nd n o sign of huma ns. U nli ghted a nd lifeless. Just a 'set'. A n d the play h egins.

T he A merican na ti ona l nnthem ri ght a t the b eginning. \ iV h a t sh ould com e as the fin a le is h eard a t th e sta rtl A nd for no reason a t a ll. T his unexpected circumsta n c<> confounds those v.·hite faces ; they ri se in their seats in a n orderly w ay. T he hla d< faces sni gger, a nd ra il a t them. E mba rrassed, confused , a nd not lmowing wha t they ought to do, they drop into their seats again. The n a tion al a nthem comes to a close. T h e li ghts illumina te different areas of the set. This play of sh a de a nd light lends

49 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. l j I

a touch of authenticity to that flimsy structure. Humans (naturally blad<) begin to stir and talk ... and in a matter of minutes they fill it with life. The road, the galleries, the stairs, those homes a ll breal< out into speech, start humming with sounds.

Those stirrings of life on the stage could form part of any day in that squalid negro locality. Impoverished blach, leading a d esperate hand-to-mouth existence. Wholly familiar with life's laws, each is, in his own way, clever and cautious, wary and resourceful, calculating and shrewd. You sense in each of them a zest for life. Each has his \Vot-1< to do, his own joys and sorrows, his own distinct portion of life which mingles in passing \-Vith that of others, grazes against it, and yet, remains separate and independent. Out of these moving patterns there now em erges and blooms forth the daily life of the black quarter.

Since one has to eat, everything is permissible. No one is in a mood to judge the other. In the rat-race each one runs singly and gasps alone. H ere are no signs of any mellow philosophizing about poverty or want. No whining or complaints. A tough and dauntless spirit, (perhaps ingrained in them by life itself right from the time of their birlh) , enabling them to b are their ch est and face the moment. One is sicl< and diseased ; another is h efty. One is a strapping youth; the other is old and decrepit. One, a whore; another, a S\'Veeper in the streets. A third lives by stealing. No profession as such. But you pour drinl< of a ny l

Negro speech is basically English, but still quite h ard to grasp. But their life is easy enough to understand. The language spol-:en by famish ed , dust-sta ined and rugged lives in any slum on the face of this earth is exactly the sam e. The d etails differ; the core is identical. At least, that wretched life shown on the stage is not unintelligible.

Prose dialogue leading up to rhythmic passages. Someone starts to sing. A JI of w hich h as a force of its own and is, a t times, even strident in its own way. The spectators l

This 'life-song' is throughout accompanied by a savage pain. The sounds, the words b etray an intolerable hurt, w h ich breal

50 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. 2

or a scufHe. High-pitched, reminding you of famished, wounded animals. A few tender notes, bringing in their train a harsh din, and losing themselves in it.

You are aware, and yet not aware that those before you are negroes. Their vvords are not that easy to grasp but they reach out to you, and touch you.

Nothing much happens in the first part of the play. We \vatch the usual disasters, tensions, worries that are the lot of those ordinary people living in the quarter. We have a glimpse of their feelings and expectations. The monotony of this existence is broken by intermittent patches of rhythm and occasional outbursts of vigorous music and song. What binds the spectators to the stage are the regulated motions of every single entity in that large negro quarter. The movements of a character, emerging in a sharp, disciplined and compact manner out of the details of that vast locality. The scenes on the stage manage to extract, -even out of conHicting gestures, a sort of balance. A 'visual' symphony.

A scene from Ain't supposed to die a natural death.

51 National Ce ntr ~ for the Perfo rming Arts Quarterly Jo urnal Vol. I No. 1

The first part draws to an end. Instead of the curtain coming do·w n , the lights on the stage fade out. The characters vanish into nothingness. Once again a dry, lifeless 'scene' . A mere sl

Someone appears on the stage. Pinl, a nd fair. A \d1ite' American. Silently h e shifts the props a bout. It jars on you,...... ,the sight of that tra nquil 'white' astir in the life of the b /ad-:s. H e seems lil

The pace increases in the second p a d of the play. The strands in the life of the main ch a ra cters h -dst the m selves to the ir lo gical e nd. A fine young n egro b ecom es the quarry. There's a murder a nd h e's the su spect. He hides to save himself from the police ''"ho come and comb the whole district. As a result. the lives of the others move in their O\Yn indep e nde nt fashion towa rds tragedy or towards nothingness. Tota l confusion. The police lie in ambush a t differe nt points. The n egro boy dash es out into the street, Heeing for d ear life like a doe. His body is consumed by bullets. H e dies lil

And while a ll this is ta l

The e ffects w hich a director manages to achie\ e on the screen through excelle nt editing or dose-up s,...... , techniques which b elong to the

52 National Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.2

film-medium alone ...... are achieved by the director of the play through the imaginative control which he wields over the movements of his characters. He succeeds in doing so in that large auditorium on a stage, cluttered with that somewhat drab setting of a huge negro quarter. It stuns you ...... this 1 From my distant seat in the balcony I get a close-up of that boy, convulsed in the throes of death, \\Tithing with pain. It seems so near to me.

ln actual fact, this is where the play really ends. and it is an extraordinarily effective end. The title 'Ain't supposed to die a natural d eath' is proved to be literally true. And what remains in a play after such an extraordinarily effective, logical. and meaningful end?

But this play of the Negro Stage. does not end at this climactic moment. It goes on. Undeterred by the presence of the police, a miserable old hag limps towards the boy's dead body. And \vith the corpse for testimony, she harangues the spectators in an angry and vehement strain. The speech is reple te with curses and oaths. She ash the living vvorld : \tV hat right h ave you to stay alive in peace a nd comfort? This prose vehemence tal

Nothing grates on you so much as a play that goes on after it's ended. 1 go hacbtage, urged by an irresistable impulse to speal, to someon e.

I meet the director. B efore I can say anything, h e asb me : \iVhat did you thin I< of the play?

A prompt reply from me : Everything else was very effective. The play had a very powerful ending when your boy died. \iVhat was the point of tha t old woman's veh ement and boring rhetoric at the end? It bothered m e.

Without the slighest trace of astonishment he turns to me calmly: You say you found it boring?

My reply is : Yes, l did.

53 BOOK REVIEvVS

MAHARASHTRA'S CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC by Vamanrao Deshpande, Maharashtra Information Centre, New D elhi, 1972, Re. 1. (In English)

GAYANACHARYA PT. VISHNU DIGAMBAR by Prof. B. R. Deodhar, AI..:hil Bharatiya G andharva Mahavidyalaya Mandai, Bombay, 1971, Rs. 6. (In JvlaratT1i)

There is a specia l propriety in revi ewing these two books together since they complem ent each other. V a manrao D eshpande' s boo!..: attempts to project a bird' s-eye view of the contribution of ?v'Iah arashtru to Hindustani ?v'lusic. On the other ha nd, Prof. D eodhar tries to d escribe and evalua te P a ndit Vishnu Oigamba r' s contribution to Hindustani Music in particular and to Indian Music in gen era l. H e seeks to do so by d elving d eep into his life-story. In other words, Vamanrao D eshpa nde tries to place M a harashtra on the musical m ap of India ,;,.hile Prof. O eodha r tries to view this map through the character a nd p ersona lity of an eminent l\1aharashtrian musician who in a very large m easure himself deter­ mined its contours.

Though he tries to introduce an evaluative approach in his treatment of some of his topics, Vamanrao D eshpande' s boo I< is m a inly intended to b e informative. H e sketches the history of music in ?v'lah a rashtra, starting from the 12th century a nd enumera tes the musical forms pra ctised a nd p erformed in M a hnrashtra (Chapter I) . H e seems to conclude tha t classi cal vocal klwyal music, as d eveloped and presented by the Gwaliyar, 1\gra, ]aipw· and Kirana ghararws, is a feature tha t n eed s the greatest possible a ttention in any account of ?v'Ia h a rashtra's musical contribution. H en ce he d evot es almost one-fourth of his b ool< to a description of the role p layed b y these four g/1amnas in l\1a harashtTa's tota l musical expression (C hapters 2 and 3 ). There follow cha pters on Light Classical ?v'lusic (C ha pter 4 ) . R esearch es a nd R eseach ers (C hapter 5) , P a ndit Vishnu Oigamba r (Cha pter 6 ) , S tage M u sic (Chapter 7 ) a nd a n a ppendix on the Tanjore l\1ara thas and their contribution to S outh India n M u sic. The last. as h e points out, "has h een included . . . b ecause of the intrinsic interes t of the story of how these ?v'larathas identified them selves with the culture of the la nd to which they emigrat·ed".

V am anrao D eshpande' s boo I< is w ell-planned and w ell-intended . vVithout b eing too scholasti c, it a ims a t providing accurate informa ti on ; and without b eing academically ab stract, it pla ns to b e evalua tive. lt a lmost succeeds in t·he fir st a im. The information it provides is non-controversia l a nd correct. But I hi s in itself is not ad equa te. For exam ple, iF one is to trace histori cally the musical achieve­ m ent of early M a harashtra from a non-musicological text lil

65 National Centre for the Perfo rming Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. 2

A more serious lapse in the book is his narrowing down of the very concept of music. There is no discussion on instrumental music. H e forgets to m ention the fact that the violin (which is now firmly established as a concert instrument in Hindustani Nlusic) was effectively introduced by Pundit Gajananrao Joshi of l\1aharashtra. There is no reference to the slwlmai being played truly and w ell by the Gaebvads and Jadhavs of Nlaharashtra. The author also fails to grasp the importance of the impetus given to serious harmonium-playing b y illustrious Maharashtrians lil.;:e Pandit Govindrao Tembe, and Pandit Vithalrao Korgaonlmr. H e would have done w ell to note that tabla and the paklwwaj were practised and played wcii in Nlaharashtra at a time when the glwranas had begun to stril

This same narrowing down of the concept of music has resulted in a failure to discu ss folk music, devotional music and film music. Surprisingly enough, his chapter on Light Classical Nlusic omits any discu ssion of Master Krishnarao' s renderings of the tlmmri. Admittedly Nlastcr Krishnarao' s renderings of t.lwmris a nd bhajans do not possess the particular emotional flavour associated with these forms elsewhere. But it cannot h e d enied that for over two generations h e did succeed in winning audiences even in the distant regions of unpartitioned Punjab and Sind. To allude only to the Ki.rana type of tlwmri as Nlaharashtra's special type of tlmm.ri seems to me unfair. H e docs not write on film music and so the contribution of su ch eminent directors as K cshavrao Bholc, V asant D esai, C. Ramchandra, Datta Dawajcl

The evalua tive portion of his writing is the weal

But us h as been said earlier, the compact volume brings together a great deal of information on the music of Maharashtra and may serve as a good intro­ duction to music-lovers. This is a sort of hook which should h ave b een written long ago hut which could b e '\-Vr iltcn again and with greater advantage in the present era of area-studies.

Prof. Deodhar' s hool( tries to portray Pandit V ishnu Digambar as a conscious missionary who sought all along to find ways and means for ·bringing about a 66 National Ccntrt.: for the ~c. i-forming Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No.2

musical R enaissance. A st-raight-forward chronological account, with no pretensions to style or writing sblls, the book impresses the reader by the sheer volume of the fa c ~ual material relat-ing to t-h e versat-ile p ersonalit-y t-hat- Pandit Oigambar was. 1 hough he w as academically ill-equipped.....-and t-his is attributed to his weal< eye-sight-.....-t-h e lat-e Pandit- Vishnu Oiga mbar attacked with admirable decisiveness and st-rengt-h t-he problems of music-educat-ion, music-performance, and the social respect-abilit-y of music and musicianship; , This was in t-h e last d ecades of t-he 19th century when the whole country wa~ 'dazzled by the omni­ pot-ence of the Brit-ish rulers and regarded them as purveyors of modern ways of worl< and life. The p a tronage of t-he Rajahs and the Nababs was dwindling and the alien rulers lool

Prof. Deodhar provides a great d eal of information about the interesting parallels between Panditji's not-ation-system a nd the staff-not-ation system, about Panditji's teaching m ethods and his style of elaborating ragas in a concert. The p eriod and the p ersonality come a live in the book But in spite of his d e t- achment. a qua lit y so rare in a n Indian disciple writ-ing about- his guru, Prof. D eodhar neither raises nor answers som e of the awlnvard questions that- confront us.

\ V hy did the Gwaliyar style lose its eminence in spite of Panditji' s wide propaga tion of tha t glwrana? \iVhy did the musician in him disappear around 1915, when h e w as only forty-three years of age?

To all appearances the questions are about P a nditji. But actually they p en etra te to the core of tha t p eriod in which h e struggled to give music and musicians a n ew direction. The mind, the moment and the milieu a ll need to h e studied together and as such both exten sive a nd intensive studies arc essent-i a l. But- as a starting-point these two boob ought to comm a nd our interest.

Ashok Ranade.

67 THREE PLAYS OF BHASA. Translated by Amiya Rao and B. G. Rao, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1971, Rs. 9.50 (In English)

N othing d efinite was known a bout the exi stence of a ny dra ma by Bhasa until the year 1912 when under the editorship of T. Ganapati Shastri, the first of a series of thirteen plays by Bhasa was published and d efinitely attributed lo Bhasa. However, the authorship of the dramas was not accepted by everybody since the author rem a ined silent about himself in the dramas. A great d eal of research h ad to b e undertaken to d etermine the provenance and authorship of these plays. and even now there arc scholars who question the authorship of these dramas.

However, there is no doubt that Bhasa as a dramatist enjoyed a high reputation among Sanskrit poets and dramatists. At the b eginning of the 7th cen tury B a na wrote, "Bhasa attained fame by his dramas, b egun by the Sutradham, with many roles a nd including episodes, as one might by the construction of temples, b egun b y architects, ·with m a ny stages, and h efla gged." Bhasa is regarded as the laughter of poetry while Kalidasa is regarded as the coquetry of poetry. All these references d efinitely point to the exi stence of Bhasa and, therefore, a rguments against the authenticity of the dramas are inconclusive. It seems, however, that Bhasa was more famous in the South than in the North.

It is difficult, however, lo arrive at a ny precise conclusion a bout Bhasa' s d a te. but since Kalidasa m entions him, h e must have existed before him and, therefore, he could h e assigned to not later than 350 A.D .. but how much earlier it is difficult lo say. An upper limit is suggested b y the fact that Bhasa is doubtless la ter than Ashvaghosha lo whom lw was p erhaps indebted for one of hi s plays.

Bhasa d erived most of his plays from the IVlalwbharata and the Ramayana. The three p lays of Bhasa under review are transla tions of the Pratimanatalm from the Ramctyana group and ll1 e Karnabhara and the Panc fwralra from the Mafwbharalct group.

In the Pratimwwtcdw, importance is given lo the pr,atima or statue. After seeing it in the prntima-grilw (the image a-allery) , Bharata is able lo infer the fate w hich befell D ash aralha a ft er R a m acha ndm w ent away lo the forest.

The Karnabfwra deals with Karna' s armour. As K a rna gels read y for the fight wil ft A rjuna, h e tells Salya of the Irick he employed to learn the lesson s of warfare from the great Parashurama. H e tells him how the latter, realizing tha t he had b een d eceived , retaliated with a curse : K ama's arms ""ould fa il him in the hour of his n eed. The curse is fulfilled , for lndra comes in the gui se of a Brahmin and obta in s from K a rna his weapons a nd hi s earrings.

T lt e Po.nc fwralrn has three acls a nd there a rc more lt erocs of so rt s than one. and they more or less a lla in their ends. It d eals with the period when efforts are bein g m ad e to save the Kurus a nd the P a ndavas from tha t fa tal conflict, which finall y end ed in the complete ruin o f' the form er a nd grave loss to the la ller. Dron a · has u ndert-aken a sacrifice f' or D uryodhana, a nd seel

68 National Centre fo r the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal Vol. I No. 2

The number of Bhasa' s dramas and the variety of their themes indicate the originality of his mind and his inventiven ess. His characters are mostly h eroic and he has been able to do full justi ce to their qualities. H e is equally at home in the d elineation of minor characters; a nd his women characters, though fewer in number, play their roles effectively. An outstanding characteristic of the dramas of Bhasa is that they are exceedingly stageworthy. The plays are direct and not too compli­ cated and the diction h e uses is very simple and elegant.

The dramas of Bhasa have b een translated into English several limes, but so far us I am aware, most of the translations lack elegance of diction. Amiya Rao and B. G. Rao, however, give a translation which is more elegant and polished tha n that of their predecessors; but to avoid the pitfalls of Sansluit phrases a nd words, they have sought to make their translation too fr ee. In his foreword to the worl< Or. V. Raghava n fra nkly admits that "it is a free rendering in a style which reads smoothly and elegantly. Such a presentation h as its o'vn value for creating an awareness and appreciation of these plays among the large public interested in literature". There can b e two opinions about Or. Raghavan's comment. There is definitely a class of scholars which believes that the English tra n slation of Sanshit plays should be as literal as possible because only then can a reader obtain some idea of the literary attainments of a Sanskrit dramatist and the atmosphere which he is able to create. There is no doubt tha t the authors have given us a smooth translation of the T/1ree Plays of Bhasa. But as I said earli er on. there a re bound to b e scholars who will question the liberty which they have taken with the text. A s a matter of fact, a good translation of a Sanshit play demands m astery over English as w ell as Sanshit, an;d a lso a poetic b ent of mind, which is able to grasp the meaning of the original text and its nuances, and render it into smooth and poetic English. This is not a n easy taslc One has to set before oneself the hi gh standards of translation maintained by Prof. Ryder in his translation of Mricllchlwkatika entitled "The Little Clay Cart". vVhile translating the text, he refused to d eviate from the original, and strove hard to find appropriate expressions and words in English in order to mah his translation accurate and readable. I hope that in the n ear future some tra n slator will come forwa rd and faithfully render the worl

r--.'loti Chandra.

69