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SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2016 (PAGE-4) PERSONALITY ART & CULTURE On a mission in J&K for promoting Revisiting Theatre festival 2015 Lalit Gupta gence by local writers included man-woman conflict in search eco-friendly disposables of their real identity as well as the illegal relations of so called The latest edition of Annual Jammu District civilized persons (Hadsa Haqiqat), socio-political questions Drama Festival, a 14-day bonanza (7th-20th about people in terrible condition of their surroundings (Kala December, 2015) staged in the refurbished Suraj), true love held hostage by man-made divisions of reli- Abhinav Theatre, was an undoubtedly a delight- gion and countries (The Thar Express), conflict of values between old and new generations (Dana Socho Te Sehi), ful affair. Marked by enthusiastic participation revisiting folk love tale of Kunju Chainchalo (Blood & Beau- of more than 500 stage actors, directors, scripts ty), enumerating of degeneration of values by listing social writers, music composers, singers, light, sound, maladies and contentious issues plaguing the contemporary set and costume designers, make-up artists and India (Mein Zinda Hoon), highlighting life and sacrifice of Pandit Birbal Dhar of Kashmir to resurrect him as a hero and backstage personals, the annual drama festival role model for younger generations (Ek Aur Birbal), raising 2015, witnessed by almost full house audiences, questions about male dominated conventions while giving can be labeled as an important event in winter expression to inner yearnings and psychological reflections capital’s cultural calendar. of female gender who given opportunity can open up new frontiers in life (Pishach Yatra), critique of social ills (Pagal Amongst all art forms, theatre, by its unique character of Lok). challenging current values and ways of thinking, has been Makhan Lal Saraf’s ‘Ram’ in Kashmiri was a bold take to proven to be an effective medium for social commentary. present a counterpoint to the accepted narrative of Along with age old folk theater forms like Haran, Bhand Ramayana, especially through the characters like Sumatra, Pather and Parsi style Ramleela performance tradition, a Kekayi and Kaushalya. modern theatre practice has also evolved on national lines in The festival also saw young directors like young directors the state. Today, Jammu, where theatre as compared to oth- Nishikant Khajuria the production process does not require cutting or harming like Abhishek Bharti, Ifra Kak, Ravinder Sharma, Sourav er performing arts enjoys more visibility, is happily reckoned Sharma, Rohit Bhat, Aditya Bhanu competing with well of the trees, Sathya explains and adds that the items made up as one of important regional centers in the country. A well educated young man from extreme south of India, known senior theatre directors like Makhan Lal Saraf, Mush- of areca leave do not cost more. All thanks to J&K Cultural Academy which under its man- is on a mission here, the other end on northern part of the taq Kak, Vikram Sharma, T. S Premi, Umesh Singh, Shashi Sathya is also planning alternative to plastic carry bags. date has laid a strong foundation of modern theatre practice country, for awareness against toxic non-biodegradable These bags are made by pasting and folding either two or Thermocol and promotion of eco-friendly disposables. in Jammu and Kashmir three sheets of newspaper to make bags of different sizes. The through holding theatre Sathya Prabhu, a resident of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, has handles of these bags can be made with jute strings or cot- been camping here in extreme cold and virtually going from workshops, repertoires ton string. The price per bag depends on the size and the and above all district door to door for trying to convince the people to use envi- thickness. ronment friendly disposables, made up of Areca leaves. drama festivals since Prominent scientists and important Government func- mid 1960s—which in “I am here to aware people against disposable items, made tionaries have recognized and appreciated the efforts of of Thermocoal/Styrofoam and plastic, which are toxic and glaring absence of any Sathya Prabhu for his mission. So far, he has met Deputy pedagogical initiatives non-biodegradable thus polluting the environment as well as Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, a number of other senior our health,” he told the Excelsior. by State Universities for minister and top officers of J&K, highlighting the objective Performing Arts—have While displaying his environment friendly products, of his mission. made up of Areca leave, Sathya explains the benefits of these emerged as a focus for According to Dr Ram Vishwakarma, Director of CSIR- eco-friendly disposables, which are hundred percent amateur activity. Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Canal Road Jam- biodegradable and compostable. These hygienic, non-odor- Erroneously labeled ous, non-toxic, light weight plates and cups are made up of mu, Polystrene is a well known polymer of styrene, which has as district drama festi- areca leafs, which have been used as plates for dinning pur- been classified as a Group 2B chemical, possible carcinogenic vals these are in fact pose since centuries. With new technology, this natural and to human by International Agency for Research on Cancer annual competitions in rigid material is compressed to a shape of a design plate, (IARC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Unit- which local theatre which in use with dry food can last longer period. However, ed States. groups not only show- in use with moist food, the plate would serve only once. On the efforts of this young man, Srinagar Municipal Cor- case the state of contem- The production process of the plates does not require poration has shot a letter to the food vendors, hotels and porary theatre practice added chemicals or heavy infrastructure. The carbon foot- restaurants in the summer capital to stop using thermocol but also vie with each print of making the plate consists mainly of heating water disposables while a number of similar recommendations other for awards in dif- and the metal cast. Since the tree drops its leaves naturally, have been made by other bodies. ferent categories. Other than some well designed productions supported by brilliant CARRER & COUNSELLING performances by actors, one of the highlights of annual drama festival Crack J&K Bank Re Interview 2015 was that along with adaptations/translations of well Bhushan, Javed Gill and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta. known modern Indian as well as Greek writers, a record num- Through eclectic application of varied dramatic tech- ber of original scripts by local playwrights were also staged. niques and treatments, the participating teams of actors, Ayush Nargotra With the result in conjunction to plays like Shanker Sesh’s Fandi, Mahesh Elkunchwar’s Pratibimbh, Yogesh Tripathi’s directors and technical experts succeeded in creating The J&K Bank has called 3159 successful candidates Keshavleela Ramrangeela, the scripts by local playwrights umpteen specific moments in which the connection between against 39000 who appeared in the written test conducted which were performed. These included three plays in Dogri: the actor, the performance, the play, and the audience by IBPS for interview for the post of Relationship Executive. Mohan Singh’s Dana Socho Te Sehi, Kumar A Bharti’s Blood became a living breathing experience. The audiences were Last recruitment was in the year 2012 four years ago. Job in & Beauty (based on folk tale of Kunju Chainchalo), and Dr taken on a journey that was not film, TV, etc, but the living J&K bank is considered a prestigious in one Jammu and Kashmir. You are reading this article so, it is presumed you Sudhir Mahajan’s translation of Sophocle’s Antigone. growing life of the theatre. have cleared the written and now wondering what next! The five plays in Hindi/Hindustani by local writers were The very fact that, despite the unfortunate past decades Interview stage is the last lap where nobody would like to Vikram Sharma’s Hadsa & Haqiqat and Paishach Yatra, of militancy in the state, the art of theatre continues to thrive miss the final goal after reaching so far. Some points which Rajneesh Kumar Gupta’s The Thar Express, Shashi Bhushan as a healthy creative expression for youth to actively engage I would like that the aspirants should not miss are: and Pankaj Shah’s Mein Zinda Hoon, Rakesh Roshan Bhat’s with social-cultural and political realities of our times, calls Ek Aur Birbal, and Padma Sachdev’s Kala Suraj-a translation Things to be done: Forget your past failures and be con- for a reshaping of official cultural policy to make arts as inte- of Mohan Singh’s original Dogri play. The lone entry in Kash- fident. Being unprepared to the standard job interview ques- gral to education system and make provisions for training miri was Makhan Lal Saraf’s ‘Ram’ while one in Punjabi, * So prepare your answers to all possible questions before- tions. Pagal Lok was by non-local Kapoor Singh Ghumman. and appointing requisite human resource in schools, colleges hand, Lying about your qualifications, experience and your all over the State along with suitable infrastructure. * Teach yourself to talk to the point and without beating knowledge. The range of subjects which merited the creative indul- around the bush. Not showing enthusiasm/interest on the job. Sharing too * Be smart with words. much. * Once you are prepared, have faith in yourself. Failing to explain how your skills match the job in ques- HEALTHLINES * Last but not the least, once in the interview room, for- tion. get about all your inhibitions and just go ahead with full con- Speaking for most of time of the interview or interrupt- fidence (but stay away from overconfidence, be humble ing the interviewer speech always).