Ratan Thiyam with Fourteen Photographs

Manipur Trilogy Ratan Thiyam with fourteen photographs Published by WordSmith Publishers To my parents who baptized me in the Manipur Trilogy : A collection of three Manipuri plays by Ratan Thiyam religion of humankind Translator Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh Editor rupanjali baruah Publisher WordSmith Publishers 30 Krishnanagar, Chandmari P.O. Silpukhuri, Guwahati-781003 E-mail: [email protected] www.wordsmithpublishers.com First Published in Assam, India in 2008 ISBN:978-81-906393-0-9 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Price Rs.300/- US $6.6 Cover Photograph Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh Design & Layout Playon Design Studio Opp. All India Radio Gate Chandmari, Guwahati-3, Assam Printed at Bhabani Offset & Imaging Systems Pvt. Ltd. Guwahati, Assam, India Contents Foreword In the realm of Indian drama, Ratan Thiyam is a cherished name. He has done all Indians proud by his achievements, be it as a playwright, a director or as an actor. His plays have been staged all over the world in more than 40 cities before impressive audiences of 10,000 people at times. He has also received numerous awards all over the world. However the Chorus Repertory Theatre that he set up on the outskirts of Imphal in 1976 will perhaps remain his greatest contribution to Manipur and the vibrant world of Manipuri performing arts. It will remain an everlasting reminder not only of all that Ratan Foreword 1 Thiyam has done for Manipur and for drama, but also of what actors, directors and playwrights of Manipur can do for themselves. To Translator’s Note 3 everyone in his fraternity of the performing arts, he has bequeathed the abiding gift of sustaining self-esteem. Editor’s Note 4 Ratan Thiyam’s plays present a remarkable juxtaposition of Chorus Repertory Theatre, Imphal 6 traditionalism and the demands that a remorseless technological world makes on all of us. And through this presentation of opposites and The Three Plays conflicts, he puts across the clear message that unless mankind resists war, halts the rat race of a frenetic existence and reverses the destruction Wahoudok 9 of the only planet that we have, there is only doom in store for us. We (Prologue) shall have to keep running from the destroyers of the world in search Hey Nungshibi Prithivi 45 of more habitable territory that will turn out to be increasingly elusive (My Earth, My Love) with each passing day. His lament of the diverse ways in which we have destroyed or perverted the world of today is heard against the Chinglon Mapan Tampak Ama 80 backdrop of august presences in the mythical world of Manipuri deities (Nine Hills, One Valley) and damsels, of mothers and wise men. In the ultimate analysis, his plays represent the victory of abiding traditional values over the present Reviews 110 world of wars, conflicts, violence, greed and inequity. Through it all Comments 132 runs the thread of Ratan Thiyam’s intense patriotism. 1 The English translations of three of Ratan Thiyam’s plays - Hey Nungshibi Prithivi (My Earth, My Love), Chinglon Mapan Tampak Ama (Nine Hills, One Valley) and Wahoudok (Prologue) Translator’s Note from Manipuri by Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh are a welcome addition to the translations of Indian literature through which alone we have access to the variegated canvas of our rich cultural heritage. Ratan Thiyam, poet, novelist, director, musician, painter and Bijoykumar Singh has done well to retain many of the Manipuri actor has a great mastery over Manipuri, a very old language, far words, expressions and utterances in the original with a glossary at older than many of the other Indian languages that have been born the end, because this is the best way of retaining both the flavour and out of Sanskrit. Periods of Manipuri Literature are counted with force of the original Manipuri, especially for drama. One hopes that reference to the eighth century AD as the beginning, which means Bijoykumar Singh’s translations of Ratan Thiyam’s plays will be well that Manipuri language has a huge treasure of archaic words. received by the literary world. One also hopes that Bijoykumar will In all the three plays, Wahoudok (Prologue), Hey Nungshibi continue to extend his laudable work to translate Ratan Thiyam’s Prithivi (My Earth, My Love) and Chinglon Mapan Tampak Ama other masterpieces in the near future. (Nine Hills, One valley) myth is linked with reality. It encompasses a wide spectrum of human evolution right from the birth of the universe, based on the myths of the Mieties to the modern times, broken up in Dhirendra Nath Bezboruah four distinct episodes; the birth of the Universe, the creation of living beings, the outset of human civilization and the modern times. When the question of myths comes, it becomes imperative that the treasure trove of archaic Manipuri words is explored. Here lies the skill of Ratan Thiyam; he has meticulously crafted each line of the dialogues using a liberal dose of choicest archaic words - most of the dialogues in all the three plays are nothing but beautiful verses and odes. It is very difficult if not impossible to carry forward to another language the subtleties arising from the skilful linguistic manipulations. Translator’s job is made all the more difficult if the target language belongs to an entirely different family, which is exactly the case here since Manipuri and English are strikingly different from each other. Effort has been made to keep the strangeness intact and retain the nuances of meaning, style and traditions in the English version. It is hoped that the larger elements of style and imagination, narrative form and vision are carried forward and the readers in English can get a taste of Ratan Thiyam’s skill in linguistic manipulation. Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh 2 3 undertake this endeavor to publish his collection of three recent plays. And all along from the first arrival of his material to the final editing, Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh has been an inspiring force behind us Editor’s Note who took up the tremendous task of translating the three playscripts from Manipuri into English adding innumerable footnotes and suggestions through email so that our effort becomes easy and effective. Sri Dhiren Bezboruah’s foreword with his candid observation of this genre and particularly his appreciation of Ratan Thiyam’s singular achievements have added a significant value to I am awed and eager to understand the world of rituals, of this collection. magic symbols that summarize the essence of what goes on stage. Finally this collection is expected to give a new direction The messages arrive in sweeping movement of waves from the towards the reading and understanding of the quintessential cadence of words, music, rhythm which invariably lead toward a approaches of Ratan Thiyam and becomes a sharing with the cultural burst of primal feeling. The assiduous movement of the cast emerges accomplishment of Manipur theatre. from a sublime imagination of their creator. Ratan Thiyam’s reticence about the overpowering facet of violence becomes sublimated as he reflects on the value of believing rupanjali baruah that someday the proverbial lights would be lit on his nine hills to take away the shadows that threaten to quell all hope of living. Faces of survivors of violence speak of truth, their utterances are a kind of breathing new faith into those who are wont to remain ignorant of the prevailing triumph of good over evil. Thiyam’s messages dissolve all differences of thought, he turns every episode, be it the past or the contemporary scenes, to enact a splendid epoch. He takes his audiences back into the annals of time where demons, emanation of mystic angels and the horrors of the holocaust seem close to real. He heralds a blissful time though aware that the heretics of death are somewhere lurking near by. His plays show us ways to save us from the inevitable ennui ( the death in life ) which may possess all wretched mortals. Though he refuses to call his plays didactic and yet he is so perceptive of the vital issues, that they gather and raise a shout in all of us and it is inevitable that he should show us a way out of it. The preparation of Manipur Trilogy took less than a year and this has been possible because of two reasons. I believe all good things begin with faith, and I have been reassured over and over again from the day Ratan Thiyam gave his consent that I may 4 5 Chorus Repertory Theatre Imphal The Company: The Chorus Repertory Theatre was established in the valley of the small hill state, Manipur surrounded by the great nine folds of mountains guarded by mighty tribes on the top in the easternmost part of India in April, 1976 under the able and dynamic guidance of Chorus Repertory Theatre, Imphal Ratan Thiyam Located on the outskirt of Imphal, Manipur’s capital city, Award, 1984” (Greece), “Diploma of Cervantino International Chorus Repertory Theatre’s two acre campus has been slowly built Theatre Festival, 1990” (Mexico). (and six times rebuilt after disastrous monsoons) to accommodate a It participated in Pan-Asiatico Festival, 1984 (Rome), Indo- self sufficient way of life with housing and working quarters for the Greek Symposium, 1984 (Greece), East-West Encounter, 1986 company. It is now an important regional and national centre for (Mumbai), Dublin theatre Festival, 1987 (Dublin), Festival of India contemporary theatre. On its anniversary season - 25th years of in USSR, 1987 (USSR), Cardiff International Theatre Festival, 1987 existence, the company dedicated its first permanent theatre called (Cardiff), Glasgow Festival, 1987 (Glasgow), Mitsui International “The Shrine.” It is a 300 seat auditorium conceived and designed by Theatre Festival, 1992 (Japan), Toga International Theatre Festival, Ratan Thiyam with space for set construction and storage.

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