Update from the Dharna in Mehendiganj
Phone Conversation with Mahenderji, volunteer with Lok Samiti and working with the street play group; on April 18, 2006
Mahendraji:
"We go to all the villages where we are operating a school and all villages which are taking part in the protest. We normally go to a village and observe what are the issues faced by the people and make a play addressing that issue. We have plays targeting superstition, unemployment, raising awareness about water problems, right to work, right to information, etc.
We need about 2-3 days to make a play and the scripts come from Guruji in Varanasi. We make small changes and adapt the script depending on the problem being faced by the village. Our plays are attended by at least 200-300 people and very often as many as 100 people attend the plays. The plays are for 30-40 minutes and are performed at street corners. To publicize our play we go out into the village wearing that costume with a small drum (damru), megaphone, making announcements about the issue we will be covering.
A small carpet is put out and that serves as the stage and the spectators sit all around. We don’t have any props and use simple things like cap, lathi, stick, etc. There is no lighting or sound equipment. We have a costume that was given to us by a Zilla Adhikari who liked out show very much. The plays are very well received by the people. People relate to the issue being highlighted may it be water scarcity or unemployment. We also made a play about Coca-cola.
The cast members normally work with their families in the saree business and most of them are very poor. They cannot really afford to miss their work and come out for taking part in plays. This is why we pay them some money but sometimes we are unable to pay them. Their families also complain that their son is going away and not doing work (getting an income).
We are called to perform in a lot of places. Our team has gone and performed for Asha Hardoi center. After the Gujurat riots, our team went there for a week trying to spread the message of communal harmony. We also took part in the Indo-Pak peace march from Delhi to Wagah. We visited Orissa after the storms and earthquakes there. We used the medium of songs and plays to alleviate some of the sufferings of the people. The center in Lalpur often calls us, but they are unable to pay and we can’t ask them money.
If you can support some of the money for the troupe it will really help us. We normally pay people Rs 100-150 in a day and can cover around three villages. We will just have to make sure that we have informed people from before. Can have plays from 8-11, 11-2 and 2-6. This way with your support we should be able to cover a large number of villages. "
Q & A
What is the publicity material at water stops?
The basic message we are trying to send out is that water is for life not for profit. In our culture giving water to drink is considered to be a good deed. We normally have pamphlets with the water-stop which explain the effect of water privatization taking Coca-Cola as an example. We tell people that they must protest against water-privatization and ask them to join us in our struggle. We talk about what we are doing and what are customs and traditions have been (wrt water). Wherever these companies are located, there have been problems related to water.
What are the different salaries in the budget for the Kalamanch?
700 x 10 – Normally the kalamanch is a team of 8-10 people that goes from village to village performing plays. Each member of the team works part-time for us, while their main occupation is making Benarasi sarees. They might spend around 5-6 days with us going to different villages. Since they leave their work behind to join us, it is appropriate for us to pay them something.
2000 x 2 – One person (Mahendraji) works full-time as the coordinator of the kalamanch. He is responsible for the coordination, training, play selection, rehearsal, costumes, issue/problem to be covered, which villages etc. The other person is another person working full-time for us in the movement.
4000 x 2 – One of them is Mukeshji who has been working with us since 1997. He is a very old member of our group and is in fact part of the core group. Another person is Arvind Kumar, who is a Masters in Social Work and is also a part of the core group. They are both involved in the planning of the movement. They teach us to speak to the government, the people, what issues we must work with like Right to Information, Right to Work etc. They provide guidance to the overall movement.