STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Balwant Thakur’s Dogri play Gatt staged here on Sunday at the lawns of General Zorawar Singh Auditorium, University of Jammu, here.
Based on Krishna Chander’s famous Urdu short story Khadda the play is a hard hitting satire on the decay of human values.
Balwant has adapted it in such a contemporary manner that the audience identifies with the play as of the socio-political happenings of their surroundings.
Balwant Thakur’s Gatt shows that one and all tend to shrink their own responsibilities and work and pass it on to others. Instead they indulge in high sloganism, claiming to be the redeemers of the suffering masses. This is symbolised by a person falling into a ditch whose pleas to help him come out unanswered by one and all. Different people pass by him like surveyors, youngmen, religious, leaders, cops, Political leader in power and a foreigner. The person in distress is given different excuses and pleas for their inability in extending help to him.
The unemployed youth are unable to find time out of their fixed schedule of hunting for girls. The Sadhu showers blessings and prays for his peace in as and where condition.
The police cop lodges an FIR and asks him to report to the police station knowingly that he will never be able to come out of the ditch on his own.
The foreigner lady enquires about his choice between India and Pakistan, which side he would like to take? The situation becomes more dramatic when a minister after a complaint from the public about the worsening of the road condition, makes a round of the area.
The workers of the public works department instead of taking out the man from the ditch put wooden planks over the ditch and create a stage for minister’s public speech.
Here the minister lists his development revolution and lashes at his opponents for cursing their government for political gains.
The public meeting is over, the wooden planks are removed but no one pays any heed to the fallen-man in the ditch. The slogan of the uplift of the poor fades away with the flowing dusty wind. Finally a man from the audience appears and appeals everyone to render a helping hand to this common man who is still in the ditch despite having celebrated sixty-four years of India’s Independence. The play reflects the plight of the poor masses who continue to suffer for want of help from those at the helm of affairs.
Shivam Singh as Aadmi was very impressive. He was equally supported by the talented artists of Natrang which included Mohd. Yaseen as Karamchari 1, Sachin Saini as Karamchari 2, Rishav Sharma as Aashiq-1 and Neta, Vedhant Malhotra as Aashiq-2, Abhi Bargotra as Foreigner, Rajat Salgotra as Sadhu, Goutam Sharma as Police cop and Akshit Kaul as Chela.
