BHUBANESWAR: Members of Dramatics Club of ITER College, S’O’A Deemed to be University, presented their annual street-play production ‘Hypocritical India’ in the presence of hundreds of enthusiasts on its campus at Jagamara here recently.
The topic was all about hypocrisy which is nothing new in India. In fact, it is a deeply rooted malady in our individual psyches. We all believe in something, say something, act something and expect something else from others. Double standards run in our blood. The main reason for this is the question “What does society expect from us? The play was written and directed by Rohan Yadav.
In order to get rid of this menace that has been holding onto us since the time of our birth, we need to accept the mindset that was delivered to us in black and white form by Saadat Hasan Manto. The ideology is termed a Mantoniyat. Mantoniyat is a song which talks about social issues like woman harassment, body shaming, political issues, corruption and social taboos.
The cast included Rohan, Sangram, Pragyan, Gahir, Asman, Surjya, Saswat, Anukta, Atul, Anshu, Shreyash, Abhilash, Pinaki, Narayan, Nupur, Kajol, Ankit, Shantra, Arpita and Gagan.
Stage Play or Nukkad is a platform for artists to engage, educate, entertain and entice the spectators. The club conducted its first major Nukkad act on 2016 titled ‘Indian Army’.
Other acts performed by the group are ‘Kyun Karte Hum Nukkad Natak and Kahan Karte Hum Nukkad Natak’, ‘Rebel’ and ‘Sapno Ke Udaan Bhar’. Coming back to the production of Hypocritical India, it was first performed at ‘Mood Indigo’, Asia’s largest cultural fest, IIT Bombay, in December 2018. The entire team practiced daily for two months from 7 am to 8 am in the morning and 4 pm to 6 pm in the evening.
It qualified for the finals and was in the Top 10 Nukkad Productions Of India for year 2018-2019. It even won the first prize at Spring Fest, IIT Kharagpur. Coming to the content of this production, the act depicted the hypocrisy in 4 major stages Inspiration, Evolution, Practical Implication and Consequence.
The inspiration part was all about what parents teach us during childhood. Firstly, they ask us not to have affairs with any of our acquaintances and then expect us to marry any random person. They feel happy to stay in a nuclear family but expect their children to have a joint family with them.
The second part was about evolution as in how it evolved with time. We hate talking about sex, but then we are the second most populous country. We often say that western culture has degenerated our mind in terms of sex but forget that Kamasutra was written by an Indian. We expect to choose a good looking person as our partner while we may not be one.
The third part was about practical implications. For example, after the scrapping of Art 377, there were mixed response to the verdict. People respect the Supreme Court but couldn’t wholeheartedly accept it. We talk about Vasudeva Kutumbakam but can’t accept any outsider holding top position in any office or politics.
The concluding part was about Consequence. For example, one can go through the Shah Bano Case. The solution to such cases of hypocrisy is Mantoniyat, stated the artistes.