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Dak Ghar and the Diary of an Artist
As I am writing this at midnight, the city is completely under water. A three-day long incessant rain has made it all go wrong. The result of the depression in China has hit the Indian sub-continent as well and playing havoc with it. My artist friends commented jokingly: “Far Eastern influences”.
Amidst power cuts, no drinking water, people being electrocuted, the mysterious death of Rejwanoor whetting up political parties to cause road blocks and Kolkatans demanding the resignation of the Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya from his post as a result of the manmade flood in the city, I went to see artist Vinayak Bhattacharya who would be leaving for Delhi the next day. Vinayak is quite a well-known name to Delhiites as a matter of fact. I came to know him through my friend Manjira of the Alternative Art Group, who happens to be his niece. We got into a local restaurant and nibbling on fish fries, I browsed through the sizeable diary that he had brought with him and which is in actuality a work of art by Vinayak, and the water level continued to rise outside.
The front cover comprises of the rear of a slightly baldheaded man, drawn horizontally and the ear jutting out of it corresponds with the words INDIA 100 YEARS written originally over it. Vinayak has wiped the ‘1’ from 100 and the letter from ‘Years’ with ink, which now reads INDIA 00 EARS, with the 00 forming a pair of spectacles. The first page that comprises of personal details is actually where the artist has played his pranks and as a result it now reads - PERSONAL DETAILS: Impersonal Front; MEDICAL INSURANCE: ‘Totally medicated body’; CAR INSURANCE: ‘Bekar’; LOST AND FOUND: ‘In case my body is found please return or inform’, and so on and so forth.
Browsing through the diary further, I came across pages such as this one- where he has painted an over-coat with an invisible wearer and after a Nihilist fashion has written the words ‘Na’(= no) in Bengali and ‘thing’ beside it. Another page bears the image of several half drawn faces, one over the other, each covering the other one at its back by most of its parts barring the forehead. Notes on fate and the uncertainty of the human lives are scribbled on them. Elsewhere he has displayed a jugglery of words juxtaposing images that he has drawn by placing them upside down; or, in an attempt to change the very notion of seeing texts in the horizontal format he has altered their positions. Often the pages are a result of his every diary writing, his thoughts, sarcasms and conflicts, and at other times they are deliberate dedications to add to the bulk of the diary. The diary reminds me of the classical play, ‘Khsuddur Yatra’ or ‘Khsudi Ramayan’ by Abanindranath Tagore, which is a reinterpretation of the epic in the highly contemporaneous fashion – using paper cuttings bearing news of current affairs, cut outs from contemporary magazines, often featuring Hitler along with Finit Spray advertisement, which was the most reliable source of killing insects during the World War II and a hilarious text. Vinayak will exhibit his diary as soon as he finishes it, but for the time being, let’s go back to theatre, for I have something worthwhile to tell you.
Perhaps no two other fields of study marry so well as Visual Arts and Drama. Almost all my artist friends have at least half a dozen acquaintances associated with the stage. Wherever you spot an artist, you are sure to locate an associate of him by his side who’s a performer either on stage or on the street. So you can see why I had been to seeing Tagore’s play ‘Dakghar’ (= post office) while it had been raining cats and dogs and reminding us Kolkatans of Noah’s ark.
The theatre troupe Swapnasandhani was originally founded by the actress Chitra Sen and is now looked after by her son, the actor-director Koushik Sen. Like most of us seeking an alternative way to express ourselves, Swapnasandhani, too, is looking for alternative theatre. The troupe has traveled extensively around the country and abroad and is undoubtedly the best among the city’s younger group theatres. When they called me up (which they usually do for an invitation), I was a little appalled, because so far ‘Dakghar’ only meant featuring an ailing five year old, Amal, who happens to be the protagonist and only lies in his bed and stops passers-by to have a chat with them and tell a tale of his fantastical journeys he wishes to come true.
It always would be an extremely slow play staged inside one claustrophobic room and infallibly with a small bed where the dhoti clad Amal would perpetually lie down like a dead duck, and would not move to the slightest degree, lest he would show some sign of life. There would certainly be an open window by his bed and one can occasionally catch a glimpse of the head of a curd seller or a flower girl. It has always been an absolutely static play and mostly acted by students of the junior and high schools, as some way or the other its excerpts is part of their syllabus in school. Koushik Sen’s interpretation has featured Amal as the very contemporarily dressed kid, very much alive and kicking; who moves about without stopping, prattles endlessly, rides on his kick-board, slides down his mock slide, climbs up his toy step-ladder – does everything without even stopping to catch his breath. His playmates use toy guns and Amal even sleeps in his lazy-bean.
However, the dialogues remain the same as Tagore had originally written, bearing the same flavour. The most prized thing perhaps was the stage-décor by artist Sanchayan Ghosh. Ghosh, who is primarily an alternative art practitioner, and is perhaps the most celebrated man in the present decade to have shown a deft handling of the stage set-up. His brilliantly conceptualized placement of a white wall which makes for Amal’s room and stopping midway before it reaches the ceiling leaves a considerable space above, which would later be utilized as the sky as well as the outside wall. Also, the use of the foaming spray and glitters sprinkling down (as often used in birthday parties) create a perfect ambience for the holi sequence. A novelty is reached in allowing the performers often running into the audience from the stage or moving on to it from amongst the gallery. Also the application of spring-doors that raise up promptly and automatically with the actors approaching it to take an entry from the rear of Amal’s white room and the metaphorical use of packing boxes with collages on them reading ‘Taste the Thunder’, indicative of consumerism add to the drama. Riddhi Sen , the youngster portraying the character of Amal is undoubtedly a genius. His consistent and appealing portrayal of a loving and adorable child makes him a promising child artist. Goutam Ghosh’s background scores using western classics were equally rewarding.
Swapnasandhani will be staging the show once more on 20th October, and will be happy to see any of you there.
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