By Anupam Bhagria
Ludhiana, India
‘Unlike many other plays, our focus was not to create sympathy for people with disabilities’
TO convey the message about disabilities and against drug addiction, for the first time, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan in Punjab has been organising stage shows all over the state. Nearly two weeks ago, the awareness campaign was kicked off by the SSA, as a part of which it sponsored theatre artists under the guidance of Dr Raman Mittal, director and writer of two plays being showcased.
According to Anil Matharoo, district coordinator of Inclusive Education for SSA, Ludhiana, “We are going to hold a stage show on May 13.
Two plays –Jakhmi Rooh and Mein Vi Turang–written and directed by Dr Raman Mittal will be staged from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. The show will be open for all and we have invited all government organisations and faculty members of government schools.”
Talking to Newsline, Dr Mittal said, “It is a very good ef fort on the part of SSA. We have already staged shows in Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Tarantaran and so on and got good response from the audience. The role of local organising agencies, however, was not up to the mark.”
He said, “It took nearly one–and–a–half month to select and prepare these plays.
Artists involved in them are not from a particular theatre group. We held workshops before holding stage shows.”
“Unlike many other plays, our focus was not to create sympathy for people with disabilities but to tell everyone that they, too, were important people with special abilities like painter Sobha Singh and Satish Gujral.
Similarly, in the play based on drug addiction, our thrust was on the society and not on the addict. We tell the audience what parents, friends and relatives can do for a drug addict. How they can help an addict join the mainstream,” added Dr Mittal.
Source:Indian Express
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