Sunday, November 19, 2000		Scene Stealers

ARUNA ROY is a pioneer in the field of social work. She and her husband Bunker Roy have infused social development with a new meaning. When I met them a couple of decades back in Tilonia (Ajmer, Rajasthan), they were in the process of organising their work. Both were totally committed and lived an austere life. Since there was no electricity in the village, most of the work had to be finished by sunset. After dark, the couple sat around with some other committed youngsters and discussed their mission and other important issues. Bunker Roy was the theoretician and the spokesman, while Aruna was the hands-on person, the organiser. They were smart, savvy and rebels.

Both of them have acquired a cult status and have carved out separate niches for themselves. But they are as motivated as they were when they begun. Aruna and Bunker met in Delhi. Aruna joined the IAS in 1973 but soon resigned because she felt that within the rigid system, she would not be able to make a difference. Without thinking of the consequences, she joined her husband in the Social Welfare Research Centre. Both worked hard and made the Tilonia experiment workable and worthy of being emulated.

She started her own experiment by setting up the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan at Devdoongri in Rajasmand, thus spurring on a people’s movement for citizens’ empowerment and right to information. Her scheme encompasses about 100 villages.She has managed to educate and involve the villagers in demanding their own rights. A people’s court called Jan Sunvaai has been set up. It is a forum for public audit to know from the authorities how much was spent.

Aruna has been awarded the Times Fellowship for her project, "Living with dignity and social justice". Recently she won the prestigious Ramon Magasaysay award for Community Leadership. The Award, she insists, rightly belongs to the village. Recently when a Press party went to see the work done by MKSS, they found that there was total participation on the part of the villagers. The village priest was the head electrician for the running of the solar system. The girls in the village were being trained as school teachers. Aruna and her workers live simple lives and even share the same food. Aruna says that she too is one of the workers. She is fortunate that many young and promising people like Nikhil Dey have joined her. Aruna and Bunker have no children. They have formed a committee and have made provisions to pass the baton on to the workers. If only the Right to Information were to become a norm all over the country, half our problems would be solved.

Despite territorial division and the trauma of Partition, India and Pakistan share a common culture. Pakistanis are fond of our films, songs and our actors are their idols. The craze for Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan is as great in Pakistan as it is in India. We too appreciate their serials, plays and singers. A popular artiste from across the border is Madiha Gauhar, a stage and TV artiste. Her plays have attracted a large audience in North India.The seats for her play in Habitat India, were booked well in advance.

Madiha was recently in Chandigarh on a private visit. She had come to attend a wedding in Delhi. She has visited the city before and feels quite at home here. What she is impressed with is the visibility of women in Chandigarh. She lives in Lahore with her husband Shahid Nadeem, who is a theatre and political activist and her two sons. She had brought her younger son Sarang, who is about a year old with her and was busy playing mother. Madiha looked like a typical educated middle class housewife. She is plump, has a flawless skin and expressive eyes but when she speaks about theatre, you can see the extent of her commitment.

She has done her Senior Cambridge from the Convent of Jesus and Mary’s Lahore and besides an MA in English, she also has a double MA in Theatre from the University of London. "I was fortunate enough to go to London, my family is much more liberal than others in Pakistan. The exposure that I got there was great", said Madiha talking about her experience in the UK. After coming back to Pakistan, she started working in TV serials and plays. Her first marriage broke up because, "I wanted to continue with acting, which they were against. Now I am married to a great man, he himself is a playwright and television producer who believes in women getting total freedom. Men like him are rare."

Madiha is also a social activist, who is working for women’s movement in Pakistan. The issues which she works for are fight against female foeticide, and granting of equal rights to women. She is saddened at the Taliban’s influence in colleges and universities. "We have a lot of segregation of the sexes, there are separate canteens in educational institutions and you cannot see girls wearing jeans".

Theatre in her country is appreciated to only by a section of the middle class in metropolitan cities. The public is not ready to pay for theatre and "we have to search for sponsors", says Madiha. The Government does not encourage the arts, in fact they put hurdles in the way. Recently the draconian Censorship Act was abolished. The last regime was very strict, we were not allowed to dance on stage but things have improved and we could even manage to stage a Balwant Gargi play in Government Hall Lahore, this would not have been possible before".

Madiha has strong views and is not scared of airing them. She has suffered tremendously because of her beliefs. So much so, even her services as an English lecturer were terminated because of her views. "I am known and have a certain status but because of my anti-establishment stance I have not got any awards and have been arrested on many occasions but I like challenges, I would not live any other way. I am not interested in active politics though I am a committed person", says this gutsy woman.

She minced no words on the stickiest of topics, "Fundamentalism has no vision". "India is fortunate to have a strong media which is quite liberal, which ours is not". Madiha is pained to see the apathy amongst the young, "when we were younger, there was a concept of struggle to bring about change in society, now all that has gone, the young only want money". This strong and creative woman has travelled extensively and was happy that in India her plays get standing ovation. "I love coming back", were her parting words.

— Belu Maheshwari