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Culture needs cash, not just policy Vandana Shukla talks to Ratan Thiyam, thespian & NSD Society chairperson
For a country of such cultural diversity, why should there be just one NSD in the Capital? We are trying to decentralise many things. We are hoping to make the NSD a centre for excellence or advanced studies. A lot of work is concentrated around reaching out to the people from all the states of India, as also outside India, in this effort. People say it is confined to Delhi and we are trying to come out of this frame. It is a difficult task. We have been successful to a certain extent. We have introduced several initiatives with other culturally conscious organisations. The NSD opened Regional Resource Centres (RRC) across India, the first of which was opened at Bangalore in 1994. But I do agree that we need many regional schools of theatre in India. For the last two years, the NSD has been associated with the Delhi International Arts Festival — a cultural extravaganza of dance, music, theatre, films, exhibitions — and OCTAVE, a cultural festival organised by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Zonal Cultural Centres, in which it was involved as one of the nodal agencies. Many of our traditional art forms, especially in the genre of folk theatre, are dying. What is the NSD doing to save them? We have introduced two festivals — Adi Rangam and Adi Bimb. They have turned out to be highly successful in bringing the art and traditions of the tribal people to a bigger platform. Adi Bimb, the first-of-its-kind tribal art festival, was held in the sleepy village of Dwaronda, near Santiniketan in West Bengal, with nearly 600 folk artistes and 30 tribal groups in February this year. It was a very successful national tribal festival, but then journalists asked me why we were doing it in a village nobody knew about. We were trying to showcase that scarcity of resources does not affect the richness of art. Tribal life is still very rich because they live with nature. Their demands are basic — fire, water, cow dung. They live by making few demands on nature and contribute little to corruption. Rising demands from limited resources causes corruption. Then it spreads out everywhere like an epidemic. For them, it’s difficult to get corrupted because their demands are few. It is for us to learn how to celebrate life and art on minimalist resources. They have enticing songs. They dance without rehearsals. They can go on the whole day — eat, sing, talk. We introduced journalists to a different way of life and art, which was not possible in Delhi. Then, we did Adi Rangam in Mumbai; to introduce the tribal rituals and performing arts by over 650 tribal artists from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and the North-East. From them we could learn the basics of existence without technology and artificial comfort. The extinction of art forms is worrisome. We are trying to revive them but we are equipped with only a small mind. How much can we do? You once said real art attacks the wrong system. In the times of corruption, how does art help? Art is made of only two things — beauty and truth. What is stated in “satyam shivam sundaram” is eternal and universal. These two components lead to aesthetics. Naturally, when you look at beauty, you cannot see ugliness. You can’t look at wrong things when you look at the truth. Art creates aesthetics. Its very basis is truth and beauty. It is very simple, but at the same time, difficult to practice. India has nothing to showcase except its culture. Why don’t we have a policy? The policies are in place. At different times, different committees were set up to work out a plan. The Bhabha Committee (1964), Khosla Committee (1972) and Haksar Committee (1989), all have submitted their reports. In October 2013, Parliament's standing committee on transport, tourism and culture recommended a comprehensive review of the constitution and working of the autonomous cultural bodies like the three akademis, NSD, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts and National Gallery of Modern Art. It suggested, only artistes should be allowed to head these institutions and the autonomy of these institutions should be maintained. It also suggested that a culture cadre should be created, specifically to man the culture organisations. But when your entire budget for culture is zero, almost zero, how can you think of a culture policy? Culture is not their priority. You can think of a policy when you have some money in hand. All these policies are there without the money to implement them. I am on a high-powered committee on culture, but I feel it is a mockery when we have policies and no money to implement them. |
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Keishing was among the youngest MPs when he was first elected to the first Lok Sabha in 1952. He joined the Congress in 1964 and has been in the party since. He says: “Even after I cease to be an MP, I will remain a Congressman and continue to serve the people as long as my health permits.” He had served as the Chief Minister of Manipur for four times, having been sworn-in for the first time in 1975, besides his several stints in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Belonging to the Tangkul tribe, he established the Rishang Keishing Foundation for Management of Tribal Affairs in 1998. The main activities of the foundation are soil conservation, water management and controlling shifting cultivation. Keishing miraculously escaped several attempts on his life by outlaw groups. In one close ambush, four of his escorts were killed and seven others were wounded but he escaped unharmed. He often recalls the first time he travelled to Parliament as a newly elected MP on a bicycle. As he crossed Connaught Place, he was pulled over by the police. “They told me it was one-way traffic and I was going in the wrong direction.” Belonging to Manipur, he told the police there was no one-way traffic there, and they let him go after he apologised. “That was my first journey to Parliament House!” he says. Keishing is not only nostalgic about the past but despondent about the deterioration of parliamentary standards. “It is so often suspended now because of rowdy, and sometimes, violent interruptions from disruptive lawmakers. Things reached such a nadir when an MP from the ruling Congress used pepper spray to try to stop the passage of a Bill. There was a time when it used to be quiet like a temple or a church, and debates were listened to intently. There is no House decorum now and the Speaker in no longer respected,” he says. “It is time for India’s democracy to go through an overhaul and leaders, cutting party lines, should introspect,” he adds. During the golden jubilee celebrations of Parliament in 2002, he was felicitated by the Rajya Sabha Chairman BS Shekhawat and then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. During the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Parliament in 2012, Keishing was again felicitated as the only serving member of the first Lok Sabha. The photographs covering the walls of his house in Manipur seem like a memorial to those genteel times. The pride of place belongs to a photograph of the first Parliament, from 1952 to 1957, with a much younger Keishing at one side and the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the
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In a material world where everyone seems busying amassing wealth and have no time for society, there is a philanthropist, Chandrika Kaura, who has compassion for the marginalised section of society. She has been working towards the education of slum children and is a well-known name for those who have no access to schools. She started this noble cause by the name of Purusharth on January 26, 2011, in an open area in the city. After some months, the classes were shifted to the slum area for easier accessibility. Education has brought about a change in the mindset of the slum children, who had never seen books. Now, they want to continue studying. Chandrika teaches children at Partap Public School during the day and slum children in the evening. “I launched Purusharth in 2011, and now many people are contributing in running it. Two more teachers, Nirmal Sharma and Sudesh, have joined me in my endeavour,” she says. “I teach children who hardly have any access to schools. I started with just five students and now the number has risen to 55,” she says. At first the children were taught only in the evening. She then encouraged their parents to get them admitted to schools. These children are now getting proper schooling. Most of the children were either ragpickers or working at shops and restaurants, she says. “I always wanted to do something for society. I did not want to be the one who just pointed out the wrongs and the evils of society and not do anything about it,” she says, giving credit to her parents for “bringing me up the way they did and inculcating moral values in me”. “They taught me to give and to serve others and to live for others. I wanted to bring about a change in the lives of the underprivileged. Education is the basis for a value based, developed and progressive society. At Purusharth, we not only aim at making them literate, but also aim at educating them,” she says. The way of leading a happy, contented and meaningful life is through education. “We don't want them only to be capable of earning, but also want them to earn with dignity and lead a respectable life. This is my little effort to bring a change in society. So we are doing this. We hope we will be able to make a difference in their lives and transform it for the good.” However, it is not easy for them. “The children do a lot of household chores daily. Their life is not smooth, but still they take out time to study even in adverse situations. Sometimes their parents ask them to work. But they say that they want to study. This is the biggest change that we have seen in them,” she says. Krishan, one of the students, says, “I was wasting my time two years ago by wondering aimlessly. Chandrika ‘didi’ gave me an aim, a goal. Now I am happy after getting some knowledge. She has changed our lives.” “Chandrika is not less than a god for our children. She has given a direction to the lives of my two children. We wish her a long and prosperous life,” says Neelam, mother of a student. Nirmal and Sudesh, who work with Chandrika, are impressed with Chandrika and feel grateful to her for giving their life some meaning. |
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Ram Madhav, rss spokesperson Mulayam Singh Yadav, sp chief Mayawati, bsp chief Lalu Yadav, rjd chief Anand Mahindra, chairman, mahindra group |
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ratan
Thiyam
rishang Keishing
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