When the young bring to life the old tales of Ramayana

“The energy these students are bringing to the stage is inexplicable. They have a spark and they are good-looking. The best advantage of having them on the stage is that it is very easy for them to learn the basic nuances of the character,” says Sunder Mani Bhatt, president of the Garhwal Bhratri Ramlila Mandal, Sector 7.

Apart from the schoolgoing students, there are many who are pursing other course such as engineering, BTech, BCom and Law and are part of Ramlilas now. At Sri Ramlila Committee, Sector 17, there are over 10 students taking part in the Ramlila; in Sector 27, there 14 students; and in Jagdambe Garhwal Mandal, Sector 40, there are over 15 students.

Ashish, who is doing BTech from Rayat and Bahra College, has been assigned the role of Angad. “My father has been playing the role of Ravan for the last 15 years, and this is how I was attracted towards acting. Since it was the first time, a lot of training was required,” he says. “It is good to be part of the festive season by playing a role in the Ramlila.”

Deepanshu, an engineering student who joined Ramlila because his father had been a part of it for 15 years, says, “How many of us know the Ramayan by heart? Ninety per cent would not even know. For me, participating in Ramlila means learning about our own tradition. My father always wanted me to play some role in the Ramlila.”

While some of these youngsters are participating in Ramlila out of their devotion to the epic, others are doing it to fulfil their interest in acting. Still others joined the Ramlila to continue their family tradition in which their fathers have been playing several roles for the past many years.

“We were searching for charming students who could speak well and we managed to get many. Since it was a new group of students, our rehearsals started two months back. However, the old participants started rehearsing just 15 days ago,” says Mamu Ram Goyal, secretary of Ramlila Kala Niketan (Garhwal), Sector 30.

Rajesh Chauhan who has been playing the role of Laxman for 30 years has made his 14-year-old son Naman Chauhan join the Ramlila. “My son has been playing many roles, including Angad, Luv and Kush. His exams are over, which is why he spends half of his day rehearsing his roles,” says Rajesh.