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Journalism of Courage
Two men in sparkling whites sit before a large,mixed and curious crowd and begin to tell a story of flying sorcerers,shape-shifting tricksters,ruthless emperors and women so beautiful they couldnt possibly be real. These fantastical beings belong to the 19th century storytelling form of dastangoi that Delhi-based performers,Danish Husain and Mahmood Farooqui,have been presenting for almost a decade. On Thursday and Friday, at the Stein Auditorium,IHC,the duo introduced their latest story from the 19th century book,Tilism-e-Hoshruba. This is among the most complex and twisted stories of the Tilism-e-Hoshruba, says Farooqui.
The story begins with Afrasiyab,the emperor of sorcerers,sending his messenger Qirtas Jadoo to the neighbouring kingdom of Tilism-e-Noor Afsha to ask if his arch enemy Amar Aiyyar will be extradited. Qirtas,confident that he can deliver more than expected,wants to slay Amar Aiyyar himself. As he sets off on his journey,Qirtas is followed by two of Amars disciples,the Aiyyars Qiraan and Birk. Amid warding off attacks on his life,Qirtas captures Mallika-e-Bahar,a powerful sorceress and the object of Afrasiyabs desires. Qiraan and Birk free her but the stage is set for a final confrontation between him and the Aiyyars. Qirtas ends the way all villains do, says Farooqui.
The storytellers say that the charm of a dastangoi lies in its telling. All we have are the text and our body, says Husain. Unlike the Lucknow of yore when the listeners were fluent in Urdu,the language of the dastans,the Delhi audience could only comprehend the text in parts. The storytellers adopted elaborate gestures and vocal expressions to communicate the meaning. Husain played Afrasiyab as a man so powerful and ruthless,hes flippant. Husain reclining on his pillow in Afrasiyabs languid pose was among the powerful images of the performance.
From Afrasiyabs casual menace to Qirtass smugness,from Mallika-e-Bahars hauteur to Birks bravado,speaking styles brought alive the various characters,presenting them before the audience as real people. We also repeated certain words so that the listeners could comprehend them. The word namadar is repeated so many times that one got the sense it meant an official, says Farooqui,who transported a packed crowd to the land of murderous spells and secret waterbodies hidden in cremation grounds. Dipanita Nath
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