Setting the stage for Ram, drawn by applause and jalebis

If the love for applause drove Sethi to the Lila, it was an affinity for ‘jalebis’ that led Ashwin Maheshwari’s to it. “The pandit said only those performing will get jalebis. So I became a part of the vanar sena,” Maheshwari, who now plays Lord Rama, recalls. Sethi and Maheshwari are among hundreds of people in the city who master their dialogues and put on costumes to perform ramlila in the many stages across the city for the nine days of navratri every year.

Young and old, students and service professionals, those religious and agnostic, all have different motivations. The intention is the same — to break the monotony of everyday life and entertain.

“Most of us are  not professionals. We have no experience in acting or performing. We are here because we are inclined — just a bunch of people who want to put on a show,”says Badri Nath, a security analyst, who is playing ravana’s son Meghnath this year. “I get up at eight and go to work. I finish around six and head here. We get our make-up done, dress up, practice our dialogues. By nine, I am ready for the stage,” he says. Performers have to start practicing two months in advance to get ready.

“The dialogues are the tricky bit. Most of us aren’t used to difficult Hindi words. If you can master that, everything else falls into place,” says Meet Singh, a sports teacher who plays Akshaya Kumar. According to Jagmohan Gotawale,Vice-president of the Nav Shri Dharmik Leela committee, everyone has their own reasons for participation
. “Some people join for the fun of acting. Others for the love of god. In some cases, an entire family has been doing it for years, so it is more of a tradition. Half the people, however, do it for religious reasons, or the respect they get from playing a certain character”.

Maheshwari is a case in point. “When you dress up like Lord Rama, people treat you like you are Lord Rama. They look at you differently, treat you differently. It is a different feeling, very hard to explain. One doesn’t get that kind of admiration in real life,” he says. “Ramayana is probably the only tale whose popularity seems have increased every year. When I first started directing Lilas, there were only a few of them happening. Now every locality has one. And people are coming to participate of their own accord,for no remuneration. Even Krishna doesn’t inspire such following,” says Girish Sharma, who has been directing Ram Lila’s since 1975. “It’s a service towards god. For 10 days, I try and be as virtuous and kind as lord ram. and dedicate all the good things I do to him,” says Ram Panwar, who runs his own business and plays Lord Rama at the nav jeevan samiti.