Playing out their dreams

It8217;s a thin line that divides theatre from real life in the play Mira.

In Nai Disha8217;s Mira, street children act out their lives

It8217;s a thin line that divides theatre from real life in the play Mira. The first major production by Nai Disha, a Vasant Kunj-based non-profit organisation, Mira has 45 street children in the cast telling the story of life in a slum, where poverty co-exists with defiant dreams. In the play, a fictitious school becomes the rudder on which hang the hopes and aspirations of the students. It is much the same in real life, say the young actors.

8220;We want to go to school because that8217;s the only way out, but where are the teachers? We need good teachers who won8217;t hit and abuse us because we8217;re poor. Most of us drop out of school because of teachers who aren8217;t interested in us,8221; says Shabnam, a Class-III student at Nai Disha. Shabnam plays Mira the teacher in the play8212;the quintessentially good figure,

who helps slum students develop their potential. As a foil to her is Simran Khan, a Class II student, 8220;who doesn8217;t believe underpriveleged children are worth any attention.8221;

The other Mira in the play, enacted by Shabnam8217;s classmate Pinki Sahoo, is a student who spends her time cooking and caring for the house but sleeps with dreams to become a doctor. 8220;Most teachers, especially in government schools, beat the life out of students,8221; says Gulfam Ahmed, a Class I boy who plays the local don. He speaks from experience. Ahmed had dropped out of school after studying for a year and would have remained uneducated if his mother hadn8217;t hauled him to Nai Disha. 8220;Now, I want to become an inspector. Ever since I can remember, I8217;ve seen drunks lying around the locality. How else do I play a drunk don so well,8221; he says laughing.

Suraj Kumar of Class III adds that the role of Champu, the school handyman who relentlessly mocks at the children, came easily to him. 8220;He8217;s the type who says things like 8216;Let it rain a bit, and these kids will be swimming inside their houses.8217; He finds the poverty of the school children very funny,8221; says Kumar, the son of a domestic help and a security guard who insists nothing is going to stop him from becoming a doctor.

Mira premiered at Heritage School and the audience comprised parents of the young cast. With a show at the India Habitat Centre on Saturday, the play took its first steps out of Vasant Kunj. And everywhere, the play reiterated the same message. 8220;A school should nurture dreams, not crush them,8221; says Simran.