Postcards from the West

When you browse through the pages of history and discover something very inspiring, what do you do? Write an article? Savour it for yourself...

When you browse through the pages of history and discover something very inspiring, what do you do? Write an article? Savour it for yourself? No. Have a chat show and read out that special something, so that it touches hundreds of people 8211; live across the stage!

The evening of April 19 held the audience at the Bharat Natya Mandir spellbound through Vishwavama 8212; a one-and-a-half-hour chat show anchored by noted television personality Shaila Mukund and well-known media artiste Pradnya Oak. The focus was on women, and the show dealt with the story of 10 women achievers, comprising noted litterateurs and social activists from the Western world in the 19th century who had caught the fancy of the duo.

State Oak and Mukund, whose research work was a combined effort, 8220;We read a lot of autobiographies on women in the West who, 75 to 100 years back, overcame hurdles to carve a niche for themselves. Interestingly, while in India domestic pressures have always been stifling women, in the West, it8217;s been the family members, particularly the husbands, who have helped the women achieve her goals.8221;

They cite a few examples. Harriet Stowe, whose novel Uncle Tom8217;s Cabintalked about slavery and was published in 1851, tugged at the heart of thousands of readers; Jane Adams, the noted social activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931; Jenny Marx, the woman behind the success of Karl Marx; Pearl S Buck, the noted American writer and winner of the 1938 Nobel Prize; Virginia Woolf, the famous authoress, Helen Keller, who was herself blind and who brought hope to the blind through Braille8230;and many others were the subject of the show.

States Oak, 8220;What we observed through our research was that none of these women asked for concessions to acquire success. They cooked, attended to their family8217;s needs, performed household chores and then rose above their homemaking duties to do something extraordinary for the society. In our country, during that period, we can cite the examples of Pandita Ramabai, Janakka Shinde, Ramabai Ranade and Sadhanatai Amte who also attained stupendous success.8221;

So, how do they get these motivating stories across to the audience? States Mukund, 8220;Both of us take turns to weave them into interesting tales.

Sometimes, we have dialogues between us. Most importantly, we are aware that not everyone in the audience would have heard of these names, but since our interaction is in a story format, it can be easily understood by everyone.8221;And these dynamic women were helped in their endeavour by their spouses.

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States Pradnya Oak8217;s husband, Dilip, who has played a pivotal role in the organisation of the show, 8220;Shaila8217;s husband, Mukund Athavale, spent hours scanning the Internet to get hold of the photographs of these women, that are showed on slides to the audience.8221;

What was the objective of this show? States Oak, 8220;We do not claim to tell the gospel truth. We are performing artistes and have made an attempt to bring to the notice of the people the great womenfolk of yore, who had dedicated their lives to a specific noble cause. That, in itself, is an inspiration to anyone present.8221;