Taking art beyond

Meena Naikacirc;euro;trade;s new play Vaatevarti Kaacha Ga tackles the widespread social disease of child abuse, through the use of sha...

Meena Naikacirc;euro;trade;s new play Vaatevarti Kaacha Ga tackles the widespread social disease of child abuse, through the use of shadow puppetry and poems. She speaks to Nilanjana Sengupta.

Child abuse. For a disease so dangerous and filthy, it is too well hidden. In a society that gives more precedence to denial, perhaps one of the best ways to lift the veil of stigma on this is by way of the arts. It is only right, therefore, that theatre has taken precedence over other forms to break the ice and make a start, albeit late. Well-known puppeteer and childrenacirc;euro;trade;s theatre-director, Meena Naikacirc;euro;trade;s Marathi play, Vaatevarti Kaacha Ga, is the first of its kind on the subject and it does more than discuss child abuse. Searing and hard-hitting, the play brings home through brilliant acting, the use of shadow puppets and children poems the disturbing statistics on children who suffer this trauma.

acirc;euro;oelig;The discussions that follow after the staging are intense and inquisitive,acirc;euro; says Naik, adding, acirc;euro;oelig;They sometimes go on for almost two hours, exceeding the time limit of 30 minutes. The audience is usually appreciative. I havenacirc;euro;trade;t received any negative response, till date, on the treatment of the subject. The only grouse that emerges now and then is from the male members of the audience, who take umbrage to the fact that there are no male actors in the play though the perpetrator is a male.acirc;euro; The play has four characters all women. It focuses on an urban middle-class nuclear family, where the father is based in the Gulf and the mother is compelled to singly handle both a job and a household of two daughters. The older daughter, around 12 years old, is abused by her distant uncle-cum-tutor. acirc;euro;oelig;Neither the father nor the uncle nor the actual abuse are shown in the play. I use shadow puppets to show the unpleasant memories of the child. Male audience members wonder whether they are being held responsible for thecrime. In the three-year research I put into the subject, the instance of men and male relatives indulging in such acts have far exceeded the cases of women as perpetrators,acirc;euro; says Naik.

With a multi-pronged target audience of parents, teachers and children above the age of ten, Vaatevarti Kaache Ga puts forth a straight and simple message to this complex problem: listen to your child and create an atmosphere of trust in the home and school. acirc;euro;oelig;Parents should keep track of changes in their children whether there has been any setback in their studies or they have quietened down. Only parents and teachers are in a position to detect this. The subscription to the belief that elders are always right should not be given so much credence, as to disbelieve what your own child is trying to say. Trust is very important, otherwise, children feel that the whole episode is their fault,acirc;euro; says Naik.

Naik had some convincing to do, before she got Priya Bapat and Shreya Bugde to play the parts of the older and younger daughter respectively: acirc;euro;oelig;They were apprehensive at first but when I told them that the actual abuse will not be shown, they were ready to act . And they have done a very fine job indeed.acirc;euro; To establish a friendly relationship between the two sisters, Naik incorporated the use of hand puppets and verses by Vinda Karandikar, from whose poem, incidentally, the title has been taken. acirc;euro;oelig;There are glass-pieces on your path, thatacirc;euro;trade;s what the title means. I will stage the Hindi version of the play on January 12, with a new set of actors,acirc;euro; she says.

Though Naik wanted to stage the play in 1998, the going was not very easy: acirc;euro;oelig;I had prepared a puppet show on the same subject and held five shows in various schools. However, the response I got from the principals was not very good.

Then, I held the same show at Wadia Hospital for psychiatrists and doctors. They liked it and came forward with suggestions. I realised that to get across a subject as sensitive as this, needed live actors besides puppets.acirc;euro; The search for a scriptwriter proved to be a long process, till Dr Anil Bandiwdekar penned it for Naik in just 10 days. acirc;euro;oelig;Fifteen days after the play was written, it was staged. On November 14, on the occasion of Childrenacirc;euro;trade;s Day, the play was staged at Chabbildas Auditorium and has completed nine performances till date,acirc;euro; she says.

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Naik wants to take the play to schools and colleges around the state. acirc;euro;oelig;I have received invitations . However, I need sponsors for this. I plan to approach the State Government. There are talks of UNICEF, who covered the production cost of our first play, coming forward as sponsors but nothing has been finalised as yet,acirc;euro; she says.

For an artist who has taken her art beyond the parameters of the aesthetic, creative satisfaction does not remain the sole point. It is joined, if not overtaken, by the desire to bring about an awareness. acirc;euro;oelig;I want to take the play to Jalgaon and stage it in the women colleges there,acirc;euro; says Naik. And we will wait to hear more from her.

The play will be staged at Little Theatre, NCPA on January 4 at 6.30 pm