Friday 21 February 2014

Playing the Play

Play: Final Solutions by Mahesh Dattani
Cast:  Arshida, Farsana, Jamseena, Jowza, Nishida, Ramya Narayanan, Ramya Pranoob, Roshna, Sajitha, Shameera,Sayana, Thasni Banu.
Directors: Rineesha, Saisree
Stage Director: Nuzhat Unneen
Camera: Hafsath P.U,Nikitha


                   Recently we staged a play of Mahesh Dattani, ‘Final Solutions’ in our class. We are happy to receive full swing cooperation from everyone in the class. We were surprised to see almost everyone taking up different forms and colours delivering an amazing performance. Now something from the director who is the ‘Abhimanam Mol’ of the class, Rineesha,
“It was a great experience for me wearing the hat of a director. That  was the first time I said ‘start, camera, action’ in my life which I don’t see happening again anywhere in the distant future. Initially I was not confident enough to play to play the role of a director, but with God’s grace and my co-workers’ support, it was made possible. I take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to Saisree, the assistant director who always at my beck and call with cent percent sincerity. She was the official scene divider as our stage was the limited space of our classroom that carried out all the scenes. So she would pop up in the middle of the play and mark the scene and go. I can ramble on for hours if I let loose my experience with the play but that wouldn’t be fair and as everyone is equally involved, I think everybody will have something to talk about it.”
           Next going on to the actors (who by now have claimed to be professionals) are clamoring to share their gain from the enacting. Well, let’s have a random pick and hear what Farsana has to say, “I am so happy to be a part of this venture. It is as if I am in an interview now. The exposure was good and I was able to put my talent into use which I was hitherto unaware of. I played a secular character of Ramnik Gandhi which was not very difficult to act I am more of a secular person myself. Frankly speaking I am still not shook from the hangover and I see Jamseena (Aruna) as my wife and Roshna (Smitha), my daughter. I must say the teamwork was great and everyone has put their best.”
           Now, a little from the audience perspective; it was an edutainment to watch a play put up in our classroom space. All of them literally came as their characters demanded with proper costumes and props; Ramnik Gandhi (Farsana) in dhoti, Aruna (Jamseena) in sari with sindoor on forehead, Smitha(Roshna) as Smitha should be, Javed and Bobby (Shameera and Sajitha respectively) in trousers and shirt, Hardika (Jowza) as an old lady and Daksha (Nishida) appeared as a teenage girl and last but not the least, the Chorus (Ramya, Sayana, Arshida, Ramya and Thasni Banu) came in black with masks ( thanks to Febna for designing the masks). Altogether it was a delight for the eyes and some of were literally wonderstruck to see the silent mongers of the class to exhibit a praiseworthy performance. Of the lot, Jamseena, Sajitha and Shameera did exceptionally well.

          Though we lacked a bit on the technical side, it was rectified with the team effort and quick sense for practical intelligence. For instance, our first and second bell for drama’s beginning was the rhythmic slapping of an aluminum rod against the chair’s leg; an idea clicked in Saisree’s mind for the idea gallery she is. One good thing for all of us that emerged out of the play was that, we now know the play in full and is captured like a photograph in our memory and all this would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Aswathy ma’am, who motivated us and united the diverse people within us with great perseverance and grit. We take this opportunity to thank you ma’am. This write-up is a tribute from us to you.


IV semester M.A English. 

Wednesday 19 February 2014

IS STUDYING BA/MA ENGLISH A PART OF SUPPORTING COLONIALISM?


                         The question whether studying English is supporting colonialism or not ,i think,  is not valid today because now a days people talk English,write English,even dream English.India was colonized  by the British and lived under British rule. Though the route was English,the development of English  in India was not only by their effort.When we turn the pages of history, we can see that the East India company, though they were interested in trade initially and began to involve in politics later,formed in 1600.It was William Wilberforce,a British philanthropist first proposed to send teachers to India and to provide an amount for the improvement of literature and encouragement of learned natives of India,but the proposal was not success.


  In the meantime,  it was the christian missionaries started their work for the improvement of education in India. They actively engaged in it.After independence Mahatma Gandhi proposed Hindi to be our National language and was against educating our people in English,as   he was afraid of it would result in slavish behavior.But other leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Moulana AbulKalam Azad all were anxious about setting our face against English.It was after a long formulas and reviews,English became our associate official language.


                      Today we can't take English away from our life.Can we think of speaking in an another language without using a single word from English? That is the reason why now English is the  chief agent of Globalization,Renaissance,Reformation, Enlightenment,Western poetry,political thoughts and the list longs...English is the link language in International level and it is not possible to think not to study English because of the fear that it is a part of colonialism...

   JUMNATH .K.V.

   IInd SEM MA ENGLISH