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BAL NATYA UTSAV : : (Children Theatre Festival)
(A Process Report) : : by Darshana Dube

---IMPACT OF BNU ON : CHILDREN : : CASE STUDY---

The following case studies would throw more light on the transformation process. It has been a fruitful task trying to get new insights from the children as most of the 50 children, on interaction kept on revealing the repeated facts. The ones that gave a new insight are cited below:

Alam Mirza a 9th std. Student has come a long way from his days of rag picking and loneliness who after running away from his home in Calcutta sought shelter in Mumbai. Of course his life changed after he sought shelter in Vatsalaya, a shelter home in Mumbai, which looked after his education and general welfare, but the radical change happened in his life after he was introduced to theater. “ I not only learnt to express myself but it also provoked me to think beyond the facts, question issues and introspect. Gradually my confidence level led me to script and direct a play all by myself that earned me a lot of applause. I am very happy today and I have a direction in life and that is to grow through theatre.” The professional help provided at different stages while directing, scripting and acting a play has taught him many valuable lessons about stage- performance.

Seema Gupta of Islam Compound (Ganesh Nagar) has transformed from a timid and shy girl into a confident talker after being introduced to theatre. ‘‘ Before I could not utter a word in front of a crowd but now I have become so confident that I can talk about anything in front of even a very big crowd.”

Ajay Singh, a 5th std. Student belonging to Vatsalya Foundation, on the other hand developed the awareness regarding the importance of correct grammatical construction of a sentence in a language through the dialogue delivery. “ As I was asked to repeat the dialogues due to wrong sentence formation I became more conscious and started applying it to the languages taught to me in school which helped me to get better grades in those subjects”

Chandan who has participated in many plays says, “ I never knew being a child was so much fun before this.”

Sandip Kharwa, a slum child belonging to the Door Step School is 7 years old who had absolutely no inkling about the existence of drama and acting till he was asked to perform for BNU. ‘ I enjoyed myself thoroughly playing an important role of a fox where I learnt a lot about the animals, jungle and the transformation of man into devil and its effects”. The play that talks about the evolution of man and the resultant materialization and over crowding of the city killing the humane spirit has given Sandeep an insight into issues that would not have been possible through books and visuals only as he would be a passive taker and the impact would have had its limitations compared to the exposure through theatre where his direct involvement in the issues by thinking and enacting them has had a different impact altogether.

Sudha Mahikar feels that if not for theatre she would have never known about the sexual abuse as her parents and friends never talked about it. “ Seeing children dramatizing in the language I understand, the play on sexual abuse kept me absorbed in it with a lot of interest till the end after which the facts dawned on me and I understood the implications very clearly.”

Bunty Sheikh, a std. 5 student belonging to Door Step School, says, “ When I ran away from Calcutta to get out of the clutches of my mentally instable father I thought I will earn a living somehow and survive. After getting the shelter in Mumbai and being exposed today to so many issues through theatre I feel amazed! Today I know that it is my birthright to get education and a decent living, which I would have never been aware of! Also I feel that if I am determined many institutions will help me in realizing my goals. So I don’t feel lonely.”

Sheikh Yakub of Vatsalya Foundation experiences an ultimate high while performing on the stage and being applauded that boosts his confidence, improves the self-esteem and encourages him to reach his potential. “I feel like a king when I am on the stage and feel that the whole world is focusing on me. I enjoy every moment of it and feel that one day even I can earn the public adulation like Sachin Tendulkar and Hrithik Roshan.”

Jyoti Pardesi feels that learning through drama is the most interesting way, which gets etched in the memory. “ I used to read and listen to a lot of jungle stories that fascinate me. But I always wondered how it actually would be, till I performed in a play that created the jungle ambience and I played a bird.”

Pradeep of Ekta Nagar says, “ I could never concentrate in the class when I was being sermonized and so could never learn about different concepts and my teachers felt I was a dud. But when I got involved with theatre I started understanding everything as it was all so interesting, and involving.”

One of the very interesting cases is of Krishna Patel of Vatsalya Foundation, who enjoyed working in a factory quietly as he had not known any other world before. After being exposed to education and drama he showed a lot of resentment initially as he thought it was trying to be too smart that was not necessary. But gradually he started getting drawn to it and got involved. The way he started expressing on the stage amazed even himself.. He felt more amazed when he found out that he was actually enjoying it and feeling lighter after it. “ Before I used to be quiet but could not sleep peacefully and it was as if there was a stone placed on my chest. But after getting involved in the theatre I discovered a new me and I started sleeping peacefully.”

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