Theatre of Relevance –nurturing children through Bal Natya Utsav (Children Theatre Festival) -Manjul Bhardwaj

The successful experiment with child labour motivated us to do children theatre. We started conducting children ‘Theatre of Relevance’ workshops. It was a massive drive. This module was for every child. We did workshops in elite areas to street. What we found was shocking. India basically is very cruel with her children. We brutally deal with our children. Basically parents treat children as their property. We deny all rights to children. Adult takes every decision of child in India. A child is not at all heard. A child in India has to obey parents & teachers. This makes children puppet or rebel. We come across many runaway children from home due to ill treatment, beating & abuse. As far as atrocities with children are concerned, there is no difference between rich or poor, educated or illiterate.

In our modules we encouraged children to speak freely, express the way they want. Motivated children to ask questions ignited their curiosity & imagination. Simply we ask children ‘you do what you want to do’. Normally at first attempt children kept quite…because they don’t have a habit to listen this or given an opportunity to decide for themselves … we keep repeating this question what you want to do! Slowly children start responding … when children start responding then workshops swings in full flow.

We don’t address children that this is wrong, this is right. We facilitate children to understand what is functional & what is dysfunctional. We create a collaborative atmosphere rather than competitive. Focus is on every child has great natural blessings we facilitate to discover. No child is like another child. Every child is unique. So we do not put children under regimentation. Unfortunately the whole education system is regimentation.

We have countless stories of children about their life. How were & are subjected to abuse & violence. We prepare plays on child rights. When life becomes tough then tough gets going in Theatre of Relevance. It is terrifying how six years run away children spend their nights on footpath. How the adult vultures in the names of policing sexually abuse little girls in railway yard or in corners of railway platforms. How children survive in these hostile conditions is a miracle. There is no difference between a child living on footpath or elite conditions. Only form of abuse becomes more sophisticated.

We allow children to express themselves as they want. We facilitated children to ventilate their anguish, anger, sorrow & suffering without being getting labeled. This process brings them in a state where all kind of guilt vanishes. Children come out from burden to a new world of hope. Nature has blessed children with unique abilities. You just notice that a grown up adult comes down to knees while dealing with children. When children want they can melt the mountains.

Babli Rawat coordinated these children theatre workshops. Our workshop with children became talk of the town. Shanti serial fame duo writer Dhananjay Kumar & casting director, actor Vinod Kumar devoted their time. Vinod Kumar conducted a month long workshop with slum children in Ganesh Nagar (Kandivali, west) in Mumbai. This slum became a hub of children theatre workshop. Well Known theatre critic Deepa Gahlot visited the workshop & interacted with children. Dhananjay Kumar wrote an iconic play ‘Vidhya Dadati Viniyam’ which became the inaugural play of Bal Natya Utsav. Vinod Kumar directed this play.

So to channelize the abundant creative & performing potential of children we organized Bal Natya Utsav (Children Theatre Festival).

Mahaveer Jain a well-known human behavioral scientist & leading light to mentor activists in the field of child labour & child rights guided to understand children issues from different perspective. He gave his inputs consistently. He inaugurated the first Bal Natya Utsav in 1999 at Karnatka Sangha.

From 1999 to 2003 every year in January or February we organized Bal Natya Utsav to highlight children issues & concerns. January & February are the beginning of a New Year and we ensured that children get priority in society’s New Year resolution. I am thankful to media for giving headlines to this artistic venture. Vishwanath Sachdev , the then editor of Nav Bharat Times blessed the performers by his presence as chief guest at Prithvi Theatre. Theatre of Relevance diehard fan supporter & guide journalist, playwright Firoz Ashraf always stood by us till his last breath. Stalwarts like Sulbha Deshpande graciously blessed the occasion. Various organizations, theatre practitioners, writers, performers, sensitive individuals made this event a grand success.

Sanjna Kapoor provided Prithvi Theatre free of cost for this unique Theatre of Relevance initiative. We are thankful to her & Prithvi Theatre for this noble support.

Bal Natya Utsav became a leading light of child participation. We ensured that this becomes an ongoing process. We are delighted that now almost every theatre group involves themselves in children theatre. Initially Bal Natya Utsav was organized at Mumbai level, but slowly became a national event. In these five years 1250 children from various parts of India performed 41 original plays mostly written, performed & directed by them. It is purifying moments when you work with children; they leave a long lasting impression on you to cherish forever. Unforgettable houseful shows at Prithvi theatre, Bal Bhavan & Karnatak Sangha refreshes my memory & chirping sounds of children still echoes in me. I thank all little angels who purified my creative soul!

#TheatreofRelevance #Childrentheatre  #Bal Natya Utsav #ManjulBhardwaj

…to be continued…