The conch sound is heard in the dark darkness and with this, a glimpse of a light yellow light is seen on the stage. This yellow light is not just the brightness of the light, this is the magic that is necessary to make the eyes of the audience to the 5000 year old era and to make the scenes of that time look. With this preparation of a moment, the stage resonates with Karun music and the story of nut groups entering Mangalacharan with slow steps is entry.
Narayanam Namkrityam, Nara Chav Narottamam :,
Goddess Saraswati Vyasam Tato Jayamudiyeet.
With the anthem of this Mangalacharan, the last 18th evening scene of the Mahabharata war is established on the stage, in which there is darkness all around. Darkness in the scene, darkness in thoughts, dark future and currently filled with darkness. Dhritarashtra does not have eyes, Gandhari has blindfolded, but the situation is such that neither Vidur is looking at anything nor Sanjay with divine vision. Ashwatthama is blind in his bestial violence, Kripacharya is blind in loyalty and Kritavarma is blind forcibly imposed. They are all alive, but they are asking for death from moment to moment and their intelligence has been paid. Due to this spread and omnipresent blindness, writer Dharamvir Bharti named his dramatics as ‘blind era’.
Story of 18th day of Mahabharata
The occasion was, of the Summer Theater Festival of the National Drama School Repertory Company, under which the classic drama Andha Yuga was staged on Wednesday. Eminent compounder Prof. Directed by Ram Gopal Bajaj, this poetic and philosopher drama keeps the events of the last day of the Mahabharata war and puts the story on these footprints of the events and concludes the pilgrimage of the Prabhas region, where Shri Krishna, who was hurt by the arrow of Vikas, performed Vaikunth. This drama does not only indicate the price of moral collapse, vengeance and violence, not only indicates it, but also tells how precious the peace is.
Artists performed lively
The artists of NSD Repertory presented this story on stage through their lively acting. Bikram Lepcha played the role of Ashwatthama, Satish Kumar played the role of Dhritarashtra, while Potashangbam Rita Devi was seen in the role of Gandhari. Many other artists including Majibur Rahman, Anant Sharma, Tabish Khan, Ankur, Alok Kumar also made strong performances, all of them made the drama emotional through the chorus being sung on the stage.
Rita, who plays Gandhari from Manipur
It has to be specially mentioned here that in the staging of this drama, two major characters Ashwatthama and Gandhari are from the northeastern states, but seeing their dialogue payments on the stage, you will not believe that both these actors are not North Indian. Potashangbam Rita Devi, who played Gandhari, talked about this and told that she is originally from Manipur. His tendency in the theatrical genre has brought him to NSD. However, while talking in general, it was fully visible that she was from Manipur, because then there was a glimpse in her conversation.
Learn Hindi pronunciation, many times practice
On the question of the difficulty that comes about the language on the stage, Rita Devi says that ‘I was very afraid in the beginning, there should be no mess, I have been practicing by speaking every word of this drama many times. Many difficult words are in the dialogue of this drama, such as repentance, rituals, fixed, Yuyutsu, Yudhishthira, Ashwatthama, I learned to speak them in the correct pronunciation and then understood their rhythm and emotion.
Eyes remain closed on stage, plays only by feeling situations
In the initial scene of the play, there is a situation, my blindfold is tied, I am sitting on the throne, Vidur is saying something about the war and I have to be angry after hearing half of them, this scene is the most difficult for me. Hard because my dialogue is going to come after some time, but I have to start making such a feeling for Vidur some time after the dialogue, so that the audience feels that I am getting uncomfortable, I am getting angry. Then as soon as the word ‘Mata’ comes out of Vidur’s mouth while speaking his dialogue, I scream in the style of almost burst and say that don’t call me mother, Vidur, your Lord also calls me mother.
The role of Gandhari is left
Talking about the character of Gandhari, Rita says that Gandhari has only two-four major dialogues in the blind era, but this character becomes the most important and most special due to his sorrow, anger, affection and vengeance and it seems that he is the lead character. This is because the part of Gandhari has come to work, which no one else does. She talks about taking iron from Krishna and curses him. If you look at the old forums of this drama, you will find that the Gandhari standing in the posture of cursing the white hair and raising hands is the iconic picture of this drama and this character has been immortalized by many celebrities of the theater.
However, Rita also expresses some regret and says that I wish! I could do similar theatrical performance in my state-my village too, if my own people are not here, then they also miss them.
Why the blind era is relevant even today
The decades of writing to the play have passed. The century has changed, the digital round has arrived, but whenever you look at today’s era and match its events with the plot of the drama, think what has changed? We are still there. Struggling and struggling with the animal of ego settling within humans. The only way has changed a little.
In the current era, when the world is going through the atmosphere of war. On the one hand, the war of Russia-Ukraine continues, the conflict between Israeli-Iran has recently stopped and there is a conflict between all the countries of the world over nuclear power, while the voice of Mahamuni Vyas comes from the background of the blind era.,
Atomic war and equality in destruction of Brahmastra
He screams at Ashwatthama, who confers the Brahmastra and says … ‘What do you know is the result of this Brahmastra? With this goal, there will be no rasamaya vegetation on Earth for centuries. Children will be born with disabilities and leprosy, all human race will become dwarf. All the knowledge will dissolve, the snakes will bounce in the hair of wheat and only the rivers will flow in the rivers.
This promise of Vyas may be 5000 years ago, but in World War II, the Paramamu bombs that fell on Nagasaki and Hiroshima and the destruction that caused it proved to be true by Mahamuni Vyas.
Today’s mirror is blind era
The blind era is the mirror of this era today. Similarly, in this drama, one time Dhritarashtra says, ‘All the soldiers returned to their respective camps, who won and who lost?’ This dialogue highlights the irony of today’s wars. This staging with restrained visual design, impressive music and symbolic story style proves extremely relevant to contemporary audiences. Krishna’s silent presence in the entire drama and his presence only from the background makes him feel a different divinity. The dialogue of Shri Krishna, which reduces the mourning of the angry Gandhari, is divine and incomparable, as well as no less than any Gita knowledge.
In a chapter of the Gita, Shri Krishna tells Arjuna in what form and what are he in the world, in the blind era, Krishna cursed Krishna Gandhari and Krishna, the great man of war, tells the Gandhari here for what he is and how he should see.
Cursed Krishna says in his same Murali Manohar voice…
‘Mother !
Lord or Paratpar
But I am your son, you are a mother!
I told Arjun
The sin-virtue of all your deeds, yoga
I will bear my shoulders
In this fierce struggle of eighteen days
Nobody only died crores of times
As many times the soldier who is a landlord
Nobody was there, it was me
Used to fall in the battlefield
From the organs of Ashwathama
Will flow as blood, purulent, sweat
I am the only age
I am life, so I am also a mother!
Cans is your acceptance …
God or Paratpar, but son is yours, as long as I am alive, I am not a son, you mother.
This voice of Shri Krishna penetrates conscience and reminds of moral duty, that too when the world looks surrounded by darkness. It is trapped in wars and where malaise is the permanent nature of man, then it asks when this ‘blind age’ will end? Whether it will ever happen or not… the curtain falls.