It is said that a woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets. When these secrets, guarded over time, unveil, they could bring much pain and suffering; but above all, there could be a deep satisfying sense of relief- relief that may bring the woman the power to set herself free.
The fifth edition of the NCPA Centrestage festival opened with Smita Bharti's JUG JUG JIYO by Sakshi theatre group from Delhi. The play with its feministic overtones focuses prominently on the story of the girl child in our culture.
The story begins with Sia and Siraj, unmarried but much in love, visiting their respective mothers Samyukta and Simran who live together in a small town. Right at the start, the dynamics shared amongst members of this phonetically-similar-sounding-family are made known. Samyukta and Sia are best friends above their mother-daughter relationship and Simran is a doting mother for whom her beloved 'puttar' can do no wrong. However, while on the one hand Aunty Samyukta and Siraj share a unique bond of trust, the relationship between Aunty Simran and Sia is just the opposite; it's precariously balanced awaiting an impulse to explode.
As Siraj tries hard to pull together his courage and find the right moment to tell his mother of his relationship with Sia, a bigger challenge befalls him. Sia is pregnant; and she insists that the truth be told to all the same night. When the truth does come out, after much drama and fan-fare, it acts like a force that pulls out a tightly wound thread off its spool, unravelling the hidden past of the two women until there is nothing left to lay bare.
The story intimately journeys through hard hitting topics of social stigma for unmarried and pregnant women, marital rape, female foeticide and infanticide, trafficking and illegal surrogacy. And while these may seem to be cliches, the tragic truth is that they are just as rampant even today.
The play is most definitely not a drab; in fact in its short 90 minutes you'll often catch yourself cheering-on the humour or blinking away a teary-eye. The dynamic-duo, Mita Vashisht and Dolly Ahluwalia Tewari deliver powerful performances in their roles as the mostly controlled and brave Samyukta and the fiery tongued Simran. Dolly Ahluwalia Tewari is a powerhouse stocked with great character to match her brilliant humorous lines, and easily becomes the life of the play.
The play has its moments that reach out and strike a delicate yet sublime chord. Be in it the lullaby ''Hum se roothi rohogi'' that Simran sings to her unborn child, or a Bengali song sung by Samyukta against the backdrop of a burning pyre which evokes a keen sense of sadness, or when she tells Siraj that the biggest gift his mother gave him was to not raise him like his father, the messages hit home. The story is no longer impersonal.
JUG JUG JIYO is an entertaining yet socially relevant play that pushes you to think of the many compelling messages it wants to deliver. Women are their biggest rivals and unless they stand up for themselves (better late than never) there is no end to the sacrifices they will continue to make.
In true Indian style of a 'happy ending', the play concludes on a high note as the cast leave you foot-tapping to Dolly's Punjabi boliya on the dhol. You'll find yourself giving the proverbial blessing, Jug Jug Jiye yeh performance and the fight for the girl child.
*Shonita Joshi is a freelance journalist with a wide array of interests. She has a major in Economics and Banking and has done her post-graduation in Journalism.
