My play ''Kirwant'', which was well appreciated on the Marathi stage has been translated into Telugu by Jagannathan and into English by Professor M.D. Hathkangalekar. But neither versions have been performed on stage as yet. However, I recently saw the Kannada adaptation at Bangalore''s Rangshankara and all three translations came to my mind at once. As a result, I write this article.

The story revolves around Siddeshwarshastri Joshi- ''Kirwant'' (person performing the last rights at the crematorium), his wife Revathi, their child Madhu and Siddeshwarshastri''s brother Vasudev. All the people in the village look down upon them since they belong to the ''Kirwant'' community. Vasudev opposes such discrimination and is supported by Revathy. Owing to such bias, Revathy feels that their child should get educated, take up a job and give up this life of a ''Kirwant''. Meanwhile Madhu has already been studying in a school.

There is a Brahmin group in the village called ''Goraksha Seva sangh'' led by Digambar Shastri and his assistants Dhabushastri and Vedantshastri to protect the rights of the Hindus. Another set - ''Sarva Hindu Eksangha'' led by Keshav Abhyankar believes that all Hindu castes including the Brahmins are equals. These two groups never get along with each other. The fourth group is of the Bahujan Maratha Samaj, which like the other two is a traditional Hindu group. As the play progresses the narrative begins to flow with the words-

Janm ethe gheta
Maran atal
Nako hal hal
Jeevalagi

(Since we have taken birth, death is inevitable
Then why struggle meaninglessly.)

The Kannada translation of this Marathi abhang is aptly supported by the sound of the Mrudung and the Nagada along with five young girls singing in the chorus. Led by Kirwant, the journey to the crematorium has begun. Behind him is Devrao with the flaming pot in his hand. Behind them are four men carrying the dead body. But the corpse''s legs are folded over his knees. This was new to me. The Hindi play had the corpse laying with its legs stretching straight ahead. But the slogan ''shri ram jay ram'' was chanted in both versions. Obviously, the outcome of death is the same everywhere.... grief!

But this outcome wasn''t seen in the performance of the Marathi play. Dr. Shriram Lagoo , the director of the play had eliminated this scene from the performance. According to him, it was not required in the play. The Marathi play would directly start with the second scene where Madhu is reading a passage with reference to the ''Gnyaneshwari''. In that scene Dhabushastri tells Madhu that reading the ''Gnyaneshwari'' won''t help him earn a living but reading the ''Garudpuran'' would.

In the Kannada performance, the cremation took place in the centre of the stage with the help of different levels, while in the Hindi play it took place in the wings. The illusion of a burning corpse which is created by the light designer was more effective in the Hindi play. The Kannad show was lit by Arun Murti Raghvendra Aras. Such comparisons could sometimes be unjust. At times a certain technical aspect of the play may lack force in a particular show, but may be the most effective in the very next show. I watched two successive shows of the Kannada production. The first show did not create the desired impact. I spoke about this to D.S. Chaughule who has translated the script into Kannada and later also to the director of the play- B. Suresh. It was then that I realised that the first show lacked the necessary energy. However, in the second show the energy was appropriate. Essentially, all the which came together to create such energy that brought about the desired result. At this time I was reminded of Dr. Lagoo.

The Marathi production had Dr. Lagoo playing the character of Siddeshwarrao. According to Dr. Lagoo, 'in every show, the movements, the dialogue, every minute detail that the director has blocked should be performed exactly the same way. The audience should get the same experience in the 100th show as they got in the 1st.' Ideally what Dr. Lagoo has said might be true but since there are human beings performing on stage, I doubt its implementation. But I have seen Dr. Lagoo portraying different characters with equal effectiveness in several shows and his own attempt to give the ''same'' performance in each show cannot be argued with. I experienced the same with Nana Patekar during ''Tanmazori''. Probably, it is a trait seen amongst such seasoned actors.

Dr. Lagoo''s production of ''Kirwant'' was made for the professional Marathi stage. He was aptly supported by Suhas Joshi in the character of Revathy. The scene where Revathy hands over the ''Garudpuran'' to her son was performed with such intensity by Suhas Joshi that every time I saw it, it would bring tears to my eyes. The same scene in the other two productions (Hindi and Kannada) did not make me cry but it left me stunned. Barring Dr. Lagoo and Suhas Joshi, all other actors in the Marathi production were part-time theatre actors. But its wasn''t the same with the Kannada production. Unlike other amateur theatre groups, ''Natna'' is a Theatre group from Mysore which keeps producing plays at regular intervals. The group is headed by Mandya Ramesh , an out and out theatre person. He has three to four plays running at the same time. ''Gandhi Ambedkar'', ''Charandas Chor'', ''Ratnapakshi'', ''Kirwant'' ! The writers, directors, technicians are also paid nominally for their contribution. In this play, the lead role of Siddeshwarshastri is performed by Nagraj Dixit . Ramu Natna (Vasudev), Akshat Pandavpur (Revathy), Shishir Baikadi (Madhu), Raghavendra Raje Aras (Digambarshastri), Vasudev Murti (Vedantshastri), Narayanswami (Dhabushastri), Chetan (Keshav Abhyankar), Vitthal Kamat (Ganu), Ulhas (Tatya), Shashank Kilar (Raghu), Raghavendra (Shinde), Siddu (Devrav), Aalok Bharadwaj (Khemrav) have all contributed substantially to bring about Kirwant''s predicament.

In recent times, the words ''text'' and ''subtext'' are used considerably while putting up a play. Text is the play written by the writer while the subtext is the form selected by the Director to present the play. These days, none of the well known directors block the play as written by the writer but structure the play as per their own interpretations. The use of music in the Kannada production is an excellent example of the Director''s subtext. Essentially, the music is not of chief importance to the plot of ''Kirwant'' but its use in the Kannad production helps to intensify Kirwant''s anguish and pain. The music has been composed by Pravin D. Rao and gives a unique experience which was absent both in the Hindi and Marathi productions. Probably, the Hindi and Marathi productions lacked the support of the Director''s subtext.

In order to give an absolute and fulfilling experience to the audience, it is necessary to change the set in complete darkness. When the set is changed in dim light it breaks the flow and the audience loses interest. Such set changes hampered the course of the Kannada Production. However, the set designed by Narayanswamy was suggestive and effective.

Shriram Centre''s production of ''Kirwant''( Mahabrahman) was successfully performed at the National School of Drama''s (NSD) Theatre Festival. Delhi''s Shriram Centre is as esteemed and well-renowned institute. It has a huge theatre and also a repertoire. Along with Drama studies, several other activities take place at this institute. The cast of Shriram centre''s production of ''Kirwant'' includes Nandkishore Pant (Siddeshwarshastri), Vishnu Prasad (Vasudev), Rachna Joshi (Revathy), Manish Gupta (Madhu), Shubash Chandra (Digambar Shastri), Jitendrasingh (Vedantshastri), Vinod Narhadi (Dhabushastri), Umesh Pandey (Keshav Abhyankar), Naresh Darbal (Tatya), Rajesh Singh (Dayaram) and Pallavi Singhal, Poonam Khandare, Chitra Pandey. The female characters which are not originally in the play were used by the director to create the hysteria of death while the corpse is carried to the crematorium.

Amongst the three productions, I had some trouble comprehending the Hindi and Kannada productions, in particular Kannada. Any translation requires good knowledge of both languages and Professor D.S. Chaughule possesses such knowledge without doubt. Otherwise Siddeshwarshastri''s line 'tumhi vha pudhe, mi aaloch'( you go ahead, I will come.) would not have evoked a similar audience response when it was translated in Kannad ' neu mundagani, na bandni'. I don''t feel the need to write anything about the Hindi translation. Vasant Dev''s name speaks for itself. The original Marathi play has been seen by many, and Dr. Shriram Lagoo and Suhas Joshi''s performances have immortalized it in the minds of several Marathi people.

The Marathi Theatre producers, theatre friends and audiences have always loved my plays. Premanand Gajvi isn''t a writer who writes to fetch a few pennies for the producers, yet Suyog''s Sudhir Bhatt and Gopal Algeri produced my play ''Kirwant''. Shree Chintamani''s Lata Narvekar produced a socio political play like ''Gandhi Ambedkar'' while Bhartiya Rangbhoomi''s Salunkhe Brothers produced ''Shuddh Bejapoti'' with Dr. Girish Oak playing the lead. Ajit Bhure through his ''Aseem Entertainment'' stages a play like ''Damn it Anu Gore'' while a superior artist like Nana Patekar offers his services through a play like ''Tanmazori''. This is what I have earned through the medium of theatre. Owing to this, my journey as a playwright on the Indian stage is still going on, and friends like Kashmir''s Mushtaq Kak, NSD''s Suresh Sharma, Belgaon''s Prof. D.S. Chaughule, Mysore''s Mandya Ramesh, and wonderful directors like Basvalinga and B. Suresh are turning out be the wings of impetus to my flight in the theatre.

*The above article was first published in the Loksatta in November 2010. Premanand Gajvi is an eminent Marathi Theatre playwright. The article has been translated from Marathi into English for this website by Sudeep Modak. Sudeep Modak is a young theatre person with interests in other media. He has worked with Ramu Ramanathan, Chandan Roy Sanyal and has done production work for THE PROPHET by Naseeruddin Shah''s theatre group Motley, amongst other things. He is currently acting in Suyog''s revived production of SAKHE SHEJARI, written and directed by Sai Paranjpe.