Elders fear that young people are losing touch with their language and culture as English takes precedence as a global communication link; the internet increasingly connects the world and imposes a kind of universally-understood language. As more slang and hybrid words creep into everyday speech, the more regional languages seem to recede. It might actually be tough to find a young person who can speak a sentence in their mother tongue without peppering it with English words.
Which is why, a production like MADHURAV BORU TE BLOG is important; it talks about the birth and evolution of Marathi in an entertaining format, with songs and dances. A language thrives when there are folk tales, songs, stories and also varied dialects emerging from it, which is why Marathi is so rich in vocabulary and expression.
Madhura Velankar Satam directs and acts in this well-researched production, written by Dr Samira Gurjar. She and Akanksha Gade, representing two generations, along with Ashish Gade, are the main narrators, singers (music by Shrinath Mhatre) and dancers, who are helped along by a giant screen at the back, that is like a book with pages turning, with images and words popping up.
During the pandemic, Madhura Velankar Satam, who had written a book of essays titled Madhurav started a YouTube programme focusing on Marathi writing, which has been the incubator for this information-packed stage show that travels through the treasure trove of Marathi from the ancient reed pen to the modern blog as the tagline explains.
Marathi is derived from Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali. The language changed and grew rapidly because the Jadhava dynasty adopted it as the court language, but more importantly, the religious sects - Mahanibhav Panth and Warkari Panth preached their ideas of devotion using Marathi to reach the common people.
In the days before printing, when words were written by hand on leaves and later, rough handmade paper, a lot of the devotional poetry of Dyaneshwar and later Eknath, Namdev, Tukaram and others, was passed down in an oral tradition by devotees who memorized the poems. Marathi also has a vast collection of bhakti poetry by women, who sang while doing household chores, and transformed their homespun wisdom into beautiful, evocative poems about the joys and sorrows of their lives.
Later, Marathi developed, taking Persian and Urdu words into its fold, since formal language may remain static for longer but colloquial speech changes with influences from other cultures, which is what keeps a language relevant.
During the rise of the Maratha Empire under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Persian influence on Marathi reduced; he commissioned the creation of an official Rajavyavaharkosh, that replaced many Persian or Arabic words with Marathi equivalents.
The development of Marathi was accompanied by a profusion of literature, drama and folk performing forms. With the advent of printing technology, many books, magazines and newspapers were published in Marathi. Which is why Maharashtra was the centre of progressive ideas and heralded education for women.
Marathi theatre still remains such a vital force because of the constant influx of fresh talent willing to experiment with form and content—the classical Sangeet Natak co-exists with experimental plays, some of which were seen at the Natya Velhal Festival of which MADHURAV was a part.
Satam and Gurjar have researched and gathered nuggets of the history of Marathi into a stage production that should attract audiences of all ages, and trigger a curiosity to delve deeper into this fascinating aspect of the past. MADHURAV BORU TE BLOG is a joyous piece of work that educates without lecturing.
(Deepa Gahlot is a journalist, columnist, author and curator. Some of her writings are on deepagahlot.com)
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