Hyderabad, April 09: Written by Sa’adat Hasan Manto and originally published in 1947, Siyaah Haashiye is a collection of short stories of the turmoil, agony and anguish associated with the woes of partition of India.
60 years later people still shudder at the thought of the bloodshed and the massacre, the memories still fresh in their minds, but everything else remains just the same, we still continue with our struggles both within and without.
The year 1947 was the year of the great divide, the partition of nations, of people, of homes and of hearts.
It was one wrong step of man and a curse to mankind. The outcome of the partition was so horrendous, the inflictions so gruesome, the pain of the wounds of the soul so excruciating, that its effects could be felt even today, 60 years after the mishap.
The vignettes, enacted so powerfully and artistically expresses these very feelings, taking the audience through the massacre, death and gloom, and forcing them to ponder over the question … are we really humans?
Through its vignettes Siyaah Haashiye presented the downfall of man from the low to the lowly to the lowest.
The play begins as the artists take turns to narrate, one by one, the gory incidents of the partition which left not only the countries, but the people devastated, tattered and shattered.
To substantiate the barbarism, we have the stories about the village which rejoiced when the water in the well turned sweet as a result of the man drowning in it with a sugar sack on his back.
The story of greed for treasure over which the two men fight to divide it into half, but are halved in return.
The story of the young girl from the ‘other community’ who is bought and the shock of the buyers on the revelation that she is actually from their community, and their decision to send her back.
The story of the old couple, who out of desperation, thirst and hunger, plead to the Jains to be killed, but are handed over after a serious meeting to another group as they didn’t believe in killings.
The story of utter helplessness and hopelessness of the man who contributes and cooperates with the mob for robbing his own house in order to save his skin.
The story of the boy who sees massacre, bloodstains and blood clots on the road, to which the little boy gleefully points out … ‘mummy jelly’.
The play was conceived and directed by Deepthi Girotra.
Though Deepti’s performance could have been better, Vinay and Sandeep left no stone unturned and excelled throughout with their electrifying performances. Vinay’s baritone added to the trauma and the hurt felt by the characters which he beautifully enacted, and one could not help but flinch, reliving the painful years gone by.
The setting of the stage,the background music of frequent changing of radio channels, the news of Gandhiji’s satyagrah and partition related news created a perfect backdrop of the gloom and pathos and restlessness of the period.
Man has since belittled himself, for him blood is as precious as jelly.
Past sufferings have done little to change the the way we think or act. If we were bad, we have become worse.
We continue to live the same way amidst arson, slaughter and crime. Saadat Hasan Manto’s Siyaah Haashiye takes us through a gamut of emotions — angst, lust, loathe, greed and fear. While attempting to explore humanity, it deplores in humans.
–Agencies