Two tales of a city: High-flying Ahmedabad anchored to the Sabarmati river

As Ahmedabad celebrates its Foundation Day, two landmark theatrical productions decribe how the Sabarmati anchors a restless megacity in its hallowed heritage.In 1969, Gujarat govt urged schools to show their students the ballet called "Sabar No Kinaro" (The Banks of Sabarmati). It was conceived by Gandhian freedom fighter Narayan Tapodhan. Staged by Sanskar Kala Mandir, with music by Jivan Makwana and choreography by Vikram Tapodhan, the play used the river as a narrator to teach children their history. "My father believed history should be sung and seen," recalls Tushar Tapodhan, now 75. From the sacrifice of Sage Dadhichi to the reign of Sultan Ahmed Shah and Gandhi's Dandi March, the play was a celebration of identity. Its haunting refrain, "Sona ni Eento ane Rupa no Gaaro" (Bricks of gold and mortar of silver), echoed through 100 performances. Fast forward to 2006. The skyline was gleaming with flyovers, and the ambitious Sabarmati Riverfront was breaking ground. Enter "Megacity Mein Mach Gaya Shor", a gritty street play written by the poet Saroop Dhruv. Directed by Chetan Daiya and backed by the Samvedan Cultural Group, this was the antithesis of the 1969 ballet. Influenced by Badal Sircar's "Third Theatre", the street play gave voice to the anxieties of the marginalized. "We asked: in building a megacity, were we forgetting the poor?" says Dhruv. At the time, surveys suggested nearly 10 lakh people living in riverbank slums faced displacement. While the ballet celebrated the river's legends, the street play interrogated the way ahead. Together, the two productions form a dramatic arc of a city in flux — suggesting that while the Sabarmati's banks may now be lined with concrete, its stories remain as fluid and complex as ever.