Cotton College professor stages play on Majuli

GUWAHATI: 'Jooj', a play on the exploitation of the eroded Majuli by opportunists, was staged on Sunday at Rabindra Bhawan here. 'Jooj', which means 'strife', was directed by Sitanath Lahkar, a former principal and professor of Cotton College.
The play was the last one to be staged as part of Samaroah Natyagusthi, a weeklong theatre festival, which concluded on Sunday.
'Jooj' portrayed how Majuli is being eroded in spirit not by the mighty Brahmaputra but the by a nexus of politicians, contractors and engineers, who have pushed the islanders into a corner from which they cannot escape. In the play, 10 protagonists comprised the opportunistic nexus while a pregnant woman and her family, a group of hunger-stricken people, a journalist and others represented the affected lot living on the island.
"The play reflects how the greed of a few has affected the lives of innocent islanders. There is an opportunist nexus which is exploiting the situation, creating misery for the people living on the island. I wanted to show how this nexus deliberately doesn't want to solve the problem and wants to gain from it instead. I wanted to show that floods are not the real threat to the island; it's these unscrupulous people. The play tried to get the point across that Majuli, without its people and heritage, will simply vanish if nothing is done to redeem the situation. If the Huang Ho, which was known as 'China's sorrow', can be changed from a sorrow to a pleasure then why not the Brahmaputra?" said Lahkar.
A poignant scene in the play showed how a group of people had to steal food from a floating 'bhel' (bamboo boat) carrying a corpse to satiate their hunger, thus breaking an age old taboo. Another scene portrays how the islanders resort to drinking contaminated water. The play was also inspired by a real event where villagers were planning to commit mass suicide because of dearth of food.
Baagh Hazarika, a play about the Muslim general of Lachit Borphukan is set to be staged on September 18. tnn