A creative evening at Jail No 2!

Jail No 2 in Tihar recently saw some innovative display of the inmates’ creativity. Called Creative Tihar, it had the inmates displaying things that they make in jail – shirts, shawls, furniture, bakery products, etc.
There was a short ramp show by the inmates, to display the wares that they had created. With a short dance performance by the inmates thrown in, and singer Shibani Kashyap crooning a few of her fave songs, it was an entertaining evening.
The inmates participated earnestly in the whole programme, making sure everything went off well. Some of them were preening too – after all, it’s not everyday that they get to have their hair done by a hairstylist – Amzadd Habibb in this case – and also wear designer clothes (so what if they made it themselves, designer Sanjana Jon had given her inputs and made sure the outfits looked chic and fashionable). Amzadd had, in fact, not only done the hair of the inmates, he was the brains behind the Creative Tihar concept, as Sanjana had told us earlier, “The concept is all Amzadd bhai’s”. Sanjana, however, was keen about being part of the whole show, and as she told everyone that day, “I was told about this concept by Subha Rajan (she comes to Tihar to counsel the African inmates) and things just took off from there.” Later, over hot mirchi ke pakore, when we asked BK Gupta, DG (prisons) the idea behind the whole show, he told us,
“We basically wanted to highlight the talent among the inmates. This event is an effort to bring to the public’s notice the products that are available here and also, this is part of the rehabilitation programme to help the inmates develop some skills that will help them sustain themselves, once they get out of here.” Added DIG (prisons) CR Garg, “The prison administration is trying to market the products more extensively. Even the High Court has now given permission for us to have a stall of the jail factory products there.” Amzadd chipped in, “Some of them are here due to a momentary lapse of reason. They’ve realised their mistake. At least, when they get out, such skill sets will give them a chance to lead a fair life.”
The evening did have its amusing moments – Subha’s Hindi (must say the lady bravely forayed on), caused a lot of mirth among the inmates. The special guests of the evening were Akhil Kumar, boxing champ, and Mamta Kharab, India’s women hockey team’s captain. Akhil, when asked to say a few words, said he’d try and teach some boxing tricks to the inmates after the CW Games. “Jeeto toh bhi maar khao, haaro toh bhi maar khao, yeh boxing ki khasiyat hai!” he said as everyone laughed. “Main yahan aap sab ke beech mein aa chuki hoon, aur aap sakba behen banke rehna chahti hoon,” said Sanjana in her broken Hindi, that caused much amusement among the inmates.
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