Yamraj & Chitragupta chat up Gurugrammers to send across road safety message

On Tuesday afternoon, Gurugrammers, who had come to grab a bite at

Cyber Hub

, got distracted when a group of theatre actors dressed in white kurta shouted road safety slogans while performing a play. The street play, Savdhani Hati, Durghatna Ghati, was in collaboration with the

Gurgaon Police

and was staged to educate Gurgaon residents about road safety. Over the next 10 days, the actors will be staging their play at different locations in the city.

'Police officials ask us to repeat Don't 'Drink and Drive' slogans'After issuing challans, tying rakhis and distributing chocolates, Gurgaon Police has taken the nukkad natak route to spread awareness about road safety. During the play, the issues of people not wearing helmets, seatbelts and not using the zebra crossing were depicted through an interaction between Yamraj and Chitragupta. The actors told us that since it's not a controlled environment, it takes time to connect with the audience, but they ensure that the audience gets the message loud and clear. Gaurav Kumar, an actor, said, "We are trying to make our plays as interactive as possible."

(BCCL/ Ajay Kumar Gautam)

The group told us that the cops suggested that they included messages related to following traffic rules. A group member said, "The police officials have asked us to convey the message, don’t drink and drive, to the public as clearly as possible."

'Gurugrammers take pride in breaking rules'Police officials say that street plays are being organised in collaboration with a corporate group, and theatre groups are roped in to create customised plays to impart road safety lessons. A senior police official said, "After watching the play, people discuss about it, which is the idea."

Yam’s message with swag! (BCCL/ Ajay Kumar Gautam)


Sulakshna Sharma, a brand manager who works at Cyber Hub, said, "I got a text from my friend that a group was performing here, so I came to watch it. When I realised that the play was on road safety, I was disappointed as such plays tend to be preachy, but then I realised it was quite hilarious. We need more such plays and performances because people of Gurgaon take a lot of pride in breaking rules. And they need to be educated."

Message not new, but the script is: AudienceThe group performed at Sikandarpur Metro station, Cyber Hub,

Cyber City

and MG Road.

Abhinav Manchanda

, a government employee who stopped to watch the performance at Cyber City, told us, "One of the characters in the play says, 'Ravan bhi helmet nahin pehenta tha, aur main bhi nahin pehnunga.' But he had 10 heads, aur hamare paas toh ek hi sarr hai. So it evokes the thought in people that they shouldn't ride a two-wheeler without wearing a helmet. It was not preachy, and though the message was not new, the script was!"

(BCCL/ Ajay Kumar Gautam)

(BCCL/ Ajay Kumar Gautam)

(BCCL/ Ajay Kumar Gautam)

(BCCL/ Ajay Kumar Gautam)