The Living Dead
Continuing on this vein of morbid topics, I watched an excellent play last weekend, the Masrayana. This story depicts the saga of Gopal Masra, a fictional character loosely based on the true story of Lal Bihari. Bihari was involved in a protracted legal battle with the government of India to prove that he is not dead in order to regain his property.
Land disputes are often the cause of these cases of "wrongful deaths". In Bihari's case it was an evil uncle. For Misra, it was his good-for-nothing brother who had bribed the local clerk to obtain a fake death certificate. Initially, instead of excessively dwelling on his misfortune, Misra tries to present the illogic of his case in the hopes that this fraud will be exposed. A memorable scene was when Misra's wife goes to apply for widow's benefit accompanied by her husband. Unfortunately, a system that is trying to hide it's errors can be exceedingly frustrating (to say the least). Her application is denied because it is found out that she is pregnant (I wonder if that is sufficient cause to deny widow's benefit?). Suprisingly, these frustrations are used as a humorous ploy in this production.
Another endearing aspect of the play is the intermixing of indian music and dance. It is very cool to have a sitar opening each scene and traditional dancers depicting short scenes.
The play implies that Misra's journey for identity and acceptance can be compared to the struggles that many downtrodden commuties face in the modern world. Similar to Bihari, Misra travels all through India mobilizing thousands of people who have been dispossesed of their identities. The play doesn't spend too much time on this process and provides a sort of Bollywood/Hollywood ending. Apparently, a magistrate hears about their case in Delhi and decides to hear their cases immediately (can this really happen?). Another aspect the play glosses over is Misra's relationship with his good-for-nothing brother. In many such cases including Biharis, the "living dead" upon proving their case, actually gave back the land to their relatives who had stolen from them. So, all in all, it is a strange situation.
Masrayana, written by Kovacsik, is being performed by the Rasaka Theatre Company, a small Chicago-based theatre company. If you get a chance, go see it!
Land disputes are often the cause of these cases of "wrongful deaths". In Bihari's case it was an evil uncle. For Misra, it was his good-for-nothing brother who had bribed the local clerk to obtain a fake death certificate. Initially, instead of excessively dwelling on his misfortune, Misra tries to present the illogic of his case in the hopes that this fraud will be exposed. A memorable scene was when Misra's wife goes to apply for widow's benefit accompanied by her husband. Unfortunately, a system that is trying to hide it's errors can be exceedingly frustrating (to say the least). Her application is denied because it is found out that she is pregnant (I wonder if that is sufficient cause to deny widow's benefit?). Suprisingly, these frustrations are used as a humorous ploy in this production.
Another endearing aspect of the play is the intermixing of indian music and dance. It is very cool to have a sitar opening each scene and traditional dancers depicting short scenes.
The play implies that Misra's journey for identity and acceptance can be compared to the struggles that many downtrodden commuties face in the modern world. Similar to Bihari, Misra travels all through India mobilizing thousands of people who have been dispossesed of their identities. The play doesn't spend too much time on this process and provides a sort of Bollywood/Hollywood ending. Apparently, a magistrate hears about their case in Delhi and decides to hear their cases immediately (can this really happen?). Another aspect the play glosses over is Misra's relationship with his good-for-nothing brother. In many such cases including Biharis, the "living dead" upon proving their case, actually gave back the land to their relatives who had stolen from them. So, all in all, it is a strange situation.
Masrayana, written by Kovacsik, is being performed by the Rasaka Theatre Company, a small Chicago-based theatre company. If you get a chance, go see it!
posted by Bdeshini at 11:56 AM
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