MAITHILI PLAY ‘DESIL BAYNA’ STAGED IN PATNA

MAITHILI PLAY ‘DESIL BAYNA’ STAGED IN PATNA

3-DEC-ENG 4

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA---------------------------Chetna Samiti, a renowned Mithila-Maithili organization, re-staged the Maithili play "Desil Bayna," written by Kumar Shailendra and directed by Kishore Keshav, at the local Vidyapati Bhavan on November 9th. It was first performed on November 2nd during the Vidyapati Smriti Parv celebrations. This play, written by Kumar Shailendra and directed by Kishore Keshav, re-staged due to overwhelming audience demand, features the direct participation of nearly two dozen artists. This musical presentation attempts to examine the language struggle of the great poet Vidyapati in a new context.

The play's plot revolves around the various oppositions and circumstances Vidyapati faced in order to write in Maithili, "Desil Bayna," which is based on these very circumstances. It presents a contemporary discourse by incorporating contemporary contexts and themes.

In the current era of globalization, local languages ​​and dialects face the challenge of an existential crisis. Just as the prevalence and dominance of a single language, a single food, and a single clothing style has increased recently, the Maithili play "Desil Bayna" makes a serious effort to re-examine this debate and raise awareness. The play demonstrates how linguistic identity is deeply intertwined with personal identity, individuality, and regional individuality, which are being ignored, knowingly or unknowingly.

During the nearly two-hour play, a deafening silence prevailed in the auditorium, and theatre lovers listened and pondered each dialogue with awe. The play presents a comprehensive and purposeful discussion on the great poet Vidyapati's proclamation "Desil Bayna, Sab Jan Mittha" and the situation following Ibrahim Shah's invasion of Mithila.

The music of the play is traditional, yet composed and melodious. The stage setting and costumes are the soul of this play, and the lighting design adds to its meaningful dimension.

The play's lead cast includes veteran actors like Neeleshwar Mishra, Ramshrestha Paswan, Poonamshree, and Kshamakant Thakur, along with newcomers like Adarsh ​​Vaibhav, Ranjan Thakur, Baiju Jha, Sonu Chaudhary, Preeti Kumari, Navi Thakur, Shivam Kumar Jha, and Ashutosh Mishra.

The performances captivate the audience. The performances of Surendra Acharya, Chandan Ugana, Nitesh Kumar, Anthesh Jha, Kapil Mallick, Rishu Raj, Sahadev Chaudhary, etc. were also satisfactory. On this occasion, Chetna Samiti President Vivekananda Jha, Vice President Umesh Mishra, Manju Jha, Viprendra Jha Madhav, Secretary Jaydev Mishra, Joint Secretary Dinesh Chandra Jha, Satish Chandra Jha, Manoj Kumar Jha, Treasurer Shrinarayan Jha, Organization Secretary Priyanka Mishra, Pooja Kumari Jha, Amit Kumar, senior poet, litterateur, and journalist Dr. Bindeshwar Prasad Gupta, along with many prominent intellectuals, professors, and advocates from the city were present. Overall, Chetna Samiti's latest presentation, which addresses the question of linguistic identity raised in the name of the language struggle during Vidyapati's time, remains relevant even today. It shakes and stirs the minds of the audience, without a doubt. For this reason, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the staging of the play was successful, meaningful and purposeful.