‘ONE STEP TOWARDS CLEANLINESS’ PLAY DELIVERS MESSAGE OF SOCIAL AWARENESS

‘ONE STEP TOWARDS CLEANLINESS’ PLAY DELIVERS MESSAGE OF SOCIAL AWARENESS

26-MAY-ENG 7

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-------------------------------A play titled “Ek Kadam Swachhata Ki Ore” (One Step Towards Cleanliness) was staged at the Bhikhari Thakur Cultural Forum, located within the premises of the local Patel Bus Stand, under the joint aegis of the Janhit Parivar and the Bhikhari Thakur Social Research Institute, Arrah. Through this play, an effort was made to raise public awareness regarding cleanliness, social responsibility, and public health.

The event was directed by G. Prasad (alias ‘Kishi’) and Amitabh Kumar, while the proceedings were anchored by Narendra Singh—founder-president of the Bhikhari Thakur Social Research Institute and a senior journalist.

The program commenced with a rendition of Bhikhari Thakur’s *Nirgun* songs by *Vyas* Kamlesh Anand. Subsequently, through their impactful acting, the artists conveyed the message that one should not discard personal waste at others' doorsteps or in public spaces. The performers demonstrated that littering not only breeds social discord but also serves as a breeding ground for numerous diseases—afflictions from which even the person responsible for the littering is not immune.

The cast of the play included Bharat Arya, Dipali Srivastava, Aarti Devi, Sarika Pathak, Dharmshila Devi, Jitendra Prasad (alias ‘Laddu Bhopali’), Anil Singh, Suman Kumar Singh, Pushpa Devi (alias ‘Gudiya’), Usha Devi Pandey, and Anil Pratiksha, among others. Appearing in the roles of government officials, senior theater artists Sadhana Srivastava and Ambuj Kumar encapsulated the essence of the play by stating that waste should be disposed of only at designated locations to facilitate the creation of a clean and healthy society.

Musical accompaniment for the play was provided by Devmuni Pandey, Suman Kumar Singh, Dr. Anil Singh, and Ramsukh Rai. On this occasion, two state-of-the-art musical instruments—gifted by senior theater artist Chandrabhushan Pandey—were utilized for the very first time.

Theater artist Md. Sarfraz noted that, as part of an experimental approach, excerpts from the popular radio play *Loha Singh* were incorporated into this production for the first time—an inclusion that was highly appreciated by the audience.

Narendra Singh, founder-president of the Bhikhari Thakur Social Research Institute, announced that the Bhikhari Thakur Cultural Forum is set to complete 25 years of its establishment this year. To mark this milestone, various programs will be organized throughout the year with the aim of preserving endangered folk cultures and folk arts. He stated that this play is the first installment in that very series.

During the program, numerous dignitaries—including advocates Atul Prakash and Nand Kishore Kamal, Swami Vikramaditya, Veer Kande Prasad, and journalist Vijay Singh—expressed their views.