Witch-hunting and my experiences with it...

Sitting in a university and talking big stuffs is always easy. Most of the world’s intellects do that. But going there to the place where the problem lies and trying to finding solution is quite another thing. Though many may say that both the aspects are important and change in the field cannot happen without the help of the intelligentsia, the truth remains that theories and seminars and conferences hardly ever reach the people it should. Seminars and conferences are always attended by the same group of people (the people who formulate the ideas and the theories). In many few important seminars do the field workers find place .

As part of the course, recently we were to do a street play in the tea gardens of Assam. Our play was on witch-hunting, a common menace among the tea tribes of the state. There are frequent reports on how innocent women are killed by frenzied mob on the pretext that they are witches. However, for me (and I am sure the most of the performers), it was just a topic and we had to play our part for the sake of marks. We were provided with an excellent teacher, a theatre artist, a ready-made script, dialogues in place and whatever we required. With some struggled efforts of collaboration, we managed to carry on with our rehearsals, most of the times in the AC studio of the department or otherwise, much to our distress, in the open field. (I am here mentioning the location to prove the point that we were in comfort zones, still we didn’t stop complaining).

After about two weeks rehearsals we were ready to go to the place and perform. We chose Balipara, one hour drive from our university, as they had been recent cases of witch hunting. We were helped in our efforts by the field workers of the Mahila Samita. They guided us to the heart of a tea estate were we were to perform. We gathered people and put up a good show with most people being impressed with the acting. We too were satisfied with our efforts. After the show, the field workers had arranged a small tea party in our honour. While sipping some delightful tea, one woman narrated a recent incident of witch hunting. She told how she and her husband rescued the poor woman and averted another death during the festive season of Diwali.

That was the time, reality struck me. Here we were cocooned in the serene atmosphere of lush green campus, merrily arriving at our “spot of performance’ as if we were going for a picnic, we acted our parts without feeling any of the emotions and there were a group of people struggling for were doing something with conviction. Specially for me, it was nothing more than an assignment we were pushed into. But after listening to that lady, I realized what was just an assignment for me was the reality she lived with everyday. We can afford to come in buses and perform and have tea and go away, she can’t. She has to think of ways of stopping this superstition and educating the people. What was more touching was the fact that her husband came to us with folded hands thanking us for the encouragement our play gave him. The whole idea that we encouraged him was ludicrous. He did not see us arguing and complaining for having to do this assignment.

I don’t know if I will ever be able to do anything in the level the couple are working but that day I understood that the intellects sitting in the comforts of their office need to come out and share their knowledge with these field workers. If only this happens effectively will many conditions change.