Romeo, Juliet and their caste

Romeo Ravidas loved horses When he requested his father to buy him one he was offered the more enticing option of riding a Bullet motorcycle instead Romeo was adamant his father had to give in Days later Romeo was murdered He belonged to a Dalit family and owning a horse was against the social sanction in his villageThis is a fictional account mdash as far as the name goes That such an episode could happen in the India of 2018 stumped theatre director and researcher Sharmistha Saha when she read about the fate of the horseloving 21yearold Pradip Kalubhai Rathod in Timbi GujaratThe play is situated in a dreamscape revolving around a conversation between the two protagonists played by Dilip PandeyWhen we think of caste atrocities in popular discourse it is usually a RomeoJuliet narrative through which caste surfaces in a love story between an uppercaste woman and a lowercaste man she shares But everyday casteism plays out in punishing innocuous love for an animal not letting one keep a moustache or even wearing sunglasses The wrath intercaste marriages invite is in fact rooted in these everyday acts that stifle your freedom to exist Romeo Ravidas aur Juliet Devi is about this says Saha about theatre group Qissa Kothis upcoming play which she developed as part of a theatre residency at Studio TamaashaThe play draws from another reallife incident of an honour killing in Tamil Nadu and is a dreamscape revolving around a conversation between Kaushalya the widow of the slain Dalit man and Romeo Ravidas Sahas work on the play began with the acceptance of her own privilegeMusic composer Aman Nath cowriter Shubham Sumit and director Sharmistha SahaI have not lived the life of a Dalit So it was important for me to engage with people who have explored questions around caste she says As a result the initial stages of the residency involved sharing sessions with theatre artistes researchers poets and activists I dont know if I can change society but I know that what I create needs to portray life she addsTo do that she has cowritten the play with Shubham Sumit a finalyear student of BTech at IIT Bombay who decided to take up theatre full time after he attended one of Sahas workshops at the instituteA sketch of the plays scenography by Reema KIt started with me translating the play in Hindi with a touch of Bhojpuri But slowly I started seeing myself in it and several childhood memories began to make sense he says recalling how he would see women and children from the Musahar community flock to the fields in his hometown of Buxar after harvestThey would come to forage for leftover wheat so they could make rotis or tease out mice from the soil to eat them mdash thats where the community gets its name fromIn the hustle and bustle of city life where the narrative on rural living tends to get stripped of all sociopolitical context subhuman conditions of existence are often glossed over Juliet as Romeo calls his beloved horse becomes a metaphor for desire something that only the privileged are entitled to harbour says Saha Will we ever have a happy RomeoJuliet story in the world we live inA workshopcumsharing session with Dalit artistes filmmakers and researchersOn March 2 and 3 8 pm Castiko Space Versova pay as you like March 7 8 and 9 The Cuckoo Club Bandra West Rs 300 March 10 Harkat Studios Versova Rs 300Log on to bookmyshowcom insiderinCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates