To Bhadrakant, with love

Aam juvo toh natak nataktem juvo toh dhak dhak dhak dhak If you look at it this way itrsquos a playIf you look at it that way itrsquos lifeGujarati playwrightpoet Bhadrakant Zaverirsquos words are throbbing direct and warm The artist endeared me instantly in the first few frames of the newlyreleased 42minute documentary How Do I Show The Ocean Space You Carried Inside You The film is an ode to Zaverirsquos writing his thought process and his connect with the cityrsquos people institutions and iconic structures Zaverirsquos portrait as a deeply caring lover emerges effectively and so does his appreciation of natak and dhak dhakThe documentary is a reminder of yet another bitter reality of the contemporary violenceridden worldmdashany fateful day could be the last day of our lives A violent act of terror in any part of the world can permanently damage the lives of unknown unconnected people just as it happened with Zaveri who died a premature death in a bomb blast on October 29 1993 in Mumbai He was 56 when his legs were blown off from the knees by the blast Death came too soon too suddenly leaving no scope for a proper good byeA portrait of Zaveri by KapadiaRenowned visual artist Bharati Kapadia whose works have been exhibited widely in India and abroad and who is the filmrsquos presenter Zaverirsquos partner for 24 years who plays herself in the film shares the scary manner in which a seeminglyordinary local train journey Andheri to Churchgate ended in a pool of blood and splintered bones The blast occurred at Matunga station when Kapadia seated in the adjoining ladies first class compartment of the same train didnrsquot realise that very soon she was to witness Zaverirsquos bruisedannihilated body Even before she could digest the shock of locating her loved one in a state of acute pain railway workers placed Zaverirsquos body on a makeshift stretcher Kapadia has no memory of taking his head on her lap or holding his hand for the last time as there was no room for touching without causing further pain A part of her wanted Zaveri to live and a part of her wondered how could a ldquodynamordquo ever live without standing on his legs In fact Zaveri got up twice to look at himself in the ambulance He wanted to see the extent of damage and ldquoperhaps decide whether to try live or notrdquo Even in the worst final hours he was more amazed than wailingAbeer Khan the director of How Do I Show The Ocean Space You Carried Inside You does a sensitive job of capturing Kapadiarsquos personal loss as well as the damage and havoc of the incident She recreates Zaveri in a montage of images especially sketches drawn by Kapadia The juxtaposition of zigzagging suburban locals adds another dimension to the narrative The famed ldquolifelinerdquo of the city is placed in perspective Moving trains emerge as a metaphor for Mumbairsquos vulnerability as well as its strength moving on despite threats A tour of cityrsquos defining spacesmdashCarmichael Road Malabar Hill Sion Fort Girgaum Chowpatty Chor Bazaar Goregaon Film City Road and Oval Maidanmdashposition a personal tale on a broader but familiar canvasZaveri with longtime partner visual artist Bharati KapadiaDespite the unfortunate end to Zaverirsquos story Khanrsquos movie doesnrsquot wear a sombre look It celebrates the poetplaywrighttheatre personlover who achieved a lot in the limited years he lived The lanky broadchested perceptive witty intellectual comes to life in vivid ways Khan uses Kapadiarsquos personal memorabiliamdashZaverirsquos smoking pipe the last handwritten letter a trademark muffler diary jottings drawings poems gifts a collage of old party photosmdashto resurrect a forgotten literary figure The film has won appreciation and critical acclaim in art circles Several cultural institutions in Mumbai as well as Baroda Pune Panaji and Ahmedabad are screening itZaverirsquos Gujarati poetry evocatively voiced in the film by Ali Raza Namdar provides a beautiful window to the writerrsquos understanding of the exigencies of life in a pollutionridden harried Bombay He imagines the monotony in the lives of his anagat pautroprapautro yet to be born grandchildren and great grandchildren who he says will return home from work each day to be in front of remote controlledTVcomputer screens to watch vulgar films with expressionless faces ldquoThey will yawn a few times take a hormone injection lie down in the bed and in the blink of an eye sink deep into a dreamless sleeprdquo Zaverirsquos poems provoked enquiry into the human situation just as his plays 35 oneacts and 20 fulllength dramas rebelled against social inequitiesZaverirsquos smoking pipe the last handwritten letter his trademark muffler diary jottings drawings and poems are seen in the documentaryIn his last play Te Chhata In Spite Of Zaveri alludes to the Bhagalpur blindings a series of incidents in 1979 and 1980 in Bhagalpur Bihar when the police blinded undertrials by pouring acid into their eyes For him theatre was a potent force of expression a language in itself And thatrsquos why Zaverirsquos practice was beyond languages He directed plays from different languages and acted in over 50 He also produced five plays under the banner of Anaagat a theatre production company founded by him As Kapadia says in the film too it was theatre that brought them closer Zaveri mounted plays for different intercollegiate contests which included the activity in Sir JJ School where Kapadia studied in the 1970s Zaveri directed her in three playsAlong with theatre Zaveri lent himself to the other arts too It showed in pursuits like newspaper column writing as well as screenplay and dialogue writing for Hindi films The design studio Art and Attitudes which he launched with Kapadia in the Kala Ghoda precinct took on production of art related books catalogues and exhibitions as well as art consultancy for collectors Zaverirsquos multifaceted work is reflective of the creative decades pre and postEmergency witnessed in Mumbai His thoughts on art freedom lifersquos changing rhythms cultural differences and celebration of diversity speak so much of the chemistry of his timesAbeer KhanHow Do I Show The Ocean Space You Carried Inside You is a teaser title It unravels a single artist and his ideas But it is also a tribute to artists who articulated the aspirations and angst of their times There is another reason why the documentary evokes hope and solidarity Two women artists of distinct generationsmdashdirector Khan 32 and Kapadia 76 share a friendship and a belief in sharing Zaverirsquos world view with a wider audience ldquoMe and Bharati started out as friends and then turned into collaborators There was a certain level of comfort and closeness that the film demanded and for me it wouldnrsquot have been possible if we started out as a mere professional crewrdquo says KhanIncidentally Khan lost both her parents a little before she started shooting amid COVID19 lockdown protocols ldquoI had not finished work on my fatherrsquos obituary when my mother passed away in a span of five months I had this film to complete and I felt a sense of responsibility towards Bharatirsquos story I gained strength from my parents who were artistsrdquoGrief is a personal experience that each journeys through in unique ways often the grief caused by the loss of near ones saps peoplersquos energy Yet this film serves as a guiding light for those who are trying to come to terms with their lossSumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext You can reach her at sumedharaikarmiddaycom