Play highlights repercussions of separation on families
Gurvinder Singh
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, December 10
“Get out! Out!” — said Sameer, played by Harsh Chhaya, in a fit of rage to his wife Sonal, played by Lubna Salim. And she leaves him. That was the end of their 18-year relationship and 15 years of conjugal relationship in the play ‘Humsafar’, which was staged at the Guru Nanak Bhawan last evening. It was organised by the Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam. The play has been written by Urdu playwright Javed Siddiqi.
When emotions get to the head, the discretion, to understand the impact of the decision on those around, including children, friends, fails to work. But unfortunately, harsh words and unneeded stubbornness often turns the rift into permanence, causing an irreversible loss of countless relations of two families and their friends and eventually, loss to the society.
“That’s the message of the play. We tell, without being didadic, that divorce of a couple is not just separation of two lives, but a collective loss of the whole society, the magnitude of which, most couples don’t realise,” says Salim Arif, the director of the play.
“So simply walking out of a relationship should not be the way. The couple doesn’t remarry at the end, but realise that if not for themselves, they need to get together for their grandchildren at least,” he said, adding that the play was left open-ended for the audience to derive their own message.
The most-beautiful thing about the Indian society and its strength has been its family, the strong joint family system, he says, but when this system breaks, it causes the loss of that love and respect from grandchildren for grandparents, loss of that affection, wisdom and protection for the young ones from the elderly.
This results into far-reaching repercussions, including isolation and thus depression, addiction, child abuse and other such problems. If one cannot be a good husband or wife, one should at least make an effort to be a good grandparent, he says.
The audience, through the packed auditorium, applauded the message and the performance of the actors several times during the play. The highlight of the play were poems of veteran poet Gulzar, recited in his own voice and interspersed between scenes.
Amita Sehgal, a city resident said: “It was a good play. The younger generation should watch it and realise that marriage is not play, but a family has to stay together through the thick and thin.”
“This play was first staged in 2009 and since then has been staged in major cities of the country. It is good that Ludhiana is one of those,” said Rishab, another resident.
