Tiatrists work under stressful conditions
The untimely death of two stalwarts of the Konkani tiatr stage ‘Tragedy King’ Mario Menezes and the most popular comedian Selvy within a month has probably brought to the fore the stressful conditions under which tiatrists work. Comedian Selvy has died at a young age of 48. The personal lives of the tiatrists may not be a bed of roses. Some of them hold a nine-to-five job and then they are into tiatr in their spare time. Putting up a tiatr on stage is no mean task.
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Many-a-time a tiatrist plays the role of a writer, producer, director and may even have a role to play in the show. It may also involve writing the script, to provide for necessary finance, getting actors for the show, booking the stage, conducting practice sessions, music, transportation, etc. The actors have to undergo several rehearsals. Many-a-time there are two or three shows in a day at places which are far flung. Sometimes an actor may not be able to turn up for a show.
Alternative arrangements need to be made. All this can prove very stressful. It is learnt that the tiatrists may not even be able to have their meals in time. It also probably leaves them with very little time to spend with their families. The pandemics played havoc with their schedule. While tiatrists could be making a small profit, they do it for the love of Konkani and to keep the age-old tradition of tiatr alive. Once on stage they forget all their problems and entertain the audience.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Much ado about (wearing) nothing
Recently a leading actor posed nude for a magazine photoshoot and the stills started circulating in print and social media, as is inevitable some people felt offended and their ‘sentiments were hurt’ (our national pastime). The actor has now been booked by Mumbai police for obscenity which is incredibly cussed, what is worse is that no one with the power to correct this ludicrousness is likely to intervene and ask cops to quash the FIR. The actor has been booked under the draconian section 292 of the IPC which includes everything which is “lascivious, appeals to prurient interest or tends to deprave and corrupt persons likely to read, see or hear the matter.” Bertrand Russel once said, “Obscenity is whatever happens to shock some elderly and ignorant magistrate”; he was incredibly prescient. It is because obscenity is defined in such a ridiculously loose and vague manner and open to interpretation in Indian law that moral busy bodies, police and lower courts get zillion opportunities to harass citizens.
Another actress is still fighting an equally farcical case because someone chose to be offended by an American actor kissing her fifteen, yes 15 years ago. The magistrate’s court discharged the actress but Rajasthan police filed a fresh appeal again recently contesting the discharge. A leading model couple of the 90s who had shot in the buff for a shoe company advertisement had to wait for 14 long years before being acquitted.
Couples sharing stolen moments of intimacy or even sitting on park benches holding hands have been booked by police, when cops don’t file FIRs they use section 292 as a blunt force instrument of torture and extortion. Such laws are totally out of sync with any modern democratic society, the Indian judicial system is already clogged with 4.5 crore pending cases and such frivolous complaints add to the burden, they should not be entertained in the least.
The atmosphere in our purported Hindu rashtra is so charged now that we seem to wake up every morning asking ourselves the question, “what shall be offended by today?” Why in the world should it bother others whether someone chooses to wear clothes or not for a photoshoot, it is their bread and butter and certainly doesn’t impact ours, there are more pressing moral issues before the nation which the janta can engage with meaningfully.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
We expect President
to be proactive
In his farewell address to the nation, Ram Nath Kovind has stressed the need to protect our environment for future generations. The now former President needs to himself introspect what he has done in this direction during his tenure. He has been a very passive spectator to the various crises our nation has been facing.
As President of our country he should have been vocal on issues that matter. The President is the first citizen and the head of the State. He has an important role in the country’s governance as the executive powers of the Union are vested in him and is part of the Union Executive. But he has not intervened on even the attempts to divide us by hate speeches by those fringe elements with the support of the ruling party. Ram Nath Kovind has silently watched the autonomy of the Reserve Bank, Election Commission and other vital institutions being dismantled.
The office of President of India can no longer be an ornamental position as he or she has a constitutional role to play in the discharge of varied duties. The Nation expects the President to be proactive and not a rubber stamp. We will now have to wait and see how Droupadi Murmu performs as the Constitutional head of our Nation.
The yard stick that people will use to judge the performance of our Presidents is illustrated with the wise words of Martin Luther King Jr ‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy’.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Army prepared for
Chinese misadventures
Though China is building a second bridge on Pangong Tso to threaten us in Ladah, I am sure and quite confident that the Indian Army is going to nip from the bud any misadventure, aggression on the part of Chinese.
It is a travesty of geo-political complexities that such beautiful lake has got the congnomen – Lake of Fire. Though India has maintained the aesthetic dimension of Pangong Tso, and kept it open for tourists, the Chinese have kept the region heavy militarised.
China is building new infrastructure in such a disputed territory shows it’s imperial frame of mind and complete disregard for territorial integrity, which it violates through surgical slicing.
China is on the way to becoming the most powerful nation in the world in other terms a superpower. But it is also trying to intimidate its neighbours and shows how tactically they have brought Sri Lanka as a bankrupt nation and Pakistan will follow suit and also other superpowers such as USA and UK.
China is not n ideal superpower. In comparison, India is a soft power with a vibrant democracy. India’s cultural diversity unites it. In Hindi there is a saying – loha hi loha ko katata hai, which means only an iron cuts an iron. Hence, we should deal with China with our heads high and foil its evil intentions and our Army is prepared them at the other end of the bridge across the Lake of Fire.
Diomedes Pereira, Corlim
Chopra disappoints;
pulls out of Games
Defending champion Neeraj Chopra pulling out of the Commonwealth Games, beginning on Thursday, has disheartened his many fans and admirers. A groin strain developed during his historic silver medal effort in the recent World Championships has laid the champion javelin star low. The development means that Chopra’s much-anticipated clash with Grenada’s World Champion Anderson Peters will not materialise now. Chopra was India’s best bet for a gold medal in the field events of the quadrennial bash.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
