Real-life, faceless people shine in play

If one looks hard enough at the newspapers, through all of the hoopla about how much richer Indians are getting every day and how many Indian companies are gobbling up foreign companies, there are many small stories tucked away that most pretend do not exist. These are the stories of India's masses - of starvation deaths, suicides, women raped and stripped naked, custodial deaths, land grabbers, soul-less powerbrokers milking the deprived and of hatred, violence and greed.

The lives of such marginalized people came to life in Mallika Sarabhai's Unsuni, a play based on Harsh Mander's book Unheard Voices, that was presented to a young audience at Christ College earlier this week. The play was organized by Premaanjali, a JP Nagar-based charitable trust, in collaboration with Christ College.

The play had five real life characters enacting their roles to perfection. In an energy packed performance, you meet people who have confronted life on their own terms but have never accepted fate lying down. These are stories of struggle and courage. And of victories.

Said Mallikar Sarabhai about the play, "The Unsuni project intends to bring the stories of those people, the faceless, voiceless, helpless masses, to the forefront of our conscience, to the front pages of the news. While not wanting to take away pride in India's successes, we want to provoke those who can make a difference to take action to make things better for the unfortunate. Volunteerism for the benefit of the less fortunate is not part of our being. Countries like the United States of America have not for profit institutions which run nearly entirely on volunteerism. These include social institutions for the elderly, the orphaned or the mentally challenged; they also include most arts and cultural organizations. People give of what they have - accountants offer to do their accounts for free twice a week; lawyers offer legal aid; mangers set up systems; students offer other skills or time; painters teach classes for youth dealing with trauma; dancers offer classes to arthritis sufferers. The Unsuni project intends to start a similar movement in India. A movement of saying I care. A movement of showing that we care, of knowing that everyday each of us can make a difference."