Satyagrah by Dr. Arjun Deo Charan

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The Play
After the assassination of Rao Viram, his wife takes shelter in Aalha Charan’s house, in Kalau village, to save her son, Chunda’s life. Aalha brings up her son. He protects and educates him. When Chunda gets the throne of Mandore, he expresses his gratitude to his patroniser, and presents him a manor (state) and calls it ‘Sansan’, which meant such a state from where the king would not collect any tax. The tradition of presenting ‘Sansan’ to the Charan broke at the time of coronation of Maldev’s son. Maldev declared his youngest son, Chandrasen, the king of Jodhpur. After Maldev’s death his two elder sons Ram and Udai Singh began to fight with Rao Chandrasen. Rao Chandrasen defeats them but later they dethrone him with the help of Mughal King Akbar. Rao Chandrasen fights for the freedom of his country against Emperor Akbar. In this struggle he gets full support of Charan poets.
After the death of Rao Chandrasen, his elder brother Udai Singh, after gratifying Akbar with his services, becomes the ruler of Jodhpur. To please the emperor he tries to obliterate Chandrasen’s name from history. The Charan poets oppose this act of his and justify the freedom fight by Chandrasen. Infuriated king Udai Singh confiscates their Sansan. When Charans protest, he issues forth an order to remove them from Marwar. When Charan poets start leaving Marwar, the Aauwa Thakur, Gopaldas Champawat stops them and provides place in his village to demonstrate against the king. When king Udai Singh comes to know this, he gets infuriated, due to which Gopaldas returns the lease of Pali and returns to Aauwa. Eventually 185 Charan Poets sacrifice their lives against the
king’s injustice by beheading themselves with their own Kataar. This occurrence is registered in history in 1643.

Director’s Note
In this era of post-modernism, it has been realised that we should review our past. Satyagrah is based on a historical incident that occurred in 1643. This incident stirred the then political environment. acrifices by the Charan Poets against the throne will remain a source of inspiration for generations to come. In history, such unprecedented occurrence is viewed again in the freedom struggle for India, during Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Satyagrah’. It is considered that Mahatma Gandhi was inspired by the demonstration of the Charans.

The Director & Playwright
Arjun Deo Charan is an established Rajasthani poet, playwright and critic. He has written nineteen plays and has participated in many seminars at the national level. Arjun Deo Charan has been awarded by Sahitya Academy, New Delhi; Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi; Rajasthani Bhasha Sahitya and Sanskriti Academy; Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Academy; and Bihari Puruskar of K.K.Birla foundation. Presently he is the officiating Chairman of National School of Drama Society, and Convener of Rajasthani Sahitya Academy Delhi.

The Group
Rammat was founded three decades ago. It has been a movement that provides buoyancy toRajasthani Theatre. It has had the privilege to be a part of festivals of repute like National Theatre Festival (1992) by Sangeet Natak Academy, Delhi; Multi-Language Theatre Festival (1992), Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal; National Theatre Festival (2000) by Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi, and the 6th and 17th Bharat Rang Mahotsav (2004), NSD, New Delhi.

Cast & Credits
Aalha & Udai Singh Deepak Bhatnagar
Rao Chunda Rajesh Vyas
Gopaldas Champawat Ashish Charan

Govind Bogsa Mahesh Mathur
Chaandan Khidhiya & Akha Barath Magh Singh
Rao Chandersen & Charan Poet Bhana Rajesh Vyas
Pardhan Ravindra Singh
Viram’s wife Madhu Kumari
Rao Jodha Ashish Cgaran
Charan Poet Kesa Rahul Bora
Bind Krishna Tak
Charwaha Krishna Tak, Mohit
Sainik/Sewak/Adivasi Magh Singh
Raj Kapil
Krishna Tak
Love Chaudhary
Saurabh Tanwar
Ashish Gautam
Mahendra Rawal
Mohit Baniya
Mahendra Singh
Dheeraj

Vocals Prof. Rajendra Vaishnav
Lights Mohammad Shafi
Set Magh Singh, Saurabh Tanwar
Playwright & Director Dr. Arjun Deo Charan

Manohar Khushalani

Manohar Khushalani

Prof. Manohar Khushalani is a former Visiting Faculty at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi. The courses he taught were: Animation & Graphics, Non-Linear Editing for Film and Radio and Theatre Appreciation.  He has won a total of nine Excellence in Teaching awards for all the courses he has taught at IIITD Earlier he retired from Government of India as Director Environment Management, Central Water Commission and held many senior positions in the Government Based on a Belief that Culture and Environment are the two keys to global sustainability , Manohar Khushalani has launched two portals: A Portal on Environment and Water called One Vorld at url: www.onevorld.org and two Ezines on Culture called Stage Buzz at url: www.stagebuzz.in He has taught extensively in varied subjects such as Dam Safety, Instrumentation, CAD, IT, Animation, Theatre, Newspaper Editing. He has conducted Courses on Environment Management, Water Shed Development, Team Building and Personality Development. He was an Expert Member of Prasar Bharti’s Committee for Grading & Short listing Films for Telecast on all channels of Doordarshan.  He is a Radio Anchor for All India Radio and has moderated several programs for the Rajdhani Channel He is a well-known Theatre Actor/Director and Critic, has been involved in theatre since 1977. He has worked as an actor in over 50 plays with almost every leading director/Actor in the Country including Badal Sircar, Feisal Alkazi, Amal Allana, M.K. Raina, Anuradha Kapoor, Maya Rao, Manohar Singh, Prasanna, Rati Bartholomew and Sushmita Mukherji. He has been active in the social sector as a street theatre activist. As a member of Workshop Theatre, Theatre Union and Prayog, Khushalani has participated in street plays taking up major social issues such as dowry, bride burning, Sati, banned medicinal drugs and communalism. Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Can’t Pay Won’t Pay, both directed by him, received rave notices from critics and audiences alike. Other plays directed by him include Badal Sircar’s, Sagina Mahato and Boris Vian’s Empire Builders for Ruchika Theatre Group. Khushalani has also acted in a few films such as Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi , Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café and Pradeep Krishan's Annie Gives Those Ones. He is an Animator & Graphics Designer and has directed a number of documentaries. He also held a number of Honorary positions and was President of North India Films Association, He was the Chairman of  Jury for UGC CEC Educational Films Competition and has been on their Preview Committee since last many years. He was on the preview committee of Door Darshan Channel 3, was a visiting Professor at National School of Drama, New Delhi, and Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, AJKMCRR, Jamia Milia Islamia and Professor in Media at FICT, Delhi  He has judged a large number of Drama Competitions and conducted a number of Theatre / Management Games Workshops with Institutions such as AIIMS, NTPC, CWPRS, NWA, Karve Nari Prakshishan Sansthan, FICT, IIT, MAMC, Gargi College, KNC, Tagore International School and Vivekananda School. He is a Theatre Critic for IIC Diary, has also been a Columnist with Midday and Pioneer Daily and wrote Column's Called Culture Cocktail and Footlights Respectively. He was also the Guest Editor for an issue on Folk Theatre of ICCR Journal Horizons. He has written for Times of Indian, Hindustan Times, Blitz, Hard News, Hindu Business Line, Theatre India & Art Times. He has designed dams and hydraulic structures for the Government. He is a programmer and has developed Engineering design software in Fortran. He is a co-author of Irrigation Practice & Design (Vol 1 to5 - 1500 pages) published by Oxford & IBH and sponsored by National Book Trust. He has been a Director, Environment and Sociology, at the National Water Academy, Khadakwasla and Director, Environment Management Directorate, Central Water Commission and Member Secretary, National Environmental Monitoring Committee for River Valley Projects. He was also Director of Instrumentation Directorate in the Dam Safety Organisation. He was Chief General Manager and Head of Water Resources at Scott Wilson and is an accredited consultant with numerous other organizations He is a Delhi Public School, BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi and FTI Pune Alumini. He was also the President of BITS Pilani Alumni Association, Pune.

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