Kunal Puri

Hamein Naaz Hai

 

A Review by Kunal Puri

A Scene from The Play

Written and Directed by Lokesh Jain “HUMEIN NAAZ HAI” is a satirical play that focuses on the plight of the homeless surviving on the streets ofDelhi.

This play is situated on the streets around Jama Masjid. It deals with many aspects of street life & is based on reflective insights into real life experiences.

The many layers of the play unfold as the story progresses, revealing a complicated web of hierarchies, relationships, histories and struggles.

These are the stories of real people.

There are few areas which have been neglected and left untouched by most of us in the Society…Among them one of it was very well showcased by Mr Jain, The Director of the play It is one of most important issues prevailing in every corner and every street of India which requires urgent attention.This issue is of street children. We may try to get rid of them when they approach us for a penny or two but truly speaking it’s not easy to get rid of them so easily because they are also like any other child on planet earth who has dreams, wants , liking etc like any other child on planet earth but they don’t have any means to fulfill or achieve them… For them everything starts from streets and ends at streets whether it is a dream or a life…whether it is love or hatred…though they have many pals around them but the problem is everyone is helpless most of them are even deprived of parents love so the love of their life becomes Drugs which they believe takes them away from the world of sorrows…their café coffee day would be the roadside Tea stalls…

As rightly mentioned that the play was the inside picture of what lies beneath…it threw a clear message to all that though we may look different but we are not different.

Don’t go by our clothes or way of living as we have a similar heart whose normal pulse rate should be 72 times /min like any other human and has the same kind of wishes like any other human…The play clearly highlighted street peoples sorrows, happiness, constraints etc from different angles by keeping different individuals in the mind frame which may not only provide an overall wholistic view but individualistic view from a persons perspective.

The Idea behind the improvisation to bring to everyone’s notice , the UNNOTICED, by providing the Inside story…What we need to realize that inspite of our  own personal problems, it is time to have a peep into the lives of the Deprived lot….What we need to remember is that whenever we have good food that there are people with hungry eyes and empty stomach, waiting to have a single bite of what we waste every now and then…time to remember that when we have heavy and warm  blankets there would be people who use  polythene sheets as blankets to protect them from shivering cold…the comparisons could be numerous but it will only aggravate the pain…the idea or the moral of the story is to Thanks god for being Privileged as there is someone to take care of us so come forward and show the unprivileged one’s that WE CARE…”

The play is co produced by two NGOs Jamghat and Khoj Foundation JAMGHAT is an NGO that actively works towards helping street children change their destiny.

JAMGHAT is a successful attempt to create a simple and replicable model of a community home for a group of 15 street children. The home provides for their essential needs: food, shelter, clothing, schooling, counseling, and work-oriented vocational education. The ultimate aim is rehabilitation of these capable children.

KHOJ Foundation is a volunteer based education programme for the children working and living on the streets of South Delhi. We have worked with 80-100 children at 4 different traffic signals and plan to target 4 more through ‘School on Wheels’ beginning January 2009.

KHOJ Foundation is consistent in its efforts of sensitizing people and creating a congenial support system for the children and guiding them to a dignified life and livelihood opportunities.

Cast & Credits

 

Cast

Name ……………………………..Character

Vishesh Ravi …………………………….Jhabbar

Shalini Satish Sharma………………Paagal Aurat

Mohd. Aadil Khan……………..Jamaalu Chacha

……………Seth (voice)

Sugandh Swani (Sana)………..…………. Maria

………Sakina (Burqewali Aurat)

…………………Rooh Ki Awaz

Pawan Sharma………………….………..Paagal

Amit Sirothiya…………..………..……..Kataari

Disha Menon……………………..………Leeza

Vinay Chhabra, Mohit Dahiya…… ……..Patru

Prasenjeet……………………….……….Kirkira

Papiya Das………………….………Ganga Tai

Vandana Nishad…Kelewali Ramdevi Chandai

Heena Panwar………….. Taro, Anjaan Aurat

Mansi Anand……………………..…….Gudhri

Geetanjali…………..…………….…….Sudhri

Lokesh Jain…………..…Fakir Baba Batasha

Saddam Hussein………………………..Noor

Pankaj Khetan…………..….……….Punchar

Ritu Raj…………………..….…….…Fauzia

Anjali Rani………………..…………Muniya

Ashish…………………………………Azaad

Ali……………….…Raah-gir, Akhbaarwala

Sunil……………….Churanwala, Thekedaar

Rahul Tiwari……….……….…NGO Person

Feroze Khan, Suraj….………………….kids

 

Credits

Production in charge Amit Sinha, Pawan Sharma,

…………………………………………. Rahul Tiwari

Lyrics, Playright, Director………Lokesh Jain

Music composed by……….. Babli Srivastava

Choreography…………………..…Chavi Jain

Light design….………….Himanshu B. Joshi

Background Sound……..Shashank Srivastava

Sound…………………………..Anjali Gupta

Stage Management……Sugandh Swani (Sana)

……….………….. Shalini Satish Sharma

Stage co-ordinator……………..……..Sunny

Outdoor co-ordination….Aazam, Sunil, Sonu

Publicity………………..Rahul Diwari, Dilip

Rehearsal space………………Seema Jajodia

……………………………(SAHAN School)

Brochure Design……..Rudrangshu Mukherji

………………………………Lauren Andres

Printing…………………………Rahul Arora

Art…………………………….Savi Sawarkar

Endless chai-pani!………………..…….Raju