Adarsh Ajit
Name of book: Vih ta Var
Author: Moti Lal Kemu
Year of Publication: 2013
Pages: 196
Price: Rs 200
Moti Lal Kemu, Padam Shri awardee, the author of many plays has come out with a book Vih ta Var which consists of three plays, two of them historical in nature. The plays Vih and Var are more or less identical but Kemu has made them motivating for the readers.
In Var, Kemu has depicted the negative fallout of the wedding of a young girl with an old man. In a veiled presentation Kemu even points towards the hypocrisies of people like that of the king and our own ancestors whom we make referential personalities although their past is full of black dots. The King is about sixty years of age having three queens, the youngest one being sixteen years of age. The eldest queen proves to be barren; the middle one also fails to give birth to any child. The youngest, Shami, is full of romance, love, and sex but fails to fulfill her youthful aspirations because the old age of the King. She falls in love with the youngest minister of Kashmir Sandhi Mati. Sandhi Mati is originally from Gandhar and is unaware about Shami’s fondness of him. The king is awfully troubled by the thought of being childless. His fears multiply day by day. He sees no hope of having a child who could be the future king of Kashmir. The King calls Royal Priest to read the horoscope of all the queens. Prior to it, Shami plays a trick with the help of her friend Vasantika. She corrupts Raj Guru and forces him to tell a lie to the King. According to Shami’s plan Raj Guru convinces the king that Shami is going to give him a child provided Shami goes into a jungle for a month and serves the saints to win their blessings. Vasantika urges Shami to play deceitful womanish act to compel the king to send Sandhi Mati with her. Not only this, but they also, frame a secret arrangement to erase any doubts arising in the minds of the queens, King, ministers and the general public. Shami stages such a womanish act that the old king is compelled to become even a horse for her. The King gives way under her weight.
On reaching the jungle Shami feels as if she is a free bird. Sandhi Mati, Vasantika and other royal servants are with her. Nature gives her solace but her main objective remains to express her love and accomplish her ambitions with Sandhi Mati. One day, when all go on a pilgrimage, Shami finds an opportunity to enter Sandhi Mati’s hut. She is freshly bathed and her whole body is flower laden.
‘meon sami,bartha gochuk chai aasun(Would that you were my husband and lord) Shami says to Sandhi Mati.
‘Siv Shankar,kich kath chiv karaan(My God! What do you talk?)
Shami is focused to get her beloved at any cost and she again tells him:
‘me gatchi santaan su gatchi chone aasun(I want a child from you)
But her hopes fall when the minister addresses her as ‘maata'(mother).
Shami threatens to ruin him by crying aloud and telling the public that he molested her.
She calls him egoistical.
When she tries again to win him, Sandhi Mati readdresses her as ‘mother’. Sexy and beautiful Shami’s anger goes out of control. She threatens him that she will get him handcuffed. On her another unsuccessful attempt Shami frightens him that she will make the king send him to the gallows. The jungle programme fails both ways. Neither the one month course is completed nor does Shami win over Sandh Mati. On their return Sandhi Mati is imprisoned. On the behest of Shami, death sentence is pronounced on him. The king becomes suspicious of the youngest queen and calls other queens. He also discusses the matter with Vasantika. Meanwhile the mother of Sandhi Mati reaches the palace and tells the King that Sandhi Mati is his son. Sandhi Mati resembles the king but no one can make it that he is King’s son. In his youth King had an intercourse not only with the mother of Sandhi Mati but with many young women. Finally hanging is cancelled and Shami and Vasantika commit suicide.
In ‘Vih’ the age of the king is sixty and that of the queen sixteen. The queen is married when she was seven. In this play also queen falls in love with Bamboor who is about twenty years of age. Unlike in Var, in this play, the wazir(minister/ bamboor) is also in love with the queen. Queen boldly informs the king that she is in love with Bamboor. The king tries to convince about the results of love but the queen is all set to leave everything and go with the wazir to enjoy life especially her sexual desires. When the king fails he threatens:
‘tas yen luka arsaatas thee doshwai nether kadna(His eyes will be gouged out in front of mammoth public gathering)
The queen which is named as Lolar replies:
‘bas raazan bas. Vane gov intihaa. Booziv. Ba ti kada panen doshvai nether. Taaki tohi rozi hamsos…natten ta naaren khasan nagma. Lolar ta bamboorni lolake nagma.(O. King, enough is enough now. I will gouge out my own eyes also. The love song of Lolar and bamboor will be on everybody’s lips).
The queen Lolar makes every preparation to set her beloved free and run away with him but the climax of the play is unfolded when the king himself utters to her:
‘nin su bandhe vaana manz kadith yuth kansi rozi na khabr(Set Bamboor free and flee with him so that no one knows it).
The news of the escape of Bamboor and Lolar spreads. Raj Guru and ministers call the king eunuch. For them Kashmir kingdom is not safe under the rule of an impotent king who could not save his own wife. They kill the king. All aspire to become king of Kashmir. The in-fighting increases and they finish one another. In the end Bamboor and Lolar become King and Queen. Kemu leaves a moral behind in this play:
‘yus khandar besom,bemale aasi, tath koot kaal kariv dharma gand'(How long will you succeed in maintaining a wedlock under religious knot if the couples are fundamentally unequal and unmatched?).
Kemu cleverly makes his first play ‘Muqdima’ as per his taste and plans. It is a question-answer session between him and the lawyer. Actually, under the garb of a play, Kemu tries to balance his good deeds and the allegations he had been receiving with respect to drama and theater. He has left no place for any interviewer seeking answers to some sensitive issues. Virtually this is a crafty autobiography of Kemu. He has not got any foreword of his books written by any literary personality. Kemu says that there is no critic on Kashmiri theatre. He admits that in Kashmiri Samaj theater artists were looked down upon and were not treated as artiste. He alleged that he has left Bhagat Theater and guides others. ‘The fact is that I would have spent mounds of papers in writing letters, memorandums of Bhagat Theater’ recalls Kemu. He refutes the allegation of leaving Bhagat Theater and gives various reasons in his support. ‘The Chinar, stones and walls of Akingam are witness what I have done for Bhagat’s Theater’ says Kemu.
To conclude, the book Vih ta Var is written in pure and chaste Kashmiri diction. Couplets and songs included with short intervals shows Kemu’s hold on playwriting. Chiseled, prompt, to the point and rich dialogues further the authenticity of the author. Use of musical instruments, music and timely dance inclusions are additional feathers. The historic touches prove Kemu’s ability in highlighting the social injustice meted to the women from time to time.
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