About The Event
Dastan-e-Ghare Baire was written by Mahmood Farooqui to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, commissioned by a Kolkata-based group. The dastan is an adaptation of Tagore’s celebrated novel Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World), set against the backdrop of the Swadeshi movement in Bengal following its abrupt and arbitrary partition by the British Viceroy, Lord Curzon, in 1905. Originally published in Bengali in 1915, the novel explores the turbulent interplay between home, nation, and identity.
At its heart lies the story of three intertwined lives: Nikhil, a compassionate, enlightened, and progressive zamindar; his childhood friend Sandip, a passionate, self-serving yet magnetic nationalist leader; and Nikhil’s wife, Bimala, content at first within her traditional domestic role but later encouraged by her husband to step beyond the confines of ‘home’ and engage with the ‘world.’ The narrative unfolds with lyrical intensity, rich in imagery and imbued with a poetic sensibility reminiscent of Faiz and Meer.
Performers
Mahmood Farooqui is an award-winning writer and performer known for reviving Dastangoi, the lost art of Urdu storytelling. He has written, directed, and performed over 25 Dastans in more than a thousand shows, trained new Dastangos, and authored two books on the form. Author of five books and a regular essayist on history, politics, and culture, his latest work is A Requiem for Pakistan: The World of Intizar Husain. A Rhodes Scholar educated at Oxford and Cambridge, Farooqui has received the Ramnath Goenka, Ustad Bismillah Khan, and Mirza Ghalib awards. He lives in New Delhi with his wife, filmmaker Anusha Rizvi.
Rajesh Kumar is a seasoned theatre actor associated with renowned groups such as Asmita Theatre, with hundreds of performances to his credit, including solo acts. He has appeared in several Indian and international films, including Red Gold, Halla Bol, and Parzania. His short film Kavi was nominated for an Oscar, and he also featured in the National Award–winning film Boond. A familiar face on television, he has acted in popular shows like Crime Patrol and CID, along with numerous commercials. Currently, he is an active Dastangoi performer, with over 200 shows to his name.
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