Jinhe Naaz Hai by Kahe Vidushak Foundation

Jinhe Naaz Hai’ is an Anthology of 2 Short Plays written by Abhishek Majumdar. The short plays, Namak (translated from by Srinivas Beesetty), and Raashan revolve around the theme of existence and survival in extremities. Stories portray the way families try to cope with the lack of dignity they are subjected to in order to get minimum supplies of food.

Namak has been showcased at Rangashankara Theatre Festival and Jairangam Theatre Festival. It revolves around a family of three women — a mother and two daughters — who are coping with the pandemic and its resulting shortcomings by telling each other stories and faking the food on their plate. It talks about how nationalism has been used to hide the incompetence of the government, and the price the poor and hungry pay for it.

Raashan, showcased in Jairangam, Jaipur Theatre Festival is a tale of upper-middle-class man visits a lower-class worker, who lives in a make-shift settlement, to borrow alcohol. What follows is their own versions of how similar or different their lives are. Carved with relative values of hunger, thirst and poetry, this short episode will leave you thinking about parallel lives and wanting more.