NEWTON discovered the law of gravity in an ordinary event of an apple falling from the tree, An orthodox Brahmin boy Dayan and was turned into an angry young man against the irrational behavior of his Hindu coreligionists after seeing mice catting sweets offered to idols of God in a temple. A nervous lawyer, Mahatma Gandhi was molded into a fearless iron man after suffering in South Africa what every Indian underwent when he was thrown out of a first class railway compartment.
In the same way, Gursharan Singh, who had dominated the Punjab theater scene for the last four decades, Was transformed into a playwright by an occurrence so common in India’s Jabor management relationship. In 1954, as a young man having earned his Master’s in Technical Chemistry, he began working on the Bhakra Nangal Project as an engineer. Working on a war footing, the project staff and laborers got only two days off in a year. Workers’ demand to have an evening off to celebrate Lohri and its rejection by the authorities resulted in a three day strike.
This situation inspired the young engineer to write and stage his first play, ‘Loli di Hartal—The Strike of Lohri.” Suddenly, he found the power of the medium; and ever since the medium drama has become his message. He became more convinced abouthisrole in society and the power of his voice after he acted in Kartar Singh Duggal’s play on Kashmir, “Diya Bujh Gaya—The Lamp Has Gone Out.” He got immersed in theater and founded his Amritsar Natak Kala Kendra, which later became Chandigarh Natak Kala Kendra.
After discovering his new talent and its usefulness in promoting social change, Gursharan Singh has virtually become a one man institution in the Punjabi theater writing more than 135plays (70 of which are published), editing a magazine, Samata (Equality), for twelve years, staging, directing and acting in hundreds of plays, and winning numerous awards.
In 1983, he was declared the Nukkar Natak Samrat (Emperor of the Street Theater) at the Street Theater Festival organized by the Bharat Bhavan at Bhopal. In 1994, he became the first Punjabi theater artist to win the Sangeet Natak Academic Award.
Today, with 5,000 performances behind him Gursharan Singh is a household name in Punjab. Bringing folk and elite traditions together, he has performed in every village and city slum, in open air mass places and in the urban theaters of India as well as several Western nations.
His characterization of Bhai Manna Singh in an 18episode television serial has again earned him a name throughout Punjab. His plays, such as “Baba Bolda Hai—Baba Says,’ have been translated into many other languages and he has been a visiting director professor of theaterand television at various educational institutions, including Punjabi University, Patiala, and Punjab University, Chandigarh, Currently he is the president of the Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha, and the Punjab Lok‘ Sabhyacharak Manch. He is also an executive council member of the Sangeet Natak Academy.
However, Gursharan Singh’s fame does not lie only in his being a theater artist. He has become a symbol of sanity and bravery, honesty and clear thinking in the country. And that has not been easy when the country, specially Punjab, has gone through the horrors of violence: That’s why, tasted long imprisonment during the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhis in 1975 and also has been on the ‘extremist hit list. : But, as some of his characters in “Eft Lahu Kisda Hai—Whose Blood is this” says, “When so much is happening, how can you afford to slesp,” Gursharan Singh has been as relentless in his commitment to theater as his commitment to social change and justice. He remains active even at the age of 65 and does not shrink from supporting any just cause, no matter what the consequences.
‘That’s why he has spoken out in support of India bom British author ‘Salman Rushdie and has written his latest play “Aurat— Woman’ in support of Taslima Nasrin, the Bangladeshi feminist writer. Like both of them, he has also been the victim of fundamentalists.
As actor Dilip Kumar has said Gursharan Singh performs miracles right in front of our eyes. He can keep the audience spellbound with his powerful speech on a bare stage without the help of any sets or lights. And through him speak the millions of India’s voiceless—rural and urban.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 29, 1995
