fहndi - Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

Originally it was intended to have afast succession of images in the presentexperiment; the man struggling to pluckthe mushroom was an initial image. Butin the process of writing only furthervariations of the same image were arrivedat. Instead of rejecting or interfering withthe subconscious dictate, I have let thewhole thing stay with its own logic. Thedifference between the initial draft and thepresent one is only that a few indicativewords have been added in it; these canbe further detailed, modified, substitutedor eliminated according to the processinitiated in each mind while experimentingwith a production. One could entirely doaway with the 'character' of the Voice; (Idid not have this 'character' in the initialdraft); or substitute it with a live conductoron the stage; or make any other additionor deletion according to the convenienceand requirement of one's production. Ishould be a willing party in helping todestroy the present framework as much asin lending a hand to build it up further.VOICE. And that is the crisis of theage. The crisis involves values. The valuesinvolve the epidemic of ideas. The ideasinvolve de-humanizing of human lives. Andhuman lives involve...A man is kicked onto the stage as abunch of huge multi-coloured mushroomsis lit up in a corner, the sizes of themushrooms varying 1' to 3' in height and3" to 8" in diameter. The man recovershis balance and sheepishly looks around.VOICE. Human lives involveeverything, including the Charter of Rights,rates of interest, handicrafts emporia,microcosmic research, vacuum cleaners,coal mines, neurasthenia and democraticchoices. Democratic choices could beexercised in many different ways, such as...The man has by now moved to thebunch of mushrooms and is going aroundit. He puts his hand on the largest of themushrooms. As he touches the mushrooms,a shot is fired from a sten gun.He stays off for a while; then makesa bid to pluck the mushroom. Somecontinuous shots are fired.He stays off again; then makes a fewmore trial efforts.The sten gun fire synchronises witheach of his efforts.He now touches a few othermushrooms.No sound is heard.Feeling reassured, he sneakingly touchesthe largest one again.Shots are fired again.He makes a desperate bid to pluck themushroom, but without success.A volley of gun-shots.The man becomes more and moredesperate in his actions.Continuous volleys of gun-shotsovertake the action.The man is stupefied into inaction.A few moments of stillness.The man, assured of stillness, startsemerging into action again. Slow rhythmicmovements.He touches the mushroom again.A whispered abuse is heard: 'Bastard!'fgndi •April-June 2013 :: 95