September 19, 2002 at 7pm Prakriti Foundation presented "Nirvanam", A Theatre piece by Pritham Chakravarthy Venue: Sundar Mahal, Padmavathy Road, Jeypore Colony, Chennai
"Nirvanam as referred to in the monologue, is the traditional method of castration, not the Buddhist concept of Nirvana. But somehow the liberation the text tries to touch on is emotionally so, too.
Arulmozhi, a friend of mine, had made a film on Hijras. He invited me to the screening and asked me to introduce the film. I did, but found the treatment not very satisfying. So I asked to listen to some of the tapes. He gave me one, even that was insufficient. Around that time, 3 of the Hijras came to see my performance. I asked Arulmozhi to invite one of them home. He did. We had long talks. Then I met another and another. Actually I met one Hijra in the train when I was going to my mother's house in Chrompet. We got talking. In that she told me a recipe for Maanja, a mixture used to make kite flying thread very sharp. I did not use a tape recorder then. So I had to rely on my memory when I decided to include it in my performance text. So I asked Chakravarthy, my husband, for his recipe for this and included it. So, in truth, that is the only section that is my addition.
"Chakravarthy is more of a raconteur than an actress. Her performance is raw, being common without lacking the common touch. You can relate to her suffering without relating to her."
- 'When he turns to her' by DP (Indian Express) "Powerful portrayal of the lives of eunuchs. The select gathering at the venue sat spellbound…"
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The script itself grows depending on the audience reaction. Sometimes I finish in 15 minutes flat. Sometimes it grows for 40 minutes. The difference in this production is that this is my first original piece in theatre, and it has managed to reach a variety of audiences in 2 languages. Not just trained theatre audience, but academics, intellectuals, college students… so, I find this to be my most satisfying piece in my 20 years of active theatre. I hope next to tackle hunger and migration, domestic maids, loneliness, well anything that I feel can use the space and this particular form I am using…"
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