Ratan Thiyams Silent War on War

Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh*

Shri Ratan Thiyam has reached a level in his career as a dramatist and also as a concerned, conscientious citizen of North-east India that no account of the North-eastern society can be complete without recalling his name. He is one outstanding north-easterner who has earned glory for the region. As far as the dramatical circles are concerned, his name is now familiar in almost all countries in the world. The article below carries the details of the countries in which he has performed and also the awards received from the different countries of the world. This article has been written by a fellow Manipuri and a staunch admirer of Ratan Thiyam. The author Shri Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh has also written articles and books about the hero Ratan Thiyam that he richly adores. The author himself is a unique person. Trained as an electrical engineer and serving as one he has taken keen interest in different cultural areas of the life of Manipur. He has also indulged in writing fiction as well as poetry. The author has rightly selected Ratan Thiyams, War on War as the title of the article. Ratan Thiyam is greatly perturbed over the climate of unrest and violence in his beloved Manipur. He finds the course followed by the violent elements to be self-destructing. No doubt, his first concern is with violence and disturbance in Manipur but he is equally concerned with emergence of violence anywhere in the world. Pointing out the futility of warfare and mutual killing he mainly dwells on peace and harmony. This theme is ever present in all the plays he has created and performed. I have had the good fortune of witnessing his performance a couple of times. What emerges on stage is a colourful, moving poetry carrying meaningful music, and the message of peace and harmony. Ratan Thiyam is bound to go many more glorious miles in his journey of life. May God grant him good health, and all the stamina that he needs for great service to Manipur and mankind. N.Th.

All true art must help the soul to realize its inner self. A life of sacrifice is the pinnacle of art, and is full of true joy. History is a record of perpetual wars, but we are now trying to make new history. Where there are wars, wherever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love. A nations culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people. M.K. Gandhi

Author

People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening, The allegorical lines from the evergreen sentimental song Sound of silence (Simon & Garfunkel Lyric) seem to echo the plight of the helpless mass. Erudite persons talk for the betterment of the society but the ignorant mass fail to understand. Vested people hear the wise talk but they do not care to listen. Curses like chickens have come home to roost. Utter chaos prevails everywhere. It is not the story of a phantasmal land but the story of the present day Manipur, an erstwhile Little Paradise turned into Killing Field. Guns are fired, bombs are exploded, people are killed, protests are made, processions are carried out, strikes are called, economic blockades are imposed, etc., etc., but life goes on. Social organisations mushroom to fight injustice. Public leaders shout and promise heaven but do precious nothing for the oppressed people of the State. Wails echo in the air deafening the ears but those at the helm of power and in responsible positions turn a deaf ear. Busy with their own preoccupations of amassing wealth and enhancing their positions, they cannot spare even a fraction of a second to ponder over the numerous problems the people are facing. The common people continue to suffer. All the noise the people of Manipur make and the chaos that follow fail to raise even a mild ripple across the country. It cannot escape and cross the nine concentric ranges of hills. All the troubles the people have undertaken to make their earnest pleas heard have turned futile. Rather, all their shouts, violent and self destructing actions have ricocheted and struck back to pull them into an inescapable abyss. The people of Manipur are lagging far behind in the race of civilization. On the other hand, they are heading for the wrong direction instead of heading forward they are running backwards. If they do not mend their ways, in no time they would land themselves in the prehistoric days when man lived in caves! It is the bounden duty of the people of Manipur to right the wrong. People outside Manipur would not care and bother for they have their own problems to tackle. Whatever little the people of Manipur have achieved in evoking interest of the people outside the state to know them better and understand their plight is because of a few pieces of writing circulated outside from time to time, not because of the gun culture and wanton killings. Echoes of gun shots cannot travel far and are usually confined within the nine concentric ranges of hills. Whatever storm it manages to create soon dies a natural death. Ratan Thiyam describes the present day Manipur in his poem, The story of a land turned barren. tomorrow theres bandh, day-after-tomorrow something may befall the land Like it is said, the present time is an awful phase this time, the Kouravas are said to have won the battle of Kurukshetra many a preacher is roaming all over the marketplace which religion is cheaper, which one to buy, Im in dilemma since Im a human being, I want to stay alive. May be because of it whenever I belch the smell of gunpowder comes. After the Great World War, a monkey, a survivor from the Ramayana, who could not turn into human being, is sitting and crying in front of Darwins photograph, with its legs stretched out in front the priest who has been performing puja to nullify the effects of the curse turns out to be a student of Mao Zedong. With unknown ism with unknown words

this land full of unknown habits would become like this, would become so terrible unwittingly, because of it,

Ratan Thiyam
Ratan with his non-violent ways and message of peace has done and achieved the distinction of portraying the real identity of the people of Manipur and their plight for the global audience to see, which guns could not do all these years. With each new play his obsession with peace becomes louder and louder, clearer and clearer. He cannot sit idle and watch silently the wrongs in the society when everything all around him is burning. Whatever he does echoes his passionate love for humanity. He firmly believes that plays should be based on logic and reason it should mirror the society; it should be able to analyze the social changes and give comment on it. In other words, plays should point out the wrongs in the society and correct it by putting questions on human intellect. He takes to heart what Martin Luther King Jr. had said, The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. His plays, his writings, his actions all voice against oppression and speak for kindness towards others. He often says he is trying to realize his inner self through his creative endeavours. A work of art that cannot feel the pulse of the society, and touch and satisfy the inner self is of little value. Every individual perceives sight, smell and sound differently, and reacts to a situation in his or her own way. To a large extent the milieu in which the individual grew up conditions his or her behaviour and reaction. The beliefs of the society control the collective action of the individuals.

Being the son of a Manipuri dance exponent, Guru Th. Tarunkumar who had taken up the challenge of expanding and popularising Manipuri dance at places where it was relatively unknown or unheard of, Ratan Thiyam had to shuttle from one place to another following his parents. His mother is also an accomplished Manipuri dancer. Though lucky as he was to have been introduced to the perception of the finer taste of performing arts and appreciation of different aspects of ones own culture at an early age, he had to suffer on the academic front. Since his parents were constantly on the move, he had to change his school frequently, very often twice a year. When he grew older, he requested his parents to allow him to stay back at their ancestral home at Imphal. There he attended an art school to learn painting, his childhood obsession. He wanted to go outside Manipur and pursue his study of painting but he did not have the heart to ask for the prohibitive expenses that his parents might not be able to afford. With a heavy heart, he bade farewell to his study of painting. He was also very fond of reading and writing. He wished to take up creative writing as a profession. His motto in life is To be a professional in any vocation one chooses. He wrote and published novels and short fictions. He also wrote poems. His books could evoke the interest of many readers but the returns were so meagre he would have to starve if he were to depend on the earning from his books alone for a living. He decided to embark on a new career. One fine day he collected money given to him as book grant by the Education Department, Government of Manipur and left for Delhi. There he got himself admitted to the National School of Drama (formerly National School of Drama & Asian Theatre Institute). It turned out to be a turning point of his life. After his training at the National School of Drama, New Delhi he started Chorus Repertory Theatre at Imphal in 1976. He had to start and do everything from scratch. Since he had the blessings of his father to start with and a sound advice on how to become a professional, he had nothing to fear. At times, he had to take up odd jobs to finance and keep the theatre alive. The story of Chorus Repertory Theatre can best be described as Rags to Riches the transition from rags to riches could be achieved with the sweat of all the members of the company. As a theatre personality his rise to fame is phenomenal. It is the result of his dedicated and sincere work. Contrary to the popular belief, to be a successful director or actor means continuous hard work, less of glamour. A good director has to establish a close relationship with the audience. As a director, Ratan Thiyam strives for perfection. He and his whole troupe will not rest until and unless every minute details of the play are perfected. They will go on practicing and improvising till the desired result is achieved. Their consistent labour has enabled them to control and check the chaos, panic and excitement before and after a performance. Unlike many directors who run here and there shouting and giving last minute instructions before the start of a play, Ratan Thiyam always remains cool and composed and looks very calm and peaceful before the performance of his production. Ratan, in his own inimitable way, uses the stage as a canvas to paint his plays. His signature, depicting a play as a masterpiece of painting, is deeply imprinted in every scene a Live Painting with profound depth. His mastery over space utilization is well known. In all his plays every available space of the stage is so miserly utilized that not even a single inch of space is wasted. Gestures, body movements, emotions articulated through voice not words, highly charged sound, appropriate costumes, soothing music and effective lighting aptly carry the message across the audience. One can follow his plays with ease without understanding even a single word of the dialogue, evidently in Manipuri. It is easy to emotionally blackmail the unsuspecting audience by choosing a very sentimental run of the mill story with flimsy characters to gain cheap publicity but Ratan will not stoop so low. He is of the opinion that culture and traditions show the identity of a group of people and bind them together. He would choose strong characters with sound cultural background to strike his point home and try to pinch the minds of the spectators.

He keeps all his senses alert and fine tuned to be able to go deep into the happenings and changes all around him. He enjoys watching people unnoticed and undisturbed from a distance so that their reactions are unrestrained and they emote freely. The reactions of people to a particular situation, incident, condition or circumstance are very important for his work as a theatre director. Once he visited one of the numerous tombs with well laid-out gardens in Delhi, a splendid place for tourists, early in the morning. Not many people were there when he entered the sprawling garden. He sat on a bench and watched tourists arriving in groups. After entering the gate they followed different directions and roamed around everywhere. Not very far from where he was sitting stood a coral jasmine tree, with innumerable fragrant white flowers of the previous night scattered on the ground all around it. An Asian lady, probably a Japanese, passing nearby saw the flowers. She slowly went close to the tree, stepping ceremoniously and picked up a flower. Delicately holding the flower with her nimble fingers, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply enjoying the fragrance. She slowly turned and swayed her body without making the slightest sound as if she were in a trance her face glowed with satisfaction. After a while she walked away with quick but short steps, looking almost as if she were gliding past. After a while, another lady, a European, also saw the flowers lying scattered on the ground. She hurriedly moved in and picked up a flower to smell. Suddenly, she burst out aloud, speaking in quick succession. She spread out her hands beckoning her friends, like a bird in flight flapping its wings. Soon her friends rushed in from all directions. In no time the coral tree was surrounded by people speaking and talking animatedly, each holding a fragrant coral jasmine flower. Only a keen observer like Ratan Thiyam can notice the difference in the reactions of people from the east and the west to a trivial matter like the discovery of an interesting flower unusual to them. His keen observations of human nature have enabled him to shape and project the finer details of the characters in his plays. He draws his inspirations heavily from the past incidents also. There is so much to learn from the past. History of mankind is a treasure trove of knowledge. He considers relics of the bygone era to be irreplaceable books of wisdom. Invaluable information is hidden in the culture and tradition of the forebears discarded by the present generation blindly. Very often people ask him why he does not work with Big Names especially popular actors and musicians. He replies the question with a question, What is Ratan Thiyams contribution in such a production? He explains that many popular actors and musicians in the country are ready to work with him. Big Names come with their own approach, method, style and technique. With little briefing big actors will act in their own way. Popular music directors will compose music in their own fashion. Ratan feels that he will be left with nothing to add and the production may turn out to be quite different from what he conceives. He is happy that his troupe has already made a big name. He does not need Big Names to make his productions successful. Over the years, Ratan has enriched the world theatre movement with his masterpieces like Chakravyuha (The Wheel of War), Uttar Priyadarshi (The Final Beatitude) and Blind Age. Most of his plays have been adapted from folklores, epics or writings of great masters. But, all the three plays of the Manipur Trilogy are wholly created by him,? everything right from the story and script are his own. In all the three plays, myth is linked with reality. It encompasses a wide spectrum of human evolution right from the birth of the Universe, based on the myths of the Mieties, the natives of Manipur, to the modern times, broken up in four distinct episodes the birth of the Universe, the creation of living beings, the outset of human civilization and the modern times. He has meticulously crafted each line of the dialogues using a liberal dose of choicest archaic words most of the dialogues in all the three plays are nothing but beautiful verses and odes. Unwittingly, the Manipur Trilogy has shown his mastery over archaic Manipuri, a rare feat, and added another dimension to his

versatile personality. All the three plays in the series Wahoudok (Prologue), Hey Nungshibi Prithivi (My Earth, My Love) and Chinglon Mapal Tampak Ama (Nine Hills, One valley) have already proved to be masterpieces, another milestone for him. His call for putting an end to war and enmity, his love for peace, his plea for safeguarding culture and tradition are deeply imprinted in all his works, be it plays or writings. Armed with the weapon of Peace he is waging a silent war on War sans War the world will be a better place to live in. People all over the world have recognised his dedication, his hard work, his sacrifice and his contribution to the World Theatre Movement. He has received a number of national and international honours and awards. National Academy Award (Sangeet Natak Akademi), 1987 Padmashree, 1989 Nandikar, 1992 La Grande Medaille, 1997 (France) International Man of the year in the field of Theatre and Humanism, 1998-99 B.M. Shah Award, 2000 Ganakrishti Award, 2002 B.V. Karanth Smriti Puruskar, 2004 One India One People Award, 2006 Kalidas Samman, 2006 NETV Peoples Choice Award, 2006 SIU-KA-PHA National Award, 2006 Late Hawaibam Nilamani Singh Award, 2007 Theatre Centre Award, 2007 John D. Rockefeller Award, 2008 First Alkaji Foundation Award, 2008 He has been conferred Degree of Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) by Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. ----------------------------APPENDIX Ratan Thiyam The Man and His Achievements. Important Landmarks: Writer, Director, Designer, Composer, and Choreographer, Ratan Thiyam was born on January 20, 1948. He is a graduate in Dramatics from the National School of Drama, New Delhi and was awarded the Padmashree by the President of India in 1989. He has held office/membership in various prestigious national and international organizations. Some of them are: Chairman Chorus Repertory Theatre, Imphal Member of the Society and the Governing Body of the National Science Museum (NCSM), Kolkata Chairman Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Culture, Manipur Council Member, Manipur State Kala Akademi, Imphal

Advisor, All India Radio Imphal Member- Programme Advisory Committee, All India Radio, Imphal Member Manipur University Court Senate Member, Manipur University Member of the First Court of Nagaland University, Nagaland Member of the Governing Council, ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations), New Delhi Chairman, Review Committee North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur Director, National School of Drama, New Delhi Executive Council Member, Sangeet Natak Akademi (National Academy of Theatre, Dance & Music), New Delhi Member of the Advisory Board, National School of Drama, New Delhi Member of the Advisory Committee National Handicraft & Handloom Museum, New Delhi Member of the National Tribal Development Committee, New Delhi Member of the Advisory Committee of the Rangamandal, Bharat Bhavan, Advisor, Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal Member of the Academic Council, National School of Drama, New Delhi Vice-Chairman Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal As far as his literary output is concerned he has written four novels, one short story collection, 10 full-length plays, four poem collections and one short plays. Among his translated plays are included Greek Classical plays, Japanese Noh & Kyogen, and Indian Classics. Ratan Thiyam has attended scores of conferences which include: International Theatre Conference, Novisad (Yugoslavia) East-West Encounter, Mumbai (India) International Seminar on Greek tragedy, Delphi (Greece) Indo-Soviet Conference, Moscow International Seminar, Poland Indo-Greek Symposium, Greece India-Greece 2500 years of Cultural Exchange Symposium, 1995 New Delhi (India) International Conference on Culture of Peace - The Experience and Experiments, 1996 New Delhi (India) Among the festivals he has participated in as visualizer, choreographer and presenter are: Asian Arts Festival, Hong Kong Festival of India, USSR Festival of USSR, India Festival of France in India And as artistic director, designer and choreographer he has participated in: Festival of India in Germany Days of Delhi in Moscow, 1999

Ratan Thiyam is a member of faculty as theatre director/teacher in: Fordham University, New York (USA) Fordham Orvieto Theatre Institute, Italy. Films produced include: Rajashri Bhagyachandra (documentary) Hanubei Heikol (telefilm) Performance of his own productions at different places and countries include: Pan-Asiatico Festival, Rome, 1984 Indo-Greek Symposium, Delphi, 1984 East-West Encounter, Mumbai (India), 1986 Edinburgh International Theatre Festival, Edinburgh, 1987 Festival of India, USSR, 1987 Cardiff International Theatre Festival, Cardiff, 1987 Glasgow Festival, Glasgow, 1987 Dublin Festival, Dublin, 1987 Cervantino International Festival, Mexico, 1990 Mitsui International Festival, Japan, 1990 Toga International Festival, Japan, 1992 Festival d Avignon, France, 1995 Festival of India in Thailand, 1996 South Asian Theatre Festival, Dhaka(Bangladesh), 1997 50-years of Indian Independence Day celebration in Srilanka, 1997 Festival of Perth, Australia, 1998 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, 1998 7th International Festival of Scenic Arts, Sao Paulo (Brazil), 1998 Indian Trade Fair Exhibition in Dhaka (Bangladesh), 1999 50-years of Indian Independence Day Celebration in Nepal, 2000 Fall 2000 American Debut Tour, 2000 Barbican International Theatre Event (BITE:01), London (United Kingdom) BeSeto International Theatre Festival, Togamura (Japan), 2001 3rd Spring Arts Festival, Shizuoka (Japan), 2002 Toga International Festival, Toga (Japna), 2002 Third Asia-Pacific Arts Forum (Taiwan), 2005 IIC Experience- A festival of the Arts (New Delhi, India), 2005 Biennale Bonn: Indien 2006, Germany Fall 2006 American Debut Tour Barbican Theatre Event, 2007, London Toga Festival, 2007, Japan Other places of performance include: Tokyo, New York, London, Delphi, Kalamata, Thessaloniki, Kavala, Athens, Yaroslov, Leningrad, Minsk, Brisova, Southampton (South London), Amsterdam, Gainsborough, Bradford, Omag, Querentaro, Guanajuato, Curz-A-Zul, Guaquil, Quito, Cuba, Manizales, Bogota, Lima, Havana, Thimpu, Bangkok, Avignon, Chiang Mai, Madrid, Valladolid,

Logrono, Paris, Wellington, Zurich, Vitoria, Lisboa, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Toga, Holland, Peru, Shizuoka, Taipei, Yilan, Bonn, Brooklyn, Kansas, Davis, North Carolina, Berkeley etc. Finally, he has been conferred Degree of Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) by Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata on May 7, 2008.
* Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh, an electrical engineer by profession was born in 1957 at Imphal. He has got his degree in Electrical Engineering, and PG Diploma in Business Management. He writes short stories and poems in English and Manipuri. Also reviews plays. He has translated many Manipuri short stories and poems into English - also the full script of a Manipuri Film (G. Narayan Sharmas Heloy) and three Manipuri plays (Ratan Thiyams Manipuri Trilogy) (i) Wahoudok (Prologue), (ii) Hey Nungshibi Prithivi (My Earth, My Love) and (iii) Chinglon Mapan Tampak Ama (Nine Hills, One valley) into English. One of his poems in Manipuri has been translated into Marathi and published in Kavyaparva, an anthology of poems (selected from twenty-one Indian languages including English and translated into Marathi). His short stories have been translated into Telugu. He has received the Katha Award for Translation, 2005, won Second Prize in the International online Funga Wari (folktale) Competition, 2007, organized by International Manipuri Progressive Forum, UK and won Sulekha Penguin-Blogprint Contest (December, 2007). He is an Executive Member, North East Writers Forum; Advisor, Chorus Repertory Theatre, Imphal; Life Member, Writers Forum, Imphal; Life Member, Naharol Sahitya Premee Samiti, Imphal. He can be contacted via his e-mails bijoytay@yahoo.co.in, imp_bijoytay@sancharnet.in.