Rural talents' bit for green cause

Save nature

The audience carried home the message of concern for environment conveyed aptly by the young artistes through the play - ‘Parisarada Duranta Kathe’ (The Tragic Story of Environment).

The programme was jointly organised by Dwarakanath Reddy Ramanarpanam Trust, Roopal Network and Jeevanothsava Makkala Vedike of Chikkaballapur taluk, at Nandi Ranga Mandira. Children belonging to poor families from Motluru, Nallakadirenahalli, Gollahalli, Doddeganahalli, Bandahalli and Kandawar villages of Chikkaballapur taluk took part in this environmental endeavour.

Apart from raising serious concerns on issues related to environment, the event gave a rare opportunity for the students studying in the Governments schools in the rural areas, to exhibit their hidden talent.

The children conveyed the simple and yet crucial message of conserving the environment, sans huge banners, boring speeches, fanfare and propaganda. Through their effortless style and innocent charm they held the audience in sway, as they elucidated the importance of preserving nature.

With an apt storyline, crisp dialogues, appropriate costumes, enchanting background score, lighting and dialogue delivery, the role of each and every kid was important for the progress of the story. Each kid has done justice to his role, while, all credit goes to the main narrator of the play and also the director of the play, G N Ashwath, through whom, the entire story unfolds, with an old man narrating a story on environment to tiny tots.

The old man explains that a meeting of all the forest animals and birds is held in the forest, which is presided by the Lion King. The animals complain to the king that there were no fruits in the forest, neither fodder was available. The lakes and ponds had dried up and greenery was declining.

When they deliberate on these problems, they try to figure out who is responsible for all this. And the blame falls on humans. They decided to send a monkey as their messenger to invite humans to attend a meeting to arrive at some solution to this impending problem. When the monkey arrives in the kingdom to invite the king and his men, the king is busy at a meeting in his palace.

The people are complaing to the king that the fodder was not available. There were no rains. The ponds and lakes had dried up and crops were destroyed in the fields due to lack of water. People were dying of hunger, which had led to an increase in the crime.

When the king, his ministers and men are busy deliberating, they arrive at the fact that loss of green is the main cause of their worries.  The king happily accepts the invitation by the jungle member and decides to participate in the meeting. At the meeting, the king of forest and the king of land vow to protect the environment and biodiversity.

The children have been trained for this play for the last one month under the able guidance of G N Ashwath. His Ninasam-trained background is visible in the manner in which the kids have performed the play. Another special feature of the event is, the masks required for the play have been prepared by Ashwath himself. H H Kumar has added a special effect to the play with his excellent stage art.

Anitha Reddy from Dwarakanath Reddy Ramanarpanam Trust has extended her support and encouragement throughout the event. The director and the children are in gratitude to Anitha Reddy for being a supporting pillar in this task.

‘End reckless development’

“Every day  400 hectare of forest is destroyed in the name of development,” opined actor turned director and environmentalist Suresh Heblikar. Speaking at the inauguration of play ‘Parisara Durantha Kathe’ performed by children belonging to poor families said  the destruction of tank bunds and depletion of ground water table will have an adverse impact on the environment and cause irreversible damages.

People residing in Bangalore City are dependent on Cauvery water alone for meeting their drinking water requirement. The days wherein wars would be waged for water is not far ahead. Reckless destruction of the environment is solely responsible for global warming,  he observed.

Even at the meeting on Global Warming at Copenhagen held in December 2009, it was all talk. The time has arrived when stringent action need to be undertaken to save the environment, said environmentalist Suresh Heblikar.

Also speaking on the occasion educationist  Prof Kodirangappa said the onus is on the people to protect the environment. Efforts should be taken to prevent the destruction of the environment in the name of lopsided development. The environment needs to be saved for the future generations to cherish, he added.

Man’s greed alone is responsible for the mindless destruction of natural resources. There is a need for a revolution to protect our resources, said tahsildhar Poornima. The rural children have succeeded in conveying this message through their play ‘Parisara Durantha Kathe,’ she added.