High on humour

At the recently-held Ranga Shankara Festival, people came in for theatrical treats that ranged from pure entertainment to sheer drama, comedy and everything in between.

As a special treat for Bangalore audiences with a yen for comedy and satire a two-day Haasya Kavi Sammelan was held. Some of the most well-known names in this genre were brought down from different parts of the country  to regale their fans in the City.

The four artists who performed to a very appreciative crowd were Dr Vishnu Saxena from Aligarh, Arun Jaimini from Delhi, Sarvesh Asthana from Lucknow and Dinesh Bawara from Mumbai.

“Dr Vishnu Saxena is one of the leading contemporary poets of India having touched millions of fans like us in India and abroad,” said Geeta Maini a local resident.
“He is well-known for his poetry recitals, singing and his presence is a must at most big Kavi Sammelans. I am thrilled to be at this evening’s performance,” she added.
The one-and-a-half hour performance kept the crowd in splits of laughter as the group kept up the tempo and the mood with a series of one-liners and topical humour that varied from cracks on marital relationships to politics and everyday life in general.

Conducted in chaste Hindi with a few touches of regional dialect for added colour, the four members moved from topic to topic with effortless ease sparing no one from Laloo Prasad Yadav, who is every satirist dream, to Mamta Banerjee, domestic issues and civic problems.

‘‘Over the years, Kavi Sammelans have changed and evolved along with their audiences,” said Nandkumar Goswamy who used to attend several such events while living in Lucknow

“While they used to be intellectual forums for poets to meet and exchange ideas on poetry, they are now free-flowing, topical expressions of humour and satire mainly in prose. I’m glad to see so many young people enjoying this programme,” he added.
“I enjoyed the performance immensely although this is the first time I have attended such an event.The humour was terrific and the tongue-in-cheek jokes were hilarious especially if you had a clear grasp of the language and its subtleties,” said Srinath Prabhu, a regular at Ranga Shankara.