In an age of Satellite TV and home entertainment, persists an age old custom of telling mythological tales. A theatrical interpretation of one of the most celebrated tales, the Ramayana about the triumph of Lord Ram over the scholarly but haughty Ravana for abducting his wife Sita. Ramleela as it’s popularly known’, literally means the story of Ram’s doings, actions and life on the whole, is held in several parts of India.
In the capital Delhi itself, more than 100 Ramleelas are simultaneously organized. It is a 10 day affair wherein the entire story of Ramayana is performed in a series , as stage play. As it is narrated, on the tenth day, effigies of Ravana with his brother Kumbh Karan and son Meghnath are burnt along with a magnificent display of fireworks and proves to be a great crowd puller. This last day of effigy burning is referred to as Dusshera.
The smaller Ramleela committees( in terms of budget), appoint people or children from nearby localities to essay the roles of various characters of Ramayan, whereas the bigger ones appoint more professional or experienced people along with better sound and visual effects.
Mr Naresh Gulati of Mukherjee Nagar , Delhi, has been associated with a group known as Brother’s Ramleela Committee ,as General Secretary and also essays the role of Meghnad . It is a 30 year old group which started at a budget of Rs 5800 but today the budget goes up to 8-10 lacs.
Mrs Sangeeta Bali , who plays the role of Sita and has been associated with the same group for last 15 years , says “I have a lot of emotional attachment with this group and then I get my kids here so that they can get to know and remember as much as possible about our religious history.”
Mr Gulati feels the same and says, ‘This mesmerizing tale espouses the idea of brotherhood, obedience and responsibility towards parents and elders, thus inculcating strong values and sense of belongingness in children towards their family, thereby strengthening familial bonds.”
The emotional connect of all the people associated with the whole process of presenting Ramayan as 10 -day Ramleela is really strong as most of them promise to be associated with it as long as they can.
The biggest Ramleela is organized at the Red Fort grounds in New Delhi and invites the likes of big politicians and Bollywood stars as its Chief Guests.
Along with Ramleela , melas or carnivals are held wherein different kinds of food stalls are put up with several rides for all age groups. Neeta Mehrotra a house wife says “we take it as an opportunity to spend time with family and the kids enjoy it too”.
The festival is celebrated all over India with a great amount of gallantry, enthusiasm and liveliness. The whole enactment is greatly looked forward to, not only by the old and middle aged but even children and youth, who can be very easily seen, actively participating in the whole process.
Dusshera remains one of the most significant festivals of India, and the theatre aspect lends a great amount of uniqueness to it, memorizing the splendid Victory of Good over Evil.
