HYDERABAD: Ilham. An Arabic word in Quran which means revelation or ‘the knowledge placed in heart through the unseen without any effort’, a treasure-term that priests of metaphysics would dedicate their lives for, which when received, is the accomplishment of all searches and the precise culmination point of all questions.
A word which can lead to both a mirage or a clear lake, separating mundane from mysterious, common from ‘the chosen’. The word which contains a whole branch of philosophy in itself. It sets a wordsmith free in endless sky of words so as to make him see everything with a rain-washed clarity – even inside a lake. But when ‘ilham’ chooses a common man to reveal ‘the unseen’ it can be both a blessing and curse as the revelations can be incomprehensible to common people. That’s how the main character Bhagwan in the play, written by Manav Kaul by the same title, perplexes and simplifies life through the revelations or ilham he experiences. The play was held at Lamakaan recently by city-based theatre group Bootleggers. Directed by Hindola Banerjee the performance was intriguing.
The play begins with Bhagwan sitting on a bench in a park while his family waits for his return. Clad in work clothes he plays hopscotch and seems to be talking to someone in absentia. Children perhaps. He comes back home at midnight. His friend a cloth-merchant waits for him and during the conversation we hear him say: “Kya duniya tumse aakar kahti hai ki main hun?”
The friend, as expected, doesn’t understand anything. And how can he if it is a line by Maharshi Ramana. As the play progresses we see the character evolving in his role. He gets pensive, broods and ponders over life sometimes getting into an absolute ecstatic state, which is the effect on him after his encounter with ilham. He stops going to work and wanders hither and thither in his contemplative state till he loses his job and his family, in an attempt to cure him, seeks the help of both a doctor and a baba!
The influence of Nietzsche is strong in the portraiture of the character especially the dialogues. Some lines are direct quotes from the German philosopher as when Bhagwan says: “Jo log naach rahey thhey, woh un logon ke dwara pagal samjhey gaye jinhe kabhi sangeet sunai hii nahin diya.” which translates as ‘those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.’ The traits of ‘eternal return’ are explicit as Bhagwan keeps going inside himself to stand before the revelation. It’s quite a paradox that the character’s name is Bhagwan while Nietzsche was an advocate of nihilism.
It’s interesting to know that a decade ago Manav Kaul himself went through what Bhagwan goes through in the play. During that time he was in touch with a lot of spiritual leaders and got to read Nietzsche.
As the play progresses, the character goes more deeply inside himself finding everything thing washed, clear, clean. He comes in contact with the deep floor of his psyche where stands his confidante and companion Chacha Chaudhary, a comics character created by cartoonist Pran.
He talks about a lake in a dream covered with algae that gets revealed with a whiff of breeze and everything becomes clear. His words hint at Truth and Illusion that exist as paradoxes and yet form the composite of the world. One can’t survive without another. The transparency of this revelation is too much for his frail body which exists in an equally fragile world that can’t bear the burden of something profound. Hence, Bhagwan played by Saahas Dev is forced to take medicines and become ‘normal’.
The play brings together the divide between real, surreal and tries to establish a connection between the higher self to the mundane self tied to this world with a Sisyphian chain.