KOCHI: Shanti Ghosh and Sunita Chaudary may not be familiar figures for the majority of us as the history of the Indian freedom struggle is in the form of just academic textbook pages. Unfolding the story of the two Bengali schoolgirls and freedom fighters who were hanged to death for shooting down a British magistrate in 1931, when they were just 14, and similar unsung heroes, the children's theatre of Government Higher Secondary School, Kakkodi, Kozhikode, will stage the drama, Swathanthryasamara Deepangal, to present the untold history of the freedom struggle in various lower primary and upper primary schools in the locality.
The contributions of Madan Lal Dhingra, a revolutionary freedom fighter, Udham Singh, alias Ram Muhammed Singh Azad, who killed the Punjab governor for supporting the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Madame Cama, who hoisted the Indian flag for the first time in a foreign land, in Germany, and other unheard stories will be depicted in the drama.
With special focus on the major chapters of the freedom struggle, from 1498 to 1948, the drama aims to make the younger generation realise the value of freedom.
“We have included sensitive portions of the freedom movement to show the struggle involved in getting freedom. All the major events, from Vasco da Gama's arrival in the country in 1498 to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948 will be discussed in the drama,” says A Aboobacker, Malayalam teacher and the children's theatre coordinator, who has written the script for the drama. “By being a part of the drama, we came to know a lot about the freedom struggle and we aim to spread the knowledge to other children too. A message prompting us to do good things for society will also be shared along with the drama,” says Sreehari U P, a class IX student, who will be performing the role of Vasco da Gama, Bhagat Singh and Jawaharlal Nehru in the drama.
Events such as the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, showing the involvement of Mangal Pandey, the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885, Gandhiji's first involvement in a farmer's satyagraha, etc will be discussed in the drama.Various freedom fighters, including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhagat Singh, Kunjali Marakkar, Velu Thampi Dalawa, Pazhassi Raja, Mangal Pandey, Rani Lakshmibai and others will be portrayed by the students in the 40-minute drama. Songs will play an important part in the drama, that will use less number of background objects and light make-up for the performers in unfolding the events. Various coloured shawls will also be important elements of the drama. “We will be using the poems of Subrahmaniya Bharati as the background music during the performance and ‘Ekla Chalo Re,' a Bengali patriotic song by Rabindranath Tagore, one of the favourite songs of Mahatma Gandhi, while showing Gandhiji's travel to Naokhali,” says Aboobacker.
Around 30 students from class VIII and IX will be taking part in the drama performance. The initial performance of the drama will be at the Government Higher Secondary School, Kakkodi, on Thursday. The drama will be staged in other schools till August 20.