The plight of the common man delivered with a sense of humour by cartoonist R.K Laxman was brought alive on stage by the unlikely posse of IPS officer trainees. A week before they are set to graduate, around 28 trainees of the SVP National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in the city brought alive a satire ‘Ek Tha Gadha’ by the Hindi playwright Sharad Joshi.
Caught between loyalty to the establishment and machinations of politicians, the Indian Police Service trainees cracked the joke on themselves by improvising characteristics of pros.
“There will be serious law and order situations and other challenges you will face as IPS officers, different from the administrative role I have played. Keeping alive a sense of humour will be a saving grace in the tough situations,” said governor E.S.L Narasimhan who attended the performance at Salar Jung Museum auditorium. He congratulated the administrators for their performance.
Directed by Baanee Sharad, daughter of playwright Sharad Joshi, the trainees put in a spirited performance. “Despite small glitches with the sound, the performance was flawless. They have been observant, intelligent and disciplined during the practice sessions. I had trained them for a five week duration earlier in July. This time it was just a week’s refresher course,” said Baanee Sharad.
Set to graduate on November 2, the trainees managed to fit in three hours of practice despite the rigorous practice sessions for the passing out parade. “Though it was tiring, we enjoyed every bit of the process. In fact there was a lot of spontaneity when we performed on stage,” said Mokshada Patil and Pranaya Ashok who acted in the two-hour play.