THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On Friday, the National Theatre Festival will witness a tribute to the first national hero and the martyr of the Garo tribe of Meghalaya, Toggan Nigminza. The Garo play, ‘A-Chik, A-Song’, ought to cross all language barriers, for, it will be telling the story of the glorious first and last arms struggle against the British by the Garoes.
‘A-Chik A-Song’ (the indigenous Garoes introduce themselves as ‘A-Chik’, ‘A’ in Garo means soil or land and ‘song’ means village or inhabitance. So, ‘A-Chik A-Song’ means the ‘Land of the Garoes’) is based on the socio-political history of Garo Hills, Meghalaya, during 1870-1872, and it tells how Toggan Nigminza organised and trained a group of Garo youth and attacked the British camp.
The play starts with a grandmother narrating the heroic incidents of the Garo mythology and refers to the period of the play. The Garo villagers were independent and happy until British entered the interior Garo villages under Captain Williamson (locally known as Walma Sahib, who first introduced fire arms in Garo hills. ‘Wal’ in Garo means fire). About 50 independent Garo villages revolted against the British policy of invasion. Though the British Army easily overpowered the ill-equipped Garo freedom fighters, Toggan Ningminza gave up his life for the cause of freedom and became the hero of the land.
The drama proceeds to show how the Garo children of today find themselves amazed listening to the heroism of their ancestors.
Scripted by Rajeeb Kr Phukan (it is his first work in Garo language), the play is presented by Dapon-The Mirror, a theatre group which lies in North-Eastern India bordering Bhutan in Odalguri district of Assam. It is directed by Pabitra Rabha, an alumnus of the National School of Drama, who is also an expert with settings, lighting, property, mask-making and make-up. He has acted in plays and Hindi feature films like ‘Tango Charlie’, ‘Mukhbir’, ‘Kayataran’ etc. The play will be staged at Tagore Theatre at 7 p.m.
