NEW DELHI: A thick blue tarpaulin covers a small stall on a footpath opposite Sangeet Bharti in Mandi House here. Underneath, Narender Chahar, 47, sits reading a Hindi newspaper. Packs of cigarettes, biscuits, and jars containing betel nuts, palm nuts and tobacco packets surround him. His faithful companion — a second-hand tricycle — is parked nearby. This sidewalk is Chahar’s home and workplace for last three years in Delhi, where he arrived about three decades ago and read an advertisement in Delhi for young artists. That opened a new world for him.
“I read the ad and contacted them. I acted in many plays and gained confidence.” In early 90s, he claims to have worked in some Doordarshan films. It was an argument with his mother that led to his exit from his house in Loriya village, Agra. “Back home, I had started a union. Along with other members, I took out a protest march against petrol hike. My mother was annoyed with me. We had an altercation and I ran away,” he remembers.
Life was not easy. At the age of 25, doctors diagnosed him with collagen disease. “Coming from a village in Uttar Pradesh, I didn’t know the hierarchical structure at hospitals...I addressed a doctor as sister. She was offended. In the end, I couldn’t get myself treated and felt that my life has fallen into pieces but I had to redeem myself,” he says. “During my initial years in Delhi, I stayed with a cousin. Later, I rented a house but there came a time, when I couldn’t afford the rent.”
“The little bit of money, we made from theatre wasn’t enough. So, I started working with a make-up artist and eventually learnt the craft,” he adds. Due to the disease, he struggled as an artist because he couldn’t bend his hand. “About five years ago, my condition worsened and now I can’t walk so I travel by my tricycle.” His assignments as a make-up artist for dramas and regional TV shows have dried up. “I haven’t received any make-up projects in last one year.”
But, there is no hint of bitterness when Chahar speaks about his struggles. “I have no complaints. Those earning crores are also not happy. I am satisfied that I am on my own. I am content with what I have. In the village, we slept in the fields. Where I sleep today, is another field. This is where I have been earning my living from,” he asserts.
Why did he choose this area? Needless to say it was the presence of National School of Drama, Shri Ram Centre of Arts and Lalit Kala Akademi. “I have known many artists who came to Delhi to make a career in the world of theatre. As you know, success in this profession doesn’t come easy and it doesn’t come to everyone,” Chahar says. “Some of them went crazy, some returned homes, some committed suicide...A very few only had the strength to pursue their dreams.”
The world of theatre and films is a world “without any barriers”, according to Chahar. “Nobody cares about your religion or your caste. It is open for all — for the rich and the poor,” he says. For now, Chahar is trying to pool in money for a movie being made under his watch. “We want to release it in 2020...are looking for a producer.”
Tough living, modest earning
Chahar charges I1,000 to I5,000 per day as wages as a makeup artist. The UP native claims to have done about 100 plays. after he came to Delhi in 1988. After his disease was diagnosed, Chahar started his makeshift stall at Mandi house in 2016
