Aksharakala, Thiruvananthapuram is giving voice to the hospice movement with their new play, Sneha Santhwanam , directed by veteran theatreperson Meenambalam Santosh. It’s perhaps for the first time that a professional drama troupe in the state is turning the spotlight on palliative care.
Then again, this is Aksharakala we are talking about. It’s an ensemble that has over the past decade or so given Malayalam some thought-provoking dramas such as Mathilerikani , Bhakthakavi Poonthanam and Satyam Parayunna Kallan – Charandas Chor , all of which played to full houses and garnered much critical acclaim.
When MetroPlus met up with the troupe at a stage, tucked away in the leafy suburbs of the city, a rehearsal session is on in full swing, complete with dialogues blaring from speakers. They are rehearsing the final scenes. Nonetheless, it’s surprising how quickly one is drawn into the action on stage, completely riveted as the main characters Dr. Acharya, Dr. Vaiga, Dr. Prakash, Joji, Theresa, the compounder, and the likes, with nary a slip in the act, lead the play and the theme to its moving conclusion.
“This play is for all those who were denied the right to a dignified death through end-of-life care, which should ideally be the moral right of every human being. It’s also for all those who yearned for some compassion in their dying days; for all those cancer patients for whom there is no hope, save for that touch of empathy; for those hundreds of patients who do not have access to morphine to alleviate their pain; for those relatives of patients who don’t get enough moral and financial support; for all those hospitals that don’t yet have palliative care units; for those tireless thousands of palliative care professionals and volunteers, who find time for the cause…,” says Santosh, a seven-time state professional drama award-winning director.
He adds that it was distinguished palliative care specialist M.R. Rajagopal, founder and chairman of Pallium India, a city-based organisation that is a pioneer in the field, who sowed the seeds for the play. “That is why throughout the play we’ve included references to the work that is being done by the organisation and other similar organisations in improving quality of life of people with life-limiting or disabling diseases, by treating pain and by providing emotional, social and spiritual support,” adds Santosh.
Sneha Santhwanam , which was two years in the making, was written by veteran Malayalam playwright Gopinath Kozhikode.
It unfolds in the background of a hospital founded by the noble Dr. Varma, renowned for practising ‘integrated medicine’. Building on this goodwill, his daughter, Dr. Vaigha (Liya Varma) and his son-in-law, Joji (Kalavoor Sreelan), a ruthless businessman, turn the institution into a multi-speciality hospital, eschewing its hospice origins.
The lone voice of reason is Dr. Acharya (Sudarshan Kadappanamoodu), Dr. Varma’s disciple. How the hospital turns back to its hospice roots and how Joji finds salvation in the very hospice he destroyed forms the gist of the story.
“The very subject of palliative care and its relative lack thereof in the country called for extensive research. The story was inspired by Sharing The Darkness , a seminal work on palliative care by Sheila Cassidy, and the works of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, an American psychiatrist and an authority on the subject. Because palliative care is a rather dry subject, there needed a lot of dramatic elements to sustain the play and as such the narrative progresses as a journey to self-realisation for each of the characters,” explains Gopinath. Other evils of the system such as the commercialisation of heath care and the social evil that is alcoholism have also been included in the narrative.
Personal touch For many of those associated with the play, especially Santosh, it is a personal journey too, it seems. Thanks to his job as a health inspector, Santosh has had the “privilege” of accompanying doctors, particularly S.V. Arun, a medical officer at the Primary Health Centre in Veli, on routine visits to the homes of patients in need of palliative care. “Moreover, I know first-hand the struggles of such patients and the trauma that their relatives go through, especially with regards to financial and moral support, having gone through it myself for eight years until the death of my elder son, who was born with certain disabilities,” says an emotional Santosh, as the cast and crew once again take to the stage for a noble cause. Curtains up!
Sneha Santhwanamwill premiere on October 10, prior to World Palliative Care Day on October 11. The two-hour play will be staged at Karthika Thirunal Theatre at 6.15 p.m.
