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Scent of the soil, vision of the stars
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Balwant Gargi was at home across the world but his roots remained in Punjab and his heart in Delhi. UMA VASUDEV pays tribute to the playwright and author who passed away recently... .
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I WAS walking down what was then Queensway - now Janpath - in New Delhi sometime near the `60s.
"Excuse me," said a man with probing eyes and a gentle face. "I'm Balwant Gargi."
"Oh, yes, of course," I said, having heard of him as a Punjabi playwright.
"I'm doing my own play here,`Kanak di Balli'. Will you do the main role?"
I just laughed. I didn't take up his suggestion, but we became good friends.
Balwant lived in a small house behind what was then called Curzon Road. There was a courtyard with one tree in a corner, a wooden divan with a colourful spread and a few poufs scattered at the end of a small verandah, near a tiny kitchen. At the back was one long room. On the right was a table serving both as writing desk anddining table. In the other portion was a thick mattress covered with a phulkari and cushions to sit on. There were paintings on the wall; dominating them was a Satish Gujral with its dramatic tones of red, black and white.
There were unforgettable evenings there. It could be the soft beguiling recitation by Amrita Pritam of her tempestuous poetry, or Reshma - whose gypsy voice had a forgotten grandeur and whose home was in the desert sands, but she didn't seem to care whether it lay on the Pakistan or Indian side. Home was where the music and the listeners were. In that small courtyard, I found them in summer evenings and winter sunshine - talking poetry, getting the feel of literature. There were discussions on human relationships and the disenchantment with Leftist politics of those - like Balwant - who had been its ardent protagonists.
Plays and short stories were written about passions that rocked that little courtyard. Kishori, the cook was a favourite with all. His meat curry and kaali daal were mouth-watering, with tandoori rotis from the nearby dhaba. And for Satish Gujral, there was that typical Punjabi favourite - crushed onion - to go with the food. At the end, there was sometimes kheer, but always gur. Born in Bhatinda, educated in Lahore, settled in Delhi after Partition, Balwant first wrote in Urdu, then made his reputation in Punjabi with his turn of phrase and daring treatment of relationships. He travelled extensively, interacted with world figures in theatre and the arts, and eventually he began to feel frustrated that the friends he valued couldn't reach him through the medium of his language. His short stories began to be published in English. A book, "Folk Theatre of India", published in New York and a semi-autobiographical novel in English, "The Naked Triangle" brought him to the forefront of cosmopolitan attention. He remained however, in constant touch with Punjab. He was responsible for creating the professional feel for theatre in Punjab, and as head of the Department of Drama in Punjabi University, Chandigarh, set the tone for contemporary perception. As a director he drove talent towards perfection. Two of his students - Anupam and Kiron Kher - have more than justified his confidence. Balwant Gargi died in Mumbai on April 21, 2003, at the age of 86. His son, Manu and daughter, Jannat by his American wife, Jeane - they had divorced - brought him to the Capital for the last rites. Delhi was where his heart was. He died actually when the builder mafia aggressively financed him out of his cosy haven on Curzon Road. .
In 1977 he had written a kind of will, saying he did not want to be mourned by any kind of institutional remembrance or condolence meetings. He wanted his friends to get together for dinner and remember him over drinks!
So that is what we did. We had only meat curry, makhni daal and tandoori rotis, with a piece of gur later. Bhagwan Garga, the famous documentary film-maker and historian, his friend from Lahore days, sent a message from Goa. I read it out. So then, the eyes filled up....
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Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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