The story flows through the land’s waters

Nisha Abdulla’s ‘Ashk Neele Hain Mere’ explores the notions of homelessness and belonging

Nisha Abdulla’s first play Mi'raj , about a young man’s journey in his faith , led to several questions in the playwright's mind. “I couldn’t fit these questions into Mi'raj , and they stayed with me. The questions had something to do with belonging. Everything fell into place when I saw a story on Facebook of a man who lives in Amaya, Karnataka.” This was the genesis of Nisha’s next play, Ashk Neele Hain Mere , originally written in English as Blue is the Colour I Cry , and was long-listed at The Hindu Playwright Award 2017. “The man couldn’t find enough water for agriculture, but he does not want to leave his land. He started building tunnels at the base of the hill, which was an ancient practice that was lost with time. He and his wife, both of whom are manual labourers, spoke to the landowners who told them to go for it. He tried and failed to create tunnels several times, and people wondered at how practical this method was, but he continued, and after four years he finally found water and made the land fertile. The place where he found water is where the character Rida lives.”

Ashk Neele Hain Mere revolves around Rida who lives in the burnt remains of a house. Rida clings desperately to “memories, voices, land, water, and her ancestor Moidu who comes to her with stories and songs from a different time so that she doesnt feel lost.” On the other hand, an ancient water spirit Bahri helps an unnamed man to transition to the other side.

“The man’s character is what Rida mirrors. He is part of the continuum, whereas, Bahri is the one who gives the ancestor, Moidu, the idea of going horizontally to find water. Another character, Ashu, is Rida’s best friend, and there is also the appearance of Rida’s mother. This play is influenced by a lot of the folk-tales I have read, it has a lot of Jinn stories, a lot of origin stories,” explains Nisha, a performer, playwright and director.

With

Mi'raj , Nisha displayed her strong playwriting skills. “In 2015, I did a six-month course on playwriting with Indian Ensemble. Earlier, I used to constantly write short stories. I was also an actor, so whatever short story I wrote would be in the form of a play. That’s when I decided to learn playwriting.”

However, the process of bringing the script from page to stage was challenging. “I had worked so long with the play in my head that I found the process of translating it to stage challenging. I worked with a movement director Pia Bunglowala. I told her how would you bring the characters alive if you didn’t hear the words they speak? From that, we created a series of worlds for the characters. I could leave behind the writer and could step into the shoes of a director.”

Mohit Kataria has translated the play into Hindi and Urdu. “I’ve always felt the politics of the play demanded Hindu and Urdu,” explains Nisha.

Qabila presents Ashk Neele Hain Mere , as a part of the Indian Ensemble Directors' Training Programme which will feature five other plays, on May 22, 7.30 pm at Ranga Shankara.

The cast includes Honey Raza, Shatarupa Bhattacharyya, Avantika Gautam, Abhishek Somvanshi, and Gautam Mehta.