Delhiites seem all for the Metro network with hardly a dissenting voice, since this fast and efficient mode of transport has transformed commuting for thousands of citizens. It can’t be denied, though, that while it’s a-building, life can be hard, especially for those who live adjacent to its construction sites. Ask celebrated theatre personalities Jalabala Vaidya and Gopal Sharman, whose theatre, Akshara, otherwise a cultural landmark in the city, is now all but hidden behind the blue Metro boards. But Akshara, tucked next to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, continues unfazed. All roads may seem to lead to deviation signs instead of to Akshara, but such hassles can’t stop the veterans inside from going full steam with various projects.
Currently engaged in filming “The Ramayana”, perhaps their most famous production, written by Sharman and brilliantly enacted by Jalabala, the couple also publishes books of poetry and prose and makes films on commission. Topics include music and musicians, Sufi thought, Kashmir, among others. (Sharman is particularly well known for the India Alive series and The Kashmir Story.) In summer there are workshops for children. They also have a monthly programme of dramatised book readings. The next one is based on R.K. Narayan’s “A Tiger for Malgudi”, on October 25, 5.30 p.m.
“The idea was really to get back to performing to the public while we are engaged in doing other things,” says Jalabala. The filming “is a lengthy exercise but getting on well,” and meanwhile, the theatre is also let out to others to use for performances and recordings.
“I’m happy because I want more and more things to be happening at Akshara,” she says. “By the time the Metro is actually done, I want Akshara to be firmly in everybody’s mind.”
What is the rent like? “Really it’s a sort of Robin Hoodish policy being employed,” says Jalabala, meaning those who can afford it pay enough to cover the costs of maintenance, while those who can’t are subsidised. The veteran actor’s sparkling accent and British turn of phrase might be explained partly by her British mother and partly by her being an alumna of Miranda House, Delhi University.
“My father was a freedom fighter. We were externed from England!” recounts Jalabala, who came to India when she was about eight. An officer in the British army, he won a case against the Government, “and after that they never allowed a foreigner into the army.” They lived in Maharashtra with the joint family, headed by her grandfather — “a typical Maharashtrian mixture of orthodoxy and reform”. He was so strict she saw him beating his daughter at 16 for speaking to a boy. Yet he supported remarriage of child widows, a fraught issue in some parts of society, and had himself married a woman who had been widowed as a child.
Family matters
When she married Sharman, Jalabala entered a different kind of orthodox household. “I had a very nice mother-in-law,” she notes. Though Sharman’s father was a doctor, even onions and garlic were not allowed in the food. Pujas and kathas were always part of the schedule and Ekadashi was strictly observed. “I was very different — not chosen by them — but she was so loving,” recalls the daughter-in-law.
Sharman who grew up in Lucknow has introduced Jalabala to the world of the Bhakti poets. Jalabala knows everyday Hindi, while Sharman, well versed in Hindi, related dialects and Sanskrit, has an enviable command. “I hope one day to persuade him to publish it. Most of it is not published. He knows them because he’s sung them.”
Jalabala wants to make these lesser known poets accessible to the public. “What I want to do through Akshara — one day I’ll have to find some market wiz — is for people to have access to all this, which I’ve had access to because I married Gopal and he opened it up for me.”
Speaking of home and the world, Akshara is both to these veterans. In India since late 1968, when they returned from a sojourn in England, they have built it bit by bit. The façade, the woodwork, the lights in the little auditorium are custom made by Sharman with a loving hand, lots of skill and little help. “People become architects without ever holding a tool in their hands,” remarks Sharman. Particularly fond of wood carving, he took an unconventional route to gain his expertise.
“As a schoolboy he was also fascinated by magic and he had to make all kinds of boxes,” says Jalabala. Sharman assents: “It had to be very intricate because if it doesn’t work, you look like a fool!” Today his nifty hands make magical props.
The two veterans and their two cats and dogs are Akshara’s permanent residents. A public-private home can have security issues. “We’ve never had, touch wood, any form of security problem. Now we do have tall iron gates, but they are more to keep our dogs in,” says Jalabala. “I think it’s fairly obvious we’re not rich. Security, whether in terms of life and limb or regular salary, has never been a concern for us.”
(anjanar@thehindu.co.in)
