In her 2009 TED Global talk, that went viral on the Internet, novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke about the danger of a single story. Her powerful concluding line, “When we reject the single story, when we realise that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise,” resonated with more than of us.
It is fitting then that the Kabir Festival will showcase Dastan Jai Ramji Ki , a narrative about multiple Ramayanas that circulate in the world in place of a singular one. Scripted and directed by Mahmood Farooqui, it will be performed by storyteller, Ankit Chadha.
The performance is a patchwork quilt woven from diverse literary and scholarly works written over several centuries. In addition to Valmiki’s Ramayana and Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas , it draws on Allama Iqbal’s poem Ram , AK Ramanujan’s essay ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation’, and Paula Richman’s book Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia . Other sources include Kamban’s Tamil epic Ramavataram , Vimalasuri’s Jain text Paumchariya , as well as the work of Chandraman Bedil and Abdul Maseeh Panipati.
Ironically, the poetry of Kabir often admonishes scholars for being too obsessed with their scholarship. He invites the scholars and all other listeners to abandon their claims to authenticity, and flow in the currents of love.
The following couplet appears in ‘Walking With Kabir’, an essay by Kabir Project director, Shabnam Virmani. Kabir haldi peeyari, chuna ujjwal bhai/ Ram snehi yun mile, donon varan gavai . Kabir says, turmeric is yellow; limestone a brilliant white/Two lovers of Ram met thus; both shed their own colours.
Chadha’s relationship with Ram goes back to his childhood.
He remembers his mother greeting elders by saying, “ Ram Ram ji ”. Every Tuesday, he would visit a temple in the neighbourhood to make offerings and recite the Hanuman Chalisa . On one occasion, he read a few lines from Ramcharitmanas at an akhand paath at home. After graduation, he wrote a research paper on the Ramlila as celebrated in Delhi. In this, Chadha explored how the performance tradition has evolved, with numerous local committees now producing big budget shows at the time of Dussehra.
“ Dastan Jai Ramji Ki introduces you to a Ram who is closer to the folk than these rituals, idols and texts. I recently met a pastoralist in Kutch, who moved across India with a herd of hundreds for decades. When he was on the move, he heard folk tales of Ram but whenever he settled, Valmiki and Tulsidas returned,” shares Chadha. This narrative was first performed in early 2011 to mark the first AK Ramanujan Memorial Lecture at the University of Delhi. Chadha’s involvement with it began much later. Having presented it before audiences at the Maagh Mela in Allahabad, the World Heritage Week celebrations in Delhi, and other contexts, he is excited about its premier show in Mumbai as part of the Kabir Festival.
Ankit Chadha will perform the dastan on Kabir on January 7 and Dastan Jai Ramji Ki on January 10. See thekabirfest.com for details.
