My Interactions with Habib Tanvir Part !V: Two Tips

So I asked him one day, 'Habib saab, you have been around for almost fifty years, you have consistently done good work, you continue to create it, how come? Most directors and theater groups seems to have a  short life of five to ten years.' He responded, ' I think it is because I go bit by bit, remain true to the story, play it out again and again, even if I like something but it is coming in the way of the story, I am ruthless in removing it, so if you have a story to tell, you remain true to it, I think you will be alright. This is something that my teacher told me'

Another time we were talking about actors. He said ,'I have a problem with these ACTORS, you are an actor remain one. It is a job you are doing like a rickshaw puller or a coolie. Some days you will be pathetic, most of the time you will be average and then there will also be those days when you will be inspired. Whatever you do, do your job and get the hell out of there and let the next person do his job'

Kites II

Some more pictures of Kites in the Meerut sky on 'Basant panchami'.

In a kite crazy city, kites that fell and got stuck on this tree.

The lamp post is witness to all the kite flying.

This is what I used to do for my brother. In this case though the kid also flies his own kites since the family is quite kites crazy.

Everyone in his family is flying their own kites and probably have their own 'charkhis'

so, they fly

Uncleji trying to teach his grand daughter how to fly a kite. Failing. Just because you are on the roof in Meerut with a kite, it does not soar up. It is a learnt skill, you have to learn it.

I guess that is about kites for now.

My Interactions with Habib Tanvir: Part III

Habib saab had a thing about drinking two small shots of rum at night. He needed it to relax and unwind. So, once he was travelling with Nageen to France. His flight to France was out of Mumbai. He and Nageen were supposed to alight at the domestic airport and then go to the international airport to catch their international flight to France. Simple process. He had also requested Sanjna Kapoor to send someone to help out in case they had to come out of the airport with luggage. They didn’t have to because when Habib saab and Nageen came out they were carrying just one hand bag.

We were in Mumbai that time. We were staying at Charkop, which is kandiwili west. And as usual we had no money. I think our collective worth that day was about a thousand bucks in India rupees. (for those reading this in the US , I guess can’t even imagine it)

Habib saab calls and tells me that he is going to be there and then move to the international airport and fly to France, why don’t we go there to drive him from the domestic airport to the international airport. Though a volunteer is coming from Prithvi but ‘ I would like you to be there, if you can’. Now that meant that if you didn’t he would remember and let you know the next time he sees you. I couldn’t tell him how much money I had in the account.

So, we quickly calculated, figured a certain amount will go into petrol and parking. We would still be left with some. But just before leaving I realized that due to security norms he would not have been allowed to carry his miniature bottles in which he carried his Old Monk when he was travelling. So, I pulled out some more money from the fast depleting non-existent purse of ours and bought a quart.

Habib saab came out of the airport quite angrily. It took me some time to take out the car from the parking and reach where he was standing. He got into the car. I told him – Habib saab I have got your rum if you would like to have it. He said – and I have got water, but how will I have it? I told him there is a glass under his seat. He took out the glass, quickly mixed his drink and gulped it( Chait Ram style- he was in a hurry) In about ten minutes we reached the international airport. I again had to park the car. Habib saab kept waiting for me till the time I reached there to thank me for thinking about it and remembered this small gesture of mine.

My interactions with Habib Tanvir:Part II: Remembering Chait Ram

It has been a long time since I wrote about my interactions with Habib Tanvir. Last month Chait Ram passed away and that prompts me to write again. The time when I sat up watching a theater performance was a viewing of 'Dekh Rahe Hain Nain' by Habib Tanvir at IP college auditorium in their annual festival, I think they called it 'Shruti'. The year was 1992. I have already mentioned this in my earlier post. 


It was that time when I noticed the simplicity of the Chattisgarhi actors but also their power. This was quite different from watching other professional urban actors on Delhi stage like the NSD repertory , NSD students or other professional groups. 


The two actors who really stood out in this performance were Deepak Tiwari and Chait Ram Yadav. ( sadly Deepak was hit by a stroke and remains partially paralyzed and Chait passed away recently, both of these greats lived with very limited means, in case of Deepak Tiwari he continues to live with very limited means) 

Chait later became a friend of mine. The intensity of the personality, certain insolence and 'care a damn' attitude…his usual comment for everything and everyone he did not like 'chutia saale' …his need for alcohol but over and above all his affection, respect and empathy for people that he liked made him a very special person and actor. Chait came to Naya Theater as a young boy- his father Bhulua was already a first generation actor at Naya Theater. 

Chait was a personality of - if I am using the word correctly- paradoxes. He did not think anyone else in the theater could act apart from himself. Since I became a friend of his , I was granted some acting talent by him, but in his own words- ' you have to learn a lot more…chutia saale'( this time said affectionately). He liked his 'old monk' and once told me 'if you do not do at least one nasha- alcohol, grass, women- you are not an artist'. He was someone who would work hard at his roles- without saying much- could be relaxed and casual till the time he took an entry- but transform as he entered the stage. Be critical of Habib saab- curse him for paying such paltry amounts as theater actors received- but be absolutely loyal towards Habib saab and Moneeka Di whom he called 'maaji'. After Moneeka di passed away he would tell me ' maaji chali gayi ab dil nahin lagta yahan'. Despite all his criticisms of the money he received from Habib saab, his absolute faith in Habib saab for what he had to do on stage was amazing- it was a complex relationship between Habib Tanvir and his actors. Once I asked Chait- so have you prepared your role? Chait says- 'Yes, I have done my bit, so 80 percent ready, the rest he has to tie up'. 'He' was a reference to Habib Tanvir. 

Habib saab had a habit of drinking two small drinks with water in the evening. This was a time when he would wind up, discuss his day with people who were around him, laugh , joke, share his concerns. He usually did not drink with the chattisgarhi actors because drinking with them would mean that they would drink beyond their capacity and get loud and sometimes ugly. He usually offered me a drink in the evenings when I was around but Chait would pull me away. Then one day Habib Saab asked Shalini-'What does he get from Chait that he doesn't get with me…does he do joints?' Shalini told him that I don't. Habib saab then thought about it and said- 'Okay I get it , Chait is a loner and so is Himanshu, rare to see two loners from two different worlds become thick, but interesting' . According to Shalini, he took a puff on his pipe , released the smoke , and laughed a little as if thinking about how the two of us could be friends. 

Chait was downright honest. He could never lie. When Habib saab had to check whether what the actors were telling him about an expense, rehearsal, any other event was true or not, he would always check with Chait. It was a skillful conversation though on Habib saab's part. He would ask Chait- 'Chait, aaj bus nahin mili, auto se aana padha, zyada kharcha ho gaya?' And Chait would say- 'nahin saab, sab bus se aaye hain, koi zyada kharcha nahin hua' and Habib saab would know. Moneeka di did not even have to be diplomatic in asking Chait. She would ask him directly and he would blurt out the truth. 

Chait's 'chor', 'Jaisingh' , 'laddoowaala' and the other characters are memorable. He was different, brought a different energy to stage and Habib saab respected his individuality- like he did with every actor who ever worked with him. That is why strong actors enjoyed working with him. 

A few incidents with Chait are most memorable. At Prithvi after a show, he had had a quarter of 'old monk' and started hitting on the still photographer. The lady was not sure what was going on. I was present and deeply embarrassed. And I asked Chait Ram-'Why do you even attempt when you know that there is no chance here?' Chait responds- 'Try karne mein kya jaata hai?' ( What is the harm in trying?') After drinking once he did try to hit on Shalini which really upset me and I did not speak to him for a long time. But then once Shalini was traveling with the troupe and their train got late on an obscure station. It was winters, there was a breeze and Shalini was not feeling too well. The women tribal dancers put some blankets on the platform to go off to sleep , got Shalini to lie down too and Chait sat there guarding her from the breeze, the whole night!!! Well, that was Chait Ram. After Moneeka di had passed away, we were traveling to Germany. Habib saab had kept a mustache. Everyone was drunk and Chait , very emotional told Habib saab- ' If she was around you would not have kept this, she would not let you, now that she is gone you are doing what you want' Habib saab nodded, they both had tears in their eyes remembering Moneeka di. Chait Ram told him to take off the mustache. Habib saab did so the very next day. 

Remembering Chait is thinking about his booming voice, his intensity, his insolence, disrespect for any rules, arrogance and then of his sensitivity, empathy, affection and loyalty. 

This piece is dedicated to my friend Chait who passed away recently as he went out to take a bath. He was trying to fill a bucket of water from his well in the village and he went in no time. Hope they have Habib Tanvir around there or else they would have a tough time because Chait is not the one to sit quietly and it would take him no time before he would say ' chutia saale'

Kites

Just colorful paper…two sticks holding the paper together…thread and human skill and the kites fly. They are a huge sport in India. In UP and especially Meerut, my home town, flying kites is very big. Not just flying them but also competing with each other in the sky and cutting the competing kite, called 'pench ladaana'.

They do become a very inexpensive way of expressing human creativity and source of pure joy when you see this piece of paper flying high up. I know now, that I actually flew kites in Meerut this basant panchami that why flying kites was more important for India's older generations than fighting wars with the colonial beast. It is sheer joy.

Cities like Meerut have a street which can be called the 'Kite Street'. It is that part of the old Meerut called 'Khairnagar'.

Though when I was young, I never got to fly kites, my brother was the one who controlled this activity while I would be standing behind him holding the 'char khi' on which the two kinds of threads 'sadda' and 'manjha' are wound.