Now there are acting and theater training schools across the world. We have our very own the 'National School of Drama' and various other state run institutions for learning the dramatic arts. The process is formal, there is a strict curriculum and probably the process not so organic as it ought to be. But for kids in Naya Theater, or the kids of Naya Theater actors- the two of them I interacted with closely and saw them grow in the theater made me realize how it really ought to be done. Ramchandar Singh, one of the senior actors in the theater has two daughters- Parul and Gungun, both of whom acted in Naya theater plays, they also travelled with the theater. They would tag along with their father for the rehearsals and also with the mother sometimes for the show. And then there were other kids like Dani, Wamiq's son who got introduced to stage at the highest level in our country through Naya theater. Dani though did not travel with the troupe so much.
Parul and Gungun would watch the rehearsals, move around on stage freely, they were never stopped by Habib Saab or anyone else. However, they somehow just learnt the discipline of a rehearsal. Would not enter the stage unnecessarily and would sometimes know each and every movement and line spoken by the actors on stage.
Parul would play the 'bandariya' on stage in Agra Bazar and then the child in Raj Rakta. She worked exactly like a professional actor. She would know her entries and exits. Then of course there was Habib Saab directing her. At these moments he was the gentlest. The kids called him 'Baba' . He would call them close to himself…explain to them in the simplest possible manner what they ought to do and they would execute and perform.
Sometimes when the shows were delayed and went way past her sleeping time Parul would delegate the job of waking her up to some of us and made sure that she was woken up. Not once in the years that I worked with Naya Theater, did I see Parul floundering on her entries. She would also calculate costume changes and ask for assistance from her co actors and work things out so that she manages it well.
Gungun was way too small when Parul started going on stage in Raj Rakta. She also wanted to be up there. Towards the climax of the play, the rajpurohit tries to perform bali on the child that the king is fond of and whom he considers his heir apparent. At the altar lies the child. Somehow Gungun also entered the stage and lied next to her sister. Their father was supposed to be performing this intense scene and he was surprised to see two children there. Well, Habib Saab did not pay much attention to this incident, in fact he only chuckled about these incidents. These were the joyous things for him in his theater, he simply enjoyed these things. But as Gungun went out of the stage she did get an earful from her mother. But as Parul grew in age and size Gungun replaced her as the actor playing the boy in Raj Rakta. And she performed with similar quality, though she did bring some of her own energy to the play. Habib Saab as ever was as gentle with her as he was with the other children. Well, when he worked with these children you could not even imagine that he was the hard task master that he was known to be. But then, as I said earlier, kids probably are the best performers and they understood his language better than the actors …sometimes!!!
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