रसचक्र Raschakra

 

 

 

On watching the performance of Eve Ensler’s  The Vagina Monologues , Gloria Steinem’s  initial reaction  was, “I already know this: it’s the journey of truth-telling we’ve been on for the past three decades”. My initial reaction on seeing the performative reading  Hum Khawateen  (We, Women) by a theatre group called Raschakra was in total contrast to Steinem’s response. I asked myself, “Why did I not know about this? How could such silence shroud the existence of these writings for over a century?” Hum Khawateen  is a reading of a selection of articles from Urdu women’s magazines published in India about a century ago. These magazines were serendipitously discovered by a team of researchers from the feminist group Nirantar who were working on issues related to Muslim women’s education. Nirantar  also published  a compilation of Devnagri transliterations of these writings called  Kalaam-e-Niswan  (Women’s Words) . Its editor Purwa Bh...

Few texts got a dusting when four women staged dramatised reading of 100-year-old women's risalas (magazines) in Urdu, at India International Centre, New Delhi. The readings of Hum Khawatein (We, the women) removed the dust of bias and ignorance from the now marginalised voices — of Urdu and Muslim women — and their writings on issues ranging from political, social and international relations to fashion and tradition. These voices sounded participative — neither isolated nor ghettoised — shattering the stereotypes constructed around the post-independence Muslim women; burqa-clad, obedient, religious hypocrites, controlled by the diktat of the Shariya and Hadith.  When self-appointed guardians of Indian culture are daring to threaten the use of Urdu script in street art — right in the national capital — such events acquire greater significance. Reintroducing the progressive nature of the century-old writings; the event opened a fresh perspective on why liberal voices of Muslim women...

ज़रा सोचिए क़रीब सौ साल पहले मुसलमान औरतें अपनी ज़बान, यानि उर्दू में, क्या लिखती थीं? क्या पढ़ती थीं? आज के दौर में जब मुसलमान औरतों का ज़िक्र बुर्का, तीन तलाक़, इस्लामी फ़तवों या युनीफ़ॉर्म सिविल कोड के संदर्भ में ही होता है, आपको हैरानी होगी कि बीसवीं सदी की शुरुआत में वो इसके इतर कितनी बातें कह रही थीं. हाल ही में एक नाटक हम ख़वातीन ने उस दौर के कुछ लेखों को चुनकर दिल्ली में प्रस्तुत किया और एक झलक दी बीसवीं सदी की शुरुआत में मुसलमान औरतों की ज़िंदगी की. क्या थे उस व़क्त इन औरतों के सरोकार और कितनी बेबाक़ थी तब उनकी आवाज़? विशेष पेशकश के साथ बीबीसी संवाददाता दिव्या आर्य. https://www.bbc.com/hindi/multimedia/2016/06/160620_hum_khawateen_da

सौजन्य : बीबीसी  पाठ - श्वेता त्रिपाठी  दिल्ली, 2016  रसचक्र की प्रस्तुति 'हम खवातीन' का अंश   

Hindustan times 24 july 2017 हिंदुस्तान 24 जुलाई 2017 प्रभात खबर

Team ki masti aur performance ki tayyari

Hum khawateen Patna performance 23 july 2017

Publicity material for Hum Khawateen performance Presented by RASCHAKRA Direction - Vinod Kumar Performers - Alka Ranjan, Purwa Bharadwaj, Rizwana Fatima, Shweta Tripathi Organizer - Arthshila Date - 23.7.17 Time - 6.00 PM

हम ख़वातीन प्रस्तुति, 6 नवंबर 2016, समन्वय. हैबिटैट सेंटर दिल्ली.

वर्धा में मार्च. 2017 की प्रस्तुति की तैयारी