‘Kahi Patra’, a one-act play on AIDS awareness
Times of India: In 2000, a woman began writing letters to her husband to express her anguish when he was detected with HIV/AIDS. Over the next four years, the wife, a college professor, wrote some 20 missives, which she never sent to her husband.
These moving letters, recounting her triumphs and tribulations, now form the essence of Kahi Patra,’ a one-act single-character play directed by Sameer Kulkarni and produced by the NGO Prayas. It will be performed by Savita Prabhune at 6 pm on December 1 on the occasion of World AIDS Day at Lokayat Hall on Law college road.
“It was the husband’s doctor who asked the woman to write the letters to give vent to her anxiety. The doctor’s support prevented the family from falling to pieces when the husband’s illness was detected. And it’s the wife’s unconditional love for her husband that comes through in her letters,” says Prabhune, who plays the protagonist in Kahi Patra’. “The letters are filled with her daily experiences while dealing with her husband’s illness, her ambitions, her triumphs and simple day-to-day experiences that give her strength,” adds Prabhune, a lawyer by profession.
Interestingly, the wife did not allow herself to be bitter about what she and her family went through. “Rather, she emerged stronger than ever, even after her husband passed away,” says Prabhune.
For Kulkarni, an ENT surgeon and scriptwriter of Amol Palekar’s film Anaahat’, reading the letters made him want to share them with an audience. “The letters just prove that life is bigger than the disease itself, and there is no better remedy than hope. The identities of the couple and its family have been kept confidential, but I truly felt like bringing the experiences of this woman to the stage,” says Kulkarni.
The couple in question came from a village in southern Maharashtra. “The husband, an agricultural officer, expired in 2004. His wife had written these letters for her husband and would show them to the doctor treating him. Finally, after the husband’s passing, permission was sought from her to create a play based on the letters,” says Neha Vaidya, a social worker at Prayas, the NGO that provided the necessary medical assistance and counselling to the family.
The whole period of suffering was a growing-up experience for the wife, says Neha. “The doctor who treated her husband, gave much emotional support to the couple. The wife was able to gather strength and courage without begrudging her husband’s fate. Her life had a new meaning through this struggle,” says Neha.
More articles by The Desk
- Trekking sites around Pune are safer now - March 18th, 2010
- Gang artificially ripening mangoes with harmful chemicals handed over to police - March 18th, 2010
- IPL fails to do well in theatres - March 18th, 2010
- Na Dhon Mahanor to inaugurate literary meet - March 18th, 2010
- Actor Pankaj Jha will be holding his first solo exhibition 'No Mind’s Creation' in the city - March 17th, 2010
