Badal Sircar passes away

I just got the news 5 minutes back that Badal-da passed away yesterday. My first response is one of utter sadness and much gratitude - he was the first playwright who fired my imagination of what an 'Indian' play could be ... and while his Michchil was not the first play I directed, it was the first play that challenged me to really think through the various possibilities of theatre.

Over time, I realised how much Badal-da also influenced theatre across India in his time. When I went to Chennai, I heard how one of their defining workshops for contemporary Indian theatre was with Badal-da. And I kept hearing that across so many cities of this country. He was creating his theatre, setting new trends, in an exciting time when he, Satyadev Dubey, and so many others were talking to each other across the country and trying to really define what it meant to be doing theatre in independent India, as an independent Indian. They did not try to come up with a monolithic way of doing theatre - but the contributions of each of them have powerfully defined so much of our theatre today. Badal-da's Michchil, Ebong Indrajit, Bashi Khabar and more, rate as modern theatre classics.

My second response, soon after my first one, is of anger. Badal-da may have influenced, changed, set new directions for theatre in India, but we do not have a setup in this country that can recognise and honour and look after such a person. I hope I am not insulting anyone by saying this, but over the years, I always heard of how difficult things were for Badal-da. In the last few years, a few independent bodies and festivals honoured him and gave him support - but really, as we lose our theatre greats one after another - a very special generation is going ... Habib Tanvir passed away, Shyamanand Jalan passed away, now its Badal-da - my blood boils each time. There is absolutely no setup to give dignity and ease to these people who have made enormous contribution to India. Habib saab had to run after his government grant till the end. How dare we be a country like this? And how dare we think we can be counted amongst the best when we do not know how to respect, look after, take care of, our geniuses.

No apology can be great enough Badal-da ... I hope we will be better with your memory than we were with you while you were alive. And I hope we will learn to give those who follow the respect and care that is their due, in their lifetime.