Welcome to Rama Shankar Nishesh
A hindi Playwright and short story writer, Rama Shankar Nishesh started his theatre movement for and with the down trodden of society. His works have featured rikshaw pullers, railway station porters (coolie) and footpath vender. In his search to seek reality he used the downtrodden as actors in his plays. In addition to providing realism, this act developed as sense of pride and belonging in the unrecognized. For once a coolie, a rickshaw puller and a vendor were not invisible but rather stars. Nishesh’s works made a difference in so many people lives one person at a time. He wrote plays based on the common man, acted with them and directed for them. His realistic approach has portrayed a clearer picture of the neglected class of Indian society.
Rama Shankar Nishesh was born in Delhi and brought up in a small village of Uttar Pradesh, Mirapur of Barelly District. He completed Prabhakar (Honors) in Hindi and Sanskrit from Punjab University in 1954. He completed his Bachelor in English from Punjab University in 1956. During his education he was writing short stories, which were published in various magazines. These works established Nishesh in the literary circle as an acclaimed short story writer.
Nishesh started his career writing short stories. His stories professed the seemingly contradictory distinction of being critically acclaimed and popular among readers. His visualization style is still being emulated by young writers today. His style was epitomized in “Gai – Hamari Mata Hai”, a short story that won numerous awards, including much-covered Delhi Public Library’s Best short Story award. The story thereafter got published in Sarita. It is a satire on animal cruelty. Cow, a religious symbol, is revered and worshiped at distance in our society. The story puts a question “Does our behavior in reality justify our commitment?” Here a cow tells her own story. The cow follows a daily routine of being milked in the morning by her master who sells her milk. She further searches for food through the day in trash bins and garbage, returns back in the evening for milking again and finally is tied for the night. On one such particular day cow runs from animal cruelty department (SPCA) workers remembering their earlier atrocities against her. While running she collides with the lamppost. Despite her further efforts to run, she falls and starts to bleed from her head. Not willing to be responsible of an injured animal SPCA workers leave the cow to be tended by her master. The cow’s master realizing the old age and diminishing milking ability of the cow decides to sell her to a slaughterhouse. While the cow is being carted to be slaughterhouse there is procession carried behind the cart. The cries from the cows calf are muffled by the bellows of crowd “Gai hataya band karo , Gai hamari mata hai” (Stop cow killings, cow is our mother). Nishesh ask “Is the slogan just a slogan, or are we serious? If we are serious then for how long will we let the animals suffer?”
