Page 45 - NAMAH-Oct-2020

Namah On drama therapy

Mahabharat. One of them is the well-known It is easier to ‘graduate’ in modern society,
Bengali actress, Shaoli Mitra. Her two-hour where rites of passage have become college
solo acting of Draupadi in that court and ragging sessions and board exams. Fair
her powerful questions have shaken the leadership is not taught. Eldership is not
audience to tears. People have watched her an aspiration. The role of the shaman is all
play multiple times, and have been moved but gone. The priest or clergyman does not
by it each time. Drama therapy works in a fit that role. The shaman was the medicine-
repetitive manner. The message has to be man, healer of people’s bodies and souls,
reinforced to be internalised. Shaoli Mitra the community’s body and soul, channel
acts as the therapist, healing the people in of supernatural wisdom. He brought down
the audience, who are no less part of the rain to nourish the body of the village. He
drama. The name of the play is significant told the people where to hunt and fish. He
— Naathboti Anaathbat, which can roughly be resolved inter-personal disputes. He made
translated as “One with husband is as though peace with other villages. He inspired the
unmarried, or a woman with protectors, is new generation.
nonetheless unprotected.”
The rite of passage is a positive drama. Each
The passage from one phase of life to another one writes the script of his own drama for
is marked by a rite of passage in many pre- the blossoming of his soul. The rite could
modern societies. In a Native American include physical rituals, such as fasting and
wilderness quest, a person would venture bowing down before trees. The vital and
out alone in nature for several days, not come mental sheathes are likewise purified, such
in contact with anyone or anything made by as dropping emotional baggage, clearing
man, not eat food, be concentrated in the the mind of distracting thoughts. One has
soul. During this journey he would meet his to be fearless in the wild, meet snakes with
spirit-guide, perhaps as his power animal. kindness and share one’s earthen bed with
He would be given a message, maybe his ants. This drama has words too. Active
life’s mission. He would return with the imagination can initiate the process of
guide as his lifelong companion. African dialoguing with supernatural beings. The
hunting tribes have a rigorous process of ego plays the part of the curtain pusher.
graduating a male child to an adult. He has He then steps aside graciously. The higher
to rough it out alone in the jungle, survive realms of the mind then take over. The ego
hunger and wild beasts. Otherwise he may is just a scribe, much like its function as a
not be able to lead a group of hunters. There dream recorder. The guide may take the
are similar rites of passage for young girls sojourning soul to a land full of dangers.
who need to be deserving of the hardships He has to be a hero. He has to fight evil
of motherhood. When these people grow creatures. He has to rescue the treasure,
old, their life-experiences would provide his own soul-powers. The plenitude he has
the wisdom container for the younger found in his rite of passage is the gift he has
generation. Leadership and Eldership were to bring back upon his return. When he is an
earned through rigorous rites of passage. Elder, he will lead youngsters in their own
rites of passage.

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