Balwant Gargi

Notes:

Balwant was a famous playwrite in India.

Obituary from his friend: Gursharan Singh, an eminent playwright and was Gargi's friend for 60 years


The elusive Gargi
He courted change and controversy equally

Balwant Gargi was a friend in Lahore before Partition. By the time India became independent, he was a prolific writer and a recognisable name. But his story started far earlier. In 1914, I.C. Nanda's play, Suhag was staged, marking the beginning of the era of modern Punjabi theatre. Between Nanda and Gargi, Punjabi theatre travelled to where it is today.
Gargi's imprint was his crisp and meaningful dialogues, scripted in Malwa's hinterland dialect. He was a product of the Progressive Writers' Movement of the forties, when Amrita Pritam, Prof Mohan Singh, Sant Singh Sekhon and others like them were at their prime. His most famous plays, Loha Kut, Kanak di Balli, Kesro, and Kuari Teesee, were all written in those years, as was the novel, Kakka Reta. Gargi's childhood memories live in these works. Mothers, grandmothers, aunts, they populated his pages.
Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari founded Preet Nagar, between Lahore and Amritsar, and Gargi-like me and many of my generation-was shaped by the development. It was an era of idealism. Social justice, women's plight and related issues were the favoured topics. Loha Kut slammed male chauvinism and when the repressed wife runs away with the heartthrob of her youth, after her daughter did likewise, the blacksmith husband hits the hot iron with vigour, but without emotion. Words will always fail to describe what Gargi was able to say on stage. Kanak di Balli made history. It gave Gargi great satisfaction when Balraj Sahni acted in it just months before his death in April 1972. The Press in Bombay hailed it as comparable to the best that Marathi and Gujarati theatre had to offer.
If 27, Curzon Road, New Delhi, turned out to be an address of pilgrimage, Gargi's personality was responsible for it. Only a single room, with a tree in the courtyard, it was able to attract even Pablo Neruda. When Ibrahim Alkazi was ruling the National School of Drama, Gargi set the standard with Razia Sultana, a strong statement on women's empowerment. His years at the Panjab University's Indian Theatre Department, which he founded, were also decisive. Who can forget the Chalk Circle, Little Clay Cart or Mirza Sahiban? Gurcharan Channi, Anupam Kher, Rani Balbir and many other illustrious names in the world of film, TV and theatre were associated with his productions. The TV serial, Sanjah Chulha was acclaimed as one of the best productions ever, and the son-et-lumiere show, Gagan ka Thal, hailed as a milestone in the genre.
Gargi tasted high controversy with his novel, The Naked Triangle, a bold statement about changing values and human relationships. And by spawning the genre of rekha chitars (pen sketches), titled Nimm De Patte, Surme Wali Aakh, and so on, he made many enemies and more friends.
The true Gargi will always remain elusive. He once told me that he was neither idealistic nor emotional. ''I can spend a night with a prostitute and write about women's lib the next day. Can you do that?'' he once asked me.
Who can forget such a man? Truly, a pillar has fallen.

Balwant married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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