Humour and pathos converge in ‘Aik Diary Jo Kho Gayee’

Karachi
Theatre buffs in town were provided a pleasant treat on Wednesday evening with the staging of the Urdu version of Neil Simon’s ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ at the National Academy of Performing Arts auditorium.
Though an adaptation of Simon’s play, ‘Aik Diary Jo Kho Gayee’ has undergone considerable alterations.
Samina Nazir the playwright changed the locale and set it against the traumatic events of 1971, when Pakistan’s eastern half (57 percent of the country) was wrenched apart, with the consequent trauma and crippling psychological dilemmas of mass immigration, whereby the emigrants are just taking a big leap in the dark, not knowing their destination or anything about the nature of their destination.
It is the story of one such Bihari family who has been cajoled by circumstances to move over to the west wing (now Pakistan). It is the story of how a homeless family is struggling to make the place “home”.
The play, in the most poignant of manner, depicts the traumas stemming from displacement and how this displacement affects the personal lives of families, complete with the psychological trauma, the role of rigid value system, and the simmering ethnic antagonism accentuated by the events of 1971, the last mentioned being so evident from the dialogues of Shakila Begum.
The play is an account of the dilemmas and problems of growing children when they step into adolescence and adult life from childhood.
It is an account of the assortment of situations the family faces in all spheres of life, a hallmark of the changing stages of individuals’ lives.
The entire cast executed their roles adroitly, adding poignancy and profundity to an already profound theme, a theme depicting situations precipitated by the global and regional political games played by various actors, the results of which seep into the personal lives of individuals, making or breaking them – more often the latter.
Samina’s script is highly commendable and there are few plays where humour and pathos converge. The play is profusely punctuated with humorous retorts and witticisms, but these do not dilute the profound message of the theme made so by the pathos. It is a paradoxical blend of pathos and humour.
The most powerful role, one could say, is that of the narrator, Kalimuddin (Ahmer Hussain). His perky narration of situations makes for a wholesome comedy while the roles of Shakila Begum (Bakhtawar Mazhar) and Rabia Kalam (Zarqa Naz) profoundly portray the dilemmas of those uprooted by the quirks and whims of politicians.
Rahat Kazmi’s direction is highly commendable. However, nothing is ever perfect and a slip seems to have occurred at a certain juncture. While the play is set in 1987 Karachi, there is an oblique reference to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.