One of the most powerful weapons in the battle against casteism is undoubtedly the stage, which, rightly directed, can be a strong influence in the lives of people. But who is to direct the stage and to what purpose? In all free countries, the stage is the arena both for the conflict and synthesis of ideas, with the state taking practically no part in the process. It is left entirely to natural forces, to wit, public opinion, to have the last say. This has its uses and its shortcomings. Should the public get what it wants or should it be given what it needs? What does the public need, anyway? Shaw and Ibsen were not imposed on a Victorian era by dictators: they were welcomed by the very society they ruthlessly mocked. It is therefore not that the public is always blind to its own needs: like the amoeba which blindly goes in search of food and never misses its target, society has an unerring way of producing its own rebels. It does not need the State to administer to it the necessary corrective. But this is true mostly of highly developed societies and not equally applicable to India where the author and the playwright may starve for want of encouragement. It is here that an enlightened state plicy can help bring hidden talent into light. The decision of the Bombay Government to award suitable prizes for the best dramatic performances, therefore, is welcome, though its encroachment in a strictly cultural field will be watched with care by all lovers of liberty….It can be done: but only if it is free of the blighting influence of bureaucracy.
(EDIT, April 3, 1955.)
