BHOPAL: Her bed was beside a window and she used to frequently wave her hands from it knowing full well that she could not see anyone and no one could see her.
“That was because it made me happy,” says Bishna Chauhan, a theatre actor and director from the city, sharing her experiences of her stay a Covid Isolation Centre. And now, she has prepared a solo play on her personal experience of spending seven days at the Centre.
The duration of the play titled, Ek kalam, Ek khidki aur Saat din, (A pen, a window and seven days) is of 70 minutes. Besides scripting, she will direct the play and act in it, too. She will enact roles of all seven characters in the play.
After testing Covid positive, Chauhan had to stay at an isolation centre for seven days. She said that the world has seen many pandemics but Covid-19 is in a class of its own. Most people panic and go into depression when they test positive. “And so was the case with me. But only for the first two days of my quarantine at the centre,” she said. She soon realised that sulking and feeling low won’t do. “I controlled my emotions and tried to think positive,” she said.
She met many Covid patients there and everyone had their own stories. She has weaved the play around what she saw, heard and felt during her week-long memorable stay at the centre.
She also wants to showcase what testing positive entails for a person in psychological terms. The play also sends out the message, “You are a warrior, you are a fighter. So fight for life because this life is yours.”
She said that since she had been Covid patient, she doesn't want to take risks and that’s why she has decided to act and direct it alone. Some of her friends like Archana Kumar, Praveen Chaubey and Sunil Gaikwar will supervise her performance. The play will also have three songs written by her and set to music by Shruti Dharmesh. Devendra Sharma will design the set.
“The foundation day of my theatre group Sagar Guncha Natrang Cultural and Welfare Society is on October 31. So, I am planning to stage the play on that day at my own studio Box Theatre,” she said.
