Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Rabindranath Tagore’s story, Streer Patra, was rendered into a Hindi play, Patni ka Patra, at Shaheed Bhawan in the city on Tuesday. Written and directed by Nisha Lokendra Trivedi, the play depicts the plight of widows in 19th century Bengal.
It also reflects the difficulty of widows and how society oppressed them. The Bangla story was translated into Hindi by Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan ‘Agyeya’.
It was part of concluding day of five-day of Rashtriya Natya and Samman Samaroh organised by Trikarshi Natya Sanstha in the memory of founder of Sanstha KG Trivedi. A large number of theatre lovers came to watch the play.
The saga of the play revolves around Mrinal, who is married to an upper class, upper caste patriarchal zamindar household. After marriage Mrinal is mocked for her rustic nature.
However, her parents’ family is highly aware of her sharp brains. As Mrinal goes on to describe the mundane nature of her daily lifestyle, a fragmentation in the story line is added by the appearance of Bindu. Bindu is the widowed cousin of Mrinal’s sister-in-law.
Tortured by her extended paternal family, Bindu runs away and comes to stay with her cousin. Troubles start when Mrinal grows fond of Bindu and starts fighting for her with the rest of family. Shikha Arya as Mrinal Devi and Mariam Bano as Bindu were in lead roles.
