August 15th, 1947. The most mesmerising and nostalgic day in our calendar. Our Independence Day! Ask any Indian what they’ll be doing today and the response will be either flying a kite or watching the parade in India Gate. On this auspicious day we pay tribute to all of the fallen soldiers who died believing in freedom without violence. I felt it was my duty to pay our troops a tribute, but in my own way. And when i say “my way” I actually mean the “Theatrical way”.
We fought for independence without raising our hands or our voices. Our actions were enough. Having already done a Physical Theatre production before I found another way around- Still Images. Influenced actually by my IGCSE drama teacher, I wanted to use still images to show how peacefully we fought for freedom. Still Images are snapshots put together to make a story. The actors hold their position for so seconds and then change into another position. Put together these images tell a story. Mine did of Independence.
The beauty in Still Images is that no one person can decide the entire timeline. Hence, making it a group effort. Thus, not only was I able to teach the kids something new in Drama but also give them the freedom to take it where they want.
Therefore, to begin I asked each of them to bring a story that they can explain in one line. Something simple yet elegant. After a couple of days we sat and did a story-sharing session out of which we all agreed to amalgamate 2 of the stories which they brought. Then we got on with the work:
On the 10th of August, Aarohan had a special prize giving ceremony where the guest of honour was the Canadian Ambassadors wife. I was asked to put together my still image performance by then and perform it on the day.
Thus, in case you missed out on the performance I have recorded it here for you all to view!
Nimish Mehra 