18/5/2024
Cultural program- An Evening of Poetry and Songs
1st April 2024
BudhVihar, Kankaria
An evening of poetry and songs, organized under the auspices of ‘WeTheKalakaar’ and Darshan in Ahmedabad, took place at the Buddh Vihar in Kankaria. Poets Atish Indrekar, Umesh Solanki, and Hozefa shared their poetic creations with the audience.
Mahendra Pal, a well-known Lucknow-based cultural activist, spoke about the importance of cultural initiatives invarious movements and also presented struggle songs in his soulful voice. Mahendra Solanki, a city-based cultural activist, also performed the struggle songs. Approximately 40 people actively participated in the program. The venue was contributed by the community and was also offered for organizing the program on a regular basis. The youth, namely Rakesh Vaghela, Pratik Panchal, and Niranjanbhai, associated with us, supported in securing this venue and facilitating the program.
The poets highlighted caste, communal, and various discrimination issues through their poetic expressions. This cultural initiative is part of our ongoing efforts and is consistently organized. The program’s design incorporates speeches, poetry recitations, and struggle songs.
Ambedkar Jayanti Program
Every year on the night of April 13th, people from across the state gather in large numbers at the Ambedkar Statue in Sarangpur, Ahmedabad. This has become a tradition. We have performed struggle songs from midnight to 2:00 AM, with the aim of strengthening Dalit-Muslim unity and engaging with the youth and Dalit organizations. This year, Hozefa, Praveen, Ashok, Mahendra, Rakesh, and others performed these powerful songs.
Additionally, the Divine Bhim Rao group organizes a significant celebration of Ambedkar Jayanti in the Vadaj area of Ahmedabad. This event features various plays, and last year, Atish Indrekar and Hozefa, along with community children, prepared a street play addressing contemporary issues. For the past three years, this initiative has involved training children in drama on topics such as caste, religion, gender, and other current issues.
This year, inputs were provided for a play directed by Krunal, Jayraj, and Bhavin, long-time associates of the group. The play, based on caste discrimination, included poetry and was a collaborative effort that showcased the community’s talent and solidarity with the Divine Bhim Rao group. The program was organize on 14th April, 2024, more than 1000 people had participated in the program.
Participation
- Participated in the rationale program organized by Sankalp, a community-based Dalit youth organization. The program took place in Rakhial, where a group of rationalists performed various magic tricks to debunk religious and superstitious beliefs. Additionally, we performed several struggle songs as part of the program. The organizers felicitated all the guests, including us, with a preamble frame. Hozefa, Ashok, Pravin, and Mahendra presented the struggle songs. The program was held on April 21, 2024.” More than 500 people witnessed the whole program.
- The Center for Development organized a day-long workshop at HIDRC, Ahmedabad, on April 26, 2024. Hozefa led an input session on the current political context, explaining the entire scenario with simple and localized examples that the participants found easy to understand.
The rehearsal and scripting of a play based on the dalit perspective of deconstruction of the stories of Durga and Mahishasura, in comparison to the present context, have been initiated. The concept was provided by Navjot Altaf, and as Budhan Theater we will perform the play. The play’s script and rehearsals are currently underway. Navjot Altaf will also shoot the play, after the completion of shoot the play will be opened for the public. Atish, Hozefa, Shaheen and Chirag is performing in the play.
