By Tejashree T

Going strong still, with quite a number of reruns is 'Gumma Banda Gumma' – A Kannada Play - written by S Surendranath and a favourite with both children and adult audiences having been viewed by over 20 thousand numbers. July 15^th to 21^st and 29^th to 31^st saw the play being staged again at Rangashankara, 2^nd phase, JP Nagar. Directed by Vibhavari Deshpande and Padmavathi Rao, its duration is for around 90 mins.

Adapted from the german play 'Max Und Millie' it is a five character play and is enacted in the tradition of the GRIPS Theatre with the roles of the three children aged between six to ten years also being performed by adults.

Siblings Putta and Munni - who is the younger sister - belong to an affluent family and Gunda is from the slum in the neighbourhood. They meet in the park and thus starts their friendship. Munni is a great pal to both the boys though they have their difficult moments with each other with sibling love and rivalry as also a touching friendship being portrayed. Their views of each other is expressed with disconcerting honesty typical of children. Also brought out is another everyday habitual feature connected with children – their fear of the dark. The scenes change from house to park with the children running and cycling as also easily sliding into dancing and singing. The parents, Gunda's father and Putta and Munni's mother though concerned become demanding and unreasonable displaying rigid characteristics typical of parents who live within their circle of perception of things. The children fear their parents disapproval and find innovative ways to skirt round  punishment issues without crossing  boundaries set by their parents.

The play strongly brings out the social barriers of inequalities created by man and the innate abilities of children to gel inspite and irrespective of gender, class, caste, economic status as also other factors. Interactions which know no societal taboos and are full of innocent fun and joy.

We have a lot to learn from our young who do not carry too much excessive baggage of dos and donts, prejudices and opinions. Good enough reasons for them to have a more objective and clearer way for viewing and doing things. They should be respected as young individuals who have a right to their opinions, preferences and thinking and their own take of things. Their perspectives and perceptions of things are as valuable as anybody else's and need to be given due weightage without parents and elders always deciding what they should or should not do and what is good or not good for them. These basically stem from their (the parents and elders) own personal experiences & perspectives which are very relative and need not necessarily be a solution for every situation and for everybody.