THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It certainly is not an easy task for the city dwellers to shrug off the memories of the disastrous school van mishaps at Karikkakom and Kadinamkulam, in which precious young lives perished in the dirt-filled depths of the Parvathy Puthanar. Such pain-inflicting memories should not be allowed to fade away easily, feel the Kerala Police. Only by keeping them alive can we derive the strength and the will to prevent such disasters in future. And, in a bid to spread this message, Police Theatre, the theatre group of the State Police, has come up with a stage play based on the unfortunate events. The Police Theatre had shot to fame following the success of its creation the traffic mascot ‘Pappu Zebra’, which helped to impart traffic lessons to thousands of school students across the state. The new play, ‘Duranthangalkappuram’, meaning ‘Beyond Disasters’, will be launched on Thursday on the occasion of the International Day for Disaster Reduction at Kanakakkunnu Palace by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. ‘’The play does not just preach on how to avert disasters like school van mishaps. It is also about how to garner mental strength during adversities and work to bring about change in the society by ourselves,’’ says noted playwright Anil Karat, who has scripted and directed the play, which focuses on the miseries of a widowed father who loses his only son to a mishap similar to those that occurred at Karikkakom and Kadinamkulam. But, other tragedies, like the Karunagappally tanker lorry incident and natural calamities like tsunami, too find a place in the drama, all the incidents being skillfully sewn to the storyline so that they leave a lasting impression on the protagonist, and through him ultimately on the viewers. ‘’We have also tried to bring the heart-wrenching scenes that were played out on the banks of the Parvathy Puthanar to the play,’’ Anil added. The play has another peculiarity - for the first time, the Police Theatre has included a bunch of talented kids from various city schools in the cast. Senior Civil Police Officer Chandrakumar, who is also the co-ordinator of Police Theatre, said that the idea to include school kids in their venture came from City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham, who has been striving to reduce the gap between the police and common man through various initiatives.
Comments
0 comment