Bidesiya (play)

Bidesiya (Bhojpuri: 𑂥𑂱𑂠𑂵𑂮𑂱𑂨𑂰) or Baharā Bahār is a Bhojpuri play by Bhojpuri playwright Bhikhari Thakur.^[1][2][3][4] It is one of the several plays written by Bhikhari Thakur on women empowerment, migration and poverty.^[5] Owing to its popularity it becomes the folk theatre style of Bhojpuri region, some scholars has also claimed it to be as popular as Ramayana in those days.^[6]

Bidesiya
Written by	Bhikhari Thakur
Date premiered	1912
Original language	Bhojpuri
Subject	Migration, Women Empowerment, Poverty
Genre	Theatre
Setting	A Village in Bihar-Purvanchal, Kolkata

The play depicts the condition of women in Bhojpuri Society in the 19th century, the problem of migration and poverty. The play was composed and staged in 1912 and published as a book in 1917.^[7]

Theme

Bidesiya focuses on the theme of separation between husband and wife like the Meghadūta and Ramayana of Sanskrit.^[8]

Names

This play was published as Kaljug Bahar then it was published as Bahara Bahar, due to its character named Bidesiya it became famous with the name Bidesiya.^[9]

Characters

The play Bidesia has primarily five characters:^[10]-

• Bidesiya :- The main character, who goes to earn in Calcutta and remarries there.
• Pyari Sundari :- Bidesiya's wife
• Batohiya :- A traveller.
• Saloni:- Bidesiya's second wife
• Devar :- Bidesiya's brother
• Dost  :- Bidesiya's friend
• Other characters:- Two children, one villager
• Labaar :- They are called Vidushak in Classical Indian theatre. They usually enter in the play in between and entertain the audience with their jokes.^[11]

Synopsys

The play starts with Mangalachran which means Prayer to god. After that the Sutradhar comes on the stage and introduces the audience with the Characters and story line of the play. After that the play starts^[12]

Story

The play starts with a conversation between Bidesiya or Bidesi and Pyari Sundari(His wife), where Bidesiya adduces his will to leaving the village and going to Calcutta for earning. His wife tries to stop him but he doesn't stop. After going to Calcutta He doesn't come for years and the Pyari Sundari waits for him to return.^[13]

One day a traveller (Batohiya) was going through the village, Pyari Sundari asks him to send her message to Bidesiya. When Batohiya reaches Calcutta he sees that Bidesiya has married to a woman named Saloni. Batohi tells him pyari's condition that how eagerly she has been waiting for him for years. Bidesiya realizes his mistake and decides to return home. Saloni asks him to not to go, but he returns to home. He reaches home and knocks on the door, his wife is scared, she asks who are you in fear, he says that I am your husband, she opens the door in fear and becomes unconscious upon seeing her husband standing in front. Saloni also comes behind Bidesiya to his village and says what will she do without him. At last Pyari also accepts Saloni as her Sautan.^[14]

Message

Bidesiya has put the problem of poverty, migration and their impact in a very entertaining form.^[15]

Performances

Bidesiya is staged every year in Nandikar's National Theatre Festival.^[16]

Popularity

The play became very popular in North Indian States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.^[17] Due to its popularity it became the folk theatre style of Bhojpuri region.^[18]

Adaptations and Cultural references

In various theatres

• Hindi theatre also adopted the Bidesiya folk theatre style. Plays like Harikesh Muluk and Mati Gadi gained immense popularity using the Bidesiya theatre style.^[19]
• Kannada play Rūpasēna is also based on Bidesiya, It reached to North Karnataka via Maharashtra. The skeleton of the story of the play is totally inspired by Bidesiya.^[20]

In films

• The Bhojpuri film Bidesiya directed by S. N. Tripathi released in 1963 was adaption of the play.
• Another movie of the same name starring Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua was too inspired from this play.

References

1. Brandon, James R.; Banham, Martin (1997-01-28). The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-58822-5.
2. Kumar, Ashutosh (2017-09-15). Coolies of the Empire. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-14795-9.
3. Journal of South Asian Literature. Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University. 1982.
4. Law, Jonathan (2013-10-28). The Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-4081-4591-3.
5. Singh, Dhananjay (September 2018). "The Image of Women in Folk-Traditions of Migration" (PDF). Journal of Migration Affairs. 1: 55. doi:10.36931/jma.2018.1.1.41-58. S2CID 216879252 – via the image of women in Bhojpuri folk- culture/literature of migration is colourful. The women themselves are in a way suffering from migration—whether they have been left behind, or if they have been forced to migrate themselves, or if they have come with her husband to his village as an urhari. The seriousness with which Bhikhari Thakur has dealt with the travails of these women is unparalleled. In his play ‘Bidesiya’ he shows Pyari Sundari's suffering as the ideal chaste wife waiting for her husband in the village.
6. Yang, Anand A (2021). The Limited Raj: Agrarian Relations in Colonial India, Saran District, 1793-1920. Univ of California Press. ISBN 9780520369108.
7. Narayan, Badri. Culture and Emotional Economy of Migration. Taylor and Francis. p. 74.
8. Kumar 2022, p. 110.
9. Bhikhari Thakur: Bhojpuri Ke Bharatendu. Allahabad: Aashu Prakashan.
10. ""BIDESIA" – THE FOLK THEATRE OF EASTERN INDIA". 25 April 2017.
11. Narayan, Badri. Culture and Emotional Economy of Migration. p. 76.
12. Narayan, Badri (3 November 2016). Culture and Emotional Economy of Migration. ISBN 978-1315448039.
13. Singh, Dhananjay (September 2018). "The Image of Women in Folk-Traditions of Migration". Journal of Migration Affairs. 1: 41. doi:10.36931/jma.2018.1.1.41-58 – via In his play ‘Bidesiya’ he shows Pyari Sundari's suffering as the ideal chaste wife waiting for her husband in the village.
14. Upadhyay, Krishnadev (1972). Bhojpuri Sahitya ka Itihas. Varanasi: Bharatiya lok Sanskriti Shodh Sansthan. p. 343.
15. Kalakshetra Vol. IV. p. 35.
16. "Nandikaar".
17. Kumar, Ashutosh (2017). Coolies of the Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-1107147959.
18. Narayan, Badri (3 November 2016). Culture and Emotional Economy of Migration. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-1315448039.
19. Narayan, Badri. Culture and Emotional Economy of Migration. p. 77.
20. The Tradition of Kannada Theatre. IBH Prakashana. 1986.

Bibliography

• Kumar, Pankaj (2022), Bhikhari Thakur's Bidesia and Gabar Ghichor: Enduring saga of angst, pain and longing of the 'left-behind'