AAW #144

Mobsters recently took the city on a riot ride in the name of film Padmavat! Vehicles were torched, property was damaged, and citizens were endangered during the unwelcome outrage. It was a mass breakdown of tranquility, posing a threat to the democratic expression of citizens of India. But what brings a smile to our face is the fact that the citizens of Ahmedabad, have still not given up on serving creative content to its fellow residents. The creativity may have been restricted by authorities to reach to your nearest theatres, but the indigenous creators of Ahmedabad have brought originally made content, just for you in the form of art shows, heritage exhibitions, poetry recitals, theatricals, film screenings, stand up comedy performances and musical concerts. Ahmedabad Art Weekly is the proof of Ahmedabad’s unfathomable spirit.

In the augmenting ruckus over motion pictures, let us remember the Parsi theatre director, lyricist, and Gujarati author Amrit Keshav Nayak who is dotingly remembered by his pen-name Shivsambhu Sharmano Chiko. Born in Ahmedabad in 1877 in Ahmedabad, Nayak worked as a columnist in Amrita Bazar Patrika and drafted novels like M.A. Banake Kyon Meri Mitti Kharab Ki? and Mariyam. He wrote plays like – Durdasha Natak, lyrics and even gazals in Gujarati. The author wasn’t formally educated in lingual and joined the theatre group at the tender age of 11. After few successful roles, Nayak went to study the dramatic dexterity from Bindadin Maharaj and performed in various celebrated plays. He had a knack for Shakespearean dramas, which eventually triggered him to adapt his famous tragedies in the name of Khun-e-Nahak, Bazum-e-Fani, Murid-e-Shaque and Shahid-e-Naaz.