Punjab Post Daily Online Newspaper & Print Media
Harjap Singh Aujla
Sarbpreet Singh, a technocrat of Boston in the USA is a man with a mission. Being fond of music, he has helped in preservation and worldwide propagation of the best in the Sikh sacred music rendered by the great masters of the yore. He always longs to do something good.
The post-Indira Gandhi assassination massacre of the Sikhs in November of 1984 has pained him a whole lot. Stung by the unfortunate happenings, he and his teenage daughter Mehr Kaur composed a play highlighting the senseless killing of the Sikh males on the streets and back allies of the Indian national capital. Named “KULTAR’S MIME”, this play depicts the lamentation of the young orphaned Sikhs. It is primarily depicting the story of one child who cannot speak, but narrates with his body language, the tragedy that has befallen his family and many more similar tales of misery suffered by the hapless Sikh families in Delhi and elsewhere in India.
Sarbpreet Singh contacted several students of the top educational institutions of Boston area and discussed the play with them. Some of them volunteered to act in the play. Those who are featured in the cast include Addison Williams, Allison Matteodo, Cathryn Roberts, Christine Acherer and Michelle Finston. As director of the play, Sarbpreet Singh spent hours on fine tuning each actor for the specific roles they were supposed to perform. The famous words of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi “When a large tree falls, the earth shakes” were depicted in this play. Scenes from the unprecedented carnage were meticulously highlighted on the stage.
Sarbpreet Singh carefully chose the music for the background of this timeless play, which was derived from the Ragas of Gurmat Sangeet. On my suggestion Sarbpreet Singh agreed to insert some of the finest vocal music rendered by Late Bhai Santa Singh ji of the Golden Temple.
This play with backdrop of some paintings depicting some scenes of this carnage was staged in several North American states, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Ontario. Everywhere it received a standing ovation. Sikh Research Institute based in America is funding its enactment. This play will be staged in several American cities. There is a big demand from California, where San Francisco and Los Angeles will see this show in near future.
Right now the cast of this play is in India. They are most probably enacting it in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Amritsar during the early part of November 2014.
