One man’s mission to improve the lives of street children
19th Jan 2013
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Zulfiqar Khan with performers from Theatre Age | Photo: Vinay kumar
he stage is all set, silence prevails over the auditorium, and the audience eagerly waits for the theatrical spectacle to unravel. The play begins. But there is something unusual, the actors on stage are no ordinary performers; Sahil was a rag picker, Anoop, a shoe-shine boy; Ram Babu, a street urchin and drug addict; while Savita used to work as a domestic aid. The power of theatre and a guiding force behind them gave a new meaning to their lives, and altered their existence completely.
The director, Zulfiqar Khan, picked up these hovel-dwellers of Chandigarh and chiselled them into fine artistes with a motto to make them tread a meaningful path. Two decades of sheer dedication and hard work through Theatre Age, a theatrical group founded by him, he has reframed the lives of many such children.
Khan kickstarted his career in theatre during his school days. He used to perform during the school annual day functions. Initial hiccups and lack of acumen and skills in acting became roadblocks, owing to which he was initially refused admission to the Department of Theatre, Punjab University. However, the unyielding passion, hard work, coupled with a soaring spirit not only got him admission, but also helped him bag a gold medal.
With an urge to contribute meaningfully to society, Khan founded Theatre Age in 1992 and started imparting training to two slum children. He recalls, "It had been a roller coaster journey for me teaching these young learners and motivate them to take up theatre seriously. I am glad that they have proved their mettle."
More kids started joining but with no place to practice, Khan ran his workshop under trees for couple of years. In 1993, his group staged their maiden production Raja aur Kisan at Tagore Theatre that earned a lot of accolades. Amazed by his creativity and efforts, the Chandigarh Administration felicitated him with the best creative artiste of Chandigarh award in 1994. He has directed more than 42 plays with slum children till now which have been widely acknowledged and appreciated.
The idea to make slum children taking to theatre activity proved a hard nut to crack in the first place. These kids were the earning hands of their families and getting them to join the theatre workshop was indeed the toughest task. Today, Theatre Age, under the stewardship of Khan, has 55 children in the group, and takes care of their food, stationary, clothes, fees, and books. These children are not only associated with theatre but they are studying as well to achieve higher goals of life. Khan adds, "I knew initiating them to studies will be difficult so I had to channel it through theatre." Though it took time to prepare them and to source out ways for direct admissions in various schools, today all the children are studying, out of which 15 are studying medical and non-medical, and no one has ever failed since 2001.
There is no financial aid that Khan has ever received or ever asked for. He informs 50 per cent of the finances of the group are generated by selling waste paper which is donated by residents. Away from glitter and fame, Theatre Age is an incredible example of theatre-led social change. Besides working with slum children, he has also worked with jail inmates where they enacted a play on national relationships. He worked with women from villages in Haryana, which was part of a project of the UNFPA. He worked with the Haryana Forest Department where children from various schools produced plays to aware people of the benefits of planting and growing more trees. With a smile on his lips, Khan says, "I firmly believe if we are able to give meaning to someone's life, our motto is served."
http://www.sunday-guardian.com/young-restless/one-mans-mission-to-improve-the-lives-of-street-children
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