Darvesh Nama: The Protagonist’s Journey to Transformation

I know you are tired, Come this is the way.
- Moulana Rumi

Background

In recent months the Academy of Art Culture and Languages, here in J&K hosted some exceptional theatrical performances. These plays captivated the audience with their diverse themes. These performances from local production houses and those of institutions like the National School of Drama left the audiences spellbound.

The performances and the plays gave a feeling that the theatre in Kashmir is back. Hope so it is. One such local presentation ‘Darvesh Nama’ produced by Kalidas Theatre, written by writer and poet Faiyaz Dilbar and directed by Dr Ayash Arif, was captivating. The play was part of a drama festival organized by the J&K Academy of Art, Culture, and Languages.

Darvesh Nama: The Storyline

The play follows the journey of a rich and privileged heiress Shahzadi Naya Ab played by Shafia Maqbool. She yearns for a meaningful life for herself. A chance encounter with a Darvesh, played by Qazi Faiz guides her to the path of “wisdom” and “enlightenment” and the “connection he shares with the universe”. Nayab begins to question her life’s purpose and the “hollowness” deep inside her soul. Slowly her newfound guide leads her to the path of self-discovery, empathy, and the ways to connect with the ultimate.

The Road Ahead

In Darvesh Nama, the Journey takes the protagonist away from the noise of the material world to the quiet corners of spirituality. A sea transformation is seen in her outlook and priorities for life and matters associated with life.

However, there are impediments along the path. Her family, friends, and society as a whole look at this change with skepticism and annoyance. She needs also to confront her doubts and navigate the clash between what she used to be and what she wants to be. The play’s climax tests her newfound convictions and sees her successful while, emphasizing that “ true wealth lies not in material wealth but in the richness of the soul”. The play revolves around the bigger concept of mysticism and Sufism. Influenced by the lives and times of Shamas Tabrez, ( the Peer ) and Moulan Rumi (the disciple) the play has come alive to what observers believe “to the needs of the local audience”.

Darvesh Nama: Prelude

As the curtain rises, an illuminated stage shows a darvesh in a white cloak on the middle left of the stage loudly chanting the song “Moula mere Moula”. The sound echoes and reverberates in the jam-packed hall. Downstage right, a Darvesh in the long green cloak is shown engrossed in mediation in resonance with the echoing voice.

This follows a special dance. Whirling dervishes are shown clad in white long robes with Red belts, wearing Rumi caps with one hand extending upwards and the other downwards spinning in repetitive, circular motions. This sets the tone for the play and for the scheme of things to come. This whirling dance which some term “Sema” as well, is a form of meditation and prayer aimed at achieving spiritual transcendence. The white robes worn by the dervishes represent the ‘ego’s shroud’. The conical hat symbolizes the dervish’s tombstone. And the symbolism in extending one hand upwards is to receive ‘divine blessings’ and the other hand downwards ‘to bestow those blessings upon humanity’.

What a prelude! Wow! cried one of the audience members spontaneously, with spontaneous cheers from others.

The Divine

Enter Darvesh.

The Devesh or Majzoob (played by Qazi Faiz) crying “hoo, hoo” at a very high pitch. Robbed in a green cloak, he appears on the scene carrying an aluminum cooking pot tied to a rope. He swirls it around crying loudly Hoo, hoo, hoo (also spelled as “Hu”).

In mysticism, the concept is often associated with the concept of the Divine, the Ultimate Reality.

“May ashiq apnay jana ka ,aawara gardi naheen karta hoon, Shouqay deedaary jana liyae phirta hoon, goomta hoon ,Goomta goal goal , aata peesti chaki ki Manind, goal Goomta hoon”

(I am the lover of my beloved, I don’t just wander, I have the longing to meet my beloved someday, I Spin round like a hand-cranked grain mill)

The concept of the journey of a circle in mystic philosophy is deeply interconnected with the idea of cyclical existence, spiritual growth, and the quest for truth and unity.

It is a symbolic representation of the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of the spiritual path. The writer and the director have brought the concept alive to the audience. It is appealing and catchy, said Wasim a theatre lover.

Hold yourself as the breathtaking scene follows;

Kahan Gayee, Kahan Gayee (where has it gone, where has it gone?) says Darvesh while gazing at an unbaked fish in the cooking pot before him and yells, “Have found it!” (Mil Gayee).

Then he addresses the fish. “Sehmi sehmi kiw ho,pani bi pani say darta hay kya”. (Why are you so fearful, how can water ever fear water)

The scene climax

Now Darvesh holds the fish in hand and says to it. “I will bake you, eat you but how can I? Neither there is fire here nor embers.” Then Darvesh turns to the audience. “Kisi kay pass aag hay?” (Does anyone have access to fire?) The writer here has deliberately brought situational irony, using the same dialogue with a little twist and a different tone. Disappointed, when nobody provided him with the fire he was looking for, he said in a satirical tone, “kisi Kay andar aag naheen Hay” (No one has the fire inside), Darvesh says.

The first one refers to the physical aspect of fire and the second is the spiritual one.

This is all happening on the forestage and a little far on a pedestal on the upstage the heiress, who has asked her aids to leave her free, is watching the Derbish doing all this. She along with the audience is wonderstruck when the Dervesh invokes the sun to bake the fish instead, without the physical presence of fire around. Darvesh now cries on a high note “Tu khursheedi, mun hum khursheedum” (You are the sun, I too am the sun)

He repeats it often. The tune sees crests and troughs. And this is where the Director with his witty light designer comes to the rescue of the writer creating a scene where the invocation is answered by divine intervention with a volley of interchange of lights to show the fish in a different avatar, fully baked, ready to be eaten.

An eerie silence prevails and the audience is seen. Cheering. Cheering. And this all is being watched by someone at a distance upstage, Princess Shahzadi Nayyaab, who is out in pursuit of truth.

The Dialogue

Now the stage positions of the subjects shift. Darvesh is upstage and the princess is seen wandering on the forestage trying to locate the Darvesh. A very powerful dialogue between the two culminates into something that is shown as “oneness with the divine” in Darvesh Nama

“Tum kahaan ho, Mujhe dikhayee kiw naheen daytae.” (Where are you, why can’t I see you) says the princess while trying to locate the darvesh.

“Akil Waloo ko ishq kae raaz na samaj aayae hai , na samaj aayeen gay” (The secrets of love are not understood by the wise, nor will they be understood by them), replies Darvesh 

And then the most powerful dialogues in Darvesh Nama, lead to the disciple’s final transformation.

And then Darvesh continues,

“Apnay honey ki khushboo ko mehsoos karo, Har cheez ki apni khushboo us ko zaat khuda tak poenchati hai” (“Feel the fragrance of your existence; the scent which leads one to the divine, the Ultimate”)

“Haan aisa hee hai, saetch Mai aisa hee hai”  (“Yes, it is like that, and it is the truth.”), says darvesh.

He then leaves the scene, creating an ever-lasting impact on the disciple.

Becoming

In a significant scene, in Darvesh Nama, again inspired by the lives of Moulana Rumi and Shamas Tabreez, the Darvesh here playing Shamas Tabreez in an act of symbolic significance, takes one of Rumi’s precious books, while he is teaching his students, and throws it into a pond or river. This act of apparent destruction deeply annoys Molvi,( Rumi) as the book contains valuable knowledge and poetry that he had devoted much of his life to writing and studying.

Darvesh who now feels sad for Molvi, is now seen rushing to retrieve the book, and Molvi expects it to be damaged beyond repair but instead finds it completely dry and undamaged. This miraculous event has a profound impact on Molvi, the Aalim. He realizes that the knowledge contained in books and the material world is transient and can be easily lost or destroyed. This realization leads him to a deeper understanding of the impermanence of worldly knowledge and the limitations of the material world. He is shown renouncing everything and follows the darvesh.

Molvi (here Molulana Rumi ) begins to recognize that true knowledge and wisdom go beyond books and intellectual learning. He starts to focus on the spiritual and mystical aspects of life, guided by his relationship with Darvesh which leads to his love and divine union. However, this shatters the scheme of things in a society dictated by traditions and routine.

Moving ahead in Darvesh Nama, a powerful conversation between Ameeri Mahaan played nicely and with grandeur by artists Showkat Usman, Shahzadi Nayab, and Areeb (prospective groom for Nayab) tries to understand this so-called perceived disorder and the remedies thereof.

Costumes

The costumes used by the characters like Darvesh, and the dancers reflected the attire of flowing long robes (sufi garments) that are often white or earthy colors to symbolize purity and humility. The costumes designed by Sajad fashion designers are the soul of the play. One they set the tone for the play and things to come. and on the other hand, they are the means of nonverbal communication with the audience.

Overall design elements are at work harmoniously to create a setting that transports the audience into the world of mysticism, The director can however, consider using the sounds of nature, like flowing water, birdsong, and wind, to reinforce the connection between the natural world and the Sufi journey in the further staging and versions of the play.

Sound as communication

The director and his team need kudos for using sound in a way that evoked a sense of transcendence and spiritual awakening, immersing the audience in the mystical experience. However, in the absence of hanging Mike’s and other modern-day sound devices in the hall, the audio of some characters who chose to speak feebly created a timely distaste for the audience who at times cried for loud audio.

Resolution: The ending

From a “lost soul” to a “purpose-driven being”

In the resolution scene of the Darvish Nama, once again, the mesmerizing whirling dervishes in their pristine white robes, donning Rumi’s iconic caps, take center stage. The protagonist, draped in mystic attire, enters from the elevated back portion of the stage (right to left), and in the background the enchanting notes of the timeless song “Mae Tariyaan.” Her costume and the song’s lyrics together weave and of course, communicate to the audience a narrative of her transformation from a “lost soul” to a” purpose-driven being “. This new soul is a symbol embodying love, compassion, simplicity, and unity with the divine. The audience erupts in cheers and applause, seemingly echoing Marshall McLuhan’s famous words “The medium is the message.

Going Counterclockwise

Way back in 1988 at the University of Kashmir in the arts block building, during our English literature classes Prof M L Pandita while teaching drama referred to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He introduced us to the concept of “willing suspension of disbelief” a critical idea introduced by the English poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his Biographia Literaria (1817). This concept is a key element in the realm of literature and aesthetics.

Willing suspension of disbelief

Coleridge’s notion suggests that, “to fully engage with and appreciate a work of literature or art, the reader or audience should be willing to temporarily set aside their disbelief in the implausible, supernatural, or imaginative elements presented in the work.”

This suspension of disbelief according to Coleridge “allows the reader/or audience member to enter into the fictional or artistic world and experience it more fully”. In other words, when encountering a piece of fiction or art, the audience consciously accepts the fictional premise and becomes emotionally and intellectually invested in the narrative, characters, or themes. By doing so, say critics, they can experience a deeper level of immersion and emotional connection with the work.

In this context, I believe, the duo of Dr. Ayash Arif, the director of the play, and Fayaz Dilbar the writer has joined their hearts and minds to Darvesh Nama in a manner that has willingly made the audience “emotionally and intellectually engage in the narrative, characters, and themes of the play”. That way Darvesh Nama is a success story.

The Audience response

“The director has masterfully harnessed the power of the theatre as a medium, breathing new life into the theatrical scene in Kashmir with the presentation of Darvesh Nama “, said Aaqib, a student.

“What a play, loved it, and Loved it”, exclaimed Bashir Manzar, an audience member and editor of the daily Kashmir Images newspaper minutes after the show ended. “Impressive”, exclaimed Shafi A Athar, a columnist, and writer.

Dr. Nasir Mirza, a Media teacher called it extraordinary, trailblazing. Jaleel Rathore, a media professional, congratulated the producers for introducing the Central Asian version of Sufi thought in the play and called it “a versatile production.”

The performances of the artists, particularly Qazi Faiz as Darvesh and Shafia Maqbool as Shahzadi, were fabulous. The strong storyline, set designs, costumes, and background music were fabulous. “Well directed and departure from the theatre plays staged in Kashmir”, wrote noted columnist Zaid G Mohammad in his Facebook post after watching the play.

The makers

“It is a humble effort to attract the theatre audience. Since we are following Sufi traditions in Kashmir, that is why the theme of Darvesh Nama revolves around mysticism. It is a journey from worldly to true and divine love”, said Fayaz Dilbar, writer of the play.

“We are encouraged by the huge response of the audience for Darvesh Nama and we will continue in the future also to have presentations on these themes”, said a visibly jubilant, Dr. Ayash Arif, Director of the play to the media on the sidelines of the event.

Conclusion

Darvesh nama is indeed a departure from the traditional theatre, which is why it has won instant public acclaim. The writer has successfully borrowed some of the aspects of the central Asian traditions of mysticism and brought them closer to what is being practiced in this part of the world. These themes have varied shades of meaning and in times of hope, the director is expected to take up these areas to set a trend in this thematic theater.

Nature is believed to be a philosopher and guide. In this context the director and writer can also consider using the sounds of nature, like flowing water, falling cataracts, birdsong, air, and wind, to reinforce the connection between the natural world and the Sufi journey in the further staging and versions of the play. with the patronage of TV and theatre professionals like Shabir Mujahid and Dr. Ayash Arif, Kalidas Theatre is bound to make a difference in the arena of theatre in times of hope.