I saw myself growing, and I saw India growing up as well: Partap Sehgal

Renowned poet, playwright, storyteller and critic Partap Sehgal received the 4th Azhar Alam Memorial award recently at Gyan Manch, Kolkata, during the 14th National Theatre Festival organised by Little Thespian. Sehgal was born on 10 May 1945 in Jhang, West Punjab (now in Pakistan). He began his educational journey in Rohtak and later moved to Delhi for higher education. Sehgal earned his Master’s degree with first-class honours from Delhi University in 1970. The same year, he joined Delhi College (now Zakir Hussain College) as a lecturer, where he taught undergraduate and postgraduate students and guided research projects for four decades. He retired as an associate professor from the Zakir Hussain Postgraduate Evening College in 2010. Throughout his academic career, Sehgal continued to pursue his creative passions, producing a remarkable body of work.

In an interview with The Statesman, here is what the man had to say about life and the philosophies:

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Q. As a writer, which language do you think in?

I think in Hindi only now. Though my mother tongue is Punjabi, now it has become a habit and I only think in Hindi now. As I went on reading and creating Hindi literature, I went on to adopt Hindi. It affected my writing.

Q. How does a partition of a nation affect a child, and how does it make you write differently?

I was just two years old when the Partition took place. Though I was too young to remember the struggle firsthand, I grew up hearing stories and memories from my parents. As the newly formed nation of India took shape, I, too, was growing up alongside it. So think of it like this: the nation that formed in 1947 was India, and gradually, as I started seeing, I saw an independent nation. I saw myself growing, and I saw India growing up as well. That was the time of Nehru, and he had a huge impact on the society at that time; socialist ideals were very popular, and there was an honest trial at creating a socialist structure for the nation. Today, when I look back, the situations have changed a lot. On one side, we had our conflicts; on the other were the whole country’s conflicts.

India had to make an identity of its own, and we had to make an identity of our own because we had been severed from our roots. Our roots were in Punjab, but we had come to Delhi, and it was okay there; there were a lot of Punjabis in Delhi. But our birthplace, where we had been born, was left behind. Likewise, even today, Punjab is in our blood, the culture, food, literature I have read, everything is still here, but the evolution that happened for me happened with Hindi.

Q. What do you think theatre speaks of now for the people?

All the art forms there have been are all products of the elite class. The audience has always been less for art. But the people’s art, people’s forums, and music have been more popular. But that has its genre as well. For example, the folk songs of Punjab are not popular in Uttar Pradesh; similarly, the songs of Bihar are not popular in Kerala. There is always division, and they are all segregated into their societies, but literature, I think, transcends this division. If the literature is worthy, it goes beyond these genres, these borders. There comes a metamorphism in humans with meaningful literature.

While popular culture does give you happiness, a sense of joy in weddings and birthdays, literature presents you with a search, makes you more aware. This is why the importance of literature is different, the weighting is different. So I travel to the popular and the elite from time to time. Both are mine, this and that. Why differentiate in this too, why categorise here?

Q. You have seen such vast demographic changes in the history of this nation. What do you think about the storytellers of today?

There is a diverse social structure in India. There was once a time when the Dalit community did not have the means to be educated, so we never heard their stories. We had thought that our struggles, our pain, were the epitome until the Dalit community spoke up and wrote their narratives. Adivasis are sharing their experiences. There have been changes in these forms of literature. Like the play I wrote, Bachche Bade Ho Rahe Hain has been performed by slum kids entirely. So as communities start learning, gaining education and voices, they are coming forward. Representation gives them the strength to come forward, narrate their own stories and endure the struggles that lie in the future.

Two of Sehegal’s plays were performed in the theatre festival on 2 March; Bachche Bade Ho Rahe Hai and Teen Gumshuda Log. Sehgal is a voice among many who believes in praxis of the theories and ideologies he follows. He has been a constant patron of new voices, new ideas and new narratives.