New Delhi, Oct 21 : With Dussehra round the corner, persons from various walks of life have been teaming up for the Ramlilas being staged at many places in the capital. 

In one such Ramlila, the girl playing Sita is preparing for the defence services while the boy playing Ram is working in a bank and Surpanakha in a private company.

Both the girls playing Sita and Surpanakha are associated with the Sanskriti Kala Sangam Group. 

This group has been staging Ramlila in Delhi and other places for the last 12 years.

The director of the Sanskriti Kala Sangam Group, Yash, told IANS, “Apart from Delhi, we have staged Ramlila in Meerut, Lucknow, Chitrakoot, Ayodhya, Indore, Bhopal, Shimla, Almora, Mussoorie, Vijayawada and Bengaluru.”

This group will be performing a three-hour show, Sampoorn Ramlila, on October 25 in Karkardooma, Delhi. 

The ‘Sita’ who aims for the defence services

Subhanshi Bhardwaj, who plays Sita this year, said, “I am preparing for the defence services. Last time I couldn’t clear it but I will be attempting the exams again this year. Dance is my passion and gradually I am developing interest in music.”

She said, “My father works in the Air Force, so he never had any complaints, because I have been dancing since school time. We have performed at a lot of places and this time we will be performing in Delhi.”

More than 500 Ramlilas have been organised by various committees in Delhi but this time the number will be less due to coronavirus.

An ‘engineer’ Surpanakha

Praksha Vats, who works in a private Delhi-based company, is playing the character of Surpanakha. 

She rehearses after her office hours. 

She said, “It is difficult to rehearse for Ramlila with the job. I completed my engineering this year itself and got a job.”

She said, “I have been doing Ramlila for the last four to five years and am very fond of it. We have staged Ramlila at various places besides Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Meerut. I have also played the role of Sita and have been performing Kathak for the last 15 years.”

Some committees have decided not to stage Ramlila this year while some have made preparations to stage it through YouTube and Facebook.

The ‘banker’ Ram

Himanshu Bisht of Mayur Adarsh Kala Manch, who is playing the character of Ram in Ramlila, works as an assistant manager at IDFC Bank. 

He said, “I have been doing Ramlila as my father also used to act in Ramlila. Initially, I played a soldier in Hanuman’s army, once I played a character of women and I also played Angad.”

He said, “I played Laxman from 2010-2018 and have been playing Ram since 2019. A 10-day Ramlila is being held in Vinod Nagar here of which three days have already passed. My bank closes at 5pm and I reach the ground by 7pm and then rehearse for the show.”(IANS)