One of the famous stories by Munshi Premchand ‘Idgah’ was staged here on Wednesday at Shaheed Bhavan Auditorium.
The play was wonderfully presented on the third day of Azad Bansuri Children theatre festival. The play was directed by a noted theatre director Deepak Nema.
The story depicts a very poor boy of 5 years of age, Hamid, who lives with his grandmother Amina. Hamid, the protagonist of the story, has lost his parents. His aged grandmother Amina fulfills their daily needs by doing some needle work for others. His grandmother told him that very soon his father and mother will return home with lots of money, sweets and gifts for him from the house of Almighty. He is full of hope and happily awaiting that day.
The story begins on Eid morning, poor Hamid doesn't have new clothes or shoes like other children. He has only three paise as Idi for the festival, to spend in a fair. His friends spend their pocket money on rides, candies and buying beautiful colourful clay toys. Hamid dismisses this as a waste of money for momentary pleasure. While his friends are enjoying themselves, he overcomes his temptation and goes to a hardware shop to buy a thong. He remembers how his grandmother burns her hand while cooking chapattis.
The story ends on a touching note when Hamid gifts the thong to his Grandmother. At first she is shocked and annoyed by his stupidity that instead of eating anything or buying any toy at the fair, he has purchased a chimta. But then Hamid reminds her of how she burns her fingers daily, while making rotis. She bursts into tears at this and blesses him for his kindness.