KARACHI: Ibn-i-Insha was a wise man who could foresee the future when he wrote ‘Ye bacha kiska bacha hai’, a poem, back in 1974, highlighting the plight of the poor and homeless.

The world may have progressed rapidly in terms of political, social and digital awareness, and lifestyles have improved, but the hunger and poverty remain the same — if not increased.

Taking a cue from the poem, the Trust of Malnutrition and Stunted Growth (TMSG) sponsored a play to raise awareness about the children deprived of basic nutrition, which is readily available to some. This lack of access leads to the death of individuals who, had they survived, could have made valuable contributions to society.

Titled “Ye bacha kiska bacha hai”, inspired by the poem of Ibn-i-Insha, highlights the misery of the people living below the poverty line, where people struggle to feed themselves even once a day. Imran Shirvanee, the director and writer, crafted a well-balanced play and directed it quite well. The play was staged at Napa the other day.

TMSG, who has organised the event, inks MoUs with Al-Khidmat and Saylani to expand welfare services

The opening scene features a pale, dark and clearly malnourished child sitting helplessly. A man named Agha, belonging to the elite class, arrives with his secretary, cursing the place where he is stuck. Upon seeing the child, he finds him ‘disgusting’, repeatedly using the word. This scene could have been much more powerful if the set was properly prepared as the audience later discovered it was meant to be set in a desert — yet there was no sign of a desert in the set design.

The play was set in an elite club where members of the upper class casually displayed their classism towards the less fortunate. Neena, a stereotypical elite woman, frequently threw around terms like communism, socialism and elitism, and claimed that the book she was reading, from which she recited verses of Insha’s poem, was written in Roman script because she couldn’t read Urdu. Similarly, Shehla, referred to as the ‘wannabe activist’ in the play, was the well-meaning but often criticised woman who wanted to ‘fix’ everything wrong with the world and was openly disliked for it.

The child seen in the opening scene, named Gullu, was later found by Shehla who brought him to an elite club where he was not accepted by the wealthy members for obvious reasons. Despite this, she rebelled and tried to convince them to accept the child, but she failed miserably.

A notable aspect widely appreciated by the audience was the recitation of stanzas from Insha’s poem between the scenes. The reciter had a strong command of pronunciation and tone, successfully creating an impact, as each time the voice paused, the auditorium filled with applause.

However, in the final scene, the chorus accompanying the last line of the stanza was inaudible, though this appeared to be a technical issue rather than the cast’s fault. Despite some tweaks in the technical issues, the play successfully delivered its message about the children suffering from hunger and poverty.

The child actor was the star of the performance, and the women certainly outshone the men in terms of acting. The set and music could have been improved to create more realistic scenes, but overall, it was a very good effort to raise awareness.

Efforts to combat malnutrition

Apart from the play, the event focused on the themes of hunger and poverty, highlighting this pressing issue.

TMSG founder and chairman Aziz Memon, in his address, highlighted the trust’s efforts since 2018 to combat malnutrition. He also signed MoUs on the occasion with the Al-Khidmat Foundation and Saylani Welfare Trust to expand services. The TMSG has adopted 85 clinics, providing therapeutic and supplementary food sachets, benefiting 54,000 children so far.

Mr Memon emphasised that malnutrition was the root cause of issues like early marriages and poverty, calling for increased awareness and training in the cause. A video showcasing the trust’s objectives and initiatives was also shown on the occasion, with the founders reaffirming their commitment to addressing malnutrition.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2024