Report: Uttar Pradesh Jatha
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With the aim of spreading love, brotherhood and social harmony in the society, ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ National Cultural Jatha started in Uttar Pradesh from 18 November 2023, it is a nation-wide initiative undertaken by many cultural-social organizations. This is the seventh state of ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ cultural jatha.
18 November 2023 Saturday
This national cultural jatha started in Jalaun district of Bundelkhand by remembering the great heroes of independence, who not only sacrificed their lives in the revolution of 1857 but also forced the British to break their sinews with their bravery. The journey, which started from Churkhi village of Jalaun, known as the workplace of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi and her close associate Tatya Tope, visited more than half a dozen villages and inspired people towards increasing social consciousness by exploring culture and history. The folk artists of ‘Ekta’ underlined the importance of culture and history through many presentations like street drama, Folk Dance Diwari etc.
Under the leadership of Uttar Pradesh IPTA, the national cultural tour ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ started from the historical village Churkhi in Jalaun district of Bundelkhand. A group of IPTA artists from Lucknow and Chhattisgarh including IPTA National President Prasanna, National Executive President Rakesh Veda, State General Secretary and State Jatha Coordinator Shahzad Rizvi and local Jatha coordinator Devendra Shukla reached village Churkhi at 9 am. It is also said that Rani Lakshmibai had rested here for a day while fighting with the British in Churkhi. A group of IPTA artists from Lucknow and Chhattisgarh, including Shahzad Rizwa and Devendra Shukla, reached village Churkhi at 9 am. It is also said that Rani Lakshmibai had rested here for a day while fighting with the British in Churkhi. After that she reached Gwalior. Arun Kumar, a descendant of the Maratha family and a resident of Churkhi, while giving information to the group about the place, said that even today the room is in its original form, where Rani Lakshmibai had stayed for the night. Apart from this, many other important information was shared. While visiting several monuments in village Churkhi, the members of the group reached the composite school and shared various types of information with the students there and during this, artists demonstrated importance of preserving their culture and history through songs and other art forms. During this time, wreaths were also laid on the pictures of the mertyrs of our freedom struggle.
After this the group reached village Rania, where village head Nanhe welcomed the group. The villagers got a news that a young man from the village, Ravi Kushwaha, had died in an accident, so the group observed 2 minutes silence to pay homage to the young man. After that the group reached village Sohrapur Ada, where Diwari dance and drama were presented in the presence of teachers, children and villagers in the composite school. In this sequence, the cultural yatra reached village Onta via village Rania, Vedepur, Binaura Ved, Kakhara, where former village head Rajpal Singh welcomed the people participating in the yatra. During this time, beautiful presentations of Diwari dance and many other programs were given by the artists till late evening, which were watched with great enthusiasm by the villagers.
After this, the street play ‘Dama Dum Mast Kalandar’ presented by Chhattisgarh’s ‘Nacha Gammat’ style artists Nisar Ali, Alok Beria and Devnarayan Sahu and the play ‘Girgit’ presented by artists of Lucknow IPTA were staged in Jatha village Gudha. The atmosphere changed when a large number of children, women and elders of the village gathered at the crossroads to watch the performances and not only did they encourage the artists by clapping loudly at each performance, but also when they were asked what they felt about this jatha, some people said that the message given to them by the people participating in this journey was very impressive. This journey connected the country and the entire society with the feeling of brotherhood and unity. After organizing colorful programs, the jatha moved towards the next village.
IPTA National President Prasanna, National Executive President Rakesh Veda, State Yatra Coordinator and State General Secretary Shahzad Rizvi, local Yatra Coordinator Devendra Shukla, ember National Executive Raj Pappan, Dr. Dharmendra Kumar, Dr. Subhash Chandra, Deependra Singh, Nisha Verma, Amjad Alam, Sanjeev Gupta, Preeti Gupta, Neha, Mehrtaj, Lucknow IPTA President Rajesh Srivastava, Regional Secretary and Convener of Little IPTA Lucknow Suman Srivastava, Soni Yadav, Babita Yadav, Anjali Singh, Damini, Ichha Shankar from IPTA Lucknow, Vipin Mishra, Vaibhav Shukla, Tanmay, Harshit Shukla, Honey Khan, Ankit Yadav, Pradeep Tiwari and other members of IPTA were present. Local folk artists including Chhattisgarh IPTA (Nacha-Gammat) Nisar Ali, Dev Narayan Sahu, Alok Beria(Wall Dance), Dr. Puneet Tiwari, Shailendra Yadav, Jeetu Yadav, Deepu Yadav, Amit Yadav, Krishna Yadav, Shivam Yadav, Arjun Kushwaha and a large number of villagers including Sanjay Yadav, Pranshu Yadav participated in the cultural group.
Sunday 19 November 2023
Under the Uttar Pradesh chapter of ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ National Cultural Yatra, after the night rest in village Aunta, on the second day on November 19, 2023, the people of the group first cleaned their resting place. Meanwhile, former village head Rajpal Singh and his family members served tea and hot poha to the people participating in the jatha. His zeal of welcome and hospitality was so dedicated that everyone in the group was overjoyed. After that the group set out with full enthusiasm and zeal to tour the village. Passing through the uneven roads inside the village, when the group reached the crossroads, a large number of children and women came there and watched the activities of the artists with curiosity. Villagers Anil Singh, Vijaypal Singh, Devendra Arun Singh, Anuj Singh Pawan and others participated by walking along with artists.
After organizing colorful programmes, the yatra group moved towards the next village. The slogans of the martyrs on the road once again started attracting the people passing by in a more natural way. Despite fatigue, enthusiasm was visible among the people participating in the yatra. The group reached under a huge banyan tree in village Chak Jagat Devpur. Mahendra Kumar Gautam, President Ramo Bamo Club, Village Head of Kalpi, Pawan Nishad of Kiratpur Vyas Temple, Narendra Kumar Tiwari President Paper Industry Kalpi welcomed the jatha by serving lunch. Meanwhile interactions were held between the officials participating in the yatra and the villagers. The artists of Little IPTA filled the people there with enthusiasm by presenting songs and bhajans based on folk style. The artists of Chhattisgarh were successful in establishing their dominance here too and they gave one good performance after other. Ramshankar Pal Chakkiwala, resident of village Chak Jagat Devpur, told that for the first time he saw such a journey in the village, in which there was unity and brotherhood. Patriotism was being depicted amidst emotion. He said that This has had a natural impact on the villagers.
The night halt of the second day of ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ National Cultural Jatha was done at Coach Road after various programs at the district headquarters Orai. Earlier, the participants of the yatra visited various places in the city and offered flowers at the memorial places of martyrs. After garlanding the statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose located at the Zilla Parishad Committee, Sardar Patel and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar located at Ambedkar intersection were also garlanded. After that, wall dance was presented by the artists on Gandhi Chabutra situated in the center of the city. Apart from this, the message of unity, brotherhood and love was given by presenting songs based on different folk styles. In this sequence, the group reached the memorial site of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, where the echo of ‘Mera Rang De Basanti Chola’ filled the atmosphere with great enthusiasm and excitement. Here, amidst the echo of slogans and songs of the martyrs, the group took the coach of the city. Where flowers were offered at the memorial site of Jhalkari Bai . After this the yatris, took night rest for the second day.
On the second day of the Cultural Padyatra, IPTA National President Prasanna, National, Executive President Rakesh Veda, State Yatra Coordinator and State General Secretary Shahzad Rizvi along with local Yatra Coordinator Devendra Shukla, Raj Pappan, Member National Executive Member, National Executive Member Omprakash Nadeem from Uttarakhand IPTA. Om Prakash Noor, Agra Regional Secretary Dr. Yogesh Sharma, Mathura IPTA Secretary Vijay Sharma, Dr. Dharmendra Kumar, Dr. Subhash Chandra, Deependra Singh, Nisha Verma, Amjad Alam, Sanjeev Gupta, Preeti Gupta, Neha, Lucknow IPTA President Rajesh Srivastava, Regional Secretary and Convenor of Little IPTA Lucknow, Suman Srivastava, Soni Yadav, Babita Yadav, Anjali Singh, Damini, Ichha Shankar, Vipin Mishra, Vaibhav Shukla, Tanmay, Harshit Shukla, Honey Khan, Ankit Yadav, Pradeep Tiwari and IPTA Lucknow, with Other members were present. Gammat’s partner Nisar Ali, Dev Narayan Sahu, Alok Beria including local folk artists of Diwari dance Dr. Puneet Tiwari, Shailendra Yadav, Jitu Yadav, Deepu Yadav, Amit Yadav, Krishna Yadav, Shivam Yadav, Arjun Kushwaha, Sanjay Yadav danced from Chhattisgarh IPTA.and A large number of villagers including Pranshu Yadav participated in yatra.
Monday 20 November 2023
‘The clothes are patched, the swords are also broken,
still the enemy is trembling, whose army is it…..?’
On the third day of the ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ national cultural Jatha led by Uttar Pradesh IPTA, a wonderful picture of connecting with the common people was seen with the singing of folk songs and live acting. The National Cultural Jatha, which was engaged in the campaign to empower the soul of India, was raising awareness in every village about the message of ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’. Just as the redness of the rising sun dispels darkness by illuminating all four directions and then chirping birds set out in many directions to collect food for their children; Similarly, like the last two days, the cultural group set out on the third day also with the message of love along with the experiences of rural travel.
IPTA team reached every village and felt the pulse of the society. By closely examining their lifestyle and social anomalies, it stressed on the awareness of stereotypes and superstitions spread among them. At the same time, by emphasizing on social harmony, brotherhood, love, cooperation and unity, it filled them with zeal and enthusiasm. While the collective singing, acting and spontaneity of the folk artists of Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh and the street artists of IPTA won the hearts of the people, on the one hand they left behind many such beautiful pictures which make this journey incomparable.
After night rest in Orai, the third day of the journey started with full enthusiasm on Monday morning. The yatra group staying at the residence of former MLA Madhavgarh Santram Kushwaha on Jail Road in the city was welcomed wholeheartedly by the host and thoughts were shared with him. Thereafter, the padyatra started by reaching the children of Rising Star School located in the committee by singing of folk songs and street drama. The artists won the hearts of all the children. Children’s smiles and atmosphere of enthusiasm so much touched the heart of the team that the yatris never wished to leave them.
Finally after exchanging good wishes the team left. The next stop of the journey was Village Karsan where the school children were first surprised to see the team members, but later when they were engaged by the artists in their performance, they watched the performances with fascination and continued to participate with complete involvement. As soon as the team of Nacha Gammat artists from Chhattisgarh started performing, all the children, teachers and villagers present there were filled with enthusiasm. Even from outside the boundary wall of the school campus, villagers were seen trying to watch the performances of the artists. Listening to the words of the artists along with the tunes of the songs, the atmosphere of the school campus was filled with joy and enthusiasm in the spirit of unity.
In this sequence, the Yatra reached the Composite Upper Primary School located in village Marora, where the artists staged the play ‘Girgit’ along with folk songs. Everyone present applauded and encouraged the artists for the live performance of Little IPTA artists. This drama, which gave message against social anomalies was highly appreciated by the people. The street drama performance of ‘Shikari Aur Kabootar’ presented by Nacha Gammat artists of Chhattisgarh made the children laugh a lot. School head teacher Brij Bihari Sharma, assistant teachers Shailendra Nayak, Manish Kumar, Prashant Kumar Maurya, Rashmi Verma, Matija Swarnkar termed this yatra as a big need of the society and said that love and harmony are the biggest needs of the present social life. After the presentation of other colorful programs, the group left for the next stop and reached village Gadhar, where Ramnaresh Dauderia, Satish Chandra Dauderia, Sultan Singh, Ramkumar Duholia, Ramhet, Mohammad Irfan, Sagar and others welcomed the yatra at Doderia Farm House. Invited them for lunch. After the meal, the artists includeed in the Jatha inspired people towards social harmony and unity by performing beautiful street plays and songs in front of the Shivalaya complex.
After that, the ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ cultural Jatha of Uttar Pradesh travelled to village Minoura, the last stop of its third day. When the artists played the melodious tunes of songs while playing the tambourine all along the way, people walking on the road also eagerly stopped to see and listen to them. At the entry road of the village in Minora, many people including Kripa Shankar Dwivedi alias Bachchu Maharaj, Shivram, Ram Ji Dixit, Aditya Dixit, Sudhir Pradeep, Aman joined the group and toured the village. During this time, social messages were given by the artists through folk singing and street drama at the intersections and main roads of the village. Later in the evening, the team halted for the third day at Ghanaram College near the village for late dinner and then rested there itself. National Executive President Rakesh Veda, State Yatra Coordinator and State General Secretary Shahzad Rizvi, Local Yatra Coordinator Devendra Shukla, Kripa Shankar Dwivedi (Bachchu Maharaj), Deependra Singh, Raj Pappan, Pradeep Kumar, Dr. Subhash Chandra, Dharmendra Kumar participated in the third day’s cultural yatra. A large number of people including Dr. Swati Raj, Preeti, Dr. Sanjeev, Amjad Alam and Chhattisgarh’s Nacha Gammat artists Nisar Ali, Devnarayan Sahu, Alok Beria were present.
After this, while touring the village, the group reached village Vajida, where children were having lunch in the council school. As soon as the information was received, the team of teachers of the school welcomed the cultural jatha by inviting them to the school council. During this period, many performances were done by the artists. The children not only clapped, but they also joined in with the artists. During this, some children, after listening to the songs being sung during the yatra, recited them with full enthusiasm among the people present there. Tania, a student of class 8, showed her talent by presenting the song ‘Dhaai Akhar Prem Ka Padhne Aur Padhaane aaye Hain, Hum Bharat Se Nafrat Ka Har Ghaaw Mitane aaye Hain’ with utmost seriousness. On this occasion, school headmistress Dr. Swayamprabha Dubey, teachers Sudha Dwivedi, Vinod Niranjan, Ranjana said in an excited manner about the visit that they are very happy that the values of social harmony, love, brotherhood and national unity is being strengthened in the country. This cultural journey is being organised in the direction of making it a reality, which will prove important in increasing the progress, prosperity and harmony of the country.
Tuesday 21 November 2023
On Tuesday, 21st November, on the fourth day of the National Cultural Jatha, organized by IPTA in Jalaun district of Bundelkhand, the land of heroes, the group started from Ghanaram Mahavidyalaya in village Minoura and moved towards its next stop, village Hardoi Gurjar. On reaching Hardoi Gurjar, Comrade Vijay Singh along with his comrades warmly welcomed all the pilgrims in the group. First of all, the group reached the statue of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar on the main road, where State jatha Coordinator and State General Secretary Shahzad Rizvi garlanded him and paid homage. The next stop of the group was Inter College Hardoi Gurjar. Where Lucknow IPTA staged the street play ‘Girgit’ under the direction of Ichha Shankar and folk songs were presented along with the street play “Dhai Akhar Prem” under the direction of Nisar Ali, the traveling companion from Chhattisgarh IPTA. College Principal Veer Singh Chauhan, Balmukund Samadhiya, Deepak Agnihotri, Vijay Rawat, Akhilesh Mishra, Ram Ratan, Vikas, Arun Kumar Sengar, Rajesh Mishra, Anil Pandey, Vishnu Kant Dixit, Mahendra Pal, Vinod Chandra Mishra, Shyam Bahadur, Rajiv Narayan. A large number of students were present.
On the eve of Jhalkari Bai Jayanti, the last stop of the yatra, tributes were paid to her by presenting folk songs and street plays at the site of her statue established in Orai. According to historical evidence, Jhalkari, born in a farmer and Dalit family of Bhojla village, located 10 km from Jhansi, had fought a ferocious lion with a sickle in her childhood while cutting grass in the fields and killed it. When Queen Lakshmi Bai heard the heroic story of girl Jhalkari, she honored her by calling her to her palace and included her in her bodyguard women’s army. It is said that Jhalkari Bai’s appearance was very similar to that of Rani Lakshmi Bai. In the freedom struggle of 1857, young Jhalkari fought the British army shoulder to shoulder with the queen and by presenting herself as the queen, she dodged the British army and rescued Rani Lakshmi Bai safely. Thus, while protecting the queen, Jhalkari sacrificed her life.
Thereafter, the Yatra group set out for a tour of the village, where street plays and folk songs were presented in the streets and squares of the village, as well as in the Girls Primary School. On this occasion, teachers Ravindra Shakyawar, Rohini Dwivedi, Kirti Mishra, Preeti Gupta described this journey as an important step towards social harmony. Again the group reached the place where the great warrior Rani Laxmibai had spent a night while going from Kalpi to Gwalior. The British, enraged, hanged 19 people who had given shelter to Rani Lakshmi Bai from a tree and also demolished the fort where Rani Lakshmi Bai had rested. Before reaching this historical place, thoughts were shared with the villagers and the street drama and folk singing presented by the artists drenched the villagers with the colors of love and harmony along with information about the history of the district. During this period, the villagers welcomed the Yatra group wholeheartedly at various places and made them feel a sense of belonging. After noon, villager Vijay Singh Rathore and his family members Mrs. Geeta Rathore, Rinki Rathore, Poonam Rathore, Khushi Rathore, Nancy Rathore served lunch to the members of Jatha at their own residence. Ravindra Kumar Ahirwar, village head of village Hardoi Gurjar, described the National Cultural Jatha as an indicator and motivator of social change.
In the yatra, state coordinator and state general secretary Shahzad Rizvi, local yatra coordinator Devendra Shukla, Orai IPTA secretary Deependra Singh, national committee member Raj Pappan, provincial vice president Dr. Subhash Chandra, Dr. Dharmendra Kumar, Sanjeev Gupta, Santosh, Amjad Alam Chhattisgarh’s Nacha Gammat were present. A large number of people including artists Nisar Ali, Alok Beria, Devnarayan Sahu, IPTA Lucknow President Rajesh Srivastava, Ichha Shankar, Vipin Mishra, Vaibhav Shukla, Tanmay, Harshit Shukla, Honey Khan, Ankit Yadav, Pradeep Tiwari and Rahul Pandey and others were also present.
Wednesday 22 November 2023
‘The cultural group paid tribute to the famous freedom fighter and leftist thinker Thakurdas Vaidya by garlanding his portrait at the coach stop. The fifth day of Uttar Pradesh leg of Dhai Akhar Prem National Cultural Yatra started from Konch tehsil headquarters of Jalaun district. According to legends, the name of the town is associated with some Krauncha sage. But it has been a historical battlefield. The biggest conflict took place in Konch between the British and the revolutionaries in 1857. While in the twelfth century there was a terrible and decisive battle between Prithviraj Chauhan and Alha Udal, in the battle of 1857, the Queen of Jhansi had defeated the British army here. It is noteworthy that this yatra is dedicated to the birth centenary of Comrade Thakurdas Vaidya. Konch has been the workplace of Thakurdas Vaidya. He was not only a freedom fighter, but he led the lef movement while living underground with his wife, established Mathura Prasad Mahavidyalaya in the town three decades ago and remained its Principal for a long time. He was the founding member of the Secondary Teachers Association in the state. He established IPTA’s unit in Konch and guided IPTA till his last breath. Vaidya ji, leading the teams of Konch and Orai IPTA, marched through one and a half dozen villages of the district for a week and spread the message of IPTA from village to village, street to street. Today, while preserving and carrying forward the same heritage, a jatha continues in the state under the leadership of IPTA. The next stop of the jatha was Anand Shukla Women’s College, Konch Nagar.
Here, State Yatra Coordinator and State General Secretary IPTA Shahzad Rizvi, while giving detailed information about the Yatra, said that this Yatra was started on November 18 from village Churkhi of the district, the birthplace of the great revolutionary immortal martyr Tatya Tope, and will continue in various villages of the district. The jatha reached Konch today on the fifth day while touring. The objective of this yatra is to strengthen the common cultural heritage of the country so that equality and unity can be established in the country with the spirit of love and harmony. In the same sequence, the local coordinator of the yatra, Devendra Shukla, also expressed his views and said that India is a country of diversity and this is its biggest beauty, maintaining and strengthening it is the moral responsibility of all of us. On this occasion, IPTA state president Manimay Mukherjee, who came from Chhattisgarh, presented folk songs.
The staging of the street drama presented by Nacha Gammat artist from Chhattisgarh was quite impressive. In this sequence, all the artists included in the troupe together presented IPTA’s invocation song – “Dhai Akhar Prem Ka Pathane Padhane Aaye Hain, Hum Bharat Mein Nafrath Ka Har Daag Mitane Aaye Hain” in a very beautiful manner. Thereafter, the patriotic songs of Avani Dixit and Himani Rathore of a local cultural group enthralled the audience so much that the feeling of mesmerism was clearly visible among the people present there. Amidst the thunderous applause of the people present, the dance artists of Chhattisgarh, Nisar Ali, Alok Beria and Devnarayan Sahu, not only effectively conveyed their message to the hearts and minds of the people through their street theater performance, but also shocked everyone with their very attractive expressions. On this occasion, Anand Shukla Women’s College Konch Management member Vikku Shukla, Principal Dr. Shailendra Kumar Dwivedi, Travel Coordinator Shahzad Rizvi, Chhattisgarh IPTA Provincial President Manimay Mukherjee, Local Travel Coordinator Devendra Shukla, Raj Pappan and otheres were present. Orai IPTA comrades congratulated the organizers of the program honoring them with gamcha, a symbol of the jatha. During this, Dr. Naushad Hussain, Dr. Akhilesh, Vikram Soni, Dr. Harimohan Pal, Alok Sharma, Anjana Dwivedi, Ritu Rawat, Akash Nigam, Dr. Gaurav Srivastava, Narendra Parihar, Vijay Singh, Mridul Datare, Prem Shankar Awasthi, Ankur Rathore, Drinkal Rathore, Manvendra Kushwaha, Yunus Mansoori, Nikhil Kushwaha, Danish and others were present.
After this, the jatha set out on a tour of Konch town, where the town’s people welcomed the pilgrims everywhere with great enthusiasm and warmth. During the journey in Konch Itself, IPTA patron and Konch resident T.D.Vaidya was paid homage on the occasion of his birth centenary. Then, the group reached his establishment Gas Agency, where all the comrades included in the group lit the lamp at the memorial site of the freedom fighter and leftist thinker, T.D.Vaidya and his wife and garlanded their pictures. After the tour, the group left for the next stop. The authenticity of the fact that real India resides in villages has been proved on the ground by village Maheshpura of Jalaun district, adjacent to the border of Madhya Pradesh state. When the jatha reached the village borders, village head Ram Prakash Kushwaha gave a warm welcome to the yatra group.
After this, various street plays and folk songs presented by the Nacha Gammat artists of IPTA Lucknow and Chhattisgarh on the route of the village attracted the children, youth, women and elderly people to such an extent that a large number of people were seen eager to see the performance of the artists. Later, the jatha reached a Sanskrit school established by the world famous scholar Rahul Sankrityayan in the village, which is called the Sanskrit Shiksha Sthali. Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan had spent a lot of time here during his stay and by establishing a Sanskrit school here, he gave an unforgettable gift to this village by making it a part of history. Everyone in the group had a kind of glorious feeling in Maheshpura. First of all, the natural beauty and climate of Maheshpura village filled everyone with so much excitement and enthusiasm that everyone completely forgot the fatigue of their journey and was surprised to see the historical places full of natural beauty. All the participants of the National Cultural Jatha paid homage to his portrait. Amazing pictures were seen at Maheshpura, the confluence of Pahuj and Dhamna.
Maheshpura village, situated in the ravines of the confluence of two rivers, Pahuj and Dhamna, is the last village in the border of the district, this village is connected to the border of Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh state, hence the culture here has the elements of Datia, and Bhind of Bundelkhand. The effect of Jalaun was clearly visible. All the companions included in the group of ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’, a national cultural journey organized with the intention of spreading the importance of the country’s historical and cultural places to the general public and establishing love, brotherhood, mutual harmony and unity in the country, when they visited those places. When we went on tour, we were surprised to find not just one or two but many amazing and shocking scenes in front of us. Natural underground wells and natural water sources like springs were seen near the village. Villager Yashpal Singh Rathore told that these waterfalls flow continuously. Village head Ram Prakash Kushwaha, Kanchan Kushwaha, Paan Singh Verma and Rajendra Kushwaha etc. gave other interesting information related to the village. He told that the huge banyan tree situated near the Sanskrit Pathshala here is almost 400 years old.
On the sixth and concluding day, after visiting various urban and rural areas of Jalaun district under the Uttar Pradesh leg of ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ National Cultural Yatra being taken out nationwide on the call of national cultural organizations, the team presented intellectual and cultural programs at Shri Gandhi Inter College and Suman Shikshan Foundation, Acharya Narendra dev college. On one hand it left a memorable feeling for the city, on the other hand the core message of the yatra was also based on the mission of enhancing love, brotherhood and national unity. The group shook the public mind at the level of ideology and heart. After paying homage at the place of Sanskrit education of world famous scholar and linguist Rahul Sankrityayan in village Maheshpura of Pahuj rugged belt of Konch tehsil on the western border of the district, the yatra reached the headquarters here and had dinner at the residence of Dr. Dharmendra Kumar, Vice President of IPTA Orai and rested. On the morning of 23 November, National Committee member Raj Pappan and his life partner and Provincial Deputy General Secretary Dr. Swati Raj. After having refreshments, all the companions of the group started traveling in the city.
From Maheshpura, the journey reached its next stop Orai and took rest for the night after lunch. In the convoy of cultural yatra, state coordinator and state general secretary Shahzad Rizvi, Chhattisgarh IPTA state president Manimay Mukherjee, local yatra coordinator Devendra Shukla, Orai IPTA secretary Deependra Singh, national committee member Raj Pappan, provincial vice president Dr. Subhash Chandra, Dr. Dharmendra Kumar, Sanjeev Gupta, Santosh, Amjad Alam Chhattisgarh’s Nacha Gammat style artists Nisar Ali, Alok Beria, Devnarayan Sahu, IPTA Lucknow President Rajesh Srivastava, Ichha Shankar, Vipin Mishra, Vaibhav Shukla, Tanmay, Harshit Shukla, Honey Khan, Ankit Yadav and a large number of people including Pradeep Tiwari and Rahul Pandey were present.
Thursday 23 November 2023
The world has always been entangled with oppression like this;
neither their rituals nor their customs are new.
We have always bloomed flowers in the fire like this,
neither their defeat is new nor our victory is new
– Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
Memorable activities took place in Orai city on the last day of ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ National Cultural Jatha. On the centenary year, tribute was paid to two great personalities of the city, late Shri Dhaniram Verma Advocate and famous poet Bakhtiyar Mashriqi.
First of all, the idea was shared among the students in Shri Gandhi Inter College, expressing national unity and love-harmony as a fundamental need of the society. On this occasion, a beautiful play “Dhai Akhar Prem” was staged by Chhattisgarh’s Nacha-Gammat artistes Nisar Ali, Alok Beria and Devnarayan Sahu. Thereafter, the team of Lucknow IPTA staged the play “Girgit” and left its mark on the minds of the students and intellectuals present. On this occasion, Principal of Shri Gandhi Inter College Devendra Kumar Jha, Amritlal Nagar, Shailesh Kumar, Ashok Kumar Singh, Jitendra Verma, Lieutenant Ramkesh, Manoj Rajput, Mithlesh Trivedi, Pradeep Dixit, Devendra Gupta, Shivmangal Prajapati, Om Prakash Paswan, Ramesh, Satyendra Tripathi praised the excellent acting of the actors. At the same time, this journey was described as an initiative to inspire public awareness for the country and society. In this sequence, IPTA performed in Acharya Narendra Dev Inter College of the city. The team performed cultural programs as well as folk singing and local music. Sharing views on the current social environment of the country to spread the feeling of unity and brotherhood among the people emphasized the need. On this occasion the Principal of the school Puneet Kumar Bharti, Surendra Pandey, Kapoor Kumar Gautam, Virendra Kumar Umri, Shivani Kushwaha, Rajni Ahirwar, Arvind Niranjan, Shiv Naresh Tripathi, Shahnaz Parveen and Ashutosh Srivastava in the lead roles were present.
Late in the evening, an excellent presentation of ‘Gandhi’ drama and folk songs was given under the direction of Raj Pappan by the Nacha Gammat artists of Chhattisgarh and Little IPTA Orai at the Suman Shikshan Free Foundation premises located in the slum area. Participated in the drama – Krish, Yogesh, Devansh, Shiv, Priya, Mukesh, Raksha, Bhupendra, Roshan, Deepika. Hundreds of students including Shivangi Dixit, Aparna Patel, Deepak Rajput, Rupali, Mohit Sharma, Abhinav Sharma were present on this occasion. On the sixth and concluding day of ‘Dhai Akhar Prem’ National Cultural Jatha, the group’s comrades paid tribute to two great personalities of the city on the occasion of their centenary year. The yatra concluded ceremoniously with various cultural programs at the residence of late Dhani Ram Verma. At the end of the program, state Vice President Dr. Subhash Chandra bid farewell to all the participants in the group by having dinner at his residence and honoring them with a gamcha symbolizing ‘Dhai Aakhar Prem’.
Even after continuous performances in different villages, markets, streets and towns during the 6-day long Padyatra, the zeal and enthusiasm of all the members of the group was clearly visible. There is no trace of fatigue anywhere on anyone’s face. The feeling of sparkle was clearly visible in everyone’s eyes. This historical and memorable moment was supported by these lines of the great storyteller and poet Dr. Rahi Masoom Raja – ‘I lost my sleep in this journey so much that we did not sleep instead the night slept after getting tired. ‘
State Coordinator and State General Secretary Shahzad Rizvi, Chhattisgarh IPTA Provincial President Manimay Mukherjee, Local Yatra Coordinator Devendra Shukla, Orai IPTA Secretary Deependra Singh, National Committee Member-Raj Pappan, Provincial Vice President Dr. Subhash Chandra, Dr. Dharmendra Kumar, Sanjeev Gupta participated in the yatra, Santosh, Amjad Alam, Chhattisgarh’s Nacha Gammat style artist Nisar Ali, Alok Beria, Devnarayan Sahu, IPTA Lucknow President Rajesh Srivastava, Ichha Shankar, Vipin Mishra, Vaibhav Shukla, Tanmay, Harshit Shukla, Honey Khan, Ankit Yadav, Pradeep Tiwari. And a large number of people including Rahul Pandey were present.
Report: Shahzad Rizvi, State Secretary of IPTA Uttar Pradesh & Jatha Coordinator
Compilation: Usha Athaley
Translation: Sandhya Rastogi