‘Girish was a memorable character and an inspiring personality’

Nishumbita, according to its teacher, trainer and director Rammohan Holagundi, was the only theatre play group in Hyderabad to have presented Girish Karnad’s famous plays including Nagamandala, Agnivarsham, Flowers, etc. Reminiscing his association with the legendary writer and artist, Rammohan states that Girish was quite a memorable character and an inspiring personality.

“We have performed several of Girish sir’s plays. Even though we invited him to grace the performances in 2015, he would not come. His reply was that it would be foolish to watch his own plays,” Rammohan recalls, adding, “We pay honorarium for writers if we make their plays, but Girish sir never accepted anything from us. He treated us like his family and always gave us permission to perform his plays.”

Apparently, Girish’s Agnivarsham was the only play from Telangana to have been selected at the National School of Drama in 2016-17. “Our group performed in Jammu and Kashmir and we got a standing ovation for it. In Jammu, because of the volatile situation, it was customary to wrap up performances by 6 pm. But interestingly, the audience watched Agnivarsham till 9 pm and even stayed back after the curtain came down, to interact with us about the play,” reveals Rammohan, adding that Girish felt very happy upon learning this.

Rammohan adds, “Girish sir was a lovable and respectable personality. I used to call him whenever I had doubts and he was always encouraging and supportive. Once, I mentioned to him that I did not possess a Hindi version of Tuglag and he made it a point to procure it and send it to me. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make that play.”

— Sashidhar Adivi