‘Social ills central to Parsai’s writings’

NAGPUR: A sneak peek into the works of Harishankar Parsai, a famous satirist and humorist of Hindi literature, revealed his multifaceted personality who made telling comments on the various ills the society faced, at a programme organized as part of ‘Abhivachan’ series at Chitnavis Centre, on Saturday.

Speakers Dinkar Bedekar and Supantha Bhattacharya, both theatre actors and directors, held the attention of the audience with their well-modulated voices and their understanding of undercurrents in the scripts.

Parsai was born in a small village near Itarsi in 1924 and had a Nagpur connect as he completed his masters from here, said Bedekar. “Parsai revolutionized the art of satire writing in Hindi. It speaks volumes about his genius that even after two decades of his death, he remains unsurpassed,” said Bedekar.

Speaking about the qualities of Parsai which make him different from the rest, Bedekar said, “He had great understanding about the philosophy of life and society. Using the power of his pen, he exposed double-standards, hypocrisy and corruption. Therefore, his works are considered contemporary as they hold relevance even today. His write-ups reflected his image as a humble person.”

Bedekar and Bhattacharya then presented his stories. ‘Das Din Ka Anshan’ was about multifaceted people in the society who fool and manipulate the minds of innocent for their own benefit. It showed the level to which they could stoop low to get what they desire.

‘Ek Suljha Hua Aadmi’, another story, spoke about the people who are not adaptive in nature as changing for better is against their integrity. They believe that they are superior and look down upon the rest.

‘Mil Lena’ and ‘Thanda Shareef Aadmi’ were also among the stories picked up to depict the stark realities of the society and ugly politics.