A day after watching on TV the drama of anti-bill MPs in the Indian parliament disrupting the proceedings by snatching the Women’s Reservation Bill from the house chair and tearing it into pieces on International Women’s Day, I watched a drama, as in a theatre, in an auditorium not very far from Parliament House in Delhi. (More about this here.) In the drama Putaliko Ghar (Doll’s House), director Sunil Pokharel’s Nepali adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s creation, the protagonist finally discovers herself and walks out of the home stunning her man. A piercing message that women are no more men’s dolls, and that they have to live for themselves rather than for their men, comes out from the drama.
South Asian societies have a long way to go to see a real Nora in action, but it is because of these dramas and people like Pokharel and the actors that society is becoming more aware about the rights of all kinds, including women’s. The beautiful performance by Nisha Sharma Pokharel, Shekhar Chapagain, Aruna Karki, Bashanta Bhatta and Rajkumar Pudashaini won the hearts of the audience largely made up of Nepali citizens and Nepali Indians in Delhi. The drama was staged as part of the South Asian Women’s Theatre Festival in which many other creations with women-centric themes were performed. (Pics by DK)
Dinesh Wagle on Nepali Society 
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