On Wednesday April 24, 2019, LPU’s School of Social Sciences and Languages organized a Literary Festival named Panorama where students from different countries and cultures such as Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and of course India, came together to bring to life some of the most amazing and timeless plays in history from William Shakespeare, Vijay Tendulkar, and Ajmer Singh Aulakh. The students and the faculty also showcased their inspiring and thought-provoking poetries.
It began with the Department of English presenting William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice which is a 16th-century in which a merchant in Venice (Antonio) must default on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. The students did an amazing Job of maintaining the comedic tone of the play while still piquing the audience’s interest during the famous speeches of Shylock and Portia.
After that, the Hindi department took the stage to present “Jaat Hi Puchho Sadhu Ki”, one of Vijay Tendulkar’s most popular plays, which is a bitter comedy hitting out at casteism and is also a tongue-in-cheek comment on the education system. The students set the stage on fire with their energetic acting and with every scene starting with some vintage and highly popular songs from Bollywood Cinema and extremely energetic dance sequences the audience simply couldn’t stop cheering but the students did not let the comedy, music, and excitement overpower the seriousness of the issue that is casteism which still engulfs a great majority of our country and by the end their message was loud and clear.
Next up was the Department of Punjabi which presented the Ajmer Singh Aulakh’s ‘Anne Nishanchi’. The play focused on Indo-Pak Partition and showed how circumstances affected relationships, friendships and responsibilities. It also showed how the partition led to indiscriminate killings. It begins with instances of fake news instigating violence and leading to riots. In the play, Hindu youth outrage the modesty of a girl thinking she is a Muslim. They go through immense grief and self-realization after which they realize their mistake. Meanwhile, a self-styled godman appears and support the girl. The play won a huge round of applause from the audience.
The event did an amazing job of uplifting everyone’s spirits while also bringing their attention to the important issues that still plague our society.
