If Alice in Wonderland were to be rewritten, the author should be compelled to send the Mad Hatter into the jungles bordering the Maharashtrian city of Nagpur, to experience the ancient Adivasi tradition of Zhadipatti theatre. The villages, about 200 km from Nagpur, are surrounded by dense forests where villagers are said to be easy prey for prowling tigers. They are also within breathing distance of several Naxalite hideouts, and the militants are often known to satiate their artistic cravings by surreptitiously watching Zhadipatti plays.
Knowing we would be crossing prohibited jungles, this writer was apprehensive to begin a recent journey to these villages at 11 pm. In the middle of the night, after hours in a crowded jeep and still more walking down a narrow path, we suddenly came to a clearing, where thousands of people had congregated – makeshift kiosks selling hot chai and paan were everywhere. People huddled together around small fires, smoking bidis or downing glasses of the local arrack. Leaving them to their socialising, we walked towards the first huge tent, from which loud music, cheering and an occasional sound like a thunderclap could be heard.
Sticking our heads under the tent wall, we came face to face with a scene seemingly cut from a fairy tale. At first, perhaps, the performers seemed garish and loud, particularly for an urban-bred spectator who was used to the polished performances of city theatre. (Though the language used is predominantly a local dialect of Marathi, the influence of cinema and television had made the speech patterns more urbanised.) The stage was designed to replicate a two-storey house; the actors, though dressed and appropriately made up for their roles, indulged in highly melodramatic delivery and exaggerated body movements. To highlight any point of suspense or drama, the music would swell suddenly.
Either way, the actors held the audience spellbound. In this particular act, a distraught damsel had barged into the house of her beau, who was caught unawares, having just come out of the bath with just a towel around his waist. The crowd's reaction was uproarious. As the man talked about how it was improper of the woman to come in unexpectedly, she attempted to explain how urgent it was for her to meet him. Serious talks were on at home to get her married off, after all, and she was trying to get him to proclaim his love for her – but in his frustration, he could hear none of her hints. As this went on – she trying to cajole him into saying the three golden words, and he becoming increasingly irate over her barging into his house – the crowd became restless, until a man in the front row finally got up, obviously agitated, and bellowed to the actress, "Go on, tell him, 'I love you'!" This again sent the audience into raptures.