Dussehra was the high point of 10 days (9 this time) of performances by amateur actors in several natak mandalis which organised Ramlila committees. The pandemic dampened the spirits somewhat but the sharad navratras was too good an opportunity to be missed, for the second year in a row. Most natak mandalis had not organised Ramlilas last year (in 2020) as the coronavirus pandemic raged all around. No vaccine had been found for it and the doctors were giving trying to give treatment according to symptoms that manifested in the patients.
A businessman providing catering services in the neighbourhood was celebrated Hanuman in one Ramlila mandal. The organisers cajoled him into donning the dress of Hanuman more because of his girth and height, than anything else! The hardware shopkeeper by the day, 365 days of the year, was the Sita in another natak mandali. It was fantastic to watch people from different walks of life come together to stitch up a loose alliance for the cause of Ramlila. In between two different scenes of Ramlila, a lady Wing Commander took the mike to extol the women among the spectators to dream big as they were second to none.
All this and more played out and a loud applause, and thunderous clapping followed from the spectators when Angad (son of Bali) delivered his dialogues to near perfection in Ravan durbar on Mahanavmi day. Sticking to agreed timelines for performances was the most difficult part for the organisers. The law enforcers, the police and the local tehsildar, or SDM, who had authorised the Ramlila performance, just looked the other way when small transgressions took place.
