From manhole to stage

It was just another day for advocate Shilpa Sawant who stopped outside the High court after her hearing and saw a man covered in dirt. The man had just come out of the manhole after doing his job, while the ones passing next to him, covered their rose and were moving swiftly. “I stood there and tried to imagine a human being immersing himself in the dirt and cleaning it. But I was unable to even imagine his plight,” says Sawant.

That is how she wrote the story of her play Andhe Jaahan Ke Andhe Raastein. The story depicts the lives of four different manhole workers. Sawant chose to work with fresh faces and not veterans from the theatre industry. “Our cast comprises people from all walks of life from different caste, creed, colour and religion. as I wanted to ensure there’s no discrimination on our stage at least,” Sawant explains, as she prepares for her fourth show in Thane this Sunday.

Ankur Ghatge who plays Ganpat, a drunkard, says this play is not just an acting job for him but “the responsibility of representing a community”. “They are our unsung heroes who deserve our attention and the government should take proper measures for their safety. Their work is something that we cannot even imagine. Through this play, I really want people to think and at least look at the sanitation employees with due respect whenever they come across one in their day to day life,” he shares.

Santosh Jadhav, who plays Sanket in the play shares, “We have evolved as human beings but till date a human being has to clean our waste and that’s the saddest part of the current times. Through the play we have tried to highlight their agony, pain and helplessness.”