The ‘Halla-Bol’ Play!: 'Kalokhachya Garbhat'

I haven't had a second to look at my research for the past few days. Finally, I’m back at it: reading and taking notes. Right now, I’m looking at the play Kalokhachya Garbhat (In the Womb of Darkness), written by Bhi. Shi. Shinde and published back in 1981.

Kalokhachya Garbhat (In the Womb of Darkness), Bhi. Shi. Shinde, Cover: Jayant Joshi.

Here’s the thing about this play: on the surface, it’s a standard three-act piece performed on a typical proscenium stage. But underneath? It’s pure rebellion wrapped in Dalit consciousness. As Bhi. Shi. himself noted in the quintessential journal, Asmitadarsh (edited by Gangadhar Pantawane), this wasn’t just a story; it was a visceral, gut-level reaction to the horrific atrocities committed against Dalits in Maharashtra, especially in the villages, after the Marathwada University renaming movement in 1978. So, you can’t really look at this play (published by Neelkanth Prakashan) as just a piece of "literary art." It’s a protest. It’s propaganda in the truest sense, born straight out of a brutal social struggle.

The set design really drives this home. It’s not just a backdrop; it’s a symbol that screams at you. There’s this ‘Grand Village Gate’ (Gaavachi Bhavya Ves) in the center of the stage. To me, it doesn't look like an entrance. It looks like an unbreakable wall standing between the exploiter and the exploited. The stage direction says it all: the space for the savarnas is elevated on the right, while the Dalit space is down on the low ground on the left. The second that curtain goes up, the ugly reality of social inequality hits you right in the face.

There’s a great story about how this play came to be. In the 1994 special issue of Asmitadarsh on Dalit Theatre (edited by Gangadhar Pantawane), Shinde shared an anecdote. He was at a workshop organized by the Theatre Academy, and Dr. Jabbar Patel asked him to talk about Datta Bhagat's play Wata Palwata. The legendary playwright Vijay Tendulkar was there, and after hearing Shinde’s analysis, he asked, "You analyze so well, so why don't you write plays like this yourself?"

Shinde’s answer? It goes straight to the heart. He said his audience is the human being crushed by injustice, the person sitting with his head buried in his knees. His goal is simply to get that person to lift their head. He wrote: “The audience for most of my plays is the person who is crushed by social, religious, and cultural injustice and atrocities—someone bent completely at the waist, sitting despondently with their head buried in their knees. If, after seeing my plays, the audience manages to at least lift his head from his knees and look up, I would consider myself blessed.”

Kalokhachyaa Garbhat shows exactly what the voice of that crushed man sounds like when he finally does look up. We usually talk about Safdar Hashmi’s ‘Halla Bol’ from 1989, but seeing the roar of rebellion Shinde unleashed way back in 1979 is something else. It introduces us to a fight from a different era.

In the play, Shivasambha and his crew rise up against the injustice, and it goes something like this:

Shivasambha & Co: We will chop off the hands of those who commit atrocities against us! Now, only one slogan, one call—Speak, Dalit! Everyone: Halla Bol! Shivasambha: On Digya Chaughule— Everyone: ...Halla Bol! Shivasambha: Speak up, speak up, Halla Bol— Everyone: On Satya Patil, Halla Bol! Shivasambha: On the swine Vastaad— Everyone: Halla Bol! Shivasambha: On the donkey Phalgunya— Everyone: Halla Bol! (A deafening voices of slogans begins) (Blackout)

Reading this today, I realized that for the Dalit theatre of that time, this wasn't just entertainment. It was a battle piercing through the darkness.

On a side note, I have to admit: while the content, the rebellious edge, and the politics of where the characters stand in the hierarchy are huge for subaltern politics, I can see the limitations in the play’s ‘form.’ It has some artistic shortcomings. Especially when you compare it to playwrights like Datta Bhagat, Prakash Tribhuvan, or Premanand Gajvi, the playwrights who really mastered the language of the stage—you have to look at both sides: the fiery ideology and the theatrical execution.

---

About the Play:

Title: Kalokhachya Garbhat (In the Womb of Darkness)

Author: Bhi. Shi. Shinde

Publisher: Neelkanth Prakashan, Pune (First Edition, October 1981)

Cover Art: Jayant Joshi

Preface: Vijay Tendulkar

Director: Texas Gaikwad

Performance History: The first performance of the play was presented by the organization Dalit Rangabhoomi Pune, courtesy of the Dalit Sahitya Sansad (Pune Branch), at the Dalit Sahitya Parishad (Conference). Date: November 11, 1979 Venue: Tilak Smarak Mandir Auditorium, Pune Time: 9:30 PM