Ravana is a small-time moneylender in Moradabad who misses his wife and children when he performs in Delhi. Ram and Hanuman are classmates in BA second year and Ram wants to be a journalist.

This is the third consecutive year when all of them have come together to the Ramlila Ground in Delhi to take part in the Dussehra from Moradabad. Though the theatre group, Adarsh Kala Sangam, does not pay these actors, they are more than eager to perform each time. The only unhappy ones are the foot soldiers whose characters do not even have names.

In a large tent strewn with shiny dhotis, cloth rolled into tails, and crowns lying on the floor, Jeevan Lata, the group’s make-up artiste, dabs rouge on Ram’s face. Lata’s husband, Pradeep Kumar Sharsha, owns the theatre group and has been in the field for 40 years now. “I started pitching in after my marriage. It has been 30 years now. We love what we do,” Lata said. She also does the background narration.

Sharsha’s theatre company, Adarsh Kala Sangam, has a parallel act on in Noida as well. Sharsha was in Noida and his son, Ankit, handles the Delhi group.

The group is mainly made up mostly of young people who study in Moradabad.

Pradeep Sharma, 47, who plays Ravana, said he has mastered his role to perfection. Asked if he ever wants to play Ram, Sharma said, “The directors feel that because of my build, I’m best-suited to play Ravana. I enjoy my role. It is just for fun,” he said. Twelve-year-old Dharamendra, who plays a foot soldier in the Ravana camp, aspires to play the lead. “I am happy with any role, but Ram is a dream,” he said. Prabhakar Pandey is in the ‘vanar sena’ and it is his fifth year. He loves acting and his family in Moradabad does not object. “They won’t say no to my taking part,” said Pandey.

... contd.