Peons to officers, Western Rly electrical team on stage together in a farewell play for chief administrator officer

The Railways has always been known for team work, whatever the situation, and this showed once again on June 29 when staff of the electrical department at Churchgate got together to stage a play to bid an official farewell.

Uttam Chand, chief administrative officer (construction), retired from Western Railway at the end of June. His colleagues staged Jago Re at the headquarters auditorium, with the performers ranging from peon to officer.

The play depicted a series of happenings around two passengers waiting for train on a platform. It was written and directed by Vikramjit Singh Sachdev, assistant engineer in the department.

“The incidents shown depict the hypocrisy in our society. The commuters become sole witnesses to a terrorist planting a bomb on a platform. Their first reaction is to run away but they eventually succeed in defusing the bomb and save the lives of many people,” Sachdev said.

He dedicated the play to Uttam Chand. It is his third, after Maharaas and EMI.

Dada Parsnaik directed the music for the play, with the songs sung by Kiran Sachdeva, Vikramjit Singh’s daughter and the winner of a national singing hunt contest on Doordarshan. The lighting was done by Bharat Mer.

The play had 18 actors, 17 of them first-timers. Their ages ranged from 24 to 54. The director divided the play into nine scenes with nine small groups, enabling him to work individually with each actor. They rehearsed for 20 days before going on stage.

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