Unhappy is the land that needs a hero.” Maharaj Krishna Raina prefers to practice what German playwright Bertolt Brecht famously said in a country that loves to indulge in hero worship. Over the years, the veteran theatre practitioner has covered his conviction with a gentle smile and used culture as a catalyst for socio-political change in the most sensitive parts of the country.
Be it Punjab, Kashmir or the North East, Raina says his mantra has always been, “ hero nahin banana hai ”, making his art do the talking. M K Raina with his memoir Before I Forget | Photo Credit:Special Arrangement During the pandemic, Raina got time to pause and look back at an enterprising career and the result is an immensely readable account. Aptly titled Before I Forget (Penguin Classics), the memoir traces the historical events that shaped Raina and informed his art.
The theft of the holy relic from the Hazratbal shrine in his hometown of Srinagar in 1963, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, the brutal murder of cultural activist and close friend Safdar Hashmi in 1989, the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, the fallout of Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and the ethnic tension in the North East, the memoir reads like a layered script where it is impossible to take sides. No wonder his friend and director Sudhir Mishra is contemplating a film script out of Raina’s rich memory.Here is an actor-auteur-activist who stood his ground in turbulent circumstances, at times life-threatening.
Like his pla.