Niladri Bhusan Harichandan / Sanjeet Kumar Das
Columbus’s adventurous and romantic sea voyage and indomitable zeal to explore the ’New Land’ or country is concatenated as a fresh chapter to the geographical history of the world. Though Columbus discovered America, it was named after the deceitful tartuffe Amerigo Vespucci. Along with the sufferings of the sea expedition and the apprehensions of life, he has subsequently experienced and overcome the frequent conspiracies plotted against him by his crew members on the ship and the royal court. Columbus marches ahead steadily with his strong mental prowess. He comes across failures time and again. But he has yet to deviate from his path to reach the goal. His only ambition is to discover the ’New Land’. Struggling for a long time in the Atlantic Ocean, he continues his expedition despite the hiccoughs and huddles on his way. To him, life aims to carry on adventurous journeys on sea irresistibly and uncontrollably. The life of Columbus is flamboyant. More dramatic is his struggling life and exhilarative journey on the sea. The combating spirit, intense desire and apprehensions he encountered help him live life with unbeatable strength and are a humble endeavour made through this play Columbus. In Odisha’s religious world, the non-Hindu poet Salabega has a strange personality. By birth, Salabega is a Muslim, but he is one of the supreme devotees of Lord Jagannath. All his hymns or devotional songs are dedicated to Lord Jagannath. He has not been confined to Islam religion. Though he was a devotee of Jagannath, he couldn’t be a Hindu throughout his life. He is prohibited from entering Jagannath Temple, Puri. Being trapped on the horns of the dilemma, he suffers a lot and plans for a new religion. Later, he named it the ’Religion of Humanity’ and the natural outcome of that time. The play declares that, having been released from narrow parochialism and blind beliefs of caste and religion, Salabega has come forward irresistibly to propagate and establish his religion worldwide. To him, this ’Religion of Humanity’ is true and eternal. He has consistently followed the path of righteousness. Wandering between two main religions, the mental strife or agonies he has undergone are the stuff for me in creating characters like Salabega. With a poetic sensibility and soul, this play has been scripted and published for the larger audience of the world.
