Badal Sircar Research Articles

Internal Workshop: The Third Theatre Methodology of Embodying Hunger

Enzo Cozzi in his essay “Hunger and the Future of Performance” argues on the performative impossibility of representing hunger except through a state of trance. In contrast, for Third Theatre, the representation of hunger is a political act of empowerment and activism. Badal Sircar, the founder-director of the Third Theatre group Satabdi, introduces the phenomenon of hunger “practically, non-verbally” that enables the participants to “leap to another state of being,” says Jo Trowsdale in the article “Sitting in Badal’s Circle: Artist and pedagogue; the theatre of Badal Sircar.” The process of effecting this transition in the Third Theatre is called the Internal Workshop. Drawing on personal interviews with Third Theatre practitioners, my experiences of being a participant-observer in three Third Theatre workshops, and similar records of experiences by practitioners of this theatre, as a counterpoint to Cozzi’s view, in this essay I elaborate on the Internal Workshop process as the Third Theatre methodology of embodying and representing hunger.

The Power of Laughter: A Study of the Comedies of Badal Sircar

Comedy, unlike tragedy, is often overlooked as a lower form of art and less important. But comedy plays crucial role in entertaining as well as making people aware of real-life issues. Badal Sircar (1925-2011) is a widely recognized playwright of post-independence Indian theatre. While there is much scholastic focus and discussion on his absurd dramas and Third Theatre plays, his comedies have been mostly overlooked and have rarely drawn critical attention. By filling this gap in existing literature, the present research establishes the significance and value of Sircar’s comedies. It analyses situational pure comedies as well as black comedies from both the proscenium and the non-proscenium phases, namely Solution X, Boro Pisima, Shanibar, Ram Shyam Jadu, Ballabhpurer Rupkatha, Kabikahini, Bichitranushthan, Jadi Ar Ekbar, Abu Hossain, Hattamalar Oparey, Bagalacharit-manas, and Khat Mat Kring. While giving relief to the daily routines of the audience, Sircar presents serious matters in non-serious ways that simultaneously compel them to think about the surrounding worlds and grave issues (capitalist exploitation, corrupt politicians and hypocritical nature of political parties, dowry deaths, nuclear holocaust, unemployment, middle class aspirations and frustration in life, Brahmans-Dalits conflict, social changes, etc.). The study asserts that comedy cannot be merely dismissed as a non-serious art having no social purpose, but it can prove itself to be a powerful tool in raising socio-political awareness.

From Proscenium to Public: Explorations of Body and Space in Sircar’s Third Theatre

The name of Badal Sircar, the Bengali playwright, actor and theatre activist, holds a very prestigious position in the history of modern Indian theatre. Both in the field of the Indian mainstream proscenium theatre and in that of the Alternative/Street theatre, he has made significant contribution to the Indian drama. In the post-independence period, when Indian theatre world was caught in the debate of “modern” and “Indian”, he established a brand-new genre of theatre called “Third Theatre”. Third Theatre provided a potent resolution to the inherent dichotomy in modern Indian drama by skillfully reconciling indigenous theatrical tools and techniques with the Western proscenium tradition of a text-based, plot-driven idea of theatre. Sircar’s style is thus a hybrid of folk theatre and proscenium theatre. This was a creative attempt to create an alternate media to effectively spread the playwright's views among the populace. With all these innovative ideas, philosophies and techniques, Sircar’s primary purpose was to bridge the gap between the drama and the audience, between the rural and the urban, between the form and the content etc., and to attain to the ideals of liveness and direct communication in theatrical experience. This effort aids him in breaking sharply with the modern Bengali theatre, which is fixated on the manner of presentation used in the English Victorian drama, and elevating it to a hitherto unattainable level of artistry. The present paper seeks to explore how Badal Sircar experimented with the body of the actor and with the performance space in order to create a syncretic form of theatre accessible equally to the rural and urban.

Portrayal of Society and Hardships in Badal Sircar’s Plays

In Indian literature, Badal Sircar is regarded as a promising author. He improved the Indian theatre while also adding to it. Badal Sircar was a brilliant playwright who excelled in writing plays that reformed society. He is a strong proponent for the oppressed and underprivileged sections. Badal Sircar demonstrates his excellence in depicting the modern social landscape realistically. His plays mostly focus on social, religious, political, personal, and interpersonal problems. His plays are an accurate picture of what is going on in the world. Sircar is a very sensitive writer who is compelled to write and ponder by the events taking place around him. His plays are a potent depiction of the predicament of people who are going through a difficult time in their lives due to numerous socio-political factors, both physically and mentally. He has produced over fifty plays. Generally speaking, he wrote his plays in Bengali, although many of them were afterwards translated into English. His plays mostly discuss societal themes, the plight of oppressed people, and dominance. This paper presents works by Badal Sircar that emphasise both significant historical occurrences and contemporary man's daily circumstances. All of his writings are based on actual incidents that took place in society close to him. This paper explains and illustrates how, as a dramatist, he skillfully depicts the present events and circumstances in readers lives to act as a mirror. The study paper looks for voices from both the dominant and underclasses. The research article critically reveals the terrible reality and sufferings of the lower classes. SOCIETY: Human relations or social relations refer to all of a person's interactions with other individuals. Society is the sum of all of these connections between people who live in a single neighborhood or nation. In a society where people have different needs and difficulties, an organization must meet those needs and provide solutions to the issues that arise. The establishment of these standards, which are based on intelligently and responsibly meeting the essential necessities of housing, education, protection, food, employment, health, and occupation, as well as amusement, clothes, and transportation, is how society is governed. Since an individual cannot make progress in every sector, the development of society is essential to growth.

POWER POLITICS IN GIRISH KARNAD’S HAYAVADANA AND TUGHLAQ

Through the centuries, Indian drama has been one of the means of discovering how a human being can achieve an optimal human existence–cultural, social, political, material, and spiritual. The staging of patriotic plays in modern Indian theatre boosted operative energy in the freedom movement. The spirit of liberty provided significant impetus to the revival of various forms of performing arts. After independence, Karnad, along with other playwrights such as Vijay Tendulkar, Mohan Rakesh, and Badal Sircar, conducted 101 theatrical and thematic experiments in order to free individuals from the shackles of superstitiously internalized socio-cultural constructs.

Theatre and Socio-Cultural Aspects in the Novels of Badal Sircar

Badal Sircar, a pioneer of Indian theatre, is renowned for his innovative approach to drama, but his influence extends beyond the stage. This study delves into the socio-cultural dimensions embedded in Sircar's novels, exploring how his literary narratives mirror the societal fabric of their times. By analyzing his novels, this research seeks to uncover the profound interplay between theatre and socio-cultural aspects within his written works. The study begins by situating Sircar's novels within the broader context of Indian literature and theatre, outlining the historical and cultural forces that shaped his creative expressions. Furthermore, the research probes the impact of Sircar's socio-cultural critiques on readers and society. It investigates how his novels shed light on prevailing issues, prompting readers to reflect on the complexities of the human condition and the societal forces that shape it. The study also underscores the role of Sircar's novels in providing historical and cultural documentation, allowing readers to peer into the past while contemplating contemporary relevance. In conclusion, this study illuminates the intricate interplay between theatre and socio-cultural aspects in the novels of Badal Sircar. By analyzing the thematic depth, narrative techniques, and socio-cultural commentaries within his novels, it highlights the enduring significance of his literary contributions beyond the realm of theatre. Through this exploration, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of the intersections between literature, theatre, and society, and their collective impact on cultural narratives.

Parallel Interplay between Tradition and Folk Theatre: A Study of select works of Vijay Tendulkar

Folk theatre is the root of modern Indian drama, and with the advancement of modernity, folk theatre keeps balancing the dynamic aspect of modernity. Most of India's well-known playwrights overcame the limitations of regional language throughout the 1970s and produced a number of excellent plays on a national scale. The majority of their experimental productions were focused on incorporating Indian folk theatre components or performance traditions into mainstream theatre. As a result, we see Utpal Dutt using Jatra in Surya Sikar and Girish Karnad adopting Yakshagna, a traditional type of theatre, in his play Hayavadana (1972). In order to create a new type of theatre that he called the "Third Theatre" or "Street Theatre", Badal Sircar experimented with incorporating folk elements into proscenium theatres. Similar to his contemporaries, Vijay Tendulkar also experimented with many types of folk drama in Ghasiram Kotwal (1972) and other plays. The current study is an integrated effort to concentrate on how tradition and modernity are portrayed in Vijay Tendulkar's plays. Another way to put it is that modernity has economic, social, cultural, and political ramifications. A cultural driving force with social, economic, and political ramifications is tradition. Vijay Tendulkar explores both conventional and contemporary tendencies in his plays through folk theatre. In his plays, he combines elements of heritage and modernism. They are entangled with both modernity and tradition. One may easily notice Tendulkar's keen observation of life in his plays . He strikes a delicate balance between tradition and contemporary in expressing the social realities . The purpose of this article is try to understand how Tendulkar employed various folk theatre styles to express power dynamics and the outcome of oppression, a very modern and postcolonial subject, on stage.

Kanhailal’s ‘Theatre of the Earth’ as Political Allegory

Playwright and director, Heisnam Kanhailal (1941-2016) was an eminent theatre personality from Manipur. He began as one of the exponents of the ‘theatre of roots’ movement, like his compatriot, Ratan Thiyam. He was influenced by Badal Sircar’s politically motivated ‘Third Theatre’ in the early 1970s who had introduced him to the ‘Poor Theatre’ of the Polish director, Jerzy Grotowski (1933-99). However, Kanhailal gradually developed his unique concept of theatre, which he later called ‘The Theatre of the Earth’ with which he had tried resist the ideologies like aggressive nationalism, which was found to be rather oppressive. He retained deeper faith in art and restricted his theatre from becoming overtly propagandist by privileging its poetic, allegorical, and ‘transcendental’ appeals. The present paper is an attempt towards critical evaluation of Kanhailal’s ‘Theatre of the Earth’ and to compare his works with that of Grotowski, Sircar, and Thiyam as well as with two contemporary theatre directors from Assam, Gunakar Deva Goswami (b.1969) and Sukracharya Rabha (1977-2018). The paper also takes up his significant plays like Pebet and others in order to closely read his poetics of theatre.

Decoding Caste and Power-Structure in Tendulkar’s Kanyadaan

Social structure is a power-structure where every social category reflects the power relations with other in hierarchy. Caste is one of the decisive derivatives in India to measure human relations. It is something which has defined the social hierarchy based on the birth of an individual. Caste has become the most striking method of discrimination of people in India with its maligned and fabricated interpretations. Indeed, it has been originated for distribution of people on the basis of their work for proper functioning of society. Vijay Tendulkar, a Marathi playwright and one of the founding pillars of Modern Indian Drama along with Mohan Rakesh, Badal Sircar and Girish Karnad, has discussed the problems of caste discrimination and general perspectives about inter-caste marriages in India in his play Kanyadaan. Through this play Vijay Tendulkar also tries to reflect his thoughts on contradictory relationship between imaginary idealism and harsh realism; and also on texture of modernity and social change in India through the marriage of two people of different castes and backgrounds. The present paper is an effort to analyse Tendulkar’s Kanyadaan, originally written in Marathi and later on translated into English, as social documentary on relationship between caste and social structure based on power-relations, caste-based discrimination, inter-caste marriage and pseudo-idealism prevalent in the course of social and cultural progress. The present paper also deals with decoding of the phenomenon of ‘violence’ employed in caste-based power relations in the society.

The Methuen Drama Handbook of Interculturalism and Performance ed. by Daphne P. Lei and Charlotte McIvor

Reviewed by: The Methuen Drama Handbook of Interculturalism and Performance ed. by Daphne P. Lei and Charlotte McIvor Ric Knowles THE METHUEN DRAMA HANDBOOK OF INTERCULTURALISM AND PERFORMANCE. Edited by Daphne P. Lei and Charlotte McIvor. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2020; pp. 260. The second decade of the twenty-first century saw a renewal of interest in a reinvigorated intercultural performance studies that has been called by some "the new interculturalism" and, at the end of the decade, by the editors of The Methuen Drama Handbook of Interculturalism and Performance, "Wave Three: 'Other Interculturalisms'" (following "Wave One: Emergence and Backlash" in the 1970s to 1990s, and "Wave Two: Consolidation" in the early 2000s to 2010). The third wave that this volume consolidates and advances, the editors argue, focuses on "projects and histories arising from migrant and/or minoritarian practices and practitioners, often in collaborative and community-based interculturalism-from-below" (241). It has featured challenging work by scholars such as Leo Cabranes-Grant, Marcus Chen Chye Tan, and Royona Mitra, as well as Erika Fischer-Lichte and her colleagues at Berlin's International Research Centre, Interweaving Performance Cultures, and notably, in their previous work independently, Daphne P. Lei and Charlotte McIvor, the coeditors of the volume under review. In planning the volume, Lei and McIvor "purposely looked for the hidden crevices and niches, neglected affect, and silent voices," seeking out scholars of "African, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Oceanic performances" (1), and it is indeed this breadth and eclecticism of case studies from globally minoritized cultures that is the distinguishing feature and major contribution of the volume. The editors have also provided a useful five-part organizational structure for the book and its subject; a guide, by way of an alternative listing of chapters according to keywords, allowing readers to develop their own paths through the subject; and, in "waves," a new metaphor to add to the already existing crossroads, crosscurrents, networks, rhizomes, and interweavings that have attached themselves to intercultural performance in the past half century. "We believe," Lei proposes, "that theatre and performance studies must recognize interculturalism/interculturalization as a continually unstable and turbulent process. … Ocean waves never visit the shore and return home 'empty handed'—they always leave something behind and take something away" (3; emphasis in original). Finally, McIvor and Justine Nakase have provided a fulsome and extremely useful (for scholars and teachers) annotated bibliography of the foundational texts, major contributions, and keywords associated with each of their three waves. While the editors have provided organizational principles, a structuring metaphor, and a guide to resources, the volume's contributors have offered, for the most part, compelling case studies that fill in some of the crevices in scholarship in a field that has overwhelmingly emerged from the Global West and North. Part 1 revisits what editor Lei has previously called "hegemonic intercultural theatre" (HIT), which exploits the raw material, labor, and performance traditions of the Third World for the financial and cultural benefit of the West. This section features a revisiting by Marcus Cheng Chye Tan of Peter Brook's Battlefield (a distillation of his infamous Mahabharata), in which the politics of listening "re-soundingly" contradict the creators' claims to universality (13). Following up on his important 2012 book Acoustic Interculturalism, Tan offers sound—including accents, vocalization, rhythm, and listening—as an alternative analytical framework to dominant visual ones. The section also includes Emily Sahakian's analysis of Caribbean writer Maryse Condé's An tan revolisyon as complex strategic "inter-theatre" with Ariane Mnouchkine's classic 1789, and Arnab Banerji's analysis of Indian playwright Badal Sircar's problematic repatriations of Western appropriations of Indian theatrical forms. Parts 2 and 3, "Networking New Interculturalisms" and "Interculturalism as Practice," feature two of the strongest chapters in the collection, essays that, like Tan's, go beyond the particularity of their case studies to articulate new and broader principles. Diana Looser, writing about Oceania as "a space of crossings and connections" (78), selects two case studies, not from large, well-resourced sites such as Aotearoa, Fiji, or Hawai'i, but from the Tuamotu Archipelago and Norfolk Island, usually considered remote and isolated, but here shown to be far from...

Book Review: Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam. (2019). New Postcolonial Dialectics: An Intercultural Comparison of Indian and Nigerian English Plays. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Vengadasalam’s book offers a comparison of the literary and artistic practices and philosophies of three authors, two from India (Rabindranath Tagore and Badal Sircar) and one from Nigeria (Wole Soyinka), by examining their dramatic works: four plays in total, which offer an evaluation of the pre and post-independence national environment. Vengadaslam posits that the existing terminology for examining their work in the postcolonial context is insufficient and suggests a new term: “intercultural” to fully explore the magnitude of these writers’ art and the extent of their influence.

Book Review: Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam. (2019). New Postcolonial Dialectics: An Intercultural Comparison of Indian and Nigerian English Plays. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Vengadasalam’s book offers a comparison of the literary and artistic practices and philosophies of three authors, two from India (Rabindranath Tagore and Badal Sircar) and one from Nigeria (Wole Soyinka), by examining their dramatic works: four plays in total, which offer an evaluation of the pre and post-independence national environment. Vengadaslam posits that the existing terminology for examining their work in the postcolonial context is insufficient and suggests a new term: “intercultural” to fully explore the magnitude of these writers’ art and the extent of their influence.

New Postcolonial Dialectics: An Intercultural Comparison of Indian and Nigerian Plays by Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam

Reviewed by: New Postcolonial Dialectics: An Intercultural Comparison of Indian and Nigerian Plays by Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam Satkirti Sinha NEW POSTCOLONIAL DIALECTICS: AN INTERCULTURAL COMPARISON OF INDIAN AND NIGERIAN PLAYS. By Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam. London: Cambridge Scholar Publication, 2019. 243 pp. Hardcover, $72.00. In this book, Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam talks about her scholarly investigation on interculturalist philosophy in India and Nigeria before and after their Independence. Her research revolves around the struggle of Indian and Nigerian writers in finding a middle path for achieving a "cultural renaissance" in their respective countries by highlighting the role of interculturalism which neither denies tradition nor rejects western culture. Therefore, as a case study in her book, she presents the theatrical plays written by Rabindranath Tagore (Red Oleanders, 1925), Wole Soyinka (The Lion and Jewel, 1959 and The Road, 1965), and Badal Sircar (Procession, 1983) to examine the efficacy of interculturalism as a critical tool for achieving social amelioration in India and Nigeria at different phases of "culture encounter" during colonial and post-colonial periods. In the initial part of the book, the author states her objective is to cross-examine the above mentioned Indian and Nigerian intercultural plays separately and against each other to verify that "interculturalism as a comparative framework, could be a solution to the problems of comparative theories" (p. 47) and can be used to compare literature and portray social issues on the stage. As a reader of this book, I would agree that the author accomplishes her desired objective because her "investigation on four different intercultural plays confirms" (p. 215) that intercultural analysis could [End Page 590] be used to compare cross-cultural literature as well as act as a bridge for achieving cultural renaissance. The first chapter, "Colonial Encounter and the Intercultural Dialectic," illuminates the history of colonialism in India and Nigeria. The author explains how culture plays a vital role in determining the identity and character of human beings. She further states that "culture is the ethos of the nation, the character of a country and the spirit of people" (p. 2). After making her reader understand the importance of culture and its role in preserving the integrity of a community, she points out that first thing colonizers did while occupying a superior position in India and Nigeria was to inflict "cultural trauma" and create a "cultural cringe" among the colonized people so that they could be oppressed with their thought process controlled by British government. Vengadasalam is at her best in the first chapter while explaining the role of myths created by colonizers to destroy native culture in India and Nigeria and the creation of an elite class of Indians and Nigerians during the colonial period. As a reader, this part of the book helped me to understand why elites like Tagore during pre-independence and Sircar (and Soyinka both before and after) after independence in India and Nigeria adopted the intercultural model to modernize their societies. I also appreciate the explanation given by the author at the end of the chapter that the "interculturalism model is never outdated" (p. 48), as a result intellectuals like Tagore, Soyinka, and Sircar used intercultural philosophy in their plays. The second and third chapters are the essence of the book, where the reader sees how British imperialism expanded and denied the native cultures of India and Nigeria during the colonial period. The author illustrates how the colonial government controlled both countries by attacking their culture; the only difference between Indian and Nigerian colonialism was the latter's prior slave history. She further elaborates about nationalist movements that took place in both countries, especially Swadeshi in India and Negritude in Nigeria and how intellectuals like Tagore and Soyinka rejected these movements. Both Tagore and Soyinka believed an east-west synthesis could develop a new pluralistic and a modernized country. Most importantly the detailed analysis of Tagore's Red Oleanders in India and Soyinka's The Lion and Jewel in Nigeria highlights the history of performing arts field during the pre-independence period; such plays presented theatrical shows as a metaphor for social justice and championed intercultural philosophy. In the next two chapters, the author discusses the issue of neo...

So Near, Yet So Far: Badal Sircar's Third Theatre by Manujendra Kundu

So Near, Yet So Far: Badal Sircar's Third Theatre by Manujendra Kundu

Manujendra Kundu, So Near, Yet So Far: Badal Sircar’s Third Theatre

In So Near, Yet So Far: Badal Sircar’s Third Theatre, Manujendra Kundu navigates Badal Sircar’s expansive range of canonical works. Tracing the birth, evolution, and eventual dissolution of Sircar’s Third Theatre, the book reveals contradictions between Sircar’s inclusive communist ideologies and their incomplete execution, which, ironically, excluded the marginalized and downtrodden.

The Really Poor Theatre: Postcolonial Economies of Performance

During the 1960s, the Polish experimental director, Jerzy Grotowski, theorized a "poor theatre" in opposition to the "rich theatre" and richer cinema of the Western metropolis. The concept of poverty, however, now appears to have even greater resonance in regions such as the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, and India, where powerful "new national and postcolonial" theatres have taken shape without the expected conjuncture with commerce. This essay begins by exploring the extent to which current methodologies in theatre studies impede or support transnational and intercultural comparisons of this kind. Referring primarily to Derek Walcott, Rabindranath Tagore, and Badal Sircar, and more briefly to Wole Soyinka and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, the essay then analyzes the forms of impoverishment that these authors confront (or actively advocate) in their theoretical work, and accommodate variously in their artistic practice.

The Theater and Classical India: Some Availability Issues

Quite apart from urgencies arising within the theater as an enterprise, it is independently necessary to bring the tools of speech-act theory to bear on the theater. This essay begins by redescribing the foundational moves of that theory in terms of drawing successive core-supplement boundaries. A third move, proposed here, extends this strategy of expanding the core in a performative direction. So extended, the central theoretical concern of speech-act theory converges with what one major tradition articulates as the way forward for theatrical performance. That tradition — which has traveled from Stanislavski’s Russia, via Grotowski’s Poland, to Badal Sircar’s India — is in the business of giving democracy theatrical teeth. While Sircar does not explicitly claim a classical Indian ancestry for his work, serious Indology will find it easy to place him in that context.

An Activist Engaged in the Process of “Guilt to Responsibility”: Revisiting the Remains of Badal Sircar in Bangladesh

Badal Sircar is a major figure in modern Bengali theatre. His imprint on Bengali theatre of the late twentieth century was strong, his plays also produced in this same era in Bangladesh, which shares language and cultural features with east India. This article investigates Badal Sircar’s theatre of activism of the radical humanist brand, noting the history of productions of his work in Bangladesh and discussing why, even if the embrace of his vision may not fit the current sociocultural situation, he is most alive in generating “floating islands” that repudiate all attempts at eradication.

‘Third Theatre’: A Media Closer to the Folk

Badal Sircar is a leading dramatist of modern Indian drama. The exponent of absurd drama in Indian theatre, Sircar, started his career as a dramatist with his comedy Solution X (1956). His plays fall under three categories: a) the comedies, b) the serious and absurdist social plays and c) the plays written for ‘Third Theatre’. In the interest of promoting his innovative idea to come closer with the folk community, he formed a new form of theatre called ‘Third Theatre’. This form is a concoction of the folk and Proscenium theatre. He tried to reduce the distance between the drama and the audience and attempted to come closer to the folk community with his revolutionary ideas and ideologies. This attempt was an innovative attempt to establish an alternative media to disseminate ideas of the playwright more effectively to among the folk. The first phase of his attempt was the Anganmancha (theatre in the country land) where plays were performed in the open space surrounded by audience in a Hall. Later on, plays were performed either in the free (or open) stage or in the open playground or street under the sky. Apart from fifteen (15) unpublished plays designed for ‘Third Theatre’, Sircar is credited to have composed several plays for staging in ‘Third Theatre’. His published plays include: Circus (1969), Spartacus (1972), Lakshmisarar Panchali (1974), Michhil (1974), Bhoma (1976), Hattamalar Oparey (1977), Gondi (1978), Basi Khabar (1979), Ekti Hatyar Natyakotha (1980), Udyuogporva (1982), Khatmat Kring (1983), Siri (1984), and Bhool Rasta (1992). In the plays written for ‘Third Theatre’ more emphasis has been laid on content rather than form. The themes of such plays include life in its varied colours, quest for a way of life, hazards of war, history and a classless society.

Indian English Drama: Badal Sircar in Translation

Indian English Drama: Badal Sircar in Translation