GROUND ZERO HOMES
by Raminder Kaur
directed by Mukul Ahmed
What if your home slowly sinks into the shifting sands as water levels rise around you?
Or, what if your home is devastated due to cyclones and floods, and there is no help to rebuild it?
What do you do? Where do you go?
This is what life is like for people who live on the edges of the Sundarbans islands, a littoral delta region between India and Bangladesh.
GROUND ZERO HOMES refers to the multiple moves that people must make in the Sundarbans borderlands as their homes collapse due to riverbank erosion, floods, sea level rise and tropical storms. A mangrove forest region and the ‘Land of the Royal Bengal Tiger’, people contend with the effects of climate change while trying to live in harmony with nature – its wonders and dangers alike.
Join us for the new work,Ground Zero Homes, at Pinter Studio, ArtsOne, Queen Mary University of London!
The theatre play focuses on the life of Sundari and her husband, Deban, a tiger-charmer, fisherman and honey collector. It highlights their daily challenges yet hearty resilience while dramatising the destructive lifestyles of middle-class Indians who visit the Sundarbans on ‘safari expeditions’. As land erodes and abruptly disappears, Deban must go deeper into the forests to collect honey. He becomes more vulnerable to tiger attacks, who too are feeling the pressure of land loss. Among them is Nantu, the king of Royal Bengal tigers. Floating around them is a mystical boatman, Majhu, who sings ballads of ancient pasts, satirical presents, and futures unknown.
See more details here https://www.sohayavisions.com/mgzh
