Napunsak Revolution of India

February 14, 2021 Stan

An Indian gave the land to his grandfather during the British regime. However, the only connection that Alfred has with his family’s past is his grandfather’s diary, which delves into the depths of the social fabric belonging to the era of heroes and the era of losers.

Alfred chooses to give everything up and becomes a backpacker to discover the real India beyond the ornate travel brochures and plush itineraries. He forms a core team who combine performing arts with a well-etched strategy to set things right, manoeuvring through the channels of bureaucracy, corruption, and lawlessness.

The journey lands Alfred Colmer in a grimy mess of interacting with the five Ps which seem to screw up the democracy of India – priests (religion), principals (education), police (law), politicians (governance), and press (media). Having zeroed in on these, Alfred Colmer sets out to form a core team that will shake the nation from the slumber of complacency through the alacrity of a live news show staged on roadsides called, Tamaacha Times. (Tamaacha means ‘slap’ in Hindi.)

The Tamaacha Times is much more than another street theatre dishing out the latest news and sarcastic skits. The performances eventually become a platform for people to express their angst and resolve to set things straight. They bring local issues to the fore and offer practical solutions. The lawmakers can do nothing to stop this revolution, as it is led by a bevy of housewives, students, and executives from every age group and walk of life demanding the basic rights of every citizen.

The five Ps, feel threatened by this revolution and congregate to find a way out from this nuisance. They approach Alfred Colmer and his aide, Layla, luring them with the charms of wealth and power. When everything else fails, they try breaking up this revolution which empowers Indian citizens with the aphrodisiac of a common goal – to make the country corruption-free.

Alfred Colmer and Layla, a ballet dancer, form a group consisting of roadside musicians, performers, and regional writers. It is also a place for philosophers and professors abandoned by the literary world; painters, sculptors, and graffiti artists with the fire of rebellion in their bellies; dancers and actors with a spark of angst in their eyes and the thunder of anger in their lithe limbs; and singers and hosts with rage in their voices.
The goal of Tamaacha Times is to stir up a non-violent revolution which practices what it preaches. It shakes people from their comfort zone and throws them into the world, ready to face the bitter truths of the nation head-on. It makes one ponder questions which are often swept under the carpet to keep living in the delusional world of a shining India.

The five Ps become the sworn enemies of Tamaacha Times. These antagonists fail to realize that there’s much below the surface of street plays and news skits. A backup plan of igniting a revolution that would change the way people perceive the five Ps proves to be the only hope for Alfred Colmer when his revolution falls like a house of cards. Layla eventually betrays Alfred Colmer at a time when he needs her the most. Soon, each member of the Tamaacha Times ditches Alfred, leaving him in the lurch and making him embrace a world he despises.

As a billionaire, Alfred Colmer has romanced money up close and personal, but the mistress called power is for a stranger to him. He gives into the temptation of the five Ps, hence spelling the doom of the revolution. It is now called ‘napunsak’; that is, impotent. But, like the saying goes, ‘Change is the only constant’. The Napunsak Revolution of India gives way to yet another change – the backup plan of Alfred Colmer.

The backup plan reveals the other side of Alfred which no one else is aware of, and to a certain extent, neither is he. Who is the real Alfred Colmer? Does a nation known as a Third World country have the potential to return to what it once was, deemed the golden sparrow of the world? The story asks what it will take to bring the glory back to a nation which requires revolution at a grassroots level. A stranger warns Alfred that he will be betrayed, and the people who betray him would be the last ones he’d suspect. Will Alfred Colmer ever realize the dream of India he and his grandfather aspired to? Will the populace discover strength in themselves through the revolution as a napunsak revolution? Continue reading to embark upon the exciting journey of Alfred Colmer, India’s youngest billionaire and perhaps the leader the nation deserves.