Sammy - A word that broke an empire

Sammy - A word that broke an empire is not just a vibrant piece of theatre which I watched recently at Airforce Auditorium Subroto Park. Thanks to UTI Bank for organising such a nice evening. It is about young & naive Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi whose journey started as a young lawyer in South Africa to a man whom we all know as Mahatama Gandhi. It is about the stages that he went through as a protestor in South Africa into a shrewd politician and finally into an enlightened person – a Mahatma or Great Soul.

The title of the play is easily explained and becomes clear in the early part of the action. The word Sammy, along with the word coolie, was used as a derogatory term by the whites in South Africa to insult Indians and other coloured people. It originates from the word swami, which actually means master or guru. When he first hears an angry mob in Durban shouting the word as an insult to describe him, the young Mohan smiles and ventures the hope that he may some day be able to live up to it.

It is a result of several years of research on Mahatma Gandhi by Partap Sharma and is a very well researched and innovatively conceived piece of theatre directed by Lillete Dubey.