Congress candidate from Hazaribah Saurav Narayan Singh, the grandson of ?Padma Raja? Kamakhya Narayan Singh, at his residence. Saurav has added a touch of glamour to the campaign. nPicture by Hardeep Singh See Page 19

Jamshedpur, Jan. 30: Little Cinderella, deserted by all her ?so-called? friends, struggles to fetch water from a pond with a leaking bucket that her wicked sisters-in-law give her.

They know that she will not be able to bring the water home. It will give them an opportunity to take her to task, belittle her and ?gain control.? But to their amazement, she gets a bucket-full of sparkling water. Marang Buru (the tribal god) helps her disguised as a frog and ?saves? her from her wicked sisters in-law.

Hopan Mai, a Santhali ?Cinderella-like? fable, will be the high point of a theatre festival, organised jointly by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, and the government of Jharkhand for the first time in the state. The weeklong festival ? Rang Pratibha ? will begin tomorrow at the Rajendra Vidyalaya auditorium.

Chintu Nayak, commissioner, Kolhan, will inaugurate the festival.

It will begin with a Bengali play ? Hotya Debalay ? directed by Shreya Sen Gupta, a budding Ranchi-based director.

The interesting part of the festival is that some of the best plays presented in the festival will be selected for promotion on the national circuit.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi will promote the selected groups by organising their plays across the country.

The new breed of directors from across the state and host Jamshedpur will showcase their talent during the weeklong festival in regional languages, including Santhali, Oriya, Bengali and Hindi.

?Hopan Mai?, drives home the message that truth triumphs over evil and injustice. The play revolves round a lonely little girl and how her sisters in-law try to dominate her, based on a tribal folklore.

Representatives of Sangeet Natak Akademi, including assistant secretary Kiran Bhatnagar, will take part in the festival, along with a 10-member team, will judge the talents. ?It is one of the most innovative ways to promote regional theatre. We are confident that the festival will add a new dimension theatre in the state,? said H.P. Sinha, assistant director (culture), art, sports and youth affairs, government of Jhakhand.

He said the government is eager to promote young talents from the state in the field of art, culture and festivals like these can play a major role.

Sinha said the department was holding talks with the Sangeet Natak Akademi to regular organise cultural activities in the state. He expressed confidence that both will soon reach to an agreement to promote inter-state cultural activities in Jharkhand.