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Indian clowns inspired Nobel winner Fo

''The Indian clown has had a great influence on my art," said Dario Fo, winner of the Nobel prize for literature, 1997, who is often called the 'First Clown of the World'.

Satirist Fo also expressed his admiration for things Indian: poetry, philosophy and culture. However, the prolific Italian playwright, actor, producer and director, who has given modern popular theatre a new dimension, added, "But it is the Indian clown, the plain ordinary Indian street clown, that has most influenced my work."

He said that over the ages, the clown in India has made life easier for the downtrodden by mimicking the foibles of their unbearable caste and social superiors. And the opportunity to portray the people's tormentors, however occasionally, has been ameliorative of their insurmountable social tribulations.

In awarding Fo the Nobel, the committee said it recognised "one who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.'' Fo has also been called the Miguel de Cervantes of our times, who, ''combining Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in one, relentlessly but very effectively tilts at today's windmills''.

Fo has also, incidentally, been one of the most painful thorns in the side of the Italian establishment and the Vatican, besides being a Marxist of the most pure genre.

The Italian government did not even congratulate him after he won the Nobel! In an interview to a news agency, he said, "Marxism has been a state of mind. It served a pragmatic purpose, at the right times, in the right places. Today it has served its purpose. To continue to adhere to it, in India or elsewhere, would be a futile obsession."

He insisted that he was not against the Catholic Church or the Vatican per se, but opposed the neo-fundamentalism in Christianity, and in other religions. Fo has spared neither the estate nor the church nor society, in the bargain earning the ire of all three. His denigration of the three is piquant and provocative, not bitter -- it is just laughter used as an effective weapon.

Fo, 71, was born at Lago Maggiore and educated at the Academy of Arts in Milan and, as he puts it, "and on the streets of the world, including India". He claims to have been his own teacher. He is married to actress and writer Franca Rame.

Praising his work, the Swedish Academy, which annually selects the Nobel winner, said, "If anyone merits the epithet of jester in the true meaning of the word, it is him."

Fo often alludes to medieval jesters and their comedy and mysteries. The central work Mistero Buffo (The Buffoon Mystery), 1969, is based on such historic material as interpreted by Fo. Another milestone of Fo's extensive work is Morte Accidentale di un Anarchico (Accidental Death of an Anarchist), 1970. It was based on the right-wing extremist bomb attacks of 1969 in Italy, for which the authorities and the press blamed the anarchists.

Other works acclaimed worldwide include Non si Paga! Non si Paga! (We Can't Pay, We Won't Pay) in 1974 and Clacsson, Trombette e Pernachi (Trumpets and Raspberries) in 1981.

Compiled from the media

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