When a book chooses you... Watching a movie (The Hurricane?) one sentence held my attention. One guy tells the other (it goes something like this), 'you know the funny thing about books is when you lay your hands on a book, most often it's the book that chooses you'. For me, that was stunnning. It was something I had known a long time ago!
I remembered my days as a member of the British Library. More than 13 years ago. I knew there would be a special book for me, waiting in one of those racks. I used to do something interesting. I would let my hand run over all the books as I walked down the aisle. And, at one point I would stop, because I knew or I rather instinctively felt that I had to pick up 'this' book. I would pick it up and when I read the summary on the back flap, everytime it would be an interesting storyline. Everytime, this worked for me! I can vouch for it.
That is the only way I could find a book to read. That is the only way I have read some of the most interesting books that I would have missed otherwise.
Pic Courtesy: Big Foto
I, an actor15 years ago (as a gawky teenager), when I sat open-mouthed watching a theatre rehearsal for the first time, the love was spontaneous and heart-felt. Today, hundreds of plays later, the relationship has only got richer.
But over the years I moved away from my first reason for joining the theatre - acting. From hitting the limelight, I learnt to help others experience the limelight. That journey was and continues to be equally if not more exciting. Training a bunch of newcomers and helping them develop the nuances of expressions and exploring and developing new vocabularies of emotions and body positions was simply a fantastic experience.
This year after a 7 year hiatus from acting, I donned the grease paint once again. In our latest production Alexander, which was staged on 4th July I became Leonnidas - a teacher.
And when I acted,
I made love
to the lights
the shadows
the murmur of the audience...
I swung on a swing of a million emotions
and I hid behind a veil of tears
And I acted, once again...
Devashola - Abode of the Gods
With my all-the-time-getting-better half (Shri), I went to the Devashola tea estate in Coonoor for a short holiday. A place that one can conjure only in the imagination. Coonoor's pleasant weather greeted us. Tucked away in the Nilgiris, this is called Bison valley because there are more than a 100 bisons spread over a few thousand acres.
Sitting on our perch, under the canopy which afforded us a sweeping glimpse of the valley and the plains in the distance, we saw moments when the earth seemed to touch the sky. Silence and the song of birds. For four whole days, we were the only ones staying in the clean and spacious Planters Bungalow. The food was wholesome and vegetarian.
This is one place we would love to come again and again and again...
One flew... Some horrors refuse to leave you. Journeying through the intimate landscape of theatre puts one in close contact with the intricacies of human behaviour and relationships. Sometime ago I was invited to work in a leading women's college in the city and the subsequent opportunity to work with a teacher there. I was asked to initiate a theatre movement in the institution and this lady was co-ordinating this venture.
I soon discovered that madame was a self confessed expert in 'curing' dyslexia. Fresh from the after-effects of a path breaking Bollywood film which throws light on Dyslexia, I was curious about her approach in 'treating' the same.
Her solutions were bizarre and aimed at defeating the person rather than the 'problem'. God forbid anyone who approached this woman. She was herself a confused soul and her authoritarian methods would have definitely left psychological scars on her students. What characterised her was a super-human persistence at the risk of breaking down the student. While there are multi-disciplinary methods which initiate learning and create vital breakthroughs, what I saw instead was a primitive mindset.
This is probably true in a larger perspective. The wrong people are very often in the wrong jobs. When it's dawn...
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come - Rabindranath Tagore
When I recently went to a hospice for terminally ill cancer patients, I was forced to face some of my inner fears. 12 years ago, an acquaintance lived out his last fight with Cancer at this very place. I was younger, fearful and absolutely not inclined to see death at such close quarters. That memory was all the more punishing, when he had asked my mother, who had gone to see him, how I was...
And here I was in the avatar of a performer in a Playback ensemble, at the same place, the fears very much intact.
But what I learnt was that it wasn't about them, it was about me. It was about how ready I was to accept them, because they had already accepted me. They loved our performance. They laughed at their foibles, and celebrated their stories. They re-lived precious ordinary moments. The glow on their faces said everything.
If I could go back in time... Death by Powerpoint!'Death by Powerpoint!', the trainer said a glint in his eyes, the audience looked back at him dazed. 'It's a joke', he feebly commented, still there wasn't the faintest smile anywhere. He was into his nth power point slide and wanted to see if his audience was with him at all. At the fag end of a series of training sessions, the participants from numerous countries were already 'dead'.
Trainers came in with big titles, from far off Pune, from the Indian Institute of Science, with army backgrounds, Psychiatry, 'art', fierce communists, gender experts, social welfare...you name it, they were all there.
No doubt, they were all experts in their own fields, but sadly to a group which was coming to terms with the English language their unending lectures only created confusion.
Any presentation can be made interesting. It is the art of communication. You have to play with your audience. Create exciting possibilities, draw them out of their comfort zones, gently at first and then they will join you. The mantra of a great training session is not about how many PhD's you have, it is about how 'young at heart' you are. It is about weaving a piece of magic for your participants.
Oh and what about our clever trainer, who cracked the joke...well he went on to his next power point slide.
(Moments from a 10 nation gathering at Bangalore). a lesson in contrastsThere is a Pakistani girl among the group. Articulate, sophisticated and with her striking looks she's a photographer's delight. In her modern clothes she is very much home here. You might wonder that she actually comes from a so-called 'conservative' society. There is another lady from Bangladesh, a self professed 'open' society, but this participant wears a robe which covers her head and her body. It is such a contrast. I just realize how little I know about my neighbours and that as far as 'truth' goes, the media has got it horribly wrong.
(Moments from a 10-nation gathering in Bangalore)
birds of a single feather
We were all seated in a room. There were Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Indians, Nepalis, Thais, a Pakistani...people from over ten nations! But all of us looked so alike. If you didn't ask their nationality - they could all be mistaken for just another bunch of people. And, that moment was empowering. It certainly was, for me.
(Moments from a 10-nation gathering in Bangalore)
Pic Courtesy: Big Foto
My Balance Sheet I read somewhere quite some time ago about Emotional investment (Anthony Robbins' Unlimited Power, I think). It's like this - if you want to see your financial position you would look at your balance sheet and it would reflect your investments, your savings - basically it would provide an indicator of your financial health. Emotional Investment works much the same way, the only difference is it is an indicator of how much one has invested emotionally in relationships.
To keep a relationship healthy, it is necessary to make constant investments, because overdrawals can happen and that's when the relationship goes through a rough patch. I try to ensure that I look at my Emotional Investment Balance Sheet as regularly as I can. (But it doesn't happen as regularly as I would like to.) Have I overdrawn more from anywhere and not realised it? Am I investing enough...
And what is this investment? It could be a kind word, a gesture, an act of love, a gift, a thoughtful deed...
I look at my balance sheet and see all the relationships in various states and in different columns. There are those that are thriving and which gives me cause for celebration. There are those, where I have overdrawn heavily (my mother for instance) and I need to balance it, and there are those that are in the red - the ones that are the bad investments. At some point of time they were like anybody else - full of promise - but...
But then, with the passage of time things change and they remain there - a reminder of how fragile a relationship can be if it isn't nourished well.
Pic Courtesy: Big Foto
'this is our story' It was the peak of an Indian summer when we first visited them. Tucked away in a corner of Bangalore's Wilson Garden, this orphanage was home to more than a 100 occupants. Ranging from a six-year old to girls in their mid-twenties, I felt a curious feeling when I went there the first time. It's a little hard to explain - the neatness of the place, the tranquility, the quiet buzz of activity and the indescribable happiness as they played host to our theatre group was truly remarkable. I felt as if I was at home. That performance had a star performer in the form of Aeryk, that wonderful Playbacker from U.S.
I was conducting with ample help from Vinay who was translating to Kannada. The actors were in their elements and the audience were thrilled, that's when Jyoti (meaning light, divine light?) shared her story. As she shared I realized that this was their story, the story of these children.
One day, a few weeks ago, it had been raining heavily. Jyoti and her friends noticed that a baby squirrel had fallen from her nest and was now lying on the ground just outside their gate. The girls immediately took the baby squirrel inside and created a small nest made of cotton and old cloth. They then began nursing the squirrel. They fed it with milk and tried to make it's stay comfortable. But inspite of their best efforts, the baby squirrel died after a few days. The girls were distraught and inconsolable. But life goes on and Jyoti and her friends moved on. With a rare candour, she summed up to me - "in the absence of the mother squirrel, there was no chance for the baby to survive. No matter what we did, we could never subsitute for the mother. Every animal needs a mother to survive isn't it?"
I could only nod behind the tears that were threatening to overflow.
Pic Courtesy: Big Foto
When history is about a few wrongs... The conductor asked the children - what do you feel about the subject history? What do you feel when you learn about kings and queens, about kingdoms that have fallen and risen...?
There was a silence. I was among the quiet audience and here was one of the finest conducting you could find in Playback Theatre unfolding before us. It was an innocent question, but there was a raw nerve steadily twitching. I don't know if anyone else realized it...but what history could be fascinating, especially if your audience is blank about their very own history.
An orphanage is probably not the right word. In this happy world filled with a hundred people ranging from 4 years to mid-twenties, what can history feel like, if it's about a few wrongs...
Pic Courtesy: Big Foto
Of tigers and Bollywood stars... The participants of my Playback Theatre workshop were meeting after a week-long break and I asked them how their week had been. Carol who had been on a holiday with her hubby to a jungle resort shared her magnificent experience when she saw a tiger ambling across while on a safari. Her description filled us with awe. The moment when the tiger turned and looked at the people in the jeep for what looked like eternity, filled us with excitement. This was truly a most memorable incident.
After this incident I thought anything else would be boring. That was till Serah our youngest participant spoke. In her teens, Serah shared with us her meeting with Bollywood star Amir Khan who had come to shoot a film in our city. The moment she said this, Carol who till then was savouring the once in a lifetime tiger spotting, threw the tiger out of her mind and gushed...'Aaaamir Khaaaan!' Then it was chaos as all the women jumped on Serah to know more about the meeting. Did he have long or short hair? What was he wearing? Is he as fair as he is in the movies?What did he say.......?
No wonder tigers are becoming an extinct species. Sigh.
Pic Courtesy: Wikipedia
At 34 At 34
Iam grateful to have my best friend as my wife
Iam grateful that when it came to a career I followed my heart
(Iam grateful that every day my passion for theatre only increases)
Iam grateful I chose to be optimistic
Iam grateful for all the nourishing friendships
Iam grateful for all the miracles
Iam grateful that I started working out
Iam grateful that Iam living in my dream home
Iam grateful that I got my driving license at last
Iam grateful that my love for Chicken Biriyani is undiminished
Iam grateful that through theatre Iam touching so many lives
Iam grateful that Iam happily alive in the age of the internet
Iam grateful that I got over my lizard-o-phobia just a little bit
Iam grateful that Iam not on Page 3
Iam grateful that success (when it arrives) will not get to my head
Iam grateful that I could sing my own song
that the choices that I made
right or wrong
were my choices after all
At 34 Iam grateful...grateful...grateful
Law of Attraction There are some turnings one takes in life's short - sweet journeys. These are the ones which are profound in their intensity. The ones that shape one's destiny. Finding the DVD of The Secret was one such moment.
I stumbled into the world of the Law of Attraction. Something I had always suspected, but something which was just outside my grasp of understanding. To put it plainly the Law of Attraction says that everything that you have experienced in your life, you have attracted to you - the good and the bad. Therefore what you think about or wish about or dream about is what is shaping your life.
Sounds scary and exciting isn't it? What it really means is that we are responsible for our lives and that we can choose to fill our lives with happy experiences or miserable ones.
Now, that is food for thought.
Pic Courtesy: Bigfoto
Rajkot Odyssey Last week I was in Rajkot for a theatre project. Rajkot's claim to fame is that this is where Mahatma Gandhi spent the early years of his life. Apart from this, Rajkot was once the capital of the princely state of Saurashtra. Along with two of my colleagues, we had gone there to train the teachers of a school in innovative teaching methodology using theatre.
Once you enter Rajkot you realise you are on Satwik land. There is absolutely no non-vegetarian food anywhere. All hotels will serve you vegetarian fare only. Plus this is certainly not the place for booze. Alcohols of all kinds are banned here.
Situated just 300 kms from the Pakistani border, what struck me the most was the oppressive heat, the giant lizards (with whom I finally made my peace with), the awesome food, the magnificently beautiful temples, the exuberant people, the peaceful roads & most of all - the gracious hospitality of the Christian priests who had invited us for the workshop.
With the temperature hitting 43 degrees centigrade, it was time to hit the bath tub again and again and again...
A Surprise Greetings on World Environment Day and here is my story to suit the occasion. I have a Papaya tree growing in my garden. I never planted it. One day I found it there. A little different from the others, he claimed a patch all his own. A few months later, and he is growing steadily, with the hint of his first fruit in the air. I think I know how he came here...
Last summer, I remember two of the neighbourhood brats (who have since left) happily sitting at their window and eating papaya with gay abandon. I remember seeing them spitting the seeds out at will. I also remember cursing them under my breath.
This summer held a wonderful surprise for me. The wonder of a papaya tree.On a High
Today was (it's 11:30 p.m now) a fabulous day. In bed, recovering from a flu and I heard news that the Xth standard ICSE results had come out. This is the Xth grade results and an important stepping stone in the career of school students in India. Over the last one year I had been on an assignment to teach Drama as part of the Xth std syllabus for an international school in Bangalore. This was the first time I had ever tried something like this.
The results were phenomenal. All the students scored very high marks in their Drama paper. The marks ranged from 87% to 97%.
Hurrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!
Once I can get out of this bed, I am going to celebrate. My better half - Shri, tells me that Iam a great teacher. Thank you, thank you! (Applause...applause) Ahem, I knew there was a catch somewhere...because now she wants me to learn C++ and teach her. Err, where's the loo!
The magic of Playback Theatre Our journey with Playback Theatre has been 7 years long. It is curious that I have not written about Playback in this blog before this. Well I can't give any reason. This improvisational theatre form has been such a tremendous experience for me and for many others who have gone through the Playback Theatre workshop conducted by my theatre group - Script Peoples Theatre, Bangalore.
Last Saturday, I was part of a Playback Theatre performance that we did for charity. Every second Saturday of the month we perform for charity. It ranges from an old age home, to an orphanage to a home for juvenile delinquents and so on. This time we were performing for this place called Bosco Mane. A great place, Bosco Mane is doing tremendous work to helping street children get off the street.
It was a memorable performance and I was personally acting after such a long time. The children were vivacious. They enjoyed every minute of it. Each tiny tot had stories to share. In their childhood they had gone through experiences which could make the veterans among us look like school boys. As performers we understood them and they understood us. Their little joys, their sorrows, their hopes...we captured them all.
As soon as the performance got over, grimy hands were held out at us, we were shaking them by the dozen. They were all around us...happy faces and their gratitude for having listened to their stories. There was this indescribable joy within me and so was the case with my team mates. The joy of a performance well done.
We will go back there again...another day.
File Pic: Playback friends Aeryk (U.S.A), Andrea (Canada), Umesh & Faiq (India) in a Playback fluid in December 2006.
Waiting for the Monsoon... India's romance with the monsoon dates back to history. Recent news reports indicate that the Monsoon could hit the Andaman and Nicobar islands in 3 days time. But there is still no news when it will first descend in Kerala...the first entry point into mainland India before it winds its way up till the spectacular display at Cherrapunji, (which used to record the highest rainfall in the world earlier).
I remember my childhood days, when school would open after summer and that would be when the Monsoons would begin. Opening days, were typically wet, filled with puddles and our time was spent sitting indoors looking forlornly at the slushy mess of what used to be our beloved playground. Over the years, I learnt to love the Monsoon - cuddled up with a favourite book sitting inside looking out as the Monsoon danced her customary dance. Some years when there was no Monsoon, India wept as her farmers suffered as that brought in drought.
This year, a great Monsoon is expected and Iam waiting...Waiting to celebrate the rains...
Pic Courtesy: Big Foto
Nilgiris Journey
Featured above is the majestic Nilgiris Mountain Railway, supposed to have been set up in 1899, this train takes you on a fantastic journey through some of the most scenic locales you can find.
Our play was a success with the staging of VISION 2020 - The Trilogy at a public school. Training the students was quite challenging, given the background that they lacked the discipline required for the staging of a professional play. However, they rose to the challenge remarkably.
With the completion of this production, it was goodbye to the blue hills and the lovely eco-system it supports.
In the blue hills...
My theatre journey takes me to the blue hills - Nilgiris. A century-old public school and their founders day play is what brings me and my team mates to this lovely get-away. Away from the heat of Bangalore, this is paradise. It seems as if I have stepped into yesterday. Rolling meadows, clean air, the cries of birds and time that seems to hang heavy in the breeze.
Among the birds I learned about the Nilgiri Verditer, a sparrow sized blue bird. Nilgiri laughing thrush, the noisy Bulbuls, Nilgiris woodcock, the orange minivet, the Malabar whistling thrush, the hill myna...
It's a lovely journey and I am blessed to be a part of it.
Pics of our latest play: Vision 2020 - The Trilogy
It's all about sex, baby
The biggest debate in India currently is not about our under-performing cricket team, but whether sex-education should be incorporated in our education system. This in a country where procreation is number 1 on our agenda - very soon, we will be the most populous country on earth.
Common sense would dictate that since children are exposed to everything through television, the internet and from our fast moving culture...it would be in their best interest that they are taught about it in a very organised and sensitive manner. However this whole debate has been sabotaged by political parties who with their various ideologies have prevented this from happening.
Critics argue that where sex-education has been introduced in the educational system, there (U.K, France to name a few) teenage pregnancies have only increased over a period of time. Accepting that is true, what do you think is happening now? Are there no teenage pregnancies now? Being closely involved in working with teenagers and younger people, I am aware that this is a ticking time bomb. The number of teenage pregnancies is not funny.
Information is power and with children attaining maturity as early as early as 9 and 10, it is very essential for sex-education to be introduced in a bigger way. Let us not beat around the bush and hope everything will be alright. It won't. One interesting thing about all this debate on national television is that children are being exposed to the A-Z of sex during the course of the discussions. One leading politician spoke of oral sex etc etc etc on national tv. He was against sex-education...hehehehe...
The cartoon above merely illustrates the reality of we Indians groping in the dark about what our illustrious ancestor wrote about in the form of the Kamasutra.
Inside the temple of Peace
I had been hearing of the Tibetan monastery in Bylakuppe for quite a long time. To say that the experience was awesome would be an understatement. Seeing the 60 feet idol of Buddha looking back at us was a moving experience.
I found a strange attraction to the monastery. The silence, the imposing idols, the peace, the sparrows and the simplicity of the monks...
Journeys of a different kind
Sometimes some journeys take you by the scruff of your throat and make you take a good hard look at life. Recently, Shri and I went to Coorg for a much needed weekend retreat. The bus we were travelling, was involved in a high-speed collision with another. Luckily no-one was hurt but the vehicle was badly damaged. Gingerly stepping over the broken glass and climbing out of the driver's door was quite an experience. Waiting on the national highway, bags in hand, with other shaken passengers, watching the stream of traffic passing by...I don't think I will forget this event for a long long time.
And then Coorg, sleeping out the stress and the tiredness for a few days. My date with local food continued...Pandi curry (Pork) at Coorg Cuisenette, a lovely place, which I was lucky to discover had authentic Kodava fare. The visit to the Tibetan Monastery at Bylakuppe. Something happened to me there. I will write about it soon...This journey was something. It had the gift of life for the both of us.
|
