FB World

I always knew the tremendous power of Facebook in connecting people around the world. I've realized it a lot of times...but this time it was my blog that revealed it to me. I had created my blog in 2008, and in a span of three years, its statistics were as below:

Page Hits: 283

Audience:

From India - 20

From US - 3

From Netherlands - 1

Yesterday, I shared my blog's link on my FB profile. I created my AdSense account too. Now, when I see my blog's statistics, I see:

Page Hits: 315

Audience:

From India - 38

From US - 11

From Italy - 2

From Netherlands - 1

Thanks to Facebook and my FB friends :)

"Blah" and more "Blahs"...

I had been suffering from Writer's Block! The words wouldn’t come. It’s been long, really long, since I last blogged. And even now, I am blank on what I should write about. I don’t feel armed enough to just let my fingers loose on the keyboard without much knowledge of the outcome. There is nobody to blame, but my own lethargic self. I know that’s just wordplay. But hey, isn’t that what I have always planned to do?

I’ve been thinking about my love for language since morning today. I have developed this interest of learning the etymology of certain words I come across. This all started when I was preparing for my GRE exam, thanks to Norman Lewis! His book – Word Power Made Easy, truly makes people fall in love with a “language”, any language for that matter. So it just occurred to me today while I was looking for a time-killer activity in office, and I looked for the etymology of the word “rice” over the web. I already had a little idea that the word has its root in “Tamil” language, in fact “Sanskrit”. The Wikipedia page I came across listed many more words that originate from Indian languages, mostly from Sanskrit – the most decorated and structured language (and hence its name)!

And as it must have been experienced by many, in fact all of us Wiki-users, I jumped through pages to land-up savouring “Pulav” (or pilaf, plaf, pulao etc. etc.). The word is for a rice dish, which we all know. What fascinated me was the fact that almost all major languages in the World (among many other not-so-known languages the names of which I can’t even pronounce) share this word for that dish. It is even more shared than the words “father” and “mother”.

I have always wondered how it all might have started, the variations in different languages. Why would a certain group of Neolithic homo-sapiens (or their ancestors) have to choose or develop a language different from what other group was speaking. Where did it all bifurcate. May be it was because of geographical boundaries that various communities developed their styles of verbal communication independently. But given that, how come they ultimately land up sharing some words for common references. Would they not have already developed a word for, say “father” or mother”, in their own distinguished language before they started interacting with other communities? I so want a time-machine to go back to see it all happening.

The history of languages has got to be as biased as any other history, with no concrete and neutral source of definite knowledge. People have been involved in long term debates on whether Tamil is the most primitive Indic language, or Kannada or Bangla. Whatever...!! I just relish the beauty of languages and look out for every possible chance to learn a new word in some language.

Life (and livelihood)...In A Metro

I don't know how to put it, but lets face a question: How many of us (I mean the "corporate" people) would consider Rs 5/- an earning? If I get a 5 rupees coin lying on the road, I may not make the efforts to bend down and pick it up, or even if I do, I would certainly not consider it as a "gain" or something...!! Similarly, if I loose 5 rupees, I would not mind it, or probably would not even notice.

I had to get my watch repaired a few days back, so I got to a local shop...small, but large just enough to house 5-6 old wall clocks (very old, kind of antiques, with pendulum), a showcase exhibiting a few old watches (supposedly new, to be sold), a desk with a few tools to repair watches and a stool. I showed him my watch, he drew his stool, lit his lamp and put his eye-piece on. It toook him just 3-4 minutes to handle me the stuff in working condition. And all he charged was Rs 5/-. I paid him the amount and headed back to home. On the way back, this thought kept on striking me that he charged only 5 rupees and how many customers he was entertaining on an average, daily. That 5 rupees coin was his "earning".

Just a small (actually negligible) amount for some people, and its the livelihood for some others.
I am not able to put my thought furthur, so I am dropping my pen here. But I really hope that the reader understands and ponders on the feeling the way I do.

Khajuraho - More Than Just Temples

They were the descendents of Moon God. Going by what mythology has to say, Moon (Chandra Dev in Hindu mythology) once saw beautiful Hemavati bathing in a lotus pond and made love with her. Hemavati then gave birth to a son – Chandravarman, who later established a mighty kingdom known as The Chandelas. Atoning for the sins committed by his mother, Chandravarman commissioned and completed 85 temples devoted to various deities in the foothills of Vindhya mountain range in middle India. This place is now known as Khajuraho. In terms of tourism, Khajuraho is perhaps one of the most under-rated places in India. Last weekend of January this year, we planned a 3 days trip to Khajuraho and Panna National Park, which ultimately got cut short to 2 days, courtesy Indian Railways and Delhi’s foggy winters.

We reached Khajuraho in the evening, so the first thing was to search for a decent hotel and then roam around the places, check out the market and take rest. Next morning we left to Raneh Falls – mini canyons made by the river Karnavati, also known as Ken. The best time to visit the falls is when there not much water in it, because that is when you get to see the beauty of rocks and the way the river has carved these hard rocks in thousands of years. Such a vast, plain and rocky terrain was most unexpected amidst the forest. A few kilometers of trekking in Jungle led us to Ken Ghariyal Park, the part of river Ken where it comes out of the canyons and relaxes after a painful task of shaping rocks. Though we could not see any alligators while boating in the river there, it was really a soulful experience with no one around. Some small and big rocks emerging out of the surface, casting reflections in still water, created a picturesque view. We could also spot monkeys, spotted deer, 6-horned deer, nilgai (blue bull) and vultures in the jungle while trekking back. We came back to Khajuraho in the afternoon, had our lunch and started the temple tour. Western Group of Temples is the main temple complex having the famous Kandariya Mahadev temple and a few others. All the sandstone temples are almost similar in terms of architecture, design and beauty, heavily carved with the figures of either deities or of apsaras. By and large the carvings in the temples represent pleasures – worldly and spiritual, a few having the most famous erotic sculptures attributed to Kamasutra, an ancient Indian text of love and passion. After visiting Western, Eastern and Southern groups, we came back to Western group for a 1-hour ‘Light and Sound Show’ and got ourselves enlightened with the knowledge of Khajuraho’s glorious history and its temples’ philosophy.

The next day we planned for Pandava falls and Ken River Lodge’s Tree Top café. About 40 kilometers from Khajuraho, Pandava falls provide an ideal picnic spot for families. The area comes under the Panna National Park and it’s a seasonal fall, so it was merely a stream of water coming out from a hole made in the rocks. The water falls in a bowl shaped pond surrounded by lush green hillocks and beautiful rocks. Supposedly there are some caves that are assumed to be Pandavas abode for some time during their 13 years exile. After spending some time there, we headed to a local temple ‘Swargeshwar Mandir’ that holds much religious importance among the local people. The only way to the temple is through the dense forest, where no one assures your safety from tiger or bear from the jungle out there. We were scared. Not only a good kilometer walk through the jungle, we had to climb a small mountain, having about 365 steps to the top, before we could reach the ‘Shivling’ placed strategically under a rock such that the vegetation there continuously oozed out water on it. The view of the village, the jungle and the fields from the top was breathtaking. And the best thing of this whole trip was that except us, there was no one around, no bipods I mean.

That was the end of our trip. Boarding the train to back to Delhi, I was wondering where else in India could one find a place that is so rich in aesthetics, history and geographical variations. In more than 1000 years of its history, a great assortment of mountains and canyons, greens and rocks, riches and rags, love and hatred, the city of Khajuraho has seen the pinnacle of prosperity and art, and I think this variety is the beauty of the place.

Devbhoomi Himachal - A Trip to McLeod Ganj

The trip was getting planned since long. After all, I had not been anywhere since May ’09, so it was high time now. I decided to go to Lonavala first...but the plan got cancelled. I tried to persuade so many people but apparently it was only me who badly needed a break. Ultimately, me and my colleague Krushna got our tickets booked for McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala. The volvo leaves ISBT Kashmiri Gate at 8:00 pm and we managed to reach just-on-time...it left at 8:20 pm though...!!! We fetched some snacks and a water bottle and comforted ourselves in the bus. Bus crossed Delhi border, breezed through the GT road and we slept...!!!

We reached at Dharamshala bus terminal at about 8:00 in the morning. From there we boarded a local bus to McLeod Ganj...just 8 rupees for a ticket...wow...!!! After reaching McLeod Ganj, we started our search for a decent hotel in our budget. Hotel Bhagsu failed in our test, i.e. Budget test...!!! We then moved ahead a bit and found a room for just Rs 600/- a night in Hotel Green on Bhagsu Road. Then after having Tibetan Bread and Tea in breakfast and taking a warm shower, we started to trek on the way to Triund, we did not plan to trek till Triund though. From McLeod Ganj, Dharamkot is about 2 km, and from there we took the usual road instead of the shortcut, and I thank myself for that...!!! The trek was full of amazing views every 100 meters. On that very calm trek, only sounds were of chirping of birds and the breeze...!!! We spent some 40-45 minutes sitting on the side of road, facing towards the valley...it was an unforgettable experience.

After reaching Gallu Temple mid-way to Triund, we took a halt at one of the few cafe-cum-rest-houses there. It was named Horizon Rest House where we had chapattis with mix-vegetable, omelette and Tea...and we had this gastronomic treat along with the visual treat on the terrace of the rest house. The beauty and serene mystery of the place is beyond words. The owner, Ajay, is very friendly and hospitable. He says he doesn’t want the place to be popular among the youth of India, because if this happens, the place will be doomed to get ruined like most of other places which have got commercial over the period of time, and he is right to believe so. At least I would certainly not want to publicize that place. After spending some time there, surrendering ourselves to the clouds that came to overpower the entire being of the place, we started trekking along the waterfall trail. It was not like usual trek...in fact it was like finding your way through a dense jungle where clouds come and spread whenever they feel like. Putting firm steps on the slippery rocks and dodging the thorny bushes, we trekked for around 40-45 minutes...but couldn’t make it to the waterfall. It had started getting dark and we were sort of stuck at a point where it was not easy to move ahead from. It got real cloudy like hell...quite dark on that...and wet too...!!! So...just to save our souls and acting cautiously we came back to the rest house and from there to Dharamkot through the short-cut....and its really a “short-cut” believe me...then came to the hotel in an auto rick-shaw....!!! We had our dinner at the Oogo’s Italian Cafe on Temple Road...had paani-puri and pastries at the shop just below the Mc Llo restaurant. I was having a bit of a cough problem for the past few weeks, so I then had some medicine, brandy with hot water, and came back to the hotel, watched TV and then slept...a sound sleep it was...!!!

We got up not so early the next morning, but still we got ready after finishing our daily chores by 10 am. We then slipped into the market and visited a small temple on just the adjacent road, i.e. on the right side of Mc Llo restaurant. We spun the cylinders (containing Tibetan mantras) and thus completed one round of the temple. We were now ready for our breakfast which was waiting just in front of that temple. I had Apple Pan Cake, Hot Chocolate and Bread Butter and Krushna could not stay away from Aaloo Paratha anymore. We now had to check-out from the hotel but we didn’t want to carry our bags and trek till Bhagsunag Falls, and luckily the hotel had a facility for Luggage Storage. So we dumped our stuff in and headed towards the falls. It was not as difficult a trek as Triund’s, but offered equally beautiful views on the way. There is this temple called Bhagsu Temple on the way, and this place looks like any other pilgrimage in the hilly part of India. It has all those small hotels, lodges and rest-houses around, small shops and road-side thela (carts) selling Prasaad. The temple was built by some King Bhagsu of Ajmer after he came here in search of water while his state had scarcity of it. The place has natural springs that form two ponds, one of which has now become a swimming pool. The water is super cold, of neutral taste and is really refreshing. Crossing that temple complex led us to the track that goes further to the falls, but after going about 100 mts from there, we slipped a bit down in the valley to the stream that was coming from the falls. There are huge rocks one can make a bed or a dining table of. Tens and tens of local people, Buddhist Lamas and European tourists (most of them Israelis) were spread out on different rocks and planes near the stream and we spent about 15-20 minutes there. One thing which I noticed there was the slovenly inconsiderate acts of people littering indiscriminately in the area, and really broke my heart. I wanted to shout it out on the people, but could not do so. I wonder what kind of mentality such fools possess and how do they manage not thinking twice before ruining such a place. I believe that they don’t think even once, forget about thinking twice. I wish that soon the basic/elementary education in India starts focusing on such civil conducts and environmental awareness so that the next generation has some love and care for Mother Earth.

After that, we again came to the normal track and started to move further towards the falls. This fall is not as high as Iruppu Falls in Coorg, but is surrounded by more hills, and green ones on that. There is a cafe besides the falls we got our stuff from – a Maggie, bread butter, tea and Apple Juice. We kept sitting there for a while, watching people around, and the ones who were daring enough to take a dip (and sometimes a jump) in the freezing water of the falls. We decided to come back half way on the rocks along the stream, not by the usual track. It is a bit dangerous if you are not wearing proper shoes, but we were not prepared and were wearing sandals...but we still managed to climb down the rocks till mid-way, where there were very few people around, spent some time there savouring the breathtaking views 360 degrees around us. There were clouds on the hill-tops, smooth and cool breeze was kind of titillating us and above all, the sounds of stream flowing around us.

After coming back from the falls, we rested a while on the benches lying near the square, on the road to Dal Lake, shopped a little and collected our stuff from the hotel. We then decided to return to Dharamshala so that we can spend some time in the market there and get the bus on time. We caught a bus, a local one that runs between Delhi and Dharamshala, and reached Dharamshala at about 6 PM. Now it was time for killing the “tongue-desires”, so we slipped into the market and had Paani-Puri, Gulab-Jamun, Gujhiya and Shahi-Tukda...just for the taste you see...!!! Then we had tea near the bus stop and waited for the bus. In the meanwhile, I utilized the weighing machine lying there, and it read 64 kilos...“Thank God, I’m not losing weight”, I said to myself. The bus that took us back home crossed a place, I don’t know what it was, but it was a kind of a small village in the foothills and all I could see and appreciate from my sleepy eyes was a temple that was quite well illuminated and a river (proper mountain river) flowing by its side. The image of the temple, bathed in the light of small lamps, was so well visible, glittering in the flowing waters of the stream that I would like to have that view in my dreams all through my life.

Journey back home was not as long as it was while going and it was a bit more comfortable also because we could sleep all night, or probably we were so tired that we couldn’t even wake up for dinner or other types of nature’s calls. We reached ISBT, Delhi at 7:15 AM and from there I boarded a metro to my place. In totality, the experience was unforgettable, especially the place where we sat in solace on the road side while trekking towards the Triund, the cafe that we found mid-way to Triund and the short-cut we took while coming back and the feeling of oneness with nature. Every view, every smell and every taste we had while this time is something I’ll definitely cherish always. And most certainly, I will again go till Triund in January some time, when its totally covered by snow...can not wait for that time.

Rang Manch

I watched my first two plays at Rangashankara, Bangalore. I don’t remember the names, but those were really nice, and provoking enough to spark a flame of desire for theatre in me. One of those plays was an adaptation of a French or a Spanish play, I don’t remember. That was a philosophical comedy in which characters were confused as they didn’t know if they were real entities or merely playing characters of some play. The play unfolds to be a nested play inside a play, to an unidentifiable nesting order.

The other play was a small dialog between two men over a lady who’s dead. One of those men was her husband and the other was her lover. It was a marture and really sensitive dialog.

After coming to Delhi, I am all set to watch all the happening plays here. Some of the plays I watched (and I remember) are listed below:

City of Djinns – based on a book by same name by William Dalrymple – The play starred Tom Alter, Zohra Sehgal and a myriad of theatre actors. It was an adaptation of Dalrymple’s travalogue about Delhi (Dalrymple is really fascinated with Delhi’s history it seems). Author mentions rise and fall of the city that was Delhi in different times dating back to Mughal Empire, in the times of The Last Mughal Bahadur Shah Zafar till the times of 1984 riots that followed the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. As the play had to be grand and switching between the scenes had to be swift, the play was bound to be staged at some place as huge and magnificent as Mati Ghar at Indira Gandhi National Center of Arts. Things like live music by qawwals, diwali celebrations, rooster fighting, snake charmers, kabab-wallah etc made the event memorable.

Ghalib in New Delhi – by Dr. M. Sayeed Alam – It was a comedy play staged at Shri Ram Center of Performing Arts in which Ghalib, the famous Urdu poet, decides to get re-born in his beloved city, Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi). But after coming here, how he finds his identity, and that of the city, changed is a rib-tickling act. But I felt that some over-acting by a few characters like Ghalib’s Bihari room-mate and Ghalib’s land-lady could have been done away with. But overall, the play was nice, and worth a watch. Ghalib’s arguments with rickshaw-puller over the definitions of ‘Sawaar’ and ‘Sawaari’ is humorous.

Paisa Bolta Hai – by Late Rakesh Mehra (founder of Three Arts Club) – a satire staged at Shri Ram Center of Performing Arts

Bade Aadmi – by Late Rakesh Mehra (founder of Three Arts Club) – a comedy staged at Shri Ram Center of Performing Arts

Maulana – by Dr. M. Sayeed Alam – Starring Tom Alter

Kyunki Sasur Bhi Kabhi Damaad Tha - pathetic, staged at LTG, Mandi House...!! It was so casually written and directed that it all looked like a skit done for time-pass. Forget it...

Bikhre Bimb – Written by Giish Karnad – Starring Sushma Seth and Rashmi Vaidyalingam. It was an encounter of a Kannada writer Manjula Nayak and her conscience. Manjual writes in Kannada but doesnt get much acclaim. She then writes an English novel and suddenly she is famous. In a TV interview, she talks about her career and about her family that included her Husband and her handicapped sister (now dead). After the interview, she faces a grill with her own self (pratibimb - means reflection) that reveals the secret. Manjula comes out to be a plagiarist who finds a story in her sister's diary after she's dead and gets it published in her own name. Sushma Seth acted Manjula and Rashmi Vaidyalingam her image.

Main Istanbul Hoon – An NSD Repertory Company presentation, staged at IGNCA. Directed by Sh. Mohan Maharishi, it was the best play i’ve seen till now. Based on the works of Orhan Pamuk, an Istanbul based Nobel Laureate writer, it was divided into two parts. The first half was partly based on 'Istanbul - Memories and the City' and second half was based on 'My name is Red'. It was staged in open air, but still I've never come through such a good light-and-sound work. And the acting of stars (yes, they are the 'actual' stars, the celebs for me) was outstanding. I remember one scene where Orhan (acted by Amit Pathak, I'm already his fan) and his mother (acted by Daksha Sharma, high potential actress) argue over Orhan's career and his mother sort of scolds him loudly. Orhan was taking it laughing, casually and acting madly to dodge the scoldings, lying down and throwing hands and legs furiously, and his mother continuously scolding him loudly. The only things that were lit on the stage were Orhan (smoothly lit with the floor beneath him blinking like some dance floor) and his mother's face, just her face, brightly lit. Complementing this work of light was the work of sound.
Sameep Singh acted the historian Kochu. The leading lady of 'My Name is Red' (forgot her name) was acted by Nidhi Mishra, really impressive performance. All in all, suberb.

Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamya Nai – written by Dr. Asghar Wajahat – directed by Anil Sharma. Based on the post-partition exodus where a Muslim family moves from Lucknow to Lahore and occupies a haveli of some Hindu family only to find an old woman, they call her Maii, hidden there. Maii refuses to leave and stays there only. Problems arise and slowly people aound her develop a soft corner, and then respect, for her.

Mote Ram ka Satyagrah - by Munshi Premchand - Directed by Arvind Gaur - presented by Asmita Theatre Group. Not as good as I expected it to be. Actors were forgetting their dialogues, acting consciously.

Othello - An NSD Repertory Company presentation - Directed by Raj Bisaria. Based on Shakespeare's great work, it was an experiment in the way it was adapted in a 'Nautanki' style. It started with a group song titled 'Surat kai par sirat ek hi' sung by the actors and actresses with live music. With such a mind-blowing start, I expected a masterpiece ahead, and it much more indeed. Partly poetic in dialogues, literally in nautanki style, it managed to keep the spirit of the play alive. I could spot 3-4 actors who acted in 'Main Istanbul Hoon' also - Amit Pathak (acted Casio here), Sameep Singh (Duke), Nidhi Mishra (Desdemona) and Daksha Sharma (Bianca). I so want to watch it once again...loved it.

Jaat hi poochho sadhu ki - An NSD Repertory presentation - Directed by Rajinder Nath - Written by Late Vijay Tendulkar. There is this 'doha' by Kabir: Jaat na poochho sadhu ki, poochh lijiye gyaan; mol karo talwar ka, padi rehen do myaan. This play depicted why Kabir had to say that doha. A yound lad, M.A. Hindi, seeks a decent job as a Professor but faces the truth of racism. Though he gets a job (as he was the only candidate for that post in that college), he had to struggle a lot, play games and wear masks to retain in. In the end, he looses his job, but contended as he took it as a learning. Now, as always, NSD Repertory production has proved itself perheps the best and full of talented actors and production team by this act. It was a comedy play, with rural langauges of middle UP and west-UP, so it had a touch of those dirty abuses which are not considered as offensive there...or i'd say it was natural and explicit. Unlike other comedy plays i've watched, it had a mature and professional element in it. Again by the same NSD repertory group as was there in Main Istanbul Hoon and Othello. Kochu in Istanbul acted Chairman here, Iago in Othello acted dhobi here, Casio in Othello acted a friend of Babna (who acted Red in Istanbul i think)...and everybody is equally talented in all the art forms...they all sing so well with live music, so loud...!!! Would love to watch this one also again n again...!!!

Aurangzeb - Ohhh...finally....!! I had this play at the top of my hit-list for the last 2 years...!! I had dropped a mail to Natwa group asking when its scheduled next with a very li'l hope of any reply...and I never got any...!! But when I found on delhievents.com abt this, I was all planned for the event...!! Ummm...this topic, Aurangzeb, among The Moghuls, is one of my favorites...and I have read mixed opinions about him from various sources. I was still to develop my own opinion when i went for the play...and believe me, it was an eye opener for me...!! i literally had severe headache while watching it because i was in a state of constant learning...learning new facts...!! the play was not biased as per my knowledge, and it showed very human aspects of Shahjahan, Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb, Jahanara and Roshanara...!! every character was so balanced that one cannot just blame anybody for anything...!! Dara Shikoh was acted by the same guy who presents Sansani...with his hair untied, he looked quite saintly...just appropriate for Dara's character...!!! You can read more about the plot of the play on Natwa's website http://www.natwa.com/.

Sadarame - Narhari Shastri's almost one century old play, a story about a middle class simple girl who gets married to the prince of that state and the problems they faced after that. The prince, who is indifferent to the worldy pleasures renounces the kingdom to Sadarame's greedy father and brother. Sadarame gets kidnapped from the forest when her husband goes to fetch some water for her...they device a plan to set Sadarame free only to find her stuck with a local theif. It was not supposed to be a comedy play, at least i did not expect it to be that ways, so I was a bit disappointed...but i'd only blame the direction for this, because the actors did well as they usually do...!!! Daksha Sharma acted Sadarame, Amit Pathak acted The Prince (they acted mother and son in 'Main Istanbul Hoon'), Nidhi Mishra had a very short role of a 'pagli' in it. Sameep Singh (acted Kochu in Istanbul) acted 'chor' here...!!!

Acharya Tartuffe - (watched on 31st May '09) A comedy riot, based on a French play by Moliere, directed by Prasanna...a story of a family whose head Omkarnath has blind faith on a 'dhongi' preacher 'Acharya Tartuffe'...!!! Tartuffe is hated by everybody in the house but Omkarnath and his loud mother Pitambari Devi...!! Tartuffe makes sexual advances towards Omkarnath's second wife Kamini and gets caught by his son, but Tartuffe abfuscates the issue acting innocent in front of Omkarnath...!! Then Omkarnath writes his will and gives everything, his daughter too, just to show his family his 'faith'...but ultimately he catches Tartuffe red handed making suggestions to Kamini. Everybody learns a lesson in the end. Sameep Singh acted Tartuffe, Kamini was acted by Sapna Khatana, Mamta (daughter) by Nidhi Mishra...overall a must watch for everybody...!!!

Ghasiram Kotwal - (watched on 6th Jun '09 at Kamani) Written by Late Vijay Tendulkar, I think the credit for maximum stagings goes to this one as far as Indian Theater goes. Really a masterpeice I'd say. And NSD Repertory actors on top of that, couldnt have been better. Its a story of a poor Brahmin Ghasiram who comes to Pune city for earn his daily bread. But the local 'High Class' Brahmins dont consider him as fellow brahmin and torture him on various occasions and humiliate him. He goes back to his home in Kannauj and comes back in Pune with his daughter and a game plan. He sacrifices (??) his daughter to the lecherous Nana Phadanvis and gets hold of the post of Kotwal, Pune City. And then starts his revenge to all those brahmin fellows who initially humiliated him. All this ends with the murder of his daughter and finally himself.
What i liked most about this play was its music and style of presentation. Human beings were used to depict houses in rows and walls of a cell in Jail. And can they sing in chorus so beautifully. Rural language, local words and phrases (which my friends had quite a problem to understand) and great constumes added to the feel.

1857 - Ek Safarnama - (watched on 7th Jun '09 at Kamani) - By Nadira Zaheer Babbar - This play basically is a sort of account of the events that took place during the months of May till October in 1857 in various parts of Norhtern India. It was the first attempt to uproot the British, but due to sheer lack of coordination between variuous rebellion troops. The play referred to the Annexation of Kingdom of Oudh (Awadh, modern day UP), distribution of chapatis from village to village as a code, Kanpur massacre at Satti Chaura Ghat and Siege of Delhi Walled City followed by the grand explosion of the Magazine at Kashmere Gate. The play demanded a large number of people on stage, there were moments of patriotism with a 'josh' song etc. Everything OK, but I somehow did not like the forceful addition of humor in between such a serious presentation/expression. At least I didnt expect it. Kamani offered a nice huge stage for such grand performance. One more thing which was really disgusting and annoying was that people, in spite of the request to keep mobiles silent, dont bother to make this effort. One fone rang during the show, OK...but then the other one rang, then the third one...it went on throughout the show and I dont know what kind of an idiot and illiterate that fellow must be who doesnt switch his fone off after he's requested to do so and even after some other fone rings (that shud act as a reminder, nay?). And as far as i noticed, most of such 'psuedo-elites' or 'intellectuals' were aunties, and some were girls...know what i mean....phewww...!!!

Uttar Ram Charit - (Watched on 13th Jun '09 at Sammukh) - Its a 'not-so-known' play about the post ramayana stories of Ramayana. I found this a very very mature direction and equally good performance by Amit Patahk as Ram, Nidhi Mishra as Sita and Sapna Khatana as Kush. There was this scene in the end where Ram and Laxman are invited to watch Ramayana as a play (Valmiki supposedly sent his creation Ramayana to Bharat Muni who wrote the play that was to be performed by Apsaras and Gandharvas, Luv took the charge of taking Ramayan to Bharat Muni). In that play, it is shown that Sita, now pregnant, commits suicide in river Ganga. Ram sees the image of Sita instead, and gets overpowered by emotions and shouts "Sita, ek kshan ruko priye" (Sita, hold for a moment dear). Laxman tells him that its just a play. It happens then that after seeing Sita going to Pataal-Lok, Ram cries and falls down on earth, unconsious. Then, Sita appears, touches Ram giving him life again. The End. Tha last scene was really a piece of art, loved it.

Kafka - Ek Adhyay- (Watched on 14th Jun '09 at Sammukh). The play was based upon the life of Franz Kafka (read more about him on wikipedia). He was writer whose majority of work came into limelight and got fame only after his death, he was suffering from TB. A totally different experience it was to see this play, in terms of direction, the stage work etc. There was a projection on a screen right in front of the audience (the back wall of stage) that first showed the pictures of Franz Kafka with a few more things. Intermittently, this projection was used to switch the scene to the corridor where Kafka's girlfriend is waiting to meet him in the sanatorium. Also, it showed blurred and vivid images to shows what Kafka is being through in his dreams. A nice experiment.

Unsuni - by Asmita Theatre Group - The play is written by Mallika Sarabhai and based on the under-privileged classes in Indian society. It has some 5 stories on different lines showing differerent sides of life of 'suppressed' sect of people whose voice is still 'unheard'...thus named Unsuni. Just OK, not a very pleasant experience.

Lehron Ke Rajhans - By Asmita theatre group - Written by Mohan Rakesh, the play needs no introduction. Liked the work of Viren Basoya in the character of the king, Sidhhartha's brother, who was not sure till the end what exactly he wanted. Background music was soulful. Also, liked the composure and aura of the actor who played the monk.

Doobi Ladki - NSD Repertory Co. - Based on 3 short stories of Nikolai Gogol, The Nose, The Overcoat and Night in May (or Drowned Maiden). This group still remains my favorite in terms of set design, acting, music and general things related to literature. The stories were interwoven so carefully that it did not feel like three different stories forcefully being merged. Daksha Sharma surprisingly (and so beautifully) played a boy, a member of a local notorious gang of youth gone astray. Felt like my thirst had quenched after such a long time during which I was totally devoid of any good theatre activities.

Nostalgia - IITF '08

If you want to actually realize what we call Population Explosion…u should once go to IITF (India International Trade Fair) 2008. I went there yesterday and that being the last Sunday before the fair closes for the year, it was crowded like hell…!! Getting out of the metro station and getting into the IITF complex itself took us a good half of an hour…and then to our surprise, every hall had its own queue for entry (unlike it had been for all those good old years of the past)…!! We could manage to get inside only a few halls where it was not that crowded…but except the North Eastern states’ halls, nothing was that great…!! Still, we made it a point to have lunch at Rajasthan pavilion…!!
This event has been like a ‘task’ for me to complete every year since I was a kid. We just can not afford to miss it at any cost…and I particularly follow it religiously like a traditionJ. But this time, I seriously felt that I should have gone there on a weekday.