2015 - In the Rear View Mirror

As the year hurtled towards a close in the evening of 31st December 2015, I realised with horror that I was not ready with my year-end list at all. The loyal audience of three and a half people who read my blog would be hugely disappointed, it means - a catastrophe, which should be avoided at all costs.

Conveniently, 2015 has given me some truly first-time-in-life experiences, which I could share with my einee, minee, me & mo. So here goes, even though a bit late:

1. Wassup? whatsApp?? - Till last year, sloth kept me away from the chatting app whatsApp, which was getting ever popular. Sloth combined with an old, stupid (that is what a phone is, when it is not smart, is that not?) cellphone. Ergo, peace prevailed, riding on a righteous disdain for people engaged in this "useless activity".

In 2015, however, this app strode in to my life with a vengeance, the result being that at the end of the year, I was being seriously considered for the award for "most whatsapp-distracted husband" in the country.
It was not all bad however. To be fair, the pros outweighed the cons. whatsApp made it possible to bring some of my oldest and loveliest friends together. The companionship and old memories made all of it worthwhile. In the family too, it re-oiled the massive relationship machinery (and thank God for that!) - cousins, aunts, uncles, inlaws.... Everybody was connected, much easily than ever before.
That I could torment people by easily sending them links of obscure pieces of writings or music which I thought they had to perforce enjoy, was an added joy.

2. Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan - In my existence of close to 5 decades, never before had I witnessed such strong eddies of religious & cultural identity engulfing me as they did in 2015. Politicians using religion for their electoral harvest is nothing new but this year, they bettered their own records, plunging to new lows.
Actors, who generally play safe by sticking to their dumb PR lines, came out openly with their anguish. But what actually shook me was the way otherwise harmless, sweet people around me seemed to suddenly spout devilish horns at imagined dangers to their identities. The fault-lines in the societal bedrock looked dangerously exposed.
I can only hope that this churning of emotions would ultimately yield the mythical nectar of better understanding and peace.

3. Play of Raagas and Taalas - My acute interest in the gloriously rich world of Indian classical music (matched unfortunately by my hopelessly inadequate knowledge) received a great fillip when I got a chance to attend Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Sangeet Mahotsav in Pune.

For the uninitiated, Sawai Gandharv Mahotsav is probably the oldest, largest and most popular Indian classical performance festival in India. It was organized in 1953 for the first time by that shining gem of Indian classical music scene - Late Pt. Bhimsen Joshi in the memory of his Guru - Sawai Gandharva. Over the decades, it has acquired a cult status, riding on the brilliant performances of Panditji himself and other great artists.

During the two days I was there, I was lucky to catch some top class performances by greats like Pt Raghunath Palshikar (vocals), Pravin Goskhindi (flute), Rajendra Gangani (Kathak), Shubha Mudgal, Suresh Wadkar and the worthy disciple of Pt Bhimsen Joshi - Pt Upendra Bhat (all vocals). Pt Upendra Bhat's introductory words in praise of his Guru were specially a treat to listen to. Here is the video on YouTube:

What also gladdened my heart was that  my fears of Indian classical arts losing touch with common man were laid to a complete rest. Crowds were thronging the venue - crowds consisting of young and old and singles and whole families including small children - their knowledge and interest clearly demonstrated in their standing ovations and full-throated encore calls at appropriate moments. I am reassured that Indian classical arts scene is faring very well even under the onslaught of, well, "different" music emanating from all around.  

4.  Comic Con Delhi 2015  -   I have been a comic books’ fan all my life. Brought up on the steady diet of Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Bahadur, Lotpot, Madhu Muskaan, Billoo, Pinky – in short, the whole pantheon of Indrajaal Comics, Amar Chitrakatha and later Diamond Comics, my childhood love affair has continued right in to my ripe adulthood. So when my teenaged son this year implored me to buy a couple of tickets to Comic Con Delhi, I jumped at it and brought three – one each for my son and my nephew, and of course, one for me.

Comic Con is an international comic convention, started as a fan convention in 1970 in San Diego, USA and has grown in to variants all over the globe. Comic Con India was started in 2011 mainly as a launch pad for indie comics. The format now includes mainly exhibition stalls by different comic publishing houses or comic drawing artists of India, along with various interactive sessions, workshops, interviews by comic book artists and writers.

What I loved in Comic Con Delhi was the sheer energy and a child-like sincerity of everyone around – volunteers, exhibitors, participants and visitors alike. Groups of young people were dressed up as various comic characters for cos play (costume play) – my son carried a Star Wars light saber himself. So at one corner you could bump in to Arjun and Karna while at another you could be slurping your coffee with Iron Man. Lots of exhibition stalls housed marketing merchandise and others some really talented artists with some amazing works on display. In short, it was an event with unapologetic, clean fun. A rarity indeed.

What I would love to see is more Indian references in the works of artists. I found it slightly puzzling that most of the artists drew on popular western culture and media (tv shows, films) when India offers such a huge kaleidoscope of experiences – be it in politics, sports, cinema, society. It is not a "swadeshi" war-cry but surely, references one could relate to more easily could bring in more visitors. Who knows someday, I might be emboldened enough to saunter in as a balding, paunchy Phantom in one of the Comic Cons to come. Wait, Phantom was an Indian?? Or was he?

Phew.. that is a load off my chest. I might as well start drawing up the experiences' list for 2016! Happy New Year 2016 my dear reader!    

Jaat Hi Poochho Sadhu Ki

भारतीय रंग-कर्म के लेखन क्षेत्र में विजय तेंदुलकर एक कद्दावर नाम है, यह मैंने पहली बार बीस साल पहले तब जाना था जब स्कूल में उनके लिखे एक प्रख्यात नाटक "खामोश, अदालत जारी है" पर आधारित (सिर्फ़ "आधारित, क्यूंकि स्कूल के बालकों के लिए इस की थीम काफी बोल्ड थी) एक नाटक का मंचन देखा था।
कल एन.एस.डी रंगमंडल की प्रस्तुति "जात ही पूछो साधू की" देख कर लौटा हूँ और एक बार फिर शिद्दत के साथ विजय तेंदुलकर, और साथ ही में रंगशाला के कलाकारों का और हिन्दी अनुवादक डॉ। वसंत देव का, कला-कौशल महसूस रहा हूँ।
"जात.." एक बहुत ही आम, कस्बाई युवक महीपत की कहानी है जो हमारे देश के लाखों युवकों की कहानी की तरह तीसरे दर्जे में एम्.ए पास से शुरू हो कर, जात-पात, भाई-भतीजावाद, गंवाई राजनीती और असफल प्यार से होती हुई अंततः बे-रोजगारी पर ख़त्म होती है.
कहानी बिलकुल सीधी-सादी, या यूँ कहें कि एक-आयामी ही है पर विजय तेंदुलकर के हाथों में एक farce का treatment पा कर, और वसंत देव के शानदार हिंदी अनुवाद और आंचलिक संवादों से सज कर यह एक घनघोर हास्य नाटक में बदल गयी है. और इस पर रंगमंडल (NSD repertoire) के कलाकारों के उच्च स्तरीय अभिनय ने इस नाटक की प्रशंस्नीयता को अक्षुण रखा है. नायक महीपत की भूमिका में अम्बरीश सक्सेना बहुत दमदार हैं, और इसके अलावा बबना, नलिनी और चेयरमैन (सुरेश शर्मा) भी कमाल के हैं. सुरेश शर्मा रंगमंडल के प्रमुख हैं, और इन्हें "घासीराम कोतवाल" में नाना के रोल में देखना भी एक अनुभव ही था.
ऐसे नाटकों को देख कर यह अहसास होता है कि वाकई अभिनय कला की सही कसौटी मंच ही है, फूहड़ फिल्में, भद्दे टी.वी सीरिअल और रियलिटी टी.वी प्रोग्राम नहीं.
नाटकों के बारे में और बातें फिर कभी.

Sakharam Binder and The Golden Fish

Watching two plays consecutively, on each of the last two weekends, has been sort of a study in contrasts for me.

The first play I talk about was titled “The Golden Fish”, a play for children, and part of a kids’ theatre festival, which we randomly walked into, thinking it as no more than a time pass evening for our 7 year old son.
On the contrary, we were pleasantly surprised to watch an immensely enjoyable and brilliant play, which managed to reach out to even us adults, what to talk about the kids. It is based on a poem of the same name by the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, and talks about an old fisherman, his greedy wife, and a generous & miraculous gold-fish. How the greedy wife is justly rewarded is the mainstay of the play.
“The Golden Fish”, we learnt, is produced by a society named Khilona, and was presented as a part of International World Day of Theater for Children, in collaboration with ASSITEJ – International Association of Theater for Children and Young People.
Khilona, we also learnt, is a 20 year old theater society specializing in dramas and workshops only for kids. It is run by Mr. VK Sharma, who is an NSD graduate and an acclaimed director himself, who has directed this present production too.
In this play, VK used an interactive narrative – sort of conversational building blocks, right from the introduction of the cast in the beginning – an approach which surely appealed to kids. Aided by pithy dialogues which do not talk down to the kids, good acting, simple but interesting props and of course a tight direction, the play progressed as a fun-filled informal interaction would naturally happen in group of kids.
It was a treat to watch and is highly recommended. I would be on look out for other plays from Khilona in future.

In contrast is the second play, which I watched just yesterday - the extremely famous “Sakharam Binder”, which was presented by Abhyan (or is it Abhiyan?) and directed by the equally famous theater doyen Rajinder Nath.
Having earlier watched a stupendous performance of “Ghasiram Kotwal”, which is also written by Tendulkar, at the NSD some time back, and having read a bit about Sakharam Binder, I was really very excited about it.
Sakharam Binder is one of the most noted & controversial plays written by Vijay Tendulkar. The protagonist, Sakharam, a book binder by profession, is alone in this world except for a close friend Dawood. He does not believe in marriage and considers it as hypocrisy. Instead, he picks up discarded women, giving them shelter and food in return of companionship and sex (forced, mainly). But, he is sure his candor is virtue enough, which rises above all these shortcomings. The play deals about the complex relationship with two women – Laxmi and Champa – the development of, and interesting culmination to, these relationships.
With the benefit of such a background, however, I must mention that I was sorely disappointed in the presentation.
Sanjeev Jauhari as the foul-mouthed protagonist no doubt gave a powerhouse performance, using wonderful inflections even to the swear-words, and body language.
However, to bring out the intricacies of the complex relationship, which was the mainstay of the script according to me, what was needed was an equally proficient performance from the other two woman characters. It was here that the play faltered, owing to below par performances from both the woman characters.
And, I could faintly sense an overbearing attitude of the director, who I think believed that only the fame of the play would carry it through. There was no interaction at all with the audience – neither through a synopsis at the beginning nor at the time of curtain call, where we expected an introduction to the actors and the director. At the end, when all of us got up and filed out, it felt, as my wife mentioned, a little like a movie hall. Which, you would agree, is something a true theaterwallah would not like to hear.