February 8, 2012
The reach-out segment of the International Theater Festival of Kerala ended with a bang. Rangkarmee theaters' adaptation of Rabrindranath Tagore's Chandalika, itself based on an ancient Buddhist story, was stunning visual poetry on stage. Usha Ganguli's direction based on Debashish Majumdar's Hindi version of the original Bengali script, moves the medium from dance-drama to pure drama. And Hindi instead of Bengali ensures wider popularity for the play which deals with the unfortunately still relevant theme of untouchability.
The director plays the Chandalika who is introduced as the go-to person when the land suffers from the draught. Using her magical powers, she finds water. But immediately, the water is claimed by the Brahmin priest. The Chandalika who found it and other chandalas should not pollute the water with their presence. Prakriti, Chandalika's daughter, rebels against the abject discrimination and untouchability that she has been "born into". But her life changes when Ananda, the Buddhist monk, drinks water from her. He tells her that all human beings are equal. She feels alive for the first time.
Usha Ganguli as Chandalika and Joysheel Ghosh as Prakriti were terrific on stage. The production value was stupendous. I was awestruck by the amount of production materials this troupe managed to travel around with. To reproduce a play of this quality with a cast of over twenty across the country is in itself an achievement.
Splendid light designing and magnificent live music were added bonus. The use of spot lights capturing iconic images of the Chandalika with her bow and arrow, of Prakriti giving water to Ananda and mother-daughter interactions left indelible images in memory. The thundering drum that shook the auditorium from time to time ensured that the play's tempo remained always, high making the tender moments even more endearing.
The attention paid to costumes and make-up was virtually a tutorial for serious drama enthusiasts. Chandalika and Prakriti wore identically triangular border patterns on their sarees except the mother's being a fiery red and the daughter's a serene green. The Spring festival set was immensely colorful. The floral garlands and decorations of this scene stood in great contrast with the darker tone of the previous dowsing scene which used real fire on stage. The escaped convict, the palace guards, the young queen and the Buddhist monks have the make-up department to thank for the added impact of their performances.
Rangkarmee troupe was visiting Thiruvananthapuram for the first time in the 36 years of their existence. Ms. Ganguli, after the felicitations, expressed hope that it won't be another 36 years before they come back. It was quite interesting that they performed a play featuring the Buddhist monk Ananda right outside the temple famous for its idol's 'Ananda' shayanam pose that has been adopted by Hinduism for the last thousand years.
Since we came back past 9pm and because she was tired from the morning flight, Amma had already slept. She had neatly unpacked the Noritake china set that she got from Colombo. She had come back with it in a brown cardboard box tied with plastic rope which reminded of Malayalees returning from Gulf. I forgot to mention yesterday that she got me a wooden bookmark with elephant heads carved on it. Very beautiful!
During the nights out watching the dramas, Achan and I have been eating at different restaurants.The price of Ghee roast dosa keeps rising as one moves further away from the East Fort region of the city. And there is no such thing as Dosa on any menu, it is always Special Dosa!
My morning walks these days take me through the Jawahar Nagar colony which was known earlier as "Maricheeni vila" (tapioca field). Currently there is only one mud wall standing representative of this past among all the mansions and tall apartment complexes. At the Kanakakunnu Palace, our local MP Shashi Tharoor's Freudian dream of Indian's longest flag pole still lies in pieces on the ground. Apparently, it will be assembled to its 65 meter glory by the end of this month. All the morning joggers and walkers are offered a free copy of the Times of India. I have heard that the increased heartbeat and breathing that comes with sexual excitation is beneficial for the body. If so, Times of India during the morning walk is a good idea.Kanakunnu Palace is getting to ready to host International Ayurveda Exhibition from tomorrow. 350 companies, 1000 medicinal plants etc are going to be featured. Food stall folks were unloading sacks of onion, potatoes and 'bajji' chilly in the morning.
Right outside the gate of the Palace, couple of middle-aged men, under an old, dirty parasol that was used in an earlier life to advertise and FM channel, run a brisk business of hot tea and cold lime juice. The rush of morning fitness lovers around this stall is unbelievable. Within an hour, the large containers of tea and juice are exhausted. Profitable start of the day for the vendors. They are the real world equivalent of opening session day traders.
After the morning walk, I was offered Sri Lankan spiced tea with vanilla essence at home. Aromatic and delicious!
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