Bikhre Bimb - a perspective!

Aap log to sirf mujhe dekhte hain stage pe… par iss performance ke peeche 15 aur logon ka haath hai. Mai chahti hoon ke aap un sab ke liye ek round of applause dein, Dhanyawad. (You people see only me on stage, but there are 15 more people who contribute to this performance. I want all of you to give a round of applause for them. Thank you).


These were the humble words by Arundhati Nag at the end of a mesmerizing performance for a play called Bikhre bimb at Rangashankara. Every person in that glorious auditorium was up on their feet to applaud. They had every reason to do so. They were applauding a wonderful actor, a humble personality, a flawless fantastic performance, a brilliant director and a hard working team.

Arundhati Nag

Arundhati Nag, who won a National award for best supporting role for the movie PAA, is a well-known actress & theatre personality. On stage, she is such a grace. She, all by herself, kept a house full of audience attentive to her performance for the entire show. There was never a dull moment.

Enacting a play is not as easy as we think. Unlike movies where in there are several re-takes, spot boys to help actors with script and what not. On the contrary, here a performer has no option re-takes. Everything is live in-front of the audience. There is very limited, or I can say, NO ROOM FOR ERROR. Arundhati Nag is one of the finest among all and the standing ovation was, perhaps, a proof of it.

Bikhre bimb

Bikhre bimb (Broken images) is a play written originally in Kannada, odakalu bimba, by noted playwright, poet, director, actor Girish Karnad. Bikhre bimb (co-directed by KM Chaitanya) is all about Manjula Naik, a professor of English literature, who also writes short stories in Kannada. Her life changes drastically after she comes up with a novel in English. Even though the audience thinks this as the epitome of the play, but the story moves on to take a lot of interesting twists and turns.

Though this is a mono act, it is the brilliance of Mr. Girish Karnad, who makes the audience feel the presence of other prominent characters, Manjula’s husband & her sister, on stage. The play has an elegant touch of humor which enthralls the audience. I would honestly urge those who live in Bangalore, not to miss this play.

The essence of this play is about a human being’s existence and his conscious. No matter how you present yourself to the world, your conscious will know what you are.

Rangashankara



Located in one of the prime localities of Bangalore, Rangashankara is an inception of late Mr. Shankar Nag. Husband of Arundhati Nag, he was a prominent actor, director and a visionary. Ambience is quite scintillating. Auditorium is very decently designed to seat an audience of more than a couple of hundreds.

Things to remember

Unlike movie theatres, there are no seat numbers at Rangashankara. You have to be present at the venue half n hour before the show time. And most importantly, if you are late by even a few minutes, you will be denied entry in the auditoria, reason – Very obvious, you can not disturb others.

Plays begin on the time. Pin drop silence prevails. You will be requested to turn-off your mobiles phones, even though there are jammers installed in the premises, to ensure there in no inconvenience caused during the entire performance. There is every measure taken to let you enjoy the show. So better do it.

Happy Women's day!

Happy women's day to all female friends, followers and my dear readers. I am pretty sure that no words are enough to explain a woman. But here is a expression of gratitude towards thier existence. Thank you for being a woman.

You bring strength as a sister, love as a wife, happiness as a girl
Serene as ever, you are marvelous as a pearl...
Sacred as a mother, under her feet is the heaven
You are so wonderful,i thank you for being a woman...

Respect!

As a youngest member of our family I have to follow all the instructions and also obey the orders passed by my parents:-). One of those is to be their chauffer. Since we moved to Bangalore from our hometown, which is 200 kms away from here, my parents never miss or never want to miss any of their relative’s weddings. It is their chance to mingle with their buddies and relatives who live far away.

Recently I accompanied my father to one of his best friend’s son’s wedding. It was very hard and perhaps an embarrassing moment for me since I barely knew any one at that wedding. The only person familiar to me was my father, of-course.

My father was very delighted to meet his good old friends from his hometown. The conversation started with a very obvious and curious question Hegide saar bengloor lifu? (How is Bangalore life, sir?). Without any hesitation my father replied nammoor maatu ee ooralli illa saar (This city is never better than our hometown). He loves his hometown and given a chance he would prefer to go back.

After finishing my dinner in less than four and a half minutes, which is very unusual of me, I walked out of the wedding hall to be comfortably seated on my bike. While I was waiting for my father to come back, I saw a person smoking cigarette. He was in his early forties. All of a sudden he went and hid behind a car. I was confused to see what he was trying to do.

All the while he was also watching me watch him. A couple of minutes later he came out smiling and even though I did not start any conversation with him, he went on to explain what he was doing. He said my elder brother was passing by; I went aside to hide so that he should not see me smoking. Out of curiosity I asked whether his brother knew about this habit of his or not? Laughingly he said his brother knows it very well but it is the respect which stops from smoking in front of him. It brought a pleasant smile on my rather grim face.

Not long ago, I read an article which mentioned about some foreign countries where the traffic comes to a halt or slows down when an elderly citizen is crossing the road. The author was trying to highlight the differences in culture. I would say we Indians are not far behind.

Unfortunate

I never miss any opportunity to visit my most dear cousin S who lives in Hindupur, 150 kilometers away from Bangalore. This weekend was one such opportunity which I grabbed without any hesitation. She is the best cook I have ever met and the delicious food she cooks is just mouth watering. This post is not about my visit to her but it is all about my return journey to Bangalore.

As usual I was comfortably seated in the last seat of the bus in which I was about to travel for the next four hours. Unfortunately, most of the times, I end up getting the last seat. After an hour of the strenuous journey, there was a buzz inside the bus. There were two elderly men who went to each of the passenger checking if they were travelling with a legal ticket. This was for the first time I was witnessing such sight. For me having travelled frequently in trains and busses had never come across this activity.

I showed my ticket which I had kept safely in my valet to one of the checking staff. The person sitting next to the window after a couple of seats from mine was horrified and searching all over the place for his ticket. He had lost it. He looked like a decent person and I am sure he was not lying about losing his ticket.

In a couple of minutes the conductor of the bus was also summoned and those three people started shouting at him. That guy looked helpless as he was taken to task in front of so many people. One of the co-passenger was brave enough to intervene and asked the conductor to check his electronic ticket issuing device for data about the tickets sold and the number of persons travelling on bus matched or not. Ashtella detailaagi nodakke aagalla saaar (I cannot check those entire details sir) is what the conductor had to say.

I thought the devices must be good enough to check if the person had really lost the ticket after buying or had deliberately not bought a ticket. It was indeed shameful even though none of the passengers knew that person.

Next time you travel, ensure to have your tickets with you all through the journey.

Gentle!!! Part 3

This is my third post in sequel, with the title “gentle”. These posts capture some of the simple yet humble gestures of people around me, making the moment a pleasant one.

It had been more than a couple of weeks I hadn’t taken my mom out. Jayanagar is the place we often visit. She is very much fond of the tasty, crispy Masala Dosa’s at the very popular food joint, Ganesha bhavan. Today I had a chance to take her out to her favorite hang-out.

Ganesha bhavan, which is also popularly known as dose camp, is always crowded. One has to wait for ten to fifteen minutes to savor the delicious food. This eatery is always buzzing with people of all ages & culture, young & old. Today, while waiting for my order to be served, I saw a beautiful girl. She was very charmingly clad in a stunning green silk saree. She was dressed to perfection. Her cute eyes were so attractive. Her glossy red lips elegantly matched the border color of her saree. She looked so gorgeous.

She was waiting for her take away order to be served, which took quite more time than usual, since the queue was longer. As the moments passed by, I noticed another woman walking up to her & without conversing a word, helped that gorgeous lady to set her pallu in a right way. Later I realized that the strap of her inner wear was slightly visible near her shoulder back. The lady, with a smile, whispered thank you to the one who helped her.

I noticed two great qualities in that woman. One was her respect towards other females. I am pretty sure there were many other women who might have noticed it, but did not have the courage to set it right. The other was her humble way of expression. She made it look so simple that the gorgeous lady did not feel embarrassed in front of others. Just great!

Smile is indeed a beautiful gesture.

Nostalgic!

Weddings are the ones where, of course, a couple begin their new phase of life, but also, weddings are the ones where friends reunite. People who stay far away from their childhood buddies or their college friends, get a chance to catch up with them. Undoubtedly, the recent advertisement which says "waise har ek friend zaroori hota hai (every friend is important)" is absolutely true.

Recently, my high school friend's wedding helped me meet some of the buddies whom i had not met for a long time. Not so surprisingly, all of us became very Nostalgic. Hours were spent remembering our school days. Each & every moment was still so fresh in our memories. All of us expressed one wish, wish we get back those days!

I always keep thinking if i wake up one fine day & find myself having gone back a reasonable amount of time. I wish i get back my school days, to be with the same bunch of friends. I also wish one day i meet a magician, who can make my wish come true.

Her

Captured my random thoughts in the form of these poems..Read on !!!

I run out of words to express my feelings,
Nothing more worth than those beautiful evenings...
Hand in hand we walked many a mile,
Never did I realize she was here only for a while...

When the pages of my past flutter,
She is the one whom i remember...
Lonely i sit yearning for more & more,
How do i tell she is the one i always adore...

I wish she was sitting next to me holding my hand,
Making my life more meaningful and a lot grand…
Whole world appeared to me as my fantasy,
Colors of joy around & a heart filled with ecstasy…

Her beautiful eyes speaks a thousand words
Her smile shines like a diamond in the herds…
She is always a personification of self sacrifice
She spells magic in her mesmerizing voice…

The imagination of a poet holds no barrier, needs no explanation. The perception & his emotions flow with his mood & the time. Lot more to come.

Gentle - Continued

Well, it's been quite a long time since my previous post. I must apologize to my fellow bloggers for not yet passing the "versatile blogger award" which i received. It is indeed coming soon.

Meanwhile i took some time off to continue or, as the thought creeps through my mind, to have a series of posts on the title "gentle" gestures. The first of these is here.

Day 3
It was a very long day. Took a day off from office, drove for nearly 500 kilometers in about 8 hours, with a very minimal rest & very delicious lunch at my sister's place. Evening was planned to attend a good friend's wedding reception. Anyone who knows how hectic it is to drive for long hours, can imagine my plight on this day.

I returned home at around 7:30 PM, took shower, dressed up in a flash & took off for the wedding venue, which was on the other part of the city (Bangalore). With all the possible cursing & swearing on the rash & negligent riders & drivers, i reached half way of my journey. I like the word journey so much that i use it so often. So you can imagine why the title of my blog also has this word in it.

i was waiting at a zebra crossing of busy junction which was manned by a policeman since it did not have the traffic signal. The junction had tall tower which had several huge lights at the top. It was well illuminated. Lot of people were crossing the road. As the pedestrians herd was over, i looked at the policeman who waved & signaled the traffic to pass on.

As i slowly started to move, a girl wearing a combination of green & red salwar came running to cross the road. Her silky hair neatly tied, her face glowing as bright as a star, her beautiful eager eyes wide open, her lips wore a matching red lipstick. She stood right in front me, but only to cross the road, since the car in which i was traveling was stopping her way.

As a humble human, i stopped the car & made a gesture towards her to cross, but unfortunately, the traffic at the other side had already started off at a high speed. Feeling sad for her, i shrugged my shoulders & gave her a sorry smile. she did acknowledge me with her flamboyant smile. Her moist red lips spread large over her cute face made her look so gorgeous. Rest of my day ended with a pleasant mood & a smile.

Smile is indeed a beautiful gesture. Have it ! Be gentle !

Woman !!!

I wish all the women, a very Happy Women's day. Woman is the personification of self sacrifice. She is very special. Starting with Mother, then as a caring sister, a friend to rely on and as a life partner. A woman is always part of our life, making it pleasant & beautiful. On this Women's day, i would like to dedicate a poem, my first one, to all the women on earth. Thanks for being a woman.

As i said, this is my first ever try towards writing poems, I welcome your appreciation & criticism as well. Here it is,

When the winds of memories flow,
her thoughts, begin to glow...
sweet were the days when we were together,
i wish, those days, come back to me forever...

The days have become very long,
and the nights begin to haunt...
Magic filled the air when she was around,
am sitting here all alone, looking at life, beyond...

Gentle !

It's quite a wonderful feeling when you come across some gentle gestures from little unknown people or even at not much familiar places you often visit. A flashy smile or a comprehending look from a stranger might well get you out of frustration at times. If you are part of any busy bustling cities, where traffic snarls find it very easy to bug you out of your mind on any given day, these gestures, does make you smile at the end of a hectic day. Let me share some of similar gestures I came across in the last couple of days.

Day 1

On the other day, I had to accompany my mom & sister in law to a nearby doctor. It's a car shed turned into a very neat clinic. As a first time visitor, I was going through all the usual health awareness posters, which are common among all the doctors. One little note, which I felt & I had not seen before at any of the hospitals or clinics, amused me. I only treat, he cures was painted in blue italics on a white colored wall. Even the doctor was a simple person like the words written outside.

Day 2

I was riding through the busy Bangalore roads, which are always crowded, on my Honda active last night. Thanks to on going metro rail construction, traffic woes are getting worse these days. Waiting for the signal to turn green, was having a look the giant machinery at the construction site. The guy on a similar two wheeler came rushing behind me & was honking out loud on me. I had no where to go. With a fully determined anger to shout, I turned towards him. There came a gentle gesture from an elderly gentleman. With a humble smile on his face, that person apologized to me stating a faulty horn switch. Anger vanished & the smile was back on my face.

Smile is indeed a beautiful gesture. Have it ! Be gentle !