“Retell”, a series of narrative plays, was performed on June 5 and 6 at Ranga Shankara. The production was by Theatre Nisha, a group from Chennai, and the design and direction was by V Balakrishnan.
Some of the narratives were based on translations of the stories of Satyajit Ray, Gopa Majumdar, and others from the works of Goli Taragi, by Karim Emani and Sara Khalili.
“Bhuto” by Satyajit Ray
Yesterday and today, theatregoers at Ranga Shankara are fortunate to see two excellent plays– one, an amalgam of three playlets, Fawn Lilies, Water Lilies, and Black Lilies, written and directed by Gowri Ramnarayan, and staged by JustUs Repertory, and late in the evening, at 9.30pm, a very short play by August Strindberg, which was acted as a monologue by Claire Denieul (There, Aru, I think I have the spelling right!)
The 3-play series (for want of a better word) strings together three very different incidents, happening in the US; first, two people meeting in a park in Columbus, Ohio; second, two people meeting in an exhibition of Monet, at Houston,Texas; and the third, two people meeting in an airport lounge in Dulles airport in Washington.
In the first of the triptych, a dietician from Vijayawada has just been passed over by her boyfriend, who prefers war to love. She comes to the park to do some birdwatching, and gets talking to an unusual and interesting vagabond, who, in his own words, “lived in a tree for six months or so” when he was “down to his last quarter” and found himself espousing green causes.
In the second, an investment banker who is scornful of Monet’s paintings is intrigued by a Sri Lankan woman’s fascination with the painter, and they segue through a conversation about topics which start with art and meander afar.
The third piece has a young school teacher from Tamil Nadu on her first trip abroad for a conference, getting into a conversation with Hungarian novelist who isa Nobel laureate ..and showing him perspectives that he has not thought of before.
Passing by the defense area in the city, I watch her riding in an elegant posture which demonstrates great confidence.
As she rides her bike into the defense area, this lady in the uniform and (tough shoes!) makes me proud and inculcates a feeling of safety….
My salute to this unknown lady soldier of my country and many more who are contributing their best of abilities to make our lives safe and secure!!
Here’s a delightful scene I snapped last Saturday in Lalbagh:
Are those women picnicking in the park? (Couldn’t see if there was food inside the circle.) Do they have a more serious agenda? What could have brought so many of them to the park, so early in the morning, away from their households? I preferred not to go up and ask, and leave explanations to my imagination…
Here’s to women everywhere. I don’t say we are always the angels that all those internet forwards talk about; we are human, we have our vices and failings, too…but in general, it’s a sisterhood that I am proud to belong to, and here’s wishing for the day when each woman will be able to realize her full potential…..when gender will not be an issue worth discussing, and we don’t have to have a special Women’s Day, because every day will be one.
Well, there are city search engines and more city search engines. Every city worth its name has one or has folks with entrepreneurial spirit unleash one.
Why the barrage of them, you ask? Well, the ‘biggie’ search engine guys have found that search engine data show many users - roughly between 5% to 30% - searching for local or geography based queries which, in turn, lead them to a buying / availing a service decision. As there is money or potential money to be made catering to these folks searching, well, you get the idea. Of course, moving onto a revenue model at the outset is tricky so things do take time.
Bangalore is no exception to these online services. There are many local search engines here - a simple type on google with “Bangalore, local, city search engines” will give you a number of them and more. Here at MB, we’ve even profiled one of them. If you’ve gotten over that one, here’s one more for you.
Interestingly, while on my last City market visit came across a typical hardware store which has all iron utensils, a quick question came to my mind “in this era of modern cookware, why would anyone still cook the food in Iron cookware?”
I was on my evening walk somewhere in the neighborhood of RMV 2nd stage extension. I was earlier than usual, and didn’t see the regulars that I usually do. Instead, there was a whole other group of people who also seemed like regulars, and busy with their walks. One of them was a woman in her late thirties. Dressed in comfortable pants and t-shirt, she seemed serious about her walking. She was a few steps behind me, and as I turned into this nice street filled with flaming Gulmohar trees, I sensed her turn into the same street as well. And then, a couple of seconds later, I heard her ask a man in his late 40s, why he stared at all the women all the time. In her own words, “Why do you keep staring at all of us women? What is your problem? Tell me, what is your problem?’ Now obviously, never having expected to be taken to task, this man had nothing to say in his defense. I heard him fumble for words. She went on to tell him that she was going to complain to the police if he was not going to mend his ways. From what I gathered, he sits in a particular spot every evening and stares at all the women walkers making them quite uncomfortable. Nice, huh! He looks like a typical neighborhood “uncle”. I hope her threatening helps. Lets see. I didn’t get a chance to talk to her today, but do plan to go for my walk same time tomorrow to see if there has been any change in the situation!
Editing and adding a few more points:
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While on my way to breakfast today, I noticed a little ritual that I’d never seen before. A woman was carrying a small slightly shabby ornately decorated chair on her head. It had carvings and peacock feathers and was maybe upholstered in red velvet. She was carrying what at first I thought was a single-tail whip, that she cracked on the stairs of the hotel/restaurant we were going to visit, then stood there expectantly. As I passed her I noticed that it wasn’t a whip, but looked like a very long gray plait! After a little bit a manager (or some other officialish looking person) came out and gave her a few coins and she walked down the street. I caught his eye as he was doing it and he just sort of grinned at me.
Can someone please explain what I just witnessed?
The day was as normal for her, she sells ‘Roses’ just outside Barton center on MG Road, many times as she swiftly catches your attention and swings the rose, requesting you to buy one as you walk by…
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On March 8th, Bangalore Club organized an afternoon for Women’s Day. It was only for members of the Club or their spouses, and participants were asked to arrive wearing pink.
And so, when I walked in at about noon on to the Anchor Lawn, a dizzying variety of pink met my eyes. Prizes were offered to the seniormost amongst the crowd…the eldest lady who stood up, hale and hearty, was 90! Prizes were given to ladies as young as 79…and then there was an elimination round where with each parameter, more ladies were eliminated ( ladies with sleeveless blouses…ladies wearing dangly earrings….red-painted toenails…whose spouses’ first names began with P or R…and so it went) Those who remained were asked questions about the womena associated with Bangalore Club….unfortunately, very few could answer those questions at all! Stil, in the spirit of the event, titles of “Miss Universe/Bangalore Club”, “Miss World/Bangalore Club” were handed out! Then a few more prizes were handed out to women who had the largest bindi, the highest heels, and so on…it was hilarious.
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