The main power of a citizen in a democratic republic is the power to franchise. And how should that citizen feel if such a vital power is stripped?
Today was the assembly polls of Karnataka state. The campaigning for the same had started in full swing for the past one month. I'd been closely following the campaign and the people contending for it, with a view of casting my vote scrupulously. But alas! the Government of Karnataka/India never even provided me with a chance to cast my precious vote.
Every voter in the electoral list was given a slip a week prior to the elections. This slip was something like a registration of the individual for the elections. This was done on a door-to-door basis. When it was the turn of my house, my mom noticed my name missing (inspite of having a valid election ID card). She mentioned this, but those folks never noted it in the additional list because they were instructed to only distribute the slip and not to do anything more! But she was told that there were many such people whose case was similar to mine, such people could come to the election booth with the election ID card and they would be allowed to vote. My mom agreed to that and let go the issue.
On the day of the election, I went to the booth with my election ID card only to be embarassed right on the face. The election duty special officers who are none other than the teachers and government staff were helpful enough to go through the list thoroughly to check just in-case if my name was misplaced in the list but all their efforts were in-vain. Since they are not vested with the rights to take decisions but only to discharge their spoon-fed duties they strictly didnt allow me to vote. I've no complaints with them on the contrary am glad that India still retains her face of obedience and honesty.
But am irked with the Government, what kind of a stupid rule could that possibly be where a law-abiding citizen with a voter's card does not get to vote! Not having my name in the list does not disprove my citizenship specially after having voted in the last election, how could they restrict me from not voting this time around? I agree to the fact that my name might have missed in the electoral list because of miscrepancies, but having a valid document under the seal of Republic of India makes me in all sense a rightfull citizen of this country. Be it passport, voter's ID, PAN card, driving licence etc all are despatched by the Govt, by rejecting these, is the government skeptical of the authencity of its own practices?
Further, I could find the names of around 90% of my neighbours including my neighbour's servant's family!!!
Govt spends booties of money in educating the youth the power of democracy but if the same govt treats its citizen in this condescending behaviour, it will not be late before me and people with similar experiences lose their interest in electing the ruler of their choice.
In the election booth, a govt staff remarked as to submit another form to the corporation claiming am a resident of my place and to get a new voter's card ! Now, what do I do with the old voters card, throw it straight to the bin?
Now on, When am asked for my address proof or age proof, I contemplate on which documents to present since the govt itself is not ready to accept it as a proof, why should I blame the third person!
Next day, it was all over the papers about this mess where many people who had an election photo ID Cars (EPIC) were denied voting permissions. They had given fuming statements about the EPIC struggle they had to face. The Election commission had 4000+ complaints. That was still less! After all this the statistics claimed only 44% vote from Bangalore, ridiculous!!
Is democracy still "BY THE PEOPLE" !!!!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Sportif Quotient!
Me being a student of fine arts, once I remember having an argument with a fnd saying sports was also a form of art but an incident made me realize that sports was not only a physical art but a wary game of approximation and concentration.
Last week started with yet another dull monday morning at work. That was the week of Hit-n-Run tournament at office. This is nothing but the "gentleman's game" played in our own office parking lot, which I guess is almost half the dimension of the actual cricket ground. To adapt the game to this customized cricket ground, the rules of the game were tweaked a little here and there. One of those special rules was the mandatory inclusion of two female players in the team, else the team is considered incomplete! Well, wat was the intention of having the fairer sex in the area of male bastion?..... was it to prove "why should only boys hav all the fun" or was it just to relish the eyes of onlookers... wel lets not delve on it...!!!!
The team from my project called themselves " The Alphacenturions" and on monday, the commencement of the tournament, they were desparately in need of a girl for the team. Unaware of this, I was engrossed in a technical discussion when the captain barges straight in and requests me to play. I almost panicked, I've never held a bat in my lifetime and now straight into a tournament! I resisted but my resistance was short-lived when I found the tournament jersey on my desk with the number 13, co-incidently my lucky number........ I reluctantly put on the brand new jersy and the borrowed shoes and took my maiden plunge into CRICKET.
Before the match, the team gave me batting practice for mere 5 mins and some quick hints on how to not lose the wicket!
The match started, it was for a total of 10 overs and an additional ladies special over, where the bats(wo)man has to face the lady-bowler. When it was my turn to bat, the first two balls were total bonkers, my estimation of the approachin ball was horribly bad-timed and I kept swinging my bat aimlessly in air nevertheless not losing my wicket. But I got lucky the third time I hit the ball and was so startled myself that I forgot I'd to literally run to score a run which is equivalent to 3 runs (ladies special u see)..... do I call this beginner's luck or just fluke? well, watever not a bad start indeed...:)
I was in a good team, with veterans we soon made our entry into semifinals. This time having THE meagre experience I was eager to try my bowling prowess! Again that meant 5 mins of pre-match practice and the priceless tips of stumping...:-D.............
This match was surely my most memorable one. As a first time bowler, my face was stiff with tension but the guys pushed me and I was surprised to see myself perform well. I gave one run, one wide and took 3 wickets.... I was jumping on the ground jubliantly with the crowd cheering and jeering. I was complimented for my beginner's luck again!!
On the fielding side, I was put on that side of the ground where no ball comes and if it did come accidently also it couldnt be cared less........:-D
As a team, we were enjoying every match lest the finals, were I guess we took it seriously landing as runners-up, well "jo jeeta woh sikander aur jo harah woh bander to nahin hain"......... Its all in the participation, the sportsmanship.
One sadist later remarked that I was a mere "aatakontu-lekakilla" (derogatory term for substitute) but I rebuked as "like I care!" and I genuinely didnt care, all that mattered to me was to be a part of the ebuillent team and share the verve......... which I did enjoyably.
All this while I thought I'd zero sport quotient but hey with this experience on hand I can prove I've a teeny weeny bit of S.Q in me.....:)
Last week started with yet another dull monday morning at work. That was the week of Hit-n-Run tournament at office. This is nothing but the "gentleman's game" played in our own office parking lot, which I guess is almost half the dimension of the actual cricket ground. To adapt the game to this customized cricket ground, the rules of the game were tweaked a little here and there. One of those special rules was the mandatory inclusion of two female players in the team, else the team is considered incomplete! Well, wat was the intention of having the fairer sex in the area of male bastion?..... was it to prove "why should only boys hav all the fun" or was it just to relish the eyes of onlookers... wel lets not delve on it...!!!!
The team from my project called themselves " The Alphacenturions" and on monday, the commencement of the tournament, they were desparately in need of a girl for the team. Unaware of this, I was engrossed in a technical discussion when the captain barges straight in and requests me to play. I almost panicked, I've never held a bat in my lifetime and now straight into a tournament! I resisted but my resistance was short-lived when I found the tournament jersey on my desk with the number 13, co-incidently my lucky number........ I reluctantly put on the brand new jersy and the borrowed shoes and took my maiden plunge into CRICKET.
Before the match, the team gave me batting practice for mere 5 mins and some quick hints on how to not lose the wicket!
The match started, it was for a total of 10 overs and an additional ladies special over, where the bats(wo)man has to face the lady-bowler. When it was my turn to bat, the first two balls were total bonkers, my estimation of the approachin ball was horribly bad-timed and I kept swinging my bat aimlessly in air nevertheless not losing my wicket. But I got lucky the third time I hit the ball and was so startled myself that I forgot I'd to literally run to score a run which is equivalent to 3 runs (ladies special u see)..... do I call this beginner's luck or just fluke? well, watever not a bad start indeed...:)
I was in a good team, with veterans we soon made our entry into semifinals. This time having THE meagre experience I was eager to try my bowling prowess! Again that meant 5 mins of pre-match practice and the priceless tips of stumping...:-D.............
This match was surely my most memorable one. As a first time bowler, my face was stiff with tension but the guys pushed me and I was surprised to see myself perform well. I gave one run, one wide and took 3 wickets.... I was jumping on the ground jubliantly with the crowd cheering and jeering. I was complimented for my beginner's luck again!!
On the fielding side, I was put on that side of the ground where no ball comes and if it did come accidently also it couldnt be cared less........:-D
As a team, we were enjoying every match lest the finals, were I guess we took it seriously landing as runners-up, well "jo jeeta woh sikander aur jo harah woh bander to nahin hain"......... Its all in the participation, the sportsmanship.
One sadist later remarked that I was a mere "aatakontu-lekakilla" (derogatory term for substitute) but I rebuked as "like I care!" and I genuinely didnt care, all that mattered to me was to be a part of the ebuillent team and share the verve......... which I did enjoyably.
All this while I thought I'd zero sport quotient but hey with this experience on hand I can prove I've a teeny weeny bit of S.Q in me.....:)
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Arty curriculum
Just hit upon an article on dance and this particular excerpt was intriguing.
When asked to comment on the inclusion of theatre, dance and music in the academic curriculum, this was the remark of Geetha Narayanan, an educationist and a close associate of Natya.
"Its a near-impossible task of taking fine arts to schools. It is not at the core of the education system but remains at the periphery. Worse, it is brushed aside as an "extracurricular activity" or used in a lackadaisical "let's give the kids a bit of creative expression" kind of manner."
Further she cites that this curriculum shift is necessary not for the sole purpose the child's growth alone but for the betterment of the society too.
"All children who learn dance do not become dancers. They fill another, crucial role: that of the audience. If children don't know dance, how will we get audiences for our dance recitals in the future?"
I can personally relate to the latter. I dont expect an audience who are connoisseurs but yes knowledgeable. And the very fact that "extracurricular activities" are given a drag reflects where our education system is heading!
Do I see another Taare Zameen Par happening here?
Hope so!
When asked to comment on the inclusion of theatre, dance and music in the academic curriculum, this was the remark of Geetha Narayanan, an educationist and a close associate of Natya.
"Its a near-impossible task of taking fine arts to schools. It is not at the core of the education system but remains at the periphery. Worse, it is brushed aside as an "extracurricular activity" or used in a lackadaisical "let's give the kids a bit of creative expression" kind of manner."
Further she cites that this curriculum shift is necessary not for the sole purpose the child's growth alone but for the betterment of the society too.
"All children who learn dance do not become dancers. They fill another, crucial role: that of the audience. If children don't know dance, how will we get audiences for our dance recitals in the future?"
I can personally relate to the latter. I dont expect an audience who are connoisseurs but yes knowledgeable. And the very fact that "extracurricular activities" are given a drag reflects where our education system is heading!
Do I see another Taare Zameen Par happening here?
Hope so!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Welcome Change
After all the hustle-bustle surrounding the marriage, our family decided to relax and what better way to relax than watching a movie. So I booked tickets for the Aamir Khan starrer Taare Zameen Par . The ease with which I got tickets in PVR bang on the first day of release surprised me so did the big price on it too! An Aamir Khan movie that too on the first week is quite a good recipe for the malls/multiplexes to cook up a good price. But I say the movie was worth every penny spent.
Taare Zameen Par is a brillant movie by all standards. Although the movie conveys a message it can neither be categorized as one of those boring art movies nor as a meaningless entertainer, it is a genre by itself. Mr.Perfect Aamir Khan displays his versatality with his directorial debut. He has portaryed the seriousness of the movie in a beautifully entertaining manner. But it is the little one Darsheel Safary as the dyslexic child Ishaan who walks away with the honour. He is a taci-turn boy who doesnt depend on the dialogue delivery for acting. It is astonishing to watch the boy use only emotions as a tool to act. Kudos, to Aamir for bringing this out in the boy. Aamir Khan's acting is flawless as usual, further he proves the point "men look better with age"........... :-). The movie has some hummable songs too.
Though the movie centers around a dyslexic child and his parents, it doesnt emphasize more on Aamir training the kid to get out of that cocoon. Because the movie is not only about a dyslexic child alone but its about parents letting children be what they want to be. The reviews recommended tissues for the second half and I recommend the same too. When the movie ended, I heard a few ppl in the hall applause............. definitely this movie needs a standing ovation.
Movies like Taare Zameen Par, Chak De India, Iqbal are the much needed whiff of fresh air on the Bollywood scene challenging the usual dancing around trees themes. These movies stresses the need of India's position in the global film circuit.
Taare Zameen Par is a brillant movie by all standards. Although the movie conveys a message it can neither be categorized as one of those boring art movies nor as a meaningless entertainer, it is a genre by itself. Mr.Perfect Aamir Khan displays his versatality with his directorial debut. He has portaryed the seriousness of the movie in a beautifully entertaining manner. But it is the little one Darsheel Safary as the dyslexic child Ishaan who walks away with the honour. He is a taci-turn boy who doesnt depend on the dialogue delivery for acting. It is astonishing to watch the boy use only emotions as a tool to act. Kudos, to Aamir for bringing this out in the boy. Aamir Khan's acting is flawless as usual, further he proves the point "men look better with age"........... :-). The movie has some hummable songs too.Though the movie centers around a dyslexic child and his parents, it doesnt emphasize more on Aamir training the kid to get out of that cocoon. Because the movie is not only about a dyslexic child alone but its about parents letting children be what they want to be. The reviews recommended tissues for the second half and I recommend the same too. When the movie ended, I heard a few ppl in the hall applause............. definitely this movie needs a standing ovation.
Movies like Taare Zameen Par, Chak De India, Iqbal are the much needed whiff of fresh air on the Bollywood scene challenging the usual dancing around trees themes. These movies stresses the need of India's position in the global film circuit.
Monday, November 26, 2007
I just felt like..........
When I scrolled back and read my own archived blogs, I realized how serious some topics were ....... so here I launch something for light reading............... :)
Nothing spectacular to blog this time around but just my weekend experience. There were two things that happened.
First, I spent some "quality time" with a friend for more than a decade now. She has been my school friend and we both had some crazy fun as school kids but as time went by, our colleges werent the same so were our workplaces, so that explains the "seldom meetings but the often phone-calls" tradition. A month back she shifted close to my place.............. ah! I luv her for that. This gave us both the privilege of meeting over the weekend. Apparently, we had loads to chatter n no idea about what. Isnt this friendship?.........even after days, we got back as though nothing had changed between the both of us.
Second, Sunday evening, 4.30PM, BTM main road, my speedometer showed a whooping 60!!!.......... for all the speed freaks out thr, I know 60 kmph does not qualify as "fast", but on BTM main road, 60 is definitely comparable to the speed of ICE train. This is one of the arterial roads connecting the IT estates to the civilian habitats of Bangalore. Translating it into a "pathetically busy road". But on that sunday, it was a like a piece of cake. It took me flat 10 mins to reach kormangala from jayadeva flyover, this includes the parking time too............... n no I'm not dreaming??? After a long time I enjoyed driving in the city limits.
Nothing spectacular to blog this time around but just my weekend experience. There were two things that happened.
First, I spent some "quality time" with a friend for more than a decade now. She has been my school friend and we both had some crazy fun as school kids but as time went by, our colleges werent the same so were our workplaces, so that explains the "seldom meetings but the often phone-calls" tradition. A month back she shifted close to my place.............. ah! I luv her for that. This gave us both the privilege of meeting over the weekend. Apparently, we had loads to chatter n no idea about what. Isnt this friendship?.........even after days, we got back as though nothing had changed between the both of us.
Second, Sunday evening, 4.30PM, BTM main road, my speedometer showed a whooping 60!!!.......... for all the speed freaks out thr, I know 60 kmph does not qualify as "fast", but on BTM main road, 60 is definitely comparable to the speed of ICE train. This is one of the arterial roads connecting the IT estates to the civilian habitats of Bangalore. Translating it into a "pathetically busy road". But on that sunday, it was a like a piece of cake. It took me flat 10 mins to reach kormangala from jayadeva flyover, this includes the parking time too............... n no I'm not dreaming??? After a long time I enjoyed driving in the city limits.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
An inspiring rendezvous
Recently I happened to meet a set of people whose nature of work is diametrically opposite to mine. They were professionals in the field of fine-arts. I met them in a mega event which served as an art symposium. It was a pompous gathering with a potpurri of shows. The participants were an intermixture of the "who's who" of that industry, students, interns, freelancers and professionals of that field. Among them, it was the freelancers who particularly interested me.
I got acquainted with a freelancer of the same age as me. Over a casual talk, I came to know she was as well qualified in her form as I was in mine. What puzzled me was, regardless of the fact that she was a freelancer without a fixed pay and a secure job, she had an air of placidity flowing around her. She was incredibly happy to be in the rat race in a tough place where creativity scored. In the conversation which followed between us sounded quite sensible.
When I asked her "Isnt it tough to be a freelancer?", this is what she had to say.
When she was out of school and on the thresholds of choosing the right career naturally she was confused. Weighing her likes and dislikes, she gave in to follow her heart. She decided to pursue arts as a career much to her parents surprise. In the art field, there is either a hit or a miss but no intermediate state of sustainment. And if anyone is here to stay, the unwritten rule is they have to be the best. Her parents doubted her calibre but they were supportive though. With her graduation done, it was the time to enter the professional world of arts. But unlike other conventional fields she did not find any company which induces her into the practical world and hence she took to freelancing looking for oppurtunities and grabbing them when the best came in. Freelancing gave her the time and the freedom to learn new things practically and also improvise them theoretically back home. This made her strengthen her fundamentals and constantly update herself. Most important it gave her the much needed time (which is a priced possession in a full-time job) to think at a relaxed pace. She felt freelancing gave her the time to learn, think and rectify.
Ok, Keeping aside her passion for learning, I asked her about the vital- monetary gains. She said she earned enough to make herself financially independent. Being a freelancer was just an initial struggle in her path to making arts her full time profession. She believed if she turned out to be good professionally, money would find its way automatically and then she could thinking of saving. Freelancing laid the base for this. And she also mentioned that she would indulge herself in liabilites only when she was in a position to cover it up. I was awed by her confidence in managing her life. Inevitably I compared my software life with her life. Sadly I found such startling dissimilarities.
Survey reveals that staff working for a multi-national companies earn the highest average pay among the middle class Indian population. Software crowd being a part of this population has a completely different perspective towards work and money than what the lady above has.
After graduation, indecisively we enter the big world of software as freshers, where we are trained and moulded the way the company wants. We get a good job with good money and we are happy. It presents a rosy picture right?, Wrong ! Now, this good amount of money gets into savings, assets and liabilites at a very early stage in our career. So to cover up these liabilites, we yearn for more money resulting in a switch to a higher paying job. And the story goes so on and so forth.
When I mentioned these facts to my friend, she simply brushed it apart saying "You software folks are simply overpriced! I accuse you of an imbalance in the economic status among the Indian youth!". My first reaction for her outspoken remark was that she was jealous but when I thought with an open mind, I'd to agree with her. Accepted that we techies do slog but people in every other profession work as hard as we do or even more at times, correct? It is an injustice that their compensation is not on par with us.
My friend did not like the idea of a mechanical and monotonous job, so what if it was high paying, it was not her cup of tea. Instead she loved the freelancing where she was expected to come up with creative and innovative ideas. She would be openly appraised in public for her efforts. You need guts to face such kind of criticism on a regular basis. She was truly an inspiration!
I got acquainted with a freelancer of the same age as me. Over a casual talk, I came to know she was as well qualified in her form as I was in mine. What puzzled me was, regardless of the fact that she was a freelancer without a fixed pay and a secure job, she had an air of placidity flowing around her. She was incredibly happy to be in the rat race in a tough place where creativity scored. In the conversation which followed between us sounded quite sensible.
When I asked her "Isnt it tough to be a freelancer?", this is what she had to say.
When she was out of school and on the thresholds of choosing the right career naturally she was confused. Weighing her likes and dislikes, she gave in to follow her heart. She decided to pursue arts as a career much to her parents surprise. In the art field, there is either a hit or a miss but no intermediate state of sustainment. And if anyone is here to stay, the unwritten rule is they have to be the best. Her parents doubted her calibre but they were supportive though. With her graduation done, it was the time to enter the professional world of arts. But unlike other conventional fields she did not find any company which induces her into the practical world and hence she took to freelancing looking for oppurtunities and grabbing them when the best came in. Freelancing gave her the time and the freedom to learn new things practically and also improvise them theoretically back home. This made her strengthen her fundamentals and constantly update herself. Most important it gave her the much needed time (which is a priced possession in a full-time job) to think at a relaxed pace. She felt freelancing gave her the time to learn, think and rectify.
Ok, Keeping aside her passion for learning, I asked her about the vital- monetary gains. She said she earned enough to make herself financially independent. Being a freelancer was just an initial struggle in her path to making arts her full time profession. She believed if she turned out to be good professionally, money would find its way automatically and then she could thinking of saving. Freelancing laid the base for this. And she also mentioned that she would indulge herself in liabilites only when she was in a position to cover it up. I was awed by her confidence in managing her life. Inevitably I compared my software life with her life. Sadly I found such startling dissimilarities.
Survey reveals that staff working for a multi-national companies earn the highest average pay among the middle class Indian population. Software crowd being a part of this population has a completely different perspective towards work and money than what the lady above has.
After graduation, indecisively we enter the big world of software as freshers, where we are trained and moulded the way the company wants. We get a good job with good money and we are happy. It presents a rosy picture right?, Wrong ! Now, this good amount of money gets into savings, assets and liabilites at a very early stage in our career. So to cover up these liabilites, we yearn for more money resulting in a switch to a higher paying job. And the story goes so on and so forth.
When I mentioned these facts to my friend, she simply brushed it apart saying "You software folks are simply overpriced! I accuse you of an imbalance in the economic status among the Indian youth!". My first reaction for her outspoken remark was that she was jealous but when I thought with an open mind, I'd to agree with her. Accepted that we techies do slog but people in every other profession work as hard as we do or even more at times, correct? It is an injustice that their compensation is not on par with us.
My friend did not like the idea of a mechanical and monotonous job, so what if it was high paying, it was not her cup of tea. Instead she loved the freelancing where she was expected to come up with creative and innovative ideas. She would be openly appraised in public for her efforts. You need guts to face such kind of criticism on a regular basis. She was truly an inspiration!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Dancing to the tunes of rain
Bangalore witnessed torrential rains on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi recording around 200mm of rain in one single day! Unfortunately it was a friday and the lovely festive season kept both the people and the roads jammed. Ganesh Chaturthi being a 3 day grand affair in my house, I'd taken the friday off, so I was blessed with not witnessing the "Black Friday" as the papers termed it.
A week earlier the sun shone rather too brightly surprising the september weather and the downpour that followed wasn’t a surprise after all. On Friday, it kept raining incessantly. It was on
ly the next day the papers updated me the magnitude of the damage done by rain. People from e-city actually used caracoles on the hosur road !!!! ... Its funny the way they had the caracoles handy, did they actually foresee this?? Lalbagh lake had overflowed again after a gap of 2 years. Houses built on dried lake beds were flooded. Among all these the one that was thought provoking was the photo of the IT fav Silk Board Junction. Instantneously, I was reminded of the TV clips of Mumbhai monsoons. The scenes were strikingly similar, kms and kms of stranded traffic and people wading through the dirty rain water almost upto their knees. Will Bangalore become another Mumbhai? Agreed Mumbai monsoons are way too severe but the problem is not the rain, it is the city's infrastructure. Mumbhai is so badly crowded with humans and their establishments that the poor rain water has no escape and it stays on. Isn’t a similar story unfolding in Bangalore? Yes, it is expanding at a very fast pace but not at the cost of the city’s safety. Did I forget to mention Mumbhai is a port city! Well, this is my foresight and I’ll be glad to be proved wrong.
When I started this blog, my intention was to describe about one of my latest performances in rain…… yes rain :) ……… but I ended up writing about my city. Some of my fnds ridicule me for this excessive patriotism abt my city and I always laugh back and say blame it on my stubborn leo trait… :D
ly the next day the papers updated me the magnitude of the damage done by rain. People from e-city actually used caracoles on the hosur road !!!! ... Its funny the way they had the caracoles handy, did they actually foresee this?? Lalbagh lake had overflowed again after a gap of 2 years. Houses built on dried lake beds were flooded. Among all these the one that was thought provoking was the photo of the IT fav Silk Board Junction. Instantneously, I was reminded of the TV clips of Mumbhai monsoons. The scenes were strikingly similar, kms and kms of stranded traffic and people wading through the dirty rain water almost upto their knees. Will Bangalore become another Mumbhai? Agreed Mumbai monsoons are way too severe but the problem is not the rain, it is the city's infrastructure. Mumbhai is so badly crowded with humans and their establishments that the poor rain water has no escape and it stays on. Isn’t a similar story unfolding in Bangalore? Yes, it is expanding at a very fast pace but not at the cost of the city’s safety. Did I forget to mention Mumbhai is a port city! Well, this is my foresight and I’ll be glad to be proved wrong.When I started this blog, my intention was to describe about one of my latest performances in rain…… yes rain :) ……… but I ended up writing about my city. Some of my fnds ridicule me for this excessive patriotism abt my city and I always laugh back and say blame it on my stubborn leo trait… :D
Anyways let me get back to my rain dance….:) I was to perform in Vidyapeetha temple on the occasion of Krishna Janmasthami. I was told it shall be held in a open auditorium. I was excited since I’d not performed in an open auditorium till then. My dance Guru was out of station then and I had to prepare for the event all by myself, which was actually tiresome. Having her around would have been a great relief. On the day of the performance I was well rehearsed although in the corner of my heart, I wished I’d little more time to fine tune the items. Be it performance, exams or client presentation, no matter how well one is prepared, there is always room for perfection – man the insatiable animal…..:)
It was a usual bright and a busy morning and by noon the weather turned turtle. Suddenly there were thick grey clouds and the skies opened up. It poured, poured and poured. By evening I was worried for obvious reasons and the disappointment of audience absence. Audiences are the prized possessions of we performing artists.
After the customary welcome, I was about to start my performance in the inside auditorium, when the temple head announced that the rain had stopped completely so all cultural programmes shall be shifted to the open auditorium. I was thrilled. But only after I performed an hour later I realized what it is like to perform in an open audi after rain. The carpets on the stage were totally drenched in rain. My every footstep created a small fountain by itself which was very uncomfortable. The sound system was in a playful mood too. To cater to a big crowd of around 500 people, there were multiple loudspeakers which were echoing back and it was an effort to synchronize to a single sound. By the mid of second item, it started drizzling and the audience got restless. I’d to end the program half way through since it was already late, thanks to the delay by the rain-god. My hardwork was wasted. The program was disheartening despite that performing in an open place with cool rain-kissed breeze cant be penned but is to be experienced.
At the end of all this I still feel “only if I’d got to complete my program!”………….. man the insatiable animal…. :)
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