Tierno Bokar

Yesterday evening I had another wonderful opportunity to see a play called 'Tierno Bokar'. It was directed by Peter Brook. He was in New York for last month conducting a workshop at the Columbia University. This play was the outcome of that workshop.

Tierno Bokar was a Sufi 'sage' from West Africa who lived in the last century. He was a wise man and a voice of tolerance when his country and continent were consumed with religion and politics based violence.

On of his students, Amadou Hamapaté Bâ, who is apparently a great writer and has been a guiding light to UNESCO after Mali’s independence in 1960 (I had not even heard this name until yesterday… but that only shows how ignorant I am) has written a book about his master. The book is titled ‘The Life and Teaching of Tierno Bokar - The Sage of Bandiagara’. The play was based on this book.

The performance itself took place in gymnasium of a one of the Columbia University colleges. They had converted it into an African village… but except for a stem indicating a tree, there was no structure…it was all open... gave me an idea how his Mahabharata must have appeared.

The man who played Tierno was the same actor who played ‘Bhishma’ in Mr. Brook’s version of Mahabharata. The other characters I could identify where Krishna, Gandhaari and Maadri. The rest I suppose were the actors from Columbia and the Harlem area.

The play was in French with subtitles in English being displayed on a large screen above the stage. To my surprise, it worked out fine. The music was all live. Some Japanese guy, who apparently could play every instrument there is… gave most of the music by himself… at times with some help from an assistant. It was an amazing experience to see how effective this form of music could be. The musicians were participating in the performance. Truly marvelous…!

Mr. Brooks seem to have great control over presenting a story by making it dramatic and interesting… (I guess I am stating the obvious here ;)) and he seems to know precisely how to control the pace of the performance. I have noticed that in the DVD version of Mahabharata and now in Tierno Bokar.

But one thing struck me the most…at the end of the play, the thing I remembered the most was Tierno Bokar and his philosophy... and I am sure that would make Mr. Brook and his cast very happy.

The experience was sublime... like watching a well made period movie… for the duration of those two hours the audience was in 1930’s West Africa.

The riots that had consumed Mali were started because one group had a practice of reciting a certain prayer 11 times as opposed to another group which recited it 12 times!!! Add to that the French colonial administration… trying to use this situation…. and you have all the material for a drama…with this lone voice of tolerance standing in the midst of that chaos!!

From what I could read in the material provided before the play, Tierno was indeed a very wise man… a very tolerant man… they quoted him as saying…

“There are three truths, your truth, my truth and the truth!” or “The only struggle that really concerns me is the one that is aimed at our own weakness” or “I pray God that at the moment I die, I have more enemies to whom I‘ve done nothing than friends”

And his student, Hamapaté Bâ, who said “in Africa, when an old man dies, a library has burned” made sure that he preserved at least some of this library that was his teacher.

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Tierno Bokar copyright © 2007 by Sushrut Vaidya. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No changes or edits in the content of this work or of the digital format are allowed. For information, write Sushrut Vaidya at sushrut.vaidya@gmail.com.

An Evening with Amitabh Bachchan

Yesterday evening I had one of the most surreal experiences of my life. I saw Amitabh Bachchan !

Real.... exactly as Einstein had said about Gandhi.... 'such a one ever in flesh and blood... '

This was at a retrospective of his films that was organized by the Lincoln Center Film Society. Yesterday's event... 'An Evening with Amitabh Bachchan' was the culmination of that festival. He appeared in person and was interviewed for over two hours. He spoke about many things, his movies, his image as 'angry young man', his favorites stars, politics, his financial troubles, his second innings...

The event began with a short documentary on him... it started with the narration by its creator about when he started watching Hindi films and what it means to him... it started with a troop of traditional artists telling a mythological story using an old painting... with a typical Rajasthani folk music as background...

It was intermixed with famous writers .... Salman Rashdie, Shahi Tharoor etc.. talking about Hindi films and their place in Indian life....They explained the traditional story telling in India... Mahabharat, Ramayan... etc.

and how the Hindi films are an extension to that.

It was not until the story came to Amitabh's accident that the audience realized that the mythological story that Rajasthani folk artist was telling was not about the life of Ram or Krishna... it was the story of Amitabh's life...

The intellectuals like us... no matter how crazy we are for Amitabh... still don't understand the boundless adulation an average Indian ... and particularly the rural Indian ... had for Amitabh at those times... This incidence really put it in perspective.... Bachchan's competition was not with Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna... it was Ram and Krishna!!! No wonder people built temples of him.

Then there was that famous scene from Deewar..... 'Main aaj bhi pheke hue paise nahin uthaataa...'

I kid you not.... I could have been in Vijayaanand....or Alankaar... the whistles.. the shouting... the sheer chaos.... it was 1980s in Pune all over again......No one.. I mean no one could have believed that it was the worlds famous.... civilized.... straight laced... Lincoln Center!! And it felt right ... It again put it squarely in perspective what this man means to an Indian mind and an Indian heart.

It wasn't his arrogance... it was the hurt that he felt I think that appeals to us... but again... there are so many other things... his honesty... his intensity... his voice... I am sure you can add your own reasons here... as everyone in that august hall did....

And then the interviewer came on the stage... to a big joint disappointing sigh from the audience... as they all thought it was Him.... then the usual thanks... credits... but he was a wise man... did not take a long time... and then said...

"His name is Anthony Gonzalez.... Inspector Vijay.... Dev.... but to millions of his fans.. he is simply known as Amitabh.... ladies and gentleman.... here is Amitabh Bachchan....."

Friends.... I have seen Ravi Shankar perform at the Carnegie Hall.... and he did get a full standing ovation when he was introduced..... but even there was a gap of a fraction of a second.. where people realized who he was, thought if they should stand up or not... then decided that they should... and did.

But here... more than one thousand people were on their feet... even before the announcer could complete the words.. 'here is...'

And then He arrived....

And the people went wild....

I dare you to find another 63 year old star... from any language... any art form... any country.... that could evoke that kind of reaction....

It was s..u..r..r..e..a..l !!! There he was.... standing less than 100 feet from me.... THE...Amitabh Bachchan... I went there to see him... it wasn't like it was a surprise by any means.... but I guess there is nothing that can prepare you for this... not if you grew up in India in 70s and 80s.

He talked about many things....

His image... which he credited primarily to Salim Javed and his producers...

Earliest films he saw... Laurel and Hardy...!!

His influences.... from Hollywood.... Marlon Brando... and others...

His favorite films.... Ganga Jamnaa... Pyasa... Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam...

His favorite actor....

Some one from audience asked him an interesting question.... she said we all know who our Amitabh Bachchan is.... who is your Amitabh Bachchan.... to which he responded.... without a seconds pause... "It has to be Dileep Kumar saab!" You can imagine what I felt... He said.... and this time I heard it from his own mouth....."Any actor who came after him and says he is not influenced by him is lying" ... and I said.... "thank you".

Someone asked "There are many Bachchan's in the acting field now... which one you think is the best actor..."...again he was spontaneous in answering.... "my wife"..... and then quipped... with a sense of timing only one man in world could show.... "it was a protective measure!"

He was asked what he thought the govt should do to promote Indian films... and he gave his answer... and then said... "I hope someone from govt is listening here in the audience!!"... with a reference to his wife... who is a sitting MP from Rajya Sabha.

On being asked why he did not attempt poetry like his illustrious father... he said "My mother always used to say... one poet is enough in the family!!"

On being asked what advice he would offer his son so that he could one day be in that chair, he said "I am not qualified to offer an advice." ... to which people laughed... and so did the interviewer!

And at the end he recited a few lines from Madhushala... a fitting way to end the event by bringing the remaining Bachchan on the stage...

"Ek Raah tu pakad chalaa chal.... paa jayegaa madhushala"

And he then followed those lines with their meaning in English....in extremely articulate... poetic English... which evoked response even from non-Hindi speakers.

And so ended this memorable evening.... I don't know what is it that makes us connect with this man.... or why he captures our imagination like nobody else.... but who cares.... who wants find out.... we just hope he keeps doing what he does.... just be who he is.... we are happy just being grateful that he is.

All the big shot stock brokers.... doctors.... businessman... servicemen... students.... from New York city and around.... we were all one at that moment.... there were no differences.... we were all reliving our growing up days in India... our dreams.... our anger... our romances... that we all lived through him....

No wonder people have built temples for him.... no wonder they compare him to Ram and Krishna... no wonder they worship him... he has done more to bring us all together than either one of them has done.

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An Evening with Amitabh Bachchan copyright © 2007 by Sushrut Vaidya. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No changes or edits in the content of this work or of the digital format are allowed. For information, write Sushrut Vaidya at sushrut.vaidya@gmail.com.

On the Occasion of Veer Zara

I heard the Veer Zaara songs yesterday….

The soundtrack of the new Yash Chopra movie… based on the tunes composed by Madan Mohan and sung by Lata and others…

You know… Sometimes there comes a moment that reinforces one’s believes… this was one of those moments.

I had a conversation with a friend of mine the other day… about a biography of Balgandharva that I was reading at the time. I told him about how, in the twilight days of his career, he still used to perform his pet role of Sindhu in Ram Ganesh Gadakari’s ‘Ekach Pyaala’. He was paralyzed in one side of his body and could not even stand at times… and then he used to perform sitting in a chair!! And the shows were still sold out… (Or ‘house full’ as we call them)!!! No doubt it shows the enormous affection he commanded from a Marathi man and mind….and no doubt what people were there for was his singing and not the ‘play’ per say…but we should also note that even his voice was way past its zenith at that time. This is mid 1950’s I am talking about!! The peak period of his ‘Gandharva Natak Mandali’ was 1920’s and early 30’s.

My friend’s reaction was that this kind of over-emotional adulation compromises the ‘play’. He is not alone in saying this. Many people even in Balgandharva’s time have said this. And coming from a person like Mayur who truly loves the ‘theatre’ I can completely understand it. That whole episode… of him performing sitting in a chair and people rushing to see him…does not even appear rational to me… much less to a pure theatre lover like my friend.

What I said to him was the description that belief of mine… that was reinforced yesterday when I heard the Veer Zaara songs.

I said… What those people heard in those performances of Ekach Pyaala or what I felt yesterday listening to the Lata Mangeshkar songs from Veer Zaara was not rational… or purist… it was emotional… purely emotional…

I have always felt that if one really loves something or someone that much…. one would start to see that thing or person differently than the rest of the world… one would begin to see it’s …. God... if only I could write this in Marathi…. ‘kaiwalyatmak’ character… one free of any limitations of its physicality.

Listening to Balgandharva or Lata in her twilight days now… is to me… like looking at an ancient but damaged sculpture of VeruL’s Kailas Mandir. Your rational mind can see that the condition of that sculpture is not what it used to be in its prime… but your emotional mind can feel that its beauty is still undiminished. The condition almost does not matter… in fact it adds an aspect of pathos to its beauty…

The song was ‘tere liye ham hain jiye…’ I was blown away by the tune and Lata’s rendition… and suddenly I had a revelation that I had heard that tune somewhere earlier…and within a few seconds I realized where… it was on one of the Madan Mohan CDs I have…in his own voice… in fact it was an alternate tune that he had composed for his famous song from ‘Mausam’ … ‘dil dhoondhtaa hai phir wohee fursat ke raat din’…. but when I heard it in Lata’s voice… it was as if … as if… I was looking at an old Kandil…. its body and the glass was worn out… old… from a different era… but the flame within was the same… eternal… and after a while that glass disappeared completely….and what remained was only that flame… as bright as ever… the same one that dazzled a nation with ‘uthaye jaa unke sitam’ … ‘ye jindagi usee kee hai’… and countless more songs like them

.... and I could listen to them all…. standing in the Kailas Mandir…!!

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On the Occasion of Veer Zara copyright © 2007 by Sushrut Vaidya. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No changes or edits in the content of this work or of the digital format are allowed. For information, write Sushrut Vaidya at sushrut.vaidya@gmail.com.

Sakharam Binder

This past Friday, about the same time Pramod was having a great time at Sachin's, I also had a Tendulkar experience of my own.. but of a different kind.

I watched the performance of Vijay Tendulkar's Sakharam Binder, performed by 'The Play Company' of New York. The cast was mostly native (except Sarita Chowdhury who played Champa and Sanjeev Jvheri in a small role). The play was translated by Kumud Mehta and Shanta Gokhle and was directed by Maria Mileaf.

The performance was in a very small theatre, that had only 13 rows. It is part of the 59th Street Theatre Foundation Building. The building hosts the offices of this foundation and two or three small theatres. Each theatre seats at best apprx 150 people. But they have a small stage, and the necessary lighting arrangements. There was no curtain. It reminded me of Sneh-sadan in Pune except that there was more than one theatre in this building. But the feel was very similar. A small performance for those who are willing to find out about it. There were no billboards, no advertisements outside the theater either.

I could not help but imagine (read dream) such a building ( a small multiplex for theatre performances if you will) in Pune. It will be so perfect for the many amateur theater groups in that city.

The performance started at around 8.15 PM and ended at 11.00 PM... almost three hours. But there were only two acts... I don't remember if the original Marathi play has two or three. With almost no plot, and in a translated format, it must have been a real challenge to keep it interesting for such a long time. But the cast did a really great job of doing so. There was a pin-drop silence during the play and the number of people when the play ended was same as it was when it began. ;) The cast was as follows:

Sakharam Binder: Bernard White
Laxmi: Anna George
Davood Miyan: Adam Alexi-Malle
Champa: Sarita Chowdhury
Fouzdar Shinde: Sanjiv Jhaveri

The performance was very nice.. well made... professional... compact... and captivating. The audience was mostly non-Indian and therefore, presumably had no exposure to the play or the playwright prior to this.

I have a few observations that I would like to share:

We often feel that the Indian writers and literature, particularly the modern literature, does not get recognition it is due outside India.

One of the popular reasons given for this is that, it (modern Indian literature) deals with the problems that are limited to Indian Context and therefore do not have much of a 'Universal appeal'.

Another reason often stated is that its value is so closely coupled with the language it is originally written in, be it Marathi, Kannada or anything else... that as soon as it is translated it loses its appeal.

Third reason given is that there simply isn't enough awareness about the quality of Indian literature outside India.

This performance of Sakharam Binder, convincingly proved to me that the first two reasons are downright untrue.

If the non-Indian audiences and readers are exposed to the capably translated works of the likes of Tendulkar, G.A. Kulkarni, Khanolkar etc (and this is Marathi alone. There are plenty others in all other Indian languages) I am certain that they will be floored by its content and power. There is no doubt in my mind that the only valid reason for the this lack of recognition is the lack of exposure. They don't appreciate it only because they don't know it exists. The tremendous appetite the West has shown for the works of Salman Rashdie, Zumpa Lahiri, Arundhati Roy et al also speaks to this... (although in my opinion none of these are even close in terms of originality or quality in to the Khanolkars and the GAs.) On a side note, it also speaks volumes of prizes like Nobel and how western-civilization-centric they are.

It was very interesting that during the performance, I could actually feel the original Marathi characters thru the English dialogs. It was almost as if I was watching a Marathi play.. only the language was English.. if you know what I mean. I think it is a tremendous credit to the translators and the actors. The set was also very good. It was a two room house, one small kitchen and the other room. The cabinets in the wall, the khunti on the wall, the chool, all were very authentic. The stage was really small.. perhaps no more than 15' X 20'... but the way they used it was admirable.

Another interesting observation I had, particularly at the beginning of the play, with all those dialogs of complete domination of Laxmi by Sakharam, the abuse, and her total submission... was that it actually made me feel embarrassed... I almost wished there was no non-Indian there... but the feeling subsided gradually.. partly because I was engrossed in the play... and partly because I could see that the audience could actually relate to what was happening... and this made me realize the universality in it... the manifestation of the abuse being shown on the stage was indeed Indian...but it was not unique to India.... the international audience could relate to the similar kind of abuse (spousal...if you could call the arrangement between Sakharam and Lakshmi as 'Spousal' or just between a man and woman) that undoubtedly exists in their countries also.

The New York times review of the play summarized the point about the universal appeal in the following way... this should give you some insight into how it appeared to the non-Indian eye and mind.

"Sakharam's tragedy turns out to hinge on his budding social consciousness, his arrested enlightenment. He can see - almost - an idea of equality and shared humanity that transcends individual appetite, but nothing in his life (including the women) ever encourages him to follow its logic. Like Brecht's Mother Courage, he exploits a corrupt system for personal advantage, then discovers that the price of playing the game is everything he hoped to protect. Unlike Brecht, though, Mr. Tendulkar never judges his protagonist but concentrates instead on painting him with unsettling compassion, perceptiveness and thoroughness. His play deserves to be much better known in the United States than it is."

Lastly, regarding the reference a friend of mine made to my "knack of being at times and places one can only be jealous of"... well.. thanks for the complements... I think we all have been able to get some very enriching experiences and continue to do so... and in case of all of us, I think it involves a lot of 'being lucky' in it... but it also comes from the fact that once we realize that we could not be happy with the mediocrity, the superficiality, the dishonesty of what gets thrown at us... like the majority of the Bollywood movies... we start making efforts to find what else is out there... and believe that there must be something better somewhere... and then we start finding things... The luck... is always a factor... but not for those who don't make that effort.

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Sakharam Binder copyright © 2007 by Sushrut Vaidya. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No changes or edits in the content of this work or of the digital format are allowed. For information, write Sushrut Vaidya at sushrut.vaidya@gmail.com.