Whoa!!!!!

Ever since i gave my IIFT interview this year in Feb, I have been on a roller coaster ride. I have started living the life that i had always craved yet never gotten around to living it. I have managed to make a few trips to destinations i never thought i could, would go. I have managed to go out with friends, some of whom i have known for long but happened to meet only now. I have even managed to do some creative stuff. In all i am beginning to feel like a man who is enjoying his life (away from office i.e.). I have been to new places to hangout in saadi Dilli where i had never gone before. I have tasted new cuisines and drunk new stuff. All in all i have done quite a bit over the last couple of months. Still i would say that something is missing. I'm still not fully satisfied.

To change this whole scenario and add that extra bit of spice to the recipe, i did what i had been planning to do for so long. I made up a plan to go watch a PLAY. Yes, to stoke my cultural buds and develop a new hobby. It was no ordinary play, but an attempt to present all of Shakespeare's works - plays, sonnets etc. in a single show. For the record, Shakespeare had written 37 plays. Clubbing 37 plays into 1 show should have been real serious stuff. But kudos to the cast and the director and the script writer, they pulled it off magnificently. It was so hilarious that me and my friend were literally jumping out of our seats. Holding our stomachs with the laughter. They, both praised and ridiculed Shakespeare with equal elan. A wonderful presentation of the characters, with great emphasis on keeping everything within the modern context and timeframe. Keeping in tune with the script, the cast made good use of the audience as well to add to the hilarity.

One would think that Comic plays from Shakespeare can be accepted but how could the cast put humour in tragedies like Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet etc. Well taking a line from the dialogues delivered, "Why did Shakepeare write 16 comedies (out of 37)? They are all the same. We should do only tragedies, they are so much fun." And fun they were. A total satirical version of the plays where they ridiculed every character and yet weren't dispectful to THE BARD, it was really an enterprising display. The love of Romeo and the shrieks of Juliet on seeing her beloved dead were so comic that one could hardly keep himself from laughing out loud. The characters of Othello, constantly changing from a man to a woman and back to a man to meet the crew shortage (or to make it more hilarious), were also magnicifent.

To top it all off and present the cherry on a wonderful, delicious cake was the presentation of Hamlet. Ophelia going mad and rowning after being rejected by Hamlet, the queen drinking the poisoned wine, Hamlet and his uncle killing each other...everything was so electric and so entertaining. But the bes was yet to come. As soon as Hamlet ended they did an encore for the audience only to present it in a faster version. Very innovative and very classy. But the best was yet to come. After the encore they did another encore. This time the fastest of the lot. It was so hilarious to see the three crew members rush onto stage yelling dialogues and completing their as soon as they reached the centre and falling down dead to signal the end. It was really really amazing. They did a reverse version for it too where they acted all the scenes (quickly) in the reverse. From Hamlet killing his uncle to Ophelia getting drowned, to seeing the ghost of this dead father. All in sync without mistakes.

A wonderful evening spent with no qualms and complaints from any quarter. It was really a very special night as it opened up a totally new avenue for me to explore. Something that i have longed to do for so long. Finally the dream was fulfilled. To make the matters even more interesting was the fact that the crowd was also amazing. A typical Page 3 crowd or so it seemed. Beautiful women in beautiful dresses. Smart men, and no kids. There wasn't an empty corner in the auditorium. The auditorium too was in one of favourite places in Delhi, Indian Habitat Centre. Don't know why but whenever i get anywhere near IHC, i simply go ga-ga over it. So it was a double header for me to go to IHC to watch the play. This has ignited in me a spark to pursue more such activities, so that i can say that i am living a life after all............