The girl was crying madly. Apparently her husband has died in some war. She held on to me, cried, wept and asked me again where her husband was . I stood there, my head hung, trying hard to suppress my smile but wasn't quite successful. She looked at me in disgust and moved on; crying in front of another guy standing next to me.
That was class fourth. I was playing the part of an Indian soldier and the girl was a war-widow. What exactly was my part? To march past the stage on to the tunes of Vande Mataram and standing next to a bawling woman head down. 40-50 mute seconds in total.
My college buddies might not find me quite the Keanu Reeves material, I did had occasional skirmishes with the stage spread out across my school-days. Now that I have grown old, I thought it would be a good idea to jot down those rare moments of my life. Moments, from which If I would have taken cues and pushed my luck in theatre\Hollywood\Tollywood, I very well might have been the 'Slum-Dog ' now.
But first things first and my humble pranam to Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi. Why ? Because thats how my long uneventful tryst with dais started. I was around 4-5 years old, but the images are still crystal clear. My buddy & I dressed as Gods were sitting in center with little girls dancing around us. And not that it is important, but of Lord Ganesha and Mata lakshmi, I wasn't Ganesha!
Perhaps it was the aura surrounding me. I played little Krishna once during Janamastmi. I remember this because I had punched the guy playing Kansa so hard during the battle-finale, that I, Lord Krishna himself too had to hear a mouthful from his mom after the play.
Was picked up once during Jagran to be dressed as Lord Shiva and carried around on a human bull . Thanks to generous devotees that was the fastest 200 bucks I have ever made.
But the one that I cherish most would be the only dance I have ever performed. And for the only dance, it sure had every thing a 10 year could wish of. The dress was English , music was Goan, steps were part Salsa. We looked cute and our dance partners lovely (atleast that's what mom told me). And the dais was - Delhi's Talkatora stadium. I would have love to post the picture but unfortunately my parents were too mesmerized to click any. Any case I would leave you with this.
