Diwali - the Festival of Lights

As I sit to key in these words, the world around me is submerged in sound. Sound that is unpalatable, that is scary, that is earth shattering. This is no less than a battle field. When I look out, I see the sky being intermittently lit up by fireworks followed by its companion, the sound. The atmosphere is hazy, a pall of smoke hangs all over and I smell the acrid burning chemicals. This is our great festival Diwali or Deepawali which began once upon a time, a long long time ago as a mark of celebration of King Ram's victory over King Ravan's forces when houses were decorated and diyas were lit. Today, less diyas and less candles are seen. There is an enormous amount of electricity being consumed as people compete with each other to decorate their homes with the maximum number of fairy lights in various colours. Three days prior to Diwali, the roads are jammed with traffic at all hours as relatives and friends and employees race against time to meet and present gifts. On Diwali you wear new clothes, perform rituals to appease the Goddess Lakshmi who takes care of your wealth. This is followed by a sumptuous dinner and then the game of cards follows till the wee hours of the morning.
What a festival! Like the animals on the streets and in homes, I try to search of a quiet corner for myself and hope for this to end soon.

Tughlaq

I was mesmerized with Tughlaq - the character and the play. It is an immortal piece of work because it speaks of human folly that repeats itself again and again. The ambience of the play at the Ferozshah Kotla was magnetic. It simply drew me in and it was as if I was seeing the past events of Delhi unfold right there in front of my eyes as if it were today. I became one of Tughlaq's subjects. Yashpal Sharma wearing the mantle of Tughlaq was just right. His mannerisms, his talk and his pathos pulled at the heart strings. I felt helpless along with Tughlaq at the collapsing situation around him. His lonliness at the end engulfs me too. That is the magic of good theatre!! Thank you Girish Karnad, for recreating this imperfect ruler so perfectly. The production crew with the perfect lighting, music and costumes was spot on. Bhanu Bharti, you deserve the accolades!