Drama Tech

One of my most enjoyable and fun experiences in theater in Delhi. Wish doing theater and acting could be just like that. I was a young kid(compared to now, then I was just a first year student at Hindu College Delhi) , this is 1991. I was staying with my aunt and uncle at laxmibai nagar across INA market in South Delhi. This was when I was just out of school. I received a call from Ashvin Kumar ( I think )that there is a theater group at IIT doing a play called 'Broadway Bound'. It was a Neil Simon Comedy. I decided to go for the auditions. Though I can speak English but my comfort level with the language is limited. English is a second language for me. Also Neil Simon was not my cultural context at all. The comedy didn't quite make much sense to me. Obviously there were better actors than me for the few roles that were there to be taken. I was asked to assist with production but I had to go back home to Agra where my mother lived as she was unwell. I could not be a part of the team. 

The feel of the group was really nice. They were all professionals in different areas. Deepak Gidwani was an IIT trained engineer who was then running his own firm I think called 'Stadia'. Archana Gidwani, his wife and an actor/director was an IIM trained professional working with IMRB. Jimmy was with the forces, Sandeep Varma(bachcha) was still at IIT and was writing his UPSC to be a civil servant, which he did become later. There was Shefali Bhushan who was later with Act One. Satyajeet Sharma had just joined the National School of Drama.( He was someone I continued to keep bugging for a long time, going and meeting him and asking him about acting, drama and the school of drama)

The group was easy. There was seriousness of a professional theater group but gentle ease about the work and camaraderie that is the hallmark of an amateur group. People were quite secure with each other. I think in 'Broadway Bound' there was only one professional actor- Bhaveen who actually charged for acting in the show!!!

A few months later I got a call to be a part of 'Ballabhpur ki Roopkatha'. I remember Sandeep Varma- no, not bachcha, the other Sandeep Varma played 'Bhupati' and the 'ghost'. I played Bhupati's friend( I forget the name of the character). We would rehearse at IIT Delhi Student Activity Center every night for about two months. The Badal Sircar comedy is quite long and then did six shows at Sri Ram Center basement which all went house full. A Bengali play by a good theater group in Delhi would get takers. It was fun. I think we did two more shows at IIT Delhi.

Post this I was part of another show- 'Ek do teen Shakuni', in which I had a minor role. It was directed by Sandeep Varma(Bhupati) and had Oroon, Riya etc in the lead cast. I was happy being a production hand for this production. 

Now there were a few others like Jeetu, I think Sunny who would come from karol bagh I think. Ramesh Venkataraman and Sehba Imam in Ballabhpur ki Roopkatha.

One of my first few outings on Delhi stage and a great experience. I don't know if 'Dramatech' is still active. I know that Deepak and Archana are out of the country now, so probably there is not much left to the group as Deepak was the leader of the group. However, I was fortunate to have worked with them.

ACT ONE

So before I go to other stories about Habib Tanvir it is time to go to Act One. Though so much time has passed since I was there, I still can't decide which way to feel about the experience. Joining Act One is related to another life event- my rejection by the National School of Drama. (that again is a different story...and a weird one...later) So, I wanted to do theater, wanted to act. Had never faced rejection before as an actor so I was heartbroken when the school of drama rejected me. I joined one of the most prolific groups active in Delhi at that time. This was 1994!

Act One was led by N.K.Sharma. Founded in 1990- it had created ripples in the Delhi theater scene. Piyush Mishra, Manoj Bajpai, Ashish Vidyarthi with Gajraj Rao, Ajai , Juhi Dogra were all part of the group. Edwin G Williams was the choreographer. It was the theater to look out for and they did some very good work in those few years together. 'Netua', 'Jab Shehar Hamara Sota hai', 'Holi' etc were some landmark productions of this group. It had very strong music content with Piyush bhai penning the songs and singing. The style was loud and acting passion driven. Well, sometimes 'passion driven' could mean just being loud. When I saw this theater it irked me to begin with- I thought they were doing something good but things were far too loud and thus were difficult to comprehend. During the four day long NSD workshop( where I was not selected ) they got an act one production 'Gagan Damama Bajyo' for us to critically appreciate. The play was based on Bhagat Singh and his life but it didn't leave an impact. Though later I played Bhagat Singh in the same play for a Kolkata show.

Act One in 1994 was a group in transition. Most of the older lot had left for Mumbai and elsewhere. The group had broken. N.K.Sharma called for a workshop which would end in a production. I joined since Act One did regular shows. The core remained the same- N.K. Sharma, Piyush Mishra, Edwin Williams , Babli Srivastava. Harsh Khurana, Chitrarth, Raj Mishra were still integral parts of the group. In the newcomers were Ritesh Shah, Sanyukta Chaudhary, Deepti Gupta, Pooja Mathur,me and a few others from the university. Bijesh, Shefali Bhushan were also a part of the group. It was I think the fourth year of Act One and we performed a play called 'Mujhe bhi chand chahiye'. It was largely a mish mash of Act One's previous plays but the Sri Ram Center auditorium was full on that September evening and it felt great to be a part of the group.

It is clear that N.K. whom people called panditji and has a bit of a cult status in actors coming out of Delhi, knew a fair bit, he was perceptive but I think was a poor communicator. Now, how do you direct if you can't communicate, or choose not to communicate!!! Also, a strange belief that if you humiliate the actor, the actor gets driven to prove you wrong and perform better was carried by N.K. The humiliation could go quite far.

So on one hand there was this charismatic personality in NK, who would connect with you, laugh and joke with you as also show you what you could possibly be missing in your personality but on the other side, it was someone who could be really harsh with you. Sometimes he could take you to magical moments in rehearsals but then he could begin to humiliate you. I saw many a decent actors getting ruined in Act One in my time. Sometimes the rehearsal space would seem like drudgery- it would become like a prison camp where you did not feel like entering. Now, N.K. would keep saying that his rehearsal space ought to be a place where people enjoyed working hard- creating theatrical moments- finding the truth in the written word but he would more often than not create an environment where it was difficult to be in.

So, Act One's contradiction reflected the director's contradiction. If you were slightly fragile- Act One could crush you. And that it did to me for a while till I reached Barry John who was a different person and a completely different experience. Well, as I said in the beginning, I can't decide how to feel about NK and ACT ONE, despite all the issues , I still cherish at least some of the time I spent there and though I don't think I will ever be inclined to get back in touch with NK but I still don't hold any grudges. That is Act One for you. I was with Act One for slightly more than a year in 1994-95. In 1997 I went to Barry where I learnt that theater needs to be a transformative experience. More about it later.

Susuvidha Toilet tracker application

Susuvidha is an application which has emerged out of my brother Mudit and my experience with our mother who is a senior citizen and a parkinson's disease patient. While we took her for regular check ups at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and to other hospitals for second opinions or for outings with her- the first thing we always checked was if there was a clean and safe loo available in that area. We were surprised that people have little or no idea about the needs of someone like my mother or other senior citizens or for people with special needs. There is a large chunk of population in India which is senior but there is no sensitivity towards them. People with disability face similar issues. Children and pregnant women fare better but even for them things largely remain difficult. We thought about it and decided to create an interactive toilet tracker application for android users- Susuvidha- susu karne ki suvidha ( facility to pee). Well, nobody thinks it is important but ask us and many others like us- imagine the plight of foreign travelers if they are stuck in some location in India where they don't know where to find a clean loo. We do hope that this application will not only help those I have mentioned but also encourage the general public in India to find a loo and go pee there rather than stand anywhere they feel like. Also, when we know that there are areas where there are no clean and safe loos, we push the government to figure something out, especially now that the government driven by the Prime Minister has committed to keep India clean. Susuvidha website- www.Susuvidha.com has been built for any suggestions and feedback.

This is only one of the first in a series. Next we come up with a health management application to assist patients who do not have the luxury of caregivers. The application will help them manage their medication and record their symptoms. It will also directly provide information to the concerned doctor. Well, the availability of doctors is something that we had to deal with in various crises situations with our mother. With this application, we hope and aim to notify the doctor in case there is an emergency.

Would request my readers to have a look at the application Susuvidha. Give us feedback on www.Susuvidha.com. Also, help us create more accurate data by adding any restaurants, cafes, dhabas, public loos which you happen to use and find it clean and safe. 

Gobind Ram Nimbalkar

On one of the Delhi visits, while the Naya Theater troupe was staying and performing at Bal Bhavan, after the show, I saw Gobind Ram Nimbalkar in a corner. It was quite unlike him. Someone who would always be laughing or smiling, it was strange to find him weeping. I asked him what made him cry, he replied, saying that ‘Today my guru has died’. It was the day the troupe had received the news that Madanlal had passed away.

I never saw the legendary few on stage, they had already left or passed away before I started watching Naya Theater plays. I hear about Thakurdas, Madan, Fida bai,lalu ram. This bunch of actors together with Habib Tanvir and Monica Misra Tanvir created the magic that came to be known as ‘Naya Theater’. Gobind Ram Nimbalkar came much after Thakuram and Madan, the original brigade of Nacha performers from Chattisgarh who decided to work with the city ‘saheb’- Habib Tanvir. Slowly, as the older brigade retired and left or died, Gobind Ram became one of the main actors of the troupe. He played chor, kakadi waala, Bottom and many other roles. Unlike Deepak Tiwari(in the 1990s when i started watching Naya Theater, it was this actor who dominated the theatre , but then he left with his wife Poonam and Gobind baba took centre stage once again), who, with his sharp eyes, long hair, authoritative walk, slim and supple body was very striking, Gobind Baba as we called him was balding, he had a bit of a paunch, he didn’t have a dashing gait. Normally you would probably not notice him but if you looked closely, his round face had a charming smile; his eyes were full of mischief. It was as if you were looking at a young child smiling at you and then when he came on stage- he was something else altogether.

I can’t think of anyone performing ‘Bottom’ after seeing Gobind Baba do it. I can’t forget the sight when he would order the ‘paris’ (fairies) around or when he along with Ramcharan Baba who played Quince would be arguing about how the play would be designed in terms of cast and actors or the last move of ‘Chor ‘which all the actors whom I have seen play the character have brought something of their own to -  a scene where the Rani decides that she will get Charandas killed- the ‘chor’ pleads with Rani- it is the turning point of the play- this is the time when the audience realises that the ‘chor ‘is going to die- the chor turns towards the audience at the end of this conversation, Gobind Baba’s sad eyes haunted you for a long time after the performance. In ‘zahreeli Hawa’ he would be very happy because it was one of those plays performed b y Naya Theater where he didn’t have much to do. There was a scene where after the gas leak in Bhopal, in a destroyed city, there is a song dedicated to nature (this is what I could understand of it) which Nageen sings– while the song is being sung, at one point Gobind baba had to sit up and ask –‘Phir ka hoees? He would do that with a lot of flair too. Gobind baba in lots of ways was Bottom who had to be the star always and so he did become for me even in Zahreeli Hawa.

He was a professional to the core- you learn a lot of things by watching these greats work- playing Bottom was quite strenuous- the mask needed to be handled which he would plan with great detail. Once we were performing Agra Bazar at Ramjas College, the rehearsal had gone on for some time. Everybody was going for lunch but Gobind Baba decided not to. Habib saab asked him why he was not eating? Gobind Baba said- to keep my tummy light...Habib Saab smiled , nodded and walked away. ( The best thing about Naya Theater was to watch this amazing relationship between the actors and Habib Tanvir, they would keep fighting with him over various things, but when it came to the acting, they knew that Habib saab’s word is the final one ) During the Habib Tanvir retrospective at Prithvi in 2004, didn’t see Gobind Baba drink at all( unusual for the Naya Theater actors...if you saw Chait Ram do it , you would never want to drink again) On the last day of the festival Prithvi organised a get together with drinks, Gobind Baba told a few of us that he was going to drink that night. We should just make him find his room, and so he did, he drank like a mad man, we put him in his room and he was himself the next morning. In another drinking episode, at Durgapur, we had three shows, we had stayed there for about four days. Usually, after a long stay or stint of shows was over I would gift ‘mausa’(Oh, I have to tell you about mausa too, mausa is Amardas, the tabalchi in the theatre, he had turned an alcoholic, till one day he found himself miss the rehearsal as he pulled himself out of a drain, that day he came to habib saab and promised that he would never drink again, he didn’t ,but for some beer once in a while) two bottles of beer. That day, mausa refused to drink. I offered it to Gobind Baba, who obliged, and then suddenly we were told that there was some miscalculation, we were supposed to leave or we would miss the train, Gobind Baba did not want to leave the beer nor did he want to miss the train. I told him – Gobind Baba ab chaliye nahin to train choot jaayegi and he responded – arre train to chali jaayegi, hum choot jaayengein, chalo chalo. But he did finish his beer before he left. Well, Naya Theater became like a family, and the seniors would take care of you as their own, losing Gobind Ram Nimbalkar is like losing a friend who would bring a smile to your face and an elder who would look after you.

Just a few days back I heard that Gobind Baba had passed away. He will be missed by those who had seen him perform and also by those who knew him closely and who had travelled with him.

Dilli Haat

In the 90s, someone in the government came up with a very smart idea. A space was developed where the artisans( hope am using the right word) could showcase their work. Also artisans could come in direct contact with the buyers and sell their wares. So, this would become a space where the artisans from far flung areas of India could sell what they produce. Also, people from Delhi and visiting tourists could buy Indian handicrafts here. The range is huge. It is an enclosed space with food stalls so it could be a place for family outings too. The idea has gained huge popularity and now dilli haat has become a landmark in the heart of Delhi.

These are small shops that get assigned to an artisan for say a period of one month in a go

this is a food stall in the middle of it all

so you have food stalls from different states of the country and good seating space too

look at those colours

I blog about it because I quite like this place. Interesting place to visit especially if you are from outside India. 

A visit to Humayun's Tomb : Delhi

Humayun's tomb is a magnificent structure. Nowadays it is called the Humayun's tomb complex because of another very remarkable structure next to it - Niazi's tomb. We don't clearly know who Niazi was or why he was so important. Mr Tampi very kindly consented to take us around for a walk in the Humayun's tomb complex and started off with Isa Khan Niazi's tomb.( correction to my earlier comment. Niazi was an important noble in the court of the Sur dynasty)

The structure has an octagonal base to support the dome at the top. In the Niazi tomb complex there is a mosque. I went crazy clicking pictures of the mosque as the Sun was setting in the background. Needless to say the mosque faces the west.

The roof or the dome from inside

Mr Tampi explaining something to Aparajita Singh

I seem to have messed up the order a little. Before the mosque I should have gone inside Isa Khan Niazi's tomb. Here are the visuals.

Mr Tampi tells us that there is a difference between male and female graves. The ones with a small 'pen holding' kind of structure are male graves. By the way the actual resting places are usually much below. These are only indicative of where the bodies lie.

Ornate design of the roof

Notice the lattice work at the windows. Quite beautiful

There is an outer protective wall for the whole structure.

Now the actual monument

lattice work from outside

visiting party of the day with our generous tour guid

lattice work again

lattice work

Some other pictures

Tampi explained that this is a false arch and not as stable as a real arch. This is entry to Niazi's tomb

Mr Tampi waiting for us to talk about the mosque

Blue tiles are used here

you can see the dome in the background. This is the gate from where you enter Humayun's tomb

Again you can see the dome in the background.

By the way, did you know that Humayun's body was not buried here initially. Mughals had lost Delhi briefly. When they regained the control of the city, his body was brought back. He was buried here. The tomb was built at the initiative of his wife, indicating that the women in the royal household were pretty influential.