For the second year in succession I got a chance to take part in Short play contest held by Dramanon Hyderabad . Last year I had directed and acted in a self-written play “My Daughter’s Facebook” and was part of the Indian School of Business’s Theater Club troop.
This year as part of cathayatra I performed an adapted play “It hurts”
originally known and “This hurts”. Sadly we lost 🙂 but it was an amazingly fun experience .
Got to see some amazingly talented theater groups perform some very moving SKITS.
The finals will be held on sept 7 at Priyadarshini Auditoriam in Nampally public gardens, so if anyone is around, do check them out.
Also there is a prize for best trailer and our trailer is among the top 8 :D. Keeping my fingers crossed
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Px-1BohEU&w=480&h=360]
I love stories, who doesn’t ?I remember as a kid I used to finish my Hindi and English books even before the classes start. No ,I was not a nerd and neither was I a topper in my school. I was an average student who loved stories,especially short stories.
I remember NCERT textbooks on science started a new trend of publishing biographies of scientists along with their works and i used to spend hours ,even on the night before an exam, reading those biographies.
All stories at some level did impact me and i am sure most of you, only later did I come to know(realised) that many of those stories were actually writen by great writers such as Rabindranath Tagore.
One of his famous work was a short story “Kabuliwala” It is a story of Kabuliwala who befriends a little girl Mini and sees his own daughter in her.The story is narrated by Minni’s father.
This story had no direct “moral of the story” theme and was not really about preaching anything, on the contrary the main character of the story “Kabuliwala” commits a murder but story is not about all this,the story is about his love for minni,how he sees his own daughter in her and how he keeps a palm print of his daughter as a remembrance.
There are many touching moments in the story and the description of characters is so simple yet so vivid that you could actually imagine all characters and your imagination might not be very different from mine.
So here I present to you an audio of a story that is part of my childhood and possibly many others
Husband holds her hand and guides her to the computer room, the room is dusty with an old PC with CRT monitor, They had gifted sapna this PC when she was doing her 10th, later she switched to laptop and her mom dad starting using it . It was a rugged p2 PC with windows 98, hardly supported any softwares but the old couple hardly needed anything, they just needed to check Sapna’s pics and maybe search for a groom on matrimonial sites
The husband logs on to the PC and makes the lady sit next to him. He opens Internet explorer 6, and clicks Facebook bookmark Sapna had created for them
In username he puts in Spna’s Id and keys in the password while the lady looks at him in bewilderment, anger and sorrow
She feels like a person sentenced to death, waiting for death sentence, she doesnt want to live neither wants to die. She is confused what she should feel Husband: It has been three months, I can no longer do this Suman. You know i did it for you to ease your pain but i think now it needs to end
He clicks ok and sapnas profile opens up. She had 499 friends just 1 shy of 500. Her wall was filled with messages from friends …
Miss you sapna Sapna,wish you were here Sapna, i so wanted to talk to you today This is insane sapna, i hope i am dreaming
tell me its one of your classic pranks sapna..please tell me
the husband clicks settings—>privacy settings–>makes the wall visible to all
then clicks report profile—>mark deceased . In proof of death he puts in a url of news article published 3 months back.
Road accident kills 27 year old Sapna, a promising life ends in disaster .
The lady becomes quite, doesn’t seem to be even breathing , her head rests on her husbands shoulder. The husband starts crying profusely, he was tired of being strong
Read My Daughter’s Facebook(play)—part 1 before proceeding Boy—So what else does sapna like Lady: Ohh she is a very multitalented girl, she loves to dance,paint and sings very well. She even uploaded some songs on youtube
Boy: Thats nice, would love to hear it someday
Lady: sure, I will send you the address
Lady: beta have some more snacks,
Boy: oh no I am good aunty
Lady:Oh come on, have some more
Boy’s mom—(looking irritated)..that’s ok Mrs Sharma, we already ate a lot. Boy’s father: I guess its very late now, we should leave Lady: Ohh, Spana should be here any moment, cant you wait a little more
Boy’s father: No Mrs Sharma, I believe its very late. We need to drive back Lady: I am so sorry , Believe me sapna never does this. It’s very unusual of her Boy’s mother: We do understand , kids these days are a busy lot, she must be stuck somewhere
Boy: don’t worry aunty, we can plan to meet up some other day
Boy gets an angry glance from his mother and this curbs his attempt to sooth the lady.
The family gets up to leave, and bids goodbye.
The lady’s husband emerges from his room and on seeing the Boy’s family leave .He follows them to the gate and catches them at the door, while the lady is sitting inside. He speaks to them in hushed tones for a few minutes , the cheerful looking Boy’s shoulders droop while his mother who was a bit angry seems to be expressing her anger . The boy’s father seems supportive , he gives a very tight reassuring hug to the lady’s husband and leaves
The lady’s husband walks back to the living room and lovingly kneels in front of the lady who is sitting with her hand on her head
He holds her hand ever so gently and gives it a light kiss
Lady: What did you tell them Husband: Truth Lady: You don’t know the truth, you know nothing. What is the truth?
The husband simply looks at her as if no answer was necessary
Lady: Answer me, what did you tell them Husband: You know it Suman,Why don’t you just accept it Lady: Know what, if this is some sort of joke you and Sapna are pulling off it has to end right away
Lady: What is it, is she seeing someone else, did she not like the boy? This is no way to treat guests, those good people came all the way from Gurgaon to meet Sapna and she was nowhere to be seen
The husband doesn’t answer ,he just looks in her eyes making her visibly uncomfortable, she stands up and starts mumbling Lady: She’s not even picking up the phone Husband: Has she picked up your phone in last 3 months Lady:She’s a busy girl, we chat a lot on Facebook,let me message her on Facebook, this is not the right way. I will tell her she needs to come home right now else I will no longer talk to her Husband: Can you do that?You know you need to talk to her more than she does Lady: Yes she knows that and she’s taking advantage of the fact
Husband: You need to understand this Suman, you need to accept the truth
We need to do it now Lady: Do what?
Husband doesn’t reply Lady: No, no no…you are mad, you don’t know the truth.
Scene 1:
Living room of a comfortable, upper middle class home. An old lady in her mid 50s is sitting on the sofa along with her husband . They have 3 visitors ,a mother father and son sitting on the sofa right next to them.They all seem to be waiting for someone. The lady anxiously looks at her phone checking her facebook messages while her husband looks gloomy and sad, he is looking down and not able to face the guests
Lady: She generally doesn’t do this, she must have been stuck somewhere
Boys mother: That’s ok, we will wait, traffic is bad
Lady: thanks, i hope shes ok
they proceed to some chit chat on how bad the traffic is, and how the pollution is making everyone allergic.The lady tells that she beleives pollution was the root cause of acne and the boys mother seemed to agree
Boy: Your daughter knows that we were coming to meet her right Lady: Oh yes she did ,see she sent me a message some time back
also if you are thinking we are doing anything against her wish, don’t take any tension on that front, see her FB status update “Excited about tomorrow, big day” said the lady flipping her daughters face book update on her phone Lady: shes very eager to meet you,i heard you guys are friends also on FB Boy: oh yes , i sent her a request yesterday, she did accept it but we have not really spoken or chatted yet
Lady: Shes a very nice girl, very modern in outlook, upto date with the latest trends ,very sweet and talkative. She taught me how to use this stupid facbook also, and now we chat with each other mostly using this only…grinned the old lady marvelling at her technical accomplishments Boys mother: That’s v sweet, i could never get a hang of it, he(pointing to the boy) did try to teach me but somehow i dont like it. I still cant get my head around why would people share about what they feel on internet with others .This generation is beyond me Boy: Oh come on mom, its not that bad Boys Mother: Ahh, tell me whats this whole concept of Poke is that and insult or what?
Boy: Grinning..i dont know Boys father: Oh let the new generation have fun, wen we were young we romanced by sending scented postcards, these guys send emails ..time change Boy:Scented postcards Lady: Yes beta, you know uncle sent me 3 of them asking if i loved him. i finally said yes on the third one Boy:3 postcards..that’s it? that’s easy ..your generation rocked
****light awkward and forced laughter******
*****the lady’s husband doesn’t laugh, hes just angry over something, he excuses himself for a moment and goes away******* Lady: But Sapna is not so easy Nikhil beta, shes very choosy, scented postcards wont do, you will have to do a lot to keep her happy Boy: Don’t worry Aunty, but where is she? Lady: I am worried too, where could she be, i sent her a message also, this is not very usual of her.But let me tell you when eh saw your profile, she was very excited, you were exactly what she was looking for in her husband, i am sure you both will hit off very well Boy: Thanks aunty, i am eager to meet her now
***the lady’s phone vibrates, she has received a message on facebook from sapna****
“Mom why are you doing this, please let them go, you know i cant marry”
