In keeping with the sort of of writing showcased, I am going to not write much today, but put up some videos. I’m just learning, so the camera work isn’t exactly Oscar material.
Just a brief event report:
Smorgasword turned out to be one of our best events so far, in terms of attendance and the quality of discussion. Like I mailed the speakers, it was packed with insights, and lots of fun. Rafeeq Ellias was moderating, and framed the whole discussion with his opening speech. Rahul DaCunha showed us a set of the Amul ads. Mahesh Dattani spoke beautifully on the written word and the blank page among other things. Madhusree Dutta screened some clips from her documentary on Akka Mahadevi.
We had to cut short the very lively Q and A from our highly engaged full house, as the speakers for the next event were waiting to begin.
The Sahiyta Akademi’s Contemporary Plays series was launched by Partap Sharma, who was kind enough to come oxygen cylinder in tow. Anju Makhija and Alok Bhalla, the editors, put things in perspective with their speeches about the history of Indian theatre.
Ramu Ramanathan read from Collaborators, Vikram Kapadia from Black With ‘Equal’. But the surprise of the evening was Partap Sharma’s rendition of the opening of A Touch of Brightness with his friend Makarand. This sort of thing is always such a bonus, like Jaya’s singing the other day. Further, he read fantastically well, doing the voices for all his characters. It was amazing that despite needing an oxygen tank to be wheeled around for him to breathe, he delivered such an impassioned reading.
Both events were pretty well-attended, and in fact, like a true-blue hack now I must drop some names and tell you that we had a front row that would’ve done any major opening night proud: next to me, Arundhathi Nag, all the way from Bangalore, then Dolly Thakore, Partap’s daughter the film actress Tara Sharma, and Mahesh Dattani who’d stayed back for this.
I haven’t been able to embed the videos, so here are the links to them:
Rafeeq Ellias and Madhusree Dutta
Vikram reads from Black with ‘Equal’
Partap and Makarand
