I had decided what I would write about today, but was moved to tears more than once by everything students and colleagues from Vishwashanti Gurukul said to me, wrote to me and gave me.One student said, "I used to hate Shakespeare, but you made me fall in love with Macbeth."Another confessed, "I have never taken English seriously but thanks to you, English is one of the most interesting subjects."Yet another wrote, "You have changed my view towards English as a language."And finally, the cake they ordered with the most charming message ever: … [Read more...]
International Dance Day
It's International Dance Day! The best day, perhaps, to pay tribute to my guru, Guru Mythili Raghavan.Nobody can quite understand why she means so much to us. Why is it that we spend odd hours at her place? Why do so many of the seniors' parents comment that we listen more to her than to our own parents? Why is there still (after 20 years) that fear mingled with respect when we have to tell Miss that we are not coming for class?Maybe it has something to do with the fact that her house has been open to us at odd hours for us to practise and outdo ourselves. In her absence, I have ransacked her cupboard for costumes. In her presence, I have climbed into the loft to pull equipment out.Miss has seen us laugh and cry. She has witnessed and been part of our greatest successes and failures. How can we not love her? She has been deeply involved with our lives, rejoicing in our victories, … [Read more...]
Thank you!
For all those who came and watched me and listened to me at Art Hop Pune, thank you!I began with almost no one in my audience. In five minutes, there were over twenty people - a large number in such a small place. And as I was doing my last piece, the place was full. I was honoured!Of course, the result of having no one to begin with was that I forgot to market myself. I forgot to tell people that I was a writer and a dancer. In the very end, I apologised and said, "By the way, I'm a writer too. And my collection, The Story-Catcher, is on sale here."Needless to say, no copies were sold.Despite that, what a charming experience it was! Art Hop Pune was a grand event! … [Read more...]
Lecture Demonstration at Art Hop Pune
Nritta is one of the two pillars of the magnificent structure called dance. Nritta is pure technique, with no hidden symbolism, no complex meaning and no detailed explanation involved. What is the purpose, then, of nritta?That's one of the modules of today's lecture demonstration at Oakwood Sen5es at 5pm. Be part of Art Hop Pune! … [Read more...]
Fun 4 Kids
It's workshop season! The Cultural Centre, Pune, is a new space in Mundhwa for different activities and programmes. "Fun 4 Kids" is a venture into a range of activities for children. I will be facilitating the 'Literature' activities with reading and writing workshops once a month.The poster says it all! … [Read more...]
Workshop on Rasa at Art Hop Pune
I will be facilitating a short workshop on Rasa: Understanding the Aesthetics of Indian Classical Dance on Sunday the 27th of April, 2014, at Oakwood Sen5es at 5pm as part of Art Hop Pune. I hope to see you there! … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday, Shakespeare!
An achievement I sometimes hide is that I won two medals for having topped a course on Shakespeare. I hide it because despite the medals, I can't quite say that I know much about Shakespeare. It was a course where we studied about Shakespeare without studying texts. The thing about Shakespeare is that he's such a grand and mysterious character that there are so many things we are unsure about. With his multiple signatures and the fact that he even changed his name to Shakeshaft once, we really don't know much about him. Maybe that's why I topped the course. Because writing about him uses imagination and knowledge in equal proportions.I received a letter from my university inviting me for the convocation. None of my friends received a letter. I thought that was normal, considering I was the only one who had to make my way from across the country.I went there, collected my orange robe … [Read more...]
Website updated!
My website has been updated!Here's what's new -- My story Sacrifice is now on the home page as well as in 'Published Work'. It's now easy to access through my site!- For those who tried to read The Caravan of the Cultures of the World, the link to the story has been fixed.- On the 'Media' page, there are two new additions + 'Awards and Recognition' now includes the TFA longlist 2014 + 'Print and Web' has the article from "Business India", Writing in their GenesIt's time to revisit varshaseshan.com … [Read more...]
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
"How about watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?" a friend's mother suggested when I was about eleven.I giggled. "What a funny name! What is that?""You mean you haven't read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?" Eyes wide open in amazement.And that is how I came to watch the old BBC movie before I read the book. I was so taken with it that as soon as the movie got over and I went to 'play' in the evening, I told my sister and my bestest friend the whole story, bit by bit.Even now, when I reread the book, the impression of the movie was so powerful that I read Jadis's voice exactly like the movie I watched when I was eleven."How dare you come alone?" "Turkish Delight for my little prince?" "You... Fool...!"What a powerful movie! What a grand book! I've finished rereading The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Silver Chair, here I … [Read more...]
The Red Dress
As a child, I did not like anything about anything awkward. I did not like dirt (even though I asked my father where the Famous Five went to the loo and how they had baths when they went camping). I did not find 'dirty' humour funny, even humour aimed at children. I liked politeness and neatness in all. No burping, no rude signs or gestures, nothing.The Red Dress is one of those books I certainly would not have liked as a child. Even now, I find that I cannot quite understand why ugly things find their way into literature. From where does this need to be 'true' to reality come? Smelly chicken rotting in the heat, worms of snot - why do I need to know?Yet, I liked the story-line. Engagingly written, The Red Dress made me continue reading despite my quarrels with it. The realistic elements did not change the fact that there are sudden, unexpected character changes and movements from an … [Read more...]