I remember one time when a friend and I were asked to perform at an inauguration ceremony. I was so proud of myself for having asked for all the details - stage dimensions, availability of a sound system, green rooms, mirrors ... There was a time when I took all of that for granted. Experience taught me to ask questions without caring if the questions sounded stupid and pointless.I had all the details well in time to start choreographing. Covering stage space is an important part of dance, so we worked things out accordingly.We got there and saw all the arrangements that had been made. There was a long table covered with a white table-cloth on the stage. There were glasses of water on the table and chairs behind the table.Again at the risk of sounding inane, I asked, "The table will be moved, right?""No, it's nailed to the stage."I wondered if he was joking. But no, … [Read more...]
The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison introduced me to the real horror of slavery. When I read Beloved, I simply could not get over the idea of black slaves being forced to wear the bit. I still cannot get over it.'Racism', in the way it exists in the west, simply does not exist in India. Sure, we have discrimination, perhaps discrimination of the worst possible kinds. We also have an obsession with fair skin. I like to think that the obsession is on the decline, but I'm horrified by the number of times I come across it in the most casual ways.The Bluest Eye was another of those eye-openers. A black child, looking at the fact that little blond babies with blue eyes are caressed, loved and cooed over, wishes for blue eyes herself. The idea of very black skin and very blue eyes is simply appalling. The child prayed, prayed, prayed for blue eyes. Why? Why did she need them? So that she would be loved? So that … [Read more...]
Rich Dutch Chocolate Cake
Yesterday, I baked a cake with a very dear friend.We began by separating the eggs. Or rather, she began with separating the eggs. I hate doing that.My father told me that there was a fancy new method in the Readers Digest. You break the egg on a plate, take a plastic bottle, squeeze it and allow it to suck the yolk. Miraculously, only the yolk is supposed to come away from the white.It did not work. At least, not with us. The egg went splat (just like the headmaster - if you've read the book).Somehow, she managed to repair the damage, and successfully separated nine eggs.We managed to get the beater's wire yellow, dipping it in egg-yolk. We splattered batter over ourselves and the kitchen platform. We spooned the batter into a dish that was far too small for it and then painstakingly transferred part of it into another dish. (That was a Very Good idea. My imagination boggles at … [Read more...]
Lost and Found
Children leave all kinds of things behind at dance class. My teacher could set up a shop and make a fortune if she ever decided to sell the stuff children leave behind.The most common things children forget, of course, is their theory material. I think a part of them wants to forget so that they don't have to study it.Then, of course, are the hundreds of water bottles, umbrellas, jackets, raincoats and scarves. Somehow, there seem to be many things that belong to nobody. My teacher diligently takes things home and brings them for the next class, announcing repeatedly that someone left the following things behind. If she is lucky, children come and claim their things. Very often, though, there are things that no one claims. My teacher continues to bring them for class for a couple of weeks. No one asks about them; no one seems to want them.The most puzzling piece of lost property … [Read more...]
Chocobar
I teach at a boarding school, where the happy Enid Blyton tuck-box has cheerfully been changed into a tuck-shop. The shop is open for about an hour in the evening, and children can go get all the unhealthy, delicious things that the school cannot morally serve as often as children want.What makes me smile most of all is ice-cream, and the way children enjoy it, each child in a different way.Every year, when we went to Bangalore for the summer, our grandparents gave us the money to buy something we wanted once in two or three days. My cousins had the terrible problem of deciding between two treats – cold drinks or ice-cream. For me, it was simple – ice-cream all the way.It was a process.My sister and I used to run across and buy two chocobars. Then, we would come back and take out our beloved square blue plates.Then, we would open our chocobars and throw the plastic away.Then … [Read more...]
The Duomo
'Duomo' just means 'cathedral', but the duomo in Milan is just something else. The first time we travelled in Europe, we started with Milan. That made it exciting in itself. We drank from water fountains. We ate real pizza and real pasta. We tried talking to real Italian people with real Italian accents, sometimes talking real Italian which was a bit hard.And we saw the beautiful duomo.The second time we went to Milan, we did not have any intentions of staying there. We thought we would take the first train out of Milan and go to Ancona or Bari to get our ferry to Greece. That was the plan. So we stood in the long queue at the enquiry counter of the railway station, talking excitedly about all our plans for Greece, everything we wanted to see, everything we had read, mythology...We are always sceptical of people at railway booths. They're usually grumpy. We were more than a little … [Read more...]
Reading Stories
I was asked to read and assess stories written by Grades III and IV. What a joy that was! Of course, I had students who wrote for me the story of The Life of Pi or other movies they've watched. In fact, I felt rather bad for one of the children who wrote about that movie - the movie evidently made no sense to him! He wrote about how a tiger and boy decided to run away from a zoo. I wonder, was that his attempt at imagination?My favourite story went something like this. I wish I could have copied it, mistakes and all, but I did not think of it. I particularly noted, though, how direct speech seemed to have no punctuation at all. I wonder why.Once upon a time there was a boy. His name was Bingo. Bingo was always thinking about chocolate Taj Mahal. One day, there was another boy. His name was Krishna. He lost his ball. He was crying. Bingo saw Krishna and asked "what's your name why are … [Read more...]
The Dictionary at School
The portion for the exams has been completed; students are fed up with revision. So, a colleague of mine decided to do something different - she read out a story from The Story-Catcher. I was thrilled!This reading went one step further than 'I loved your story' and 'nice story' and 'I like the story of Sana'. After listening to The Dictionary, the students were expected to write a poem. It had to be inspired by the story, but they could write what they liked.And so they did. I was waiting to have a look at their work, and that happened in a lovely way too!On Thursday, a Student Held Conference took place at the school library. The library was jazzed up a little to make it slightly more attractive.One large notice-board was dedicated to The Story-Catcher. Poems covered the board. One child even made a beautiful copy of the cover illustration. I looked at all the poems in … [Read more...]
Experiences on Stage IV
Every time my sister Nisha and I performed in France, we had far less time to practise than usual. The last two performances were easier - we practised long distance on Skype before meeting and practising. Before that, it was individual, separate efforts, followed by coordination once I reached France.I remember the time we performed at Aix-en-Provence. We practised, of course we did. But there's some amount of choreography that changes every time we perform. Even when we perform the same piece with another dancer, we do not perform it in exactly the same way. We keep the other performer in mind, if nothing else.For this particular performance, as a duet, there were several things that we did in a kind of mirror-formation. I did the right side, while she did the left. I never practised the left side; she never practised right.And then, somehow, we got disoriented on stage.We … [Read more...]
‘Stranded’ in Ahmedabad
I remember the time when my father decided to surprise me by coming along with me on my flight to Kolkata. My flight had a stop over at Ahmedabad, and he decided to pop into Ahmedabad to see a friend. Until we reached Ahmedabad, things were happy and smooth. I was duly surprised, duly happy with the surprise and duly content with the idea of continuing my journey alone from there.We took off at Ahmedabad -- and landed immediately. Bird-hit. As far as I'm concerned, bird-hits belong to faded hoardings put up at airports by the air force as warnings. They don't belong to reality.Whether the bird-hit was real or not, I don't know. The newspapers the next day said 'Suspected bird-hit' and commended the pilot for having decided to land even though he wasn't sure, keeping in mind the safety of the passengers. What I do know is that the hasty landing caused a tyre to be punctured and, of … [Read more...]