xkcd is by far one of the best comic strips around! It's more than a cartoon strip really, and my usage of those words are more due to a lack of vocabulary, than anything else.



Well, the above are some of the webcomics I found particularly funny!

The site also carries the following warning : this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).

I was introduced to this site by Trauma, and I've been hooked on. I've been quite amazed by it's simplicity (note: all stick figures), and subtlety of the webcomic.

Anyway, so inspired by the works of Randall Munroe, I thought I'll try coming up with something similar. Well, after a lot of time doing nothing productive, this is the best I could come up with. Here goes nothing...

On the same (rather eventful) day, I went for another play. It was a Hindi play, performed by a group from Prithvi Theater. Prithvi has a wonderful philosophy. The theaters in the southern parts of Mumbai are becoming a haven for the elitist. Tickets are priced at a steep 300-400 bucks a ticket, and most people cannot afford it. So, Prithvi has started this new concept where they perform free of cost in this garden (open air). The audience are free to pay however much they feel the play deserves. For groups that have no financial worries (read: groups with RICH dads), this is the perfect way to make theater reach out across all strata of society.
The play was done in an open space at Horniman Garden at Fort. There was no stage as such, and one section of the garden had a bed. The rest of the garden space was covered with a chatai, telling us that this is where we were to sit. It was a very simple set-up. Behind the bed was a black curtain, and the green room (if it could be called that) was behind this curtain. The 'stage' looked like a bedroom and the people exited and entered as if they were entering or exiting the room.

This play was called - "Bed ke neeche rehne vaali". It is about this girl (called Ira), who has an imaginary friend (Manu). Manu lives under Ira's bed. Ira grows up with this imaginary friend, and they have a wonderful childhood together. They play together, talk, tease her brother, and do all sorts of things that friends do.
But, as Ira grows up, she starts forgetting this imaginary friend. She has been told to 'grow up' by her mother, so she starts believing that Manu is a childish indulgence and if she is to grow up, she should stop having imaginary friends. So, one fine day, Manu becomes a real person and comes out from under Ira's bed.
The play deals with Manu trying to reach out to the child in Ira, and Ira trying to rebuke her attempts. Initially, Ira refuses to acknowledge Manu's existence. She claims that Manu is some random person who is claiming to be her friend. But, Manu starts narrating incidents in their childhood to such intricate detail that Ira gets shaken. Ira knows that only Manu could have known these things, but cannot come to terms with Manu existing in flesh and blood.
Finally, Ira calls her mother, who tries to find out who Manu is. Everytime Manu is asked "Where do you live?", she replies saying, "Bed ke neeche". Finally, Ira's mother loses patience and calls the police to take Manu away to an orphanage. And just just when Manu is about to be taken away, Ira breaks down, and accepts her friend.

The acting was amazing! There were three kids, who am sure were not out of high school, fit the roles to a tee. Ira, Manu and Ira's brother (Chaitu) - each one of them was super! I guess they could relate to the characters extremely well, but all said and done, it was a flawless performance from them! But, most important of all, they seemed to be having a great time on the stage, and those vibes always make the whole experience of watching the play a pleasurable one.
My only real problem was with the director, who for some strange reason, was never introduced to the audience. Maybe, it was a self-directed piece, but again, they made no effort in telling the audience. Anyway, coming back to my problem, it tended to drag at places. There were places that desperately needed a few snips here and there, to cut out those unnecessary dialogues, those few lines that makes the audience groan "Yes, we got the point, now what?" I think it's extremely important that the play keeps moving all the time. And, especially good plays, one little stagnant moment and the play falls flat!
But, I guess I can live with that,.

I just loved the theme. There is the constant battle within Ira - whether to accept that she's a child and to embrace Manu or to be a grown up and ignore Manu. The way the mental battle was depicted was very nice. Also, the girl who played Manu was perfect. She was exactly what one expects an imaginary friend to be - perfect! She has infinite patience, is aways bubbling with energy, however much Ira tries to shun her, Manu is always back. Somehow, the innocence in the kids and the theme seemed to perfect, it left me in a sense of awe and wonderment!

On the very first day of my vacation, I watched two plays. The first play was a 10am, Sunday morning matinee. In this first section of the set, I will describe what was the first thing I endured in my summer vacation.

I don't think I'm some great actor. Yes, everyone should be given the priviledge to perform on stage. Everyone should have the experience of those moments when hundreds of people have their eyes locked upon you. That feeling when you know that you have the power to make everyone's evening an unforgettable one. And, when this power is abused, it enrages me. And, it is with this anger that I write today!

I was really excited about the Konkani play festival. Konkani is a dying language, and I am a supporter of any attempt to encourage literature in Konkani. The number of Konkani's in the world being less than the number of Tamils in Adyar, it is difficult for such a language to survive, and plays in Konkani are really hard to come by. I was really looking forward to a true Konkani play.

I flew in to Mumbai after submitting a project report which I now realised was inconsequential (I shall soon describe this too, but for now, let's stick to the play). My parents picked me up from the airport. They came straight after watching the Saturday night play. The play on Saturday evening was super! Every review drooled over the play, and everyone I met in Mumbai praised it to high heavens. Hence, moments prior to the play on Sunday, the whole hall was abuzz with excitement. Everyone expected the play that had the prime spot (Sunday!) to smash all records set by any Konkani play before. How wrong we were!

It was terrible! There is nothing I can really say about the play other than, "it was terrible!" Now, where should I start? The normal practice is to give one concise paragraph with all the things that went wrong, but this time, I'm going to deviate from this normal practice, and describe in detail what unfurled that day.

First things first, the story was weak! The story had absolutely no pace whatsoever. I refrain from using the word 'slow' because that would imply that the story did move somewhere. This story just refused to budge from where it started. The story is about this one family. The man has lost his parents and his wife in the last couple of months. He lives with his two kids, and plays the role of mother, father, and grandparents to the kids.
In this house, there also lives a servant. He claims to be their distant relative, and forces himself onto the family. He assumes the role of a servant (how? why? I don't know!) and starts helping the family. The servant is non-believer of the hygiene culture and this is made clear by the father and kids who keep asking him to have a bath and wear fresh clothes. His cooking is also well below what is expected, and one wonders why this family lets him stay. After a long period of outdated jokes, the scene changes, and another old uncle enters. This uncle has come with the intention of making the main man, our hero, remarry! After convincing the hero in a jiffy, (the audience is left wondering if our hero really even cared for wife number one), Uncle sets his sights on convincing his American niece (our hero's sister) to remarry.
What is really admirable is the convincing skills the playwright gives this Uncle. In one discussion, he convinces the Hero to remarry. Using this same skill set, he convinces his thirty-seven year-old spinster niece to marry. And, his brilliant selection of a wife for our hero is extremely well-taken by the kids, who seem to show no care for their real mother, and embrace their step-mom as if she was their mother never existed.
Coming back to the story, the hero promptly gets married. And the sister returns one day, and it is revealed to the audience that the servant is really a billionaire, who was the childhood sweetheart of the sister, and has now married her. Now that the hero's parents are no more (the parents were against the sister marrying the billionaire), the sister has decided to make her marriage public, and everyone lives happily ever after.

The story itself was capable of sinking the play, but just to make sure, the lead actor forgot his lines. The prompter had as many dialogues as the hero, and I was of the opinion that he should have been given the lead role instead. Also, the hero found his own lines unbearable funny, with a grin stuck to his face that not even the saddest of lines could remove.
There were one too many nails in this coffin!

At the end, during the curtain call, it was revealed that the whole cast was from just one family. Every single cast member came from the same house. Now, it might be of great pride to them, that they pulled this off, but I'm sorry, just because you are a great actor, that does not mean the rest of your family can act. this would have been a super hit in some family get-together, but when it is such a prestigious event like a festival, I'm sorry but good actors is the need of the hour.

They tried their level best to make the play enjoyable, but their methods were terribly outdated. I'm sorry, but a dance number in the middle of a play is rather hard to digest. Children forgetting their mother who died in an accident two months ago and embracing their step-mom is impossible to accept, and jokes which might have been funny fifteen years ago are not funny any more.
What the play needed was that it be shelved for another, better play. A new play, with new actors, a new story and a new everything! That is the only thing that can really save that play.

I hope there weren't too many people like me, who came only to watch one play. I wish I could go back in time and watch the plays that were staged on Saturday and Friday, but alas, if wishes were horses.....