My 30th birthday
I was on a train trying to sleep when the mobile buzzed to life just after midnight with the first message wishing me a happy birthday. I smiled to myself. I was flattered. It is nice to be remembered in the middle of the night. From that time, i received messages at regular intervals throughout the day. At least that is how i wish to remember it. Was it really that way, i am not sure. My memory fails me in my ripe old age of 30.
The train to Bangalore was late by about four and a half hours. We reached Bangalore at 9:00 am. More than a third of the day was spent trying to reach the destination. Sounds like the first third of my life too.
What was i doing in Bangalore? I was in Bangalore to act in a play titled "Five point someone". This play had been staged about eight times in chennai and this was a first attempt at wooing the Bangalore audience. We got off the train at the city station and walked across a busy junction to a purple coloured building that was our hotel.
Our rooms in the basement resembled prison cells in size, smell and lighting. The bathrooms had ventilators that let noxious odours out into the main corridor. The bars on the windows, designed to keep intruders out, adding the finishing touch.
The rest of the cast obviously did not let the ambience dampen their spirits. One of them decided to roll a joint and two of us joined him. At about 10:00, the three of us had finished smoking a really stiff joint. I cannot say that I enjoyed its effects as I was not sure I would recover before our performance at three. I think I had the other two guys a little worried.
We reached chowdiah hall just before noon and headed straight for breakfast that turned into lunch. We finshed our tech at two. While we were changing Chetan Bagat, the author of the book the play is based on walked in to the room. There was a round of courteus introductions. After which he realised that the cast had nothing really to say to him and he left.
The show started about 30 minutes late. The audience enjoyed it. I can tell by their reactions. They laughed as if on cue. There was silence at poignant moments. I think we had their pulse and we swayed them. We had a break for about an hour befor the next show.
The second show also started late but went of as well as the first. The highlight of the evening for me was not the show itself but what happenned at the end. When the director introduced the cast, she mentioned that it was my birthday and the 900 strong audience spontaneously erupted into "happy birthday to you". I couldn't believe my ears. I was shy, proud, elated and nervous all at the same time. I didn't know what to do. This had never happened to me before.
I remember thinking "where are all my friends? Why aren't they here to witness this? Will they believe me when I tell them? Do they really care?"
Anyways that ended and I went back to the green room. I checked my mobile. I had recieved five missed calls from my sister in Albuquerque. I called her back. She wished me and we got into a conversation about her life. She is not doing so well. She is having some trouble with her faculty and her doctoral program. She revealed to me that she was on grass for the better part of her waking day. She also said that she was feeling suicidal.
I was called backstage at that moment as we had to pack and clear the auditorium for we had a train to catch. I ended the conversation asking her to come back home.
When I went backstage, the cast and crew had dimmed the lights and lit candles on a cake that wished me a happy birthday. I was not really surprised. I had expected them to do this and I couldn't even act surprised. I went through the motions. They went through the motions. I think they were disappointed that I was not more enthusiastic or more overcome by emotion. I was disappointed too but mostly by the fact that the people I wanted there were not. I guess my conversation with my sister shook me a bit.
The rest of the evening was quite uneventful. We got to the station. There was some confusion about the coach numbers and their position in the line of cars. We got on the train and I promptly went to sleep when the rest of the cast was up all night talking. I had to get to work the next day and I needed the rest.
An eventful day, i think.
The train to Bangalore was late by about four and a half hours. We reached Bangalore at 9:00 am. More than a third of the day was spent trying to reach the destination. Sounds like the first third of my life too.
What was i doing in Bangalore? I was in Bangalore to act in a play titled "Five point someone". This play had been staged about eight times in chennai and this was a first attempt at wooing the Bangalore audience. We got off the train at the city station and walked across a busy junction to a purple coloured building that was our hotel.
Our rooms in the basement resembled prison cells in size, smell and lighting. The bathrooms had ventilators that let noxious odours out into the main corridor. The bars on the windows, designed to keep intruders out, adding the finishing touch.
The rest of the cast obviously did not let the ambience dampen their spirits. One of them decided to roll a joint and two of us joined him. At about 10:00, the three of us had finished smoking a really stiff joint. I cannot say that I enjoyed its effects as I was not sure I would recover before our performance at three. I think I had the other two guys a little worried.
We reached chowdiah hall just before noon and headed straight for breakfast that turned into lunch. We finshed our tech at two. While we were changing Chetan Bagat, the author of the book the play is based on walked in to the room. There was a round of courteus introductions. After which he realised that the cast had nothing really to say to him and he left.
The show started about 30 minutes late. The audience enjoyed it. I can tell by their reactions. They laughed as if on cue. There was silence at poignant moments. I think we had their pulse and we swayed them. We had a break for about an hour befor the next show.
The second show also started late but went of as well as the first. The highlight of the evening for me was not the show itself but what happenned at the end. When the director introduced the cast, she mentioned that it was my birthday and the 900 strong audience spontaneously erupted into "happy birthday to you". I couldn't believe my ears. I was shy, proud, elated and nervous all at the same time. I didn't know what to do. This had never happened to me before.
I remember thinking "where are all my friends? Why aren't they here to witness this? Will they believe me when I tell them? Do they really care?"
Anyways that ended and I went back to the green room. I checked my mobile. I had recieved five missed calls from my sister in Albuquerque. I called her back. She wished me and we got into a conversation about her life. She is not doing so well. She is having some trouble with her faculty and her doctoral program. She revealed to me that she was on grass for the better part of her waking day. She also said that she was feeling suicidal.
I was called backstage at that moment as we had to pack and clear the auditorium for we had a train to catch. I ended the conversation asking her to come back home.
When I went backstage, the cast and crew had dimmed the lights and lit candles on a cake that wished me a happy birthday. I was not really surprised. I had expected them to do this and I couldn't even act surprised. I went through the motions. They went through the motions. I think they were disappointed that I was not more enthusiastic or more overcome by emotion. I was disappointed too but mostly by the fact that the people I wanted there were not. I guess my conversation with my sister shook me a bit.
The rest of the evening was quite uneventful. We got to the station. There was some confusion about the coach numbers and their position in the line of cars. We got on the train and I promptly went to sleep when the rest of the cast was up all night talking. I had to get to work the next day and I needed the rest.
An eventful day, i think.
posted by Chaani at 7:11 AM
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