Culture Vultures 1

Still haven't heard about the job.
This makes me feel that they are writing out, what I call the 'you are a star, but...' letter to be mailed to me. Whatever.

Meanwhile we at the Masala Chai residence, have become proper Culture Vultures!
London is so full of things to do that I have to constantly keep a check on spending my meagre earnings on tickets. But, sometimes one gets lucky. Take for instance the theatre production of the Mahabharata(MB) which was on at Sadlers Wells (SW). I wanted to go ( Nitin Sawhney did the music, and he is bloody good) but decided not to.
But, then the-rich-cousin-who-earns-mega-bucks-in-the-city called the day I finished the interview and said he had bought tickets for the very same production and couldn't go because he had work to do. Well, someone in the family had to step in to help him out with the tickets,isn't it? So, he sent them in a cab to where we stay ( are you thinking wow?! I know- it was a wow! moment for me too), and off we went.
At the risk of sounding really snooty- SW had quite a few hoity toity Indian families, all of who were sizing the others up . I am guilty of the same. Obviously :)
Then, where were the seats? Hold your breath.
It was right in the centre in the second row.
I could see the sweat trickling down the dancers chests and back, the music ensemble in front and every little detail of the sets on the stage.
Now to the production itself. Gary Pillai as Krishna was good but should have been a little more animated. The guy who did Arjuna's role should have done Karna's role and vice versa. Maybe it is because I like Karna's character more than anyone else in MB. He was the quintessential underdog in Hindu mythology and I have a tendency to support- you guessed it- the underdog.
The guy who played Dhuryodhana twitched,unnecessarily- a lot.
Draupadi looked gorgeous and the scene where the five Pandavas lift her using 5 sarees is the best ( see above). I felt that the essence of MB itself was lost in translation.
But sitting there, in central London, looking at the packed hall of both Indians and non-Indians, I felt proud. After all not everyone can say, that story is Indian.

The other reason I felt lucky was - because I was able to see Amritha Sher-Gill's paintings, an interpretation of her life by her nephew Vivan Sundaram + a short film about her life at the Tate Modern. All this for free - so that makes me super lucky!
I had read about her and seen her work before, but somehow, seeing her paintings and hearing about her life in a country other than my own made me view her work in a completely new light.
I got a sense of how ahead of her times she actually was.
I got a sense of how complex a personality was.
I got a sense of how tragic her death must have been for her family.
I got a sense of the times she lived in and the people she associated with.
I was left wondering what she could have achieved had she lived longer.
Or, maybe her short life adds to the allure.
See this clip to know a little more about her.

Culture Vultures 2 coming up shortly...