Rekha asked me in the morning “shall we go to play?” I said “sure…but why the sudden interest?”
All my life I have been a sportsman….from winning 1500m races in school to captaining Tamil Nadu`s KVS Kabaddi team at the Nationals…I have always been a sportive sportsman. Play is something that I think should be ingrained in every human born on the face of mother Earth.
We agreed that at 6.30 p.m. I shall pick her up and we shall go to the venue. At five I called her up and asked: “So, is there any dress code?”
“No dress code…but it would be better if you can wear something very fashionable or stick to a short kurta with a faded jean.”
I was surprised. Why should I be in a jean when going for play? But I am not used to questioning Rekha`s executive decisions so just nod my head and walk towards my wardrobe. I generally don`t rebel but today I was in a mood….perhaps it was that article I read about Aamir Khan`s movie on Mangal Pandey. Guess, I had chosen the wrong time to rebel.
I wore my blue and white tracksuit, put on my spikes (I prefer being rooted to the ground) and packed my bag with some Glucose, Iodex, towels, bananas etc. Like a Bullet Train, I was in front of Rekha`s office at 6.30 p.m..
God knows why but she was shocked when she saw me. I asked her.
“I asked you to wear a faded jean and short kurta. Or that one party shirt you bought five years ago. Why did you wear your tracksuit?”
“Whenever I play I wear my tracksuit. I am most comfortable in it. In fact I was wondering how you going to be comfortable in these tights.” I replied.
She gave me a big lecture. Eventually I would understand that we were not going to play…instead we were going to a play. Evam Indrajeet, a 40-year-old Bengali play written by Badal Sircar now translated in English by Girish Karnad. A real-time play like those written by William Shakespeare.
I am not much of a literary man. Neither is Rekha, though a few days back she decided to be seen as one. As proof I have all those kurtas that she has bought from the Rajasthani Emporium.
We trudge along to the Sivagami Pethachi auditorium – the venue.
The Play crowd is not my kind. I don`t know to drop names (in fact I know no names) and I don`t have opinions. In short…I don`t have what it takes to hang around with people for 30 minutes before a play starts and then sit for two hours while the play is on. At least, not with Rekha by my side.
I saw some amazing girls…some like mannequins…some like mermaids…some like servant maids…and some ready-made. If you are still-hunting for your prey, I would suggest you visit Plays.
The Play was good but there were no whistles and no vociferous clapping when the hero emerged. Nobody was reciting the dialogues before the hero-heroine delivered them, nobody was munching high-decibel pop-corn, there were so stunt sequence, no special effects, no songs, no climax where the villain kidnaps the hero`s girl friend….no nothing.
But on the personal front, I had a good time at the play. All the girls were looking at me…some even smiled. Some even came close and had a nice look. Wonder why. By the way, I was the only guy in a tracksuit in the auditorium.