Tuesday, April 16th 2024
Yorkville, Toronto
What a perfect day! Sun. 18’C. Happy people in the park. Their pets (dogs) equally happy. And me, also joyful, at a picnic table jotting down notes. No picnic. I’m fasting till noon in honour of Rama. It’s his birthday.
To celebrate I am also taking the pm slot to practice for a new but short drama called “Ram”. Yes it’s a poem and we will put it to life by animating it or acting out the narrative. And it is going to be staged at 6.45pm. The rehearsal is as good as we could get with my volunteers, six actors and one technician. No sound track. Duration 8 minutes including the intro.
The crowds came. It is 6pm and it’s aarti time. I was asked to lead the chant. Happily I did. Young Mukunda offered to drum and saved the day. What is life without percussion? Not much. We all need a heartbeat, a rhythm to keep moving on. A pulse. Waves of a graceful current.
After reading a passage from the book, Bhagvatam on the pastimes of Rama, our drama was hosted. Marvelous job done! We have Sita, Rama, Lakshman, Hanuman, Ravana and double - was for characters like Surpanakha and a vulture, Sampati. Colourful characters. Even the animals talk in the pastime. Only I am reading my book of poetry. Sounds are with me, fueled by the epic “The Ramayana” author by Valmiki. Thanks to him, we have a beautiful story.
MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!
2 km