WE ONLY BRING THE THEATRE HOME












Pic.: Anand Sreedhar

“All the world's a stage,
and all the men and women merely players.”

- William Shakespeare


Frankly, the thought, that, the curtain will come down on each and every one of us… yes, this thought doesn’t bother us when we are young… and when our days are glorious. Success, fame, name, wealth and power dominate our consciousness… So much so, that almost all of us prefer to live in a denial… We prefer to think…

That, we are here to live forever…

That, this fame and name, this wealth and power are here to accompany us forever…

That, these people – our children and grandchildren, our friends and associates… they are all going to be there for us, forever…

Thus, the thought, that, the curtain will come down on this stage, one day… the sun will set at the end of the day… that, we shall be all alone, stripped of everything that has given us our so-called – identity – yes, we prefer not to think of all this…

But, as Shakespeare had, also, said, Time and Tide do not need our permission… they wait for no one.


Last night, my wife and I watched the latest Marathi movie, ‘Natsamrat’. Vishnu Shirwadkar’s immortal poems – call them soliloquy – brought me back my favorite Shakespeare… Those simple lines contain life in them… just the way Shakespeare’s lines do…

Why cut off stage and drama from life?

“You haven’t retired from theatre,” the ‘Natsamrat’ Ganpatrao’s (Nana Patekar) elderly wife (Medha Manjrekar) reminds her volatile husband, “You have brought the theatre home.”

How can you leave behind you this theatre called ‘Life’?

Here, only the curtain comes down. But, the dram goes on!

Like most of Shakespeare’s classics, ‘Natsamrat’ is a great tragedy. But, it is an amazing tragedy… A tragedy that warms your heart… Makes you smile and cry, soar, fall and again soar… feel guilty and even find solace… heal yourself…

In life, there is no point in blaming anyone… There is no need to cling to anyone… There is no need to feel sorry in life…  For, as the protagonist declares valiantly before he dies, each one is left to declare “I am the ‘Natsamrat’ of this play called my Life!

Who else can be?

“Sur muntoh saath de…
Diva munthoh vaath de…
…. madlya matharalya fakth thuza haath de.”

“The music says give me company…

The lamp says give wick…

The old man in the sun says give me only your hand.”


And, this… the ‘Natsamrat’ says!


GERALD D’CUNHA

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