Traveling to Pondicherry ,lovely getaway on a weekend is easy and fun. Just book your tickets in advance. There is a train named "Gareeb rath '( a poor mans' chariot) that leaves on friday night and reaches Pondi on saturday morning. As the name suggests the tickets are really cheap and its an AC train. Carry something warm while you travel and water as well. No warm blankets, water and food available for a poor man on this train ...
We reached early in the morning trying to strike a deal with the autowalas in broken Tamil. Shree had a jolly time watching me make a complete fool of myself while I had a conversation with 8 to 10 ten auto drivers surrounding me
+EvaLO? Adi shakthi poga veNum?
-Madam 3 hundred rupees.
+illappa - romba expensive - taxile 200 rupees aagum( he he ) -
- illay madam -last price two hundred -
+Illaya naa taxile poray ..
-Taxi stand romba far irrukum madam - 50 rupees to taxi stand ( its right across the station)
I have not learnt Tamil at all, But I have convinced myself that I can actually speak tamil because many Bharatnatyam pieces that I had to learn are composed in Tamil.. So every time I have to construct a sentence in Tamil I am doing a dance sequence in my head and trying to remember words ... eg- thooki is to lift from Idadu paadam thooki aadum :).. So If i have to converse in tamil about mundane things it should involve actions only gods and godessess would probably do in their life. Unfortunately for me , No shiva had to catch an auto rickshaw. Shree thought it was total entertainment :)
So we reach Adi shakthi - a lush green space very close to auroville . No traffic - no noise- only the music of birds , insects and the breeze to welcome you . We are taken to the guest house built with organic materials and architectural intelligence. We are asked to keep the windows closed to avoid encounters with insects , snakes and mosquitoes and requested not to wear foot wear or store any food items in rooms to avoid damage to the mud walls and floor.
The weather was perfect, cloudy and not very humid . We were to start the rigging after lunch and we had all the performers of Adi Shakthi at the theatre. Vinay, Nimmy, Suresh and Anoop with their army of pet dogs . We got the plan out and set to work . We listened to music, conversed , laughed and also worked simultaneously. It was lovely to see dedicated artistes execute their task with such passion and precision . The theatre is a beautiful organic structure well equipped for a performance. The space is clean and designed to move the performance area and audience space to create different levels and dimensions of performance. A luxury is to have a swimming pool just outside the theatre . It was lovely to warm up in the pool and stretch before the performance. truly invigorating .
The day before the performance- the day we rigged the lights ,it poured cats and dogs(literally as well) . The day of the performance we prayed to have a bright sunny day to ensure that the audience would attend the show without too much of a jungle trek in the rain . Thank heavens , it did not rain !
The people from auroville and the town of pondicherry came in with amazing energy and it was a privilege to perform for the artistes and art lovers. Shreekanth executed the lights brilliantly well and we both were so inspired by the space and the people at Adi shakthi that we wanted to offer the best performance without any compromise on quality or energy.
It was truly supportive of Veena PAni Chawla and the resident artistes of Adi shakthi to have invited and let us present our work . It shall be one of the most special performances of my life.
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