A Bureaucrat's Many Avatars

Government official KV Mohankumar moonlights as a novelist, script-writer, and actor

Photo by Mithun Vinod

By Shevlin Sebastian

At 3 a.m., on December 8, 2012, the then Collector of Kozhikode KV Mohankumar, along with a team of policemen and revenue officials, stood under a canopy of trees by the side of a road in the town of Feroke. Mohankumar had received a tip that sand, mined illegally from rivers, was being taken away in tipper lorries.

Soon, a tipper lorry was seen in the distance. Mohankumar, along with two officials, stepped on the road and gestured for it to stop. In response, the driver pressed the accelerator. Immediately, Mohankumar and the squad got into an Innova car and gave chase.

The lorry driver sped ahead for a while, then turned suddenly into a bylane and braked. Thanks to the quick thinking of the Innova driver, he braked equally hard. All at once, the bed of the truck rose up and sand was deposited on the road. “We were lucky,” says Mohankumar. “Since we were a bit behind, the sand did not fall on the car and cause injury to us. That was the aim of the driver.” Thanks to the barricade caused by the sand, the lorry driver was able to flee easily.

This was one of Mohankumar's experiences during his day job. But, at night, he takes on another avatar. From 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., he is a writer. So far, he has published 14 books, a mix of autobiographical sketches, short-story collections and novels.

The themes of his novels include political satire, social drama, Tantric Buddhism, and the Punnapra Vayalar Communist uprising in Travancore, in October, 1946.

However, the bureaucrat’s life took an interesting turn when Sivan, the father of director Santosh Sivan, asked Mohankumar to write a script based on a short story by Malayalam writer N. Mohanan.

“It was about a deaf and dumb child,” says Mohankumar, who is now Commissioner for Rural Development. To know about script-writing, Mohankumar studied the scripts of Jnanpith Award winner MT Vasudevan Nair and acclaimed directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Padmarajan.

Mohankumar's script, which took one month to write, became ‘Keshu’, a children’s film, directed by Sivan. This won the Kerala state as well as National award in 2009 for the best children's film. It was also selected for the Indian Panorama section at the International Film Festival in Goa.

Asked the difference between writing novels and scripts, Mohankumar says, “In novel writing, there is a lot of freedom and you have to cater to one reader. But when we write a script, we have to visualise the scenes from the point of view of a mass audience.”

Sometime ago, the noted Mollywood director VK Prakash called and said he wanted to make a film of Mohankumar's first novel, 'Shradha Shesham,’(Beyond salvation). So Mohankumar wrote the script. Just recently the shooting was completed. The film stars Narain and Meera Jasmine.

And, amazingly, the versatile Mohankumar also acted in the film as Meera Jasmine's father. “I love being an actor,” he says. One reason is that acting runs in the family. Mohankumar’s father, K. Velayudhan Pillai, had been an actor in the troupe of famed actor Sebastian Kunjukunnu Bhagavathar.

Meanwhile, Mohankumar has been amazed by the changes in Mollywood. “It has been taken over by the youngsters,” he says. “Earlier, one or two people would enter the industry once in a while. Now there are hundreds of new actors and technicians. It is highly competitive now, but I regard it as a positive change.” 

(Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi) 

Touching the Soul

Dancer Shoma Kaikini, along with her troupe, 'Nrityanidhi', combines Sufi with Kathak movements to uplift an audience

By Shevlin Sebastian

When dancer Shoma Kaikini went to Nanning, China, to perform in the International Folk Song Art Festival, a few years ago, she felt arrogant. “Our culture was thousands of years old,” she says. “I felt we are the best.” But there were participants from 36 countries including Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Australia, Indonesia, France, Denmark and Argentina. “When I saw the performances of the other countries, I fell flat on my face,” she says. “That was when I realised that the world is filled with so much of art and culture.”

Nevertheless, her Mumbai-based troupe, 'Nrityanidhi', did impress. On the last day, when they stepped out on the stage, the participants of all the countries stood in the wings to watch them perform. “This happened only to us,” says Shoma. And their performance received the maximum applause.

One of the reasons was because of the colourful costumes. “The people loved the jewellery, make-up and hair,” she says. “The audience, which was mostly Chinese, would indicate, through sign language, that they loved our performance. There were tears in their eyes. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life.”

The Nrityanidhi troupe plays a mix of Sufi, Bharatanatyam and Kathak dances, accompanied by soft, meditative and soulful songs.

“When I listen to a song, I allow the movement to flow into the dance,” says Shoma, who is the troupe's choreographer. “I tell the dancers that choreography and dance are something that flows from the spirit.”

Shoma and her troupe had recently come to Kochi to give a performance called 'Asmi' ('I am' in Sanskrit) – A Voyage Towards The Self', in which they did dances with a mix of Sufi and Kathak.

“The core of Sufism is a never-ending search of the truth, of divine energy,” says Shoma. “In Sufism, you experience a total surrender to God.”

But they danced to songs from contemporary films like 'Maula Mere' from the film, 'Anwar' and 'Iktara' from 'Wake up Sid'. And it turned out to be soulful and tranquility-inducing: the gentle movements of the arms, taking a few steps forward, then back, the pirouetting with other partners, and the playful looks on the faces.

“People are under so much stress and strain that our performance gives some kind of peace to them,” says Shoma. Recently, when they performed at Bangalore, a woman came up to Shoma, and said, “It felt like as if your soul had come out of the body, and was travelling among the audience. That was the kind of energy we felt.”

At Kochi, audience member Dr. Puneet Dhar says, “It was a reinvention of Kathak. I have always watched Kathak dances along with live music. This was the first time recorded music was used, but since the acoustics was superb, nothing was missed. I also enjoyed the unusual combination of Sufi and Kathak. The secular mix was heart-warming.”

To have this kind of impact has taken Shoma years of training. She learnt dance from the time she was four years old, thanks to the prodding from her mother. Initially, she learnt Kathak, then Bharatnatyam, and then she returned to Kathak by the time she was 17. For a few years, she performed with her guru Nandita Puri, a Kathak exponent. It was in 2005 that she began Nrityanidhi. “It had been my dream to start something on my own,” she says. This has turned out to be the right move, as 'Nrityanidhi' continues to impact audiences all over. 

(Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi) 

The Unforgettable Pancham

A riveting two-hour performance, 'Pancham...the Immortal Note', highlighted the life and career of Rahul Dev Burman, the legendary Bollywood music composer

By Shevlin Sebastian

In 1993, when director Vidhu Vinod Chopra was thinking about getting a music composer for his film, '1942 – A Love Story', he thought of Rahul Dev Burman (nickname: Pancham – the fifth musical note). At that time, Pancham had been in the wilderness for eight years. From the mid 1980s, he had 27 flops in a row. And he was short of confidence. He did not know why the people had rejected him. And it was then that Vidhu approached Pancham out of the blue. He told the film's story and after a week, he went to listen to the tunes.

Pancham began singing a song in the style of the mid 1980s, with a tabla providing the music. Then Pancham stopped and said, “What is your first reaction?”

A disappointed Vidhu said, “You are the finest music director alive today and is this what you are giving me?”

One by one the other musicians left the room. There was only Pancham and Vidhu in the room.

In the sudden silence, Pancham said, “Am I doing the film or not?”

Clearly, this was the lowest point of the legendary Bollywood composer's life.

Vidhu said, “Dada, don't give me this emotion. Give me the music I am seeking from you. And, of course, you are doing the film. You are the best.”

And, eventually, Pancham lived up to Vidhu's confidence. The songs of '1942 – A Love Story' were chart busters and are now regarded as classics. But unfortunately, Pancham was not there to enjoy his redemption. A few weeks before the audio release, Pancham died of a heart attack on January 4, 1994, aged 54.

This interview with Vidhu was shown during a riveting two-hour production, called 'Pancham...the immortal Note', which was staged by the Pune-based Niche Entertainment at the JT Pac, Kochi. It traced the life of the composer from his childhood days till the end.

“Pancham spent his childhood in Kolkata under the care of his maternal grandmother,” said Milind Oak, the director and anchor of the show. “At that time, his father Sachin Dev Burman was making his mark in Mumbai as a music composer.”

When the boy had grown up a bit, he would go to Mumbai during the summer vacations and stay with his father. Once playback singer Asha Bhonsle was introduced to a thin fellow. “Pancham has come for his school holidays to Mumbai,” Sachin Dev told Asha. A few months later, Asha again saw Pancham. 

So Asha asked Sachin, “Are there more holidays now?”

Sachin Dev said, “He has failed.” And Pancham stayed on and became an assistant to his father and worked on many films.

Later, he began composing on his own. But it was his fifth (Pancham) film, 'Teesri Manzil' (1966), directed by Nasir Hussain which was a hit. He never looked back. Hit after hit followed. And it was a pleasure to hear the songs – from films like 'Kora Kagaz', 'Kati Patang', 'Amar Prem' and 'Aradhana' – sung with felicity and verve by singers Hrishikesh Ranade, Jitendra Abhyankar, Rama Kulkarni and Priyanka Barve. 

Sometimes, there were dances, done ably by Kunal Phadke and team. And every now and then, there would be video interviews with luminaries like Gulzar, Usha Uthup, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Shankar Mahadevan, Rishi Kapoor, Javed Akhtar Shammi Kapoor and Laxmikant Pyarelal.

And all had praise for Pancham “I have seen 'Padosan' more than 100 times,” says Pyarelal. “But even today if it is shown on any TV channel, I stop all my work and keep looking at the film and listen to the songs, because nobody, other than Pancham, could make music like this.” 

Not many people know that Pancham had a hugely talented orchestra to back him up. They included stars like Louis Banks on the synthesizer and piano, Hari Prasad Chaurasia on the flute, Sultan Khan on the sarangi, and, occasionally, Shiv Kumar Sharma on the santoor.

“One reason they worked for him was because he was simple, humble and caring,” says Milind Oak. In fact, when Ranjeet Gazmer, one of Nepal's leading composers, who was nicknamed Kancha bhai by Pancham, had a slipped disc and was bedridden for six months, the latter visited his house every day with food and medicines. Incidentally, Kancha Bhai played the madal (a Nepalese hand drum).

Pancham's career went on and on. In the end, he scored the music for 331 films. These included 292 (Hindi) 31 (Bengali) and the rest in Telugu, Tamil, Oriya, and Marathi.

What was a revelation was that during the Durga Puja celebrations in West Bengal, Pancham regularly brought out Bengali albums, in which he himself sang, that were hugely popular.

In his personal life, Pancham was briefly married to Rita Patel, a fan who had met him in Darjeeling. They split up and Pancham's unforgettable 'Musafir Hoon Yaaron' (Parichay), was composed by him, when he was staying at a hotel following the separation. Later, Pancham married Asha, who was six years older, in 1980, but the relationship went through troubled times.

In the end, Pancham's life and career were unforgettable and so was the stage show by Niche Entertainment. 

(Published in The New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)

'A Book of The Times'

Ravi Shankar's 'Book Of Shiva' is a book of the times. The more technology invades our lives, the more dehumanised we are going to feel. And there will come a time when we will go on a desperate search to revive our inner spirituality so that we can feel alive again. In his novel, the main character Asananda is also in search of his inner spirituality. But it is shown outwardly as a search for the Book of Shiva. And as Asananda travels through the holy places of Benaras, Hardwar, Rishikesh and Badrinath, among other places in the Himalayas, he meets all types of people, many of whom have been wounded by life. They in turn tell their stories. So, in essence, this is a novel that abounds with stories within stories.

And Ravi's writing is rich and vivid in its description of people and places. This in-born gift comes as no surprise, since he is the nephew of OV Vijayan, one of Malayalam literature's great writers.

Here are a few insightful sentences:

'If you imagine the universe as a book, age is a paragraph'

'A great teacher is one who teaches nothing and the pupil understands everything.'

'Journeys without hope take you nowhere.'

'You get enlightened by forgetting everything.'

'Some memories are little miracles that light the way on dark and rainy nights.'

'The cremation ground is the only place where all egos end.'

And his descriptions are equally vivid: 

A ruby 'looked like a translucent spider, its belly filled with blood'.

'The sun had spent the day and the spreading fog was drawing its mystery over the garden and the hillside.'

'The opera of prayers from ashrams and temples'

What is remarkable is that apart from his writing skills – he is the author of three previous novels – the New-Delhi based Ravi is also a witty and satirical cartoonist of the New Indian Express, of which he is the Executive Editor. And he oversees the highly popular and readable Sunday magazine. 

So clearly, Ravi is a man of many parts, who is able to balance beautifully the temporal and the spiritual. 

(Ravi's book is available http://www.amazon.com/THE-BOOK-SHIVA-Ravi-Shankar-ebook/dp/B00JPKNEO0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399568939&sr=8-1&keywords=shiva%2C+ravi+shankar. 

(Review posted on www.amazon.com)   

Two dimensions of India

Wilhelm Bronner of Germany holds a joint exhibition, 'East Meets West', with Malayali artist AM Victoria

Photo by Mithun Vinod 

By Shevlin Sebastian

In November, 2012, German artist Wilhelm Bronner had held an exhibition at Fort Kochi. Following the conclusion, he had several wooden frames which he wanted to give away before flying back. That was how he met local painter AM Victoria. They became friends and decided to hold an exhibition together. This was called 'East Meets West', and it took place recently at Kochi's Durbar Hall Art Gallery.

Wilhelm's striking work, an acrylic on canvas, is a microcosm of life on the streets of over-crowded cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi. So there are car drivers dodging cyclists and vegetable vendors with their wooden carts filled with produce. Cows and dogs are wandering about, people in doorways are shouting and talking to each other, a man is sitting on a chair and reading the newspaper, while a woman walks carefully while carrying a basket on her head. High above, aeroplanes are flying across the sky.

“I wanted to show the variety of life in an Indian city,” says Wilhelm. “It is also clear that the country is grappling with the problems caused by over-population.”

Wilhelm's other notable work is a series of small wooden blocks which have been painted in grey acrylic paint. On each block, at the left side are small drawings, like squiggles, of life in India and on the right, the same event is taking place in Germany.

So a man is shown defecating into a pond in India, while in Germany, they use the toilet. Another work is called 'Conflict Management'. It shows a group of Indians just nodding their heads, while there is verbal anger displayed by the Germans. “Indians tend to avoid conflict,” says Wilhelm. “They will not say anything direct. In Germany, they tell it straight. Sometimes, it is a form of aggression.”

Wilhelm, who has been to India several times, says that both countries can learn from each other. “The Germans can learn about touching, caring and living through the heart from the Indians,” he says. “On the other hand, Indians can understand about organisation, punctuality and hygiene.”

It pains Wilhelm that India is so uncared for. “The people treat nature as a dumping place,” he says. “Why is garbage thrown on the streets, fields and rivers? It makes me feel sad.”
Victoria is also saddened by the state of Kerala. In one acrylic on canvas, she has drawn several women, as well as men, carrying brown pitchers on their heads. At the side, there is a tap from which a single drop of water is falling into a pitcher which has the face of a forlorn woman.

“There is a shortage of water all over the state,” she says. “All the wells have gone. We had so many ponds. In fact, the pond where I use to bathe in when I was a child, has vanished. Instead, I was astonished to discover, on a recent visit, that it has become a garbage dumping area.”

Another work is of two girls sitting on a patch of grass beside a jasmine tree. They are wearing the typical Malayali attire of paavada and blouse, with long plaited hair, and kaajal-rimmed eyes. It is a soothing image, but Victoria is worried about their future. “When the girls get married what sort of a life is it going to be?” says Victoria. “Will they get good husbands? Will they look after their wives properly? Will the girls be happy?” 

(The New Indian Express, Sunday Standard Magazine, New Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram) 

Thoughts on the Aterlife

By Shevlin Sebastian

The other day, a thought came to my mind: what will I miss when I die? And immediately I realised I will miss my morning cup of tea along with the newspaper. I will miss hearing the early morning twitter of birds, as well as the chants from temples, mosques and churches. I will miss writing and reading on the laptop. Sharing jokes and bonhomie with friends. The company of my wife, children, parents and siblings. Looking at water: in lakes, waterfalls and rushing rivers.Enjoying the monsoon rainfall as it washes the land into a breathtaking expanse of green.

And when I die, what will I see? A huge expanse of black with twinkling stars. A puzzling thought: why did the God of light make an universe so black? Why did He not choose the colours of the rainbow?

And what will I do in the afterlife? How will I pass the time? Surely, there are no movies or sports events there? Will I just stare and stare, for hundreds of years? Or will I be reborn? Will I return as an Indian? Or an Australian or an African? And this life, without a body? Will it be fun to live without sex and companionship? Will women – God's most enigmatic creation – be as enthralling without their physical presence? And divorced couples on earth: will they continue to bicker in the afterlife?

And where will my brain be? Will it remain on earth? Or at the point of death, will the brain move to the soul? Or does the soul become the brain in the afterlife? What am I trying to say is, how do I think? A sudden painful thought: I will no longer have the company of physical books.

And which God is the leader? Of which religion? Surely, there has to be a hierarchy? And how will religious fundamentalists be treated in the afterlife? Suppose a man on earth shoots people and blows up buses and trains in the name of his God, whom he says dominates the universe. What happens when the man dies and realises that his God is No. 4 in the pecking order. What will the top three Gods do? Will they get pissed off? Will they banish the zealot to the edge of the universe and tell him to rot there for a thousand years? Clearly, it is too risky to be an extremist since we have no idea on earth about who is the No. 1 God?

In the afterlife, will we be able to see the greats of the earth like Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa or Edmund Hilary? And what about the monsters like Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler? What are their fates? How are the Gods treating them? Are they in the universe's version of hell? And what about their victims? Will the Gods allow them to shower abuse on these blood-thirsty dictators, to make up for their sufferings on earth? And whose families are still weathering the repercussions of their brutal deaths?

There are so many questions, but too few answers. Nobody knows anything. It seems it is safer to be simple, humble, and respect all Gods, religions and followers. That is probably what the Gods want. But then, really, who knows what the Gods want? 

(The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)

How to Talk Well In Public

The Kochi Toastmasters recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. The organisation, which develops public speaking skills, is thriving

Photo by Melton Antony 

By Shevlin Sebastian

In 2000, businessman CM Daniel returned to Kochi after spending two decades in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. In both these countries, he had been a member of Toastmasters International. This is an institution which helps members to improve their speaking and leadership skills.

However, when Daniel made inquiries about joining a Toastmasters club he got a shock. There was not a single club in Kochi. It was at this time that he met his Toastmaster friends from Bahrain who had also returned. They included George Mathai, Joseph Lukose and the late Augustine Joseph. They, along with Daniel's friends, Paul Manjooran and AO Thomas, decided to start a Toastmasters club at Kochi.

The first meeting, which was held, at the YMCA, Palarivattom, on April 26, 2004, was inaugurated by a former resident editor of The New Indian Express. And now, for the tenth anniversary celebrations, held recently at Kochi, Resident Editor Vinod Mathew did the honours. “The New Indian Express is the only newspaper that has supported us through all these years,” says Daniel, who is the founder-president.

In his speech Vinod Mathew bemoaned the lack of English-speaking skills among students these days. “English is the universal language for communication,” he says. “I interview about 20 wannabe journalists every couple of months. What I have found is that there is no match between the written results and their communication skills. So, there is a need for a holistic development from the school level. The Toastmasters should take an initiative on this.”

Later, founder member George Mathai said that they would be following up on this idea. “One of the aims of the Toastmasters is to impart skills to the youth and uplift them,” he says.

In his speech, Daniel identified the different types of members. “The story goes that there were three stone cutters employed in a project,” he says. “The first one was asked, ‘What are you doing here?’ He said, ‘I am making a livelihood’. The second one said, ‘I am just raising a wall’. The third one said, ‘I am involved along with a team of people to complete this project, which is meant for serving society’.”

These three types are represented in every Toastmasters club. “We have people who have limited objectives,” says Daniel. “They will complete a few speeches and quit. Or they will reach a certain recognition level, and then leave. But, finally, there are people who are dedicated to spreading the message of Toastmasters.”

Thanks to the hard work of these members, there are 17 clubs today. Says Lal Xavier, the Divisional Governor of Kerala, “For the past ten years we have expanded through the length and breadth of Kerala. I am sure we will have a club in every district in the near future.”

Following the official function, a regular meeting of the Toastmasters took place. And what was striking was the emphasis that the club placed on timings. So, if a speaker is allotted five minutes to speak, a timekeeper sits at one side with a contraption in front of him. At the conclusion of two minutes, a green light is switched on. A yellow light will come on when one minute is left and a red light when the time is up.

“Apart from speeches, there is a segment called table topics,” says Kochi Toastmasters Club President Dr. Neena Thomas. “A toastmaster will state a subject and the participant will have to answer it within two minutes. The idea is to think swiftly on your feet.”

And whatever speech you give, it is evaluated by members who will state the positive as well as the negative aspects. “This is very helpful in improving a member's performance,” says senior member, Monish V.T.

All the speakers spoke with verve and panache. It is clear that the Toastmasters have a very successful programme. Incidentally, the Toastmasters has a worldwide membership of 3 lakh people in 122 countries.

Tips for Public Speaking

Know your material: Pick a topic you are interested in. Use humour, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.

Practice, Practice, Practice! Rehearse out loud. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.

Know the audience: Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It is easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.

Know the room: Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.

Relax: Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.

Realise that people want you to succeed: An audience wants you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They are rooting for you.

Don’t apologise for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.

Concentrate on the message: Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience. 

Source: www.toastmasters.org  

(The New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)

Love At First Sight

COLUMN: Spouse's Turn 

Vijaysree talks about her life with the film director Dr. Biju Damodaran

Photo by Ravi Choudhary 

By Shevlin Sebastian 

“My husband had approached many eminent stars to play the role of a sweeper in his film, ‘Perariyathavar’,” says Vijaysree, the spouse of award-winner film director Dr. Biju Damodaran. “First they would show interest. Then they would turn it down because they did not want to play a sweeper. Biju was in despair. He had almost given up on the film.”

But it was Vijaysree who suggested the name of Suraj Venjaramoodu after seeing him on a television show. “I felt that he would do the role well,” she says. And when the director approached Suraj, he said yes immediately. “Then Biju had a stroke of luck when he met the producer K Anilkumar during Onam last year and he agreed to make the film,” says Vijaysree. And now all of them are basking in the stunning news that while Dr. Biju won the national award for best film on environment/conservation for ‘Perariyathavar’ , Suraj won it for best actor.

The tale of Dr Biju and Vijaysree began when they saw each other for the first time in April, 2001, because of a marriage proposal. Biju was wearing a red-coloured shirt and a white mundu. “When I saw him for the first time, I immediately felt a liking for him,” says Vijaysree. The feeling was mutual. On September 10, they got married at Vijaysree’s home town of Kulakkada in Kollam district. For their honeymoon they went to Elappara in Idukki. “It was a place of scenic beauty,” she says. “And we had a nice time.”

Over the past few years, Vijaysree has slowly got used to Biju’s unusual life of being a doctor – a medical superintendent at the Kayamakulam Government Homeo Hospital – as well as an award-winning film director. “Unlike most creative artists who lock themselves up in a room when they want to write a script, Biju can write anywhere,” says Vijaysree. “Even as he is having a chat with me, he may be working on his script. Then he might stop writing and play with our six-year-old son Govardhan. Most of the time, he likes to write while sitting on the bed.”

And Biju sounds out Vijaysree as soon as he gets an idea. “I react like an ordinary person,” says Vijaysree. “If I like the idea, I will say yes or it is a plain no.”

Vijaysree admits that Biju’s award-winning films – ‘Saira’, ‘Raman’, ‘Veettilekkulla Vazhi’, and ‘Akasathinte Niram’ – are not for a mass audience. But Biju got a surprise recently. His friend, Dr. Mathew Kurian, who works in a private hospital at Piravom, told him that he had an old woman as a patient. She comes from a poor family. One day she told the doctor that she liked ‘Veettilekkulla Vazhi’. “So ordinary people also like my husband’s films,” says Vijaysree, with a smile.

Asked about her husband’s plus points, Vijaysree says, “Biju is always cool, no matter what happens. He looks at everything in a positive way. Whenever problems arise at the hospital, on the sets or at home, he always reacts in a cool manner.”

Vijaysree also likes her husband’s helping nature. “One day when he came back after a long trip, he was told by his mother that her sister, Rajamma, was not well,” she says. “Immediately Biju set out for the hospital to monitor the treatment. Even if there is such a situation in my family, he will rush to help.”

At his workplace, Vijaysree has seen Biju behave in a humble and simple manner. “This is so rare,” she says. “Government doctors behave so arrogantly and in a high-handed manner. You can observe that when you ask them for a medical certificate.”

Perhaps the one aspect which irritates Vijaysree about her husband is that when she falls ill, Biju takes it in a casual manner. “Maybe, it is because he is a doctor and knows that the illness is not a serious one,” she says.

Another negative is that he is always on the phone. Patients ring him up, so do people from the film industry, his colleagues and friends. “This has become a lot more after he won the National Award,” says Vijaysree.

In fact, their neighbours in Adoor in Pathanamthitta district did not even know that he was a film-maker. “They were very surprised when they read the news in the newspaper that he had won the award,” says Vijaysree.

And the neighbours later rued the fact that when Suraj came to visit Biju, the people did not know till they saw the photos in the next day’s newspaper. “If only you had told us,” some of them said with disappointed smiles to Vijaysree.

But Vijaysree says that it was a sudden visit. “Suraj was so happy that both Biju and he had won the national award,” she says.

When asked to give tips for a successful marriage, “I always say that a girl should marry a little late. I was 26 when I got married while Biju was 30,” says Vijaysree. “So I had the maturity to handle the problems of marriage better. I also knew how to adjust to my husband’s family. You should love the spouse once you get married. And always be honest with each other.” 

(The New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)

A Ring-Side View

Sujit Dilip, a second-generation owner of the Rambo Circus, talks about his experiences

Photo by Mithun Vinod

By Shevlin Sebastian

Several years ago, when Sujit Dilip was assisting his father, the owner of the Rambo Circus, he spent a night near the lion's cage. And he had a tough time. Because the entire night, the lions made roaring sounds. The second night also went like this. On the third night, an intrigued Sujit decided to find out what the problem was.

“When I went near the cages, I saw that the lions were being fed,” he says. “But what shocked me was that it was only bones.” The circus had outsourced the supply of meat. The man who brought the meat, in connivance with the person tasked to look after the lions, was only supplying bones. “When I discovered this, I sacked both of them,” says the Pune-based Sujit.

Thereafter, Sujit bought fresh meat and fed it to the animals. That night there was silence in the cages. “It was then that I understood that during the first two nights, the lions were trying to communicate with me about the cheating that was taking place,” says Sujit.

Unfortunately, circus owners received a body blow when the Centre banned the use of lions and tigers more than ten years ago. “It was too harsh,” says Sujit. “Not all circuses were treating animals cruelly. The Government could have appointed an inspector and monitored the treatment.”

To counter this, the Rambo Circus hired Russian artistes, began new tight-wire acts, along with the Wheel of Death item which was taught by Colombian circus performers. As a result, the Rambo circus continued to flourish. Today, it has an employee strength of 160.

And the circus has begun to attract a new audience: college students. “One reason is because we provide fusion music, like African sounds with tabla beats,” he says. “We are also using laser lights, smoke, and sound. Fifty percent of the success of any particular act depends on this aspect.”

And despite spending more than twenty years in the trade Sujit is learning new things. A few years ago, he had gone to see the Monte Carlo Circus Festival. There he met the Ashton Brothers, whose family have been trapeze artists for seven generations. While talking to them, he realised that the trapeze act which was being done in India was technically wrong.

“In India, the catcher and flyer are on the same level,” he says. “So when a flyer does a double somersault it is difficult for the catcher to hold him properly. But in Monte Carlo, the catcher was 10 feet below and had ample time to hold the flyer.” When Sujit returned to India, he immediately implemented the changes.

Another change which he has implemented is to move the circus from the tent to the auditorium. The reason is simple: it is difficult to get open spaces in metropolitan cities, which are accessible to everybody.

Also, the well-to-do do not want to see the circus in tent. So Sujit set up a show at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai and it was a success. “We did a few more shows after that,” he says. And now Sujit has come with the 'Magic Circus of Samoa' for a performance at a hall in Kochi. The Samoan and Indian artistes included jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, unicyclists, fire dancers, dancers and clowns.

However, despite the pleasures of the job, it is still a high-pressure life for Sujit. Recently, after obtaining permission from city administrators, he had taken the circus to Belgaum in Karnataka. But, at the last moment, the Election Commission of India took over the land where the circus was to be held as the place to store Electronic Voting Machines. So, they cancelled the permission.

“I had arrived with 40 trucks which consisted of equipment and staff,” says Sujit. “The daily expenses were Rs 1 lakh. The authorities told me to hold a performance after the April 17 elections. But how could I feed people for so many days without an income?”

So Sujit rushed to Hubli, 125 kms away, to get permission to hold a show in that town. “I love the circus so much that I take all these setbacks in my stride,” says Sujit. 

(Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)

Yoga and Corporate Interests

Playwright Gopi Warrier's plays, 'Ego Of The Yogis' and 'Polyester Lordship', on Indian themes, have been performed, to acclaim, in London

By Shevlin Sebastian

One afternoon, in 1984, Gopi Warrier pressed the bell for the lift in a hotel in Nuremberg, Germany. When the door opened, eight policemen jumped out with guns, and said, 'Don't move or we will shoot.' Gopi put up his hands and the police searched him. Thereafter, they took him to his room.

A thorough search was done. Then one of the cops took out a picture of Carlos The Jackal, the most wanted terrorist in the world at that time. “Unfortunately, with my spectacles, I look just like him,” says Gopi. “They drove me to the police station to take my fingerprints.” It was quite some time before the police realised they had made a mistake.

But there was no mistake in the reception of Gopi's two plays, 'Ego Of The Yogis' and 'Polyester Lordship', which is being staged by the Theatre of Devas and New End Theatre at the Steiner Theatre in London. “Yes, a lot of people have expressed their appreciation,” he says. 

Dr. Michael Yorke, a former BBC director and award-winning film-maker, says, “I was fascinated by Gopi's plays and, particularly, by the 'Ego of the Yogis'. It was provocative and suitably cynical. Overall, it was a professional production, superbly directed, and acted.”

Interestingly, both the plays deal with Indian themes. In 'Ego Of The Yogis', an upper-class English girl, Ilona Foxpitt, meets an Indian man, Kumar, a professor of philosophy, who talks to her about the nature of illusion. She does not see him after that first meeting. So Ilona goes in search of him, visiting yoga centres, to learn about Indian spirituality and philosophy. “Ilona found them mechanical,” says Gopi. “All of them peddle western yoga. She gets disillusioned.”

During the play, for the first time, philosopher Adi Shankara's famous poem, 'Kanakadhara Stavam', which he recites in the house of a poor woman who gives him alms, is sung on a London stage.

In the second play, 'Polyester Lordship', a young man, Peter Bynham, recruited by a British firm, Beechcroft and Sons, comes up with a plan. Beechcroft is a minority shareholder of a company in Mumbai, which is sitting on a huge tract of land. “Peter's idea is to gain 51 per cent ownership, and force the workers to move off, so that Beechcroft can sell the land at a huge profit,” says Gopi. Not surprisingly, the mafia and politicians get involved. In short, it is a look at contemporary India.

Although Gopi is a businessman, writing is in his genes. His grandfather, M.R. Krishna Warrier was once a leading poet of Kerala. His father, G.P. Warrier, was a former chairman of the Indian National Railways and Principal Secretary to the Government of India. Gopi himself took an MBA at the London Business School, and studied at the French Business School near Paris, and at the New York University Graduate School. And he gives an interesting reason to leave India. “I wanted to avoid being observed by my family all the time,” he says. “So I escaped to England.”

In London, Gopi runs an Ayurveda hospital and a foundation to help struggling writers. When he is the mood to write, which is usually at his office, he dictates to his secretary, Mrs. Jassal. So far, Gopi has staged seven plays. “More are in the offing, including a book of poems,” he says. 

(The New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)