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483 Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry “Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, to rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts.” Salman Rushdie Reading and sharing stories when we were children, was as important as breathing. An oral tradition of storytelling existed before books were written and published. Mothers sang songs to their children to lull them to sleep, and stories of adventure, valour, romance and bravery fed our imagination. Enid Blyton’s ‘Malory Towers’ was devoured and ‘The Famous Five’ were our undercover agents in crime detection. ‘The Panchatantra’ had us lamenting the naïveté of monkeys who hope to ride crocodiles unscathed, and ‘Aesop’s Fables’ made us cheer for the tortoise, and reject the arrogance of the hare. ....
Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.” Bertolt Brecht We are trapped in the middle of a maelstrom, and can slowly feel ourselves being sucked deeper and deeper in the abyss of darkness. The images of people dying with desperate and helpless family members scurrying for basic requirements assault our sense of humanity. One feels stretched and shipwrecked with the sinking feeling of many things that one held precious being lost. This makes one turn inwards and search for those spaces within one’s imagination and ferret out something precious, something human. Sometimes I wonder, is all this really happening or are we imagining this apocalypse! ....
Home is where the art is Updated: Updated: January 28, 2021 18:21 IST Some artistes are broadcasting from home. Others are inviting small audiences home. And one has made a museum home Share Article Neelam Mansingh created a new solo-actor play, Black Box Some artistes are broadcasting from home. Others are inviting small audiences home. And one has made a museum home Work from home is the new normal for many of us. For many artistes, however, home has always been a site for work and contemplation. Artistes who work out of home studios. Musicians who practise at home. Theatre practitioners who begin work on a play at home. For artistes, home is perhaps always an in-between space, a reconciliation between private and public life. ....
3249 Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry When will anyone want to be in a dark room full of strangers again, I ask myself over and over again. Theatres are shut, time seems frozen and tomorrow is a distant dream. I recall the story of Dalai Lama being asked if he would like to be born again despite the fact that the world will not get better. He answered: “If I could be useful, then I would like to be born again.” Maya Krishna Rao’s ‘Paru’ is a ‘nonsensical take’ on the news around Covid In violent times, the notion of usefulness is radical. Can art be useful? Art sometimes, I feel, is an extravagant and exquisite waste of time and a world complete by itself. Yet, the irony is that art is useful in a deep and enduring way. Poet Joseph Brondsky describes art as the oxygen that might arrive when the last breath has been expended. ....