THE ACTOR

I wonder why I never pursued acting as a career! Maybe my uneven teeth did not support me to be a chocolate protagonist! A villain’s act would not have suited on my clean face as all villains had rough edges in those days! During the school days, I acted in the main role in the Annual Function English Plays. It was a great experience to stage English Plays in the rustic heartland of North India. The play would have to be staged for 40 minutes and right in the middle of 2 hour function when the patriotic songs just got over. The incentive for audience to stay after the play would be electrifying “Gidda & Bhangra” dance performance by boys and girls troupe.

Each year, the dance troupe girls would tease the drama company as they went up the stage to do their act. Their remarks about the no -octane drama would push the chemistry inside the actors who had to capture the stage for those 40 minutes and stir emotions in the audience heart! In the Class IXth Annual Function, I went onto play the role of a 60 year old rich Miser (with a lot of powder on my head!) who walks away with the girl his own son wanted to marry. The play and its act got many accolades. With trembling hands, I held the girl’s hand (even as some in the crowd whistled and commented) and walked off the stage. It was overall a great experience and the Deputy Collector of the City came up the stage to accolade the act.

As we came down, the lead girl of the dance troupe again teased the actress for having finalized her beau! With tears flowing down her cheek, she just melted into the crowd. I gave the lead girl a terse look and walked away. Incidentally, she was my classmate too.

The school reopened and came the Valentine Day. Rohtak, those days was a town which had still not scented Delhi. A new card shop had opened in town but most of its products were out of our pocket’s reach. There was no pocket money and we had no places to keep the cards. We would window shop from the pavement in front even as its owners would be handling the students from the Medical School who had deeper pockets and closer to their professional as well as personal accomplishment.

On the Valentine Day, the science Class was in progress when the peon came with a pink card envelope in his hand. The card must have priced a bomb! He came in side and handed over the card to the lady teacher. She lifted her eyes and looked at the lead girl. Her face went pale even as she got up and took the card from the teacher. All eyes were now on her even as the teacher tried to bring back the attention to the black board. Pink card had already captured the imagination of the class. She lifted her head and gave an ashen look across the class. Soon enough, the bell sounded the end of the class and the silence said it all as she walked up with the teacher to the Principal Office for a possible forensics. Within no time the pink card was the talk of the school. No one was pin pointed from the school for having sent the card and the girl displayed great maturity in handling the situation.

 She dived into her own shell and did not reveal the name on the card (maybe there wasn’t one!). It was the beginning of a new turn for our school life. The cards gradually started appearing everywhere from schools bags to desks and to home deliveries through post. The recipients’, though disturbed initially, but started to enjoy the attention that they were receiving. The names refused to get divulged. The long letters, which some lucky ones would get earlier, were now converted to glossy English sentences or short poems. The hand writings could not be interpreted as minimal words were inked on these communiqués! The card shop owners held the sales secret closest to their hearts. No one was able to crack the codes.

The walk down the stairs after the play and the teaser had broken the barrier. The impact of this act was such that our class became an All-Boys Class after Class Xth and all the girls moved to the adjacent Girls College. We were simply aghast in the beginning and became the talk of the School. The actor in me came out with more emotions and the central role was mine for taking till the school life got over.

I did not raise the actor inside me when I went to the Military Academy though I did join the Dramatics Club. We did a 3 Act Play in the Academy with the training officers and their ladies playing the central artistes. The side kick role was charming but the actor in me continued to hibernate.

The era of chocolate heroes also gradually faded away within the next 2 decades or so. These days, the movies do not push romantic run around the trees and the backdrop of rose gardens or mustard fields. The tales are more about real life heroes who have a proven record. Romance seems to have taken a back seat in the era of Smart Phone Apps. There are no letters and e-cards have also decided to wither away. Websites offer single photos with crafted sentences and they are the ones which are now in vogue. Video calls have reduced the gaps further. The generation coming up now seems to be lost in a world with head phones in their ears and bespectacled eyes glued to their screens. Short videos and films generate much attention as majority do not have the time to read books or sit through lengthy movies.

The span of concentration is limited and everyone seems to be achieving 100% efficiency like the marks in the board examinations! Those who are left behind find their destinations as alternate careers. In all, the World is thriving amidst a chaos all around. The actor who once had to learn the lines and carefully trudge on the stage from one end to the other taking strategic pauses under the microphones seems to be a forgotten art with embedded microphones all over. Keyboard is a constant friend with its many versions. Email, WhatsApp, Telegrams, Facebook et. al. are the tools for establishing connections and discovering the lost World. The actor inside continues to come out as connections re-kindle. The emotions shift to the other side and the acting begins on this side! A trend which is dangerous and disturbing as family systems lose their roots. This space needs to be watched out with utmost care and compassion.

Keep the actor alive and active to pump up the adrenaline, but do not let the rush create the fissures. The message must go and connection must be established with all, but with a definite caveat- the spaces need to be respected.