Gauraiya

'Gauraiya' - a baby female sparrow sitting on the bulb wire at a tea stall
near Jodhpur, Jan 2011. Image (C) Aparna Mudi

A long time ago I and Shreyas went for a play - Swanand Kirkire's award winning  'Aao Saathi Sapna Dekhen'. A musical/lyrical/comic rendition of a common love story which isn't so common. A claim a lot of stories make, but fail to do. Aao Saathi... however was different. It was simplistic, with inspirations from here and there, the songs were beautiful and however much I waited for the cliches, they came as in all romances, but they were put beautifully. Never for one moment did you feel the director has lost touch with the pace of the drama.

Which is what stands out in theater. You know it can take you on a emotional ride as the director wants you to. Its happening live. You dont need filming techniques to capture the audience. The imagination flows as it progresses. And theater has repeat value. A story once told will be told again in the same format, but each time it has the potential to be better and change within itself. And Aao Saathi... does just that. In its dark and dreamy sequences it makes the audience stay entwined with the story line, yet not losing the romantic colored stance of it.

Aao saathi was refreshing. Not very serious, but not complete mindless comedy either, the play takes on all the love stories ever heard. It is set in Delhi 6, and with its dreamy sequences of ordinary love stories to destiny taking it over to a darker shade, combined with the energy and pace of the play makes it tick. The young and extremely talented Sneha Khanwalkar has composed the music, who is making waves with her music direction in bollywood these days (especially with Gangs of Wasseypur being my recent favorite) which is set to Kirkire's fantabulous lyrics. 

Why I wrote this piece so long after I saw the play? I was sifting through my old pictures and saw this photograph of the baby sparrow - Gauraiya. Gauraiya and Baiju's story - Aao Saathi Sapna Dekhen, retains its innocence and dwells in my mind even so long after I watched it, in times when memories have become short, and nothing lasts, yet Aao Saathi... did. It only proves the genius of the story teller.

Now that the theater season is back, I shall be waiting for another show  in Delhi soon