Beyond the page

24th-25th July 2015 (Friday-Saturday)

For two days here at the Centre, there was a healthy discussion of all things books and literature, as those present devoured inputs from two interesting authors and their books- Ajay Joshi’s Pen…People…Performance and Amit Dasgupta’s Lessons from Ruslana.

Day one began with scholarly conversational tete a tete with the book’s editor Dr Triveni Mathur about all things theatre. The conversation was followed by the author sharing some significant experiences he has had in his theatre engagements across the globe, captured in an audio-visual presentation of spectacular and fascinating visuals. It was a revelation to hear and view the video clips about the theatre lovers in the remote village in Ninasam in Heggodu in Karnataka, the raw reality of Budhan theatre in Ahmedabad, the gigantic Narakasur festival in Goa, the impressive masks in Transfiguration in France, Delirium’s Of Paper in Spain- Chile and Aninals in Poland and many more. The evening was a marvelous combination of ‘a passionate professional,’ as Dr Mathur so aptly put it.

The next evening, we had Amit Dasgupta, a very eloquent speaker with a chaste diction and free flow of choice words. The author deftly touched upon some familiar and some not so familiar books and fine quotes from therein. He also covered diverse subjects from, art, literature, history to philosophy pertaining to the theme of his book, namely the tragic end
of the young upcoming fashion model Ruslana in the prime of her youth and at the height of her fame as a fashion model.

There was clarity in Mr. Dasgupta’s words and the way he set to reach out to those present. His stress on ‘deviant thinking’ of strong personalities who brave to swim againt the tide of traditional mind set to achieve their goal in life. His quote “Why we do what we do” also set me towards self retrospection. Finally the requirement for “passion, dispassion and compassion” in whatever we do, drove home the point of Amitji’s practical philosophy emphatically.

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