alyque padamsee

Sometimes I walk down the aisle of a bookstore and stumble upon a book that draws me in…once I open it, I just can’t keep it back!

Maybe it was the bearded gentleman on the cover with a welcoming smile or the outright audacious title or the index. Yes, it was the index that stirred something in me. I thought this man must be crazy! But that’s how I stumbled upon “Let me hijack your mind” at Sapna book house on a chilly Bangalore evening last winter.

Very unusual…no? Oh! Wait, there’s more.

The book was not easy to read because it made me feel so uncomfortable! Though I felt deeply inspired by Alyque Padamsee‘s extraordinary contributions in so many domains, especially advertising and theatre. The ideas, arguments and questions being asked to me in the book shook my intellectual foundation of everything all at once!

Still, this ended up being my most highlighted, scribbled-on-the-margins, messy doodled book.

Well, Life sent me a reward when I found out that Vandana Saxena Poria, the coauthor would be speaking in Bangalore so I made sure I attended it. She was a bundle of energy, welcoming and had so much to share. When I went up to her after the talk…we vibed instantly! I did this interview soon after and I am excited to share it with you. Please, enjoy our conversation.

Check out the book “Let me hijack your mind: Restart Your Life with Freedom”: https://amzn.to/3TqQo1w 

Connect with Vandana:

LinkedIn: Vandana Saxena Poria

Website: vandanasaxenaporia.com

The famous Alyque Padamsee said that Mahesh Dattani "...had given 60 million English-speaking Indians an identity."

Padamsee's trenchant comment holds much in store.

Most Indians who were educated in English became—through literature mostly—comfortable in our bilingual skin; multilingual, even. And Indian at heart.

In India, English is not merely a functional tool for administration and management for many. It is lingua franca for a number of urban Indians...a first language, while the mother tongue remains the language in which we best express our emotions.

But because entertainment, such as theatre, is an emotional vector, Indian languages flourished as the principle vehicles for stories.

Sometime in the 70s, Mahesh marvelled as a Prithvi Theatre audience connected easily,  sensitively—and vocally—with a regional language play. Mahesh Dattani's audiences had connected with his  productions...but only intellectually, not with the emotion and feeling they reserved for the language in which they expressed happiness and pain.

So Mahesh started to write plays. He writes in English and he tells urban Indian tales. And thus, he brought English-speaking India into the English language theatre 2.0—with neither artifice nor pretension nor the glorification of mediocre lives. Mahesh's characters are as real as your beloved though flawed uncle.

Not since RK Narayan... and all that.

And none, to our knowledge that have followed in as prolific and as competent a manner.

Mahesh Dattani's plays have been published as books and are widely available.

These are links to some of his more recent works. Of these, A LITTLE DRAPE OF HEAVEN in currently playing online. Tickets:

A LITTLE DRAPE OF HEAVEN
https://insider.in/a-little-drape-of-heaven-jan6-2022/event

MAHESH DATTANI'S PRODUCTIONS:

Thus Spake Shoorpanakha, So Said Shakuni 

Watch: https://youtu.be/tMHRRrnG8Vk

The Big Fat City

Watch: https://youtu.be/0_Vc3rxKqVI

Park

Watch: https://youtu.be/5_WjYPm25_M

Do The Needful

Watch: https://youtu.be/hvxZK6mM9AE

(Episode cover photo of Mahesh Dattani: Rahul Valmiki)

WHAT'S THAT WORD?! - "BREAK A LEG"
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in the segment titled "What's That Word?", or titled in whichever way Ramjee ruins the title.

If you have a word or phrase you would like to explore, join us live on the show. Reach  us by mail: theliterarycity@explocity.com or simply, tlc@explocity.com.
Or, you can visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bangaloreliterarysociety.
Or you can go to our Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/explocityblr/.
If your word or phrase is selected, we will call you.

Join our Facebook group, Bangalore Literary Society. It does not matter if you are not in Bangalore. This group is for anyone interested in language and words.

HELP EDUCATE A NEEDY CHILD
The Literary City encourages you to give to those children who struggle to get an education.  We ask you to contribute whatever you can to The Association of People with Disability. The link to donate is: https://www.apd-india.org/donations. Visit their site and take a look at the wonderful work they do and find it in your heart to, well, teach a child to fish.

On this episode, Cyrus is joined by close friend and veteran actor, casting director, newscaster and columnist Dolly Thakore. They talk about Dolly's new book 'Regrets, None', her amazing career and life, always wanting to be a broadcaster and becoming a newscaster with the BBC and how she got that job, loving the theatre and acting, how she started as a Casting Director, always taking the opportunities that came her way, how news broadcasting was different 45-50 years back when she was a newscaster, casting for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi back in the day, casting Amrish Puri for Indian Jones: Temple of Doom, and tons more. Dolly also talks about what made her move back to India from London, doing and loving theatre in London, Dolly's favourite plays from the last few years, her son Quasar Padamsee and his many amazing theatre productions, and more. Tune in for a very fun and candid conversation.

The book: https://www.amazon.in/Regrets-None-Dolly-Thakore-ebook/dp/B099NZF6PF/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Subscribe to our new YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmY4iMGgEa49b7-NH94p1BQ

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