MISS ORIGINALITY: THE PAST PACKS QUITE A PUNCH by Smriti Ranjan

Smriti is into the third year of her Engineering graduation; also a member of the English Team, Enginium. This is her first write-up on Freespeech. The second is being edited and will be out soon.


Fashion is a strange word. By fashion I mean not just the fashion of clothes (which incidentally is a concept alien to me. My wardrobe has been in a state of inertia for quite some time now), but fashion in terms of trends, moods, styles governing every conceivable aspect of human life. It is strange, not because it is ‘strange’ strange, but because the more things seem to change the more they remain the same. Time, they say, goes round in cycles. It is a circle, not just a contiguous one but in fact a continuous one. If looked at with this perspective the past, present and the future are the same thing. Call it our love for compartmentalization that makes the three appear to be such different entities. It is like having the same pizza crust garnished with different toppings, where the crust and the crux is always the past. The past is the scaffolding, it is the buttress. And it will always pack quite a punch (heavier than the one Mohammad Ali landed on Joe Frazier, if you please).

It is not for nothing that you see remixes- from Lata Mangeskar’s songs to Shakespeare’s plays, reenactments- of past dictators’ lives to new boy bands trying to do the ‘Beatles’, re-stirring-of grandmas old recipes and pickles to history itself, to discussions about the relevance or non relevance of Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre and their ilk today, to researchers who spend their entire lives trying to disprove the theory of relativity to others who spend theirs trying to find new applications of Newton’s laws, to well this can go on. But the point is, be it philosophy or fashion (of clothes, that is) or music or food or just about anything under the sun, we simply don’t do things the way they were done in the past.

Everything ‘past’ has a certain magic, a halo of enigma, a tinge of mysticism, a certain permanence about it. From the Hippie culture and the sexual revolution and the Osho phenomenon, to the world wars and the Berlin wall and the rise and fall of communism, to Pink Floyd to Naxalbari and naxalites, to Indian democracy to American dominance, African emergence to Asian resurgence. Even the dictators seemed more bedazzling, more enigmatic. It is no wonder then that the present generation is on a perpetual borrowing mission, in various degrees of course. It is always on the lookout for new toppings to make things appear brand new or just trying to mix and match and repackage the earlier ones.

The past is more in our blood than we realize. And even if we do realize then we are busy coining up terms like ‘fashion cycle’ to make up for our lack of ideas, creativity, ingenuity and sincerity. Do not get fooled into believing terms like fashion cycle-they are all euphemisms for borrowings in various degrees. We cannot shake the past off. In this sense nothing we will ever create can be truly ‘original’ or no event that takes place can be treated as a stand alone, independent entity. For everything we do will be more deeply entrenched in the past than we can ever imagine.

The past is more present than the present itself; for it is the foundation that we stand on, it is the influence which guides us, the thoughts that make us, the music which satiates us, the enigma that bedazzles us, the tenderness which nurtures us. The past is the maker of our present and probably also our future. The past packs more than a punch.

Hamlet Meets Macbeth: All Are Invited

On the Joyful Occasion of Founder’s Day Celebrations
F.E.T-M.I.T.S. Presents

Hamlet Meets Macbeth: All is Well If Only It Ends Well
Date: January 23, 2008 Time: 3-5 p.m.


On Stage

Hamlet: Prerna
Macbeth: Sonam Gupta/Vani Kashyap
William Shakespeare: Trishla Ananya
Christopher Marlowe: Poorvi Gupta
Anchor 1: Snigdha
Anchor 2: Priyanka Dasgupta
Duncan : Sonam Gupta
Claudius: Prerna

Off Stage

Writer: Giriraj Kiradoo
Directors : Sandhya, Giriraj Kiradoo
Assistant Director: Ritika
Costumes: Sandhya
Support: Irene Sarkar, Alpana Gupta, Ankit Gandhi, Rano Ringo

About the Play

Do you know that the greatest ever writer, as he is often called, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) never wrote an original script?! That he copied and lifted material for his great plays from all possible sources? That he had a rival in Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) whose baffling talent, originality and popularity gave William sleepless nights as he struggled to find one smash-hit of a play? That our greatest ever author who came from the small countryside of Stratford-at-Avon didn’t hesitate in lifting from his smart, sophisticated and university-educated rival even! Marlowe was killed in a brawl at a tavern when he was only 29. By then he had already authored three great and immensely popular plays including Dr. Faustus, his best by far. This play deals with a scholar’s pact with the devil. Dr. Faustus, the scholar, gets all the powers in exchange of his soul that he sells to the devil. The famous line about Helen of Troy – is this the face that launched a thousand ships? - occurs in this play.

Back to Will, the source of his greatness is said to be in his tragedies, especially the four greatest ones- Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and King Lear. Three of them, save King Lear, has murderers as heroes. Let’s meet them one by one.


Hamlet

The young prince of Denmark returns to his homeland to find his father’s ghost paying him a visit during one of his sensational midnight rounds of the palace. Father Hamlet (they have a common name!) demands revenge. Actually, son Hamlet’s uncle Claudius had killed Father Hamlet when Son Hamlet was abroad. To make matters worse, Claudius married Father Hamlet’s wife, Gertrude. Hamlet, unlike strong bloodthirsty princes of his times, is not able to resolve his mind for revenge. Again, to make matters worst, he falls in love, with Ophelia whose mind and heart are both unreachable to him. Burden of revenge, guilt of mother’s deeds and unrequited love convert Hammy into the lovable, confused, mysteriously mad phenomena that he has remained ever since.

Hammy is famous for his delirious ‘to be or not to be’ speech and is considered to be the most refined and complex of the tragic quartet.

Before the play ends Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, and Ophelia all find the same fate: death/murder.

Sources of Hamlet: Ur-Hamlet possibly by Thomas Kyd (1558-1594) and The Spanish Tragedy definitely by Thomas Kyd

Macbeth

This committed and trusted soldier in service of Duncan, the King of Scotland, finds his head turned when three witches predict his destiny. They tell him that he’d be a king. Macbeth takes their words on face value and starts working extremely hard to prove the witches right. He’s helped by the ‘fourth witch’- Lady Macbeth who takes the prophecy also belonging to her- Lady Macbeth: the Queen of Scotland!

And he does become the king of Scotland killing Duncan. But as tragedies must end the Macbeth couple also dies.

Macbeth is known for the dagger scene in which a hallucinating Macbeth finds a flying dagger playing tricks upon him.

Sources of Macbeth: Macbeth of Scotland by Raphael Holinshed (? – 1580)

Othello

Othello – the ferocious, gallant moor – wins the heart of a girl all his opposite, Desdemona and they marry against her father’s wishes and under his curse: Othello, if she betrayed her father, no chance she’d spare you. Othello’s deputy, the smart and jealous antagonist Iago conspires Othello into mistrusting his loyal wife. Iago and Chance, lead Othello to kill Desdemona and himself but not before punishing the conspirator.

In modern times, Othello’s identity as a moor has evoked much debate over Shakespeare’s political correctness regarding racism (something he neither heard nor cared of).

Sources of Othello: Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi aka Cinthio

Now, just imagine what will follow if lovelorn and indecisive Hamlet happened to meet the sturdy and ambitious Macbeth? What if Shakespeare and Marlowe also joined the scene? Two rival authors and two rival characters (if the loads of academic research on comparing Hamlet and Macbeth stand any value at all) on one stage! Two competing writers and two incompetent murderers on one stage! And what if one of them is murdered?

Who? Who? Who?
By whom? By whom? By whom?

HMM gets the four on one stage and takes you to a journey inside the writers and characters, murderers and victims and amid the inevitable catastrophe and violence allows the comic relief to the audience.

In a world whose creativity is constantly being sucked by the readymade solutions on the World Wide Web, HMM is refreshingly ‘original’ though as we must have seen ‘originality’ lies in something subtler than mere content. Tulsidas used Valmiki’s Ramayana story but he made it his own in Ramcaritamanas and nobody would dare call Tulsidas a copycat! HMM is derivative and makes use of many sources including picking up a character, Dr. Moth, from the 1998-hepta-Oscar winning movie Shakespeare in Love. In one of the early scenes of the movie an inspiration-dried Shakespeare goes to Dr.Moth and seeks cure.

An Unborn Child's Witness: Aastha Arora on the Day Gas Tragedy Hit Bhopal

Many a times such incidents or I must say accidents occur which we can never forget and they form an inseparable part of our lives. With each passing moment the memory of that instance grows stronger and stronger. what I m going to tell u, is not my personal experience that is I have not experienced it but still it is related to my life.

You must have heard about the BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY which took place on the night of December 2,1984. It happened at Union Carbide-a chemical factory which used to manufacture carbyle pesticide using Methyl Isocynate (MIC). About 40 tonnes of MIC leaked into the atmosphere from the tank due to accidental entry of water into the tank which overheated the reaction mixture and exploded the tank. It killed about 5100 people(about 2600 due to direct exposure of MIC and 2500 due to after effects)

My parents, my brother and my uncles (mama and chacha) were there at that moment in the same area where this incident took place. Now you must be thinking that where was I???I was with God. Couldn't get it??? I wasn't born till that time.

I didn't even know about this. When I studied about this tragedy in class 6th,I used to think that how the people would have managed and I didn’t know why ,but very unusual questions used to disturb me.

I used to talk about this to my mother but she never told me anything because she knew that it would be very shocking for me. But one fine evening when I was on the playground and my mother was talking to our neighbor regarding this tragedy, I suddenly appeared unknowingly to her. I heard the whole incident.

My mother told but it was a fine day and my mama and my chacha had come to meet them. They were all having a great time when suddenly the gas leaked into the atmosphere. The air around was very irritating and people had difficulty to breathe in. They ran here and there. My family members also came out of the house and started moving out from that locality when my father realized that his brother was missing. He asked his brother-in-law (my mama) to take my mother and brother out of that area and he would go and find his brother by the time.

Obviously, my mom refused to do so, because where would they go at midnight and where will they find him (father).At that time their were even no mobile phones available and my mom was worried where will they find him but my father forced them to do so.

My mama, mumma and my brother started moving and my dad went to search for his brother. Now my mumma, brother and my mama were on a scooter when suddenly they met with a road accident, in which my Mom got her right hand fractured, her brother got an injury on his leg and my brother got his chin injured. Three of them injured, took shelter in a house in which the family members were extremely helpful. They provided them with first aid and asked them to stay there at night so that they can get some rest. It was very cold that night and that unknown family provided them (my family members) with new and clean beddings and took proper care of them.

My mother was much tensed about my father and his brother. My father was still in same area searching for his brother, when he found him hidden under some dry grass and straw (so that he could breathe since the gas being heavier remains in the upper atmosphere).

Now both of them (my mom and my dad) were far apart and both of them didn't know anything about each other. And guess what happened?? Fortunately and surprisingly, By God's Grace, my father took shelter in the same house. This was the most surprising event that took place that day. Because, otherwise, what could have happened that day, I still get my heartbeat faster when i think about this.

Then they came to Agra and underwent the treatment. My mama had infection in his lungs, mom got her right hand fractured, Father got his eyes infected and my brother got a few stitches on his chin.

After the treatment, my parents went back to Bhopal mainly to visit that family that helped them. They wanted to thank them. But there was a lock in that house. Then since my father has visited that house so many times but always has seen a lock there. The house is still there, but God knows where the family members are. Nobody could know who they were, and where they are now.

After listening to the whole incident I had tears in my eyes. I really thank God for everything he did and truly believe in my parent's saying-"THAT FAMILY WAS THE SAVIOUR SENT BY GOD!!!!!"

Rehearsal Photos: Hamlet Meets Macbeth

Actors Get the Script Changed - Hamlet Meets Macbeth: All is Well If Only It Ends Well

Characters

Hamlet
Macbeth
William Shakespeare
Christopher Marlowe and his Ghost



Prologue

Good noon ladies, and few, castaway men passing their days idly in this sleepy town of dire desert. I bringeth you a story of two competing playwrights and two incompetent murderers.

Two murderers, all unlike in killing,

In fair London, we lay our scene,

Where ancient blood thirst comes to new chilling,

Where characters make their authors unclean.

Where stealing makes authors great
And astrologers decide their fate
A pair of star-cross'd murderers threat their life
And with their sword bury the authors’ strife

Well, I shall not test thy patience; it’s the story of Will Shakespeare who copied and borrowed his way to greatness, also of Christopher Marlowe who paid the grave cost of this greatness by often finding his ideas lifted, of Hamlet, the silly prince of Denmark who remembers none but an odd girl out and Macbeth the foolhardy general who asks the million penny question: Why Willy makes all of us murderers?

I promise one thing:

Never was told a story of more funny woe
Than of our Shakespeare and his Marlowe

Scene: A Theatre Festival
Time: Evening
(Hamlet is all lost and wandering around when Macbeth enters the scene)

Hamlet: Ophelia, Ophelia, Ophelia, my love, where art thou?

Macbeth: Art thou a man? Your father’s killed; your mother has become your auntie and you idiot…. Ophelia, Ophelia….

Hamlet: Who art thou? Thou hast no idea: greater the confusion greater the love. Ophelia, Oh Ophelia…….I am trapped by a great love, you dark moor.

Macbeth: Don’t insult my race, mind thy own. I am no moor….I am Macbeth……. the Great Soldier.

Hamlet: The Great Murderer!

Macbeth: Hold your tongue or lose it.

Hamlet: Ophelia, Ophelia, Ophelia……….

Macbeth: Who is this girl?

Hamlet: I don’t know.

Macbeth: Then why do you keep calling her. Ophelia, Ophelia…….?

Hamlet: Coz Will has asked me to.

Macbeth: Who is Will?

Hamlet: Will is nobody. He is a drunk. He is a poet. He is a copycat.

Macbeth: Got it, you mean William Shakespeare.

Hamlet: Yes, my lord.

Macbeth: I am also looking for that lunatic. I am a bit confused meself; just on the
highway I met 3 witches. They said I’ll be a king. Will wants me to be a king, why?

Hamlet: So that you can give him a noble prize; you know nobody gives him any prizes.

Macbeth: But, how do I become a king?

Hamlet: Ask thy wife. She is a kingmaker.

Macbeth: Idiot, I call her kingfisher not kingmaker.

Hamlet: Whatever, to murder or not to murder; that is the question.

Macbeth: That reminds me: Why Will makes all of us murderers?

Hamlet: We kill, to make him great. We sin, to make him great. We cry, to make him great. We suffer, to make him great.

Macbeth: Sadist! Damn sadist! If kill, we should, why not him? If suffer, we should, why shouldn’t he?

(Enters William Shakespeare, followed unknowingly by Christopher Marlowe)

Will: Freeze!

(Macbeth and Hamlet freeze)

Will: Well, told you, all the world is a stage. And thou art my characters. Characters never understand me. They don’t know how damn difficult a job it’s to create such weird people like Macky and Hammy.


Kit: Very difficult indeed, especially when they are not yours. By the way, from where have you lifted this time? I never wrote Hamlet or Macbeth. And Will, You have to stop it now; you have to. Dr. Moth, the great Psychiatrist and astrologer (Will: You also go to him?) has warned I’ll die soon, in a fight, in a tavern. I also need to be great. I also need to be immortal.

Will: You are, already. Great, and immortal, Kit. Go and drink like a killer. Death is tomorrow and drink is today. Murder is everyday. (Kit moving as if to exit). By the way, before you go and get drunk, did Dr. Moth tell you the name of the man who’d kill you? I see a plot coming up!

Kit: Jove! I wish I knew. I could write a tragedy on my own murder. The Strange and Unforgettably Lamentable Tragedy of Christopher Marlowe! (Aside- Will: Leave that to me!) By the way, ‘your’ characters are freezing, Will. (Will looks around at Macky and Hammy: Really?) Good bye and may Aphrodite give thee some pains and brains. Catchy line though: murder is everyday.

Will: Go and may Aphrodite let you die poetically. And you – children of imagination but not mine, come back to life, thy foster father calls you. (Changing the tone) We have shows tomorrow.

(Kit exits)

Hamlet: Ophelia, Ophelia……….

Macbeth (In a murderous frenzy): Oh ghostly dagger! Where art thou? I’ll murder the King and become a king myself. I know I’ll suffer, I know I’ll have to make Will great.

Will: Calm, my hero, calm. I’ll take the shame off you. I’m writing a murderer even greater than you…..he’ll kill his wife……Othello!

Macbeth: Will, before I forget again, first answer this million penny question: why do you make all of us murderers?

Hamlet: I also have some questions: She loves me or she loves me not. Why did my uncle Claudius kill my papa? Should I kill him or kill him not ? Should I kill myself or kill me not? To be mad or not to be?

Will: Friends, I make all of you murderers coz it clicks, tragedy clicks. I wrote comedies I earned money. I created you, it fetched me greatness.

M/H: What if we kill you? Will it not make us great? We also need to be great.
(A dagger appears in Macbeth’s hands)

Will: Save me, Kit and all those who conspired that I write such grave tragedies….Sophocles save me……..Euripides save me………Thomas Kyd save me…Kit save me…………save me……

(Enters the ghost of Kit Marlowe)

Kit: Leave him brothers, he was damn right. And more importantly Dr. Moth too. Death may be tomorrow but Murder is everyday. I got killed by somebody at a tavern.

Hamlet: Great light has gone out of our lives!

Macbeth: A great loss to theatre and playwriting.

Shakespeare: Even greater loss to me! (Sighs)

Kit: But, leave him brothers. He will make you great anyways. I shall live in him and he in both of you. Then, forget murders, let’s celebrate life. Hamlet and Macbeth, shall I call you Macky and Hammy, brothers, come, lets celebrate.

(The four make a semicircle and are engrossed in friendly celebration)

All Four: For life…..for drama that makes murderers lovable.

Kit: Coming back here, I saw the face of my Helen, the infamous Helen of Troy flashing in sky: Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?

Will: Wonderful, repeat the line…..is this the face…….thanks Kit.

Will (Steps forward): All thy world is a court, it punishes. Our theatre is a tavern, it punishes not. Kill or be killed. Write or be written. Inspire or get inspired (Kit: It means Copy or get Copied).

All Four: That is the question.

Hamlet: Ophelia, Ophelia…..

Macbeth: Where’s old Duncan, the king of Scotland? I am sorry. I won’t kill you.

(Exit Macbeth)

Hamlet: Uncle Claudius, give me my Ophelia and my senses back….I’ll kill you not…nor myself…..

(Exit Hamlet)

Kit: Keep them on track, Will. They have to kill.

Will: They’ll resume but for this fleeting while let their spirits roam free. You tell me…how it is to be a ghost? I am writing a ghost father for Hamlet.

Kit: You’ll never change. Well, a ghost is a dead playwright whose works are lifted by you.

Will: All is well that ends well.

(Both laugh. Arm-in –arm exit Kit and Will)

Epilogue

Remember ladies and few gentlemen: Life is Today, Death is Tomorrow. But Murder is Everyday.

(Shouts of Duncan and Claudius being killed from offstage. Duncan: Leave me Macbeth, I am your king. Claudius: Leave me, I am your uncle and father too)

Blocking for Hamlet Meets Macbeth: Are you a lady, Mr. Kent?

Well, we are into it.

The young lot from junior classes is shaping up really well, the actors have seen the 1998-hepta-Oscar-winner Shakespeare in Love and we have even done some graphics (have a look at http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dggt3x9q_8f4q343dj) to get our stage movements correct. In Shakespeare in Love, Ned Alleyn (Ben Afleck), the star actor of The Chamberlain's Men, irritated by the wrong steps of Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) disguised as Kent (in the pic above), bursts, "Gentlemen upstage, Ladies downstage. Are you a lady, Mr. Kent?".

Here in our little play Macbeth, Hamlet, Shakespeare and Marlowe are all played by young women! (Reminder: Women were not allowed to be in theatre in Shakespeare's times and all the great Shakespearean females were played by men!)

The Greatest New Year News: Human Beings Are Simply Incapable of Killing Time! Says Amrita’s First in 2008

Wasting time....a hitch??

It’s new year. A time to revisit shortcomings. And wasting time seems to top the list by a substantial part of the lot. Is it worth fretting on?

They say,‘half my time is wasted in waiting for the bus/train/auto rickshaw’…this goes well for people also. I mean, don’t we find ourselves ‘killing time’ while waiting for somebody or the other, every often? And to add to the fun, Itoo was sitting on a bench on the railway platform in Delhi waiting for my train to arrive with another couple of hours on my hand .In other words, Iwas killing time when I decided to dissect this lavishly used cliché.

Let’s give it a thought. Can human beings, equipped with the prized brain, actually ever kill time, doing nothing? Is the larger- than- life size human mind ever out of work? How far are we correct to say that we kill time, as long as we are in our senses?? The flow of thoughts is an involuntary action of human mind. Ok, its correct that when we talk of doing something we understandably mean doing something productive that can lead to an affirmative contribution to our way of going about in life. But how do we explain this.

Doesn’t a writer keep hunting for such idle times when he can help his mind to maneuver ideas to write about. The true treasure of a poet is his free, solitary time!

When he can nurture his abstract and intangible ideas and find words for them in form of his poetry. And its not just the people with an artistic bend, don’t scientists and researchers sail in the same boat? Every discovery of today is the end product of profound and unconditional thinking undergone in free or so called ‘uselessly wasted time’ of past. Ideas are not slaves to deliberately saved ‘right time’ or ‘right place’ fort hat matter. Wasn’t Newton leisurely sitting under the straggly branched tree, when the falling apple popped in his mind, the historic idea of the Law of Gravitation? Past remains witness that ideas leading to greatest of discoveries were seeded in idle minds and in places as mundane as a bathroom (!!!), leave aside bus stands, railway platforms ,the sides of a road or even one’s home.

And this was indeed an exact hit in the head of the nail. Thanks to Aamir Khan for his flick Taare Zameen Par wherein he has rightly acknowledged the virtue of seamless imagination and unconditional thoughts through the fantasies of a little boy.

So…what say? Sitting idle and thinking is futile? Unyielding? A waste of time and intellect?…Well, all I know is: “not all who wander are lost!!

Hamlet Meets Macbeth: A Happy Ending by Giriraj Kiradoo

This short play was written because I couldn't find a decent script anywhere- in my humble library, in libraries around and on the world wide web which seems to have everything only till the moment you need something really good. So I had to write. Its scheduled to be staged on 23rd of January during the Foundation Day celebrations. No permissions are required to stage it anywhere, anytime. Its copy-left material.

Characters

Hamlet
Macbeth
William Shakespeare
Christopher Marlowe


Scene: A Theatre Festival
Time: Evening

(Hamlet is all lost and wandering around when Macbeth enters the scene)



Hamlet: Ophelia, Ophelia, Ophelia, my love where art thou?

Macbeth: Art thou a man? Your father’s killed; your mom has become your auntie,
and you idiot.. Ophelia, Ophelia….

Hamlet: Who art thou? Thou hast no idea: greater the confusion greater the love. Ophelia, Oh Ophelia…….I am trapped by a great love, you moor.

Macbeth: Don’t be racist, and anyways, it could be Othello – the new bloke - he could be a Moor , not I….I am Macbeth the Great Soldier.

Hamlet: The Great Murderer!

Macbeth: Hold your tongue or lose it.

Hamlet: Ophelia, Ophelia, Ophelia……….

Macbeth: Who is this girl?

Hamlet: I don’t know.

Macbeth: Then why do you keep calling her. Ophelia, Ophelia…….?

Hamlet: Coz Will has asked me to.

Macbeth: Who is Will?

Hamlet: Will is nobody. He is a drunk. He is a poet. He is a copycat.

Macbeth: Got it, you mean Will Shakespeare.
Hamlet: Yes, my lord.

Macbeth: I am also looking for that lunatic. I am a bit confused myself; just on the
highway I met 3 witches. They said I’ll be a king. Will wants me to be a king, why?

Hamlet: So that you can give him a noble prize; you know he hasn’t got a single prize.

Macbeth: How do I become a king?

Hamlet: Ask thy wife. She is a kingmaker.

Macbeth: Idiot I call her kingfisher not kingmaker.

Hamlet: To murder or not to murder; that is the question.

Macbeth: Why Will makes all of us murderers?

Hamlet: We kill, to make him great. We sin, to make him great. We cry, to make him great. We suffer, to make him great.

Macbeth: Sadist! Damn sadist! If kill, we should, why not him? If suffer, we should, why shouldn’t he?

(Enters William Shakespeare)

Will: Freeze.

(Both Macbeth and Hamlet freeze)

Will: Well, told you, all the world is a stage. And thou art my characters, dears. Characters never understand me. They don’t know how damn difficult a job it’s to create such weird people like Macky and Hammy.

(Enters Kit Marlowe)

Kit: Very difficult indeed, specially when they are not yours. You have to stop it now; Will, you have to. Dr. Moth, our common Psychiatrist-cum-astrologer has warned I’ll die soon, in a brawl, in a tavern. I also need to be great. I also need to be immortal.

Will: You are, already. Great, and immortal, Kit. Go and drink to your fill. Death is tomorrow and drink is today. Murder is everyday. Kit, before you go and get drunk, did Dr. Moth tell you the name of the man who’d kill you? I see a plot coming up!

Kit: Jove! I wish I knew. I could write a tragedy on my own murder. The Strange and Unforgettably Lamentable Tragedy of Kit Marlowe! By the way, ‘your’ characters are freezing, Will. Good bye and may Aphrodite give thee some pains and brains. Catchy line though: murder is everyday.

Will: Go and die poetically. And you – off springs of someone else’s imagination, come back to life, thy foster father calleth you. We have shows tomorrow.

Hamlet: Ophelia, Ophelia……….

Macbeth: Oh ghostly dagger! Where art thou? I’ll murder the King and become a king myself. I know I’ll suffer, I know I’ll make Will great.

Will: Calm, my hero, calm. I’ll take the shame off you. I’m writing a murderer even bigger than you…..he’ll kill his wife……Othello!

Macbeth: Will, it’s a million penny question: why do you make all of us murderers?

Hamlet: I also have some questions: She loves me or she loves me not. Why did my uncle Claudius kill my papa? Should I kill him or kill him not ? Should I kill myself or kill me not? Have I got something to do with Oedipus? To be mad or not to be?

Will: Coz it clicks, tragedy clicks. I wrote comedies I earned money. I created you, it fetched me greatness.

M/H: What if we kill you? Will it make us great?
(A dagger appears in Macbeth’s hands)

Will: Save me, Kit and all those who inspired me to write such grave tragedies….Sophocles save me……..

(Enters Kit Marlowe)

Kit: You were damn right. Death is tomorrow. Murder is everyday. I killed somebody at a tavern. Let’s celebrate life. Hamlet and Macbeth, shall I call them Macky and Hammy, brethren, come here, lets celebrate. Coming back here, I saw face of Helen of Troy flashing in sky: Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?

Will: Wonderful, repeat the line…..Is this the face…….thanks Kit.

(All four sit down and celebrate)

All Four: For life…..for drama that makes murderers lovable.

Will: All thy world is a court, it punishes, our theatre is a tavern, it punishes not. Kill or be killed. Write or be written. Inspire or get inspired (Kit: It means Copy or get Copied).

All Four: That is the question.

(Curtain Falls)

Ian McEwan in Jaipur? : Its Jaipur Literature Festival Season

Since 2005, JLF is one of the most significant events in India's literary calendar. More about the festival and this year's programme is here

India's biggest and best ever festival of literature. This year starring: Ian McEwen, Gore Vidal, Manil Suri, John Berendt, UR Ananthamurthy, Anoushka Shankar, Aamir Khan, William Dalrymple, Aparna Sen, Siddarth Dhanvant Shanghvi, Christopher Hampton, Paban Das Baul, Paul Zacharia, Indra Sinha, Susheela Raman, Dev Anand, Kamila Shamsie, Mamhood Farooqi, Jeet Thayil, Uday Prakash, Donna Tartt, Himanshu Joshi, Anita Nair, Namita Devidayal, Nayantara Sahgal, Chitra Mudgal and Tishani Doshi.

Special for MITSIANS

Arjun Deo Charan and Giriraj Kiradoo

Arjun Deo Charan explores Rajasthani poetry with Giriraj Kiradoo

THURS, 24th Dec. 2007 14:00 p.m.

Venue: Diggi Palace, SMS Hospital Rd, Jaipur

Siyahi's Translating Bharat : Language, Globalisation and the Right to be Read (Its in Jaipur!)

Note: Yours truly is aboard Siyahi as a Translator/Consultant. For detailed programme and other things visit Siyahi's website or write to mitakapur@siyahi.in/mita.kapur@gmail.com.



With India rising as an economic power, our diverse literary and cultural traditions are receiving the world's attention. Translations, as an act of literary preservation, are becoming increasingly significant in a globalized world. Indian languages and literatures are rapidly adapting to the critical cultural changes across the nation. There is an urgent need to cross-fertilize ideas, exchanges and translations between language groups, national and international. The oral, pictorial and scripted traditions, which constitute the rich history of Indian literature, need to be conserved and perpetuated with passion and professionalism.



Bharatiya Anuvad Parishad is a voluntary society formed in 1964 by Dr. Gargi Gupta. The parishad endeavors to master the art of translations by bridging the gap between English, Hindi and Bhasa languages, using Hindi as a bridge, and also caters to the growing need for an Indian linguistic identity apart from English. It has been able to do so by providing a platform for translators from different regional streams from all the major languages by being associated with universities, institutions and private organizations.



The conference, Translating Bharat : Language, Globalization and the Right to be Read, is an effort by Siyahi to provide an interactive space for creating synergies to help writers, translators and publishers to understand core issues and work towards creating bonds which will help them benefit from each other's experiences and understanding. The Indian economy is reaching out to the world. Translating Bharat is a small step in presenting the diversity of Indian literature by bringing together authors, poets, translators and publishers, from Bharat that is India

itizn't a nyoo year post; and itizn't an editorial as well

Freespeech enters its second calendar year; 2008 has indeed arrived- classes have resumed, campus is getting busier every minute and top-up coupons are easily available again.


Will it be yet another year, like the previous one(s)? The world doesn't change as indifferently as a digit or two in a year's citation. It remains very much the same; cold is as chillier, Mody is as isolated and far-off, studies as imposing and chances of an escape as rare as they always have been. Even, a New Year eve replays the last New Year’s Eve! The same way of going about and through it!

And Freespeech still doesn't get more than 2 visitors a day; and Amrita Sharma is still the only regular student contributor. Before you conclude that this party-spoiler sameness episode should be shown the way, let me wish some genuine newness for you and an epic readership for Freespeech in 2008.