"Call me a Joker, Call me a fool
Right at this moment, I'm totally cool."
- Billy Joel (American Pianist, Singer, Song writer)

It wasn't just another performance for sure. It definitely was
special; it was atypical and long awaited now. NGO performances at
Yours Truly (YT) have always been looked forward to, and more so now
as it was the first time for most of us. The mood was eccentric. The
actors, painted in red and blue. With spirits held high and immense
zest in mind, off set the bunch of enthusiasts to bring a cheer and
a smile.

The last few rays of twilight were
fading when we arrived at the venue. This was a small by-lane on the
Sarjapur road, a lane that hardly gets noticed by the hundreds of
commuters who pass there each day. There was a cluster of huts
erected by plastic sheets to shelter a group of laborers. Our
audience for the evening was these construction workers and their
children. These laborers are migrants from other cities settled here
for their basic food and shelter. There were around hundred kids
gathered in a common area amidst the huts, neatly lined up and all
excited about watching a play for the first time ever in their
lives. It was almost dark when we gathered, there was no light
except for a doom of fire lit by a few dry sticks lying around, that
was sure to exhaust in a couple of minutes. But nothing could behold
the optimism among the actors to perform and lighten up the place
that evening. While the one single bulb that was arranged for the
performance got ready, the playback actors took stage in front of
the lighting yellow fire and the expectant little faces that sat
behind it. They went on a roll with the spontaneous fluids followed
by a few songs and rhymes to keep the kids active.
Soon the light was on. The camera in
place and the stage was a little stony front yard of one of those
huts. The play was a complete entertainment for the kids; it was a
story of a group of jokers from joker land who are happy and
peaceful in their village. One fine morning, they spot an alien
belonging in their space. An underwear that gets dropped by the
superman who visits them. They then decide to go in search of their
god to whom it belongs. The play then steers through how the jokers
reach the city and get tolled by the difficulties of traffic,
pollution, poverty and deforestation there. It was a perfect mélange
of comedy with a serious message about the urban difficulties. The
jokers finally get dejected with their miseries in the city and
decide to return to their own sweet joker land, the utopian land
sans poverty and distress with only loads of happiness song and
dance. That moment just stuck the chord with the audience. We could
see the adults look at each other, imagining themselves in a similar
situation, questioning if they were really being the jokers there?
The mood then changed with the typical happy ending while our
superman still in search of the underwear finds it and leaves the
place with his power and prejudice regained.
The giggling faces and clapping hands
never stopped, it seemed like the play just lasted forever. It was
an experience, performing in a new environment for a deserving
audience and also tapping our own potentials for it. We decided to
end on a cheerful note by distributing the dinner prepared for the
children by the volunteers of `breakfast4you' program. These
volunteers cook food every Sunday and provide the children at the
labor camp a satisfying meal at least once a week. The effort from
YT was a helping hand to support the cause and cheer up the under
privileged tiny souls who are going through the toughest childhood
for no fault of theirs.
It was almost 8 0'clock when we winded up
for the day. The actors quickly met to collect reactions from each
other. There were mixed emotions showing up. Ranji then said `This
is where the heart of true theatre is, neither in the auditoriums
nor in the amphitheatres.' I could sense the unsaid `yes' in all the
faces around me, tired but triumphant.

- Sripriya Padmanabhan