PHILOMEL CANTUS

Black is the colour of my soul Ragged and stinky down each bole. Harbour and home to passions ferine Archive of trecherous tales mine. Within this outward garb of smile Hid envy, hatred and instincts vile. Played pristine man everywhere And bore betrayal in every glare. Fresh flesh muddled in fancies That sucked the vessel dry like fleas. And as flesh journeyed in rapture, Frail soul frenzied in torture. Now I bluff like an actor miscast: Throbbing youth's arrogance wouldn't last.

To rewrite Shakespeare is a fool's affair… And I became that fool... A Cultural adaptation of the Famous COURT SCENE in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE... Shylock became Shankaran, Antonio became Thommen, Bassanio became Philipose, Balthazar became Radhakrishnan and even the Pound of Flesh was not relived of this Violence... When they told me to put the Shakespearian story into an Indian context, I was doubtful at first.  But that’s one good thing about the life at St. Berchmans College (Autonomous), Changanassery. You always get to do the things that most frightens you. For those who are interested in reading the Script of the play, here is the link: https://mybigscream.blogspot.in/2016/12/and-so-it-was-in-east.html Here you can watch my play:

It started out as a humble venture... I wrote a Play about the life of the famous Bengali writer MAHASWETA DEVI.... a blend of facts and fiction... At the seminar "REMEMBERING MAHASWETA DEVI" organized by the English Literary Association of St. Berchmans College, Changanassery, I Staged my play... It can not be called a Drama, for there is nothing dramatic in it. The Characters come and go. Nothing really happens. One is reminded of Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’. But when the curtain falls everyone will be in love with Bengal’s Glorious Mother. This was the least I could do for the one writer who tore my Self apart through her words. After the play our Prof. Raju Sebastian got on the stage and said: “I’ve been teaching at SB for over 20 yrs. I've seen students writing Malayalam plays and staging them. But for the first time in the history of SB, a student wrote a new English Play and the 3rd yr Literature students staged it wonderfully... Terrific....

Now don't tell me that there isn't such a thing called an ugly person. There is. I know because I am one. And there are several others and some worse than these others. When I say Ugly, please bear it in your mind that I am speaking in particular about what appears to one's eyes. I know what you're thinking now. You've probably reached the conclusion that I have in me what experts refer to as an inferiority complex. Well, you guessed right. But Is it not the natural state of us all - being inferior to someone in one way or the other. Is it not the reason behind our never ending struggle to prove ourselves superior? Is it not the guiding force behind our selecting a peer group that wouldn't outsmart us. Isn't this what strengthens you to break precious bonds for your personal mileage? We all suffer from this fear of being Inferior. But why all this trouble? Can't we just accept the way things are...?  Now what do you think would be the reason behi...