“The trains always arrive at your station. The question is which one to take?” wrote Turkish playwright and novelist, Mehmet Murat Ildan. Trains have inspired many an artist along the years, literally and otherwise. Adhvanika... On A Journey, the debut production by First Drop, a Bengaluru-based theatre group, describes, through five stories, the magic of train journeys, symbolic perhaps, of the chance meetings and reminisciences that led Bejoy Balagopal and his wife, Radhika, to found their theatre group.
Travelling across India on a train is magical in itself, but it is the inner journey that interests them most.
"Theatre was something we did at college and school, back when friends and teachers encouraged us," said Bejoy. "When you go out and find your first job, your childhood passions bear the brunt." Still, he made his way back to theatre, a decision that proved fortuitous - it was at a workshop that he met the woman he would marry. "Both of us, it turned out, found the chance to rekindle our interest in theatre here in Bengaluru."
Travelling across India on a train is magical in itself, but it is the inner journey that interests them most. "We wanted to look at plays that spoke of everyday situations," Bejoy explained. "The incidents that can happen in our daily life and how they change us. To us, the journey is less about physical travel than the one within. It could be a connection with a stranger or just time spent in reflection that could mean the turning point. Having grown up in the '80s, train journeys were an integral part of our lives. They provide the ambiance for strangers to meet and connect, the ideal setting for our play."
Each of the five stories - vignettes of daily life - unfold either inside a train or in the station. In Future Unknown (Anagata) three women and a child meet on a train. They realise that the next day is significant for all of them, in very different ways. Last Refuge (Paridhistha) of two friends who embark on a long pending journey, only to find they’re moving in very different directions. Maaya for You (Mrigtrishnika) chronicles a writer's struggle with a creative block and When it Rained (Varshika) tells the tale of a station manager calling the shotson a rainy night and in Trap Within (Pashaka) is a journey of passion and how it shapes the course of our lives.
Interestingly, all five stories have titles in Sanskrit and English. "The Indian railways in particular, have remained more or less untouched by the growth we have seen in other parts of the country. It's part of the Indian ethos and it's something we relate to as proudly, essentially Indian."
What: Adhvanika...On a Journey
when: August 5, 5.30 pm and 8 pm
where: Rangoli - Rangasthala (Metro Art Center, M.G. Road)
Tickets available on bookmyshow
