The West Bengali welcoming spirit continues for someone who is so obviously a stranger. I was ushered into the theater without a formal pass, introduced to the coordinator since my friends had not yet arrived from the International school...he was a delightful young many who had performed to a second place finish last year - he stopped by during the performance to be sure that the diction was precise enough, & accent not too deep, to see if I was understanding the Tagore connections..it was very sweet. Then two young men from Mumbai engaged me in a conversation about why I was visiting & later a group of students, from the Ganga International School, along with their teacher, gave me a gift they brought to share with the one person they felt would most appreciate it, filled with writings by each student, along with a copy of their newsletter & an invitation to spend the day at their school when I am back Delhi; the teacher said, after asking my birth date, that she was a water source, too, as a Scorpion, & that both she & the girls had sensed I was someone for whom the number three would be relevant & three was their school's lucky number...they just gave the small head sideways nod of affirmation common in Indian body language, smiling, not at all surprised, when I said three had always been my favorite number. Such is the kind of meetings you have in India!
Mumbai play - they used only students for props, such as here, where they were the foot and head board of a bed...
A more traditional rendition of a Tagore West Bengali myth where a king wants to keep dust off his feet & a wise man from the streets invents shoes!
Nandini in first chair, her director smiling next and play director for Calcutta International, Piali, in a conference before the heading to the green room.
CIS play held song & dance...
The main character, a college freshman, trying to convince his parents to pursue archeology & the supernatural/spiritualism instead of engineering.
His ultimate murder by a spirit of a famous Tagorian character who was locked in the spirit world, denied passage to see her loved ones because of unfinished life work.
Unbeknownst to Nandini, the director of her building, Dr. Das, had accepted invitations to a post-contest shindig sponsored by the British Council, to be held at the most prestigious place in town, the Bengal Club, a private club begun in 1834, with a waiting list to enter years long, re-affirming its pedigree each fall when it allows only a handful of people to join.
A wonderful, student-centered, connected, day was followed by short work on wifi at the American Center, then hurrying home to put on the best Western clothing I could find...I didn't pack anything too fancy!...& poof, there I was, back in time, tall back chairs circled in a parlor setting, in a stunning dining room purposefully set with people we didn't know, with snacks & beverages served by men in starched white uniforms & tall black wrapped turbans. Networking was the main purpose, so the British Council director, coordinator outreach director, three UK British Council representatives & at least five or six theater directors or Arts leaders heard about my purpose for my journey and goals for the GlobalConnext program! Thankfully I'd brought business cards & am learning to hone the mission statement to something manageable. Three other school leaders from Kol were there, along with the teacher coordinator from Mumbai, so those schools are all interested, too.
Piali, the director, Dr. Das, CIS director, & my friend, Nandini, who is English department chair & helped students edit the a very mature script! (As you can see, I'm taller than 75% of all Bengali women, much wider!...they are so petite!, & though there seem to be many more tall Bengali men - I've seen several over 6', I see at least a third of them eye to eye.)
The night was especially celebratory because Nandini's school, Calcutta International, was named as one of the seven finalists! I'll be in Delhi on the 10th, preparing to leave for Sweden, so I'll be able to be part of the home team cheer squad, plus the Mumbai students who befriended me also won....it was a delightful night, including a buffet of Bengali national dish, the bekket fish in a dijon sauce, au gratin vegetables, paneer masala, lasagna, breads galore, raita, hot, sweet & spicy fresh cabbage & pepper salad, dal, rice, almond soufflé & a cake they all knew as "mudpie", which looked like a layered flour-less torte. QUITE the evening!
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