Last night I did go see RDG again. It was that good, I really wanted to see it again so I went with some people on my floor. It was still really good and fun! When I got back after the show, one of the guys on our floor who was in RDG taught me and another girl the finale dance while another member of RDG on our floor taught a different girl so we could have a dance off. Just so you know…I actually could do the dance almost perfect and I was SO PROUD of myself considering I don’t have rhythm like at all. It only took like 20 minutes which was quite the feat. He was a good teacher. It was fun to just hang out in the hallway and dance. So today is the day to do homework and do laundry. I have done some homework, I just have to keep chipping away at it. As for the laundry, it’s in the dryer so I am well on my way to having nice clean clothes. I washed my jeans so when they come out they are going to be nice and warm. It’s going to be just glorious.

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Ingressos antecipados a R$ 10,00 nas lojas 1Dasul, Negredo, A Firma e Porte Ilegal.

Acum câteva zile am vizionat un film german despre realităţile din Germania răsăriteană cu câţiva ani până la dărâmarea Zidului Berlinului şi reîntregirea acestei ţări.

Nu voi reda subiectul filmului, ci doar anumite impresii pe care mi le-a lăsat. Am remarcat mai ales asemănarea izbitoare între actuala RM şi fosta RDG, omniprezenţa serviciilor secrete STASI, care controlau totul, orice gest, mai ales al persoanelor care le păreau suspecte, deci primejdioase pentru regim. De asemenea, isteria manifestată de regimul comunist de la Chişinău vizavi de România şi cea a comuniştilor germani de la Berlin faţă de RFG, pe care îl considerau cel mai mare duşman al lor, pare trasă la indigo.

De fapt, am remarcat că comunismul este acelaşi, indiferent în ce ţară se cuibăreşte. Comuniştii nemţi nu se deosebeau prea mult de confraţii lor ruşi sau chinezi, sacrificând fără scrupule individul în numele unei creaţii aberante, numite de ei “Omul Nou”. Şi-au creat şi o artă de partid, statutul oamenilor de creaţie devenind unul identic cu al prostituatelor. Peste tot – balet cu strungari şi ţesătoare, utilaje şi comunişti în acţiune. Pur şi simplu, nu-mi venea să cred că acţiunea filmului este plasată în Germania, atât de mult îi idealizasem pe nemţi până acum, crezându-i prea inteligenţi, incapabili de comunism.

Nu voi mai vorbi de destinele frânte ale unor omeni care fie au fost prea slabi şi n-au rezistat, fie n-au acceptat să colaboreze cu regimul comunist, să se prostitueze, alegând să se sinucidă decât să devină lachei, poeţi de curte. Ţin doar să repet în încheiere că situaţia din RM este aproape identică cu cea din Germania răsăriteană comunistă de până la ‘89, deci ar exista anumite speranţe că vom evolua conform aceluiaşi scenariu şi că zilele regimului roşu din Basarabia sunt numărate.

I love being Indian and I feel an immense sense of belonging to everything this group of people stand for. I enjoy the cultural elements as well as the simple things that make us Indian, putting aside differences in language, geographical descents and appearances. I always feel proud to see an Indian make it to the top, to see an Indian production or just to see an outlet for potential. Yet, its amazing how in some instances we really become our own enemy. I have two interesting experiences to share; one with complete admiration for some members of this community and another filled with disdain. Ladies and gentlemen, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Sathai/Saakadai – A double bill presented by Puthiya Uthiram (Ravindran Drama Group)

I have always been amazed at the smaller productions organised by RDG (their larger productions are targeted at mass appeal and in my opinion, don’t show the same amount of boldness that the smaller shows do). Puthiya Uthiram represents the junior batch of up and coming artistes and they blew me away yesterday. I went to catch their double bill at Substation theatre yesterday and I was very glad I did. Saakadai was shocking, real and painful. I will not go into detail about the play itself as I truly hope that it makes a comeback to cater to a slightly larger audience, but in a nutshell it revolved around the filth we engage in day after day. This was juxtaposed by a toilet cleaner whose actions were filthy but his mind was cleaner than any one who had stepped into that toilet. Kudos to Mano and Rupbini as well as the director. Their roles were wonderfully executed and made the audience cringe, tear and reflect.

Sathai in my opinion was not as impressive as Saakadai. Funny how I actually went anticipating watching Sathai more but left being captivated by Saakadai. It was nice that they managed to eliminate some stereotypes we have about social escorts and sexual workers as a whole. Both the actresses were excellent in portraying what they were set out to show. I did feel that some elements of Sathai could have been a little better. For example, the play was not very clear in its motive – although it did show that social escorts do have a choice and they may CHOOSE to be in this line, by adding elements of sexual abuse and love failure, it still made it seem like they were somewhat pushed to making these decisions.

In what I have studied and researched before, I know that while sexual abuse, failed relationships can lead to people becoming social escorts or any other sexual workers (sexual workers need not be selling sex, escorts and domination work is also in this list), I know that they do not make the bulk of sexual workers. Many sex workers choose to be in this line because of the money it makes as well as the freedom the job provides them.

I feel that sometimes we are always so set to portray the deviants in a sympathetic light that we fail to understand that they are conscious human beings who do not need our sympathy but in fact just made choices that are different from our own.

If you want to know about some other misconceptions about sexual workers, you can check this link out: http://www.nhchc.org/2008conference/workshops/8docs/Sex_Industry_Myths.doc.pdf

Nevertheless, Puthiya Uthiram’s attempt must truly be applauded as both plays did move me and were very intelligently weaved. The cast were superb and I was so proud to see so many young, new faces who boldly embraced their roles and were not at all afraid.

I wish that there were more such Indians. Indians who want to change things, Indians who want to face things and Indians who want to raise awareness amidst other Indians. Kudos Puthiya Uthiram – I look forward to your next performance.

Now moving on to the BAD and the UGLY (a double bill presented by Dhool 2008) :P 

DHOOL 2008

Once again, Indians haven’t failed to amaze me. This time for the opposite reason. This is not a post meant to attack Megastar, Dhool judges or Dhool hosts or even the dance groups. This is directed towards the audince. Will we ever grow up? Will we ever start looking at things objectively?

I visited the Dhool blog earlier today and honestly I am just so disappointed at the way we Indians tend to think. Firstly, the comments towards the hosts. Why is it that we can never appreciate when someone takes the effort to present a show. Being on live television is not easy. Apart from memorizing lines, one also has to think about quick comebacks as the show’s schedule is constantly changing. With that many eyes all on you, it is expected that one or two bloopers will be made. I do not have any personal affinity towards Vadi or Uthaya but I do think that people should be a little less harsh on them. People in the blog were asking why hosts like Jainesh and Vishnu were not chosen – Simply put, even if they were the hosts, I am certain that another group of audience will have something to say about them and their hosting. It really is good to see that the hosts take this in good humour and actually add it in their come back lines. And if you really do think you can do a better job than them, then Vasantham is having auditions for hosts – why not go participate and see if its as easy as it seems.

Secondly, comments towards judges. Why is it that we assume that someone is only fit to be a judge because they have danced? Does that mean that we as an audience don’t have the right to make comments about a dance until we’ve performed on television? Does this mean that if someone sings terribly, you’re not allowed to pass a comment until you’ve sung a song yourself? Dance is universal and everyone has a right to their opinion. I don’t think anyone is incapable of judging a dance performance. Vijendran may not be giving on the mark comments but I honestly do not think that he has been rude or crass at any point in the show and as such he should still be respected.

Then there are some who comment about how the judges are looking for stupid things like Taalam – Taalam simply put is the ability for a dance to be in beat with the song. This is definitely not a stupid thing and this should be the basis for judging any dance performance. Then there were those who criticised the judges for saying their favorites so openly. I’m sorry but I just think that we Indians are a malcontented bunch. Last year, when NUS won and the judges openly said they had wanted for Acidhouz to win, everyone was okay with it and criticised SMS voting. This year when SMS voting seems to be outshadowing the judges’ decisions, we are critcising the judges decisions? ( I do not intend to start a spate of debates on NUS vs Acidhouz because honestly both teams are the least bothered by this anymore).

But really, why is it that its in our nature to constantly dispute things especially when its said by a fellow Indian. Why can’t we accept that in every competition there will be winners and losers. Some are favoured and some aren’t. It is impossible to please everyone, and if it did, it will be the most boring show to watch. The judges have been placed there FOR their opinions and I think the only time a judge will be useless is if they were to say “no comments” or something like that.

On the whole, the more you hate or like a judge or a team, the more extreme your views get, the more controversy starts, the more you will watch the show and the more money the production company gets. Congratulations to all of you because your anger has profited another individual.

Remember people, its only in Indian organised competitions that you get to see so many Indians being given the opportunity to showcase their talents and their abilities. If this was an external competition, the proportion of Indians would have been much lower because of the racial distribution in the country. That would mean that you’d hardly see an Indian taking the centrestage. Here, the opportunities have been given, but if we constantly misuse it and abuse our power as an audience – no production company will come forward to organise such a competition and then we can go back to being unheard of.

So please folks, grow up.