Caferati Evening–Feb12

Surprisingly, no word on the Caferati evening as yet…

It was simply delightful. This experimental session saw Theatre Watch, a theatre group from Bombay, do on-the-spot improvisations using music (piano, violin) and art (painting) on prose, poetry and lyrics by Caferati members.

The evening started with the announcement of the winners of the Flash Fiction and SMS poetry contests. Peter has already given an update on that.
Next, Manisha Lakhe, one of caferati’s moderators, introduced the concept of this online writing forum to the audience.

Then the first of the Theatre Watch improvisation interludes commenced. Vivin Mathew Easo of Theatre Watch directed and moderated these sessions.

Peter gave (prophetically) this supposed schedule.
Theatre Watch was given a bunch of original writing by Caferati members, and Viv and his performers have chosen a few pieces which inspire them. So you will get to experience Ivan John on the piano, interpreting three poems, Jitendra Jawda on the violin, working with two poems and a short story, and Swaroop Biswas, who has chosen a short story, which he will use as his inspiration for a painting which he will execute live, while the other readings and performances are on. Vivin may also choose a piece, which he will use as the base for a solo theatre performance.

The session strictly followed this format. Ivan John interpreted three poems: Arjun Bali’s Treadmill, Priyanka Joseph’s Scribbled On A Paper Napkin and Manisha Lakhe’s villanelle, At The Mall. The poems were first read (Arjun and Manisha read their own work while Priyanka’s was read by Vivin) and then Ivan interpreted them via his music.

As Vivin went about interacting with the audience about their comments on the performance and interpretation, the trickle of comments soon became a steady flow. Some people felt that Ivan’s interpretation of the first and last poems were good, but his improvisation on the Priyanka’s poem was calm, though the poem was a disturbing one. One audience member thought the piano performances were too long. Jane Bhandari seconded that. They said that he should have had pauses. In response, Ivan said that he had very little by the way of discovering what the respective poets were trying to say, so he interpreted it by expressing his own emotions at reading the work. So, according to him, Priyanka’s poem was filled with confusion, and he, by his piece, tried to infuse a sense of calm into it.

It was followed by Pawan Sony reading out his satirical short story, Shaking Hands.

Theatre Watch took stage again, with Jitendra Jawda on the violin. He interpreted a poem by Nisha Alex, But, lyrics to a song by Peter Griffin called Blues for X, and a 55er by Peter called Succumb. As for the audience, everyone liked the interpretation of Succumb. Yati Doshi liked all of Jitendra’s improvisations a lot.

This was interspersed by a series of poems read by Caferati members including Manisha Lakhe, Pallavi Jayakar etc. Caferati then introduced their forthcoming book, scheduled to come out by the end of next month, Stories at the Coffee Table, which features the winners in a nation-wide short fiction contest they hosted last year. Some winners read their work including Anita Vasudeva and Albert Barton.

In the limited time frame awarded to him, Swaroop Biswas finished his interpretation of Sajjad Khan’s (a writer from Pakistan, who is on board at Caferati) short story, in the form of a painting. Swaroop, a painter, a manager and an actor had painted a woman with flowing dark hair which encapsulated a man’s face with a crown and a small white space above her shoulder which held the silhouette of a man. He said, “I have tried to show that the woman hold the power on both men. Her long dark hair ties both of them in some bond. The man’s crown states that he is the master of his thoughts. The silhouette of a man in the doorway symbolizes a space of a man in the past or the possibility of his larger role in near future. Finally, the exaggerated eyes symbolise a look of (forgot the word)”

He generously proceeded to give the painting up for auction and the funds would go towards the maintenance of Caferati. In the end, a few friendly comments were passed on certain works not being read due to lack of time. Most of the Caferati members then proceeded towards the main Kala Ghoda display area to savour the last dregs of the festival, and inhale the smells of a memory that would hopefully be refreshed next year.

Adieu!