By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD
Last fortnight I happened to be in Bengaluru with my family on a weekend visit. We were there with a two-fold purpose. While I was there to attend an International Conference on Diabetes, my family was there to get its weekend dose of relaxation and rest! My daughter, Sarah suggested that since the Hindu Group’s theatre festival was on, we could attend one of the plays that were being staged at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, the violin shaped auditorium built during the Gundu Rao era to commemorate the memory of our most famous violinist. From among the many plays in the list, we zeroed on to ‘Barff’ which was written and directed by Saurabh Shukla the well-known actor. It seemed the most interesting to me because it happened to be about a doctor’s unusual experience while on a visit to Srinagar to attend a medical conference. It was a drizzly Saturday evening when we entered the auditorium well before starting time since we had been warned that all late arrivals would find the doors of the hall shut. But for a play in Bengaluru on a weekend the hall was not even half full which seemed very surprising. Just before we expected the curtain to rise, came an announcement in a very apologetic feminine voice that as many ticket holders had reportedly been held up in the rain the play would commence half an hour late. It was exactly as the age-old adage had foretold, Man proposes and God disposes! When the curtain finally rose, it was sheer captivation and delight from beginning to end. It portrayed the travails of a doctor who agrees to visit the home of his cab driver in Srinagar to have a look at his ailing infant son. An act of human concern and courtesy turns out to be a frightening entanglement in a very unimaginably unusual predicament for the hapless doctor which has to be seen to be believed as possible. How these writers of fiction hit upon their plots is something that is beyond my understanding and I really salute them for their ingenuity and fertile imagination. I wish I had it in me too. Portrayed by Saurabh Shukla himself and just two other actors, Sadia Siddiqui and Sunil Palwal, the play is a ‘must watch’ affair. All three of them come off as being one better than the other and their performances are outstanding. The final twist, barely a few breathless seconds before the curtain falls, is what takes you off your feet completely! We could not come away without meeting the team and congratulating them for their sterling performance and we met them backstage and did just that. While Sunil had already left by the time we could jostle with the crowd and reach there, we could meet Saurabh Shukla and Sadia and have a leisurely chat with them. When I told Saurabh Shukla that I too was in Bengaluru to attend a medical conference he was stunned and said that life is full of never-ending surprises! That was when I told him that he would be more surprised when he reads the article I would be writing about him and his play as a part of my weekly column! Since I have marked a copy to him while mailing it to SOM I’m sure he too is reading it along with all of you!
