Narada: Propagating the path of Bhakthi.
Madangopal NarayananWhen I first started off practice for Narada, the few thoughts that occured to my mind was "whooh this is much harder than dancing, it really drains you mentally". As practice went on over the next few days, I realised that a lot of things that Uncle Ket had said when we were doing things like Ramayana (ages ago) all seemed to make sense now. I actually understood it because I experienced it.
But halfway through when Shankar anna came and made some changes and stuff, I was thrown off balance at first because I think there was some kind of mental block; then there were all those late nights with Shankar anne until 2 am which made it even worse. But one night, he sat and he talked with me for a long time about Venkatakavi and about Narada... that made life very much easier because Ii began to appreciate Venkatakavi even more. And I felt I was beginning to understand the concept of Narada and his role in Krishnaarpanam.
It was then that I realised how much study had to be done, how much u had to know about the character u were going to play. But things still didn't seem perfect: the first day of the show went by and I wasn't that satisfied. I didn't feel like Narada. On the 2nd day however, Shankar anne kept on drumming into my head that the purpose was to share the knowledge of this great path of bhakthi. That blessed day, during the puja before the show, it suddenly hit me. I felt like I found the 'core of the character'. Narada was the Lord's friend and servant, propagating the path of bhakthi for the liberation of all mankind. Narayana Narayana.
Narada(madman)
posted by madan @ 10:36 AM
1 Comments:
it is only when we act and do that we get to learn and experience. learning needs both thinking and action - remember hamlet? after the performance, madan, lakshmi akka told me of an experience which verified a statement sandhya akka made to just after the performance. that lakshmi akka was having pain and exhaustion, feeling desperate and unable to perform when you walked past, saw her and said, "say narayana's name, say his name and all your troubles will be removed!" or something to that effect. lakshmi akka told me that at that moment, she felt swamiji was speaking through you, and she began to chant "narayana narayana" to herself, and began to feel her pain and exhaustion go away... and she could perform with joy and lightness. sandhya akka, too, was experiencing difficulty as she was feeling very ill but your energy as narada - or as you were getting into character - backstage gave her such a boost, she felt it was divine providence. this is how things work with us because of swamiji. when we do something with great love, with devotion, with concentration, wanting to give the best of ourselves, many, many beautiful things happen around us. our dancing is not just dance. nor is our music and our acting. it is that bhavana of love and bhakti which we feel deep inside us because we have swamiji in our lives. never forget that!
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