Thank You, Next.

Thank you to all the people that made my journey until now possible.

On the first of September 2021, the last leg of a significant journey ends. At the same time, the first part of a new journey begins. I had just finished helping my friend with his audition for a prestigious drama school in the USA. That was difficult. But, little did I know, that my own journey to apply and complete the due process for my higher education will be a rollercoaster of emotions and a long, seemingly unending journey.

One application, one interview and six nail-biting months later. An email in my inbox awaits — Acceptance into the 2022–24 batch of the Master in Performance at the Norwegian Theatre Academy. I start on the 16th of August 2022 and go on for two years.

Before I make my exit, I want to thank all the people who I have worked with and whose work has shaped me into the theatre maker that I am today. First on the list is Yog Jappee of Theatre Y and now Sumunum Arts and Wellbeing, Chennai. Yog is my hero in the theatre. Many lessons were learnt from this wonderful man. I learnt that “theatre is merely communication” and that the pursuit of the art of storytelling, performance and its applications is nothing to be ashamed of and in fact, on the contrary, a fact to be immensely proud of. The first six years (2010–2015) of my journey in the theatre were closely in relation to Yog’s fun, minimalist, socially aware style of telling stories — all of these make the strong foundation of my current principles in the theatre. Thank you for the hours, the words of wisdom, the quirkiest of music collections and the delicate manner in which you work with children.

The second person has to be a gentleman called Amrith Jayan. A young chap of just 22, my comrade and long-term close friend in the theatre. Amrith and I met when whilst training under Yog in 2011. Back then, we weren’t as close. We were too busy having fun on stage and chasing competitions in the theatre all over India. Our first ever role on stage was actually of the same character. He played a healthy liver and I played the unhealthy, tired and Cirrhosis-ied liver of a person in the aftermath of alcoholism. Later in the same play, I played the king of mosquitoes and he played the female anopheles mosquito. I knew from the moment that we played mosquitoes in a play titled Health and Hygiene that we would grow to be very close friends. Almost a decade after we met, we have been roommates, founders of a theatre collective, actors in each other's plays, actors in the same play and have even been to international festivals together. I have to thank this man for the honest friendship, the companionship, the fits of laughter, the silliness that we allowed for ourselves and the craziest of the indian-ish names that we gave to inanimate objects.

Next is Kanchan Bhattacharya, a voice-over guru and theatre legend that I accidentally met and befriended at an audition (which I didn’t land) for his play reading of a German Play titled Nightblind. I have lots of love and respect for the man that saw something in me and encouraged me to pursue what I felt so passionately about — Theatre. Whenever I was in his company, I was never once not at awe of his knowledge about the theatre and his want for excellence in the arts. His dedication to setting and achieving a certain standard of craft in any of the work that he does will always remind me to do the same with the work that I do. Thank you for the lessons, the impromptu readings, the invitation to be in a play directed by you, and for introducing me to your friends and family, for teaching perhaps the most important lesson there is to learn in the theatre — to listen.

Next is Chanakya Vyas of Indian Ensemble, a former Coimbatorian, theatremaker and overall inspirational man. He and I crossed paths first at his play Algorithms and later with the monthly series Exploring Exciting Texts. Chanakya’s theatre for me for fodder for thought. It always left me unsettled and poisoned every conversation I had after watching his work with discussion on the content, and concept of the play. On several occasions, I have called him up for advice on my own processes of writing. He has always been patient, has taken the time to think about what my concerns are and has responded with care and detail. I always found my interactions with him intellectually nourishing and he taught me that it is never late in the process to right the things that aren’t working and that one must always give space to people to express themselves before expressing ourselves.

Next is Vivek Rao of QTP India; a superb, charming, efficient and inspiring producer from Mumbai. Rao is a theatre machine. He has consistently had answers to the problems that I have faced in the theatre and has never once declined my call. He has helped set and learn the foundations of business in the theatre for me and has done all of it with a warm smile and a nurturing attitude. Never once has he lost his cool with me. Never once has he let me get home in a bad mood. The way that he works has always inspired me and will continue to do so till the end of time. Thank you for the dreams that you helped make true and thank you for the late nights at Roadhouse Blues despite your insane schedule.

Next is not a single person but several persons that make Thespo — India’s Largest Youth Theatre Movement. In no particular order: Adi Shashtri, Meghana Telang (my first “Boss” ever), Srishti Ray, Rachit Khetan, Anushka Ghose, Anoushka Zaveri, Toral Shah and Quasar Padamsee. These are the people that took a bet on me when nobody else did. They gave me a chance, a stage, a podium and a space to become my own theatre person. I thank you for the perseverance and the faith that all of you have had in me. I will not let you down.

Lastly, we have Vivek Madan & Shiva Pathak, the directors of Bhasha Centre for Performing Arts. These two persons have got to be the nicest of persons that I have ever met in the performing arts (bar Yog of course). I have been working with Bhasha Centre for the past year and the way that they have held the team and the goal of the company together has been awe-inspiring, to say the least. I hope that some of your good qualities have rubbed off on me over time. I aspire to be as cool, fun-loving, calm, and overall extremely inspiring as you folk are. Thank you for the opportunities and thank you for making me understand that change isn’t something we can just sit around and wait for someone else to do.

Well, that brings me to the end of my list. What is next? I am starting this blog to document and keep all of you folks updated about what I am going to be learning in the next few days, weeks and months ahead and perhaps, we can all learn and grow together. Until next time.