Written and Directed : Divya Jagdale Cast : Divya Jagdale
DO CHOTI KAHANIYAN Review
Readings offer us a chance to experience the delicacy of language - the vehicle of storytelling - just as much as the story itself. In Jagdale's DO CHHOTI KAHANIYAN, the hero is as much the spin of words as it is the characters created through this spin. Emerging from story prompts as part of a writing programme, the two stories evoke very different responses within us.
In the first story titled Ganit, we meet a young girl brimming with potential, and accompany her on her journey with mathematics. We are presented with memory snippets she has collected and moulded into self-defining narratives; off handed comments by characters she holds very dear that have led to conscious decisions she makes about herself and the world around her; and the Herculean pressure of being praised for potential and its accompanying need to say "thus proved".
The twists and turns of this water slide lead us to rub up against feelings and characters that are all too familiar, with situations that needn't be. We whoosh through middle class values, the intertwined selves that mothers and daughters experience, the tug between perfectionism and not-being-enough, the preciousness of being seen - truly seen - by another human being, and the hilarious negotiations we have all made in our school years. Jagdale delivers the story with humour, softness, and a sparkle very reminiscent of the child whose story it is.
The second story titled Janam-Janam is more metaphysical and whimsical in its premise. It begins with a conversation between god and a soul that has been birthed many times and enters the world again, much against her will. As she extrapolates on notions of judgement, moving into questions of self and purpose, she takes us into the world of her grandmother. Through the grandmother's story the narrator brings together the dynamic between "the market" and self, desire and destiny and the relationship between the two, and most of all, how convenience can be a cornerstone of our existence.
Though this story is obtuse in its connections, and the strength of the characters and the world the story inhabits is significantly weaker than the story that preceded it, the delightfully entertaining language and performance more than make up for it.
This piece, performed at Prithvi House, would do marvellously in an even more intimate setting and the choice of a simple spotlight that could highlight the two strengths of the piece-storytelling and story. With the popularity of living room performances, hopefully there will be more.
Catch this spirited, entertaining reading for the hide-and-seek quality of story nuggets and characters, and make sure to carry an appetite for multiple metaphors, and meandering sentences that cascade into new ones.
Bhagi R finds joy in contemplating, examining, and working in the space between artists and audiences.
