Diane's sunday....

March 19 – Workshop held in the National School of with 3^rd Year Students

the students participating in were......Laxmi Rawat – male character name “Kapil Rao”, Madhu Smriti Shukla – male character name “Bobby Singh”, Rasika – male character name “Anil Sharma” and N. Kritika – male character name “Abhilash Natrajan”

Each of these students was extremely serious in their engagement with the workshop. They are in a reflective frame of mind as their time at NSD is coming to an end. The workshop brought up issues for them about their situation as 5 female students in a class of 15 males, and the struggle they have had to have a voice over the last three years. They spoke about overall sexism in the school – the fact that no female student has ever had a position, as Union Rep, School President, etc. Also about the selection process for the school – that it is predominantly male students who are on the selection panel. Then they talked further about gender politics in the Staff at NSD, which made me realise that sexism was not just confined to the student population. Additionally, the workshop confronted the students with their situation once they graduate from NSD. They discussed being an actress or working in the theatre in a culture where it is not considered respectable employment for a woman and, for some families, is even approximating prostitution. We deviated from the schedule of the workshop in order for discussion to take place.

Diane was assisted in the make-up by Meeta Mishra, an ex student who contributed to the discussion by describing her experiences of working in theatre in other countries, and how this was a possible strategy as a way to develop confidence as a theatre artist. Meeta a new make-up technique – a method of making a thick moustache or beard – something that also had a few new make up trips that were shared with Diane....like making thik beard and mousthaches....which were not wasn’t essential for diane before she came to India!

Laxmi Rawat said in the introduction that she is curious about experimenting with taking on a male character. In her family she does not have a problem being a girl. She feels free. Laxmi spoke in Hindi when she was in her male character, which was fine, though I missed some of what she said as him. Her character, Kapil Rao, is 26 years old and a graphic designer. He is single and has many friends. In developing the male character, Laxmi tended to act as “Kapil” and had difficulty becoming him. Her performance as “Kapil” in the class improvisation was as if she was on stage, and it was not until we hit the streets of Greater Kailash that Laxmi came into his own. Laxmi coupled with Meeta Mishra, and went to a restaurant together. In the restaurant, they discussed their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend, with Meeta insisting that she only liked Kapil and Kapil declaring his extreme love for Meeta. Their conversation became impassioned, much to the distress of the woman at the next table, who held up her hand as if to shield herself from them. Kapil was thoroughly enjoying the situation and proceeded to kiss Meeta which apparently shocked those at nearby tables. Meeta played her part and insisted that they be “friends” and nothing more. In the van driving back to NSD, Laxmi was very animated and said she hadn’t ever had so much fun.

Rasika never felt forbidden to do things as a girl, but she sometimes felt that nobody should look at her and give her special attention as a woman. She doesn’t want to be noticed – wants to be part of the crowd. She hoped that as a man she would be able to achieve this invisibility. Rasika is very expressive, and has "fluttering fingers". She uses each finger individually, which is an unusual skill, especially for diane – coming from the West. However, this expressiveness in the way she uses her fingers, arms and whole body, is not useful in becoming a man. Her expressiveness is very much a part of her, and she found it almost impossible to be aware of it, and to change it. Consequently, when she went out in public, she found that people were staring at her even more. She was somewhere in between being a man and a woman, and this held even more of a fascination for onlookers than if she was merely a woman. The experience made her frustrated, but also brought her, and Madhu, who accompanied her, to think about people who are transgendered – how it must be for them. I

Madhu Smriti Shukla in the introduction wanted to develop a different perspective. She wanted to separate from how she thinks as a woman, and wanted to discover, for example, what is a man’s process when he looks at a woman or when he talks to other men. What is it like on the other side? As the male character, Bobby Singh, his parents are from Punjab and he did his education – B.Commerce in Bangalore. His ambition is to become an engineer but he knows that his father will give him money to open his own businees and he is planning to open a woollen factory. He likes girls. Likes to talk to them. He was in a co-ed school where the girls would steal his parathas, but he didn’t mind. He likes girls. As Bobby Singh, Madhu was very successful. It was fortunate that Bobby Singh accompanied Anil Sharma to the McDonald’s at G.K. Market, as he was able to maintain confidence when Anil was losing his. One thing that Madhu noticed was that there was a man eating in Mcdonald’s and he had extremely feminine gestures – he was even more feminine than Rasika. It made her wonder what it must be like for him, and for others who don’t fit into the gender stereotype. This experience gave Madhu some sympathy for them. Madhu was courageous to take such an extreme character as a Punjabi Sikh, but she pulled it off with flair, and was particularly good at maintaining a male voice. Though as a young Punjabi man, her voice could have a light and playful quality which was not so far removed from her own.

N. Kritika, in the introduction, talked about a production she had done with other students where they were looking at gender and at transformation into something else. Rasika, for example, had played the part of a eunuch. She saw the workshop as an extension of that enquiry. As the director, Abhilash Natrajan, she was impersonating one of the Acting Directors at the school with whom she had been working on a production. N. Kritika is a big woman and very self-aware. The transformation into her male character was not difficult, and probably was made easier because she had worked closely with the person she was impersonating. Her size was useful in exercises like learning to take up space and to hold your ground. I coupled up with her when we went out publicly to G.K. Market. However, first the whole group went to Nathu’s Pastry Shop in the Bengali Market – a daily hang-out for the students. It was interesting for the students to interact with counter-hands who see them regularly but didn’t recognise them. At G.K Market, Abhilash had a plan, and I followed him through the whole market walking at a fast pace, never stepping aside for anyone and even bumping into some stationary people, without a backward glance. Our destination was a local bar/disco where we had a couple of beers and even danced to the Bollywood numbers, bringing our beer glasses on the dance floor. This last action filled N. Kritika with mirth, as she later recalled the experience. We did not attract any special attention and were generally ignored by passers-by, who got out of our way – two men on a mission! In the feedback session afterwards, N. Kritika said that it was the first day she had not been conscious of the fact that she is fat. She felt it was OK to be fat as a man – that it was not a problem. On the way back to NSD, N. Kritika bought a bunch of white roses, whilst we all observed his interaction with the flower seller from the van.

Diane was rewarded with a bunch of roses, when Abhilash re-entered the van. That was a special thank you from the students.

Long may they thrive!!!