A Peep into the Past

Ever since Vasu joined play school, he has been attending various co-curricular activities and competitions. The earliest that I can remember, he participated in a fancy dress competition and we dressed him Harry Potter. A long, thick wooden pencil for wand and a lightening scar painted on one side of his forehead, he resembled the famous wizard easily. Mugging up some five dialogs on Harry was not a problem for him thanks to his general knowledge of Harry Potter's world in even those days.

Shortly followed the face painting day at his play school, when his face was painted orange, black and yellow to look like a tiger.

By the time Dushhera arrived, the play school organized a mini Ram lila. We were given the task to dress him up as King Dashratha. We bought his royal dress, jewelry and crown from Old Delhi's famous Kinari Bazar. He looked majestic.

We chose the easy way out again when we were to dress him up for the Halloween party at his play school. We dressed him a pirate. A cute pirate.

As a part of the Christmas celebrations, Vasu dressed as a shepherd. We made him wear a full size white T-shirt and bound it with a rope from the waist. He was made to carry a black shawl and wear a black woolen cap to complete the look.

Presently a nursery class student, he is now a part of a large crowd.

His school recently organized a Ramayana presentation by the tiny tots of the school, on the auspicious occasion of Diwali. As the principal sought 100% participation from its Nursery classes, Vasu also secured a role in the Ram lila. He played Santari (Gate Keeper) in the court of King Dashrath this time. The school arranged his black satin dress for us on paid basis.

I attended the event and found it quite charming, and astonishing at the same time. Very young kids were acting, narrating and working together in striking harmony for their age. Dressed as cute little kings, queens, princes, saints and soldiers, they stole all hearts without exception. The parents could not stop lauding and giggling, as they watched the tiny tots performing confidently.

The entire presentation was divided into six tableauxes that dramatized six different scenes from Ramayana. Vasu's tableaux was the first in the queue and portrayed a picture of the prosperous kingdom of Lord Ram's father, King Dashrath.

As regards performances, I must say that Vasu was exceptional. [laugh] Barely engaged in the act, Vasu kept swinging over the railing throughout the performance He kept passing me glances from various angles and was totally cut off from the rest of his peers, let alone the play that was going on in the background.

I cannot say that I was disappointed because I have been aware of his lukewarm interest in such co-curricular activities. Till now, he showed little enthusiasm at the prospect of dressing up as somebody. Though he did not object to the dresses or the make up, he did not also jump with joy or showed any interest in what he was about to put on. We would have to prompt him everytime to have a look at himself after dressing up.

I personally liked the first four tableauxes a lot. In the first tableaux besides Vasu, what interested me was the narrator and the kid who impersonated king Dashrath. The narrator (a girl) was very fluent, confident and clear. The kid who played King Dashrath gave a wonderful performance of the king manners. His gait, his body language, his face expression - everything was too good to be true from a four year old. (Vasu told me his name is Kunal.) The rest of the kids were also charming. Check out the video of the tableaux here. Do not miss Vasu in the act. [lol]

The next tableaux presented Lord Rama and sibling Lakshman protecting monk Vishwamitra's Yagna (worship) outside his hut in the forest. The kids dressed in bright orange chanted Om so intently that their eyes strained with the effort to stay close and concentrated.

The third tableaux presented the Swyamvar (Groom choosing ceremony) scene from Ramayana. King Janak and Queen Sumitra sat in the middle of the semi circle that formed the seating arrangement of his court. The Queen wore a blue saree and a fancy crown. She looked very cute and gorgeous. Of the three princes who try their hands at picking up the bow of Lord Shiva placed in the middle of the court, the boy dress in pink satin enacted a particularly proud and robust candidate who made the audience laugh uncontrollably.

In the fourth tableaux, the kids potrayed the scene of abduction of Sita by villan Ravan. In the scene, Ravan sends golden deers to enchant Sita and lure her into being left alone by both her husband and brother-in-law. As the kids enacted the scene, the audience were aweinspired by the cuteness of it all. All the kids delivered their dialogs perfectly without hesistation or stage fear, inspite of the gazing crowd of parents standing face-to-face before them.

I retired from the rectangular ground with four stairs of bleachers across its perimeter, only upon a satisfactory revision of the tableauxes. As I came out with my exhausted digital camera, I saw a gang of poor kids in rags looking longingly at the presentation area.

A moving scene by all means - a picture of India's dismal state of affairs where poverty thrives hand in hand with the rising standards of life for some.

Convinced that Vasu is not the kind who enjoys fancy dresses, drama and impersonating characters, I had consoled myself into being happy with the way things were. But my dampened spirits unexpectedly rekindled when Vasu showed enthusiasm at the prospect of dressing up Noddy at a theme-based birthday party.

It was the first birthday celebrations of Ananya (my friend Anshul's second born) and the party demanded the kids to dress up as their favorite cartoon character. I dressed Vasu as Noddy, as it was least expensive and all the stuff to be bought could have been used on casual basis in future.
I sewed Mickey Mouse ears to Darsh's hat and dressed him in black with red jacket on, to impersonate Mickey Mouse.

We went to the party with my younger sister's family. Handsome

Vaibhav was dressed up as Dennis - the Menace by her mother dearest, though quite unintentionally.

He fitted the bill fabulously.

I bet he would grow up to be a very naughty and fun-loving boy.