Stage and chance encounters

Jugaari Cross is a novel by Poorna Chandra Tejaswi (for those who din't know, he is Kuvempu's son). When my interest in Kannada literature was rekindled, Sripathi suggested to go "light" and this was a good starter. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

RangaShankara was host to the stage adaptation of Jugaari Cross a few months ago. For some reason, I couldn't make it at that time. But, it came back this Friday and I din't want to miss this second chance. When I pitched it to Sripathi, Bharata and Kulki, who all have extensive interest in Kannada literature, they were game, except that Kulki had to attend an important call late in the evening and had to drop out.

Given that all three of us had read the novel, it was interesting to observe the "artistic freedom" used in the stage adaptaion. The main incidents in the novel involve multiple terrain - a forest checkpost, an isolated milestone in a ramshackled village in the Western Ghats, a rickety bus, a busy elaichi market, a train, a tunnel, a bridge, etc. But, the play was very well done - including the two pieces that made up the frontal facade of the rickety bus. The interludes to jump sequences as well the musical backup was admirable.

It seemed more than a coincidence that both Sripathi and I, ran into classmates from Engineering. Parveen (remember him Hari?) apparantly is a regular and has had to go back more than once, 'cos the theater was "house full". That he lives at the other end of the city doesn't deter his interest. Sripathi ran into a friend of his, who is currently working on his own novel!