Merchant of Venice (in Hindi)

By Varada | Nov 19, 2009

There are two things that fueled this
(a) I am an Indian to the core and
(b) I simply love literature

Let me explain those two a little. I am an Indian to the core. I can (and do) love Greek food, English fiction, American (monster) trucks, Japanese furniture and crafts, Chinese calligraphy and beads and several many other from all over the globe, but deep down I have India in me. I love my country – its rich and varied heritage, culture, being a part of this colourful, soulful community. Naturally what follows is a love for all our festivals and celebrations. Being able to enjoy Diwali, Eid and Christmas in a small town in Goa is an experience unlike any other. I also love our national festivals and days – Independence day, Republic day and even Children’s day

Secondly, I simply love literature. Fiction mostly. I get really carried away, misty eyed even when I read something beautiful. (Remember Yugandhar by Shivaji Sawant? Or Heidi by Johanna Spyri?)

So when Children’s day came by this year I tried to combine these two seemingly unrelated ideas. Here’s what we did at home:

- I scripted “Merchant of Venice” by W. Shakespeare into a skit in Hindi
- - - – Hindi’ized it (Shylock became Thakur Ratan Singh)
    - – Slashed etcetras from the plot (I had only 5 actors, one of whom was a 3 yr old!)
      - Broke down everything into scenes, dialogues
      - Explained the story, each character and scene to my 5-actor (children) crew
    - - Our kids’ tuition teacher and her sister along with Bhaiya became our judges. Tuition teacher’s family was audience.
    - - Bhabhi took up make-up-artist-cum-hostess role.
    - - My husband Chiran put on his cameraman’s cap
    - - Practiced. Practiced. Practiced.
    - - Rehearsed. Rehearsed. Rehearsed.
    The result? It was through and through fun. Kids and elders all worked together as a team. Come to think of it, how often do we really manage that?
    
    I’ll be uploading the video shortly on YouTube. Watch this space for a link..
    Share and Enjoy:
    2 Comments so far
    1. chiranjiv November 25, 2009 11:02 am
      
      This is really amazing that little kids done waooooo job.
    2. Varada December 3, 2009 2:23 pm
      
      You can find the full video here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jb2W-Y-mOfqImvDtjSMKmw?authkey=Gv1sRgCLjd7oT_lYfpqwE&feat=directlink
      
      Enjoy!
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