Lights, sounds and blasts

Unlike beer and bread, Wine was discovered 'accidentally'- by a Persian lady. A Persian woman tired of her life attempted to poison herself by eating content of a jar labeled 'poison'. She became intoxicated and fell asleep. She opened her eyes later to find that the stress she bore for years had gone and she felt light and happy. The jar was full of spoiled grapes. It is said that in Persia even now wine is sometimes called the "zeher-i-khoosh," i.e., pleasant poison.

The discovered the fact minutes before serial blasts shocked and scared Delhi on Sept 13th. It was narrated through a dance play -- And Then They Came to India --by Mallika Sarabhai and her group Darpana. The play in 45-minutes talks about the Parsi community and events leading to their migration from Persia to India after the Arab invasion. Apart from the wine discovery, one of the landmark events included in the narration was the birth of Zarathustra, the founding father of Zoroastrianism.

Though I found the concept interesting, i would admit I expected a lot more from the group. Mallika was the sutradhar dressed as a spinning dervish. That created a nice impact on the entire play. Undoubtedly, the events were beautifully visualised and the choreography was commendable but there could have been a better choice of events. While some of them were very gripping, there were moments when one lost interest. Sure, it is difficult to summarise the rich Persian history but I am sure there are many more facts that could have the evening more interesting.

I Liked the costumes -- they were rich and vibrant. Lighting was interesting. It was mellow. Music gave the 'parsi' feel. I loved the end part when the tribe mixes with the Gujarati community, adopts things like saree style and a few customs and finally 'arrives' in India. Peace, joy, happiness were the words that came to my mind when, uncannily, just then I received a message saying "Whre r u? Rush home...there hv been serial blasts in delhi killing several ppl...."