The week that was... Two weeks ago

I know I'm incredibly late in writing this, but I've finally wound down after Saarang, and (hopefully) recovered enough from the insanity to actually make a coherent sentence. So here we go, day by day, play by play.

Day 0 - What I thought would be my last day of chilling out turns out to be one of the most hectic days ever.. who thought setting up a paintball field could be so much damn work, even when you get the pros! Work started at 12 noon and ended around 7.30 pm, with everything from electricity to rope causing problems. The only thing that seemed to be right on the spot was Unni's (more on him later) temperament, which would be that of a jolly Godfather regardless of whether everything was running smoothly or the damn walls where collapsing inwards.

With everything finally set up and the demo games played (for the news reporter who never showed up), we went and saw Kanyakumari's ensemble of 50 violinists. With people between the ages of 7 and 70 on stage together, playing the same note at precisely the same instant, it's a sight to behold. Beyond words.

Next up was Shobana's Maya Ravan, which, frankly, was a horrible letdown. It started off well enough, with the story accurately portraying events of the Ramayan, and some exceptional dancing by the entire cast. Interest waned after an hour, though, when it got both monotonous and outrageous at the same time. I mean, how can you possibly portray the Vaanars as dancing to some stupid gult number which goes "Rock n Roll" every 3 seconds, and expect the audience to love it? We aren't exactly 3 years old, ma'am (four, to be precise).

After that I had to go practice for Tarang till 4 am, which, though it did pay off in the end, was incredibly irritating given my state of mind.

I'll post about the remaining days tomorrow, rather tired right now.

And before I forget.. Unni (or Retd. Squadron Leader Unni Nair) is the director of the company which organized paintball for us. He's old, speaks incredible English, and has a sense of humor that's more puzzling than funny. I can shoot a target with a paintball marker more accurately than him, though, so paaack :D