IGNIRE - MAY 2014

1. How are you known to the world that sees you beyond an entrepreneur?

If being the CEO, CFO, COO, Manager, Secre-tary, Accountant, Errand Boy, Kamala Bhai & Watchman all at the same time is called being an entrepreneur, then you can call me that! To everyone else, I’m your regular guy next door who enjoys the simple pleasures of life.

2. What drives you towards the performing arts?

Theatre to me is the journey I embarked on, along a highway, called life! It’s all around me, so it more like I’m in the middle of it all rather that it being in me.

3. Theatre, how did it all kick start?

It started very early! I’ve been involved direct-ly or indirectly with Theatre for over 2 dec-ades now. I did my first piece of work when I was four and ever since have been drawn to everything the stage has had to offer.

INTERACT

Vikram HemanathanCEO and Founder, Barking Dog.

www.facebook.com/barkingdogproductions

4. Why the name Barking Dog Production? Tell us more about it.

Well that’s a long story! In a nut shell – We were diversifying our parent company Boulevard View into specific dimensions that would cater to various other art forms and one late night were hashing out names to christen our new venture and all of a sudden my 25 odd dogs went berserk and began barking and voila it gave birth to Barking Dog. Besides, we do see ourselves as the stray yet affectionate dogs of the theatre world.

5. How can theatre enthusiasts be a part of Barking Dog Production?

We foundered Barking Dog with the sole purpose to provide opportunities to anyone and everyone who wanted to give theatre a shot, whether it be as a actor, a produc-tion team member or even as the audience. So in keeping with that thought, we have no formal requirements and anyone who is interested in being a part of this beauti-ful art form, as and when there are projects available are welcome to get in touch with us, and come aboard.

6. The part of theatre that appeals to you the best:

The endless possibilities that this art form presents to all those involved in creating it and to all those who indulge in viewing it.

7. Your inspiration comes from?

I don’t have a specific inspiration that drives my passion for this art form, but I believe inspiration is all around us and the possibili-ties are equally innumerable.

8. Has theatre changed you as a person?

Definitely! Theatre has enriched my mind and lifted my sprit! It continues to do so every day!

9. When you watch a performance, what is the first thing that grabs your attention?

When I do watch a performance I try and not make any first impressions, as I’ve come to understand that theatre is a much layered art form. I enjoy the ascetics and design in this art form, so that’s something that always interests me.

10. Which would you say has been one of the most memorable performances that you've been a part of?

There are many memorable performances and fond memories that come to mind but ‘The Good Doctor’ by Neil Simon has to be one of my favourites.

11. A misconception that people have about your profession:

Theatre is at times looked at as the poor man’s platform therefore it’s sometimes dubbed as ‘not a viable career option’ and that it doesn’t pay bills. That to me isn’t nec-

essarily true. Like every other profession it has its pluses and minus.

12. One social evil that you feel strongly about; how do you think it can be eradi-cated?

Our world is filled with many! Violence against anybody, more so towards women and children is something I strongly con-demn. I don’t have a magic wand for the problem but believe a collective effort will result in a solution sooner than later. Edu-cate – Empower – Eradicate!

13. If not the theatre, what would you be doing?

I’m qualified as an engineer, so if it came down to ‘roti, kapada aur makan’ then maybe that, but if it had to be a life calling I would say politics.

14. Since we’re a photography magazine, we have to ask you this – any interest to-wards photography?

A tiny bit! From time to time I get the op-portunity to do elaborate shoots for our theatre productions and honestly I enjoy the process of conceptualization and work-ing with our photographers to see what eventually evolves.

15. Name a few favourites:

FOOD: I’m a big foodie, but Indian Chaat for me takes the cake!

MUSIC: EDM – I live by it!

SPORT: Duh, I’m Indian – Cricket! I also enjoy F1, Soccer and the NFL from time to time!

16. Pick one- the movies or theatre, and why?

Theatre, Theatre, Theatre! Call me biased, but to me there is no purer performing art form that provides the opportunity to en-compass every other art form.

17. What is the 'big plan' for the future?

There are many ‘big plans’ on my mind! Only time will tell what materializes! But for 2014 the focus is to stay involved in staging new and unique performances all year round.

18. Share some gyan with the up and com-ers in the field:

I’m still a student of life, so I have no ‘gyan’ per say to dole out, but staying true to what you believe in and working hard to reach it should take you places no matter what the challenge or field.

Photo Credit: Nikhil Unnikrishnan

Mother.Mother.

She's the one who gave birth and \she's the one who nurtured.

She's the one who held my hand and taught me to walkand understood my blabber when i couldn't talk.

Mother.It’s that holy name, that even God

bowed his head before.She was the one who 

fell before I did,and who laughed every time I did.

She sacrificed her everything for mefor I was dearer to her than her herself.

She's the one who encouraged mein times of need

and celebrated with mein times of lead.

My mother is onelike a flower, so pure and tender,

her love so intense,that.... I doubt I could repay it!

As time goes by, I hopelife gives me a chance

that i will repay everything my mother didwalk by her, love her, and 

always be with her when she needs me most.

Mother.Forgive me if i have ever hurt you with my harsh words,

forgive me if i ever insulted you, due to my ignorancebut......

thank you for everything that you did for memy life is indebted to you

and I just have to say one thing -I LOVE YOU. 

- Tarun Zutshi

“Suit yourself”, said God.Day in day out, things we do to ourselves is just preposterous. Nature is truly appalled by our inhumane acts one after the other. The surge of consequences, Oh! To hell with it… are we damned?! Of course we are not. We still aggravate it with all our potential telling ourselves that it is all for a better world. And done so by dumping enough garbage in the ocean, feeding the wild with plastics and non-bio degradable wastes, poisoning the roots with chemicals and what not? This list goes on endlessly while we move on to the new de-structive inventions. When in silence about these issues, we arrive at the conflicts of differ-ent powers, differing faiths, disbeliefs, senseless minds and strengths.

What we didn’t learn from the soaring calamities is that we aren’t as well prepared as we think we are, for any sort of apocalypse. Of course, we are pretty prepared for a zombie apocalypse (according to a famous University) which perhaps is more likely due to lack of vegetation which the coming generation will certainly face. We have derailed from moral acts long before we learned of science, to blame it. However, we have used it as a tool to know more about our home and have we discovered the ways to taper her glory.

Having said enough about the general scenario we do not expect a wildlife enthusiast, an environmentalist or a tree hugger in each of you. What we should expect from each other is a sensible, proactive behavior as a coexisting creature to contribute to its balance.

I’m not a graduate in natural sciences, I don’t follow complex terms and taxonomies but I do know that if bees, cattle, birds, trees or fishes are extinct, we are all soon to meet with the doom. It’s not about fallacious statements to prove a point, it’s almost a plea to give a shit about nature, at least when we realize it’s high time.

Political bigotries, religious pogroms, twisted logics, wicked technologies have done enough. Let us use the latest and last of all chances left with us to save the leftovers. We have a generation following us, it’s alright to not have left a legacy but let us not leave a big fiery ball of trouble thinking of our own span. Let us not make the gods give up on us. There aren’t any gods if there aren’t any more people to believe in it.

-Saranya Manivannan

A Beautiful EveningAs I sit here with you gazing at those distant horizons,

I can see the twilight curling around us like a million leaves.Once again we have stepped into the portals of our lost past, Of those halcyon days when you and I used to sit together...

and weave beautiful dreams of our unknown future.Ah! Now I can see that fleeting twilight dancing and casting shadows…

on the sand, on the waves, here, there and everywhere.Who are we? Only a mirage in the dune of history…

Yes, now we can see our youth out there somewhere,beyond one’s reach, hidden and lost to us now and forever.

Yes, once I was like that young boy casting the fish net in glee.And so were you – just carefree and as free as a bird in the sky…

Our best days of life have wafted into a timeless mistAnd we have grown old together, with each evening…

I wish this beautiful evening would stay with us for eternity!

-Smitha Abraham

Relationships that occur out of attraction are temporary. You need something more sub-stantial than mere attraction or infatuation to grow in a relationship. Men and women are very different in their ways, in all their ways. This is no news to us; however, we tend to forget the basics, later in a relationship. It is a very commonly observed phenomenon that the relationship gets 'boring' later. It’s a party when it starts and a mess when it ends. Why can't the basics be constant? How do you kill the boredom that creeps in silently?

Now let us look at this logically. Two people meet, they develop special feelings for each other - which is an indication that they are supposed to be together, then the next thing you know- they are together… then it’s very romantic and.........new? Yes, 'new' is the right word to describe that phase. Now, the 'new' tends to fade away gradually and all that re-mains in the relationship is the two people who vouched their love for each other. This is the stage in your relationship where you either make it or break it. This is when you discover how compatible you are with one another, how much pressure can each of you take, what pisses him/her off, how much to push each other, how much to love each other. Both the people involved in the rela-tionship have to contribute equally to help each other here otherwise the effort will be one way which we all know, never works!

The key is to become friends with your part-ner. You need a friend for a lifetime, not a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife- all you need to get through this cruel life is a 'friend'. I mean, think about it. You never really get bored with your friends, right? No mat-ter how many hours in a day or a week you spend with them, no matter how crazy they are, no matter how ridiculously they be-have or how much you fight with them- you

never really give up on friends. You might have friends to whom you don't talk to eve-ryday, those whom you meet every day and those whom you haven't seen or contacted in years. However, whenever you do meet them, you paint the town red. This is the re-lationship that lasts a lifetime- Friendship!

The newness fades away with time, friend-ship never does. Make him/her your best friend today. Once the early romance is over and you reach this stage, do something fun with them, take up a sport together or learn a foreign language together or maybe a dance form or play a musical instrument to-gether or teach each other how to cook your favorite food. Take up a hobby that keeps you both physically and mentally active. Spend time separately with your respec-tive friends and together with your mutual friends. Be independent when it comes to your finances- your partner shouldn't be-come your source of income. My dear, it's a relationship, not a job opportunity! Forgive each other- the first to apologize is always the bravest, the first to forgive is the strong-est, the first to forget is the happiest. Com-municate - no kind of relationship lasts un-less you communicate.

Ladies- here is a bro-tip for you. Men hate communicating. It's a bit harsh but it's the truth. They just can't fathom discussing their day, their friends, their problems and boss is-sues like women do. Actually, they just can't talk as much as women do, they tend to miss out on important information that'll drive you mad but no matter how much you crib and fight with them, they are built that way and very little can be done about this. So if you want them to communicate, please ask them very specific questions and you will get specific answers. If they don't tell you some-thing, not every time are they trying to hide

Growing in a Relationship

something, so please go easy with your FBI investigation. They just don't want to talk at times. Give them a break, try talking about it after sleeping over it or just cook him his favorite meal. Food has never failed me!

My dear men, if a woman is responsible for your smile, please be responsible with her heart. Women like to communicate; it boosts their confidence in the relationship and in turn makes your bond stronger. Communi-cation also helps reduce their insecurity to a great extent. For instance, you will notice that your girl is shaky if you don't talk to her about something that has kept you awake all night. Women are talkative by nature and very little can be done about this too. All you have to do is give her a patient ear when she talks, even if you don't have any inputs, its fine. Just listen and nod, it makes a hell lot of difference. Women have too many things to talk about. We understand that its very dif-ficult to participate actively in all the topics of discussion however, please participate in whatever you think is important to her; be-cause if you don't, someone else will.

A healthy relationship is what you ultimately want. A healthy relationship is when both people involved in it are equally happy about being there and want to be with each other

without any force or obligation. If some-thing that you say or do is compelling your partner to stay with you, you are in trouble my friend. Confront each other on the first sign of unhappiness- it could be nothing probably, maybe it’s something as trivial as a mood swing but make sure you make an effort in knowing what it is. Otherwise, you'll never know when he/she built a wall around his/her heart and suddenly you'll find your-self out in the cold. If he/she is constantly irritable/depressed/sad/furious/cranky for days together, it should raise a red flag in your mind- it means something is not right. Make an effort to keep the romance alive for as long as you can.

Romance is fun- it makes you feel younger, making you happy in turn. Make sure your partner is always aware of their importance in your life. If they forget, remind them and keep reminding them as many times as it takes to ensure they never forget it. Prac-tice your basics from the first day, every day. Grow together in a relationship, because that’s what makes it worth it.

- Reena Joy

A Note from HeavenNo more tears darling daughter,Dad loves your tingling laughter.

It pains to see you whine and cryTo console you with a hug, I try.

But you know that it is far,as now I am a twinkling Star.

No more tears darling daughterDad loves your tingling laughter.

I beam and smile at your success,wish to advise when you try hard to assess.

Joyous I am when you look at the skysilently kiss your forehead and urge you to try.

No more tears darling daughter,Dad loves your tingling laughter.

See you in worry and despair,sit at the base of my rocking chair.

I stroke your head and hold your hand,build you up and make you stand.

No more tears darling daughterDad loves your tingling laughter.

Have heard all that you speak to my picture,but am helpless at the hands of The Creator.

Every time you Say " I MISS YOU"I Scream Back with a "I MISS YOU Too".

No more tears darling daughter,Dad loves your tingling laughter.

- Nazima Kachwalla