HUMARA EK JAHAN:
Gargee Dixit, Manasvi Kshirasagar
FY BSc
Reading time: 8 mins
16th February, 10 pm:
As the magicians looked at the unwavering flame, they mused on how far they’d come. They had showcased their magic and were selected to be a part of something other-worldly. They honed their skills and practised their spells during these months to create magic on stage. They reminisce on the past 3 months of hard work, crying, laughing and doing what they love. The magicians were us, the Firodiya team members, adding colours to the script that Miheer and Revati inked. Every day’s worth of hard work was going to be put forward the next day! What everyone felt on the 16th of February, is ineffable, but it’s a feeling every Firodiya team member would give anything to experience just one more time. Countless hours were spent on that mess terrace, together, inhaling copious amounts of dust. In the yellow light, between them, is the director, narrating their journey from the very first day.
In January, echoes of Under The Sea were being played in Room 101. Under The Sea was the first song the music team set and it was the song that everyone would be humming for days to come. Fascinatingly, Duddu changed the lyrics to the song to fit our theme and made the team forget that the original ones even existed. It certainly set the scene for how incessant and loud but harmonious the music team would be. Under The Sea was Ishaan’s, (the Music team head), most treasured track. His pride and joy. Composing and learning the song with all its pauses and scale changes was an arduous process but to finally hear it in all its glory was a sight to behold. Under The Sea was a hard dance to choreograph because the penguin-like body mannerisms had to be maintained throughout the dance. A lot of earlier versions of Under The Sea looked too human-like, but in the end, Sharanya, (the Dance team head), cracked the code and set the most adorable penguin dance. Sharanya’s steps and everyone’s ideas made Under The Sea the grand opening that set the tone for the play.
One of the prominent events in the play was the UV act which showed Sahiba, the elder emperor penguin’s story and how she got there. The idea of a flower, an innocent presence, a symbol of life elsewhere, turns out to be the harbinger of death to the penguins. A gentle flower turns out to be the poison that kills her community. The audience’s response to the UV act was positive which was a testament to the hard work of the UV act performers even though all of them were non-dancers.
The travel montage was a treat for the performing team, an opportunity for the dance, music and art teams to showcase their talents. While the musicians worked tirelessly on finding the perfect song that created the atmosphere of the travel location, the dancers had to overcome the challenge of showcasing authentic steps that captured the allure of the surroundings. Urvi’s Le Festin was magical to hear because she had made sure her pronunciations were top-notch and everybody couldn’t get enough of it. The flats in the travel scene were beautifully designed. Abhayee, Kaavya and Isha worked tirelessly to get the proportions and the colours right. They truly set the location for the music and dance to shine.
The zoo scenes provided a captivating stage for the actors and the script to truly flourish. Also, the endless amount of set designs and maskings sprung the stage to life. Vedant and Rajas (The Backstage heads) were dedicated to making the Koala tree a success and the tree was the ideal lounging place for the Koala to lounge around.
Devarya as the Orangutan was a natural, which was commendable because Devarya joined as a backstage team member. He was up for anything even when Preet gave him two giant black eyes as his makeup.
‘Naina Thag Lenge’ aka ‘The Blindfold Dance’ was the highlight of the play. Both the music and the dance team worked day and night to get this song right. NTGL had a few hiccups along the way, but when it was finalised, the entire team jumped, cried and leapt around in circles like it was the happiest day of their life. The music team had a chance to play to their strengths. The song had everything. Right from Pranav’s electrifying guitar solo that set the stage on fire accompanied by Gargee’s drums solo that made everyone headbang to Arpita’s rich harmonium that fit flawlessly in the rock song, Ishaan’s keyboard which blended everything seamlessly and Aarya’s tabla which grounded our song and turned it into a fusion. The first time, the music team played the song in all its glory, everyone in the entire team just stopped what they were doing, and gazed in amazement at the magic being created.
The dance team’s powerful contemporary choreography to ‘Naina Thag Lenge’ left everyone mesmerised. The team’s precise blindfold choreography and synchronised tutting made everyone stop and admire the dancers. Anushka’s expressions and sudden drop from the stage level, choreographed perfectly to the beat was another carefully curated spectacle. The dance team would go home tired and with swollen feet from dancing but their consistent practice made Naina Thag Lenge carve the visual of betrayal into the audience’s mind.
Shadow was one of the last things that were set in the process and by then, the entire team was like a well-oiled machine. The song demanded a powerful male voice and Yash came to the rescue all the way from his penguin role. Shadow scenes were brilliantly set by Preet and Ronak who would work with the team late into the night, literally burning the midnight oil. While everyone would crib about going home, Preet and Ronak would keep everyone’s spirits up. Preet would never get angry at anyone no matter how tired she was and Ronak never failed to lighten the mood.
The satirical song sung by animals and Laal Janwar (Ronak) was referred to as the documentary scene. The initial preparation for the documentary scene was amusing because the documentary was sung by all non-singers. The actors were completely unfamiliar with catching the beat or singing in scale. The actors had their doubts about the documentary but once it was set and choreographed with the help of Miheer and Sonawee, it became the most enjoyable part of the play. The documentary was so memorable that it was etched into everyone’s mind. It was common to randomly start singing ‘Mera Baccha Latak Raha tha’ or ‘Koala mera naam hai’ in the middle of doing any work.
The last scene was by far the most emotionally heavy scene of the play. During our first stretch, Yash and Preet gave their all to the dialogue, it felt as if both of them were grieving the loss of their child and were helpless in the world of human greed. The way they recited their dialogues during the first stretch, brought everyone to tears. The melodious keyboard chords of bawara mann perfectly complemented the pain and agony that the penguins were feeling at that moment. The song ‘Bawara Maan’ was the perfect ending to the play, inciting various emotions of helplessness, grief and disbelief. Everyone in the team looked around the room, pinching themselves as the realisation finally hit that our play was standing on its feet, completed! albeit requiring a few finishing touches.
Going back to the magicians and their candles, we looked into the dwindling candle flames, as we realised that our time together was coming to an end. We all recalled the moments created this past month and a half. We realised how every person here had collectively converted a ‘Koi Aur Jahaan’ into ‘Humara Ek Jahaan.’
Stepping out of the theatre, tears welled in everyone’s eyes, not just for the exceptional performance given, but also for the profound satisfaction derived from witnessing the culmination of their relentless dedication and hard-earned efforts. With each heart brimming with the resonance of unforgettable memories, we huddled together for the last time!
Firodiya started and ended like a fleeting moment. With every passing day, none of us understood how we would feel when it ended. It’s hard to get over a cause you devoted every day of your life to for a month, and harder when it doesn’t come to fruition. They say Firodiya is a journey, a journey to create magic on stage. For us, Firodiya was more than just a journey of creating magic. For us, Firodiya was a journey of finding another family, just a little far from our own home, in a ‘Koi Aur Jahaan.’