Lesson in Acting: A Theatre Poem
Ojha Kanhailal to Ima Sabitri
Look for it
Not on to the stage,
Not in costumes or make-up
Not in props or sets
Not in the electric light,
Not in the sound system,
Not in the theatre house,
Not in theories or arguments,
Not just in the body
Devoid of breath
Not in the breath
Devoid of spirit
Not in the spirit
Devoid of resolve
But into ‘thamoi’
Where all is always present
Old and new
Near and far
Remembered and forgotten
Look into it
Deep
Look, feel, fill
Yourself full with it
Fulfil yourself with
The source of light
In you
The source of breath
In you
The source of death
And rebirth
In you
And then
Stir, move, be still
Sing, chant, speak
Through it
And ACT
As if not acting
(‘thamoi’ in Manipuri means heart)
2
Where shall we meet again
dear friend?
In this planet or some other?
In this time-world
or some other?
In this very earth
in the same time-world,
you insist,
which I too would have
thirty years ago
Now that my body and I
are thirty years older
and my heart on fire
three hundred years younger
I clutch with my shaky fingers
the slippery globe
spinning so fast
out of my grasp
and look with my chastened eyes
to see so many worlds
within the world
like dreams within the dream
breaking free
like sprouts from the shattered seeds
like a poem from the tattered hearts
like gods and goddesses
from lifeless woods, stones and metals
So why only this world
Why only this time-
these crude imitations
of glorious worlds
inverted in the wombs
of desires?
3
When I let a moment slip
from my hands
a whole age slipped away
Before I could bat my eyelid
The whole world dawned and set
Between my in-and out-breath
a whole kalpa had gone
I did it all in ignorance
And all was lost
Yes, I could lay my hands
on everything
but could hold nothing
The treasure buried deep
inside the earth;
huge monuments that
light and wind corroded;
the colossal underwater cities;
memories wasted in heart’s depths;
sweetest moments spent with dear ones
All of them were very close
but nothing stayed with me
what did they earn
what did they save up
what sort of life they lived —
kings of kings
gods of gods
poorest of the poor
stingiest of the stingy
meanest of the mean
