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Strange Encounter
Strange Encounter
Modern College , Lonavla in the Mumbai -Pune highway, announced their Annual Inter-College Drama festival. The date fixed was 6th January. The shows for individual colleges would begin from 7.00 in the evening. Applications were invited almost three months ahead. Praveen and Bidisha , the President and Secretary of the Drama club were inundated with enthusiastic responses . This was really a surprise! But then they had co -partners who were big names. Green Chillies Entertainment and Radio Masala. It was too exciting a lure to be ignored. It would take two months to construct the hill top venue. A close associate of Larsen and Toubro, Bumble and Bee were chosen for this special job. As expected, a month ahead, Praveen and Bidisha were on their toes, taking audition of the applicant groups, sending out invitations and distributing responsibilities from food to Fevicol. This was the first time for this new college build with the M.P. Lad funds. All these ventures in college had their own woes- Teachers’ scolding, friends conspiring, associates backstabbing. But then every- thing has its own by products, even things like petroleum. They had read it in science.
The theme of the year’s Drama Festival was “Postmodernity and Us”. On the 6th evening , in the January cold, the hill side niche was brimming with youth. Not an inch of space. The Green Chillies fluorescent festoons danced in the breeze against the night sky, while Radio Masala created a kaleidoscope of unreal lights which flickered ,flashed and cut against each other on stage: A huge excitement , hooting, shouting and thundering applaud greeted the first three groups. There were eight in all. The first two were real boring with stale dialogues, weak acting and poor plots. There were tomatoes and eggs till they came down. Crude comments, “Oh! My Gawd! Behenji. Nicche aa” . They M.C had a freezing time with the cold and the outrageous catcalls. It was ten at night with the chilly air nipping your bones. The audience had started to leave when the last group occupied the stage.
“The Encounter” they had named their play. A sickly boy explained the plot as being about an astronaut who accidentally discovers the new continent of Adumbria in 2050 .
Characters:
Man1- Bamber,
Man2- Lumber,
Man 3- Gumber
Their God: Propounder
The Astronaut from America
His dog: Buffon
The Scene opens with the three men laughing at the creature who looks like wearing ill fitting garments,with his head caught in something, suddenly falling down on the rocks badly from the skies.
Bamber (Running up to him with a baton in his hand): Who are you? Are you hurt?
Astronaut (Trying to get up in hurry and salvage his honour, says through the speaking tube): I’m an American and an astronaut.
Lumber: Which land is this? Did your God punish you? He has fixed your head inside a see through pumpkin!
Gumber: “Bamber, Bamber! Break that pumpkin . He will be free of the curse of Gods.”
(The astronaut is mortified and jumps behind two paces again to fall badly on the rocks)
Three of them altogether: “O poor Mr.Cannot! (Blend of American and Astronaut) Your god has grown a white skin on you in folds like a cow but has given you no hooves. That is why you fall. We will burn this skin and you will be free”
(They go to the astronaut with a torch of fire. The man squirms in fear and retreats further. His poodle makes an aggressive attack but only burns his fur and scalds his face in the attempt. The three men laugh at the poor dog. )
Three men together to the poodle: “ O pretty Burnface. This big man in cowskin rides on you! You are still alive! Amazing.”
The Astronaut makes desperate attempts to say No, by waving his hands violently.
Suddenly Bamber shouts: “Look he wears a tortoise shell to hide his middle!” “They paint it with lime! Ha! Ha!”
(The three men break the astronaut’s helmet with baton and feel that they have set him free)
(Henceforth the astronaut is known as Mr. Cannot)
Mr. Cannot (curiously,pointing to the fire): “What is that yellow flower which flickers?”
All three men: “ You don’t know fire?” “Which land do you come from?”
Mr. Cannot (Proudly): “America!”
Gumber: “This roasts our dinner and warms the leftovers.”. “ You don’t do this at your land?”
Mr. Astronaut: “ No we take Pills for Nutrition and Health.”
Bamber: “Pills! What are they?”
Mr. Astronaut: “Like those which you take when sick.”
Lumber: “That means you are always sick.”
(Mr Cannot again waves his hands in desperation)
Mr. Cannot: “Why do you wear leaves?”
Lumber: “We just need to pick them up from the ground and sew them with twigs!” Your cowskin must make you feel hot!”
(Mr Cannot profusely sweating again makes desperate attempts to clear their doubts)
In the meantime the crowd guffaws at the hilarious absurdity of the play and begins hooting as there are peals of laughter. The cold January night indeed becomes warm with the comedy. The M.C tries in vain to hush the crowd.
Suddenly the God in the play ‘Propounder’ comes front stage. The audience feels some new absurdity is about to happen. They get ready with rotten eggs. The actor was really super tall. Heavily built with long hair! He reminded you of Neptune or Posidon, one of the classical Gods.
But what is happening! The spectators can barely have a last look at their watches as they fall off their hands, wither and vanish. It is 12.00 a.m. These young and sceptic spectators are by now covered with red hair all over their bodies- Each like the biblical Esau. They suddenly wear leaves all over them. Only Praveen and Bidisha retain their old form and run helter- skelter trying to believe in everything happening around them.
“There is nobody backstage! All the actors gone!” screams Bidisha.
When run to the stage to manage the transformed spectators who groaned in alien tongue, there was none!
Everything had disappeared in the thin air! The stage, the audience, the spectators!
“Nooo! This cannot be!”. Praveen was profusely sweating and shivering in his bed in spite of the January cold. He looked at the calendar. It was the 5th morning, a day to go before the gala show.
