Tea with Tagore

Tea with Tagore in Toronto. 

I’m happy to report that there were more people interested in the presentation than there were seats at Harbourfront’s Studio Theater.

Ishwar Mooljee played Tagore. His resemblance to the  master of letters is uncanny. He effortlessly engaged the audience with his conversational approach to the subject. Sally Jones’ research on Rabindranath Tagore as a painter was unobtrusive.

The wonderful world of Tagore as an artiste remains incidental in relation to his enormous reputation as a writer and justifiably so. Many outside the subcontinent may not know this, but Tagore is the only poet who has written the national anthems of two nations – India and Bangladesh.

I would liked to know whether Tagore’s nephew Abanindranath Tagore had any influence on him as a painter because Abanindranath’s is credited with the formation of the first truly Indian - Swadeshi - style in painting and his students included stalwarts such as Nandalal Bose and Jamini Roy. While this could have provided an added dimension to the program, on its own Tea with Tagore was riveting, although just half-an-hour was rather too short.

Prior to the event, I had written to Jones and send her the link of my blog on Tagore’s journalism that I wrote last year. Jones responded explaining, “I have been looking at his essays, addresses, letters, etc., during the last ten years of his life...and painting rather than on his fiction. I hadn't thought much about his journalistic writing - have been looking more at speeches he made in different countries... Hope you can get to Harbourfront on the 20th and perhaps we can exchange ideas then.”

I waited to meet her after the show, but couldn’t. She was probably backstage busy wrapping up. 

Image: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=288730399182&ref=mf

A decade in Toronto – 10

Che in Kingston (2010)

I return to my memoirs after a long gap of over a month. The last couple of months have been hectic and difficult. I’ve changed my job and will be working at the Canada India Foundation from Monday, May 28. A former friend and colleague in Bombay had described my penchant for continuous transition rather aptly. He called me dust. “He takes time to settle down.”

In any case, the pressure of a job change and the freelance assignment led to a severe curtailment in the free time I could have at my disposal to do what I ought to do more – write. So, here I’m back blogging.

The year is 2010. Let’s continue from where we left off in the previous post. In November 2010, two years and some months in Canada, we took a three-night tour to Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City and Kingston in a bus. I’ve blogged about the visit earlier and if you’d care to read about it, click here: Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City.

The grand Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal

In Quebec City, while strolling down the market, we met Jean-Philippe Vogel, a pen-and-ink artist who was selling sketches of cityscapes on the street. These were exquisite and detailed. I bought a few and recently gifted to a dear friend and another to a colleague.

We returned to Toronto with a promise that we’d go back to Quebec City and Montreal frequently. But such is the fate of immigrants that the lure of “back home” overrides every other destination. In 2011, we returned to India for the first time after immigrating to Canada, but we’ll talk about that later. 

Sheridan Medal for Academic Excellence

With Nelson and Laura
at the Sheridan Convocation

One of the major highlights of 2010 was my graduation from Sheridan College where unsurprisingly I won the Sheridan Medal for Academic Excellence (silver medal) for coming first in the class. After a couple of decades in journalism, both as a journalist and as a teacher, I guess I knew a bit more than the others on the subject.

It was the first convocation that I attended in my life. I’d skipped the one when I got my university degree nearly three decades ago. It was also the last time I met nearly all of them. And but for a few, I don't really miss their absence. Joyce, Yoko, Teenaz have become friends.

I was working on my manuscript and learnt about the 3-Day Novel festival that is held during the Labor Day weekend. I entered the competition and worked furiously to complete a manuscript in three days. It was terrible in quality but such a great experience that I did that for the next three years. At present, I’ve four novella length stories that I plan to cut down to short story length.

I continued to go to readings by other authors, and participate in literary events. Although 2010 was not the first time I participated in the Word on the Street festival held towards the end of summer, it was definitely the first year when I knew many authors. 

I met Robin Maharaj, whose novel The Amazing, Absorbing Boy I’d recently read. Katherine Govier had her new novel The Ghost Brush published the same year and both Robin and Katherine were reading at the festival. My friend Dawn, whose short story collection was to be published by TSAR later that year, was reading at the Diaspora Dialogues tent.

That year, I also attended the play reading of Habib Tanvir’s classic Charandas Chor. Sally Jones, who ran Rasik Arts in those days, had organised it. Another play that she staged at the Harbourfront Centre was about Tagore as a painter. Tea with Tagore had Ishwar Mooljee enacting the role of Tagore. I blogged about it, too, and should you be interested in reading it, click here: Tea with Tagore.

One of the most pleasant surprises of my life was to meet a college friend Nandita Desai (now Nandita Chawla) at the Harbourfront Centre. In high school, I’d a major crush on her, and everyone (but she) knew about it.  It’s such a strange thing about life. I exchanged polite pleasantries with someone who'd meant so much to me three decades ago. It all works out the way it’s meant to be. I was with my wife and son and she was with her husband and her daughter.  

That year, we also went to the Masala Mehndi Maasti, which turned out to be a washout thanks to torrential rains, but I was happy to hear Janice Goveas read excerpts from her play Dinner with Akbar. And, of course, Meena Chopra invited me to the launch of her collection of poems Glimpses of Setting Sun and an exhibition of paintings. If you’d like to read about the book launch event, click here: Meena Chopra.

Charandas Chor

In February I had attended Tea with Tagore, staged by Rasik Arts – a remarkable show that fused different media with theater. 

Last week, I attended a staged reading of Charandas Chor organised by the same institution.

Rasik Arts is a decade-old institution that is promoting South Asian theatre in Toronto.  

Sally Jones abridged Anjum Katyal's English translation of Habib Tanvir's original Hindi play, and directed it. 

The play is a masterpiece, but to successfully retain its dark satire in English is an extraordinary feat. 

The sheer originality of the idea and the easy confidence with which the entire cast carried off the performance was deeply satisfying.

As this was a staged reading, there was an air of informality to the evening, with some members of the audience roped in to read bit parts.

It worked – everyone had a great time. 

Images: Sally Jones: http://www.torontoartsfoundation.org/TAF-Awards/2009-Sally-Jones

Staged Reading: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1796539&id=1185553077&ref=fbx_album

Toronto Festival of Literature and the Arts 2013 - May 3-5 2013

3 days of readings, seminars, music and dance

FSALA is a Canadian arts festival with a difference, promoting writers from South Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, and those not writing in English, who are major figures in their own countries though not always known to the global "mainstream."

FSALA also invites many Canadian writers to the Festival, as well as musicians and other artists. In the past we have had dramatists Girish Karnad and Mahesh Dattani from India, novelist Bapsi Sidhwa from Pakistan/USA, and classical dancer Hari Krishnan from Canada. Important features of FSALA are panel discussions on various aspects of the arts, and opportunities for members of the public to meet the artists.

In 2011 we celebrated anniversaries of Rabindranath Tagore and Faiz Ahmad Faiz. The keynote address was by Adrienne Clarkson, former Governor General of Canada and a writer. For FSALA13, more than 25 Canadian writers and musicians will be present. 

Admission is free except for the Saturday concert. It is advisable but not essential to pre-register.

International

Amit Chaudhuri (India)

Selina Hossain (Bangladesh)

Oonya Kempadoo (Grenada)

Dannabang Kuwabong (Puerto Rico/Ghana)

Sharankumar Limbale (India)

Harish Narang (India)

Sarmad Sehbai (Pakistan)

Valerie Joan Tagwira (Zimbabwe)

Prasanna Vithanage (Sri Lanka)

Canadian

Sadhu Binning (Vancouver)

Randy Boyagoda (Toronto)

Christian Campbell (Toronto)

Cheran (Windsor)

George Elliott Clarke (Toronto)

Madeline Coopsammy (Winnipeg)

Tahir Aslam Gora (Burlington) 

Anosh Irani (Vancouver)

Arnold Itwaru (Toronto)

Tasneem Jamal (Kitchener)

Pamela Mordecai (Kitchener)

Michelle Muir (Toronto) 

Rasheed Nadeem (Toronto)

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (Toronto)

Munir Pervaiz (Mississauga)

H Nigel Thomas (Montreal)

Program

(Subject to minor changes)

Friday May 3

Morning

School visits by selected authors

Afternoon

Session 1: 3:00- 4:00 p.m.

Campbell Room

Panel discussion: Thinking across Regions

Valerie Joan Tagwira, Selina Hossein, Dannabang Kuwabong, Oonya Kempadoo

Session 2: 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Campbell Room

Lecture: Amit Chaudhuri

Moderator: Sundhya Walther

Evening

7:00-10:00 pm

Seeley Hall, Trinity College, University of Toronto

Reception

Introduction and Welcome

Keynote Address: Professor Deep Saini, Principal, University of Toronto Mississauga

Readings: Anosh Irani, Christian Campbell, Pamela Mordecai

Musical recital

Saturday May 4

Session 4

10:00 am – 12 noon

Munk 108

Growing Diversity, Emerging Media:

Looking at the Future

Readings & Discussion

Tasneem Jamal, Sheniz Janmohamed, Randy Boyagoda, Anand Mahadevan

Moderator: Donna Bailey Nurse

Session 5

10:00 am– 12 noon

Campbell Room

One World, One English, the Many Languages of the Imagination

Readings & Discussion

Sadhu Binning (Punjabi) Cheran (Tamil) Sharankumar Limbale (Marathi), Sarmad Sehbai (Urdu)

Moderator: Arun Prabha Mukherjee

Lunch

12:00 – 1:30 pm

Campbell Lounge/ Munk 208

Session 6:

2:00 – 3:30 pm

Munk 108

Art, Popular Culture, & Aesthetics

Readings and Discussion

Oonya Kempadoo, Michelle Muir, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Madeline Coopsammy
Moderator: Mariam Pirbhai

Session 7: 

1:30 - 3:30pm

Campbell Room

Thinking Locally, Writing Globally

Readings & Discussion

Christian Campbell, Dannabang Kuwabong, Arnold Itwaru, H Nigel Thomas

Tea/Coffee

3:30- - 4:00 pm

Session 9:

7:00 – 9:30 pm 

Al Green Theatre

Readings:

Valerie Joan Tagwira, George Elliott Clarke, Amit Chaudhuri

Musical Recital:  

Kiran Ahluwalia & Co

Sunday May 5

Session 10: 

12:00 – 1:30 pm

Campbell Room, Trinity College

Worlds Within Canada

A session with Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu writers of Canada

Moderator: Harish Narang

1:40 - 2:00

Musical Recital

Kamini Dandapani

Session 11 

2:15 – 4:15 pm 

Campbell Room, Trinity College

Prasanna Vithanage (Movie/Discussion)

Buy tickets to Kiran Alhuwalia's concert and readings on Saturday May 4 evening, click here: FSALA-13 tickets