Every year in December we have a week long concert fest which is iced with two tamil plays on weekends at Keyes school ground. We have been regular to the plays if not on both days atleast one of the day.
This year too we were seated in the makeshift auditorium of Keyes school to witness the play of Gurukulam’s ( original boys co. 95) troupe “Ammavin Aranmanai” (Mother’s palace). Gurukulam to the best of our knowledge is not a popular troupe or atleast we had not heard of it. So, we were skeptical about the play, but thankfully we were not disappointed and I was happy my teens whom we had dragged with us, enjoyed the play.
The play dealt about the migration of people from joint families in smaller towns and villages towards nuclear families in cities and other continents. As they moved away some of them lost touch with their roots, culture and some lost their identity or‘nativity’ too while adapting to their adopted culture.
The plays deals with the above theme through a family which lives in a village home with its traditional architecture of open courtyard surrounded by garden of fresh vegetables and flowers.
The sons, daughter, uncles and their family who live in a flat in a city congregate at the family home for their father’s 80thbirthday and relive the simple pleasures of growing up in a village home and say such simple lifestyles are not possible any more and are no match to their automated lifestyle they lead in cities.
While the preparations are on for the 80thbirthday, the patriarch falls unconscious due to exertion. The son’s and daughter decide to move the parents to the city after the function since the cities afford best medical facilities.Post the 80th birthday, when the discussion veers towards moving the parents, the father refuses saying there would be nothing called ‘Native culture’ any more if everybody migrates and adapts foreign cultures . The temples which are not just place of worship but treasure trove of culture would be neglected, familial and neighbor hood ties would be fractured in cities. He says it is wise for elders to stay in their native and await the arrival of children to their homes atleast once in a year to visit the family deity and visit the native temples. This will help pass the baton of culture for future generations rather than stay in time-share resorts and home-stays.
While the preparations are on for the 80thbirthday, the patriarch falls unconscious due to exertion. The son’s and daughter decide to move the parents to the city after the function since the cities afford best medical facilities.Post the 80th birthday, when the discussion veers towards moving the parents, the father refuses saying there would be nothing called ‘Native culture’ any more if everybody migrates and adapts foreign cultures . The temples which are not just place of worship but treasure trove of culture would be neglected, familial and neighbor hood ties would be fractured in cities. He says it is wise for elders to stay in their native and await the arrival of children to their homes atleast once in a year to visit the family deity and visit the native temples. This will help pass the baton of culture for future generations rather than stay in time-share resorts and home-stays.
The play never sounded preachy although it had a strong social message. The beautiful pleasures of growing up when life was not technologically connected was comically built through lovely dialogues and versatile acting making it a memorable fare.
In short, i could identify with the play since the play's message were so similar to my thoughts which I had posted long ago in "Connecting to my roots"
In short, i could identify with the play since the play's message were so similar to my thoughts which I had posted long ago in "Connecting to my roots"