"I will be waiting here....
For your silence to break,
For your soul to shake,
For your love to wake!"
He quoted Rumi.
As the lights dimmed the hall broke into a round of roaring applause.
This was the Grande Finale.
Rubik's Cube has become a phenomenon.
Next month they are going to the Avignon Festival. Yes, THE Festival d'Avignon.
He wanted to go to France. It is to Paris that three years back Raina moved.
And found Jacques.
Hold it. Hold it.
Lights have come back on, the Director introduced the cast and another round of thundering applause is dedicated solely to him.
Someone from the audience asked about how it feels to be Rubik.
He has a ready answer.
Rubik is a young man who makes a journey to the end of the world, in search of his lost lover only to find her in coma, awaiting life or may be death. Yes he idolises Rubik and Rubik's selfless love.
Does he identify with Rubik too?
Well, no one has come into his life till now to awaken such strong passion in him.
It has only been Theatre. He adds in his mind.
Yes.
His only love and passion has been the stage.
Because she is Raina!
The French Scientist could never have told her that her dark kajal lined eyes looked like a bird's nest.
Surely, he has never asked her how she mesmerises the world with her melodies?
But Avignon had greater significance.
It is a slight opportunity of redemption.
He knew Rubik was doomed for injustice.
All along. Ever since he had first read the script.
Unlike Anindya, Siddhartha, Shabir; Rubik isn't perfect.
However, the time has now come and justice will be served.
Yes.
Rubik will Perfect Rumi.
And he will Perfect Rubik.
For your silence to break,
For your soul to shake,
For your love to wake!"
He quoted Rumi.
As the lights dimmed the hall broke into a round of roaring applause.
This was the Grande Finale.
Rubik's Cube has become a phenomenon.
Next month they are going to the Avignon Festival. Yes, THE Festival d'Avignon.
He wanted to go to France. It is to Paris that three years back Raina moved.
And found Jacques.
Hold it. Hold it.
Lights have come back on, the Director introduced the cast and another round of thundering applause is dedicated solely to him.
Someone from the audience asked about how it feels to be Rubik.
He has a ready answer.
Rubik is a young man who makes a journey to the end of the world, in search of his lost lover only to find her in coma, awaiting life or may be death. Yes he idolises Rubik and Rubik's selfless love.
Does he identify with Rubik too?
Well, no one has come into his life till now to awaken such strong passion in him.
It has only been Theatre. He adds in his mind.
Yes.
His only love and passion has been the stage.
He discovers himself when he is not himself.
He spent sleepless nights trying to master the perfect move, the perfect delivery, the perfect glance. The perfect Anindya.
He spent hours in front of the mirror when he had to deliver the 3 page long soliloquy before the NSD staging. To perfect Siddhartha.
He skipped friends' birthdays, and family gatherings and spent brooding over the death of his father, because the perfectly imperfect Shabir would have done it.
Eventually Raina said enough is enough. Anyways now that their undergraduate course was over and she was applying to the Paris School of Economics and Ecolé Polytechnic it didn't make sense for her to stay back with the self obsessed megalomaniac Byronic Hero either.
Heathcliffe makes sense only to teenage girls. A young woman in her early 20s sees no point wasting time with a man who doesn't value her enough. Afterall life isn't Wuthering Heights.
Of course he never cared to notice till it actually happened. She chose Paris.
He too was just moving to Mumbai. Starting a career with Beyond the Boundaries.
On the stage he has always been 10 on 10.
He spent sleepless nights trying to master the perfect move, the perfect delivery, the perfect glance. The perfect Anindya.
He spent hours in front of the mirror when he had to deliver the 3 page long soliloquy before the NSD staging. To perfect Siddhartha.
He skipped friends' birthdays, and family gatherings and spent brooding over the death of his father, because the perfectly imperfect Shabir would have done it.
Eventually Raina said enough is enough. Anyways now that their undergraduate course was over and she was applying to the Paris School of Economics and Ecolé Polytechnic it didn't make sense for her to stay back with the self obsessed megalomaniac Byronic Hero either.
Heathcliffe makes sense only to teenage girls. A young woman in her early 20s sees no point wasting time with a man who doesn't value her enough. Afterall life isn't Wuthering Heights.
Of course he never cared to notice till it actually happened. She chose Paris.
He too was just moving to Mumbai. Starting a career with Beyond the Boundaries.
On the stage he has always been 10 on 10.
With the hard work, the recognition also poured in.
He was advancing in his career at lightning speed.
But Mumbai made things different (difficult?) for him.
The late night solitary walks along the Marine Drive slowly exposed a gaping hollow in his life.
Even though a year had already passed, he knew she would come back to him.
He was advancing in his career at lightning speed.
But Mumbai made things different (difficult?) for him.
The late night solitary walks along the Marine Drive slowly exposed a gaping hollow in his life.
Even though a year had already passed, he knew she would come back to him.
Because she is Raina!
GB Shaw's Raina was in awe of "The Man". And in every staging in college of 'Arms and The Man', he has, always been "The Man".
Rangan, their scriptwriter in college, had recently moved to Mumbai then.
The b*****d's now become a "Consult"!
Back in college, they used to go "Green" together.
On the eve of his birthday, Rangan had come over and they were reminiscing the past.
While "on the rocks", Rangan mentioned oh the Parisien..yes, she has found her "Amant", her French lover.
He felt suffocated.
The Ego- stood shattered.
Women. The whole lot is unworthy of trust.
He kept himself busier than ever.
Stage, his love, was his only respite.
Two monsoons have lashed at Mumbai and gone since that July night.
Today as he stands at the Rangmanch, basking in the glory of Rubik's Cube he knows that Avignon is not just another feather in his cap.
Avignon had to happen.
Yes, he will go see who this "Amant" Jacques is.
If his Post Doctoral work in Quantum Mechanics is anywhere close to what Rubik's Cube is to the world.
Rangan, their scriptwriter in college, had recently moved to Mumbai then.
The b*****d's now become a "Consult"!
Back in college, they used to go "Green" together.
On the eve of his birthday, Rangan had come over and they were reminiscing the past.
While "on the rocks", Rangan mentioned oh the Parisien..yes, she has found her "Amant", her French lover.
He felt suffocated.
The Ego- stood shattered.
Women. The whole lot is unworthy of trust.
He kept himself busier than ever.
Stage, his love, was his only respite.
He got noticed by the right people.
Rubik's Cube happened.
Rubik's Cube happened.
Two monsoons have lashed at Mumbai and gone since that July night.
Avignon had to happen.
Yes, he will go see who this "Amant" Jacques is.
If his Post Doctoral work in Quantum Mechanics is anywhere close to what Rubik's Cube is to the world.
No.
No he was not jealous.
No he was not jealous.
He pitied her.
The French Scientist could never have told her that her dark kajal lined eyes looked like a bird's nest.
Surely, he has never asked her how she mesmerises the world with her melodies?
Alright, even if the Scientist might have heard of Tagore but what about Jibananando, Raina's favourite?
Jacques will never be able to match up.
His fame, glory. His success. His talent.
Is Jacques even a quarter of what he is?
But Avignon had greater significance.
It is a slight opportunity of redemption.
Rubik's Cube has been his dream project. His career high.
When on stage, he is Rubik.
When on stage, he is Rubik.
The whole world admires him for his impeccable Rubik.
But he fails to do justice to Rubik.
Yes, he knows why.
He knew Rubik was doomed for injustice.
All along. Ever since he had first read the script.
Unlike Anindya, Siddhartha, Shabir; Rubik isn't perfect.
Like a deceitful infidel, he cheats on Rubik. And Rubik doesn't deserve it.
Even after 38 international staging, and a few hundreds of hours of grueling rehearsals.
In the last scene, all throughout, he has only "played" Rubik.
Not "been" Rubik.
However, the time has now come and justice will be served.
He has sent Raina two Guest Invites.
He knows she will come.
At Avignon, when the final curtain call will be made, he will recite the Rumi again.
He knows, with her in the first row, looking into those dark kajal lined eyes, he will mean, even the pauses which define that piece.
At Avignon, when the final curtain call will be made, he will recite the Rumi again.
He knows, with her in the first row, looking into those dark kajal lined eyes, he will mean, even the pauses which define that piece.
Yes.
Rubik will Perfect Rumi.
And he will Perfect Rubik.
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