Conflicting Realities

What is Reality? What is imagination? We often hear people saying things are not practical, cause they cannot be realized in the world we live in, in "Reality". But still, we hear the same number of people saying nothing is impossible, everything can be done when you have the will to do it.

Therefore one thing can be said with confidence, not everyone who refers to Reality refers to the same Reality. We live in multiplicity, in two worlds, A 'real' world and an 'imaginary' world. But these worlds have no definite boundaries, no closed structures. And they are different for everyone.

I'll put it this way, there are Realms of Reality. Whichever realm you realize your existence is "your" Reality and everything above it is "your" Imaginary world.

If you are finding it hard to understand these so-called Realms. Then let us leave the Reality and Imaginary worlds aside for sometime. Let us start from where everything starts, Birth. When you are born, you don't enter this world; you enter a small part of it. My world is restricted to my parents, my family, my cradle, my toys... You grow up and you start learning, start knowing things around you, within you; the locality you live in, the city, the state, the country you are in; the community you are a part of, the religion you follow; and then you realize you are no more a part of the world you had entered, no more a part of that Realm of Reality. The world has changed, things that you once dreamt of are now a part of your Reality. How many of us dreamt of riding the bikes that our elder brother had, and finally when we rode such bikes, we moved from one Realm to another. The things that were a part of my Imaginary world are a now a part of my Reality.

to be continued later.. (wen i have time.. [:(] )

Masks

[This is the first blog which I will publish, rest remains in my diaries, or as ashes in the wind. ]

Masks

I am a person from the field of Theatre, so my first blog is dedicated to the wonderful art of Theatre and to my club Hindi Drama Club

Masks. What are they? Why are they? How important they are to an actor? Are they still there in Theatre? We haven't seen them recently?

Masks. A Mask is nothing but another face you can put on. A Mask is something you want to be, but are not. A Mask is a veil, a cover to hide what you are. But in Theatre, A Mask is not just a piece of cloth over your face. It is a whole new person.

Masks in Theatre have two inherent qualities in them. One, they conceal what you are. Every actor when he plays a character puts on a Mask. By wearing that Mask he kills himself, before he becomes that character. He then exists no more. His existence is only with the character and not with himself. He breathes, eats, talks, even thinks like his character. The character is then the only thing living on stage. And when character finishes his part, the actor removes the Mask. He resurrects the actor and leaves the character.

But, one may argue hiding ones-self from others and presenting a different face is hypocrisy. Is that what the Mask is all about? No, the second quality frees the Masks from this act. It also dictates why the Mask was made. Why is it still important?

Second, Masks define a Character. Just like a normal mask is of a definite shape, material and colour. The Masks in Theatre are also simple moulds into which an actor tries to fit, to create the characters we see. The Masks in Theatre are created by the Playwrights (& the director). They are, as we already saw, a complete person. That Mask is a person just like you and me, it can walk, talk, sleep, do everything that we do, but the way it does things is already defined. (as is the case with us, :) ) And, we know what that definition is, (as is not the case with us :( ), the definition that the Playwright had made for that Mask(character).

Now, you may wonder, if every character has the same definition throughout, then why do we feel, we saw two completely different characters, when we saw the same play twice. It is matter of how well the Mask fits the actor who wears it. For some, it may fit perfectly well, for some, it may be too tight and we can see the actor also along with the mask, for some, it may be loose or too big, that the mask itself is out of shape to fit the face.

Though, unlike the Shakespearean era, we don't see actors wearing Masks, made of tangible materials. But an actor puts on a Mask everytime he Acts.