In Memory of Ambu

Devu has requested me to relate some stories of my involvement with the dramatic arts as a youngster. My recollection of those events is mostly of experiencing, and inflicting, great embarrassment. Many know that I was active in the boy scout group – and it was customary for them to organize annual “scout melas” for the purpose of collecting money to run the group. Often, these involved putting up cultural programs, including drama. I was usually selected to do the part of some raja / rishi or other eminent person during these events, though my ability to act was nil. My acting skills mostly consisted of vigorously shaking my head whenever someone said something in my direction, and I never put any effort into wearing good costumes. I am not exactly sure why I would be the one selected, but perhaps I can speculate that it was due to my height – whenever they needed a taller actor to play a part, they approached me. However, I had a big weakness in the form of the chronic inability to memorize any lines. I remember playing parts such as Tipu Sultan, Polonius (from Shakespeare), Gautama Rishi etc. and of forgetting my lines during every one of these performances. It is not that I was too lazy to memorize, indeed, I would have practiced for months, and spend hours in memorizing the lines, but when it came to the actual performance, I would forget everything. This became such a big problem that one time, the stage prompter whose job it was to remind actors of forgotten lines got so frustrated with my frequent lapses in memory that he almost jumped on the stage and took over the part from me mid-performance. Despite all of these – I was usually selected again the next time. At one point, I was asked to take the role of Secretary for the drama troupe called The Mylapore Amateurs (a friend’s elder brother was president of the club). However, when they saw my skill (or rather the utter lack of it) they beat a hasty retreat and I resigned the position. In Kombur village, one time the school teacher organized a drama event (Devu has mentioned this earlier). It was the first time drama was ever performed in the village. I was made into Akbar or Vikramaditya or some such character, and I rehearsed the part very enthusiastically. However, once on stage, I completely forgot the entire dialogue as usual. Luckily, I was able to cover for my memory lapse by vigorously shaking my head every time anyone spoke to me.