For this Sunday, we have the transcript of a talk delivered during the Morning Prayer session of the Prasanthi Nilayam college by Mr K V S Dileep, a student in the final year of Master of Sciences (Mathematics) class.
“All the world is a stage and all the men and women just players”. Shakespeare was definitely in a mood more philosophical than poetic when he composed that particular line. He was drawing parallels between the drama on stage and life on earth.
The word ‘drama’ is derived from a similar word in ancient Greek meaning action. The drama is of various types. The first type of drama is the opera where the story is enacted in the form of complete sequence of song and there are absolutely no dialogues. Rumours are that the opera singer’s range is so high that sometimes the glass windows get shattered. Maybe that’s the reason why there are very few glass windows in the Sydney opera house. The next type of drama is melodrama, where there is lot of dialogue that goes on and there are absolutely no songs involved. The varying emotions exhibited by the actors and the engrossing narrative are what keeps the drama interesting for the audience. But melodrama is considered to be aimed at minority audiences who have a penchant for subtle emotions.
A more popular type of drama with a wider range of audience is the musical which is interspersed with both song and dialogue. Both the lovers of music as well as the emotion appreciating audience are satiated with the musical. The Convocation dramas that are put up in the presence of the Lord by the Bhagavan’s students on November 22 every year are the best examples of such drama. Next genre of drama is the mute drama where there is absolutely no dialogue at all. Nobody speaks yet everybody listens. This is the motive of a mute drama which carries a message through mere action.
One of the most challenging types of drama is the improvisation and the students of the Sri Sathya Sai University are experts in that kind of drama. Under improvisation the story or the plot is ready and the actors deliver instantaneous dialogues looking upon the audience and adjusting on spot to the situation. Let me just give two examples of improvisation that were witnessed on the Puttaparthi stage.
A few years back the Brindavan Campus came up with the drama of Bhadrachala Ramdas where one of the scenes involved Lakshmana handing over a money bag to Lord Rama which in turn was given to Tanesha, the King. But the actor Lakshmana aspiring for a minute more stage exposure came hurriedly onto the stage forgetting the money bag. Then Rama was looking confidently towards Lakshmana stretching the hand for the bag. At that moment, an empty hand touches the palm of Rama with a hushed whisper so that only he could hear, “I forgot the money bag”. There comes the improvisation when Rama with an unwavering smile takes ‘empty’ air from Lakshmana’s hand and puts it into the outstretched hands of the king. The king too in a casual manner places the emptiness onto the table and continues the dialogue. Only the expert yet forgiving eyes caught the incident and remained unmoved. The show must go on.
Similarly on another occasion, there was another incident where the actor forgot an important prop on stage and spontaneously called a fellow actor who was playing the role of his servant and whispered into his ear the prop he needed. The technique of improvisation was perfected by the students by the grace of the Divine Director.
Now let us move on and explore more deeply the drama called life. Imagine a drama containing 20 characters with each character playing an important role and each having a relevance to the plot. It is indeed a difficult task to script this drama. Now, consider the cast to be expanded to 40 characters. Imagine 80,160… 6 billion. This drama can be scripted only by the divine director called GOD.
In the drama on stage the expert and attentive audience on keen observation can predict the twist that is likely to occur. But in life the twists come unexpected, uninvited and so unwanted. The twists in the plot are what make the drama interesting; similarly twists in our life are what make our life interesting. The actors are pained but the audience is entertained in a normal drama, but in life the director shares the pain of the actors. There is a freedom given to the actor of life to choose his story, but the choice is limited by the constraint called destiny.
In life, all of us lament about not becoming what we want. But we have to remember that in the drama of life the director gives us the role we need rather than the role we want. HE knows the entire plot so he chooses his cast with a lot of thought and discretion. Then knowing this why should we complain regarding the role we have been selected to play? Why can’t we do our part perfectly and make the director happy so that later HE grants us the role we want?
Sometimes blinded by the freedom when the actors lose their basic sense of acting and jeopardize the larger plot affecting each other, the director at those times dons the role of an actor to teach the basics again. He acts along, walks along, talks along and plays along with the characters HE created in the plot HE made. This is what we call the AVATAR. When man in life loses his own nature or his role and goes deep down in morality and jeopardizes dharma the lord descends for the ascent of man. But it is a real great opportunity for the actors in the drama called life to act along and learn along with the best actor of all. Yes, of course, there are some, who ignore him, but HE has nothing to lose.
The Lord, Our Beloved Swami has himself said that “Jagamulanedi Natakambu naadinthuvuga, Eruga Galara Nee Leelalu Evarainanuga”, meaning that the Lord is the One who controls the play called WORLD and that none can fathom the plot. Be not the one who searches for flaws in the plot, but be the one who flows and follows the plot to find the one who made it. Our job is to be a part of the plot and do our role properly. We are the privileged few called upon by the Divine Director and trained under HIM to become the best actors, so that we in turn can teach others how to act. The opportunity is great and so is the responsibility. Hence let us do our part and make him happy. For when the great drama ends, it is the DIRECTOR who evaluates us and it is HIS applause and appreciation that finally counts in the END.
