Abol Tabol Shopno

Sukumar Ray, has always been one of my favourites. His Bengali "nonsense" literature is unparalleled in its innocence and imagery. Even today, his poems are capable of winning hearts of both young and old. 

We presented Abol Tabol Shopno based on his Abol tabol for the Bengali New Years program in Holland. The show being a hit proved how his work is truly "evergreen" and "generation independent".

Undoubtedly, the star of the  show were the kids...the kids of today....kids born and brought up in Holland..kids aged 5 to 12....kids who are not fluent in Bengali....kids who cannot spontaneously relate to "ram gorur-er chhana"  or "danpite chhele" or a "ahladi"....kids who took time out of their busy routine life to come for rehearsals...kids who tried their best....
Kids who are the best!!!!

These little artists did a fantastic show in a FUNtastic way! 

First of all to expect that they would enjoy performing  to this type of poetry was beyond my expectation, honestly. However, whether it was the week-end rehearsals (where they also got plenty of play time) or the skit around their poems  or the funny explanations or the "rewarding chocolates" after their performances...or Pondit moshais snoring...or Bholas dance steps....whatever....the final result was overwhelming.
I , as the director of the play, am really very proud of you., my kids.

Well done.

The second set of people who did very well were the adults. We, the adults belong to a generation where we grew up with Abol Tabol. Each of us had a copy of this book either recieved as a birthday present or for scoring 80 in maths or from an uncle visiting or some such reason..we all had it. I remember taking my copy to bed ...reading till late at night inspite of the lights being switched off by the strict mom...reading till the torch batteries dimmed inside my blanket. Such was the connection for most of us. This was very visible in the enthusiasm of the adults involved in the play. It felt like going back to our childhood ..aboltabol revisited!

My "Pondit moshai" S, did not have time to memorize the script but he made time to actually order his moustache from Amazon.com.How cool is that?

L ,as my Bhola, though quite subdued during the rehearsals , really blossomed on stage on the final day and showed some dance steps which would put Govinda to shame any day.

S actually hand painted the kids shirts in a matter of days and oh so beautifully. I give her this dress-making-contract for all my future ventures...

R ran around many Hema stores in Holland to get the right T-shirts. I got phone calls in the middle of the day saying, "dayeeta, I got two 122 and one 134 shirts...shall I try the HEMA in Den Haag now?".

T made this wonderful noodles during our rehearsals which was so tasty and so much that the director (in this case, me) offered to take the left overs home. Delicious !!!

K made and remade and re-re-made the music so many times on the CD each time asking, "Dayeeta di, is track 14 the snore or the laugh?".

S readily became the substitute for whoever was absent during rehearsals...dancing to Bholas tunes or snoring as Pondit Moshai....both with equal zeal.

T climbed the stairs to adjust the lights high up in the auditorium...cleverly playing with the colours to  make the class room even more glamorous.

I cannot name all of the team.....but the bottomline was that this was only because all of US related to abol tabol much more than our kids..
We had fun.

I had SUPER FUN writing and directing this play. Look at my beautiful cast below.

It all started as "Let the kids perform something this year for Poyla Boishakh (Bengali New year) ". Since the mention of Sukumar Ray already aroused enough interest, we jumped into this project. I thought instead of solo performances by the kids one by one, it  might be more interesting to weave them into a sort of drama to make it more compact. So the project began. One one hand , I tried to make a script..on the other the kids started memorizing the individual poems under strict supervision of the parents!!
Lets have a quick look at it.......
The setting is that of a village classroom with a "pondit moshai" (teacher) , eight students and a door keeper Bhola. Pondit is only bothered about studies, but also tries to squeeze in  moments of nap (accompanied by thunderous snoring) in between his lectures. The students take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy and do things "out-of-routine". They also slip into a dream mode from time to time thinking about "what-if?"....

We start with Little A who performed "Ram Gorur er Chhana". She has a sweet smile....started off on a shy mode..surprised us all with the final performance where even the actions came pouring out!!
যাঃ বাবা হাসতেও  মানা,
হাসা কত স্বাস্থকর, তাও নেইকো জানা ? 
আমরা কি রাম গরুর এর ছানা ? 
Then came on stage the "naughty boy" (Danpite Chele) A...He is actually not a naughty boy (relatively speaking). I know , hi hi ...I am the mom. Smartly recited the poem and on the final day did not forget to even pull P's hair (as per the script).
আমি দুষ্টু, ডানপিটে  আমি?
জানো তো কাকে বলে আসল দুষ্টামি , তবে শোনো...
Our  next little master A came on stage without a moustache but recited a very long poem 

"Gomph Churi"  about a moustach--amazing how a little kid could memorize it so well...This is when the moustache from Amazon.com glowed in all its glory under the nose of our Pondit moshai..
যাঃ বাবা, এ তো গেছেন ভীষণ রেগে,
ঘুমোছিলেন বেশ , কেন উঠলেন জেগে?
গোমফ জোড়া তার বড়ই প্রিয়, রেগে গেছেন তাই,
এ যে দেখি হেড অফিসের বড়ো বাবু র ভাই !
Aha! Who do we have here? Our little "Ahladi"..With his sweet kid-accent N won all hearts! He was also accompanied by two sweet ladies on both sides...so even more attention!!
মোরা আহ্লাদী , মোরা ফোকলা , মোদের জুড়ি নাই,
যখন পাবে হাসি , তখনই হাসব মোরা তাই 

Thats T --Our little student who tried to solve the mysterious ways of the king of Bombagor by reciting "Bombagor-er Raja"--absolutely fantastic!!

একটা গল্প শুনতে চাই,

যাতে কোনো ঝগড়া নাই,
হাসতে হাসতে পেটে ধরবে খিল,
রাজা রানীর হবে মিল 

Thats P --she flawlessly recited "Bhoy peo na". The tone with which she said "Ami achi ...Ginni achen" still rings in my ears!! - Somehow we all felt that her father T (our talented lightman )taught her the tone!! Super performance!!! 

প্রশ্ন বড়ই উদ্ভট,
এও কি নাকি হয়?
ছয় খানা নাক দেখেও
লাগবে নাকো ভয়? 

Our little man R . He sees good in all things...what a wonderful poem.."Bhalo re bhalo"

  Well done !

এই দুনিয়ার সকল ভাল,
আসল ভাল নকল ভাল, 

কিন্তু সবার চাইতে ভালো...পাউরুটি আর ঝোলা গুড়...

        
How can I forget the two most important people who helped to keep the stage under control?

Pondit moshai and Bhola.

Pondit won the audience with his moustache and his snores and his booming voice...

Bhola's kept the kids in place and his dance steps will be remembered by the audience in the years to come......
.............and last but not the least our tiny-smiley-face R , who did not recite  a solo poem but his presence in the stage added that mischievous feel to the classroom........(eyes closed just beside Bhola)

We enjoyed ourselves....A LOT...

Hope you can  imagine our little artists in action and enjoy too......