On the 1st of January, under the night sky, the Senior School English department put up an unforgettable performance entitled Echoes from the Mahabharat, a retelling based on Karthika Nair’s novel, Until the Lions. Comprising a string of thirteen abridged monologues written in verse, the poems captured the epic through the lenses of the women – outcast warriors, handmaidens, abducted princesses, tribal queens and a gender-shifting god. As peripheral figures and silent catalysts took centre stage, the audience got a glimpse of lives and stories buried in the margins of this great epic, and the price paid for myth and history which become all too often interchangeable. The monologues were interspersed with song and music, and interpretive dance. The performance was conceptualized and directed by visiting faculty member Mrs. Shobha Viswanath as a culmination to a 10-day long poetry workshop. The performers, students of class 10 and 11, truly got into the skin of the various characters leaving the audience spellbound.
