Tales of music

A still from the play

We might not always realise it, but music is the needle that stitches together the multi-coloured fabric of this country. A person from Tripura might not understand the language of someone from Tamil Nadu, but if they listen to each other's songs, they might feel the same emotions. That's what a performance called Stories in a Song will highlight, presenting tales that talk about how music is one of the forces that binds India together.

The narrative was born out of a conversation that Indian classical doyens Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan had with noted theatre director Sunil Shanbag, who roped in a stellar cast that includes Makarand Deshpande and Namit Das to give life to the play. Das tells us that the first story in it is about a bunch of tawaifs (entertainers for the royal courts) who were fed up with right-wing people mocking their profession, and thus sought Mahatma Gandhi's help to silence them. He gave them the genius idea to embed a touch of desh bhakti in their performances and that did the trick - their detractors lapped up everything that the tawaifs did thereon. Das adds that the other stories are similar, in the sense that they outline the role that music plays in fostering harmony between different communities.

He says, "Communication through words brings us together, but music helps us go beyond that. It's the raw palette that makes us human." There's no denying that, so book a seat for the play to feel first-hand what the magic of melody is.

On: February 5, 6 and 7, 5 pm and 8 pm AT Prithvi Theatre, Juhu Church Road, Juhu.
Log on to: bookmyshow.com
Cost: '500