Ties that bind

(From left) Sharmila Velaskar Kadne, Yajan Joshi, Prasant Nalaskar, Archana Bora and Akshay Jha, the actors in the play

People change. Relationships evolve. The affections that you have for others might shift either way with the sands of time. Take Christopher and Christine, two cousins who are the central characters in a new play called Iktsuarpok - the title that sounds as meaningless as human existence can sometimes feel. They travel from Mumbai to Goa on Christmas to spend time with Esther, their aunt, who they have despised since childhood as much as Harry Potter despised the Dursleys, the muggle family he lived with before escaping to Hogwarts. Esther didn't have any love lost for the siblings either. But when they meet after all these years, they realise that their relationship has mellowed. The relatives let bygones be bygones, and make a fresh new start.

The set has a Christmassy backdrop

That's the sort of familial connection that the play explores through a philosophical lens, says playwright and director Omkar Bhatkar, adding that the plot has a lot of subtexts that are up to the audience to unravel. He also tells us that the story explores the idea of how friends, too, become like family, or ‘framily' if you will. For example, Esther's neighbours are a man called Siddharth and his son, Rahul. They become an emotional crutch for the old woman over time. Christopher and Christine also develop a relationship with the father-son duo when they meet, and in the process, the siblings discover sides to their own selves that they didn't know of before. "We often don't know what we are capable of. Do we even know ourselves at all? We think we do. But do we really? That's the larger philosophical concept the play highlights," Bhatkar says.

He adds that even though the story might seem simple - two Mumbaikars rekindling ties with an old aunt and undergoing a journey of self-exploration in Goa - the dialogues are Socratic in nature. "That's when you start discovering the subtexts," he explains, adding that the play explores the idea of family and individualism juxtaposed together. "It dwells on the inbetweenness of both the parties, because when two people come together, they need to be individuals first to be even capable of coming together."

Omkar Bhatkar

Another thread in the play, he continues, is the duality between life in Mumbai and that in Goa. Bhatkar shares, "There are many Mumbaikars who run to Goa, but despite Mumbai being such a fast city, it contributes a lot to who we are as people. The play looks at this whole tussle between the two places - can we choose one or are we a product of both?"

He adds that it so happens that the play is set in the backdrop of Christmas. The festive season doesn't play a direct role in determining the plot, but it's always there in the background in terms of the atmosphere being built and the food being served. That's only fitting because traditionally, Christmas is a time for family after all. And despite all the subtexts and abstractness in the plot (Bhatkar tells us that it "embraces ambiguity"), the heart of this story lies in two cousins and their aunt shedding their uncalled-for prejudices about each other, showing how people change, and how relationships evolve with the sands of time.

On: Today, December 18, 19 and 23, 6.30 pm
At: St Andrew's Centre for Philosophy and Performing Arts, St Dominic Road, Bandra West
Log on to: in.bookmyshow.com
Cost: Rs 400