After breakfast at the hotel – roti with vegetables, yogurt and sauce (a little too Nepali for my taste, but perfectly adequate) – I made my way over to the school (just a hundred yards or so away) and to the Principal’s (that’s Mr Yogi) office. He tells me it is my base if I wish, and the fact that it is air-conditioned makes a huge difference.
Actually, this gives me an excuse to talk about such things. There is air-con in my room, and it pretty much stays on all the time. Not that I have a great deal of say in the matter; it appears there is a shortage of remote-controllers in the hotel. I did have brief ownership of it, but then it was collected again, fir urgent use elsewhere. So now it stays on.
But inbetween air-conditioned venues, one has to deal with very sticky conditions indeed. The heat is huge, so that one is bathed in sweat in a very short time, though I am assured that within a month it will be much cooler. I chatted with Yogi briefly, and it seems that he does have definite plans for me, beyond my theatre responsibilities – for staff training, English discussion lessons, etc. And of course I am very happy to contribute as best I can, within my own capabilities.
My major appointment for the day was to deliver a speech, introducing myself, to the whole staff; not daunting at all! This was to be at 4, so I was then given some time to rest back at the hotel, and to prepare myself. The staff meeting was held in their seminar room, a large open room, with smart chairs facing a stage… except there is no stage, the whole space being flat. It was also (blessedly) air-conditioned.
My part of the occasion went… OK. I was given a nice introduction, had a garland of flowers put around my neck, was introduced to the Managing Director (and owner?) of the school (apologies, name to follow) who was a hugely enthusiastic and ebullient man, with a passion for cricket. He is just completing, on the outskirts of the city, a 60,000 seat cricket stadium and sports complex, and proudly declared Dhangadhi “the city of cricket”.
And then my speech. I was asked for half an hour (half an hour!) and managed most of that. And I hope I was reasonably coherent about myself, my history in Drama, my intentions. But the worst thing was that there was virtually no response, and I suspect that a good number of the audience had no idea what I was talking about. I tried odd bits of humour – nothing. But I tried.
Aparna rescued me from the rest of the meeting, by extracting me and whisking me away to meet a group of students. Quite the surprise, but a most welcome one. It seems they are performing in two weeks at an international festival of the performing arts in India (Lucknow, I think.) Their involvement is in the section devoted to theatre, but it has very strict rules, part of which being that the play is very short, just a few minutes. Which is probably just as well, for it seems to me there is a deal of work to be done on it.
Their play was written by one of the students, who also plays the narrator, and tells one of the stories of Chitra, a legendary warrior queen. The young people of the cast were all delightful, but their play is very static, with effectively no movement at all. It also, unsurprisingly, conforms to a very old-fashioned approach, with the curtains opening and closing. But they do recognise that their play needs to be improved, and they tell me they are up for accepting my help. So I will look at the play tonight and see what I can do to bring it to life.
After they had gone, I sat and chatted with Aparna and Eva for a while, before the three of us went out, maybe to eat, maybe to sort out my phone, definitely to get me some local currency. It was a fair walk to a more commercial area, but there (rather to Eva’s surprise, having convinced herself that my bank card would not work) I obtained some money with no problem. And then we walked back, stopping off for yogurt along the way. But by the time we got back, I was completely drenched, as wet as though I had walked into the shower.
And that was it, my first full day. Tomorrow I get to meet more of the students. Which is the part I like best, the reason I am here.
