The Man Who Loved To Talk to a Butterfly
A play by Ramu Ramanathan
Professor M has spent his life defending the Western Ghats, the adivasis and the people the maps forget. Now, old and exhausted, he wants to dictate his memoirs. He hires Arnav, a nervous young stenographer born in Bhuj at 8:46 am on 26 January 2001, as the Kutch earthquake brought his family's house down. The Professor has never quite learned Arnav's name. Every day he calls him something new: Anuj, Aditya, Ashwathama, Asterix.
Watching them is the Professor's daughter, DND, short for Do Not Disturb. She rides a Rajdoot to the sand dunes and talks to butterflies. She is also quietly grieving her mother, her estranged brother and Satya, the man she waited eight years for. As Arnav takes dictation on Silent Valley, the Forest Rights Act and the dream of one village with one shared well, he falls for her. She, in turn, begins to find a way out of her sorrow.
Told by characters who narrate one another, the play moves between the comic and the elegiac, and between the forest and the sickroom. It is about what a generation of scientists and dreamers left behind, and who will carry it forward.
The duration of the reading is 60 minutes, followed by a Q & A with the playwright for 30 minutes.
About the Playwright
Ramu Ramanathan is a playwright, poet and journalist. Eight of his plays have been anthologised in 3 Sakina Manzil and Other Plays (Orient Blackswan) and two of his plays in a collection by Red River. His book Mumbai Murmurings celebrates theatre in the city. In addition, he is the author of three poetry collections and co-editor of a book on bookbinding, and Babri Masjid, 25 Years On... He has been writing about the printing, packaging and publishing industry for 35 years.
Event venue
Studio Tamaasha: Mumbai, 19, Alpine Primo B Wing JP Road, Andheri (W), Opposite. Navrang Cinema, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058, India
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