King of Spades

The Tiatr setting Loretta. The papers described it as a goan play based on the popular Tiatr form. Ab Theatre toh suna tha, but yeh ‘Theater mein Tiatr’ pehli baar sun raha tha. Googled  and found out that this Tiatr is a type of musical theatre popular in the state of Goa since colonial days, the  language mainly being Konkani. The drama consists of 6 or 7 acts called pordhe . The acts are interspersed by songs which need not be directly linked to the content or the issues of the main drama. There are 2 or 3 songs between each of the acts. In case you find that too much to comprehend, guess for the lesser mortals one can say,these are like Nautanki fillers! Short and maybe not so sweet for some but definitely effective! Goa, with its free flowing culture and charm, always  lifts up your spirit in more ways than one. Now a goan charm combined with this folk or Tiatr style of storytelling, was a potent cocktail. So decided to give it a shot over the weekend. Now a sh...

Vikram had heard about him. But had never interacted with him very openly. His name was Raju. He was among the popular people at Star hotel. Since Vikram had to tour a lot especially to the south, Star hotel in Pondicherry was where he used to stay. Unlike other hotels this was a quite and less crowded place. The USP was its proximity to the sea. Almost all the rooms had a magnificient view of the beautiful white sands of pondicherry beach. Raju used to be there every morning by the side of the reception desk, greeting people cheerfully with his captivating smile as they entered. He used to help them to their rooms and even go out of the way to ensure that every guest was well looked after, even though he was not the only Waiter at star. Yes, he was a waiter but in terms of popularity he was the real star. Apart from that his duty was to ensure to keep the lobby clean. As the hotel was popular people used to check in quite frequently,often the guests used to walk in with the sand on...