.....and he went on Acting!

                                 .....and he went on Acting!

They said he acted best when he was drunk. That Sankrappa executed the most difficult roles flawlessly when he was a bottle or two down. Most people refuted the theory vehemently till the time they saw him on stage. And went back corrected. Whether it was Krishna from the Mahabharatha or Hanumantha from the Ramayana, there was no one better on stage when Sankrappa started acting.

I had last seen Sankrappa act when I went to our village 15 years ago. It was a phenomenon. I tried to remember his acting whenever I performed on stage. So it was quite a surprise when I saw him on our road. He was being followed by a hoard of street kids, who were mocking and throwing stones at him. I went and stood in front of him with the intention of talking to him. But then, he never realised I was speaking to him. He went on delivering dialogue after dialogue in the same elegance and grace I had seen him 15 years ago. It took me a while to realise he was mad. And some more time to shoo away those kids around him. But I was too taken aback to stop him.I watched him, swinging his arms wildly as he delivered his lines...and disappeared around the bend.

                                            .........................................................................

A week later, I was on my way to Koppa, my ancestral village, trying to talk to his kin. I found his home. I was surprised to see his photograph with a floral garland around it - meaning he was dead. 

"Is Sankrappa dead?" I asked his wife.

" We don't know...but he hasn't come back for three years. Must have died in an accident or a drunken brawl. We atleast got some money from the government citing he is dead" she replied. I figured she didn't care enough.

I went to meet Veeranna, the owner of the drama company Sankrappa acted in. His office was not the glamorous one it used to be. The plaster was coming off the walls. The roof did not seem as strong. He was not someone who would neglect his office, a place he worshipped. I wanted to find out the reason.

"Nobody watches plays anymore....." Veeranna started off. "Those used to be the days..when the entire village used to watch us perform for a whole night. Hundreds from neighbouring villages used to turn up to see Veeranna Company perform. But once these films started being screened, our fortunes took a dip. Attendance to shows dropped. The best actors went to Bangalore for opportunities in films and more money. The rest of them who were not talented, could not pull crowds. Revenues came down. Now we perform during festivals. Otherwise, we work in the fields as labourers."

I listened with intent. Veeranna's head was bent in disappointment. It saddened me to see a talented artist, well respected, in the position he was in. I wondered if I must ask about Sankrappa at all, but decided to give a go.

"What happened to Sankrappa?" I asked tentatively. 

"It is anybody's guess..."Veeranna said " He was the most talented. Yet he did not leave the Company for films. He never wanted any of that...the money or the lifestyle. He felt it was too fake. But how can one good actor sustain a Company? 

We were performing the Mahabharatha in the next village. Day after day attendance dropped. In one of those shows, there were hardly 20 people. I don't know what triggered it. But Sankrappa started acting Hanumantha when he was Krishna. We could not control him. His acting was spellbinding that day, even when he was doing the wrong act. Then he played the Mohini for ten minutes. We stopped acting and watched him perform, without a care - because we had never seen anything like it yet. Then he played Narasimha.....after killing Hiranyaksha...he laughed and laughed for what seemed like eternity...and ran out of the stage.

We could not find Sankrappa again. The news of our best actor disappearing spread across the region. And our revenues fell further. His wife came one day and told us he was dead. We accepted it."

                                         .............................................................................

I returned to Bangalore. I was restless. I wanted to find out where Sankrappa was. May be there was something I could do for him. Somehow, every night it was his act that appeared in front of my eyes before I slept. I prayed I'd come across him...just once more.

Such an opportunity arose a couple of months later. I spotted him surrounded by street kids again in a busy street of Bangalore. I could shoo the kids off but it took a lot of effort to rein Sankrappa in. I don't know what made me do it. But somehow I felt I had to do it. He was nothing to me. I had just seen him act once. And heard a lot of stories about him. But somewhere I felt an obligation to save him...or make an effort atleast. 

It was a whole hour before the van stopped in front of us. The wardens from the Hospital of Neurosciences had a tough time in making him get into the van. The last I saw of him was him smiling like Lord Krishna. It remained etched in my memory for quite some time to come.

                                       ...................................................................................

It took 3 years before Sankrappa was discharged. Ofcourse he was never completely normal again. He knew who he was. He remembered he was from Koppa and that he was an actor.I subtly told him what had happened at his home and after that he didn't want to go back home. One could understand him. But I could view the whole episode from his wife's point of view too. I didn't force him.  

It was three weeks before Sankrappa disappeared from my home. I somehow had sensed this. 

                                        ....................................................................................

Sankrappa is now a street actor. It seems weird, yes. He starts acting on the streets. People gather around him in circles. At the end of a role, they throw a rupee or two on his shirt, spread out wide in front of him. When I watched him last, he had formed a skit of his own...where Hanumantha, Krishna, Mohini and Narasimha all meet. The script seemed perfectly connected. The work of a genius. Yet when I went to talk to him...the tinge of madness was still there. He did not seem to recognise me.

He was an excellent actor....may be in real life too...

                                                                                                  - 15th March 2015