"A little puddle of water met the sun’s rays and became a cloud. The cloud melted into rain and poured down on earth and a little flower grew. Tell me, who is the drop of water and who is the flower? Where does the drop of water end and the flower begin, who was created, who was destroyed? This flower is itself but it is also the earth, the sun, the water, the cloud and also the rain..."

Set in the deep and vibrant context of Yakshagana, Karnataka’s Kathakali, this piece effortlessly straddles three genres a few hundred years apart. Woven into this 800 year old folk-dance form, are moments from the 2000 year old Mahabharata exploring nuances of today’s Yakshagana as it evolves into tomorrow.

A severe and superbly crafted commentary on the lack of space for women in the art form, it questions the very foundations of the culture it is set in and upends the common misconception of how far we have really progressed today, when questions of gender arise. These questions are laid like traps through the play, subtle at first and gradually growing in tenor, catching much of the audience off-guard as mocking laughter is turned to humility.

The production was a result of a year’s training in the art-form by Director-Choreographer-Performer Sharanya Ramprakash. The design took place over 4 months of dialogue and 3 weeks of production, leading to an integration of design with performance that rang of a result greater than the sum of its parts.

It was first performed twice as part of the Rangashankara Festival on Kannada Rajyotsava to full houses,  and to a score performed live by traditional musicians; and will tour across Karnataka and to Mumbai, Lucknow and Delhi. The entire process was supported by the IFA, Bangalore.