Don't Remind Me

Chapter 22: The Sage Meets The Bard

"The annual Karaoke night slash Bake-Sale, was an eye-opener by all accounts. Who knew that certain Tall, Dark, and Menacing football players could carry a decent tune? and of course, in case any of you were wondering what an auto-tuned cat in labor would sound like...wonder no more. Tania Hussayn gave us an earful of that. This author overheard listeners rate the pitch of her voice as somewhere on the spectrum of 'Nails On A chalkboard' and 'Chipmunks Being Attacked By Angry Geese'..." --Nitty Gritty (Issue no: 901, April '15)

"Well?" Shay inquired desperately over the phone-call.

I deliberately misunderstood.

"Well, what?"

"Don't play coy with me babe. How did the spying go? Did you see her up close?" She tries covering up her interest, too late. "Not that I care of course...."

I rubbed my face tensed. Remembering the promise I'd made to Faris.

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

Faris was brilliant. Even though I wasn't enthused about acting in front of a proper audience, I couldn't deny that the plot and the entire script idea was nothing short of genius. This wasn't just a theatrical rendition of Lailee-Majnun as I had initially believed; it was much more complex than that.

"See, I wrote the script, inspired by translations of Nizami's Poetry. He is the one who first wrote the folktales in Persian verses. Absolutely enchanting imagery..." His eyes sparkled with awe, and I got a glimpse of the man Shay fell so hard for. "But, I didn't want to do an original adaptation because then everyone knows how it ends. So I'm doing a crossover instead. With a few tweaks here and there..."

I nodded in understanding. I'm quite familiar with the Lailee-Majnun folk-tale. I'd gotten curious when I was often teased by people regarding my famous name-sake. For the record, asking a six year-old where her "Majnun" is, isn't cute. Ever.

"Who're you crossing it over with?"

"Shireen-Farhad." He smirked.

I grinned in response. Shirin-Farhad is another Folk-tragedy. But on a different scale. Shirin's sadistic betrothed, Ameer Khusro supposedly made a deal with poor, besotted Farhad. "You can have Shirin, if you just move this mountain blocking my castle's view..."

And he actually complied. With his bare hands. For Princess Shirin; who didn't even know that he existed...

"I know what you're thinking, but Nizami's version actually portrayed Shirin as less of a bitch. She eventually was sorrowful, but still ended up marrying Khusrow." He goes on to vindicate the crossover choice. "Nizami called it the sweetest story ever. Though I disagree..."

Meanwhile, Juwariya the director, who's been setting up the rehearsal room, comes over to listen to our conversation.

"Did you tell her about the setting? Tell her about the setting! Go on. DO IT!" She poked Faris repeatedly, causing him to scowl, and curse under his breath.

"I was coming to that. Geez. Well in my version, the story plot will follow the theme of Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream. So, this is in fact, a Tragedy within a Comedy..."

"Oh, don't be so modest! It's a blend of the East and West. Mashriq-o-Maghrib. It's "The Sage (Nizami) Meets The Bard (Shakespeare)". I can't get enough of it! Just read the lines." Juwariya presses a neatly stapled paper bundle into my hands.

I skim through the narration which seems to be more dominant than actual dialogue.

"Mark, this school, where instruction pours upon the mind