Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Interpretive Reading (Project 3) - Om Shanti Om (Let there be Peace Everywhere)

Om Shanti Om (Let there be Peace Everywhere)


[Three compositions  on World Peace]



Universal Soldier
(Lyrics: Buffy Sainte-Marie)
He’s 5 foot 2 and he’s 6 feet 4
He fights with missiles and with spears
He’s all of 31 and he’s only 17.
He’s been a soldier for a thousand years

He’s a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, A Buddhist, and a Baptist and Jew.
And he knows he shouldn’t kill,
And he knows he always will kill 
You  for me my friend and me for you

And He’s fighting for Canada. He’s fighting for France.
He’s fighting for the USA.
And he’s fighting for the Russians.  And he’s fighting for Japan
And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way.

And He’s fighting for democracy, He’s fighting for the reds
He says it’s for the peace of all.
He’s the one, who must decide, who’s to live and who’s to die.
And he never sees the writing on the wall.

But without him, how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He’s the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war.
And without him all this killing can’t go on

He’s the universal soldier  And he really is the blame
His orders comes from  far away no more.

They come from him. And you and me.
And brothers can’t you see.  This is not the way we put an end to war


Imagine
(Lyrics: John Lennon)

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one

  Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina (May all be Happy) 
(A Mantra from Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad (1.4.14))

May all be happy; may all be free from disease
May everyone see good in each other  and none have misery of any kind.

Let there be Peace, Peace & Peace

Om Shanti Om !

 
[Date delivered: August 10 2013

Advanced Communication Manual - Interpretive Reading
Project 3 - The Monodrama
Objectives:
  •  To understand the  concept and nature of the monodrama
  • To assume the identity of a character and to portray the physical and emotional aspects of the character to an audience.
Time:  Five to Seven  Minutes

Comments:

This project on monodrama was somewhat outside my comfort zone. 
Firstly my speeches are generally without  theatrics . But here the requirements of the project demanded that I indulge in some sort of drama . 
Secondly as per the manual I was , preferably not supposed to read the text . But I simply did not have the time and inclination to memorize a long  literary piece .  
Therefore I chose two short songs and one translated version of a mantra from Upanishads  which I  already  knew  by heart and which had a common underlying theme - the World Peace. I then interpreted them in a monodrama format under the title Om Shanti Om.
It was well received and I was chosen as one of the Best Speakers of the Day.
But my evaluator though  very impressed with my delivery was of the opinion that the compositions  chosen by me  were rather obscure (almost metaphysical ) for the audience consisting mainly of youngsters.
I too feel that I could have explained the context of the compositions a little more in details (though by doing that I would have overshot the 45 seconds limit , the manual suggests for this purpose).
So I am trying to make some amends here by providing the audience who happen to read this post , some links which they can refer to:
Finally some links to the You Tube videos of  the  songs
  ]