[‘Ajib Daastan Hain Yeh’ plays in the background]

The head and the tail mark the beginning and end of the spine. Four heads and four tails traverse through spaces, side by side and one after the other. 

Together they inhale and exhale. 

[Close your eyes, breathe in and breathe out

In the count of four

Breathe in 2-3-4

Out in 3-2-1.

Gently open your eyes.]

The rhythm of the city informs these beings as much as they inform each other. There is no space for being ostentatious as the design of the game demands that they drop the veil and present themselves as they are – quirky, competitive, sensuous, ambitious, confident or even ridiculous.

[Mubaraakein tumhe ki tum
Kisi ke noor ho gaye]

Unknowingly we build a safe space. We hold the fortress as we metaphorically embody a wall. This becoming is not that of an enclosure but of protection. Listening to the movement of each muscle, dancing in our sweat puddle. Unknowingly we build a safe space.

[Yeh manzilein hain kaun si?]

Eyes rest on one spot as the head moves away. One pair meets another and share a moment. Eyeballs resting deep inside the eye socket, no words but only gestures that say “Come play with us?”.  

[Close your eyes, breathe in and breathe out

In the count of four

Breathe in 2-3-4

Out in 3-2-1.

Gently open your eyes.]

Starting with a game of hopscotch and ending with a game of chairs. Everything in between serves as markers of moving from one phase of the process to another – producing, stitching and finally performing – just like a child who hops from one square to the other during the game of hopscotch. 

Four heads and four tails become one creature only when there are other playmates. No words but only gestures that invite the audience to play. 

[Ajib dastan hain yeh]