Ratan Thiyam, guru and theatre modernist, leaves the stage
Never before had I experienced such total and unconditional discipline on the part of actors anywhere in the world! Not even in Alkazi's heyday when he was looked upon as an unrelenting and uncompromising taskmaster! This kind of complete physical and mental subservience to one's Guru, especially in today's world where questioning was encouraged, not stifled…. Was this a medieval mindset playing out, unchanged and ingrained in the Manipuri psyche for centuries, a part and parcel of their martial background? On reflection, I began to believe that such compliance could only be possible today if the leader was steely and single minded in his mission, unforgiving and unrelenting till the final goal was achieved. And Ratan was that…totally committed…a perfectionist.
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