Monsters

They didn’t have the best of relationship, the most cordial of relationship. Their relationship was so strained that it began to fray around the edges because of all the tension. They each wondered why the other couldn’t be more like the others, normal and accepting.

He always felt that in his heart knew that he could never become the son that his father wanted him to be, though he tried his earnest and darnedest best to make him proud, but somehow he always felt he fell short. He could never be the man his father wanted him to be because of who he was. 

He wondered if his father would ever accept him for he was, the life he chose, the love he chose, if he only knew. And though he never truly spoke about it, opened up about it, he always had this thought that he would never accept him for he was, cause once, a longtime a go, he had shared his view on the subject.  

So that view stayed with him, stuck with him and never truly allowed him to share himself with his father, to tell him his truth.

He had always thought he favoured his daughters more than his son cause they took up after him. The phone calls, the message,  the chats, that he didn’t receive, made him feel left out and unloved. An outcast, an anomaly.

It didn’t help that in a drunken state his father declared that he was not his son! These words cut deep and stabbed him badly, leaving a wound that never quite healed. He lived with his whole life with this scar, with this resentment, but at the same time with this regret that he could never quite heal from this hurt, or forgive these words.

But still here they were, two grown men trying to say their goodbyes. And although he knew that he still had some resentments, some grudges, scars and unhealed wounds, he knew there had been many moments of genuine love, of kindness, of tenderness, of bonding. And for these he had to let go of all the bitterness he held inside.

In that moment there was no wrongs or rights, no ways to forgive and forget. They both knew the mistakes that they had made. But now it was time to let go and just be two grown men trying to let go of the past, trying to find a way to reconcile, find a way to heal.

He remembered a time when his father chased the monster, lurking in the shadows and under his bed, away. So now it was his turn to the do the same.

So he patted him on arms, and kissing his forehead, and whispered him to sleep, hoping while he slept he could still find a way to make him proud. 

So he said his goodbye, as he saw him take his last breath, and through the tears he whispered, “Daddy now it’s my turn to chase your monsters away!”

.. the hills are alive with the Sound of Music

“The hills are alive with the Sound of Music, with the songs they have sung for a thousand years, the hills fill my heart with the Sound of Music, my heart wants to sing every song it hears!”

These were verses that I had heard a thousand time before, and I will hear a thousand times again, but never in this way. And now that I have experienced it once again, in such a new and different (at least for me), and beautiful way, I am once again going to treasure these moments close to my heart.

Watching something so beloved, so cherished, unfold in front of your eyes is a treat (even if it cost a bomb to watch it). It had my heart from the very first Do to the last Ti. My spirit soared as it climbed every mountain, ford every stream. I was willing to follow any rainbow to watch this beautiful Broadway calibre musical live! My heart felt like it was sixteen going on seventeen, waiting to hear from the lonely goat herd. Indeed a few of my favourite things, smelling the edelweiss on those beautiful hills of Salzburg. 

It’s a dream come true to see something that you have been brought up watching, listening to, that you have sung a million times before (in your not so melodious voice), to witness it, makes you realise how blessed you are.

You couldn’t help yourself but sing along, and be amazed that you could hear many others in this magnificent (but slightly Gujju) theatre, sing along with you. 

Each song was so melodiously sung, beautifully staged, and those amazing sets, met with well deserved applause. Each song taking you back to your childhood, leaving you nostalgic, leaving you awestruck and blessed.

Every scene, every set, felt familiar but still felt oh so new. Still felt so breathtakingly beautiful. Still felt you were watching something for the first time in forever, for the first time all over again.

Every scene, every act, every song, every character moved you, lifted you, left you wiping that little tear in your eye, that lump in your throat, cause face it you are an emotional fool, a sucker who will tear up at a drop of a hat. And this is something so beloved to you, how could you not get teary eyed. 

Especially when Mother Superior sing Climb Every Mountain to Maria, this scene will so remain etched in my memory for all eternity.

The stained glass cross and it’s reflection on the floor, and the song, that song that always moved me, gave me goosebumps, inspired me (definitely not to sing, cause I croak), did just that, and then some more. It left me teary eyed, and replaying in my head a thousand times!

But then there were thing you did quite miss (thanks to the movie being so dear to you). First thing you did miss was the great and magnificent and beautiful Dame Julie Andrews, though the actress playing Maria did a brilliantly amazing job filling in those huge shoes, she was no Julie Andrew. 

You missed the regality and poise and handsomeness of Christopher Plummer. The Baroness came across a tad bit hammy and lacked the sophistication and poise of the character. Then you missed some of the songs like “I have confidence”, and the children singing“Edelweiss” with Capt Vin Trapp for the first time. 

You missed some of the scenes that were switched up, like “Favourite thing” was replaced  by the “The Lonely Goat her”, when the children sing it with Maria during the storm, though I loved how “Favourite Things” was used as a way to show the bond between Mother Superior and Maria. 

Then of course “The Lonely Goat Herd” sung with the puppets, was sorely missed.

The developing romance between the captain and Maria felt rushed and was only kind of mentioned. 

You missed the beautiful choreography that was so much part of the movie. The second half a tad too many reprises, which tended to drag the show (but you can’t fault the show as this was inherent in the movie itself).

In the end, these were just a few minor quibbles that easily got outweighed by the magnificence and beauty of the entire show, that left you awe struck and amazed, but most importantly left you entertained and moved, a truly wonderful experience that you’ll cherish forever.

And if you ever needed proof of how much the audience loved the show, you could see and hear it in the rapturous applause and the standing ovation that the cast received during the curtain call, with the loudest cheers reserved for Maria and Capt Von Trapp, (for me it was for Mother Superior who had an absolutely beautiful singing voice, and who so effortlessly hit those high notes).

And though the show may have come to an end and it was time to depart from the hills of Salzburg, and back to normalcy or life, you took a huge piece, a memory, from the play with you, and your heart was indeed filled with the Sound of Music.