clown friends

the other day uday wanted us to meet some friends of his here in bombay that run a circus show at a hotel called LOTUS. twice a week, three shows a day, a lit up glass stage that stands over a swimming pool, in the courtyard cafe, all the rooms have windows facing the show, there's a trapeze bar hanging that hasn't been used in years. i guess it used to be a huge show, the whole hotel was focused around the circus. now it's just simple magic tricks mostly and juggling, a few clowns in full make up and multi-colored wigs serve people drinks and stand around awkwardly trying to entertain. martin, the head honcho producer of the show, and signer of the contract with the hotel (he's under written agreement to have performers show up and do their job) he'd heard of me from uday and cohdi had mentioned something about DELL'ARTE that had prompted him to look over the website enough to ask me some intelligent questions. he wanted me to show his workers some "tricks" and so i fell down the stairs for them, walked into some walls, pretended their handshakes were making my body go limp with pain (as if they had unbearably tight grips) and i messed with some of the center pieces on the table as if they were objects with a life of their own.

martin loved me and was so intrigued with some one taking clowning "so seriously." i explained that i think clown is a great way to learn about your self and to show people a little bit about human nature and how we all struggle with imperfections and flaws. he asked me to meet with him privately the next day and i did.

yesterday i got picked up by ameresh, a young mime with a great smile, eager to learn a few more skills. we zoomed on his motorbike through the city as the sun set, the wind blowing through our hair, smiling at the beautiful splotches of color reflecting on the water. i held on tight and we shouted a few sentences back and forth that were inaudible due to the bikes' growls before giving up on speaking, to get absorbed by the ride. we arrived at martin's office and martin was wearing a multi colored over-sized shirt, that was more like a blouse, as i know blouses. kinda like a mu-mu and one of the walls had a full-on tropical scene painted mural, palm leaves and waves. he handed me a BACARDI BREEZER, some saccharine sweet blue alcoholic beverage. and we talked clown and theatre and character and improvisation talk for almost two hours. i watched video footage of my new mime friend and richie, an 18 year old clown with a passion for "making people happy". in amerish's video, i saw his signature "lip dancing" which is a pretty fun gag, where a mime stands perfectly still as music plays and his lips become possessed to break out in some pretty crazy moves.

after my critique, martin offered me a job. he said he could get me a work visa and pay for my way back here this fall to stay for 3 months or so teaching all his boys how to be great clowns and also performing myself several times a week. i would be getting a weekly salary and a place to stay (my own apartment). he would also rent out a rehearsal hall for practice and teaching, that i could use whenever i wish, and that i could invite two or three friends to come with me and do the same.

i told him to stay in touch and that through email, we could maybe agree on something, but let's talk logistics later, as it's too soon to say.

ameresh and richie and i rode out on another motorcycle adventure through the city, stopping to try "pana-puri" a bombay "specialty" which is basically a crispy little ball with an opening that they ladle in a spicy or sweet liquid, kinda like a cold soup, and you devour it in one bite. it was great. we hopped on our bikes (richie had one too) and headed for the beach where we smuggled in some beer and drank and talked and laughed under the stars. the waves crashing, and couples in shadows kissing, and one loud woman laughing and falling in the water, drunk, that amerish said was a hooker.

we went back to amerish's friend sam's house and got some chinese food and sang songs (mostly in english, though i did "ooh" and "ahh" along to a few hindi songs with catchy tunes). we also talked politics. amerish is hindu. richie is catholic. and sam and his friend were muslim. and they are self-described revolutionaries, violently opposed to the "caste system" of which their parents generations are consumed. they spoke about work and personal problems, girls. it was cool being around a bunch of guys that spoke such amazing english, got my humor, and understood my accent. they were a lot of fun. it's really rare for young men (women too, actually anyone over 16) to be persuing something they love, outside of their career and family, mostly that's considered childish and silly. amerish and richie are, as of right now, supporting themselves as bachelors who live at home with their parents, as clowns and mimes. no other work. they worry about the future, i told them i do too, that it's the same thing all over the world, the fear of not being able to sustain your passion.

then it was back on the bikes, hours later, around 4 in the morning zooming through the empty streets at break-neck speed, as the boys delivered me home and we said goodnight.