No Tamasha this season

No Tamasha show this season
Says the veteran Tamasgir to me

Tomorrow it’s Dashehra
Followed by Diwali
The rice its peaking
The rains are ceasing
But no Dholkicha Phad this season

Seven months of silence
210 dreary days
210 lonely nights
No sound of the applause, no razzmatazz of lights

150 theatre companies, they fold the travelling tents
They iron their costumes, they tune their instruments
They tell their children about ideal prognostications
Of how Tamasha performances entertained the nation

That was then
This is now

Eighty jatras
300 performances
No Suparees
No encores for now

No Tamasha show this season
Says the veteran Tamasgir to me

The numbers don’t lie
He unwinds his paghdi
Our artistic reputation can't grow
Due to inconsistency of cash flow


There are no yearnings
Therefore no earnings
Plus there’s a no-show
From 9 pm to 5 am, my friend
A court ruling that bans us after 10

Unemployed are the artistes
Female dancers and singers
All of whom migrate to gambling dens
Where women are paid more than men

We pay money to the wealthy Sahukaars
We pay for the diesel, we pay for the car
We pay for rentals, we pay for the hiring
We pay for taxes, we pay for complex licensing

We pay for the insurance, we pay for bank loans
We pay for costumes, we pay for the cell-phones
We pay for the generator, we pay for sound and lights
Whatever remains is for government babu's bribes

That’s why
No, Tamasha show this season
Says the veteran Tamasgir to me

Chirimiri economics, it makes no sense
State subsidies are fucking nonsense
There can be no co-operative theatre movement
When we are being crushed by our own government

That’s why
There will be no Tamasha show this season
Says the veteran Tamasgir to me