CHENNAI: He may have acted in 130 plays since he started his career in 1994, but he pursued his passion to teach the art form and develop a space for his own productions. Since 2000, V Balakrishnan, founder, Nisha, is both teaching and directing with vigour. City Express got in touch with the artist, a believer with some fun and what-if questions.
Who is god?
Whom I choose to make it to be.
How long have you been a believer?
Since fear entered me.
Fate/destiny or free will?
This question is related to physics, and parallel existence of time-flows and time-warps. I am not erudite enough to explain it, so I will go with free will.
If god appears in front of you, what’d you ask?
A psychiatrist’s appointment.
If you had to perform in front of Hindu gods, what story would you narrate?
Already have, also in front of gods of other religions. I have seen religions being formed as I perform, and religions being re-invented. All my stories and plays are for gods, especially the non-conformist ones.
Describe god to a child?
See love, I don’t like what you are doing, and I feel inadequate to stop you from doing this. I need to shove the responsibility on someone else. I am going to call him god, so if you lie to me, then god will put your eyes out.
Do you have any wise words for the agnostic and atheists?
Wear a helmet while riding a two-wheeler and strap it
If all gods were part of your group, what kind of roles would you give them?
I already have a few in the group. They do whatever I tell them to. Sometimes they do more than I tell them to, and then I tell them to stop overdoing it.
First words you would say after seeing god?
Wow, I always knew you were a woman.
Have you experienced miracles?
Three since morning: 1) my newspaper was delivered before 6 am; 2) there was a parking available on Habibullah Road; and 3) cost of beans was lower than last week.
One word that sums up everything about god?
Fear