Pippi - or how to love everything, including yourself

There are very few shows that you attend that truly touch the inner child we all left behind, with fewer needs but many wants. Pippi was one such show that for me, and the children around, left a mark. I slept well that night.

Inspired by the fictional character Pippi in Swedish author Astrid Lindgren’s series of children’s books, this play was a production of the Irani Cafe Entertainment, performed at Harkat Studios and later at Chaubara by Veda Factory. The cast was led by Monaswita Nath as Pippi and Pururava Rao and Harshit Annurag as her best friends and other characters in the performance.

Beautifully directed by the enthusiastic Supreeth S Bharadwaj, written and guided by Prasanna Heggodu, and produced by Jehanbux Irani, Pippi was one for children and the inner child. The music was by Bhramara K Udupa and the on-time percussions were by Arman.

Centered around the theme of institutionalized learning in schools versus learning from nature and its many gifts, the play was a brilliant portrayal and reminder of how there is much to be learned from nature’s creatures. Mocking the rote and restricted methods of learning in schools, Pippi showed us how a peacock can teach you how to dance gracefully, how pets don’t stand for just dogs and cats, and how a child’s innocence is rinsed in the real world of schools. Drawing on sketchbooks makes no sense when the whole world is your canvas.

The show allowed free entry to kids aged 12 and below, which created humorous challenges for the actors, as the kids found a place to let their imaginations and thoughts run free, leading to tough heckling, handled fantastically by the actors with instances of funny improvisations. One that remains etched in my memory is when Harshit Annurag, at that point playing the character of a police officer, walked across and asked a particularly young audience member to ‘get arrested’ only to be later hugged the tightest on stage as thanks for challenging Annurag to bring his best improv handling techniques on stage, which made it a cozy and funny night for all the adult audience members. 

Pippi will resonate with each audience member who has ever wondered and questioned when the world became too complicated. In the concrete jungle, that we all live our lives in for the sole purpose of survival, and our self-set standards of living, nothing ever seems enough. 

It also reminds us of when we all lost our innocence to the materialistic world, where once upon a time we could find joy in a newfound rock or a long stick that caught our eye. 

Pururava Rao and Harshit Annurag deserve special praise for their performances of playing multiple characters, such as Pippi’s friends, a female social worker, a police officer, a teacher, and a young female friend. Juggling so many personalities on-stage is no joke, and no matter the expertise and skills, convincing a live audience of each character that you play, with multiple shows in a day, speaks volumes of their dedication to the art. 

Having met these actors off-stage, I can vouch for how much they lived their characters the whole day, rather than just the hour-long performance of these characters. For the kids, this one was especially freeing, letting them be who they are and speak their minds without a ‘ssshhh’ from anyone in the audience or even the actors. 

I, for one, slept a happy, giggly girl after catching two shows of Pippi, feeling validated for questioning the world we live in. And feeling proud of the many stones and sticks that my home boasts, because if you can’t marvel at nature, what can you marvel at? Ultimately, you, yourself are a creation of nature as well, and aren’t we in the age of loving ourselves?