大象传媒

Good morning. Oh no it isn鈥檛! Oh yes it is! If you鈥檙e anything like me, then you鈥檒l be excited that panto season is now in full swing. Families across the country will be heading to the theatre over the next few weeks to watch people dressed up in all sorts of outlandish outfits and joining in with the singalong. For children, it鈥檚 often their first experience of the make-believe world of the theatre, a world where anything can happen and their eyes are opened up to all sorts of rich opportunities in life. Theatre has been an important aspect of many cultures around the world, and South Asia is no different, with many different types of artistic performance emerging from the subcontinent over the millenia. Much of that artistry has been developed and performed in the grounds of Hindu temples, and unsurprisingly, they have been heavily influenced by mythological stories. During his lifetime, Guru Nanak travelled extensively throughout Asia and was exposed to a variety of theatre and performance arts, and he came to appreciate how the relatively short human life can feel akin to a theatre production with a curtain call to mark its ending. In the early 16th Century, many decades before Shakespeare had written his famous 鈥楢ll the world鈥檚 a stage鈥� speech in As You Like It, Guru Nanak composed the following Sikh prayer about how human life and existence is little more than a play, and how our ultimate desire is to become one with God: 鈥淭he world is a drama, staged in a dream. In a moment, the play is played out. Some attain union with the Lord, while others depart in separation. Whatever pleases the Almighty comes to pass; nothing else can be done.鈥� Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.