STORYTIME TAPESTRY

? 

? 

Deepak Morris??™s Weekly Column

? East Meets West

? 

Aug 11, 2005

? 

To continue with my vision of a world tapestry of love and understanding of cultural values throughout the world, every Thursday we will be graced by the artistic vision of Mr. Deepak Morris, a wonderful playwright and friend from Prune, India.? 

? 

His plays have been preformed in front of audiences in Toronto, Canada

The Stone Man of Mumbai

Deepak Morris

In the ???80s, Mumbai (then called Bombay) was gripped by the fear of someone who seemed to have a pathological hatred of the poor.

The big cities of India have pavement dwellers ??“ people who have no home and so sleep on the pavements. Some of them are labourers who have migrated from their villages in search of work. Some are beggars. All are poor.

One morning, Mumbai woke up to the grisly spectacle of a pavement dweller whose head had been smashed in by a stone. People sleeping next to him had heard nothing in the night. No one thought much of it. It may have been the result of some unknown rivalry.

But, over the next few days, more and more heads were smashed in. Always, they were the heads of pavement dwellers. Always, people sleeping just feet away from the victims heard nothing in the night, not even the sound of the large stone crushing human flesh and bone.

Now, Mumbai can be a dangerous city. People, even in apartments, sleep with one eye open. When the attacks began, pavement dwellers became doubly cautious. Yet, several times a month, the Stone Man struck with impunity, sometimes within an hour after sentinels finally gave up their vigil and went to sleep. Some of the attacks occurred on main roads, where there would always be a police patrol.

No one saw the Stone Man. No one even knew if it was a man or a woman. People presumed it was a man, and probably an immensely strong man, because the stones used in the killings were huge, and probably transported over long distances by hand, since the police were stopping all vehicles to check for weapons and pavement dwellers were obviously very careful to ensure that there were no stones nearby for the Stone Man to use.

After months of terror, the attacks finally stopped, as suddenly and inexplicably as they had begun.

The Stone Man was never found.

? 

? 

Deepak Morris

rhapword@yahoo.com

* * *

Founder of Rhapsody Theatre, author, playwright,
actor and director Deepak Morris has been
associated with Theatre and Communication all
his life. A Master of Commerce from Pune
University, Master's Diploma holder in
Management from The Institute of Management
Development and Research (IMDR), Pune, and
Diploma holder in Computer Studies from the
National Computing Centre, UK, Deepak
combines a passion for theatre with professional management techniques
to deliver consistently well staged theatrical
performances. An accomplished actor himself,
Deepak has won numerous awards for acting and
debating, including the "Best Actor" award at
the International Year of the Youth Drama
Festival in Pune and the "Best Male Newcomer
Award" in 1997 in Dubai, U.A.E. Having acted
in numerous productions in India and Dubai,
Deepak began writing and directing his own
plays on a regular basis in March 2001. To
date, he has written several one-act plays
and skits and his group, Rhapsody Theatre,
has staged no less than 13 plays in three
years, a record of sorts.

? 

? 

? 

? 

? 

? 

~~**~~**~~