Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 14 speaks of how love without conditions is the truest love of all. Similarly, Bulleh Shah once wrote: “Zeher vekh ke peeta te ki peeta; Ishq soch ke keeta te ki keeta. Dil de ke dil lain di aas rakhi, pyar eho jeha keeta te ki keeta” (What is the point of drinking poison after seeing it? What is the point of falling in love after careful thought? If you give your heart with the expectation of receiving one back, what kind of love is that?). Across literature, we find countless works often born of the writers’ own lived stories.
One such poem is Main Tenu Phir Milangi, written by poetess Amrita Pritam on her deathbed for her lover, Imroz. It is this unconditional love that performer Laksh Maheshwari brings alive in his storytelling show, Main Tainu Phir Milangi. Blending spoken word with music, Laksh recreates the intertwined lives of Amrita Pritam, Imroz, and the poet Sahir Ludhianvi. “Out of the three characters in the story, for me, it is Imroz’s story that stands out, because he represents unconditional love, the one that gives but never asks for anything,” shares Laksh.
The performance is layered with songs and verses taking some of Sahir’s evocative lyrics, some of Amrita’s own words threaded together with Laksh’s narrative skill. “My aim is always to connect with the audience in the first 10 minutes, so they sit in your bus. After that, you can take them anywhere — through the highs of passion, or the depths of heartbreak,” he says.
Laksh’s approach to storytelling is as much about honesty as it is about performance. In his show, that sincerity manifests through the tender portrayal of Imroz — who, even after Amrita’s passing, continued to live surrounded by her presence, painting her, preserving her memory, and embodying the quiet strength of a love that never demanded but always gave.
Performed barefoot, as is his personal ritual, Laksh treats his show and art with immense respect. “I try to give the audience the same goosebumps that I feel when I enter these stories,” he says. The best way to expeience his show in Hyderabad is to first watch Main Tenu Phir Milangi followed by Ishq Sufiyana, for the emotional continuity.On his future planshe aspires to tell his story, of how he calls himself singlehandedly on social media and his life.
Tickets at ``799.
August 31, 4 pm.
At Heartcup Coffee, Kondapur.
Email: anshula.u@newindianexpress.com
X: @indulgexpress
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