Metaphors and Tamil Plays

One of my abiding interests is the use of metaphor and allegory in popular entertainment. The kind when a Cigar is not just a cigar ( ;-) ). Sometimes we underestimate the use of metaphors and simply pass them by without a second glance. As you may or may not know, I participate in an informal Tamil drama group, Stagefriends (http://www.stagefriendsusa.com/index2.html ). Our next venture is a Crazy Mohan play called Tenant Commandments. S Ve Shekar staged this in Madras and called it "Oru Sondha Veedu Vaadagai Veedagiradhu". The play is all about an autocratic landlord who indulges in much schadenfreude, harassing his tenants. As I prepared and learned the lines, I was struck by the similarity of the Indian American immigrant experience - Uncle Sam as the landlord while the hapless H-1B seeks tenancy. I will not belabor the metaphor and will leave it to you to show up for the staging of the play in New Jersey - sometime in May. Our premiere will be in Houston in March.