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The story, conceptualised by the artiste himself, evolved through narration and monologue.

In multiple roles: N. Binoy enacted the roles of Suleiman, Hajiyar and Ramla’s father with elan.

‘Suleimante Poocha,’ a solo performance by N. Binoy, a promising artist from Malappuram, touched the hearts of the audience at Vylloppilly Samskriti Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram.

Binoy breathed life into Suleiman and his world of hardship and poverty. His histrionic skills sketched Suleiman’s life as the sole breadwinner of his family and his struggle to make ends meet.

The story, conceptualised by the artiste himself, evolved through narration and monologue. The 25-minute play entertained the viewers as Binoy seamlessly switched roles to enact Suleiman, Hajiyar and Ramla’s father. With a few evocative sketches Binoy highlighted the irony of Suleiman’s life. Although he eked out a living by selling milk, he himself did not know what it tasted like. “What does milk taste like?” Suleiman wonders. “It couldn’t be bitter or sour. Or else Ramla wouldn’t smile when she drinks it,” he says to himself.

Suleiman was forced to step into the shoes of his father at the age of seven when his father died of small pox. To marry off his sister, the youngster was forced to sell his calf, Karambi, to the Hajiyar. Taking pity on him, Hajiyar had put the young Suleiman in charge of the animal.

Fourteen-year-old Suleiman now has to look after the cow and work as the milkman too. However, things take a turn for the worse when he falls ill. To make matters worse, his sister returns home after a divorce. The final blow is Hajiyar’s decision to sell the cow.

When Suleiman sets out to deliver the milk to Ramla’s house, he knows it is his last chance to taste the milk. Although he had planned to take a sip, he finishes the bottle of milk.

The most soul-stirring scene of the play comes at the end when Hajiyar barges into the scene enquiring about the milk. Suleiman answers with trepidation that a cat had drunk the milk. “And where is the cat?” Hajiyar shouts. “The cat…cat…cat…” the boy puts up a vain search for a cat that is not there, horrified, thinking about the consequence. Slowly his sobs turn into the weak cries of a cat as he falls at the feet of Hajiyar. Suleiman has turned into the cat.

Binoy’s performance was supported by background music comprising the clarinet and the flute.

“I want to perform the play in various schools across Kerala,” says Binoy, who did his post-graduation from Kalady University and his MPhil from Mahatma Gandhi University. He spent nine years in Abhinaya Theater Centre in Thiruvananthapuram and is presently working as a freelance actor.

“I was inspired by campus theatres. The amateur actors on our campuses are very talented. I want to do something for them,” he says.

Binoy has earlier won widespread acclaim with his performance in the satirical comedy drama ‘Chaki’s Chankaran’ directed by Jayaprakash Kuloor.

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