Mallika bares the genesis of violence through performance

And in the end she shows how this strain in the DNA can be nipped in the bud too for the mother could calm the brat, "Darling, can we talk about it later on ?"

And she gets into the furthering of this violent streak within us as she rips apart our great traditions and family system. With gripping and penetrating music, with dexterous movements and caustic comments, Mallika gets into the Bobbitisation of violence in society, baring it open from all angles. Powerful and sarcastic are her observations and delineations, for she did not show us anything that was beyond our comprehension as all that she presented was what goes unnoticed in our homes and neighbourhood.

Directed by veteran British theatre director, John Martin, "V For…" was conceived after the post-Babri Masjid riots rocked Mumbai. The evolution of violence, this great Dinosaur of the Global Village, has been depicted with effective lights and throbbing beats. We saw the violence taking root in our homes as the children sat glued to video games and action movies, with the mother prodding them. And then we saw the violence engulfing our homes as the mob, with freedom to do anything, ran amok.

Mallika, with a doctorate in Psychology, could pick out all the "isms" that gave licence to this violence . If our Hindu religion had Goddess Durga killing the evil, we have the modern day police force liquidating the evil "in their own way". So it is goodbye to the Lincolns, Gandhis and Luther Kings who "got their heads chopped off in the process of raising their voice against violence." Mallika had shed her usual Bharatanatyam costume to don the garb of a "vidushak" whose main task was to enlighten. And that she did with adroitness and she left the audience thoroughly shaken and transformed.