New Delhi, Feb. 24 -- Watching Shakespeare's Macbeth on a moonlit night on the banks of Ahmedabad's Sabarmati river, somewhat distracted by a cacophony of honking vehicles and an occasional ambulance blaring its siren, was a weirdly engaging experience.

Speaking of engaging, having grown up in the Ahmedabad of the 1960s and 70s, I never thought a play in English, and that too one by Shakespeare, would have an eclectic audience of those in their 50s and 60s as well as those aflame in their early teens would enjoy lines such as these delivered powerfully by Mallika Sarabhai as Lady Macbeth:

"Come to my woman's breasts

And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers,

Wherever in your sightless substances

You wait on nature's mischief...