India, April 28 -- My first introduction to William Shakespeare was through As You Like It, a play that was set as coursework for Class 8. The OG romantic comedy, in which Rosalind disguises herself as a man, Orlando pins love poems on trees, and the Forest of Arden becomes a stage for mistaken identities, wit, and ultimate reconciliation, was the only bright spot in an educational schedule dominated by trigonometry in mathematics, equations in chemistry, numericals in physics, and long-drawn-out wars in history.

As You Like It - as I liked it - offered a way out: into a world where language sparkled, where love was playful, and where the forest definitely felt freer than the classroom.

Shakespeare's endless day

April 23, 2026, marked ...