Lun Tha and Tuptim

[Anita Saran]

Antara was the Burmese princess, Tuptim, in "The King and I," singing "We speak in a  Whisper" with her lover, Lun Tha, when the heavy satin sash  slipped from her shoulder.  They met secretly, Lun Tha and  Tuptim, doomed in their love; she belonged to the King of Siam, having been gifted to him. The White Phantoms – Antara’s name for the convent nuns-  were outraged when the sash slipped.  They hissed at her from backstage to put it back on, almost making her forget her lines. 

 

And she wasn't big breasted either.   She  knew this was only an excuse the White Phantoms had been looking for to banish her to boarding school in a town far away.  They thought she was boy-crazy because she had a  crush on Lun Tha who was dark and slender with intense, long-lashed eyes, and although his nostrils flared, she liked his eyes enough to forgive his nose its shape.