BY JACKI UENG
REDONDO BEACH,CA – The Jai Jagat show hosted by Manav Sadhna at the Performing Arts Center here on May 11 kept the audience mesmerized. The show opened with a group of 23 children from Grand View Elementary School Manhattan Beach who sang the “Earth Anthem”, accompanied by four children from the
REDONDO BEACH,CA – The Jai Jagat show hosted by Manav Sadhna at the Performing Arts Center here on May 11 kept the audience mesmerized. The show opened with a group of 23 children from Grand View Elementary School Manhattan Beach who sang the “Earth Anthem”, accompanied by four children from the
Jai Jagat team. The show began promptly at 5:30pm, to a packed theatre, and a fully engaged audience ranging. in ages from 2 to 100. The setting takes place 50 years from now on October 1, 2069, with grandma (played by Dimple, age 16) telling her two grandchildren (Bhavana, age 12; Sanyam, age 13) about what life was like over 50 years ago, when she was growing up in the early 2000’s. The countdown at the start of the show reveals a victory to the planet, 150 years after the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, to a time where our world finally experiences a whole year of peace after all the seeds that selfless people have planted along the way. The children are fascinated and interested in learning more about history through grandma’s bedtime story telling.
As grandma patiently went through key historical events through the 20th and 21st century, the kids put on their virtual reality glasses to bring them back to that time. The first story of the timeline began with Mahatma Gandhi (played by Dhruv, age 12) and his humble beginnings as a young lawyer in South Africa. Due to extreme racism and segregation, he traveled back to his roots in India. There, he dedicated the rest of his life to liberating India from the brutal British rule until his tragic death right after India’s Independence in 1947. The flag of India is raised as a sign of new beginnings then turns into a flag of the Earth.
Another inspirational story was told of leaders such as Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement, who planted over 51 million trees throughout Kenya.
The highlight of the show, arguably, was by Tarunaben (age 13) who reenacted a powerful speech given by Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient, on the power of education and resilience.
One of the most emotional moments which led the audience to tears was when Grandma told the story of two Syrian refugee sisters, Yusra Mardini and her sister Sarah. After crossing to Europe they reached a German refugees camp.
Yusra later became part of the Refugee Olympics Athletes Team in 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The point of the story was not only to teach the kids about perseverance, hard work and strength of the sisters, but also the openness of countries such as Germany that welcomed in close to 1 million refugees during that time.
All the heroes were examples of selfless individuals who had deep intentions to plant seeds of love and hope for a more beautiful future. But grandma also reminded them that every individual, no matter how old, can plant seeds to make a difference.
A big projector was placed in the background which played videos throughout the show accompanying each storyline, as the Jai Jagat crew danced in costumes and acted to tell each story. There were over a dozen outfit changes in the span of 90 minutes.
Through the stories of influential individuals like Mahatma Gandhi, Malala Yousafzai, Martin Luther King Jr, Masahisa Goi, the grandchildren began to learn that real progress begins with empathy and Ahimsa non-violence. Each story represents an unforgettable testament to the power of the human spirit.
Grandma revealed that in 2020, the world had decided to go a different direction from greed. Greed, she explained, was the root of all suffering that had existed in history until then. Their global slogan became ‘make love great again.’ The people on Earth realized how great their planet itself was, and that there was no purpose to look elsewhere for human life on Mars or the moon.
Jai Jagat translates from Hindi to “victory to the planet”. And that is exactly the message of the play. It’s a reminder to all of us to continue planting seeds, even if we do not see the final outcome in our lifetime.
The Jai Jagat Show would not have been possible without the Manav Sadhna mentors, volunteers and team members who have dedicated the past two years to put this on: Nimesh Patel, Shirish Vanwesemael, Malti Jaradi, Sanjay Parmar, Pooja Marwadi, Raju Parmar, Harsha Darji and Laxmi Chhaya.
As grandma patiently went through key historical events through the 20th and 21st century, the kids put on their virtual reality glasses to bring them back to that time. The first story of the timeline began with Mahatma Gandhi (played by Dhruv, age 12) and his humble beginnings as a young lawyer in South Africa. Due to extreme racism and segregation, he traveled back to his roots in India. There, he dedicated the rest of his life to liberating India from the brutal British rule until his tragic death right after India’s Independence in 1947. The flag of India is raised as a sign of new beginnings then turns into a flag of the Earth.
Another inspirational story was told of leaders such as Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement, who planted over 51 million trees throughout Kenya.
The highlight of the show, arguably, was by Tarunaben (age 13) who reenacted a powerful speech given by Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient, on the power of education and resilience.
One of the most emotional moments which led the audience to tears was when Grandma told the story of two Syrian refugee sisters, Yusra Mardini and her sister Sarah. After crossing to Europe they reached a German refugees camp.
Yusra later became part of the Refugee Olympics Athletes Team in 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The point of the story was not only to teach the kids about perseverance, hard work and strength of the sisters, but also the openness of countries such as Germany that welcomed in close to 1 million refugees during that time.
All the heroes were examples of selfless individuals who had deep intentions to plant seeds of love and hope for a more beautiful future. But grandma also reminded them that every individual, no matter how old, can plant seeds to make a difference.
A big projector was placed in the background which played videos throughout the show accompanying each storyline, as the Jai Jagat crew danced in costumes and acted to tell each story. There were over a dozen outfit changes in the span of 90 minutes.
Through the stories of influential individuals like Mahatma Gandhi, Malala Yousafzai, Martin Luther King Jr, Masahisa Goi, the grandchildren began to learn that real progress begins with empathy and Ahimsa non-violence. Each story represents an unforgettable testament to the power of the human spirit.
Grandma revealed that in 2020, the world had decided to go a different direction from greed. Greed, she explained, was the root of all suffering that had existed in history until then. Their global slogan became ‘make love great again.’ The people on Earth realized how great their planet itself was, and that there was no purpose to look elsewhere for human life on Mars or the moon.
Jai Jagat translates from Hindi to “victory to the planet”. And that is exactly the message of the play. It’s a reminder to all of us to continue planting seeds, even if we do not see the final outcome in our lifetime.
The Jai Jagat Show would not have been possible without the Manav Sadhna mentors, volunteers and team members who have dedicated the past two years to put this on: Nimesh Patel, Shirish Vanwesemael, Malti Jaradi, Sanjay Parmar, Pooja Marwadi, Raju Parmar, Harsha Darji and Laxmi Chhaya.