BY DEVIKA C.MEHTA
LOS ANGELES, CA - ‘Yug’ is era, ‘Purush’ is the man and ‘Yugpurush’ means the iconic person of a particular era.
The brilliant thought came alive on July 22, when two of the most iconic personalities of India, Mahatma Gandhi and his mentor Shrimad Rajchandra revisited the prestigious Dolby theatre here as characters in a riveting...
LOS ANGELES, CA - ‘Yug’ is era, ‘Purush’ is the man and ‘Yugpurush’ means the iconic person of a particular era.
The brilliant thought came alive on July 22, when two of the most iconic personalities of India, Mahatma Gandhi and his mentor Shrimad Rajchandra revisited the prestigious Dolby theatre here as characters in a riveting...
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play ‘Yugpurush- Mahatma’s Mahatma’, designed and moderated by Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur, to a packed auditorium of thousands. It has the distinction of being the first Hindi play to be performed at the Dolby.
Notably, 2017 marks the 150th birth anniversary of the great Indian saint and spiritual leader Shrimad Rajchandra and this play is a celebration. The 120-minute long drama , which began with a lamp-lighting ceremony, highlighted an incredible relationship shared between young Mohandas and young Rajchandra leading to an important impact on Mahatma Gandhi’s life.
An honoring ceremony also took place where several guests and dignitaries including Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard were awarded with mementos by the founder of SRMD, Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai. Thanking guests, he said, “The birth and life of the `Great Ones’ are worth remembering. They awaken our latent strength and kindle the desire to become like them.”
Gabbard called the play ‘a drama for a cause’ and praised it for being so influential. Other honorees were Rev Choe Bhante (Wat Buddhapanya Monastery, Pomona); Sister Gita Patel
(Brahma Kumaris, LA); Popat Savla (Founding Member, Indian Council for Advancement of Education); Rammurthi Baiji (Divine Art of Yoga Center); Manu Shah (Founder, Sarva Mangal Family Trust and MS International ); Jaswant Modi (Pareks-La Raj Parivar Center leaders), and Mahesh Wadher (Trustee - Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (USA) and first Vice President of JAINA).
Talking to the audience, Wadher recited Mahatma Gandhi’s lines from his autobiography, ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’, “In my moments of spiritual crisis, Shrimad Rajchandra was my refuge. The more I consider his life and his writings, the more I consider him to have been the best Indian of his times.” The show was then initiated by leaders of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (Los Angeles Center) Dilip and Sushma Parekh, who were also emcees of the grand evening.
The play that has been bestowed with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award 2017, showcased the values of expanding one’s capacity to love and offer selflessly, respecting diversity, supporting truth, fostering trust, and building lasting communities thus bringing to forefront a powerful experience of looking within, upholding truth and fearlessness, as well as transforming character and consciousness. The sourceful drama, directed by Rajesh Joshi, captured and invited the audience to journey through Gandhiji’s internal and overt advancements on the spiritual path following interactions, letters and inspiration from Rajchandra. It tried to focus on the aspect of two lives, their sincere friendships, culminating into Gandhiji’s proclamation of Shrimad as his spiritual mentor.
As per Joshi, “Directing the play and working with Shrimad Rajchandra’s profound words and being has been an awakening experience. I feel privileged to have directed the spiritual masterpiece .‘’
In regards to the play’s technical and character adjustments, one is amazed to see so much profoundness and brilliance in everything Shrimad Rajchandra Mission has put together. The music cues are soul touching and engrossing; lightning effects are amazing, acts are pulled together to create scenes that are both deep-rooted and remarkable. Huge sets and characters have the right appearance, especially the young Gandhi (Pulkit Solanki) and Rajchandra (Parthsarthi Vaidya), who are compelling, forcing one to believe that they have travelled back in time, to a different era, to meet the real icons. One of the best act was the Shatavdhan (Rajchandra performed 100 works simultaneously and was given this title) performance and the moment when both young and old Gandhi come together to understand life and its teachings in the presence of Shrimad Rajchandra. Meanwhile, other characters and the supporting cast were also intriguing. No wonder, after watching the intense acts, the audience leaving the theater were left mesmerized and wanted to know more about the sculptor who helped in sculpting a man like Mahatma Gandhi. They wanted to read and understand more about Rajchandra, which in itself is an accomplishment for the ‘Yugpurush’ team. Significantly, the drama that has now completed 14 shows in the US, takes on human values, religion, celibacy, non-violence and the need for revolution. These ideas are very effective in today’s time of turmoil and political conflict. The play that supports the cause of Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital is currently running in Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali and will soon release in English and Tamil.
Notably, 2017 marks the 150th birth anniversary of the great Indian saint and spiritual leader Shrimad Rajchandra and this play is a celebration. The 120-minute long drama , which began with a lamp-lighting ceremony, highlighted an incredible relationship shared between young Mohandas and young Rajchandra leading to an important impact on Mahatma Gandhi’s life.
An honoring ceremony also took place where several guests and dignitaries including Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard were awarded with mementos by the founder of SRMD, Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai. Thanking guests, he said, “The birth and life of the `Great Ones’ are worth remembering. They awaken our latent strength and kindle the desire to become like them.”
Gabbard called the play ‘a drama for a cause’ and praised it for being so influential. Other honorees were Rev Choe Bhante (Wat Buddhapanya Monastery, Pomona); Sister Gita Patel
(Brahma Kumaris, LA); Popat Savla (Founding Member, Indian Council for Advancement of Education); Rammurthi Baiji (Divine Art of Yoga Center); Manu Shah (Founder, Sarva Mangal Family Trust and MS International ); Jaswant Modi (Pareks-La Raj Parivar Center leaders), and Mahesh Wadher (Trustee - Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (USA) and first Vice President of JAINA).
Talking to the audience, Wadher recited Mahatma Gandhi’s lines from his autobiography, ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’, “In my moments of spiritual crisis, Shrimad Rajchandra was my refuge. The more I consider his life and his writings, the more I consider him to have been the best Indian of his times.” The show was then initiated by leaders of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (Los Angeles Center) Dilip and Sushma Parekh, who were also emcees of the grand evening.
The play that has been bestowed with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award 2017, showcased the values of expanding one’s capacity to love and offer selflessly, respecting diversity, supporting truth, fostering trust, and building lasting communities thus bringing to forefront a powerful experience of looking within, upholding truth and fearlessness, as well as transforming character and consciousness. The sourceful drama, directed by Rajesh Joshi, captured and invited the audience to journey through Gandhiji’s internal and overt advancements on the spiritual path following interactions, letters and inspiration from Rajchandra. It tried to focus on the aspect of two lives, their sincere friendships, culminating into Gandhiji’s proclamation of Shrimad as his spiritual mentor.
As per Joshi, “Directing the play and working with Shrimad Rajchandra’s profound words and being has been an awakening experience. I feel privileged to have directed the spiritual masterpiece .‘’
In regards to the play’s technical and character adjustments, one is amazed to see so much profoundness and brilliance in everything Shrimad Rajchandra Mission has put together. The music cues are soul touching and engrossing; lightning effects are amazing, acts are pulled together to create scenes that are both deep-rooted and remarkable. Huge sets and characters have the right appearance, especially the young Gandhi (Pulkit Solanki) and Rajchandra (Parthsarthi Vaidya), who are compelling, forcing one to believe that they have travelled back in time, to a different era, to meet the real icons. One of the best act was the Shatavdhan (Rajchandra performed 100 works simultaneously and was given this title) performance and the moment when both young and old Gandhi come together to understand life and its teachings in the presence of Shrimad Rajchandra. Meanwhile, other characters and the supporting cast were also intriguing. No wonder, after watching the intense acts, the audience leaving the theater were left mesmerized and wanted to know more about the sculptor who helped in sculpting a man like Mahatma Gandhi. They wanted to read and understand more about Rajchandra, which in itself is an accomplishment for the ‘Yugpurush’ team. Significantly, the drama that has now completed 14 shows in the US, takes on human values, religion, celibacy, non-violence and the need for revolution. These ideas are very effective in today’s time of turmoil and political conflict. The play that supports the cause of Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital is currently running in Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali and will soon release in English and Tamil.
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