A spiritual sojourn

The rare show presented by Kaladarshan in the Bay Area has been brought to the US for the first time, writes Shalini Narang.

I hope I can adequately communicate the intensity of the stupendous spiritual experience that took place on the evening of April 1 at the Chabot College auditorium in Hayward, but if I fail, then pardon my limited ability, but not for a minute, nay moment, doubt the artistic and other worldly merit of the two-act musical mono play by Writer, Director, Actor, Producer and Singer Shekhar Sen on the life and times of Swami Vivekananda.

The rare show presented by Kaladarshan in the Bay Area has been brought to the US for the first time by Illinois based national organisers named Vachikam.

The spellbinding performance enacted in the first person style not only kept the audience spell bound for its running time of two hours but also succeeded in creating an indelible impression of sorts. I can't halt thinking about the merit of the subject and its execution several days after its presentation.

The sight of the multi-dimensional artistic ability of Shekhar Sen is nothing short of performing arts ingenuity at its best and boldest.

If you are seeking to learn about the worldly and other worldly experiences of Narendranath Dutt rechristened as Swami Vivekananda, then, this tightly written and ably executed play is a must watch.

From the choice of the lofty subject to its excellent execution, nothing is small about this narrative on the myriad experiences of the life of a great nationalist saint via aptly written and delivered monologues punctuated with lilting lyrics juxtaposing descriptions of the historical with the geographical and philosophical with the spiritual.

The perfection of the varied elements - script, songs, set decorations; costume choice and set lighting add up to a beautiful whole.

The musical opens with the universal prayer of Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina… May all be happy; May all be healthy; May all see auspiciousness; May all be free from sorrow, sung sonorously by the actor/singer dressed as Swami Vivekananda in his prototype Rajasthani headgear and orange dress.

Then follows the narration in a chronological order of the times of the great master-commencing with his birth in a well-to-do family in Calcutta to his journey through childhood pranks and learning, youthful restlessness and age defying maturity constituting myriad experiences, including his quest for the ultimate truth of God realization.

While the meetings and eventual surrender to his spiritual master-Ramakrishna Paramhansa and later to Ma Sharda are the overwhelming principles portrayed as the fulcrum of Swami Vivekananda's life, some of the other important happenings forcefully showcased in the first Act include the mental torture leading to search and seek within and without for the higher truth in life by the young Narendra at the sight of the plight and suffering of his countrymen due to man made and natural disasters at the time of British rule in India in the late 19th century.

The forceful second Act constitutes Swamiji's address at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago on September 11 in 1893, his understanding of the successful western values like patriotism, discipline, respect for law and order, and respect for time and finally the master’s teachings to his followers to look beyond prayers and chants to the actual service of fellow men.

After the spectacular performance inciting a standing ovation, Shekhar Sen introduced his sparse team of technicians, thanked his sponsors and said; "When I choose Vivekananda, Tulsidas and Kabeer as topics of my plays, many people thought these were not appropriate subjects for current day audience and would not incite people to come to watch the performances. I nevertheless went ahead and have discovered that in any age and time, even the most corrupt person wants people working for him to be honest and even the most amoral character wants his spouse to be a moral being and so ancient characters that project and propagate the universal values of sincerity, simplicity, spirituality and other greats would never be out of vogue." Amen.

He ended the program of the evening with a recitation of a melodious couplet from his play titled Kabeer to be presented at the same venue on April 21.