Skip to main content
search

Scent of a Woman Season 3 (Day 1124)

By Uncategorized

Elaborating on Manhar Gadhia Production new play 7X3=21 directed by Pratik Gandhi are monologues by women at different phases of their lives.

Three out of the seven plays focus on motherhood. The firs/ Bhai Bhai performed by Binda Rawal is the story of a young widow who in order to educate her daughter becomes an auto rickshaw driver in Ahmedabad. People she meets in her life introduce her to bootlegging and gradually she becomes the most feared and the most powerful woman in a man’s world.

MadhubalaThe second 21 Mu Tiffin is a story of a housewife who runs a tiffin service for students. She leads a mundane life until a young student truly appreciative of her culinary skills transforms her gaze but when the student departs the housewife returns to her drab life again. What makes the play interesting is that is written from the daughter/ Chandralekha Rathod’s perspective.

IndoThe third/ Jhankhana is about a spirited urban girl/ Veronica Gautam caught up with the fun of life until she realises that her biological clock is ticking and it is perhaps too late to have a baby. Pratik Gandhi so far known as an actor makes an impressive debut as a director, introduces his characters imaginatively and uses minimum props while shifting from one story to another. The table and chair transform to recliner/ sofa and the disguised posters in the backdrop come alive with lighting when the character tells her story.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  @bhawanasomaaya

21 June, 2017
Love1

7x 3 =21 Season 3 Day 1123

By Event

Manhar Gadhia Productions is back with season 3 of his very successful play 7×3 = 21 and this time the theme is Desire.  Written by 7 writers and performed by seven actors, director Prateik Gandhi travels you through fascinating journeys of seven extraordinary women – two single, three mothers, one soul and a star.

TinderThe single girls Ami Trivedi/ Apeksha and Toral Joshi/ Tinder are independent women who believe in dating their prospective grooms before deciding if they are worthy as partners. Apeksha is an interior designer, apparently artistic but who loves everything entertaining. Her frustration is that she is unable to express her choices in a world of hypocrites. The second marriage in candidate in Tinder is more pragmatic and willing to compromise for some luxuries of life.  She is ready to prove her skills in the kitchen provided her partner matches her aspirations in the bedroom, does that happen, does it ever happen in any relationship??.

There is a story of a haunted soul/ Indo enacted by Shradha Musale desperately seeking salvation, a cruel story of rejection. A story of loneliness and anguish/ Madhubala inspired from the life of the 50’s superstar abused by the family and isolated by those she loved to die a painful death. And finally stories of three mothers: Bhai Bhai/ 21 mu Tiffin and Jhankhana struggling for survival in compelling circumstances.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  @bhawanasomaaya

20 June, 2017
Love2

Jai Ho India (Day 1122)

By Uncategorized

Somehow we were sure we would win the India v/s Pakistan in the finals, we did not.

As the men in Blue plummeted to an 180 run defeat giving Pakistan their first victory since 1992 and I sang…Zindagi ki yehi reet hai haar ke baad hi jeet hai…
I consoled myself that it is important to lose once in a while to value the importance of success.
Afterall Cricket is not our national game, it is our national obsession!
Our national game is Hockey and the Hockey team did India proud by defeating Pakistan 7-1.

LONDON - Hockey World League Semi-Final.08 Canada - India (Pool B)Foto: Akashdeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh.COPYWRIGHT FRANK UIJLENBROEK WORLDSPORTPICS

The song playing in my head is Jeet jayenge hum desh agar saath hai…

The performances are a reality check for the country.
It is time to give due importance to other sports as well.
Time to become less obsessed with Cricket and promote our national game.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  @bhawanasomaaya
19 June, 2017
Love0

Who is the real Sadhguru (Day 1121)

By Event

The session past noon but the audience is not ready to go as yet. They have questions to ask and are hungry for answers. The volunteers run with microphones and Sadhguru answers as many devotees as he can, he sometimes passes their questions to  Karan Johar and Johar who is by now begun to thoroughly enjoy the session treats it like his TV shows playing to the gallery with the rapid fire round and his fans are cheering him.

The stadium is bursting with people and downstairs, the latecomers have parked on the floor resting against the gate door. The capacity of the venue is 8000 and as I look around I don’t see a single vacant seat.

16.06.2017 iiWhen the session closes, there is no rush; no pushing and the guests walk out peacefully from the auditorium. The volunteers who welcomed us with folded hand in the morning are still waiting and smiling as we walk down the long corridor. Outside there are more volunteers to help us locate your vehicles. As I wait for my car I chat with some of them and they tell me that after we are gone they will assemble in the theatre and collectively fold up all the chairs and clean the place for the next show.

As I drive home, I think about the selfless and hardworking volunteers, there be must something about Sadhguru to compel them to such dedication! Is it that he is ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India or something else? Have they been able to figure out if the man they worship is a yogi, a mystic, a visionary or just a self-styled guru? Some call him commercial, some say he is a healer, his devotees’ think of him as an artist, his detractors call him a publicity hound!!

Undoubtedly he is articulate and learned which is why he is invited to all the significant forums. He is well versed in sports/ politics, poetry/ ecology even music and aviation which is one of the reasons his foundation is hosting a series of In Conversation with celebrity hosts from different fields. Probably the idea is to explore the many moods of the mystic and my concern is which out of all these avatars is the real Sadhguru?

Maybe all, maybe none, maybe nobody knows and only time will tell…

(Concluded)

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  @bhawanasomaaya

17 June, 2017
Love3

Marriage is co-habitation (Day 1120)

By Event

The session is more than half way through and Johar has gradually dropped all his guards and become his natural self. He probes if there should be a limit to one’s love and emotions and Sadhguru stump everyone with his answer, “Love must be experienced without abandon and without brakes. Love is quality, not quantity so it’s not something that will get over because we have over used it. On the contrary, the more you experience love, the more it is available to you and the only time there must be a break in love is when you die.”

The following question is about marriage and Sadhguru predictably has an unconventional reply, “Let us understand that all of us are single. We come single and we depart single, the fact is marriage is just co- habitation. If you have responsibilities, then you are fortunate. It means that you have something to distract yourself from your madness. It means that you have chosen to respond to a particular person or situation and even the experience of commitment can be joyous”.

Screen Shot 2017-06-12 at 9.44.40 AM

He explains that if we wish to be free ourselves from unnecessary thoughts, then we have to implement on it not just express it. I have spent my entire life in that quest…I have strived to bring spirituality from the Himalayas to the streets…Unfortunately today, we associate all the negative things with the street – like drinks, prostitution, all the vices, but if we make up our minds and work collectively we can alter the  connotations, not immediately but some day for sure.”

 

Sadhguru has been working on it for over three decades, which is why he founded Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation supported by over seven million volunteers in over 250 centres worldwide. Some of the volunteers are present today at the venue, smiling, spreading positive vibrations their way to make this a perfect experience for all of us!

(To be continued)

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  @bhawanasomaaya

16 June, 2017
Love0

Confidence and Clarity (Day 1119)

By Event

The mood is vibrant and Sadhguru despite his jetlag is full of energy. He answers questions raised by Karan Johar, sometimes counter questions him and sometimes wanders to unrelated topics, it is only gradually one understands that all the fragmented thoughts are connected and there is a reason why he meanders before answering the queries directly.

14.06.2017 i

Probably this is the reason why he is called mystic; he is called outspoken too and also contemporary. He is savvy and has a way of grabbing attention, he is charismatic both in his persona and his conversations, is palpably passionate and a great orator too, he says, “Confidence without clarity is dangerous…” and warns that never look up to someone because “When you do that, the value of the person goes down and they end up as a hanging on the wall. So look at people for what they are and the real value will emerge”.

One of the reasons why Sadhguru appeals to all generations is because he speaks from all perspectives without judgments, sample this “As a parent do not try to make your kids a reflection of yourself. Let them evolve. Don’t be rigid about teaching; let your children figure out their world”.  They are not empty words he puts them practice too, shares that he doesn’t care if his daughter does not know how many fingers exist in a human hand as long as she knows what to do with her fingers. The important thing is to be consistently joyful; every act no matter how mundane must depict joy that is of utmost importance.

 (To be continued)

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  @bhawanasomaaya

15 June, 2017
Love0

Getting ready for Yoga (Day 1118)

By Uncategorized

Karan Johar reveals that what attracts him to undertake a session like this is that there are so many questions he is perennially seeking answers for and never seem to find them. He admits rather candidly that there is always a dilemma going on within him, between his fears and anxieties and also between his understanding of religion and spirituality. He elaborates that most people seek answers from books or learned people but often that does not ring a bell in real life and what is attractive about Sadhguru is that somehow he resonates the question with your own life which makes it all so simple and relatable and which is probably why all of us are present in the room.

Sadhguru smiles, says the basis of spirituality is that you realise that you do not know and the basis of religion is that it gives you answers that close your mind. There is a long pause, as Johar and the audience tries to absorb what is said, some get it, some don’t as Sadhguru smiles affectionately.

13.06.2017 ii

It is difficult to make out what KarJohar is thinking as he asks his next question: Is there ever an end to human needs? “If you have realised that, then you are ready for yoga” replies Sadhguru. “Your longing to expand is not for more; it is for all. Your longing is for infinite expansion. Right now it is finding unconscious expression. If it finds physical expression, we call this sexuality. If the same expression is emotional we describe it as love. If you exercise this mentally, it gets labelled as greed, conquest or shopping. And when there is awareness, when you do this consciously, we call this yoga.”

(To be continued)

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  @bhawanasomaaya

14 June, 2017
Love1

Love and Life (Day 1118)

By Uncategorized

The program begins quietly and unobtrusively with a live performance from a devotee and when the song ends, it is time for Sadhguru and Karan Johar to make an entry. There is excitement in the atmosphere as the duo walk towards the stage. Many in the audience rise in reverence, some of them start clapping, some start chanting and some rush toward the front row to get a closer view of their guru and some to touch his feet.

There are big screens put up on either side of the stage for those seated behind to get a closer view of the program.  From where I am sitting I observe that Karan Johar looks self-conscious. It is not as if he is not used to adulation but the hysteria generated by Sadhguru among his devotees is of a different beat.  They make a strange couple, Karan in his Black suit and shining shoes and Sadhguru clad in purple robes carefully co-ordinated with pastel turban and colourful beads dangling from his neck and arms. They make a magnificent picture as they walk up the wooden stage decorated in orange silk and fragrant orchids.

12.06.2017 ii

Sadhguru sits decorously on the centre ornate chair, one foot cross-legged and the other rested on the ground while Johar parked on his left prefers to be at the edge of his seat, his right foot resting on the reclined left foot. A sparkling copper pot filled with water is placed beside Sadhguru while Johar has a ceramic mug holding his drink.

The host introduces the panellists, the topic for the afternoon and everyone is geared up for the session. Karan begins by saying that he has never done something like this before, but there is always a first time and he has done adequate research on his subject to make it an enjoyable experience for all of us.

(To be continued)

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  @bhawanasomaaya

13 June, 2017
Love1
Close Menu