Art of Simplicity
The Chinmaya Mission tours across the city explaining the knowledge of the Upanishad Ganga to people in an entertaining way
“The main aim for every human being is to build a happier tomorrow. The approaches to this end vary from person to person. Most of the time,the way to be happy seems very complicated,but in reality,it is the most simple state of mind to be in,” says Swami Siddheshananda,head of the Pune wing of the Chinmaya Mission. He believes that the vedas,ancient Sanskrit scriptures,contain the knowledge one requires to be happy in life. To simplify that knowledge and present it in an entertaining manner,the mission collaborated with director and script writer Chandraprakash Dwivedi to direct a series based on the Upanishads.
The question they faced was how to keep their audience’s attention in a time saturated with dramatic entertainment. “When we spoke to people,they told us that they are bored of watching usual saas-bahu serials. But,when we spoke to the television producers,they told us that they make such stuff because people want to see it. It was very confusing. Then our Guruji,Swami Tejomayananda came up with the concept of producing a serial which would give knowledge to the audience and keep them entertained as well,” says Siddheshananda. The episodes,aired on Doordarshan every Sunday morning for a 52 weeks,completed its course three months ago. Though the mission has not decided on coming up with a second season of the series,they want to bring the Upanishad Ganga to more people.
“We received feedback that when people saw the episodes,they had many questions. We will be conducting screenings of the episodes and then organising an interaction where the audience can ask whatever they would like to know,” Siddheshananda.
The series follows the story of a father-son duo. “It opens with the son being angry at his father for teaching him only Sanskrit while all his friends were conversant in modern languages. The father explains that even his own father had taught him Sanskrit and it did had done him much good by exposing him to much knowledge in the vedic scriptures. The son considers his options of studying the scriptures and Sanskrit literature and is enlightened. He then decides to widen the scope of his knowledge,but with a modern approach. He resolves that the days of pravachan (preaching) were over and it was time for him to use more entertaining methods,like drama,” narrates Siddheshananda.
The episodes will now be screened in the city at Jhulelal Mandir,Wanowrie from September 2-7 and at Maulana Azad Hall,Koregaon Park from September 10-15.
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