Play celebrates Hindu culture and heritage
Don't miss this spectacular Hindi drama.
BHAGWAN gave me this life (God gave me this life) is a play in Hindi written and directed by Vivian Moodley and performed by Pranesh Maharaj which comes to the Catalina Theatre on Durban’s Wilson’s Wharf for a short five performance season from Friday 31 January until Sunday 2 February.
“This is probably SA’s first Hindi cultural production. The story is specific to the time and area and if you are from that generation then it will bring back memories, make you laugh and shed a tear. If not, then it will give you a sense of history and cultural heritage,” said Moodley who has an illustrious resume in the performing arts on every known medium.
Set in 1981 in Inanda, the story is about a widower, Balram, (Pranesh Maharaj) who we meet at a major turning point in his existence as he looks back on his life with its high and low points.
Balram’s wife, Lalita, was introduced to him via a family arrangement by two eccentric aunties from Ottawa and Inanda. The proudest of his family was his brother, Sukhram, who involved himself in the wedding. The brothers shared a tight enduring bond. The plot of the play centres on the couple’s inability to have a child at first.
Balram’s parents longed for a grandchild until years later a son is born. The traditional values of an old community, the wood-and-iron house, the nostalgia of the music we listened to and spiritual guidance instilled in us over the years come to the fore in this dramatisation of our inner wars.
The human condition can be described as the unalterable part of humanity that is inherent and innate to human beings and not dependent on factors such as gender, race or class. It includes concerns such as the meaning of life, the search for gratification, the sense of curiosity, the inevitability of isolation, or awareness regarding the inescapability of death.
Tickets, which range from R100 to R160 each, are available at Computicket for Friday 31 January at 7pm, Saturday 1 February at 2pm and 7pm and on Sunday 2 February at 2pm and 7pm.
