Bhopal: Vinoba Smaran, inspired by Bhave's life, staged at 4-day Raza Parv

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A play, Vinoba Smaran, inspired by the life of social activist and philosopher Vinoba Bhave was staged at Gauranjali auditorium in Ravindra Convention Centre on Friday evening.

It was part of the second-day of the four-day Raza Parv organised by Raza Foundation, New Delhi, and Alliance Francaise, Bhopal, to celebrate the birth centenary of painter late Sayed Haider Raza.

Directed by Rajendra Panchal, the one-and-a-half-hour-long play was presented by Perafin Ashram located in Roteda village in Kota (Rajasthan). This play was one such experiment by the actors in which they tried to convey to the audience as much experience as they gained from their research on Vinoba Bhave. Vijay Patidar played the role of Vinoba Bhave.

Panchal told Free Press that this the fifth show of the play but it was staged for the first time in Bhopal. The play is like a 3D painting and it is based on the research of two-and-a-half years, he added.

About the preparation of the play, he said, ìWe consulted around 100 books on and by Vinoba. We stayed for a week at Vinobaís Ashram in Wardha. We were completely cut off from materialistic life for a while. We didn't even keep mobile phones,î Panchal added.

Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave, was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called Acharya, he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is considered a national teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. He was an eminent philosopher. The Gita has also been translated into Marathi language by him with the name as Geetai (means Mother Geeta in Marathi).