CHICAGO: With the Bartlet Jain Auditorium near full to watch Shri Krishna Vyjayanti – a dance ballet in Hindi, Sewa International Chicago managed to raise close to $40,000 for its on going humanitarian activities as also to fund its flagship project involving settling Bhutanese refugees in Chicago.
Vice president Anil Deshpande said that the program would not have succeeded but for the support of grassroots volunteers and sponsors like Amrit Mittal, Dr Bharat Barai, Narayan Chandak and many others. The near twenty artists troupe of Bharat Kala captivated the audience with their masterly depiction of various episodes in the life of Lord Krishna – right from the birth to his childish pranks of surreptitiously picking and eating Makhan (raw butter), going to Mathura and dueling with Kansa, and then playing a crucial role in the lives of Pandavas and rendering time immemorial sermon on Kurukstetra battlefield to Arjun.
The artistic skill was quite in evidence in that the important aspects of Lord Krishna’s life were composed beautifully in dance style for a two and half hours of presentation. There was not a single dull moment and the audience kept on showing its appreciation by clapping. It was a mammoth task to depict every aspect of Krishna’s life in the two hours time frame. Still the group has done an excellent job maintaining a high level of acting and choreography blended with songs in classical tunes sung by famous singers like Vani Jairam and Yesudas and composed by maestro music composer Padmashree Pandit Vijaya Raghav Rao. The Ballet presentation by Prabhat Kala group in cities in USA so far has drawn rave reviews from those attending it – Chicago being no exception.
With 32 chapters in 22 States across USA, Sewa (Selfless Efforts for Welfare of All) is now poised to do one better in coming year with expanding its base and areas of service to the community at large.
Anil Deshpande, Vice President Development SEWA International, said that one of the focal points of their activities is to get more and more youth involved so that the organization remains energized all the time.
Locally beneficial activities by Sewa are many, like adopting a highway, providing food to local shelters, meals on wheels, community parks’ cleanup etc. The youth also help Sewa International raise funds for its various ongoing projects.
Deshpande pointed out that thousands of Bhutanese have fled to Tibet and are now virtually stateless. They are given asylum in many a western country including USA. In Chicago alone, there are 3500 Bhutanese refugees who need to get their home and hearth. “We are actively involved in assisting them to get settled here and our youth team is a good help to us,” he said.
The Chicago presentation was the last lap of Prabhat Kala journey to this country and it has gone back to India. Deshpande said that it plans to invite another talented group of Manik Sarkar in 2013 which will give a Laser Show presentation on the life of Swami Vivekananda. The 150th Birth Anniversary of Swamiji is being celebrated across the world and Chicago being a second home of Swamiji, many Indian American groups are gearing up for the celebration – Sewa International included.
– Ramesh Soparawala & Suresh Shah
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