RAMAYAN PAATH

PRITI
Vaibhavcha mitra Hindu Students Councilcha member ahe. Saturday night cha kaay prgm ahe asa tyaala ek donda v4la hota tehvha tyaani saangitla ki he's going for ramayan paath, I was really shocked...actually we both were, 27-28 yrs chi mula ramayan paath la jaatat...this was really new to us. The very idea didnt seem very interesting so we never asked him much. Kal tyaani khup agraahaa kela tehvha shevati amhi pan tyacha barobar jaila tayyar jhaalo. Nighalo tehvhach jara odd vatat hota, kutheytari maanat 'aaji ajoba' ashya prgms na jaatat apan aatach ka jaatoy asahi vatat hota. We were ready for a boring evening...hehehe maanachi tashi tayyari karun ghetli hoti.Gaadi thambli eka bunglow samor, ha karyakram pratek veli vegveglya lokanchya ghari hoto, they take turns and arrange the prgm at their place. Aat shirlo tehvha 'ragupati raghav raja ram' cha mixed awaj ala...mixed mhanjey..'lahan mula, tyanche aai vadil, aji ajoba, kahi tarun students, kahi couples' saagle milun 70 loka hoti. Amhaala hi ek booklet denyat ala jyat aartya, gaani aNi bhajana printed hoti. The kids in the crowd selected every arati/ song/ bhajan and everyone use to sing it together. Saaglich gaani religious nhavti, 'hum hongey kaamiyab' pan eka mulani select kela, shaala sodlya nantar kitteck varshani te gaana mhantla aNi kahi prayers pan, maala shaletli 'morning assembly' athavli. Mag saagle basle aNi eka baaiyini ramayan vachun tyacha arth saangney suru kele, we were on the part were kaikayi asks dushratha for the two boons and the reaction thereafter. It started with how the gods in heaven were worried that if ram lives the life of a king then he wont be able to fulfil the cause that he was sent to the earth for and hence godess saraswati convinces kaikayi that ram has to be sent to exile, it is hard to convince her because kaikayi loved ram more than bharat and the whole kingdom knew this fact. My opinion about Kaikayi transformed, I had been imagining her as a villian so far.
Mag saaglya mulani ek skit present kela, the part where lakshman is hurt and hanuman goes and gets sanjeevani and the vaidya cures him. The children go to 'abhimanyu shakha' on sundays and must've heard the story there. They r taught yoga, shlokas, told indian folk tales and they celebrate indian festivals. Sunday sakali kiteflying cha program hota, sankrant celebrations...tilgul, gulpoli, kites, maanjey saagla tayyar hota. Skit jhalyavar amhi aartya mhantlya aNi mag potluck dinner sathi saagle dusrya room madhye gelo. Surya namaskar yagnya baddal kalla, last year half million loka eka ground var jaama jhaali hoti aNi saaglyani ekatra suryanamaskar kela, thats surya namaskar yagna! This year they r expecting 1 million people. After dinner everyone played dumbcharades. 'Shakuntala' naavacha movie title act karun saagtana ek bai 'bharat mata' chi acting karat hoti, I thought she heard it wrong so I went and told her the title again and she said she heard it right. I was still wondering how bharat mata and shakuntala are related and voiced my concern in my group when a 9 year old boy looked at me and said in American accent,

"Oh she is doing it right, shakuntala's son's name was bharat!"