WESAK 2008 - New Age Festival of Spiritual Unity and Blessings
Lectures, Teaching & Meditation On 17th,18th May 2008,9:30 am to 5:30 pm
venue: The auditoriam of the Indian Society of International Law, opposite the supreme Court 9, Bhagwan Dass Road, New Delhi.
Moon Light Meditation
19th May 2008, 6:30pm to 9:30pm Venue:97-A Eastern Avenue, Sainik Farm,New Delhi. For Reg:Poonam Sharma: 919313034752,Snigdha Nanda: 919818291375. More Detail>>
When we pursue happiness, it eludes you. However, when you recognise that happiness is the natural state of the soul, all you need is to eliminate all that comes between your happiness and you.
G.V. Iyer, the Indian director with a penchant for the spiritual, has
created some exemplary films based on Hindu mythology and the lives of
Indian sages
A
cynic, in answer to his queries on divinity, gets kicked by his master
and falls down. On cue, the vision of a whirling universe spins through
his mind's eye. Panic-stricken, he cries out: "Master, what are you doing
to me?"
The impact is stunning. The fear, awe and attraction experienced by Naren
(later Swami Vivekananda, founder of Ramakrishna Missions in India) are
directly transmitted to the audience. That in essence, is the magic touch
of G.V. Iyer, guru of cinema in southern India. With a career spanning
over six decades, Iyer has worked with both mainstream and offbeat films,
though his commitment has remained to spiritual themes.
Iyer's Adi Shankaracharya, the first ever film made in Sanskrit,
the classical Indian language in which the Vedas were written, brought
a sea change in his perspective. It was in this film that the play of
symbols, which had always been an important facet of Iyer's films, matured
into a palpable trademark. There is a constant interplay between the human
and the symbolic where the perspective merges into a state closely reminiscent
of 'maya', an important aspect of ancient Hindu sage and scholar
Shankaracharya's philosophy of advaita (monism).
Iyer later experimented with similar metaphors in his trilogy on Hindu
philosophy with his films on Madhavacharya (Indian saint who propounded
the theory of dvaita or dualism) and Ramanujacharya (creator of
the vishishtadvaita or qualified monism school of thought).
Jaded themes are transformed through Iyer's lens. Thus, in Bhagavad Gita,
a film based on Krishna's teachings to Arjuna in the Indian epic Mahabharata,
juxtaposition of imagery creates paradigm shifts. Arjuna becomes Everyman, and
the war is an internal battle he must win to reach the godhead within. The entire
film is taken out of its mythological setting and turned into a surreal journey
through the awakening consciousness of man.
Swami Vivekananda,
on the other hand, is more realistic. "I wanted to make Vivekananda-the-person
understood by the common man," says Dr T. Subbarami Reddy, producer of the film.
Thus, Iyer follows a simple narrative structure with a strict chronological sequence.
The unique Iyer touch, however, is not apparent in Swami Vivekananda, except
in some special shots such as when Ramakrishna compares his love for Vivekananda
with Radha's love for Krishna. The canvas is vast. Most of the shots convey a
sense of space, be it the Dakshineshwar temple in the eastern Indian town of Calcutta
lit up at night, a raging storm when Ramakrishna rushes to help an old lady or
the sprawling mountains Vivekananda crosses on his way to Amarnath.
It is not easy to string together Iyer's films, unless you take into account
their underlying spirituality. From the somber and ascetic notes of Adi
Shankaracharya to a largely mainstream Swami Vivekananda, Iyer has experimented
with many genres and has left his trademark insight with each. And with
each film, he has given a bit more of wisdom to a world striving to understand
the meaning of life.
A
cynic, in answer to his queries on divinity, gets kicked by his master
and falls down. On cue, the vision of a whirling universe spins through
his mind's eye. Panic-stricken, he cries out: "Master, what are you doing
to me?" 
