Last Saturday Hubby & I went to watch this play. It was the first production put up by our local Mission that we are members of – The Sadhu Vaswani Mission. The story is about a Princes, Bhoomi, who needs to make a decision to marry one of three Princes whose proposals were all accepted by the King & Queen. The King, who is eager to get his daughter married and also keen for a good alliance for his Kingdom, gives his daughter 4 days to make a decision. This is after the Princess pleads that she would like to marry the man of her dreams who will respect her for who she is and also respect that she has her own aspirations and goals and not be just a business decision between two States needing mutual alliance.
By the suggestion of her Lady-in-waiting, the Princess sets out to go in disguise of a male beggar to each of the 3 Princes’ Palaces. She tests the reaction of each one on how the treat a beggar searching for food and alms to their Palace. The first two Princes display arrogance and intolerance towards beggars and treat this one poorly. The third Prince, Harilal, invites ‘him’ in to join him and his companions for dinner much to his friends’ dismay. He stands by his compassion and further gifts the beggar with clothes, food and money. This benevolence and principles of the Prince wins the Princesses heart.
On the 4th day, she invites each Prince individually and announces her approval or disapproval. When she is in dialogue with Prince Harilal, the Prince who stole her heart, she is pleasantly surprised that he too had been testing and observing her over the past year and how he respects and appreciates all she has accomplished and how he too has lost his heart to her. He further reveals what he learned about her, “Hmm…Yes, I read the all reports. Setting up an orphanage for abandoned babies and young children; establishing the Women Empowerment Programmes so that women are not dependent and at the same time the Realm manages to tap into the wisdom of the silent fifty per-cent of its population…she is definitely ahead of time”.
The Prince & Princess announce their decision to the King and Queen as they walk in to the room. The King filled with joy, speaks his heart about his feelings about his daughter and that of Women
.”Harilal, when the Queen was expecting, I asked God for a daughter who will show the World that there are NO limits to a woman. I was the first one to hold her. And even then I knew she was special… very special! Bhoomi, is strong-headed and wise. She is courageous, daring and compassionate. Give her the freedom to express herself and you will find great wonders happening… Bhoomi’s bold decisions are behind much of the success you see in our Kingdom. Harilal, we’re not just giving you the Jewel of our Kingdom… Nor just the apple of our eyes… We’re giving you the very heart and soul of our lives.Treat each other as equals because I am sure you know, the family that honours its girls. The community that respects its women, and the Realm that holds its women folk in high esteem, all prosper and flourish. They enjoy peace and harmony. We are happy with Bhoomi’s decision. You have our blessings and those of the entire Kingdom.”
Amen!
For their first ever production, the SVC Theatre Team did a fantastic job with script, direction, music score, costumes, casting, visual affects and yes the talent! All proceeds are for Mobile Eye Clinics in India.
Production Team: Sadhu Vaswani Mission UK (SVC)
Script: Deepu Mirpuri Direction: Sunita Mansinghani
