An Arts and Culture Festival, in Goregaon (GACF) was conceptualised and staged within an incredibly short period of fifteen days by our volunteers and teachers along with me. The event, brought together children, elders, youngsters, adults of different castes, class, creed and language in celebrating various Indian art forms ranging from music, acting, dancing, drawing etc.The event saw a footfall of over a thousand people and the interesting sight to behold was families, both nuclear and joint, sitting together at one place, smiling, laughing, getting thoroughly entertained by enthralling performances one after other, cheering the participants together, connecting with the crowd around and leaving the GACF venue with smiles and visibly enhanced bonding.With more than a hundred artists performing, making it a unique cultural extravaganza.
Goregaon Arts and Cultural Festival began with a drawing competition named Kaleidoscope wherein approximately 150 children of the age group 5- 21yrs ranging from both mainstream and BMC schools participated. Renowned Artists Shri Ghanshyam ji Gupta and Smt.Pradnya Busari judged the drawings. Kashvee Barjatya a nine year old young author of the book, Lost in the Woods, came and interacted with the drawing competition participants inspiring children to follow their dreams.
Day 1- had a series of musical, acting and dancing performances. Students of Swarajali Singing classes, group casio recital by students of Shri Ghanshyam Bhagat and Smt.Renuka Bhagat, Meera padas by Priya Bhagwat, Mime act by Modi family followed by Guru puja and a short meditation, Bharatnatyam Mythological Ballet on avatars of Lord Vishnu by Smt.Radha Mohan and her team, vocal recital by Jyati Gangani and Sameer Pandit – both international singing artists.
Day 2 – had performance of 20 Tabla playing children lead by their teacher Shri Aditya and accompanied by Shri Sarang on Sitar, followed by an Art of Living Satsang, Flute recital by the disciple of Pt.Shri Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shreedhar jujar, accompanied on Tabla by Shekhar Gandhi, Bharatnatyam performance by Akhila Nair and her group, Vedic hymns and Hatt Yoga by the children of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Vidya Mandir Borivali, Kathak by Smriti Mishra, choreographed by Pt.Dinesh Chand of Jaipur Gharana, Khayal gayyeki by Smt.Rashmi kulkarni.
Just like a dam channelises the uncontrolled energy of water into a life supporting force, in the same way knowledge given by Gurudev, naturally directs our energy towards constructive activities. It is a wonder how GACF got organised in such a brief period and how all those who became a part of it were touched somewhere deep in their hearts. Yes! Art has the ability to unite.
GACF was a small offering from us for Gurudev’s vision of ‘One World Family’ for which WCF 2016 is being organised.Our entire team is grateful for all the love and support we got from people in organising this event.
Few Experiences :
Says Shri VInod ji- the sanskrit teacher who won the Central India competition for Vedic chants for SSRVM, borivali -” ऐसे उत्सवों से शरीर मे उत्साह, उमंग एवं हर्षोल्लास बढ़ता है कला प्रदर्शनकारों एवं दर्शको दोनों पर सात्विक भाव उमडता है । जिसके फलस्वरूप प्रेम, साहचर्यता, एक दूसरे के प्रति आदरभाव जागता है।
Says Mr.DP Aggarwal, “A great beginning in the direction for uniting the world culture and striving to make the world a GLOBAL VILLAGE. ”
Says, Kathak Pt.Guru Shri Dinesh Chand – ” It was a pleasure to witness & be a part of such a Divine concert organised by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji’s volunteers of Art Of Living. Feeling blessed..
Special thanks to Rangresa pictures, Akhil Patel and Kunal Mehta for being prime donors of the event. Thanks to Mr. DP Agarwal ji, Mr. RD Agarwal ji, Mr. Nittin Save ji for helping in organising this event. And to all the Artist for contributing their Art at GAFC.
Ms. Vasudha Jhunjhunwala holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. She is associated with the Art of Living since year 2000. Born and brought up in a pink city Jaipur, Rajasthan she currently resides in Amchi Mumbai with her family. For nearly a decade, Vasudha has inspired more than 10,000 youths with her teachings and social work. She has undertaken various projects and has been an instrument of change for its success. Juggling between home and work, in her spare time Vasudha likes to paint, write poems, learn music and play badminton. She is a Social Worker, Entrepreneur, State Coordinator of The Art of Living, Student of Sanskrit & Classical Music, Writer, Homemaker, Mother, Meditation Teacher, Public Speaker, Recipient of CSO-2014 award by Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam and has travelled in 30 Countries.
She is a quintessential deshbhakt. It is difficult to match her youthful Energy.
Vasudha is extremely passionate about her initiatives. One of the most successful projects lead by her was the ‘Vote For a Better India’ - A campaign that facilitated the voter registration process and lead to 5 lakh citizens new voter registration across India in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. Bringing more awareness to the people in the community she began the initiative ‘Mind your Vehicle’ - A project to sensitize citizens towards traffic discipline with 2000 volunteers in Mumbai. The project saw good media coverage. She was also the founding member of ‘Save Aarey’ project. In this project more than 300 volunteers cleared 5-truck loads of garbage from Aarey colony. With an aim to instill a sense of responsibility and nationalism among the youth, she has spearheaded several initiatives that included women’s safety drives, blood donation drives, cleanliness drives at railway stations and sea-shores, health and hygiene awareness camps and others.
Often people ask her what made her belief so strong to walk the spiritual path. She affirms that, “just like the light house guides the ship through darkness of night, our conscience guides us through decisions of life. For a smooth sail, just listen to it!”
The drought in Maharashtra had led to an increasing number of farmer suicides and Vasudha decided to contribute towards River Rejuvenation Project in the state. She along with her team revived around 22kms of Manjara river. The river Manjara rejuvenation in Latur District benefited 5 lakh villagers in its vicinity. Vasudha was also a part of the Solar Lamp Project. She was the catalyst in the distribution of solar lamps to flood-hit villagers in Orissa during Fani.
Her courage and valour gives her the skill to bring out the right perspective in every project she undertakes. Worry or Uncertainty are not words she rhymes with, Vasudha believes that’s Spiritual knowledge shields the flame of life from the winds of uncertainties. Vasudha is currently working on Project Pavitra. Since its inception this year, the project has imparted menstrual hygiene education to more than 2000 young girls in BMC schools and it aims to reach out to many more. She is also the founding member of SORT Club - Student's organization for Reform and Transformation. The club is now operational in 10 colleges in Mumbai. The project aims to remove the menace of substance abuse from the colleges of India. Vasudha is also working on a Happy Neighbourhood Project. The project aims to establish Happiness centers in societies to make societies stress-free.
If you meet her once, you would know that she has a very charming, intuitive, and jovial personality, her ideas and thoughts are ahead of it’s time. Her ability to perceive something new and unique in every individual is what draws people to her company. She gives a very comfortable and cool vibe something young students connect to and find easy to talk and open up to her about their problems. Make impossible, possible is her mantra. Her sessions are filled with grit, humor, inspiration, and some awespiring wisdom. People feel rejuvenated, energetic, experience clarity of thoughts, immense love in their hearts after attending her Mind and Breathe Workshops.
Mysteries of life intrigues her and even though she has traveled in 30 countries she found her best place within. She, by herself is a ‘Happiness Express’ moving swiftly on the spiritual path.
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Vasudha Jhunjhunwala 