🎼 Upanishad · Rumi · Dhrupad · Theatre
Let go and rejoice! Whose wealth is it anyway?
Isha Rumi Beyond Form is a theatrical juxtaposition of the Ishavasya Upanishad and the Masnavi of Jalaluddin Rumi, sung in the Dhrupad style of music. Eighteen Sanskrit shlokas and ten Persian verses are sung by the members of Sunaad. Three actors make the texts accessible to an English-speaking audience.
How do we evolve — living in our everyday lives immersed in sensory experiences — to that other dimension of being which is beyond the material and holds the promise of everlasting joy?
So'ham asmi… He am I… Anal haq… I am Truth
— the end of an individual's journey to the egolessness of surrender.
The production highlights the remarkable resonance between these two ancient texts — one from the Vedic tradition, one from the Sufi — separated by centuries and continents, yet pointing to the same truth.
Performance History
- November 2013 — Debut at Jagriti Theatre (2nd & 3rd Nov) and Alliance Francaise, Bangalore (7th & 8th Nov)
- July 2014 — School of Ancient Wisdom and Peepal Grove School, Sadum
- April 2015 — Walk of Hope, Good Shepherd Auditorium, Museum Road, Bangalore
- April 2015 — DVD release of the production
- February 2017 — Indiranagar Sangeet Sabha, Bangalore — 'Light for Education' fundraiser by IIT Kharagpur alumni
- January 2018 — Apollo Hospital Amphitheatre, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad — presented by Parampara Foundation
Audience Response
Rumi's stories and insights of life brought down tears rolling down on my cheeks (especially the harper's story). Each one of us are caught in something or the other like the harper with his harp. I pray for others and myself that let us all be freed from such entanglements to meet or merge with the sacred. The chants were so beautifully synched and sung that the sounds created vibrations and ripples in my body. The sounds of the musical instruments used for the Persian verses and the sound of the Pakhawaj transported me into the mystical realms of my mind.
— Audience member, School of Ancient Wisdom, Sadum