An Engineer turned religious discourse giver Dushyant Sridhar’s book of part of one of Ramayanam, (Ram ki katha) was launched in Chennai.
At a function held at Narad Gana Sabha, the book was released in the presence of Editor of Tamil weekly, Thuglak, S Gurumurthy, political analyst and scientist Anand Ranganathan, Carnatic musician sisters Ranjani Gayatri, senior journalist Rangaraj Pandey and host of others.
The over three hours event kick-started with a recital by noted danseuse Anita Guha’s Bharatanjali team, which put together the “Parishvanga Pattabhishekam” scene for the audience. It included scenes from the Sundarakandam and depicted how Hanuman meets Mata Sita and encounters Ravana, the burning of Lanka (Lanka Dahan), followed by bringing the good news to Bhagwan Ram about having met Mata Sita.
The next item was a presentation of a medley of songs on Bhagwan Ram (Rama Bhakti Geetam) sung by budding Carnatic singers Anahita and Apoorva. This gave the audience an aural treat and a visual treat by Pranauti, a young Bharatnatyam danseuse and disciple of exponent Urmila Satyanarayanan. At the end of the programme, the audience was spellbound by the divine darshan of Ayodhya Sriram Lalla.
Following this rendition, the contributors to the book were honoured. They include the editor, Latha from Nairobi, and illustrators Keshav and Upasana Govindarajan. Historians and authors TS Krishnan and Jayashree Saranathan were also honoured for their contributions to the book.
Anand Ranganathan said that it was incredible that the Ramayana is still being written and read even in this day and age. He also said that Ramayana was special, and beyond that, our civilisation is also very special, and this struck home on 22 January 2024 (Pran Prathishta event). He described the joy that even little children and teens found during the Pran Prathishta event and wondered what connection it was that someone so young danced on the streets of Ayodhya that day. He said that because of this continuity, Sanatan Dharma cannot be eradicated because the families of people who want to do it are themselves devotees of Rama.
Dushyanth Sridhar, in his vote of thanks, narrated the process that went into the making of the book. He said, “As long as the rivers flow and the mountains rise and stand tall, so shall Ramayana live”. Taking a political dig, he said, “But Today Mountains have been quarried and rivers have become dry and their sand taken away. So, the situation today warrants this explanation for the modern day. Till Ramayanam is written and spoken about, till then rivers will flow and mountains shall stand.”
In his speech, he explained the need for another book and the special features included in it. He said illustrations by Kesav would attract readers. He said the book would be translated into Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, and Telugu in about a year.
Dushyanth Sridhar also explained his reasons for choosing Chennai for the book launch of all places. He said, “Bhakti was born in Tamil Nadu, a state with maximum temples. Tamil Nadu was a state where Rama was paraded with garland slippers ( by EV Ramaswamy Naicker and his followers), where Rama was called by different names, how many every prayaschittams we do, we need more, this is a prayaschittam ( to atone the sin) to that aparadham (penalty)”.
