Speech of Ambassador at the premiere of the play Mahabharata
held in the Kyrgyz Drama Theatre, Bishkek on
3/05/2016

I came to Kyrgyzstan in August 2013. Sometime towards the end of 2013, I came to the Kyrgyz Drama Theatre, without invitation to watch a spectacle. I of course did not understand the language, but what I understood that the theatre is very powerful. I could see the passion of the artists.

In April last year, I had dinner with some friends at my residence which included Director of the Theatre Temirlan Kameshvich, Director ( rezhisor) Shamil; representatives of some dance groups. It was like a brainstorming session. Three hours we discussed some ideas and zeroed down on two. One got covered into Issyk Kulski bollywood after 11 months and the other into staging of Mahabharata, exactly after one year.

As you may be knowing, Mahabharat is one of the two epics, written in Sankrit language. The other being Ramayan. Mahabharat is written in roughly 100,000 shlokas/ i.e. Sanskrit couplets. The plot of the epic is somewhere around 1000 years before Christ and the epic was written around 5th century BC.

The epic is still part of everyday life. Most of the vocabulary in today’s use especially when we become philosophical comes from this epic. The words Karma/ Dharma they came in extensive use thanks to Mahabharat.

Mahabharat also shows a path - the purpose of life - Purushartha - on how to live a balanced life - it talks about the Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Mokhsa is liberation. Liberation not only physical, but in spiritual terms. Even today, when a mystic goes to villages - they may be poor/ may be hungry/ but they do not ask for money or comforts/ they ask for the moksha the mukti - the liberation.

Even today, all the places which are mentioned in Mahabharata exist in the Indian subcontinent. Some places bear the same name. The battlefield was Kurukshetra. Even today the city is named the same. The satellite town near Delhi is Gurgaon - which actually earlier was Gurugram - means the village of the Guru / the teacher. Because Kauravas and Pandavas were trained in that part of India and so on.

And I promise you that everyone of you know at least one of the heroes from Mahabharat - Lord Krishna. Many of you also know Gita. In today’s play you will find the origin of the book Gita. On the battle field, Arjuna gets emotional and wants to give up fight. At that time Lord Krishna tells him the essence of life. He tells him that only body dies, but the soul is eternal. There are different ways to liberate the soul, which are Gyna Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga etc.

Every household in India knows this line that Karmenye va dhikarasya ma faleshu kadachan. Work hard but don't expect the fruit.

This in fact is a very proud moment for us, as this is for the first time in a Central Asian Country Epic Mahabharat is being staged in the local language. I thank the Director of the Drama Theatre, Director of the play, Art Director of the play, all the actors, the scenarists, the costume designer, the sound engineer, the stage designer. Each one of them. Thanks once again.

I would like to dedicate this play to the year of History and Culture in the Kyrgyz Republic as announced by Honorable President Almazbek Sharshenovich.