Mataji: A Play On Living Saints

By Staff

"There is no shortage of gurus who will cure heart disease, produce wristwatches from their sleeves, and dissolve away your problems by hugging you, kissing you, or giving you a banana. Mataji is a rationalist play, a cry of protest against a world of godmen who offer easy solutions to the complex problems of life but are rarely questioned by the media, which is intimidated by the wide "customer base" claimed by such gurus."

Modern world especially India is filled with lot of living saints. As you turn to any corner in India, which is regarded as the land of spirituality, you can meet a living saint, who offers remedies for you dilemmas. There may be saints with true spiritual power but; of course there are people who make their livelihood with the spirituality.

The eminent Indian English writer Sujit Saraf's play Mataji is about a living saint from India. Written on February 2008, the play has already gained wide applause from the aestheticians. The play is set to hit the theatres on July to August 2008.

The protagonist Mataji was born in a poor family on the banks of Ganga in India. She has a simple gift to offer that is a loving hug, which brings boundless joy to her followers. Over two decades, she has millions of devotees and travelled to 65 countries. She is well known for sending her devotees into raptures through the transmission of pure bliss that accompanies her hugs.

Mataji is known as Lord Krishna incarnate after hugging thousands of her devotees in one sitting. Then on her sixteenth visit to California, she faces the biggest challenge in her spiritual career. He meets a devotee whom she cannot satisfy. Through him, she discovers much about her powers, and the world discovers much about her.

The author of the play, Sujit Saraf asserts that this is not a mere work of fiction, but; a critique of gurus, god men and god women who are very real. This play asserts the simple truth that people can achieve self-fulfillment without surrendering their intelligence, common sense and well being to another human who pretends to be omniscient. Let us wait and see what the world of godmen and godwomen has to offer for this play.