20 December,2010 06:50 AM IST | | Natasha Gupta
Youngsters to get together to pay tribute to Magsaysay award winner Pandurang Athavale for his 90th birth anniversary celebrations
In a grand tribute to the late philosopher and 1996 Magsaysay awardee, Pandurang Athavale, better known as Dadaji, in the year of his 90th birth anniversary, some 83,000 youngsters from different parts of the country will come together today in Kharghar for a dance performance.
The commemorative event, called Namastubhyam, will be held on 700 acres of open space beyond Central Park, and is expected to attract 10 lakh devotees of Dadaji, a social reformer and spiritual leader who founded the Swadhyay Parivar and won the Templeton Prize in 1997.
A 32-minute dance routine will be performed in Kharghar to commemorate his 90th birth anniversary
Dr Rajesh Parikh, one of the coordinators of Namastubhyam from Ahmedabad, said, "These youngsters are 16-30 years old Swadhyayees from across the country. They'll be performing Yuva Vandana, a 32-minute dance routine as an expression of gratitude to, Dadaji."
Asked how such an unwieldy number synchronised with one another, Dr Parikh said, "We invited two or three representatives from each of our youth centres across the country and held a day-long training session for them.
u00a0
They in turn taught their representative centres. And here we are, with a mock practice with 43,000 youths, just a day before the event itself."
MiD DAY spoke to a participant of the grand choreography, Rajesh Kadchha (27), and he said, "Our dance is our namaskar to Dadaji."
Dr Srikant Parikh, another coordinator, said that it is difficult to got youngsters interested in social or spiritual movements.
u00a0
"I think youngsters today want to do something good but they don't know how to. In such a situation, they benefit from the teachings of Dadaji in bringing about a positive change in their lifestyle," he said, adding, "We have invited 3 lakh people, but I wouldn't be surprised if up to 10 lakh people show up."
