Jayanti Kalidas Patel (24 May 1924 – 26 May 2019) was an Indian actor, playwright and yogi.

Early life and education

Patel was born 24 May 1924 in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

, India. He received his BA from

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

in 1947, and was awarded a PhD for his work in Natya Yoga from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan at the Mungalal Goenka Institute in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Quit India Movement

As a young man, Patel joined

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

and the Quit India Movement in protest of the British rule of India. During one march, Patel was shot in the leg, sustaining an injury that produced a lifelong indentation and limp.

All India Radio and "Ranglo"

In the 1940s and 1950s, Patel portrayed the comic character "Ranglo" on All-India Radio and in subsequent stage and television productions. He took this name also for his cartooning persona, and continued to explore this character throughout his life.

Travels and work in the West

In 1967, Patel was awarded a John F. Kennedy Scholarship and traveled to the US to continue his work in Natya Yoga. While there, he began a long association with the Ananda Ashrama in Monroe, New York and in San Francisco.

"Inner Broadway"

Traveling throughout the U.S., France, England and Germany, Patel continued to develop his work in theater as a form of yoga. "He feels that both natya and yoga have a common purpose – to shatter the ego, to experience bliss and thereby universalize the individual person and transcending the limitations of time and space. Natya like any other form of an art is Yoga in Indian thought. It is a transpersonal art according to Jayanti. Instead of Ego, it takes you beyond Ego." His works included those exploring the modern experiences of time, technology, and alienation, as well as the tools to transcend these challenges and find inner peace.

"Transplanation, not Translation"

Patel adapted several Western plays and novels for Indian audiences—including a "transplantation" of George Washington Slept Here into "Gandhi Slept Here", a Gujuarati-language

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...

(especially poignant as India modernized and new ways of doing business emerged), and Harvey.

"Chaplin, Gandhi and Me"

In 2015, at age 91, Patel published the book Chaplin, Gandhi and Me2, exploring the correlation between the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Charlie Chaplin.

Personal life and death

In 1944, Patel married Smt. Sharda, and together they had three children: Nivedita, Warsha, and Nilesh. Patel latterly resided in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

with his daughter Warsha and son Nilesh. He died in

on 26 May 2019, two days after his 95th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Jayanti 1924 births 2019 deaths Indian yoga teachers Male actors from Gujarat People from Ahmedabad