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 ( ; Gujarati: 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 (per t ...

, India. He received his BA from

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate university, collegiate, State university (India), state-owned, Public university, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the un ...

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 — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Quit India Movement

As a young man, Patel joined

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and the

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

in protest of the

British rule of India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. 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 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 ''George Washington Slept Here'' is a 1942 comedy film starring Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan, Charles Coburn, Percy Kilbride, and Hattie McDaniel. It was based on the 1940 play of the same name by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, adapted by Everett ...

into "Gandhi Slept Here", a Gujuarati-language

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...

, Death of a Salesman (especially poignant as India modernized and new ways of doing business emerged), and

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

"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 (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

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