Beginnings
At our 2 1/2 year course (1979-1982) at Sandeepany West in Piercy, California, Swami
Dayananda Saraswati (Arsha Vidya Gurukulum) shared
with us his discovery of the original Sanskrit Ramayana by Valmiki every evening
in class. It was there that I became fascinated by this ancient story so rich in
great characters and its image of an ancient culture able still to teach us by its
grandeur.
Back in 1987, as I sat in the living room of my home in Livermore, California, listening
to a radio broadcast of Sentate hearings on the appointment of Judge Bork to the Supreme
Court, it occurred to me that we Americans have no idea what constitutes a good national
leader. Then I heard an interview with a
librettist and thought what fun it would be
to write a libretto. Whatever would I write about? The question of what it
takes to make a good national leader brought me to the ancient epic, Ramayana. Could
it be retold in a way that would engage western audiences the way it has captured millions
of hearts and minds in Asia?
Early writing was done by hand at home and in Valerie
Hawes' farm house in Half Moon Bay, CA surrounded by the horses, peacocks,
chickens, vegetable and flower gardens. I was able to enter the script into a computer in
1998 thanks to a generous gift from Kathy Sorenson
of Transition Resources.
