Cultural Rendezvous, Udaipur under the auspices of Prabha Khaitan Foundation of Calcutta, welcomed actor and out of the box leadership trainer Ashish Vidyarthi for “Ek Mulaqat” a conversation on perspectives, understanding oneself and life.

Ashish, with all the flamboyance of a skilled orator and theater performer, wowed the audience with his take on perceptions, perspectives, judgement and understanding oneself and working on multiple facets of life, while at the same time creating a balance between professional and private life.

Ek Mulaqat initiate has been adopted by Cultural Rendezvous, formed by six like minded ladies, viz. Shubh Singhvi, Sharaddha Murdia, Riddhima Doshi, Mumal Bhandari, Kanika Agarwal and Swati Agarwal, all from Udaipur, belonging to different backgrounds, but tied up with a common influence, that of art and culture.

The program, in the form of an interview that later turned into a dialog and a fun filled interactive session, where the audience participated with their small but relevant stories, began with an introduction by Swati Agarwal.  The interviewer, Shraddha Murdia started by asking Ashish about his perspective on his profession and the motivation which led him to multi faceted roles in over 200 movies across 11 languages.

Ashish, in his baritone, matched brilliantly by his oratory skills combined with the right spice of humor, had the audience enthralled and in splits at the same time.  Moving on to describing the acting profession and what goes through the psyche of an artist, Ashish Vidyarthi was very lucid in his explanations on how a certain profession is perceived by persons belonging to other professions or walks of life.

Being judgmental about a person or a profession is very easy, said Ashish, explaining that each individual who is passionate about his work or what he or she does, needs to be appreciated for the effort put into a project and the belief of the creator and implementer of the project, be it a movie, a book or for that matter any other project.  Skeptical about judgement passed by critics, Ashish was explicit when he said that the most judgmental people are those who belong to the armchair category, passing their views on efforts or decisions or performances of live performers, be them actors, theater artists, sports persons or politicians.  He said that armchair critics do not appreciate the belief and the hard work with which the effort was made or the decision was taken.

Speaking for himself, Ashish went on to give examples from his experiences while pursuing his profession and episodes with the people he met during the journey – saying that his life’s biggest learning being the fact that any performance during any project, is based on belief of the performers and actors – that they have given their best.

On the personal professional personality clash, he said, “Ek actor hone ke evaz mein, Main apne ko bahut miss karta hu“.  Emphasizing on the love for self, he elaborated, “I like myself…and as I do that, I tend to dislike a lot of others – i like myself, I Believe in myself.  The same way, the person whom I might dislike, likes himself or herself and believes in himself or herself – the belief coming out in the form of performance”.  Hence he called for the audience to respect what has been prepared or made and appreciate the efforts that have gone into it.

On being asked by Shraddha about his memorable experiences of life, Ashish said that the most memorable experience is now.  Now, when I am sitting where I am sitting and doing what I am doing – so be it for everyone else.  “Don’t wait for a moment in future to make yourself happy – be happy now“, said Ashish.

Philosophizing on life – Ashish called Life an Opportunity; something not to be taken lightly and certainly, something not to be missed.  On being asked about his program Avid Miner, where Ashish acts as a leadership trainer, he says that this program is all about sharing experiences, making everyone richer through the learning.

“Each moment in the journey of life is amazing – make the most out of this privilege“, prophesied Ashish, as he went on to answer questions that were put up to him in the Q&A session.  Many members of the audience were keen on asking him questions and Ashish was happy enough to answer each one elaborately.  Many members of the audience took the opportunity to share their lives experiences while discussing how the many facets of ones life change the way a person begins to live an respect life.

Ashish went on to end that session saying that he, his profession and his personality have been chiseled by the friends he made during his professional journey and the vast number of people he met in that journey.

An avid traveller, passionate about acting, writing, photography and meeting people, Ashish Vidyarthi has been trained at the National School of Drama, after graduating in History from Delhi University.

Ek Mulaqat ended with a vote of thanks from Ridhima Doshi, post which Ashish mingled with the audience for a one to one conversation, while at the same time honoring requests for photographs.

All in all a wonderful experience for the audience, including myself – looking forward to another Ek Mulaqat.