‘Guru of Chai’ tonight at UHH

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One actor and one musician will make present-day India, with its ancient gods and state-of-the-art technology, come to life in “Guru of Chai” at 7:30 p.m. today at University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.

One actor and one musician will make present-day India, with its ancient gods and state-of-the-art technology, come to life in “Guru of Chai” at 7:30 p.m. today at University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.

Jacob Rajan, co-writer and star, and Justin Lewis, co-writer and director, have taken elements of the Indian folk tale “Punchkin” and woven it into a simultaneously humorous and heartbreaking story about a humble chaiwallah, or tea seller, whose life is forever changed when an abandoned young girl brings a busy Bangalore train station to a stop with the beauty of her singing. Kutisar, the chaiwallah, dispenses wisdom as well as tea, while finding himself at odds with his conscience, the gods of his Hindu religion — and the omnipresent Starbucks.

Tickets are $25 general, $20 discount and $15 students and children 17 and younger, and are available at the UHHPAC box office.