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Contents

Letters of Greeting03 Jonathan Hollander04 Avinash Pasricha05 Saroja Vaidhyanathan06 Darshana Jhaveri

Editorial Team

Editor’s Note

Cultural Bulletin10 Cultural Bulletin - Add

'News' as a header

Torch Bearers16 Pt Birju Maharaj

Cover Story26 Rajashree Oak33 Sruti Bandopadhay35 Darshana Jhaveri36 Tapati Chowdurie39 Manini Mukhopadhyay41 Dr. Nalinee Madgavkar42 Jonathan Hollander42 VP Dhananjayan

Beacons of Light44 Jhelum Paranjape

Rays of Hope50 Pavitra Krishna Bhat

Volume 2, Issue 1 | July 2017

Kindled Spirit57 Chetan Saraiya:

Nritya-Tapsvi

Reports58 Bharath Dharshan59 Gostha Aurangabad

Literary Musings60 Review on Reporting

and Feature Writing

Scholarly Corner62 Traditions of Narratives

and Performing Arts

Tributes64 Dr C Narayana Reddy64 Kalamandalam Leelama

In Sight66 Sathyabhama

Frozen-in-Time53 Guru Kelucharan

Mohapatra

Reviews55 Naatya Tarang

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Editorial‘The Dance India’- a monthly culturalmagazine in English is our humbleattempt to capture the spirit and cultureof art in all its diversity.

"If the art is poor, the nation is sick."

Editor-in-ChiefBR Vikram Kumar

Executive EditorPaul Spurgeon Nicodemus

Associate EditorRMK Sharma

Editorial AdvisorB Ratan Raju

Contributions byPadma Shri Sunil Kothari

(Cultural Critic)Administration Manager

KV LakshmiCirculation Manager

V SrinivasCommunications Incharge

K Bhanuji RaoInternational Coordinators

Haimanti BasuTennessee

Mallika JayantiNebrasaka

Articles may be submitted for possiblepublication in the magazine in the followingmanner.

• Send in your articles toeditor.thedanceindia@gmail.comPlease include your full name, contactinformation (address and telephonenumber) and a short bio data.

• Articles are published in the magazine onlyon the condition that the author agrees tothe terms of the Copyright Statement andPolicy

Regd. Office: Trivikram Publications,D.No. 50-01-50/1, ASR Nagar, Seethammadhara,Visakhapatnam - 530 013, A.P.Tel: 0891-2525656

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressedby the various writers in the articles andreviews do not necessarily reflect the opinions,beliefs and viewpoints of the editorial team orofficial policies of The Dance India.

All rights reserved. © July 2017 - The contentspublished in The Dance India magazine are anexclusive copyright of Trivikram Publications.No part of the magazine may be reproducedin whole or part without the written consentof Trivikram Publications.

All disputes are subject to the exclusivejurisdiction of competent courts inVisakhapatnam only.

Edited, Published and Owned byBathina Ranga Vikram Kumar,Mobile No. +91-9848137445, on behalf ofTrivikram Publications from

D.No. 50-01-50/1, ASR Nagar,Seethammadhara,Dist. Visakhapatnam - 530 013, A.P. andPrinted by K. Ram Naidu, Vizag Art Printers,

D.No. 30-5-21, Krishna Gardens, Dabagardens,Visakhapatnam - 530 020, A.P.Editor: Bathina Ranga Vikram Kumar

Coordinators(News, Advertisements &Subscriptions)Sai Venkatesh Karnataka

Kashmira Trivedi Maharashtra

Alaknanda Noida

Lakshmi Thomas Chennai

Gayathri Gopi Vellore

Parinithi Gopal Sagar

PSB NambiarSooryavamsham Kerala

Anurekha Gosh Kolkata

GV Chari New Delhi

Dr. Kshithija BarveGoa and Kolhapur

Technical Advise and Graphic Design Follow us on

thedanceindiamagazine

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BR Vikram KumarEditor-in-Chief

Edi

tor’

s N

ote

It has already been a year sincethe launch of The Dance Indiamagazine. The magazine took its

form with a dream - a dream toprotect, promote and perpetuatevarious classical, traditional and folkart forms to the next generation. Whenwe heard the delightful conversationsthat artistes and patrons of art andculture had during the festivals,conferences, workshops across Indiaand several places abroad, it gave usimmense joy and satisfaction. On thisoccasion, we at The Dance India

P 9 | JULY 2017

would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to each andevery well-wisher who has been with us and supportedthe magazine during the course of last one year.Especially, I want to thank all the readers, scholars,experts, critics, columnists, coordinators, staff,designers and editorial board for their unparalleledsupport. I request everyone who is a part of the successsaga of The Dance India to continue supporting themagazine with renewed spirits as we complete onevolume and step into a new one. The Dance India's roleas a bridge to hand over our rich cultural heritage to thenext generation should continue without ceasing and it isonly possible with the support of patrons of art andculture.

When the editorial board was brainstorming about thecover feature in our anniversary issue, the idea thatgave us goosebumps was the Indian National Anthemand Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore who penned itdown. Though he is a universal poet, in my view he is acontemporary Bharat Muni who contributed immenselyto the society with his works of literature, music, dramaand dance. This month's cover story on the life andworks of Rabindranath Tagore who could be comparedto a Great Banyan Tree of Indian Art Forms is our tributeon the occasion of his death anniversary that would beobserved on August 7th.

Jai Gurudev! Jai Hind!

BR Vikram KumarBR Vikram KumarBR Vikram KumarBR Vikram KumarBR Vikram Kumar

No departure cards for Indiansflying abroad from July 1

Come July 1, Indians flying abroad will not

have to fill departure cards. According to an

order issued by the Union home ministry, "It

has been decided to discontinue the practice of filling

up of the departure card by Indians at all international

airports with effect from July 1, 2017." This is one of

the steps by the government to ensure hassle-free

movement of Indians travelling abroad. However,

those going out of the country via rail, seaport and

land immigration check-posts need to fill the

embarkation card. The home ministry has said that

the information shared by the passengers is available

in the system from other sources as well. This would

reduce the time required to complete immigration-

related formalities by passengers and would also

allow airports to handle a larger number of people,

according to PIB.

'National Mission onCultural Mapping ofIndia' Launched

Union minister of state

(independent charge) for culture &

tourism, Dr. Mahesh Sharma,

formally launched the

implementation of the 'National

Mission on Cultural Mapping of

India' at a programme 'Sanskritik

Pratibha Khoj Samaroh' (block

level mega talent hunt programme) organised at

Goverdhan Block, Mathura District, Uttar Pradesh on

June 23. Srikant Sharma, energy minister of Uttar

Pradesh, ministry's senior officials and various

renowned artists including Padma, Sangeet Natak

Akademi and state awardees were present. This

mission is part of the 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat'

programme. The ministry of culture launched it in the

year of commemoration of the birth centenary of

Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, who hailed from

Mathura, according to PIB.

Ministry of Tourismcelebrated '3rd InternationalDay of Yoga'

The ministry of tourism celebrated the 3rd

International Day of Yoga (IDY) through various

initiatives. A 30-second Radio Spot promoting Yoga

was developed and aired on 17 AIR FM stations. A

60-second television commercial promoting India as

P 10 | JULY 2017

a land of yoga has been developed. A month-long TV

campaign promoting yoga on Doordarshan network

was conducted. Campaign promoting yoga on all

social network channels of ministry of tourism was

also done. IDY 2017 posters and standees

developed used by India Tourism international and

domestic offices.

Also, The International Day of Yoga was highlighted at

the India stand at SATTE, Delhi in Feb 2017 and

Yogshala Expo held in Delhi in June 2017.

A group of 53 international guests comprising of tour

operators promoting yoga, journalists and

photographers, yoga gurus and opinion makers from

across the globe were invited by the ministry of

tourism on a familiarisation trip. The group

participated in the main IDY celebrations at Lucknow

in which the Prime Minister participated. The group

also visited various yoga institutions and wellness

centres in the country in order to have a first-hand

knowledge and promote India as a destination for

yoga in their own countries, according to PIB.

Growth registered in both Do-mestic and Foreign Tourist visitsduring 2016

The market research division of ministry of tourism

compiles data on domestic and foreign tourist visits

to states/union territories (UTs) received from

departments of tourism of various state governments

and UT administrations. Following are the salient

features of the compilation for 2016, according to PIB.

Domestic Tourist Visits toStates/ UTs

During 2016, the number of domestic tourist visits to

the states/ UTs was 1,613.55 million as compared to

1,431.97 million in 2015, registering a growth of

12.68% over 2015, according to PIB.

The top ten states in terms of number of domestic

tourist visits (in millions), during 2016, were Tamil Nadu

(343.81), Uttar Pradesh (211.71), Andhra Pradesh

(153.16), Madhya Pradesh (150.49), Karnataka

(129.76), Maharashtra (116.52), Telangana (95.16), West

Bengal (74.46), Gujarat (42.25) and Rajasthan (41.5).

Foreign Tourist Visits to States/UTs

During 2016, the number of foreign tourist visits (FTVs)

to the states/ UTs was 24.71 million as compared to

23.33 million in 2015 registering a growth of 5.92%

over 2015. The top ten states in terms of number of

FTVs (in millions) during 2016 were Tamil Nadu (4.72),

Maharashtra (4.67), Uttar Pradesh (3.16), Delhi (2.52),

West Bengal (1.53), Rajasthan (1.51), Kerala (1.04), Bihar

(1.01), Goa (0.68) and Punjab (0.66), according to PIB.

Ministry of Tourism releases'Compendium on guidelines forAyush facilities'

The ministry of tourism has released the 'Compendium

on Guidelines for Ayush Facilities' here today. The

National Medical & Wellness Tourism Board under the

chairmanship of minister for tourism Dr Mahesh

Sharma has been repeatedly stressing on the need for

benchmarking of facilities offered by the various

service providers in the field of medical and wellness

tourism on the basis of globally accepted standards.

The constant endeavour of the ministry of tourism has

been to promote institutions and processes that have

achieved such standards in order to provide

excellence in service quality. On the demand from the

industry and stakeholders including ministry of

tourism; the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals

and Healthcare Providers (NABH) has brought out

accreditation standards and guidelines for AYUSH

facilities in the country including Wellness Centres and

Panchkarma clinics that are used by tourists,

according to PIB.

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NEWS

A responsible press is needed tohold power to account in ouropen society: Vice President

Vice President of India, M Hamid Ansari has said that

in an open society like ours, we need a responsible

press to hold power to account. He was addressing

an event to launch the commemorative edition of a

National Daily, in Bengaluru recently. Governor of

Karnataka, Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, chief minister of

Karnataka, K Siddaramaiah, vice-president of AICC,

Rahul Gandhi and other dignitaries were present on

the occasion.

The Vice President said that the history of journalism

in India is closely linked to the history of our freedom

struggle. The Press played an important role in

educating, convincing and mobilising our people, he

added.

The Vice President said that Jawaharlal Nehru

envisioned a free, unfettered and honest press and he

watched over the interests of media persons in

independent India. The Working Journalists Act, which

tried to give a degree of protection to journalists, to

ensure freedom of the press, was largely his doing,

he added.

19.5% Growth in FTAs in May, 2017

*55.3% growth FTAs on E-Tourist visa in

May 2017

Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly

estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals

(FTAs) & FTAs on e-Tourist Visa on the

basis of Nationality-wise, Port-wise data

received from Bureau of Immigration

(BOI).

The following are the important highlights

regarding FTAs & also FTAs on e-Tourist

Visa from tourism during the month of

May 2017, according to PIB.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs):

The number of FTAs in May 2017 was 6.30 lakh as

compared to FTAs of 5.27 lakh in May 2016 and 5.09

lakh in May 2015. The growth rate in FTAs in May 2017

over May 2016 is 19.5% compared to 3.5% in May

2016 over May 2015. FTAs during the period January-

May 2017 was 42.15 lakh with a growth of 16.4%, as

compared to the FTAs of 36.22 lakh with a growth of

8.7% in January- May 2016 over January- May 2015,

according to PIB.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs)on e-Tourist Visa

During the month of May 2017 total of 0.68 lakh tourist

arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 0.44 lakh

during the month of May 2016 registering a growth of

55.3%. During January- May 2017, a total of 6.50 lakh

tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 4.35

lakh during January-May 2016, registering a growth of

49.4%. The percentage shares of top 15 source

countries availing e- Tourist Visa facilities during May,

2017 were as follows: USA (15.1%), UK (13.1%),

China (8.4%), Germany (4.3%), Australia (4.1%),

France (4.0%), Canada (3.9%), Korea (Rep.of)

(3.4%), Singapore (2.8%), Malaysia (2.5%), Russian

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Fed (2.2%), Spain (2.1%), UAE (2.0%), Thailand

(1.9%), and South Africa (1.6%).

The percentage shares of top 15 ports in tourist

arrivals on e-Tourist Visa during May 2017 were as

follows: New Delhi Airport (45.1%), Mumbai Airport

(21.4%), Bengaluru Airport (8.6%), Chennai Airport

(7.8%), Kochi Airport (3.6%), Hyderabad Airport

(2.8%), Kolkata Airport (2.5%), Dabolim (Goa) Airport

(1.9%), Ahmadabad Airport (1.4%), Amritsar Airport

(1.2%), Trichy Airport (1.1%), Trivandrum Airport

(1.1%), Jaipur Airport (0.4%), Calicut Airport

(0.4%)and Pune Airport(0.3%), according to PIB.

AIR is the first choice for peoplefor authentic news

o AIR reflects India's diversity; broadcasts

programmes in 23 languages & 179 dialects -

Venkaiah Naidu

o I&B Minister presents Akashvani Annual Awards

The union minister of information and broadcasting, M

Venkaiah Naidu, said that in this era of cacophony

when television channels, newspapers, social media

platforms were vying for garnering the highest rating

points by dishing out sensational and often

unsubstantiated news, All India Radio still continued to

be the first choice of majority of the population for

authentic news not only within the country but also for

those Indians abroad who wanted to keep in touch

with the happenings in their motherland. The

Government was committed to the total freedom of

press and expression while at the same time

disinformation was dangerous. The minister stated

this at the Akashvani Annual Awards ceremony here

today. Col. Rathore, MoS I&B, chairman, Prasar

Bharati, secretary I&B and CEO, Prasar Bharati were

also present on the occasion.

Highlighting the diversity of AIR, Naidu said that, in

terms of a number of languages and dialects of

broadcast, All India Radio was the world's largest

public service radio broadcaster. Presently, All India

Radio broadcasts in 23 languages and 179 dialects.

All conceivable radio formats like music, plays,

documentaries, features, interviews, talks, innovative

programmes, news etc. were used by All India Radio

across its entire network comprising of 421

broadcasting centres. AIR, through its external

P 13 | JULY 2017

NEWS

broadcast in 15 foreign and 12 Indian languages,

served as India's authentic voice to the outside world

and projected India's viewpoint on contemporary

issues in the right perspective in the face of

propaganda by forces inimical to country's interest,

according to PIB.

Dr Mahesh Sharma Chairs 3rdmeeting of National Medical andWellness Tourism Board

The third meeting of the National Medical and

Wellness Tourism Board was held today under the

chairmanship of Dr Mahesh Sharma, minister of state

(independent charge) for tourism and culture here

recently. The meeting was attended by the secretary,

ministry of tourism, Rashmi Verma, other senior

government officials and members of the Board

comprising stakeholders in the travel and hospitality

industry and experts in the field of medical and

wellness tourism as well as other systems of Indian

medicine.

The National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board

was constituted under the chairmanship of the

minister for tourism in October 2015 to provide a

dedicated institutional framework to take forward

medical tourism and position India as competent and

credible medical and well tourism destination,

according to PIB.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (InRupee and US $ Terms) throughTourism in India in May 2017

Ministry of tourism estimates monthly Foreign

Exchange Earnings (FEEs) through tourism in India,

both in rupee and dollar terms, based on the credit

data of travel head from balance of payments of the

RBI. The highlights of the estimates of FEEs from

tourism in India for May 2017 and Jan-May 2017 are

as follows:

Foreign Exchange Earnings(FEEs) through tourism (in Rs.terms)

FEEs during the month of May 2017 were Rs 12,403

crore as compared to Rs 10,260 crore in May 2016

and Rs 9,505 crore in May 2015. The growth rate in

FEEs in rupee terms in May 2017 over May 2016 was

20.9% compared to growth of 7.9% in May 2016 over

May 2015. FEEs during the period January- May

2017 were Rs 74,008 crore with a growth of 19.2%, as

compared to the FEE of Rs 62,072 crore with a

growth of 14.0% in January- May 2016 over January-

May 2015, according to PIB.

Foreign Exchange Earnings(FEEs) through tourism (in US$ terms)

FEEs in US$ terms during the month of May 2017

were US$ 1.924 billion as compared to FEEs of US$

1.534 billion during the month of May 2016 and US$

1.491 billion in May 2015. The growth rate in FEEs in

US$ terms in May 2017 over May 2016 was 25.4%

compared to a positive growth of 2.9% in May 2016

over May 2015. FEEs during the period January-May

2017 were US$ 11.199 billion with a growth of 21.3%

as compared to the FEE of US$ 9.231 billion with a

growth of 6.0% in January- May 2016 over January-

May 2015.

Estimates of FEEs are based on following factors: Per

capita FEEs during April-June 2016= RBI's credit

figure for travel (April-June 16)/FTAs (April-June 16).

FTAs for May 2017 and an Inflation factor based on

CPI (U) for May 2017, according to PIB.

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"Dance is asilent music andaudience is the

ultimate king.

After the day long hecticschedule and tedious timeat office and other places,

the audience prefers tospend their time in our

programmes for a changeand entertainment and

relaxation. To ensure that Ido not burden or force themto leave the place, I chose to

make all my compositions,simple, attractive and

understandable withoutdisturbing or getting

deviated from the originalformat, maintaining theethical principles of theculture, mixed with the

blend of things likeAbhinaya and Shringar

Ras. It is my style ofpractising and presenting

Kathak."

- Pandit Birju Maharaj

Pandit Brij Mohan Nath Mishra popularly known as PanditBirju Maharaj is an acclaimed dancer, singer, musician,poet and recipient of several coveted awards including

honorary doctorates and Kalidas Samman by Government ofMadhya Pradesh and the Padma Vibhushan, the second highestcivilian award by the Government of India.

Accompanied by his disciple for more than four decadesShaswati Sen, Pandit Birju Maharaj, spoke exclusively to TheDance India on how life's journey becomes pleasant if one tries tobe humorous. He explains how eye contact plays a major role indance which is a silent music. He says that the presence of anaudience is a criteria for all artists and number hardly matterswhen the dancer understands the audience. Recollecting one ofhis shows in Italy in the past, the Pandit said, "It was raining heavilyand because of that the number of audience was low, but thosewho were there were the real and hardcore art lovers who made ita point to reach the venue despite hurdles - natural calamity."

Pandit Birju Maharaj was born on February 4, 1937, in Lucknow(Uttar Pradesh). He was the only baby boy to be born on that dayin ‘Defrin’ hospital among all the newly born babies. One of theelderly neighbours, spontaneously said Brij ke Mohan aaye hain(which indirectly meant that the only baby boy amongst all thegirls - Kanha took birth) So, his name was recorded as BrijMohan Nath Mishra but he was called Birju which finally turned intoBirju Maharaj, a household name.

He belongs to the dynasty, which founded the Kathak dance form.As a dynastical practice, almost all Mishra's especially those whoare directly related to the practice of Kathak made it a point to visitthe traditional 'Pond of Kathak' i.e. 'Kathakaon ka Taalaab' situatedin Kichkila village of Handia tehsil in Allahabad district of UttarPradesh, at least once in their lifetime. This has been theirtraditional practice. It started from his great great grandmotherSati Devi, who took a holy dip in the pond regularly.

Ghungroo and tabla were the point of attraction for Birju rightfrom his childhood. Observing this, his parents decided to teachhim Kathak and at the age of four, the boy Birju started learningKathak from his father Jagannath Mishra popularly known asAcchan Maharaj and uncles Shambhu and Lacchu Maharaj. Heused to move a lot with his father for performances. Birju gave hisfirst performance at the age of 7 years in Nawaabaon Ka ShaharLucknow and after that there was no looking back.

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Pandit Birju Maharaj

When he was of nine years old, his father and guruJagannath Mishra passed away. "Pita Hai toh Roti Hai,Kapda Hai Aur Makan Hai. Pita Hai toh Maa ka Bindihai, Choodi hai aur Suhag hai. Pita Hai toh duniya kahaar khilone apne hai. Aur Agar Pita nahin toh KuchBhi Nahin Hai," was the feeling felt then.

At the age of 13 years, he became a guru. From at theage of 14 years, he started working at Sangeet BharatVidyalaya in Delhi for a salary of Rs 150 per month. Atthis point of time, some people thought the boy hadbecome money minded, but Birju took it as achallenge.

Later, realising that he would notget a chance to do newcompositions if he continueswith Sangeet Bharat Vidyalaya,Birju moved to Bharatiya KalaMandir with a self-satisfactionthat now he could become adirector. At the institute, he madegreat dance ballets.

Initially, Birju Maharaj used tocommute in city buses (routebus no 5, 9 and 10). Having feltthat most of his time is beingwasted in commuting, he wentto the market near Jama Masjidin Delhi and inquired about the'Robin Hood' labeled bicycle,which is believed would be thefastest driven bicycle. Finally, hepurchased one for him and made his own mode oftransport for commuting. He peddled his bicycle fortwo years.

Birju Maharaj has made many compositions, mostlyon all historic stories in Hindi, Urdu and others. Healso used the lyrics and musical compositions(Kirtans) of Tyagaraja, Rabindranath Tagore, Jaydevand other works by prolific personalities. The choicesof topics were from common things around us andthe source was Shaastra, rather it is the gateway orShaastra Gate. On the guidelines of one of thepopular poems by eminent poet Makhan LalChaturvedi's "Push ki Abhilash", the octogenariandeveloped items like 'Loha' and 'Samachar Darpan'. InLoha, iron is the raw material that gets molded into

different shapes for different utilities by differentpeople, including utilities used by anti-social elementsand tried to convey a message that if asked or givena chance, the iron would definitely express its wish tobe a temple bell. He also composed many dancedramas 'Gobhardhan Leela', 'Maakhan Chori', Maalti-Madhav', 'Kumar Sambhav', Phag Bahar' etc. Amongthe Nava-Rasas, he feels Shringaar Ras is the bestone in performing arts.

As a matured artist, he understands the mental stateof the audience. He knows that after a day-long hecticschedule, people would just want to relax andrejuvenate themselves. One of the specialities of Birju

Maharaj was the usage of threesounds 'Dha Thee Dha' (taal orlaya) portraying the entire life of ahuman being - childhood, youthand old age. Such experiment notonly tasted proven success andbecame a point of inspiration forother artists in various fields, butalso made him a trendsetter. "Adancer who has an adequateknowledge of singing and playingmusical instruments woulddefinitely enrich his art," opinedBirju Maharaj adding, "meditationand yoga are also important for adancer. Kathak dance formespecially needs a lot of breathcontrol, strength and stamina."

Documentation

Pandit Birju Maharaj's teachings starting from theDoordarshan like 'Ghungroo Pooja', have beendocumented in video format consisting of threevolumes and the cultural secretary, Union ministry ofculture, inaugurated the same recently.

With a dream to train the students in the field of Kathakand other associated disciplines like vocal andinstrumental music, yoga, dramatics, stagecraft, theKathak maestro had started 'Kalashram'. Theclassrooms, practice halls and amphitheatre ofKalashram reflect a shade of rural setup in the urbanlifestyle. The natural atmosphere inside the ashrambrings people close to the rich heritage of the country.

P 18 | JULY 2017

Maharaj and Saswati Sen MughalMaharaj and Saswati Sen MughalMaharaj and Saswati Sen MughalMaharaj and Saswati Sen MughalMaharaj and Saswati Sen Mughal

The objective of the institute is to produce highlytalented students who would not only proveworthy of the training they receive but also live asmodest, humble and disciplined people.

But to complete his dreams, the octogenarian, inanticipation of support from the government,wishes to build a Kathak museum at his nativeplace and preserve all the belongings of hisancestors. "This is for the purpose ofdocumentation and reference of the futuregenerations," said Birju Maharaj.

Pt. Birju Maharaj has directed, composed musicand sung for two classical dance sequences inthe film 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi' (The Chess Players).He directed and composed a music piece for thefilm 'Dil To Paagal Hai', as a jugalbandi. MadhuriDixit performed the dance on this piece in Kathakstyle with a contemporary touch. In the film'Gadar', he choreographed a group dance basedon the song 'Aan Milo Sajana'. He was also themale lead singer for the song 'Kahe Chhed Mohe'in the film Devdas. This dance represented a trueportrayal of bhaav as performed by Madhuri Dixitin the classical style. He also choreographedKathak dance sequences in the films 'DedhIshqiya' 'Umrao Jaan' and 'Bajirao Mastani'directed by Sanjay Leela Bansali. Needless tosay, he had left no field of performing artsuntouched.

The octogenarian is not only a leading exponent but alsoa torchbearer of the Kalka-Bindadin Gharana ofLucknow.

Awards and Achievements:

Pandit Birju Maharaj is a recipient of several honours andawards which include Padma Vibhushan in 1986, SangeetNatak Akademi Award, Soviet Land Nehru Award, theKalidas Samman and Bharat Muni Samman. Apart fromthis, he has received Lata Mangeshkar Puraskaar in 2002,National Film Award for best choreography forVishwaroopam (2012), Filmfare award for bestchoreography in Bajirao Mastani (2016).

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Pandit Birju Maharaj

Pics: Paul Spurgeon NicodemusPaul Spurgeon NicodemusPaul Spurgeon NicodemusPaul Spurgeon NicodemusPaul Spurgeon Nicodemus

BBBBBirju irju irju irju irju MMMMMaharaj and aharaj and aharaj and aharaj and aharaj and MMMMMadhuri adhuri adhuri adhuri adhuri DDDDDixitixitixitixitixit

an elephant's memory. My first interaction with him

was when he came to give away the winner's trophy

(Takdeer ki Topi) on my hit dance reality show 'Dance

India Dance' on which I was the jury along with

director Farah Khan. And the other time was when I

went to Delhi and visited him at his dance class, where

he introduced me to his super talented family.

I still recollect, during the shooting of the dance show,

Maharaj Ji was sitting beside me and giving takes

after takes for long hours without any starry tantrums.

Once slowly he whispered in my ears 'Can I get

something to eat, I am diabetic and I think my sugar is

getting low.' That is the time hell broke loose on the

set and almost everyone came forward to offer him

variety chocolates, candies, sweets, mithais and

more. The humble person that he is, said, 'Sandip

give me 2 pieces of your glucose biscuit that is all I

need.' This is how I will always remember the maestro,

extremely humble, soft-spoken and down to earth.

Thinking of the memorable movements we had spent

together, I called him to wish him for his birthday and

to talk to him in general. Here are a few things that we

spoke:

P 20 | JULY 2017

KING OF KATHAKTURNS A YEAR OLDER

Text: Sandip Soparrkar Sandip Soparrkar Sandip Soparrkar Sandip Soparrkar Sandip Soparrkar is awell-known ballroom dancer anda Bollywood choreographerwho has been honoured withNational Achievement andNational Excellence Award by

the Government of India. He can

be contacted on

sandipsoparrkar06@gmail.com

Just a few months back almost the entire dance

community was celebrating the birthday of the

legendary Kathak Maestro Padma Vibhushan

Birju Maharaj. Especially Kathak lovers were all

making frantic calls, sending emails and gifts to wish

their favourite Kathak dancer and Guru all the best on

his 79th birthday.

He is a living legend, but humility could well be Pandit

Birju Maharaj's middle name. I have met Maharaj Ji

only on two occasions but, I must admit that he has

How did you spend yourbirthday?

I was in Lucknow at my ancestral place, where

people had organised a heartwarming show for me,

where students performed on my compositions. I

felt completely overwhelmed, what better way can it

be that everyone was celebrating my birthday

dancing.

What did you do in Lucknow?

Our house has been turned into a sort of museum. I

took out time and saw all my clothes of my

childhood. I also saw Angarkhas and other outfits of

my Guru's and family members. 'Some of my

clothes are there but I do not fit into them anymore' he

said and laughed like a young boy.

The best gift you received thisbirthday?Some of my close friends came home to meet me.

Shekhar Sen, chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi,

Pandit Rajan Sajan Misra, came and we all sang, it

was like a Mehfil. Everyone danced and sang non-

stop, with students dancing, friends singing what

more can I ask for. That is the best gift ever I feel.

Let us talk about Bollywood,who is your favourite dancer?Madhuri Dixit is indeed my favourite, it is a pleasure to

work with her. She has attended my workshops too.

She has no ego hassles and even after a dance

sequence is okayed, she asks for suggestions. I get

many offers to choreograph for films but turn most of

them down. I taught Kamal Haasan a few Kathak

steps for his film Vishwaroopam. He is a very eager

learner and I enjoyed teaching him.

Maine Deepika Padukone ko Bhajirao Mastani mein

Teek Tak nachwa diya (I made Deepika dance ok in

Bajirao Mastani) and got filmfare award for it too, I am

happy.

How would you rate today'sactresses?Just the other day, I was watching Katrina Kaif on

television. Uss ko naachna nahi, hilna bolte hai (it is

not called dancing, it is called shaking). But it is not

her fault at all. What is given to her she does that with

sincerity, I can't really blame her for the dance and the

moves. There was a time when Waheeda Rehman,

Vyjayanthimala, Hema Malini and Meena Kumari

danced, that was mesmerising. I liked Helen too, she

never looked vulgar while doing all those cabaret

songs. Before I choreograph a song I ask the

director, 'heroine kapde pehnegi na?' (Will the

heroine wear clothes?), this is because I can't

imagine a song choreographed by me being

presented in a vulgar way.

P 21 | JULY 2017

Pandit Birju Maharaj

Renu Sharma, Vijayshree ChowdharyRenu Sharma, Vijayshree ChowdharyRenu Sharma, Vijayshree ChowdharyRenu Sharma, Vijayshree ChowdharyRenu Sharma, Vijayshree Chowdhary, Saswati, Saswati, Saswati, Saswati, Saswati

Sen, Birju MaharajSen, Birju MaharajSen, Birju MaharajSen, Birju MaharajSen, Birju Maharaj and and and and and Sandip SorparkarSandip SorparkarSandip SorparkarSandip SorparkarSandip Sorparkar

Your advice tofilmmakers of anew generation?

All I can request today's

directors is that, please go

ahead and put commercially

successful songs with exciting

moves in the film, put all the

item songs and lovemaking

song but, please put one song

promoting Bharatiya Sanskriti

and Sabyahta (Indian culture

and tradition) even if the song is

of a short duration it should be

fine, but do promote our roots.

After my talk with Maharaji, I

spoke to his senior-most

disciple, the very graceful and elegant Saswati Sen Ji

or Saswati didi like she is popularly called by all

dancers. I asked her about how she felt about her

Guru turning a year older, to which she replied right

from her heart. 'Till date, I have never come across a

person who so is a maestro, a real genius of art in a

true sense. Maharaj Ji is a dancer, singer, composer,

poet, writer, musician, painter, percussionist and

above all an inspiration to the millions world over. He

has touched my life and made me who I am today,

each time I am with him, either dancing or just being

around when he is creating a new composition, I

thank the Lord for truly blessing me with a guru and a

mentor like him. I wish him a life filled with art, may he

always keep blessing us with his presence and never

ending knowledge.'

I happened to mention about my talk with Pt. Birju

Maharaj and Saswati Ji to one of Maharaj ji's

foremost students. My dearest friend, the gorgeous

Vijayshree Choudhary, who is also the Hirkani

Awardee and has learnt Kathak under the guidance of

Maharaj Ji for many years. Talking to her made me

realise the love, his students have for him is

everlasting. She told me details of how he would teach

them, and how all the students were in awe of him and

his dance style. Vijayshree Ji too

wished him for his birthday in a

true Shishya (disciple) manner.

She said, 'With the deepest

respect, I wish my guru a very

happy birthday, Maharaj Ji has

been a resounding inspiration in

my life, he not only taught me the

intricacies and nuances of dance

but also shared a deep

understanding of the essence of

life. He shared with me the

wisdom of how dance influences

human life, our emotions, our

decisions, our energies, how one

can establish a connection with

nature in order to learn its divine

lessons and how nature ultimately

teaches us everything, you need to absorb about

dance and life. All that I know about Kathak and the

importance of dance in our lives has come through

him. His dedication to the preservation and growth of

this classical art form is an inspiration to one and all.

With deepest gratitude and respect, Charan Sparsh (I

touch your feet) is all I can say.'

Every dancer I spoke to was brimming with joy

congratulating the legend and wishing him a life filled

with dance, happiness, and good health. The love that

the dance community has for Maharaj Ji is rare to see,

he is one fine gentleman who is loved by one and all.

I am trained in ballroom and Latin American dances,

but I remember one thing he told me. He said 'Sandip,

dancer Indian style ka ho ya international western ka,

a dancer is a dancer. Why differentiate between them?

A dancer means, one who is dedicated, who offers

his life to God (dance), that's a complete dancer.'

Today with my article I would like to wish the King of

Kathak, an abundance of Love and a journey filled

with dance and music, may he spread the joy of his

art in the life of each and every artiste.

P 22 | JULY 2017

A Short Memoirof Pandit BirjuMaharaj

Text: Natalia Hildner,American student of Pt BirjuMaharaj

It is in the white light of truth and red light of emotion

that I write about one of the legendary performing

artists. My lessons as a shishya have surmounted to

a realisation that truth remains meaningless without

emotion and emotion is in vain if it is not for the sake

of truth. Thus, if I had to explain what Maharaj ji

represents in one phrase, it would be with something I

heard say in a moment of emotion once, 'Khudrat-ki-

Meherbaani' or a gift of nature.

As the wonder of nature lies in its power to infinitely

create and recreate itself, Maharaj Ji has been

constantly composing landscapes of rhythm,

movement, song, and poetry. As nature can only be

complete onto itself, likewise, his approach to art

expresses an internal aesthetic logic connecting

culture, spirituality and humanity. This is especially

needed in a world that is becoming increasingly

mechanised, commercial, impersonal and ready-

made. On the contrary, Maharaj Ji makes an effort to

connect his work to those around him. Born at the

perfect time in Indian history, at the perfect place in the

artistic heart of Lucknow and with the several personal

qualities to imbibe such a family legacy, Pt Birju

Maharaj Ji has done much to advance the art form of

Kathak. I have often thought that even if colonialism

took the Kohinoor away from India, no one would

ever be able to take away India's true cultural richness

which is embodied by such artists as Maharaj Ji.

Therefore, as a student, I can say that from the first

footwork I ever witnessed him dance, to the first ti-hai

I ever learned at his Kalashram Academy, to the first

words of Hindi I ever spoke to him, to the first smiles I

shared with his grandchildren, to the first paran or

bhav he encouraged me to perform, to the first meal

he had in my home, to the last time I bowed to offer

him a Pranaam - today and always, this person will

live as a symbol in his fans' and his students'

reflections as a constant call to duty: to honour the

legacy we have inherited. Be this art or tradition, if

called by any other name, remains our way of sharing

and understanding that which matters most in life.

P 23 | JULY 2017

Pandit Birju Maharaj

Pt. Birju Maharaj and NataliaPt. Birju Maharaj and NataliaPt. Birju Maharaj and NataliaPt. Birju Maharaj and NataliaPt. Birju Maharaj and Natalia

P 24 | JULY 2017

Sun in theSolar SystemText: Moli Siddharth Das,Kathak Exponent, Mumbai

Maharaj to me is like the sun in the solar system - life sustaining and empowering. I

have had other famous gurus guiding me in the world of Kathak, but Maharaj's

thought process, the way he sees the world of rhythm, melody and abhinaya is

what attracts me to him. The simplicity and sheer brilliance with which he creates

new compositions of tihais and tukdas and then explains them to the newer

generation of today is a joy to watch. His concept of amalgamating Kathak with

things in our day-to-day life has carved a new path in the hearts of art lovers.

A GreatTeacherText: Kiran Bhargava,Maharaj's senior student and acclaimed actress in Indian Television

Maharaj is a great dancer, singer, musician, poet, painter and what not? But above

all, I feel he is a great teacher. No teacher could have had such passion and being

a great man who earned a lot of pride for our country he is so down to earth that

he does not even know what he is - he is the rarest jewel.

A Story TellerPar ExcellenceText: Paullumi Mukheerjee, a student of Ramadevi Lacchu Maharaj

Birju Maharaj - two words: Simplicity and humility both on and off stage. Beyond

the technique, the precision, the detailing, the choreography, the myriad of lights,

sounds, props and stage - beyond all of this and more the ability to tell stories -

pithy, varied and laced with humour, with a flick of the wrist, a Nazar and a tilt of the

neck - he is a storyteller par excellence - the distillation of the nuanced characters

as they come alive on stage. He is a 'sevak' of the masses. He regales with every

interaction, reenergises and reaffirms our love for Kathak.

P 25 | JULY 2017

Pandit Birju Maharaj

P 26 | JULY 2017

P 27 | JULY 2017

“In this world, there are many types of pioneers and

great workers but there are a few whom one might

call real messengers with a divine purpose to

accomplish on earth. To me, he was such a one. He

was a torch bearer who showed the path of true

Indian Life.”- Mulk Raj Anand

Chosen are those artists who can dive unfathomable

into one and all forms of art. Guru Rabindranath

Tagore was the chosen one. This article tries to get an

insight into this Great Banyan Tree called “Guru

Rabindranath”, from the roots to spreading up into

branches and giving shelter to many art forms now

and for centuries to come.

Early Life:‘Jivansmriti’ and ‘My

Boyhood Days’ are the

two autobiographies for

Gurudev throwing light on

his early days and the

aspects that contributed to

this towering personality.

On May 7, 1861, Tagore

was born in a family which was one of the most gifted

in Bengal, making significant contributions in the

realms of religious thought, philosophy, literature,

music and painting. Being the son of a wealthy

landlord, he was brought up in the lap of luxury, but

Rabindranath never lost his touch with humanity. He

remained indifferent to his wealth, leading a life that

P 28 | JULY 2017

The GreatBanyan Tree

of Indian Artforms:Guru

RabindranathTagore

Text:Rajashree Oak is an

emerging name in thefield of classical dance,

not only as a Kathakexponent but also as an

avid researcher andblogger in dance. She is

the disciple of DrManjiri Deo and writes

on various aspects ofdance through various

platforms.email: raajashree@gmail.com

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Devi with their first child Bela, 1886Devi with their first child Bela, 1886Devi with their first child Bela, 1886Devi with their first child Bela, 1886Devi with their first child Bela, 1886

was austere, controlled and governed by a stern

sense of duty. He was well versed in the Sanskrit

classics, in Bengali and English literature, and in

continental European literature, mainly through English

translations. However, he knew French, as well as

German. Because Debendranath wanted his son to

become a barrister, Tagore enrolled at a public school

in Brighton, East Sussex, England in 1878 He stayed

for several months there, however, returned to India

degree-less as well as restless with the resolution to

reconcile European novelty with Indian tradition. This

learning experience abroad made him universal in his

ways and understanding while remaining an Indian.

Tagore used to say that his sensibilities were shaped

by ‘three revolutionary movements’, movements by

Ram Mohan Roy that opened up the mind to new

ideas, the one by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee who

aroused the literature from her age-long sleep and the

National spirit itself.

Gurudev: The Torchbearer ofBengal RenaissanceThere is hardly any genre of literature left untouched

by Gurudev, be it poetry, short story, novel or drama.

Even in poetry, he has enriched all types including

couplets, stanzas, short poems and last but not the

least, lyric poems. He has succeeded in every phase

of literature he has touched. His essays are

illuminating, his sarcasm biting, his satires piercing. He

used Bengali, not the archaic one of the elites but the

colloquial language.

He got to know the villagers when he was assigned

the task of supervising the estate of his family; he

considers it as his turning point of life. He learnt a lot

about their lives and their pain which was incarnated in

the form of his several short stories, the stories that

have hue and fragrance of Bengal soil. His famous

short stories are Kabuliwala, Kshidhita Pashan, Atithi.

Valmiki Pratibha, Chandalika, Dak Ghar and many

other dramas were penned by him that depicted the

paradox of freedom and necessity. He touched every

genre with modernity. His novel Chokher Bali stands

on the ground of reality breaking the conventions of

Novel romance.

P 29 | JULY 2017

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

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He brought such an era of modernism in literature that

the next new generation of writers looked upon

themselves as ‘Post-Tagore’ writers. Tagore

experimented for the liberation of poetry from metrical

discipline, but he faced a good deal of criticism for

having made it easy for all. Geetanjali, his renowned

collection of poems and its translation in English by

himself, gave him an international fame and

furthermore won the Nobel Prize in 1913. He was the

first non-European to get this reward.

Gurudev used to say, “I have given to the world of

literature what I thought was worthwhile without trying

to supply what is in demand.”

Rabindranath is also the only author who has

authored the national anthems of two countries, India

and Bangladesh.

Rabindra SangeetRabindranath was a prolific composer and has

composed more than 2,000 songs. His songs are

known as Rabindra Sangeet. These songs merge

fluidly in his other genres like novels or plays.

Rabindra Sangeet is influenced by Thumri style and

gives much emphasis on emotions. The lyrics of his

songs are profound, while the tunes to which he set

them are soulful. His music is an interesting blend of

Indian and Western traditions.

Being the lyricist and musician both, his Rabindra

Sangeet embodies a heart-stirring fusion of his

musicianship and poetic genius. He endeavours to

blend some known ragas to create unforeseen

shades of melodies. One such blend of Rag Todi and

Bharavi is seen in his song ‘Rajani-r Shesh Tara’.

Apart from traditional ragas, he aesthetically mingled

the ragas of Indian classical music, Baul tunes,

keertans and folk music to create his unique version

called Rabindra Sangeet.

Painting andSculptureHe took to painting late in

life and yet achieved

accolade in this new form

of art. Towards the end of

the 20th century, he

revealed himself as a

painter. He said: “My

pictures are my

versification in lines.”

Tagore and Dance: RabindraNritya Natya“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time. Like

dew on the tip of a leaf”. -Gurudev Rabindranath

Rabindra Nritya Natya is the term given to the three

dance-dramas composed by him: Chitrangada,

Chandalika and Shyama. The principal characteristic

of these works is that the story is told entirely through

dance and song. Other Nritya Natyas composed by

him include Kalmrigaya, Valmiki Pratibha, Prakritir

Protosodh, Mayar Khela, Tasher Desh, Biday

Abhshap. Eventually, he went on to create a dance

form which would suit his nritya natyas. He used

various dance styles to suit the subject matter and the

characters. This dance style which was a blend of

leading classical styles is today known as Rabindra

Nritya. The dance forms used by him have mainly

adapted versions of Bharatanatyam, Manipuri and

Kathakali and sometimes are also mixed with the folk-

dance elements. Rabindranath had seen Manipuri

dances even as early as in 1919 and became a great

admirer of them. He used the Manipuri style as the

basis for his dance plays. Rabindranath Tagore’s

invention of an entirely new dance style liberated

dance from the formulaic choreography and

narratives of classical Indian dance.

For him, life itself was a work of art. He used to say:

“Art illumines daily life and when it is divorced from life,

it is like a soulless shell.” He advocated naturalistic

rather than stylised expression, with the only purpose

of creating an aesthetic experience of human

emotions.

P 30 | JULY 2017

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Thus, he has used a unique blend of sophistication

and exquisiteness of classical dance styles as well as

the spontaneity of folk dance styles efficiently in his

dance-dramas. In three dance-dramas we find two

distinct classifications of characters – aristocratic and

the ordinary. These, in turn, were portrayed through

the classical and the folk, respectively. For example,

the characters of Arjuna, Chitrangada, Madana,

Vajrasena, Shyama, Prahari, Uttiya and the

companions are rendered in classical styles, whereas

the foresters and village folk perform in folk styles. In

Chandalika the characters of Prakriti, mother and

Ananda use sophisticated and stylised Natya while the

others resort to lokanritya or folk dances which too

are presented with a lot of variety. Even he has used

dance with weapons prevalent in northeast regions.

This style, Rabindra Nritya, can be considered as the

first ‘modern dance’ of India. However, it did not gain

acceptance in Indian classical dance field till late.

Rabindra Nritya is further performed in “Bhanusingher

Padavali” which is one of earliest poetry collections of

Gurudev. This Padavali portrays the journey of love,

separation and union of Krishna and Radha.

Shantiniketan:Shantiniketan is a small village in West Bengal which

was once owned by Debendranath Tagore (Father of

Gurudev) who found an ashram there with the same

name.

Here Rabindranath Tagore started Patha Bhavana, the

school of his ideals, whose central idea was ‘learning

in the lap of nature’ and ‘learning in the holistic cultural

environment’. Rabindranath had revolutionary

education concepts for the students embittered by

the conventional mechanical system of education. The

school further developed into Vishva Bharati. Here,

the institution was modelled on the ancient forest

hermitages and it retained the Gurukul system but at

the same time blended the education ideas of west

and east. Students receive holistic education in the

environment of Indian art and culture.

P 31 | JULY 2017

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

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Shantiniketan was in many ways a pioneering step in

education and rural reconstruction. Shantiniketan is

really the modern incarnation of the ancient

Tapobhumi.

Socio-Political life of Gurudev:Gurudev Rabindranath’s art life found its meaning and

fulfilment in his efforts of social reforms in the later

part of his life. He was not only an artist but also a

thinker who impacted social and political thought

trends in his time.

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In the first two decades of the twentieth century,

Tagore travelled to thirty odd countries, where he

spoke on such themes as ‘East and West’ and the

idea of an international university. The independence

movement was also a major event that influenced his

work and he was well associated with the movement

as well as Indian National Congress. His song

‘Naganandini abhinaya’, that was sung at the twenty-

sixth session of the Congress in Kolkata (1911) and

was later to become the national anthem of India. In

1919, the Jallianwala massacre took place at Amritsar,

and Rabindranath wrote a historic letter on May 30 to

the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, in which he renounced

his knighthood in protest against the inhuman cruelty

of the British Government to the people of Punjab.

Tagore and Gandhi:Gurudev and Gandhiji, the two stalwarts of Indian

socio-political scenario had a special bonding in spite

of their ideological differences.

In March of 1915, Rabindranath met Gandhi for the

first time at Shantiniketan. It was the beginning of a

friendship based on more than mutual admiration.

Both had differences on many political, social and

economic issues. Gandhiji pressed on boycotting the

English educational institutions in India, however,

Gurudev was keen to apply western ideas into Indian

education system. Nonetheless, they cordially

accepted their differences. Gandhiji used to call

Tagore ‘the great sentinel’, while Tagore addressed

him as ‘Mahatma’.

One of his last versestranslated by himselfsums up his concludingdays:“The bell tolls the last hour at Your

porch,

And my heart responds to the creaking

of the opening gates of farewell.

In this deepening gloom of twilight,

I will gather what flickering flames

remain to light my consciousness…”

Striving for humanity till his last breath, Gurudev

breathed his last on August 7, 1941.

“I slept and dreamt that life was a joy

I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and

behold, service was joy”

Gurudev literally lived by his words. As a great

Banyan tree, he encompassed all the art forms,

enriching them with his modern thought and is still

giving shelter to all the artists in search of a new wave

in their art.

Gurudev’s famous verse from Gitanjali is worth

quoting here, to sum up. Although penned in the

context of Independence of our country, today it

applies aptly to the situation of all the Indian classical

dance forms:

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into

fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards

perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my

country awake”

P 32 | JULY 2017

Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath TMahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath TMahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath TMahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath TMahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagoreagoreagoreagoreagore

Tagore’s Conceptof Dance –

Rabindra NrityaText:

Sruti BandopadhayPics Courtesy: Sangit

Bhavana, Visva Bharati,Santiniketan

Pics : Naveen Pandit

Sruti Bandopadhayprofessor in Manipuri Dance,

Sangit Bhavan, Visva Bharati,Santiniketan. She was trained

under popular personalities likeGuru Bipin Singh, Kalavati

Devi, Darshana Jhaveri, OjhaBabu Singh, Ojha Gourakisor

Sharma, Prof. Jiten Singh andhas performed in various

national and internationalfestivals for the last 30 years.

She is a recognised artist ofSangeet Natak Akademi,

Indian Council for CulturalRelations, Eastern Zonal

Cultural Center and othercultural institutions in India.

Tagore’s idea of ‘nationalism transcending the geographical

boundaries’ and his philosophy of emancipation of soul is professed

in his concept of dance, now recognised as Rabindranritya in line with

Rabindrasangeet. Tagore as a dramatist discarded the colonial stage

and its auxiliary; instead, he embraced nature as his space for

creativity in Santiniketan. His introduction of yearlong festivals in

Santiniketan pivoted around consciousness of humanity and

environment, where poetry, songs and dances had vital roles to play.

Delving deep into the sphere of Rabindranritya, we can analyse the

two aspects in terms of national identity - the content and the form -

both fitting in perfectly with contemporary global issues visualised

through the universal language of the movement art.

Several themes surfaced with addressing the most current problems

like communal riots in Natir Puja (1926), equality of rights in

Shishutirtha (1931), value of the inner beauty and humanity in

Shapmochan (1931), liberation of soul from the bondage of

mechanism in Tasher Desh (1932), dedicated to the great nation

leader, Subhas Chandra Bose, equality of women in Chitrangada

(1933), community and cast concern in Chandalika (1934) and not to

forget to hail the cause of environment in his nature songs.

Like Shakespeare and Goethe in the West, Tagore’s works have

become an inheritance befitting the contemporary for ages together.

Drama-directors, film directors, choreographers are attracted to give

visual rendition to his narratives that appeal equally in all eras.

While putting these themes for dance presentation, Tagore borrowed

freely from the prevailing dance forms in India, both traditional and folk.

Manipuri dance, with its expression of bhakti and subdued eloquence,

attracted the poet for its subtlety, humility and dedication to the almighty

through an aesthetic endeavour. He introduced this dance in Visva

Bharati. The history of dance practice in Visva Bharati was initiated and

thereafter we find dances like Garba, Mandira, Baul, Raibenshe,

Kathakali, Bharatnatyam, Mohiniattam, flowing in as tributaries in the

mainstream of dance practice of Santiniketan. In many of his

assimilation, movements from other countries were blended in like

Kandi from Sri Lanka, Judo from Japan, Ballet from Russia, Modern

dance from Germany and much more, the uniting base being initially his

songs and later his dance dramas. The primary objective was to give

visualisation to his lyrics.

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Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

The ancient text on dramaturgy in our country, the

Natyashastra had laid down the principles of Natya

(drama) of national tradition. The four kinds of

abhinaya — angika, vacika, aharya, satvika — were

explored in Shantiniketan from a fresh viewpoint.

Tagore’s concepts of dance and drama presentations

trail this model as an alternative modernity to the then

prevalent colonial perception.

Kolkata, Bulbul Choudhury, Lubna Marium and

countless artists in Bangladesh and finally all the

Bengali settlements in the different parts of the world

practice this dance as a cultural heritage.

The history of the experiments and building up of the

productions underline the methodology of his dance

idea strongly backed by his aesthetic principles — the

product demonstrating a universal perception that

has captivated the audience for years. The dance

experiments celebrating his 150th birth anniversary,

even more, depict its remarkable recognition. With the

introduction of Honours in Rabindranritya at the

undergraduate level as also post graduation on

Rabindranritya at Sangit Bhavana, Visva Bharati, his

dance concept is getting the desired academic

recognition. This becomes another identity of

Tagore’s ideology of inclusiveness in all aspect — the

key to unity in diversity is the basis of his concept of

dance, especially the uniting of the west and the east

— an idea contrary to the concept of “east is east and

west is west” by author Rudyard Kipling.

Concluding this brief deliberation, I would argue that

the elements of Tagore’s dance idiom contributed to

the creation of a transnational and transcultural identity

of a universal dance form yet spontaneously put into

lineage a nationalist tradition of dance in India.

P 34 | JULY 2017

Interestingly Rabindranritya gradually crystallised, a

distinct pedagogy developed with its roots in Visva

Bharati spreading its branches out from national to

global arena. Personalities like Shantidev Ghosh, Kelu

Nair, Haridas Nair, Madhav Mukhopadhyay, K

Jitendra Singh in Santiniketan, Balakrishna Menon, Asit

Chatterjee, Sadhan Guha, Santi Bose, Alokananda

Roy, Purnima Ghosh and their successor dancers in

GurudevRabindranath

Tagore andManipur Dance

Text: Padma ShriAwardee Darshana

Jhaveri, ManipuriExponent, Mumbai

An aesthetic saint, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, was impressed

by the grace and lyricism of Manipuri dance when he first witnessed

Manipuri Rasleela in Tripura in 1920. Since then he would invite

Gurus of Manipuri dance to Shantiniketan to teach and utilise

Manipuri in his dance dramas for his female characters.

Due to Gurudev, all the art forms were brought to a higher pedestal

during the ’40s when Manipuri Guru Bipin Singh and we four Jhaveri

sisters started presenting dance dramas in Bombay on an amateur

level. Gujarati boys and girls from Bombay used to visit

Shantiniketan to learn Manipuri and Kathakali dance styles and after

coming to Bombay they would participate in dance dramas that we

used to present.

In 1961, during the centenary year of Gurudev, we as Manipuri

dancers presented his full-length Bhanusingher Padavali which has

lyrics inspired by Vaishnav Padavalis. He had written this at the age

of sixteen under the pen name of Bhanu Singh, based on the divine

love of Lord Krishna and Radha, very suitable to Manipuri dance

style. Guru Bipin Singh composed in pure Manipuri with the then

Vaitalik group of singers in Bombay.

Later, during the ’70s, we presented his ‘Chitrangada’, which has a

story of Princess of Manipur, purely in Manipuri dance style in

Kolkata. Both these dance dramas have beautiful lyrics and tunes

which we never get tired of singing, listening or performing. They

are beauty with permanent value. Kolkata Doordarshan has

recorded these and occasionally telecasts them.

Gurudev has influenced Jhaveri family also. My sister late Ranjana

Jhaveri and her husband Late Bhaskar Lakhani had a keen interest

in Tagore’s artistic endeavours like paintings, writings, poems,

music. They used to arrange an annual programme of Rabindra

Sangeet in the month of August taking different themes each time in

collaboration with ‘Nabashruti’ of Dr Nalini Madgavkar in Bombay

since 2005 for 10 years. They wanted to popularise Gurudev’s great

works among non-Bengali people by printing the songs with

translations in Hindi along with detailed commentary in Hindi during

the programme.

I feel extremely fortunate to have been very much part of these

programmes. I still cherish the pleasant memories of my visits to

Shantiniketan, Jorasankho and my association with Gurudev’s

works.

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Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

BreakingBarriers:

A Study ofTagore’s

Dance DramasText:

Tapati Chowdurie,Cultural Critic,

Kolkata

Rabindranath Tagore once said, “In art, one reveals himself and not

his objects”. Studying his plays helps us understand the beauty and

intellect of the man who wrote these words.

Tagore’s plays cover a whole gamut of human thought and

experience. To write about all his plays would be a near impossibility

and time-consuming. I, therefore, seize the opportunity of writing

about a few representative plays and what the poet tried to convey

through them.

When he was hardly twenty he penned the drama “Valmiki Pratibha”

or ‘The Genius of Valmiki’ about the poet Valmiki who penned the

great epic Ramayana. The story is about the bandit who reformed

and is blessed by the Goddess of learning-Saraswati. At this early

stage of his life, he explored dramatic styles and emotions as well as

experimented with various genres of music.

Among the finest Tagorean dramas are Visarjan, Chitra, The Lost

Jewels, Post Office, Dak Ghar, Naukadubi, Rakta Karabi and the King

of the Dark Chambers.

Known for his aesthetic sense, he adopted the story of Chitrangada

from the Mahabharata and penned a play of eternal value. In the play,

he has defined Chitra’s strong and powerful personality and therein

lays the greatness of the playwright. Chitra’s character development

is as appealing and relevant today as it was when penned. Chitra-the

daughter of the Manipur king Chitravahana, reveals her true self in the

following lines:

“I am Chitra. No goddess to be worshipped, nor yet the object of

common pity to be brushed aside like a moth with indifference. If you

deign to keep me by your side in the path of danger and daring, if

you allow me to share the great duties of your life, then you will know

my true self. If your child, whom I am nurturing in my womb, be born

a son, I shall myself teach him to be the second Arjuna and send him

to you when the time comes, and then, at last, you will truly know me.

Today I can only offer you Chitra, the daughter of a king” and to this

Arjuna says “My Life is Full”.

In his open-ended play, the “Lost Jewels” Tagore has indeed

stepped into the post-modern style of writing, which allows the

reader to interpret the story to his or her desire. When Bhushan is

asked his wife’s name, he says ‘Nitya Kali’, signifying endless time.

She is the epitome of Shakti, who possesses both the qualities of

motherliness and destructiveness.

P 36 | JULY 2017

In the play “Post Master”,

Tagore has touched a distant

chord in readers. However,

much of the Post Master

may be rationalised as that if

you live in this world pain is

inevitable. He has broken the

heart of Ratan, who

experiences pain which is

universal.

Tagore’s works stressed

path-breaking ideas with the

flow of his beautiful prose and lyrics inter-weaving the

eternal human feelings and emotions with a statement

not ever made in the past. This was completely

unknown to Bangla dramas of the past.

Tagore’s aim was to write “the play of feeling and not

of action.”

In 1890 he wrote Visarjan, based on a historical

episode that happened in the kingdom of Tripura,

during the time of Gobinda Manikya’s rule in 17th

century. The play is centred on religious orthodoxy

and progressive liberalism, with the victory of the

latter over the former.

Tagore’s learning and a fine mind led him to write

dramas that were philosophical and allegorical.

In his drama Dakghar, he described vividly the

yearnings of a child to leave the confines of his stuffy

room. The playwright subtly and surely suggested

awakening to “spiritual freedom”.

His drama Chandalika taken from a Buddhist legend

speaks vociferously against the social evil of

untouchability.

Among his most famous dramas is Raktakarabi.

Tagore drew a parallel between his king in Raktakarabi

and Ravana of Ramayana. Ravana fulfilled his desires

with the help of the powerful devas, while the king of

his Raktakarabi used modern technology to fulfil his

desire of reaching Yakshapuri to steal its wealth. The

greed of Ravana in Treta Yuga is akin to the greed of

the king in Raktakarabi of Kali Yuga, who is building a

tunnel to steal wealth and forces his subjects to mine.

Tagore felt that the problems of the past and the

present are the same. All problems are eternal by

nature. The heroine Nandini of Raktakarabi ushers in a

revolution and stops the common people from

mining and destroys subjugation.

In the play “King of the Dark Chambers” or Raja, the

relationship between Sudarshana, the Queen, and the

King is symbolic. Perhaps Tagore meant the

relationship to be a symbol of a man and the Divine. It

is, in fact, a romantic bond that gradually develops.

The King of the title is unseen by his subjects. Some

doubt his existence, while the maidservant Surangama

is loyal to him and worships him. She has no need to

see him. The subjects have no need for proof of the

King’s existence; they believe him to be real and great

because they sense his presence. The play describes

the journey of self-discovery and spiritual awakening

of Sudarshana, the queen through trials and

tribulations. The proud and immature Queen

Sudarshana takes her husband to be cruel because

she can only meet him in a room that is kept forever

dark. She desperately aches to see and know him,

and out of that yearning falls in love with another king,

whom she meets in the world outside and mistakes

him for her husband. It is only when she has been

P 37 | JULY 2017

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

humbled through a series of mistakes to complete

despair that she is able to shed her pride and

reconcile with her real husband. Only when

Sudarshana is brought down to the level of the

servant can she become the Enlightened Queen. In an

expression of perfect paradox, it is through her

decision to serve her husband, that she becomes

powerful and beautiful. According to some

perspectives, a woman’s granted submission to

serve her husband empowers him to step into the

light with her, serve her, and lead himself, his family,

work, and community with wisdom, strength and

magnanimity. She says, “Your love lives in me—you

are mirrored in that love and you see your face

reflected in me: nothing of this is mine, it is all yours, O

Lord!” The king then opens the doors of his dark

room and says, “The game is finished here! Come,

with me now, come into the light!”

Additionally, the play reveals a subtle, powerful insight

between the act of seeing and not seeing. Perhaps the

invisible and unseen qualities of the King are a

powerful manifestation of his divinity.

The King says, he has witnessed darkness of the

infinite heavens, whirled into life and being by the

power of his love and has drawn the light of myriad

stars into itself, and incarnated itself in a form of flesh

and blood.

Sudarshana wonders if she is so beautiful. Her heart

swells with gladness and pride. But she is still in

doubt. The King says her own mirror would fail to

reflect her. Her limits make her look small and

insignificant. But “if mirrored in my own mind, how

grand would you appear! In my own heart you are no

longer the daily individual which you think you are—

you are verily my second self”, said the king.

Tagore makes the reader delve into their minds to see

if that which is beyond all comparison is within us.

What should be done to feel and see is that which

arises in our mind? Should one look for someone to

mirror us or peer into ourselves with eyes wide open

and see it reflected within ourselves? Perhaps the

answer is not “either/or” but both. Those qualities,

which are “beyond divine comparison” already, exist

within us. To find and achieve that wholeness, one

must search for and recognise that which is great and

divine within ourselves and acknowledge our need for

others to mirror it back to us. One might also

conclude that in recognising our dependence on

others to mirror us, how does one understand the

enormity of power it confers upon the other individual.

P 38 | JULY 2017

Songs of TSongs of TSongs of TSongs of TSongs of Tagore -Aamaar Sakal raser dhaaraa largeagore -Aamaar Sakal raser dhaaraa largeagore -Aamaar Sakal raser dhaaraa largeagore -Aamaar Sakal raser dhaaraa largeagore -Aamaar Sakal raser dhaaraa large

RabindraSangeet

Text: ManiniMukhopadhyay,Assistant Professor,

Sangeet Bhavan, VisvaBharati

The true essence of Tagore’s song is liberation, freedom; the true

essence of Tagore’s song is happiness. This happiness does not

merely mean the happiness that we get from our day-to-day lives.

This is the happiness of fulfilment; this is the happiness that cannot be

expressed through words.

We know that Tagore had been brought up in a family where music

used to be instrumental in itself; the family that gave him the taste of

Hindustani classical music, the joy of western music and the concept

of Brahma-sangeet i.e. Brahmasomaj, though he never restricted

himself in either formal education or formal music training.

Throughout his life, he expressed his grudge against formal

stereotypical training.

Tagore was all in himself — singer, composer and the creator. He

possessed an analytical mind for both Indian as well as European

music. Apart from this if we can make ourselves aware of his thought

regarding the importance of music in the lives of human beings, our

minds can be free from narrowness and it can be modern. To him

music was not a luxury for the external life; he perceived music as a

devotee from a meditative perspective. Regarding this, he once

commented, “During childhood due to my individuality I did not learn

music, but my destiny made me taste that and quench my thirst. At

that time there was no end of music practice in our household.

Bishnu Chakrobarty was the master of music; he was deft in

Hindustani music. There can be no comparison between those who

were very much sceptic about the ragas and me, hence, in spite of

having a slight knowledge of the tunes, I could never bound myself in

its formal training.”

It is not difficult for us to understand that Tagore had a profound

knowledge of Hindustani classical music, though in his songs the

ragas are never of the prime importance, yet they are not even

ignored. It can be said through the ragas he reached such a limit

where Rabindra Sangeet achieved an independent place of its own,

glowing with its own light, a rare and unique creation that none could

do prior to him. In his creation, we do not find the richness of ragas,

the rigid structure, the singer’s freedom, the stereotype

grammatical rules; then what does it have? Tagore’s song has the

weight of words, the interplay of tunes, depth of thought and the

inseparable bonding of tune and words. Here music blends with

poetry. Tagore had stated, “The blending of music and words has

been my principle aim.”

P 39 | JULY 2017

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

Talking of music he has also said, “We have two types

of foods - one of our need and the other having no

need at all”- one is food and the other one is ‘amrita’.

Our thirst for this ‘amrita’ makes us join the divine

powers. Music is one of the many dimensions of this

‘amrita’.

Tagore’s songs have been nourished by the soil of his

own Bengal. The essential artistic sense and

realisation of the poet have made his creation unique.

Tagore’s songs have attended its greatest height

through the folk music of Bengal. During the initial

years, the poet was not exposed to the folk culture.

He first got the chance to explore the true essence of

his roots, its culture during his visit to the countryside

of East Bengal as a zamindar. He always strived for a

free human spirit rather than a blind adherence to

one’s culture and tradition. In spite of having profound

knowledge of the ragas, he did not follow them

blindly; instead broke free all its rigidity, and only he

had the right to do so.

Rabindra Sangeet has such a unique blending of

words and tune, poetry and music, a sense of

calmness and serenity in itself that its influence and

place in the Indian music cannot be overlooked.

Another marked feature of Rabindra Sangeet is that

Tagore has used the structure of Dhrupad music in his

own creation. And

in spite of this

rigid structure,

Tagore somehow

managed to make

it simple that

easily attracts the

heart of the

people. The

perfect blending

of Dhrupad and

folk tune is

another marked

feature of

Rabindra

Sangeet.

In Rabindra Sangeet, we get to see the union of the

almighty, human being and the nature for which at

times in one single song the distinctions between the

two parjay - Puja and Prakriti - gets blurred. The

offerings of God are presented through the feeling of

love. The beauty of nature also finds its own place in

Tagore’s songs. According to him, nature has invited

us repeatedly to be a part of this greater union. The

one, who fails to acknowledge this invitation, is an

incomplete individual. Tagore’s ashram, Santiniketan is

the place where this union takes place. During the time

of the establishment of this ashram, Tagore stated

clearly “In this centre of education that we have

proposed to establish, music and fine arts will be

given equally prestigious position.” He was actually

the Pathfinder. That is why after the establishment of

Visva Bharati he said that here all the world would

meet into a single nest. Influences of various forms

and cultures of different parts of the world can be

traced in his songs. Tagore’s songs always welcome

the infinite. Hence, in his words “our music is the voice

of unity - the voice of the individual but not of a corner,

rather it is universally the same.”

Rabindra Sangeet is the music of unity, the voice of

the individual.

P 40 | JULY 2017

Rabindranath TRabindranath TRabindranath TRabindranath TRabindranath Tagore with agore with agore with agore with agore with Pt. Pt. Pt. Pt. Pt. Bhim Rao ShastriBhim Rao ShastriBhim Rao ShastriBhim Rao ShastriBhim Rao Shastri

RabindraSangeet:

A Kaleidoscopeof Musical Stylesand Expressions

Text: Dr NalineeMadgavkar, Mumbai

Rabindranath Tagore – the legendary poet, novelist, storywriter,musical and dance drama writer, essayist, educationalist, recipient ofNobel Prize, philosopher and musician, wrote and composed around2,500 songs. The beauty of his songs lies in their lyrical quality, anexquisite blend of words, emotions and tunes. He was a creativegenius, whose versatility lied in any form of art. Rabindra Sangeet is aform of music by itself. It is a blend of Indian classical, Carnatic music,traditional folk tunes and western tunes. His songs are a balance ofwords, tunes, joys, and sorrows - in short – a divine combination ofpoetry, feelings and music.

His songs are divided into five broad categories - Puja or devotionalsongs, Prem or romantic songs, Prakruti or seasonal songs, Swadeshor patriotic songs and Bichitra or miscellaneous songs.

His creativity was as deep and vast as the ocean. Rabindra Sangeetevokes a kaleidoscope of musical styles and expressions. Tagorebreathed music. It was a part of his being. He took the best fromdifferent styles of music.

He composed numerous songs describing the beauty of variousseasons of nature and mind. The simplicity of songs appealed to theuniversal spirit of man. When Tagore was only 16 years, he wrote,some songs by the pen name of ‘Bhanusingh’. The deep influence ofthe Vaishnav poets is evident and is written in Brajbhasha.

Tagore composed a few new talas, not found in Hindustani classicalmusic - like ‘Jhampak’ (five matras or beats, ‘Shasthi’ (six matras orbeats), ‘Rupakada’ (eight matras or beats) and ‘Ekadashi’ (elevenmatras or beats) etc.

Rabindra Sangeet has been translated into many languages.Rabindranath visited England for the first time when he was only 17years old. After his return, he took a keen interest in western music andincorporated some of the western tunes into Rabindra Sangeet.

There is a saying in Bengali - “Gangajale Ganga Puja”, which means toworship the river Ganga with the waters of the Ganga itself. I am doingthe same.

P 41 | JULY 2017

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

The Impact ofthe Work of

RabindranathTagore

Text: JonathanHollander,

President & Artistic Director| Founder & Choreographer,

Battery Dance Company inNew York City

In 1994, I found myself sitting at the home of Dr Saibal Gupta in Kolkata

with my dancers from New York. We were on a tour with tabla player,

Badal Roy, India’s first musician to collaborate with Miles Davis and

Ornette Coleman, masters of American jazz. After dinner, Dr Gupta’s

daughter Madhulika offered to sing for us. One of my dancers burst

into tears at the beauty and purity of the music. When I inquired as to

who composed the songs, I was informed that Rabindranath Tagore

composed the lyrics and melodies. I had known of Tagore in his other

avatars — poet, novelist, playwright, educator, freedom fighter, even

painter — but never knew that he had composed thousands of songs,

more than Brahms, Schubert and the other Western classical

composers. It was then that I landed on the notion of choreographing

Songs of Tagore, a production that ended up being performed in New

York, Dallas and other American cities; in Budapest, across Poland, and

on a monumental 17-city tour of India and Sri Lanka in 1997. I never

ceased to be moved when I heard Sanghamitra and Samir Chatterjee

launch into one of the nine songs that formed the basis for my dances

on Summer, Monsoon, Love and the Spirit. It was fate that had brought

the Chatterjees to New York in 1995, just as I was ready to begin work

on the production – and fate that their passion for Tagore had caused

them to leave clothing behind and pack their suitcases full to the brim of

Rabindra Sangeet notations. Nearly 100 reviews have been written

about my Songs of Tagore but the most important response received

was from Mrinalini Sarabhai who said that Tagore’s spirit was there that

evening during our performance at Darpana in Ahmedabad.

An Icon ofBhaarateeya

SamskaarText: Naatyaachaarya

V.P.Dhananjayan,Bharatanatyam Exponent,

Chennai

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore is an icon of the country Bharat and

served as an inspiration to all Bhaarateeyas. Suppressed under the

foreign rule, he initiated the movement for the resurrection of

Bhaarateeya Samskaar (culture) and Kala (arts) which caught up with

the entire nation, inspiring like-minded people to resurrect our arts and

culture. His Viswabhaarati at Santiniketan is a monumental institution

with art integrated education. He specifically emphasised on character

moulding being the main purpose of education, and not money

making. He said, “Education without character is a body without

head.” Gurudev was, is and will be the beacon light for the cultural

ethos of Aarsha Bhaaratam for generations to come. He is like our

ancient Rishis (sages) who promulgated the Sanaathana Dharma for

the welfare of the humanity at large. His immortal creations of

literature, poems and dramas will continue to remain like Ramayana

and Mahabhaarata.

Jai Gurudev!!!

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P 43 | JULY 2017

P 44 | JULY 2017

Dance was part of her life from birth because

her mother was a dancer too. But then initially

she did not take up classical dance and

enjoyed folk dance. Her mother tried and gave up, as it

was not her intention to force her ambition on her

daughter. But then she had a tryst with destiny in early

70's when she saw Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra

teaching Odissi at Kala Vikash Kendra in Cuttack. She

immediately thought that this is something that she

wants to do in life. Jhelum Paranjape came a long way

since then and became one of

the finest exponents of Odissi in

Maharashtra. Her fervent effort

to bring dance education to

both lower and upper strata of

the society with her dance

school Smitalay and her bold

experimentations to bring

Odissi dance into the masses in

Maharashtra stand as hallmarks

of her artistic career.

Her mother loved classical

dance and studied it for a while,

but she could not continue it. So

she wanted her daughter to

learn dance. When Jhelum was

young her mother put her in

Bharatanatyam, but she did not

enjoy it. She was put in Kathak,

she did not enjoy that too. She

was part of a folk dance group in a social organisation

Kalapathak and travelled a lot performing folk dances

at various places in India. In one of the tours, while she

was in her 10th standard, she had seen Guru

Kelucharan Mahapatra teaching Odissi at Kala Vikash

Kendra in Cuttack. It was then she decided to learn

Odissi.

She got back to Mumbai and finished her schooling

and tried to look for an Odissi teacher. She finished her

graduation and then her post graduation but still, she

could not find an Odissi teacher in Mumbai. It was in

1977, sometime after her post graduation, she found

teacher Shankar Behera. He was teaching Odissi and

was very new to Mumbai. She learnt from him for a

year and a half. Looking at her expertise and ability, he

asked her to go and learn from his Guru as he felt that

he would limit her growth.

Before taking classes from teacher Behera, for a

period of 6-7 years she was on a hunt to find an Odissi

teacher. It never occurred to her

that she should go to Odisha

because she never thought that

she would make dance as a

profession. It was supposed to

be a hobby and her major

interest was Mathematics. But

things started to change once

she met teacher Behera. He

asked her to learn from Guru

Kelucharan Mohapatra and it

was in 1980 that she first met

and spoke to Guru Kelucharan.

After that, there was no

stopping. Once she started

learning Odissi from the Guru,

she found her purpose and

Mathematics became

secondary and dance primary.

She focused all her energies on

learning Odissi and started her solo career, but during

her very first big tour in North America in 1988, she

suffered from a slipped disk and had to cancel five

shows that were scheduled. By then she did not know

whether she would be able to dance again or not? She

was completely bedridden for a month.

During the period of her bed rest, she began to think if

she couldn't dance professionally what would she do?

Her doctor has suggested her to go back to

mathematics. But by them, dance had already become

P 45 | JULY 2017

Jhelum Paranjape

Jhelum with Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra

her life. Though she started teaching her friends'

children, her main focus was her solo career in dance.

After the incident, she told her herself that even if she

cannot dance she should at least teach dance as it can

be done even with a bad back. If she could dance

again that would be a welcome development and even

if she cannot she would still be

pursuing her passion. That was

when she decided to start a

school in the memory of her

friend who passed away.

Her close friend Smita Patil died

in 1986 and she had a slipped

disk in 1988. Jhelum and Smita

had been close childhood

friends and had begun to learn

Odissi together. Smita soon

shifted to films, while she

concentrated and flourished in

Odissi. When she was training

in Odissi with Shankar Behera,

Smita was an active partner. In

fact, both of them have been

friends from Class 3 as both

their parents were part of the

social organisation Rashtra

Seva Dal. Smita was her friend

and mentor and it was through

her that Jhelum was introduced

to Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.

So Smitalay was formed in

1989. Her initial idea was that it

would be a home of Smita

where her friend's memory would be cherished. It has

been 27 years and over the years Smitalay has

become Smita+Tala+Laya. It is a dance school where

everybody is always happy.

It took her six months to dance again after her slip disc

and her first role after the recovery was in Guru

Kelucharan Mohapatra's dance-ballet, Geet Govind as

Krishna. Her doctor asked her not to take painkillers as

he wanted to monitor her status and even sat in the

audience. During her rehearsals, she had pain while

holding Radha in a particular posture. Doctor Pandya

was keen to see her go back to dancing, but at the

same time, he was cautious. The show happened in

January 1990 and before that,

she did not perform for a period

of one and half years. After that

performance, she was back in

the game and regularly followed

the prescribed exercises.

"Anybody could overcome

challenges if they are

passionately in love. I am

passionately in love with dance

in general and Odissi in

particular. When any kind of

music plays, my body starts to

move," she says.

She got married in 1979; it was a

love marriage and did not

hamper her dancing career. His

parents were religious, spiritual

and traditional and Jhelum's

parents had no gods in the

house, no prayers and imbibed

socialist thinking. It was a total

transformation for her. Though

her in-laws did not understand

what she was doing, they

allowed her to be herself. "My

mother-in-law said you look

after my son, my grandchild and the house well and

you are fine with us, do what you want to do. When she

was around, I did whatever she liked and when she

was not around I did what I liked," she says. Her

husband was fond of classical music and gave her a

push. "I was lucky", she adds.

P 46 | JULY 2017

According to her, every dance form, not just Odissi,

has two roles. Firstly, it conveys our culture to the

upcoming generation and what we did over the years.

Secondly, it is to generate happiness. She strongly

believes that any kind of art - be it dance, music,

painting etc. generates happiness. It is not just the

younger generation, but even some of the older

people in the country do not know what classical music

or dance is because everywhere, irrespective of the

state that you are in, the film industry is are very strong.

Especially in Maharashtra, Bollywood is so strong that

classical arts are sidelined.

As Odissi was not the popular dance in Maharashtra,

she found it difficult to find students interested in

learning the art form initially. People told her that they

know Bharatanatyam and Kathak, but hadn't heard of

Odissi? Later, they caught up well.

"Initially I had a lot of other style dancers coming to me

to learn Odissi and I would ask them to first inform their

teacher. I have no problem if my students went to other

teachers to learn a different dance form. My students

went out to learn other dance forms and came back. At

the same time, I heard Bharatanatyam and Kathak

dancers say that they found Odissi to be difficult," she

says. Kathak dancers like standing position but were

not comfortable with the sitting position in Odissi;

Bharatanatyam dancers would go in one direction and

bend in the same direction, but in Odissi, the dancer

moves in one direction and the torso moves in a

different direction. Still, they would come and learn

Odissi from her not to perform but to gain knowledge.

It was only in the initial days that she found it

challenging, but later on, things went smooth. Now she

even has several male Odissi dancers who got trained

under her. Another interesting and commendable

achievement of Jhelum was her ability to teach Odissi

to both the upper and lower strata of the society.

Recalling her learning days, she said, "Whenever I think

of my first teacher Behera, I get Goosebumps. He is

P 47 | JULY 2017

Jhelum Paranjape

such a sweet man. Earlier in life, something happened

between Guru Kelucharan and him and they stopped

talking to each other. Yet, Master Behera asked me to

go and learn from the Guru. I did not know this at that

time." When the time for her Manchapravesh arrived,

she wanted teacher Behera to assist her on Manjira.

Though both Guru Kelucharan and teacher Behera

were initially uneasy, things eventually resolved when

Guru Kelucharan allowed Behera and even Behera who

was apprehensive agreed on the insistence of Jhelum.

"I told both of them if you want me to dance I want both

of you to come together. Otherwise I am okay just by

learning," she reveals. That was how two important

people in her life patched up. She did her

Manchapravesh in 1983.

Since 1980 until his death in 2004, she has been training

with the doyen of Odissi dance, Padma Vibhushan

awardee Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She has been

an active performer since 1983.

Jhelum was heavily criticised for trying to popularise

Odissi dance in Maharashtra. "I am still heavily criticised

for that," she says. She chose Marathi literature, the

Marathi kind of music to appeal to the audience and set

Odissi dance to it. "That way Odissi became very

popular in Maharashtra but I am still criticised by the

purists," she says. Once she did an experiment titled

Bollywood Hungama in Odissi style for a festival. In her

house, while she was growing up, music was common

irrespective of the genre - be it Indian classical, western

classical or old film songs. She had knowledge about

different kinds of music. The experiment was in two

parts; in the first part she took 40's music from Hindi

films and set pure traditional Odissi to it with Sanchari

Bhavas. The second part was all fun with songs from

Hindi films of later years. "Frankly speaking, I was torn

apart by my friends and colleagues. When I started it

initially, my husband asked me if I was crazy? He was a

lover of film music as well as classical music, but when

he saw the presentation he said he was sorry and took

back his words," she says.

During the inaugural of Smitalay, Guru Kelucharan was

the chief guest and there was a 12-minute Marathi song

showing the Rasa Krida of Radha, Krishna and Gopis.

The audience was full of Marathi people and that was

the item they could well relate to, as they could

understand what was being performed. After that the

Guru did not have a word with her and immediately got

into the workshop that was scheduled. For the next

three days, she would finish all her chores and run to

the workshop before it began and he wouldn't utter a

word to her. She loved him like anything and used to

wait for the old man to say something. By then, the

Guru's wife had already told her that she did a great

job. On the third day, she went early in the morning to

the place where he was staying and sat there while he

was busy shaving. Looking at her plight, Guru's wife

told him that the poor girl has been after him like a

Chetek bird and asked him to say something to her. "If

you want to shout at her please do it." After shaving, he

told her that initially he was a little troubled with the

P 48 | JULY 2017

music - the music was not Odissi and it was hard on

him. He took three days to think about it and said, "If

this child is making my Odissi popular in a different

state, why should it hurt me?" He hugged her and told

her to go ahead. The Shastra was intact, only the music

and literature were different. Purists say that Odissi

should have only Sanskrit and Odia language, but she

believes that traditional roots would always remain and

dance evolves.

According to Jhelum, she is totally against self-paying

and performing. "I might say that I am not as famous

as I could have been. Initially, in my career, I received

several invitations to perform both in India and abroad

but they wanted a donation of a certain amount, which I

am against," she says. She was never interested in

platforms where she had to pay for herself. "There are

plenty of festivals happening all over India which do not

pay and I do not perform. If one has spent so much

money, time and energy for learning, costumes, music

and everything, why can't he/she go out and earn,

when a doctor or an engineer can do it?" she

questions. She feels that it is one of the reasons why

dance has remained in the upper strata of the society

and she started Smitalay to break the barriers and

chose to swim against the tide.

Apart from dance, she loves

swimming, reading and sketching.

She also enjoyed hiking but says

that her knees don't support her

now to go up and down the

mountains. She says that she

doesn't look her age because

she does not talk her age. She

is passionate about life.

She has done numerous solo

dance recitals, in conferences

hosted by notable organisations

and companies. Her current

professional interests go beyond

the solo dance. She has a keen interest in recreating

the traditional Odissi repertoire in a group format. She

is also involved in a number of projects of

choreography for various performing art forms. She

has done group Odissi performances and lecture

demonstrations for various dance circles and

institutions like 'Spicmacay', all over India and abroad.

Earlier, she was part of various dance ballet

productions of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, notable

being the role of Krishna in Jayadeva's Geet Govind.

She is an A grade artist of Doordarshan and was

empanelled by the ICCR.

"I am very happy with the work that I am

doing," she concludes.

P 49 | JULY 2017

Jhelum Paranjape

P 50 | JULY 2017

He is an extremely vibrant and gracefulperformer - it is a treat to watch him live onstage. Pavitra Krishna Bhat, a young

Bharatanatyam dancer is one of the most illustriousdisciples of the celebrated Bharatanatyam exponentGuru Deepak Mazumdar. He also worked with AcharyaChoodamani Anitha Guha in her productions. He is notjust a performer, but a choreographer and teacher whoalso learnt the art of conducting Nattuvangam. Whenlife threw him challenges he overcame and stoodvictorious. Simply put, he is an inspiration for manyyoungsters. His first solo dance production 'ShriRanga - The Reclining Lord' which he choreographedis scheduled to premiere in July at Mumbai.

Pavitra Krishna Bhatwas born onFebruary 15, 1983 atPuttur in Karnataka.Right from hischildhood, he alwayshad certain madnesstowards dancing -any kind of dance.When he was 5 yearsof age, looking at hisinterest towardsdance, his parentsenrolled him in a Bharatanatyam hobby class at hisschool. They enrolled him at Kalanjali School of Artsunder teacher Kumari Vasantha. It was here he got hisinitial training in Bharatanatyam.

In the year 2002, he first met Guru Deepak Mazumdarat a dance competition, when the latter appeared as ajudge in a show. After the performance in thecompetition, Guru Deepak gave him his suggestionsand told him that he has the ability to reach greaterheights with proper training. When Pavitra startedlooking for advanced training in Bharatanatyam, withthe consent of his parents, he approached GuruDeepak and became his disciple. "He was graciousenough to accept me as his disciple," he says. Hispassion and love for dance were recognised by theGuru who played a major role in shaping his careerand made him a complete artiste.

Teacher Vasantha initiated the basic training but it wasGuru Deepak who completely moulded him from headto toe, transforming him into a better artiste. Henurtured and made him understand the art form ofBharatanatyam and kept the interest growing as adancer.

Later, with the permission of his Guru, he had theprivilege to work with Guru Anitha Guha as a leadcharacter in her major production 'Nritya Natakams'which further helped him to groom himself as an artiste."I worked with Guru Anitha in her productions as a leadcharacter to gain knowledge and enhance my skills," hesays.

He says that his family was the most important sourceof strength. His mother Lalitha Krishna Bhat, who learntCarnatic music, father Krishna Kanakkur Bhat, anengineer and his brother are the most importantpeople who helped him pursue his love for dance.

He believes that Bharatanatyam has been one of theleading dance artforms in any part ofIndia and it has a verybig impact on thecultural scenario. "Ipersonally see thatBharatanatyam is oneof the most popularand most talkedabout classical dancestyles," he says.

He gets his inspirationfrom all the great

dance performers who have done so much in the fieldof dance and also from the younger generation ofdancers who are working hard with a great spirit tocome up as a full-time artiste.

Though nothing comes close to his passion towardsdance, he loves watching tennis and Formula 1.Keeping a track of their activities has been his hobby.

When asked about his daily routine he says, "It is scaryand sometimes it is weird too."

He wakes up at 6 am and goes to his studio for hisdaily practice by 7. Online classes start from 10 amand at noon he does some administration work.Sometimes he even has some private classes to teach.He follows it up with lunch and a power nap. In theevenings they have group lessons from 4 pm to 9 pm.After 9, either he is working on the choreographies withhis dancers or rehearses if a performance is lined up.Of course, in spite of his busy schedule, he nevermisses out on taking time out to talk to his Amma andAppa. It is his daily routine when he is in Mumbai andnot performing. He says that he works hard to the bestof his abilities and leaves the rest for the audience todecide.

P 51 | JULY 2017

Pavitra Bhat

When asked about his most challenging moment in life,out of many challenging instances he reflected upontwo such events that made him a stronger person bothphysically and mentally. Firstly, a complete recoveryfrom a femur bone fracture during a car accident in2005 where he had a rod inserted into his thigh for 2years. Secondly, back in May 2016 he again met with aroad accident where he had fractured at 5 places onhis face. He underwent a major surgery on his face, butwith God's grace, he recovered and got back onstage. Getting back to dance was the major challengethat he overcame with determination.

The best moment of Pavitra's life was every time thathe felt satisfied after the dance recital.

He appreciates everything which is experimented andfeels that performing fusion is not at all a wrong thing todo. "It doesn't affect the purity of the dance tradition,but at the same time one has to remember not toforget the roots," he says.

Talking about taking dance as a profession he says thatan artist could have a good and interesting career if he/she works like a workaholic and remains focused.

He has done shows for charity and fundraisers andeven experimented on some dance performancesinvolving social issues. Discussing the role of an artistein the society he says, "As an artiste, it helps us tospread the message to common people in a betterway because dance is a visual art form." He has beenteaching some kids free of cost as seva - the oneswho cannot afford but are interested in dancing andperforming.

He feels that the dance festivals motivate and keep thehope alive to become a successful artiste. They helpthe artiste in knowing the expectations of the audience.It also helps the artiste to grow and understandhimself or herself. These festivals even provide anopportunity for aspiring youngsters to experiencebetter dance performances.

Pavitra completed his B.COM, BPAand MPA (dance). He is a goldmedalist in dance from MumbaiUniversity and a recipient ofmany awards. He hasconducted Bharatanatyamworkshops in NCPA, Surat,Mumbai, Guwahati andAliraajpur (MP), Pittsburg,

Indonesia and otherplaces. He wasfortunate to performalong with his Gurufor productions likePurandara Krishna,Guru Shishya,Abhangavani andNatyaveda. He haschoreographeddance balletsKrishna LeelaTarangini, RadheRadhe Govindhaand KrishnamVande Jagatgurum.He was also trainedin the art ofconductingNattuvangam andhas been blessed to

P 52 | JULY 2017

conduct Nattuvangam for his Guru Deepak Mazumdar.

Teaching has always been a passion for him since hischildhood and as he grew up, it has become his professiontoo with the support and encouragement of his Guru DeepakMazumdar. Pavitra established a Bharatanatyam Institutenamed P.A.V.I. (Pavitra Art Visual Institute) in Mumbai.

He aspires to explore the globe to attain a deeper knowledgeof dance. He recently received 'Kala Ratna Award' for hiscontribution as a young artist in the field of dance at the 40thCleveland Tyagaraja Festival 2017 in the USA.

P 53 | JULY 2017

This is my favourite picture of Kali Babu taken years ago. Whenever he performed in Delhi, Iused to go with loads of film and would end up using all of them. I just loved his totalinvolvement in his abhinaya and postures. None of the female dancers could come up to his

level. While this is clicked in the middle of a graceful movement, I just love the moment captured.

NaatyaTarangA Classical Treat- Carnatic Vocal Concert, Kuchipudi and Odissi performancesgarnered appreciation from the audienceText: RMK Sharma, Pics: V. Srinivas

Indian classical music touched every soul and dance left its signature in every heart. 'Naatya Tarang', a monthly

music and dance festival organised by Nataraj Music and Dance Academy under the supervision of its founder

president Bathina Ranga Vikram Kumar, has once again proved to be a grand success at the Kalabharati

P 54 | JULY 2017

Auditorium on June 18.

The festival was

established to provide a

platform and encourage

upcoming artistes to

acquire international

standards.

In the evening, disciples

of Dr Dwaram VGK

Tyagaraj - Manjari,

Sukarnam, Lakshmi

Soujanya, Sravya Kalaga

and Aravindhan began

the festival with their

Carnatic vocal concert.

The concert began with a

Tillana which was written and sung by Dr Mangalampalli

Bala Muralikrishna in Brundavani Raga and Aadi Tala.

The rendition of melodious numbers sung by Sangeet

Samrat Mangalampalli in raga Mohana Kalyani and

Revathi received appreciation from the gathered

audience.

KV Lakshmi, a popular Kuchipudi artiste, principal of

NMDA who has been known for creating beautiful

Kuchipudi dance dramas, made her students present

'Thillana' in Ragamalika

and Tala Aadi. Her

students Tejasri,

Bhagyasri, Sujana,

Suchita and Sanjana

showcased the

Kuchipudi item with

wonderful expressions

and elegance.

Jyothi Reddy and

Tharishya, a Kuchipudi

duo, from Delhi won

accolades for their

Kuchipudi rendition of

Jathiswaras under the

musical guidance of Dr

EVR. Atrayee Dutta from

Kolkata presented a 13-minute piece - Mian Malhar.

It was composed and choreographed by Guru

Poushali Mukherjee. Her presentation concluded

with an Odissi piece titled 'Moksha' by Guru

Kelucharan Mohapatra. R Sriramulu Naidu, regional

director of AP Tourism, lauded the efforts of both

artistes and organisers for putting up a wonderful

show. At the end of the day, the festival proved to

be a classical treat for the patrons of art.

P 55 | JULY 2017

NEWS

Born on January 21, 1972, Chetan Venilal

Saraiya is a dancer, performer, choreographer

and teacher. He is a classical professional with

a masters degree in Kathak (gold medalist) from

Bharat College of Fine Arts, Kalidas University Nagpur.

He began his basic training in Kathak dance from

Nrutya Kiran Institute under the guidance of Guru

Ashalata Parker. In the next 10 years, Chetan added

several other degrees like Nrutya - Alankaar - Kathak

(2004) from Akhil Bhartiya Gandharv Mahavidyalay,

Miraj and continued advance and master training in

Kathak dance from Archana Nrutyalaya, Mumbai under

Guru Asha Joglekar for more than a decade.

He does not want to stop with his present

achievements and wishes to attain finer perfection and

accuracy in his work. He utilised every opportunity that

came his way and

attended as many as

twelve workshops

conducted by various

experts including

Padma Vibhushan

Pandit Birju Maharaj,

Gurus Puru and Vibha

Dadheech, Dr Manjari

Dev, Shama Bhate

and others.

Chetan continued his

learning process and

performances

simultaneously. He

performed at several

national and

international level dance festivals and competitions like

Tantrinaad: Nrityaninaad, Nrutyamalika, Jayadev

Sammelan Bhubaneswar, Natraj Nritya Mahotsav, West

Bengal, Shrishti Festival on the occasion of World

Dance Day in Bengaluru, Natyanjali 2015, Natyotsav

and Nataraja Aradhanai, Natya Sandhy organised by

India World Cultural Forum, Gurgaon, Bharat Ek Khoj

and others.

He bagged several awards which include Naatya

Lohita, Naatya Kumara, Nritya Mayooram, Nritya

Bibhushan, Naatya Praveen, Yogeshwari Nrutya Ratna,

Tarang Padam and Yuva Mahotsav twice by Sharda

Sangeet Vidyalaya and Gandharva Mahavidyalaya.

Apart from these, he received silver medals in Akhil

Bhartiya Sanskrutik Sangh, solo competitions, Thailand

and Singapore. He even got the first prize in a trio

classical competition in Akhil Bharatiya Sanskrutik

Sangh, Pune.

Chetan Saraiya:Nritya-Tapsvi

Text: RMK Sharma

P 56 | JULY 2017

P 57 | JULY 2017

A SoulfulBharatanatyamWorkshop

Nrityayatra Kala Academy and Fan Foundation

& Performing Arts Center organised the one-

day Bharatnatyam, workshop by Kashmira

Trivedi from Thane. She is a senior disciple of Guru

Deepak Mazumdar. The workshop was held on June

12, 2017 at Aurangabad, Maharashtra. She taught

'Ganapati Stuti' which Deepak Mazumdar

choreographed. The stuti started with the 12 names of

Ganapati, which has been taken from 'Narad Sutram'.

40 students participated in the workshop.

In the evening of the same day, Nrityayatra Kala

Academy performed 'Antar-Dhwani' composed and

choreographed by Ajay Shendge and his disciples.

Shendge is the director of Nrityayatra Kala Academy. A

lecture demonstration by BR Vikram Kumar, editor-in-

chief of The Dance India Magazine, during the cultural

symposium gave participants an insight into the world

of art and culture. He also announced Ajay Shendge as

the coordinator of The Dance India Magazine in

Aurangabad.

P 58 | JULY 2017

A Celebration ofIndian DanceText: Kala Srinivasan, Mumbai

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Auditorium, Pune

witnessed an interesting festival on June 10

and 11, 2017. "Bharat Darshan National

Festival" organised by Jai Hind Parivar in association

with Guru Kashmira Trivedi created a platform for

various classical styles of dance namely

Bharatayanatam, Kathak and Odissi.

Special guests who enhanced the charm of the event

were Guru Deepak Mazumdar, Guru Shama Bahte and

BR Vikram Kumar, editor-in-chief, The Dance India.

Guru Kashmira Trivedi was honoured with the

prestigious Nrutha Ratna Rashtriya Puraskar for her

dedicated contribution to art and culture.

Institutions that participated in the event were

Takshashila Nrityakala Mandir led by Kashmira Trivedi,

Nritya Tapasya Kathak Dance Academy led by Chetan

Saraia, Souparnika Dance Academy led by Guru

Vijayashree Pillai, Shanmukha Arts led by Kala

Srinivasan, Andaal Fine Arts led by Guru Madhuri

Pratap, Nrutyangan led by Guru Pallavi Mhaiskar,

Kalanand Nrithya Sanstha led by Guru Bhavana Lele,

Articulate Dance Studio disciple Shri Laxminarayan Jena,

Angik Dance Academy led by Guru Sarmishta

Chattopadhyay, Nritya Sadhna led by Rakhi Chikte Patil,

Ajay Shendge & Group and Gayatri Bhat & Group.

A special Lavani performance to highlight the beauty of

Marathi folk dance was exhibited by Dr Bharat Jetwani.

All the teachers/gurus were appreciated and ably

honoured with a memento and a certificate. To sum it

up, it was a wonderful initiative by Jai Hind Parivar to

bring together so many artists under their banner and

promote budding performers of the country.

P 59 | JULY 2017

NEWS

Dr. Suman Kumar Kasturi

The Book OneMUST READ!Text: Svitlana Bezhcotnikova, Dean of Philology andMass Communication Faculty, Mariupol State University,Mariupol, Ukraine

REVIEW ON REPORTING AND FEATURE WRITING

In the age of information revolution media occupies

an important place in the global world and have agreat impact on all spheres of life. The process of

culture mediatisation leads to the appearance of suchconcepts as "media reality", "media generation", "media

impact". The development of communicationtechnologies and social media made information more

available and as a result less valued. Herewith QualityJournalism still remains a reference point in the huge

flows of information. The reason is that traditionalmedia highlight the most socially significant events and

must dedicate to the promotion of universally sharedhuman values and international understanding.

The book "Reporting and Feature Writing: How to Write

to be Read?" authored by Dr Suman Kumar Kasturiand professor Bobby Vardhan, is an up-to-date

edition. It gives clear and qualified answers toquestions very important for every journalist - how to

make a newspaper trendy and necessary, to keep tohigh professional standards, become interesting for

the readers. Authors emphasise the importance ofquality journalism; describe its definitions,

characteristic features and peculiarities of functioning.

The interesting and informative textbook shows that

journalism in India develops in line with worldcommunication trends and absorbs the best

innovations of the world information market.Challenges of the modern world remind professional

journalists of the necessity to keep to objectivity andethics in all the forms of journalism. Following Stephen

J A Ward (2004), the authors stresses that objectivity isan essential norm for responsible journalistic

communication in the public interest and propose their

P 60 | JULY 2017

Svitlana Bezhcotnikova |Svitlana Bezhcotnikova |Svitlana Bezhcotnikova |Svitlana Bezhcotnikova |Svitlana Bezhcotnikova |

Prof P. Bobby Vardhan

own definition of journalism as "an art and science ofhuman communication which is not only vivacious as

an art form, but also follows various steps logically asin science, to arrive at a conclusion - the truth". They

define norms of professionalism, which are universallyrecognised.

The book "… How to Write to be Read?" is a

substantial and required guide for everyone, whodecided to devote their lives to professional

journalism, working in newspapers and magazines.The book structure is built as a system. It includes

definitions, norms and rules for many forms ofjournalism and different genres, such as reporting,

investigative reporting, interpretative reporting,interviewing, feature writing, photo features, columnist's

journalism, reviews and criticism. At the end, theauthors lead their readers to an understanding of the

wider sphere of mass communication - film and TVreviewing.

This book has one peculiarity, which can be called itsstrong point. It covers not only the genre system of

journalists' materials but also thematic diversity. Sportsreporting, accidents and disaster reporting, city life

reporting are common in general, concerning rules,laws, instruments of making reports. But it is not

enough for a good material. The Indian version of thisis represented in this book in a full and systematic way.

It gives the opportunity to understand its richness.

One more point that allows us to emphasise theimportance and usefulness of this book is the authors'

conception of journalism. It is based on quality pressdominants and presupposes reliability of facts and

opinions. The authors' style of presentation ischaracterised by the responsible attitude to sources,

purposes and techniques in writing, emphasising, howprofessional journalism differs from non-professional.

Such approach to the topic involves the suggestedvision of the professional standards in journalism into a

widespread discussion about the role of journalism inthe global world and coming challenges of the

information society.

Dr Kasturi and professor Vardhan prepared very

useful and interesting textbook, which gives a clearunderstanding of how traditional media can survive.

The only way to be read is to keep to high quality -Indian media proves this authors' conclusion.

P 61 | JULY 2017

Book Review

P 62 | JULY 2017

The word culture has been derived from theLatin word 'CULTURA', meaning "Thecivilisation of mind" and a tradition means

style or a system subsequently followed by thegenerations.

Both the above said definitions adequately fit thecountry like India. India has been a melting pot forvarious races coming from all over the world tosettle down in this land. This diasporicamalgamation has knit the fabric of Indian culture;the same diversity is distinctly reflected in everyaspect of Indian culture. Art is a perfect medium forthe portrayal of various facets of the culture.

The art of Story Narration is no exception to theabove-said statement. Narratives have been asignificant genre of Indian literature. Narratives havehad a consistent journey originating from theancient religious literature such as Vedas, Puranas,Gathas, Aakhyans, Itihasa, Kavyas and Epics till themost recent secular literature. Every idea or athought has a reference in the past when the sameidea gets narrated to the people around it gets adefinite form. So narration is the key feature ofevery art form. The art of story narration isconsidered as a holy tradition in India. It also playsan important role in the religious as well as thecultural life of the people. The artists who narratedthese stories are known as sutas, magadhas,kathakas, shaubhikas, bhats, kushilavs, andchakkiars. In order to make the narration moreintense, use of bodily gestures and facialexpressions, costumes and makeup wereintroduced; in short, the element of Natya wasintroduced. Natya, the classic Sanskrit theatricaltradition of India, encompasses almost every typeof performing art such as music, dance,instrumental music, shows utmost reliance on theplot that is a story.

This article illustrates one of the most ancient andpopular traditions of a narrative art formculminating into the classical dance form, hailingfrom the land of Kerala, popularly known as "God'sown Country".

Although in the present era the tradition of Sanskrittheatre is almost extinguished, the reminiscence of thesame tradition is found in the theatrical tradition ofKerala, known as 'Koodiattam'.

The beautiful land of Kerala is also known as BhargavaKshetra after the Brahmin warrior sage Bhargava(Parashurama). To expiate his sin of matricide he createdit by the power of his austerities and offered it to theBrahmins as a gift. The original inhabitants of Kerala arebelieved to be Dravidians. The great majority of thepeople belong to this ancient race; Aryan penetrationinto this purely Dravidian region marked the beginning ofa fruitful contact which later gave birth to a distinctivephase of Hindu culture. The tradition of Sanskrit Natya inthe form of Koodiattam is the outcome of the synthesisof the two great cultures.

Nambuthiris the Brahmins of Kerala enjoyed the over-lordship for many centuries. The Nairs are the mostpowerful community next to Nambuthiris, who havebeen the warriors. The Nairs are the matriarchalsociety, whereas Nambuthiris are patriarchal.Nambuthiris are known for their knowledge of literature,poetry and Ayurveda.

Chakkyars are the Ambalvasis meaning templedwellers; this cast is an intermediate caste between theNambuthiris and Nairs. Chakkyars were from thecommunity of artists. They claim their origin to theSutas, the storytellers from the Mahabharata. Their artof story narration is known as Chakkyar Kuttu. Theyseem to have practised their profession for nearly twothousand years. Chakkyar Kuttu is also known asPrabandham Kuttu, also known as Vak. The storiestold are drawn from the Puranas and from the work ofwell-known Sanskrit dramatists. Chakkyars usevachikabhinaya that is spoken dialogues to the utmosteffect. Hastas or hand gestures are used to convey thetheme. Chakkyars are well known for theirnayanabhinaya that are emoting through eyes. There isno music used other than the occasional drumming.Chakkyars hold the special rights as he is supposed tobe speaking in the Deva Sadas that is the assembly ofGods. He can even criticise the king if the king is foundguilty of wrong practices in the execution of his duties.

Koodiattam is the later version of Chakkyar Kuttu; it isthe significant phase of Chakkyar's art. It is thecombined story presentation by the group of artists.The male artists are known as Chakkyars and thefemales are known as Nangyars. Only Sanskrit playsare performed on the Koodiattam stage. But thepresentation technique of the Sanskrit plays variesfrom that of the Koodiattam in terms of facial makeup,costumes, enactment, and the total treatment of thestagecraft. Many features of this art were carriedforward in the successive art forms of the sametradition, such as Krishnattam, Ramanattam and finallyAttakatha that is Kathakali.

The actual staging of an act is a long procedure whichlasts for almost eight to ten days. In the introductionChakkyar talks on the four purusharthas, they aretreated as trenchant social satire.

The next phase of the theatrical tradition is Krishnattam.Manaveda, a Zamorin of Calicut, wrote the text of theplay in Sanskrit, which revolved around Krishna's story.This performance was first staged in 1650 AD. Theperformance of this play is a votive offering.

The story enactment goes on for eight successivedays. In the due course of time, this purely lyrical

dramatic spectacle underwent many changes. It hasbecome a closely religious affair.

The pantomimic technique of presentation is thespecial feature of this theatrical tradition.

The costumes and makeup are also of a special type.Some of the characters wear wooden masks, andothers paint their faces.

In this context scholar and author K Bharatha Iyerwrites, "The foregoing survey of the stage practices ofthe land is intended only to show that the elements ofthe art of Kathakali are discernible in various degreesof development and in differing assortments in themany types of cult plays and other theatrical legacies."

Ramanattam is the next form which can be theconcluding form of the theatre tradition of Kerala. ARaja of Kottarakara dramatised the story of Rama ineight presentations. It was staged at his court in the17th century AD. The language used for this productionwas highly Sanskritised Malayalam, which created asensation for the art lovers The Ramanattam was thefirst form to introduce playback singing. Greatchanges took place in the costuming too, the woodenmasks were thrown out, and plastic masks wereadopted. Music and dance were introduced in thefullest measure.

The above changes brought theatre more close to themasses and the outcome of the whole process is themost majestic dance-drama style Kathakali. Kathakaligroomed under the shade of indigenous ritualistic andreligious forms like Mutiyettu, Bhagavati pattu,Kalamelattu and many more. Themes from theMahabharata, Bhagavata, and Shiva Purana arepresented on Kathakali stage. There are now overhundred plays that are being performed on theKathakali stage. These productions are noted for theirliterature and dramatic qualities.

Kathakali is one of the popular classical dance formsof India today, which has its roots in the Sanskrittheatre. Originating from the story narration form likeChakkyar kuttu to the dance drama form of Kathakali,the art form has undergone many socio-religious, aswell as technical transformations. Today, the stylestands as the perfect reflection of the Malayalicommunity and its traditions and cultural heritage.

References:References:References:References:References:

K. Bharatha Iyer, KATHAKALI (1983) 1st editionOriental Books Reprint Corporation, New Delhi.

Prabhakar Mande, Lokrangbhumi (Parampara,Svarup ani Bhavitavya) 1994 Godavari Prakashan,Aurangabad.

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Scholarly Corner

Kalamandalam LeelammaKalamandalam LeelammaKalamandalam LeelammaKalamandalam LeelammaKalamandalam Leelamma was one ofthe country's foremost Mohiniyattam exponents. Shewas born in Kottayam, the central part of Kerala, andwas initiated in Kerala Natanam - an art form jointlyshaped by Padma Shri Guru ChemancheriKunhiraman Nair and Guru Gopinath. Later, shejoined Kerala Kalamandalam and was trained inMohiniaattam, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi by

KalamandalamSathyabhama,ARR Bhaskar andKalamandalamChandrika,respectively.Realising her area,she decided tofocus her mindand body inenrichingMohiniattam.

Thanks to herimmense talent, she was appointed as the teacher inKerala Kalamandalam at a young age of 18 years.Prof. Leelamma, the disciple of Padma Shri awardeeKalamandalam Sathyabhama acquired a goodcommand of the art form contributed a lot toMohiniattam. While she was the in-charge of post-graduation course at Kerala Kalamandalam, sheinnovated more than eighty new adavus. She alsodesigned all the viniyogas (details) of Hastha Mudrasdescribed in Hastha Lakshana Deepika afterdiscussing with Kathakali Gurus. By choreographingover hundred new items, she gave a fresh blood tooto the art form.

She had graced most of the exalted venues acrossthe globe and was considered as a perfectionist. Shehas been awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Award forher contribution to Mohiniattam. She passed away onJune 15, 2017.

CingireddiCingireddiCingireddiCingireddiCingireddiNarayanaNarayanaNarayanaNarayanaNarayanaReddyReddyReddyReddyReddy better knownas C Narayana Reddyor CiNaRe, was anaward-winning IndianTelugu poet and writer -a doyen of Teluguliterature. He hadproduced over eightyliterary works including poems, prose-plays, lyricalplays, translations, and ghazals. He was also aprofessor, lyricist, actor, and politician. He was bornon July 29, 1931 in Hanumajipet in Karimnagardistrict, Hyderabad to Malla Reddy and Buchamma.His father was a farmer and his mother was ahousewife. After completing his higher secondaryeducation, he went on to study at the OsmaniaUniversity, Hyderabad in 1949. Reddy studied inUrdu medium till his graduation, as education inTelugu was not available under Nizam's rule.

He took Telugu as his subject during his graduation.Reddy received his Master of Arts degree in 1954and became a college lecturer in 1955. He receivedPhD in 1962 on "Modern Traditions of Telugu" andbecome a professor in 1976.

He wrote Navvani Puvvu (The Bashful Flower) in1953 and later went on to publish several otherworks like Vennela Vada (The Moonlight Town, 1959),Jalapatam (The Waterfall), Divvela Muvvalu (CandleBells, 1959), Ritu Chakram (Cycle of Seasons, 1964),Madhyataragati Mandahasam (The Smile of theMiddle Class, 1968), and Mantalu Manavudu(Flames and the Man, 1970). His 1980 publishedpoetic work Viswambhara (The Earth) received widecritical acclaim and has been translated into severalIndian languages. The Sahitya Akademi appreciatedit as a monumental work. He died on June 12, 2017.

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Nataraj Music & Dance AcademyTeacher: K V Lakshmi50-1-50/1, ASR Nagar, SeethammadaraVisakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, IndiaContact No: + 91-955322969

Geeta nritya vidyalayaTeacher: Girija Nair‘Gurukul’ 32/2 Powai Chowk behind ShastriNagar, Saibaba temple Mulund colonyWest Mumbai – 82, Maharashtra, IndiaContact No: +91-9867234249

Mudra Dance AcademyTeacher: Vrunda UpadhyayRegency Estate, Dombivli (E) - 421203,Thane, Maharashtra, IndiaContact No: + 91-9920021299

Takshashila Nrityakala MandirTeacher: Kashmira TrivediA-405, Asawari Co. Op. Hos. Soc.Pokhran Road No-1, Varkat Nagar.Thane(W)-400606,Maharastra, IndiaContact No: +91-9820649671

BHARATHANATYAM

K U C H I P U D I K A T H A K

Alaknanda Institute for Performing Arts (AIPA)Teacher: AlaknandaC/o. Brhamanada Public SchoolA-62 A, Sector-20,Noida - 201301, Uttar Pradesh. India.Contact No: +91-9810254233

Dhamar Dance InstituteTeacher: Sanchita Lahoti2723/13,2nd floor, 14th main road,2nd stage, Attiguppe main Road,RPC Layout, Bangalore, Karnataka, IndiaContact no: +91-08880565690

Nritya Tapshya Kathak Dance AcdemyTeacher: Chetan Saraiya. MA, Kathak.Vasai Nallasopara. Kandival. Grand RoadPune, Maharashtra, IndiaContact No: +91-9821138190,+91-8655136981.

C L A S S I F I E D S

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