(This editorial by chief editor Madhavi Puranam in the Nartanam -
Quarterly Journal of Indian Dance - issue Volume XV, # 3 – July-Sept
2015 - has been reproduced here with permission)
The aggressive spokesperson of a political party whose aim is to argue even if he strays from reason and ethics while making his case, the brash neta whose tirade is far removed from any finesse, wisdom or culture, the compulsive jargonmuttering corporate executive obsessed with graphs, pie charts and figures working at a lightning pace, the busy corporate doctor who forgets that a humane touch could work wonders in the treatment of the patient, the ever so humble artiste who can transform into a belligerent expletive-mouthing socialite, all seem to be the often-seen prototypes of the respective professions. The recent utterances of our Culture Minister have done nothing to dent this prototype. Today the common thread in the work culture is the aggression and the “competitiveness” in the pursuit of fame/propaganda which is often confused with “success”. In this issue (Nartanam Vol XV no3.) we bring a moment from the past—the 1954 Inter-University Youth Festival—which underlies all the values that one knows to be sterling but which one seldom encounters within ourselves and all around us—the spirit of discovery, wonderment, and competing within the ambit of inquiry, sharing and unity. Arshiya Sethi, in her effort to chronicle the events of the first ever youth seminar in post independent India and its landmark artistic fallout, beautifully brings out the finer sensibilities of the times and the thrust behind the event.
Read the article in the site
The aggressive spokesperson of a political party whose aim is to argue even if he strays from reason and ethics while making his case, the brash neta whose tirade is far removed from any finesse, wisdom or culture, the compulsive jargonmuttering corporate executive obsessed with graphs, pie charts and figures working at a lightning pace, the busy corporate doctor who forgets that a humane touch could work wonders in the treatment of the patient, the ever so humble artiste who can transform into a belligerent expletive-mouthing socialite, all seem to be the often-seen prototypes of the respective professions. The recent utterances of our Culture Minister have done nothing to dent this prototype. Today the common thread in the work culture is the aggression and the “competitiveness” in the pursuit of fame/propaganda which is often confused with “success”. In this issue (Nartanam Vol XV no3.) we bring a moment from the past—the 1954 Inter-University Youth Festival—which underlies all the values that one knows to be sterling but which one seldom encounters within ourselves and all around us—the spirit of discovery, wonderment, and competing within the ambit of inquiry, sharing and unity. Arshiya Sethi, in her effort to chronicle the events of the first ever youth seminar in post independent India and its landmark artistic fallout, beautifully brings out the finer sensibilities of the times and the thrust behind the event.
Read the article in the site
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