Bharatiya Jnana Parampara - BJP: A 3 day with over 30 delegates symposium took place on May 21-23 at Simla, capital of Himachal Pradesh at India's most prestigious think tank institution IIAS (Indian Institute of Advanced Study), currently headed by dynamic director Dr.Himanshu Chaturvedi. Dr Shashikumar Prabha is the chair. It was the first-ever dance parampara goshthi, on the scale and substance held here, or actually anywhere in India at a pan global level, not local, regional or even Indian.
Put together and pulled off by Ahmedabad's senior academic - dance guru Dr. Uma Anantani, this could easily be termed benchmark. Nothing ever on this scale outside of dance-specific institutions like the national SNA, or regional Music Academies and sabhas and schools has been done with such depth and dignity.
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In a 3-day conference, to sit and make notes session by session; to evaluate with fairness to all and still offer a critical assessment is a Herculean task. The last man standing, (Ashish Mohan Khokar) in Indian dance writing history and documentation, shaping not only the dance itself but its broader cultural contexts. He has written about everyone showcased, during the three-day dance quest.
ReplyDeleteWhat a remarkable achievement the Himalayan Dance quest is. As I read Ashish Khokarji’s article, A sincere and true labour of love. I was struck by how 30 people came together on stage in just three days—a feat that is humungous. Kudos to Uma Ji as well.
In this spirit, Ashish Khokar ji and Uma Anantani ji are seen as essential collaborators within a vibrant, interdisciplinary ecosystem. Even though I am 4,200 kilometers away in Thailand, it felt like I was there witnessing the entire event.
An absolutely engrossing read transcending seamlessly from one genre to another on what transpired in the three days of BJP - apt acronym - with such vivid, engaging, and compelling depiction. It is truly remarkable. None would dare to dissect the happenings with such clarity, nuance, and expertise like Ashishji.
ReplyDeleteAs a reader I could clearly visualise how the three day event panned out in Simla courtesy of a lucid description. It left me wondering and amazed how truly blessed we are as a nation endowed with such a rich heritage and legacy in diverse divine art forms. Thankfully, a thoroughbred art connoisseur like Ashishji is amid us to spread the same far and wide through superbly dissected narration. Let the flow be unhinged. MV Krishna.
👌👍Saadhuvaad .Ek Nritya Guru dwara itna sunder sajeev chitran/varnan .Aisa lagaa jaise aapki lekhni ne Tri-divasiya Simla mahotsav ka Sakshatkar kara diya .Vastutah yah Chaakshush Yajna (Shaantam kratum chaakshusham ).Vaise bhee Mahakavi Neeraj ne mujhse kahaa thaa ,’Sukh me gaao ,duhkh me gaao jeevan hai Taa Taa thaiya re …’ . Dhanya/pranamya hain aap .💐🙏😌
ReplyDeleteBy Satya Vrata Tripathi
DeleteTo this senior Generalist and, Rasika of performing arts, the 3-day seminar by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla was, and will always remain, an extraordinarily bold, almost a visionary first-of-its-kind venture. And I had the privilege to be in the audience.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge for the organisers was: how to convey ‘what and how’ of ‘dance’ and its inter-connectivity with other subjects, even with life itself? This objective was achieved successfully and satisfactorily by the team IIAS, considering the huge task to be accomplished.
I found some sessions a bit of a drag. Overall however, the content of the seminar was well designed, perfect in subject area’s evolutionary chronology – from simplicity to complexity -, and supported well by lecture-demonstrations - all in a manner that a person having just a little acquaintance with the word ‘Dance’, could still relate to.
Remembering a few sessions to the best of my abilities, Professor Dr. Mahesh Champaklal is not only a master of his subject ‘Natyashastra’, but knows how to involve the audience. He had a booming delivery, immaculate in clarity of diction and spoke with conviction.
Others whom I remember as being impactful were Dr. Veena Londhe and Dr. Malti Agneswaran, Ms. Neha Kumar, Guru (Smt) Shama Bhatte along with her disciple who interpreted Shamaji’s Kathak theory beautifully.
Padmabhushna Shatavdhani R. Ganesh and Dr Choodamani Nandgopal, both discussed their topics on line; with their known expertise, they would have made a lasting impression on the audience had they been present.
Prof. Ms. Gangopadhyay discussed her subject with clarity, explaining the GoI’s process as of integrating arts as a subject as part of NEP 2020. Dr. Anupama Kylash and Dr. Swarnamalya Ganesh, both regaled the audience with their academic discourses supported by effervescent and energetic demonstrations.
How dearly I wish that Dr. Bhagyesh Jha (retd. IAS), a Sanskrit scholar AND an authority on Bhagvad Gita, had been given much more time. With his wit and sense of humour, he evoked laughter for the first time from the audience during the otherwise grim proceedings.
Lastly but not in the least, no stakeholder in performing arts can ever, ever forget Ashish Mohan Khokar’s selfless and dedicated contribution to conservation of Indian classical dance and related paraphernalia; the effort includes his tough critiques if only to improvise the caliber of artists, and thereby, that of the entire gamut of arts.
The impact of the seminar would have been muted without the support of the invited senior and recognized performing artists. They were brilliant in their respective individual art, ranging from Bharatanatyam and Kathak to Kuchipudi. Vaibhav Arekar was par-excellence in his contemporary item. The rest of the dancers captivated the audience throughout the duration of semiar.
The surprise, a 7-minute finale on the evening of the third day, and after the Valedictory function, was absolutely scintillating, having appropriately fast paced choreography; and it innovatively synchronized all three styles and their respective artists – Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Kuchipudi!
That finale brought the audience on their feet applauding generously, and the curtain, down on this magnum opus of a seminar.
Thank you.
What a review of a review! Well stated. Yashesh bhai you should start covering art shows in your city - Ahemdabad - as there are hardly any qualified writers left there. Do think. It'd be a service too.
DeleteWhat a nice coverage........
ReplyDeleteAshish ji’s pen beautifully captures not only the academic rigor of the symposium but also its spirit of camaraderie, cultural dialogue, and flawless execution. Whike reading I felt as though I were personally attending the event in first person......
Ofcourse....Kudos to Dr. Uma Anantani for organizing this historic gathering, which celebrated India’s rich multilayered intellectual traditions, indeed....all imbued with a profound sense of transcendence.