The last two years I was a student at Bharata College of Fine Arts and Culture, which I have found a transformative experience totally worth sharing! Being a Nerd all my life, when I started learning dance, I automatically was drawn to the dance texts and history. Being a scientist, I used to wonder what is the science in the Natyashastra (it being called the Science of Art). Well the answer is, once one does a bit of underwater swimming in the pages of the shastras, one does emerge out breathless, but wanting to know more about the subtle , sometimes hard to grasp science of dance which truly is the science of life itself.
The essence of the Natyashastra I found in the Sattvabhava or Samanyabinaya, which is elaborated in the 24th chapter. Upon reading that once realizes that the angik, vacik and aharya abhinaya that we spent the previous 23 chapters over, was just setting the stage for this glorious chapter that truly ties us to the rasa theory. When the dancer can feel and express the sattvik bhava, only then is the bhava translated to the rasika, in whose being the rasa can be evoked. Dance these days is many times focused on the angika, especially because there is so much to explore in that. But the sattva, which we do not think of in great detail is where the magic truly lies.
In the Vishnudharmottara Purana I understood the mantra 'Rasa is Real' ie that which generates the rasa is 'real' art. This puts into perspective the importance of stylization and deviation from absolute reality in every Indian art. In the Malvikagnimitram of Kalidasa I learnt about how a student should truly be - one who takes a grain of knowledge from the Guru and works on it till it becomes a pearl. What a thought! recently, while anchoring a kathak evening at Kalashram Panchtattva Festival, I shared the same thought albeit impromptu to much appreciation of the audience. On that day I realized that its not learning the shastras but making them part of your own essence that is the true victory. When my friends jokingly say that I keep sharing my 'Bharata college Gyan' at the drop of a hat, I realize that the nerd in me is totally happy to her that!
The examination pattern at the college pushed me to think of innovation while presenting the practical portion every semester. With the help of discussions with college kathak mentor Paullumi Mukheerjee I hit upon new narratives that I could present - A taal chakra of prime number taals, interlinked presentation between Geet Govind and Bindadin Maharaj Thumris, Connecting divinity with the taal eg Laxmi taal with stories of goddess Mahalaxmi and in the finale a Kathak Yatra based on 5 Mishra Jaati Taals , each connected with a different musical style. The preparation and planning for each exam sometimes bordered on crazyness, where it was a tightrope walk between 'Aa Bail Mujhe Maar' and 'Swantaay Sukhaay' ! Huge credit to the brilliant musicians Satyaprakash Mishra, Amit Mishra, Somnath Mishra, Alka Gujar and Harshal Wadavlikar who brought my concepts to life. The final cherry on the cake used to be expert touches by Renu Sharma didi that brought everything together!
I was also lucky to be able to spend a number of hours with Dr Sandhya Purecha and Bhavna Shah, who often gave me books from her collection of more than 4000 books. For a bookworm like me , these were great treasures.Every conversation with Sandhya Tai opened some new avenues of thought and created the right perspective to tackle the shastras. Especially since Kathak is commonly considered to be more lokadharmi and a little distant from shastras, this was a game changing experience.
At the same time a college always goes with college life and fun memories are part and parcel- eating yummy food from Anmol auntie who sold lunch outside the college gate, milkshakes accompanied with exam discussions, Paullumi di running behind me with a black thread to protect my injured leg after my ligament injury last year, Karan, my study-mate and me walking around shivaji park at 1 am eating french fries and icecream, the night before the exam while trying to mug up the genealogies of kathak families (trust me it takes a while), freaking out the first years with our supposed superior knowledge, so on and so forth. Kudos to Bhavna tai, who always made us laugh and feel at home!
All in all an experience that has enabled me to be a thinking dancer, I highly recommend a dip in the shastras to everyone! A little tougher than a dip in the Ganga, but far more enriching! The more time we spend with them, we come across revelations that can change our life!
The essence of the Natyashastra I found in the Sattvabhava or Samanyabinaya, which is elaborated in the 24th chapter. Upon reading that once realizes that the angik, vacik and aharya abhinaya that we spent the previous 23 chapters over, was just setting the stage for this glorious chapter that truly ties us to the rasa theory. When the dancer can feel and express the sattvik bhava, only then is the bhava translated to the rasika, in whose being the rasa can be evoked. Dance these days is many times focused on the angika, especially because there is so much to explore in that. But the sattva, which we do not think of in great detail is where the magic truly lies.
In the Vishnudharmottara Purana I understood the mantra 'Rasa is Real' ie that which generates the rasa is 'real' art. This puts into perspective the importance of stylization and deviation from absolute reality in every Indian art. In the Malvikagnimitram of Kalidasa I learnt about how a student should truly be - one who takes a grain of knowledge from the Guru and works on it till it becomes a pearl. What a thought! recently, while anchoring a kathak evening at Kalashram Panchtattva Festival, I shared the same thought albeit impromptu to much appreciation of the audience. On that day I realized that its not learning the shastras but making them part of your own essence that is the true victory. When my friends jokingly say that I keep sharing my 'Bharata college Gyan' at the drop of a hat, I realize that the nerd in me is totally happy to her that!
The examination pattern at the college pushed me to think of innovation while presenting the practical portion every semester. With the help of discussions with college kathak mentor Paullumi Mukheerjee I hit upon new narratives that I could present - A taal chakra of prime number taals, interlinked presentation between Geet Govind and Bindadin Maharaj Thumris, Connecting divinity with the taal eg Laxmi taal with stories of goddess Mahalaxmi and in the finale a Kathak Yatra based on 5 Mishra Jaati Taals , each connected with a different musical style. The preparation and planning for each exam sometimes bordered on crazyness, where it was a tightrope walk between 'Aa Bail Mujhe Maar' and 'Swantaay Sukhaay' ! Huge credit to the brilliant musicians Satyaprakash Mishra, Amit Mishra, Somnath Mishra, Alka Gujar and Harshal Wadavlikar who brought my concepts to life. The final cherry on the cake used to be expert touches by Renu Sharma didi that brought everything together!
I was also lucky to be able to spend a number of hours with Dr Sandhya Purecha and Bhavna Shah, who often gave me books from her collection of more than 4000 books. For a bookworm like me , these were great treasures.Every conversation with Sandhya Tai opened some new avenues of thought and created the right perspective to tackle the shastras. Especially since Kathak is commonly considered to be more lokadharmi and a little distant from shastras, this was a game changing experience.
At the same time a college always goes with college life and fun memories are part and parcel- eating yummy food from Anmol auntie who sold lunch outside the college gate, milkshakes accompanied with exam discussions, Paullumi di running behind me with a black thread to protect my injured leg after my ligament injury last year, Karan, my study-mate and me walking around shivaji park at 1 am eating french fries and icecream, the night before the exam while trying to mug up the genealogies of kathak families (trust me it takes a while), freaking out the first years with our supposed superior knowledge, so on and so forth. Kudos to Bhavna tai, who always made us laugh and feel at home!
All in all an experience that has enabled me to be a thinking dancer, I highly recommend a dip in the shastras to everyone! A little tougher than a dip in the Ganga, but far more enriching! The more time we spend with them, we come across revelations that can change our life!
A collage of few memories from the past 2 years
