"RIVAAYAT" ....Classical Dance and me?

Classical dance and Me! I still remember as a kid never caring much for it.  I was totally a Bollywood brat till the day the Chennai Music Academy festival became a part of my portfolio at work in 2001. I still remember the first year of coordinating it. I sat in the audience totally blank with my Chennai colleagues not understand a word.  The language was new, the music was new, the lyrics? Lyrics, what were they singing. Chitra, my Chairman's secretary understanding my predicament would whisper the meaning in my ear and by the end of the evening I was mesmerised. To say the least, the next ten years of co-ordinating and attending those beautiful classical dance and vocal performances became something I looked forward to each year. I actually did not need an interpreter anymore. 

So it was not surprising when I saw a post in my #BeHappy group asking if anyone wanted to attend a Kathak event "RIVAYAAT", my hand went up instantly. Of course I googled the word and it means "tradition or customs".

"RIVAYAAT" an initiative by Shalini Thackeray presented by Kalki Foundation and Pooja Pant Dance Company promised an evening of this age-old traditional dance form in a contemporary light and relevant with the changing times. A full house and lucky to have been seated closer to the stage (thank you dear Shalini M'am), I knew I was in for a treat of a lifetime and it was. The Nehru Centre auditorium was full of an audience so mesmerised that they just could not leave. The event hosted by the beautiful Pooja Kanwal Mahtani boasted of celebrities and dignitaries such as Kiran Shantaram, Saroj Khan, Eli Avram (of course got selfies with them), Dr Vitthal Kamat, Pandit Murli Manohar Shukla, Pandit Shailesh Bhagwat, Annabel Mehta, Shilpa Shinde, Ajit Bhure, Anita Kanwal, Nirbhay Wadhwa, Vaibhav Arekar and many more.

Not to forget my very own aww! moment when I saw dear Rajashree Shirke, exponent of Kathak and Bharatanatyam being called on stage. Memories of her gracing my bank's Chennai Music Academy Festival years back and my connect with her came rushing back. I immediately smsd her saying I was in the audience and whether she remembered me and touched to know that she did even though we hadn't connected for months.

"RIVAAYAT" was sheer poetry with beautiful solo performances by Pooja Pant, choreographer and founder of the Pooja Pant Dance Company (now in its 10th year). The contemporary touch of weaving Aesop Fables and Mobile Games into Kathak performed by her students was a delight to watch...and what can one say about the fabulous one and only Aditi Mangaldas and her performance "Seeking the Beloved" about the constant search of life portrayed through compositions of Meerabai, Amir Khushru and Kabir. Aditi Mangaldas just mesmerised us to a spiritually high energy space with her fingers drawing innumerable patterns and moods and just about everything with her voice and dancing. She was something else indeed and I have no words to express what that feeling was watching her perform.

Thank you Shalini M'am for this wonderful opportunity and I must confess that I never knew much about your Kalki Foundation till today.  It was indeed heart warming when you said that "my daughter asked me 'why do we say save the girl child' and not 'why do we not say love the girl child". Even more so that you chose to take Muskaan's thought a step further through this foundation that addresses all aspects of a woman from health, hygiene, safety, education, empowerment and culture by organising "RIVAAYAT" to  inspire youth to appreciate this exquisite dance form of Kathak. It is indeed laudable. "RIVAAYAT" truly is a great beginning and a much needed step towards connecting youth with our culture and traditions.