The Oxford English Dictionary defines Kathak as : “A Type of Norther Indian Classical Dance, with alternating passages of mime and dancing.” For others, scholars and dancers alike, Kathak has been a symbol for many things, be it devotion, storytelling, symbiosis and synthesis or then emerging colonial and postcolonial identities. It’s intricate ties with Hindustani Music, the khayals, thumris, ghazals and bandishes, all weave the fabric … Continue reading Defining Kathak
As part of 45 Days Dance Stories, I’m still looking back at the body of work by the one and only Ruth St. Denis. she was one of the key proponents of Indian Dance and Hindu Philosophical thoughts through her meditatively choreographer pieces. Today I wish to share Ruth St. Denis’s depiction of the East Indian Nautch Dance, where the women is explorer and seductress, … Continue reading East Indian Nautch Dance : Ruth St. Denis
Last year around this time I did 45 Days Art Stories for The Nirula Family Company. This year I thought I’d take inspiration from a field of personal practice where music, beat, song, rhythm, movement, expression and emotion all are incorporated to create a performance that all of us know as “Dance”. So these 45 days will be a Dance Countdown, grooving us over to … Continue reading RASA in the 21st Century
Delhi is a City that encourages transition, and one space within the City that has found itself re-inventing itself, based on the needs of its inhabitants is the area of Haus Khas. From a literal water-well, to a space of learning, to a creative hub. Haus Khas has had many versions. This is its centuries old journey compressed for easy consumption. Haus-Khas owes in equal … Continue reading Art Spaces in Delhi : Haus-Khas
One of my many favourite lines from this part philosophical, part prophecy, part exploration of cultures, religions and “then” contemporary society has to be “We think of the key, each in his prison thinking of the key, each confirms a prison.” As the poem meanders like a giant pregnant river, the knowledge explored and encased in its five sections : I. The Burial of the … Continue reading The Waste Land by T.S. Elliot
My middle school principal would read from this every morning during assembly and for me the poem I connected with the most was and is: “Where the mind is without fear” Here is the poem: 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 … Continue reading Gitanjali – A collection of poems by Ravindranath Tagore.
VRATHA – a Sanskrit word that is often used across India in various dialects and languages to signify ‘fasting’, means a ‘sacred vow’ in its truest translation. The Hindu in contemporary times, very much like their brothers and sisters from antiquity, offer a range of prayers, mantras, gifts and sacrifices to their Hindu Pantheon. With each day of the week ascribed to a specific God, … Continue reading Karva-Chauth
D's Art Takes 