Q. You are an internationally recognized Kathak performer and a Kathak Guru. How did the journey begin?
My journey into the world of Kathak was initiated at a very early age. My parents remember faintly I was two and a half. This was done to channel the excessive energy I bubbled with. They wanted to put this energy into something constructive and keep me occupied. My mother took me to the famous dancer, and actor of yesteryears, Sadhana Bose, in Calcutta where I was born. She was astounded by my size, my age and my being such a powerhouse of energy. She had reportedly exclaimed in Bengali to my mother, ‘you have brought an infant to my dance class!’
This ‘godi ka bachcha’ became a hot favourite of hers in no time! ‘I found my life in dance like fish found theirs in water. Coming from a non-hereditary dance family, academics were of paramount importance. I did my full-fledged academics and went up to senior Cambridge, B.Sc. Physics, M.Sc. Physics, PhD in Physics. Dance became my breath, my soul, and my life. Later I became a disciple of Guru Kundan Lal Sisodia in Bombay. In 1964, I came under the mentorship of Pandit Birju Maharaj who was an emerging artist at that time. I learnt from him for almost fifteen years.
This is all about being a ‘shishya’ to these living legends. The Guru part fell in my lap quite accidentally. It was probably in 1972 when the Hindi writer Jainendra Kumar Jain’s granddaughter Shruti came to me expressing her desire to learn from me. That is how the initiation into the world of teaching happened. Students started swelling up. My name spread sooner than later as a Kathak teacher as I already was a well-known dancer by 1971.
Q. Who inspired you to become a kathak dancer?
Coming from a Kayastha family, all forms of arts ‘vidya’ were held extremely important. Every child was expected to be adept at academics, fine arts and performing arts etc. While my mother was a gold medalist and a Sahitya Aalankar from BHU, my father was M.A. LLB. He was a great flautist and a dramatist as well. My father went into Civil Service and my mother into Social Service. The inner motivation was latent which was of course kindled by the external support from my family. My gut feeling said I was going to be dancing all my life. Whether or not I would be a dancer of repute was a different subject. The fire in my belly never let me settle for half.
Q. What are the key factors you focus on in the live kathak performances?
It is an ideal blend of rhythm and ‘abhinaya’. Both are intertwined. I focused on their fine balance. Music is rudimentary too. Any Kathak performance has all the three aspects in equal measure. Dance is an indulgence to me. It first enters my heart, deep in, to seep in. Then it gets poured out in the form of dance. Dance is who I am, an all-consuming indulgence it is. Then comes the presentation which, again, comprises all three i.e., abhinaya, dance and the musicality of the performance. Kathak performance is analogous to life itself in the way that it is structured yet it gives you the full freedom to innovate, create and recreate. Even in the rhythmic part, you can go from ‘ati vilambit’ to ‘ati drut’ meaning from the slowest to the fastest. In each rhythmic pattern I do, I am telling a ‘katha’, a story, which is where the word Kathak originates from- ‘Katha’. Kathak gives you the canvas to extend, embrace the unknown, and find fulfilment. Pick one word or one phrase and keep on innovating, improvising, and creating.
The kind of gambit Kathak provides in its presentation, understanding and depth is serene, ennobling, and surreal.
Q. What is the vision and mission of the Asavari Institute of Kathak?
As I mentioned, my journey as a Kathak Guru began by sheer happenstance. Later I started this institute and got it registered as ‘Asavari’. ‘Asavari’ is a morning raga symbolizing hope, and positive efforts towards the propagation, preservation, and promotion of classical arts. Classical arts are the strongest founding pillars of our cultural ethos and our Indian philosophy. There is a ‘Khushboo’ of philosophy in them. I love sharing whatever I have garnered out of life so far: the knowledge of Kathak, its skills, and its ‘Khushboo’ in all its myriad dimensions.
I would wonder how Kathak could be born in the Mughal courts when its name was so Sanskrit. As I grew up, I came to know of the reference Kathak had to the Kathak community in the Mahabharata and the Mithila archives, Maurya period. I love to share all this knowledge with my students and through them, with the wider world. Through Asawari, I am imparting a firm grounding to my students vis-a-vis dance not only as a vocational skill but as a sacred art, instrumental in making them substantially human by uplifting their souls.
Q. Which is the most memorable international performance you gave?
Well, I cannot pick one because each performance is precious for a different reason. National or international, kasba or crowd, Dussehra festival or whole night dance festivals, each has been special to me because each has my soul
Q. What are your expectations from the department of arts and culture to promote kathak dance?
Well, I rather have more expectations from people. It’s people that make patrons of art. I expect people to have sensitivity and sensibility about our cultural heritage which is beyond the ravages of time.
Q. What are your suggestions for the upcoming Kathak artists devoted to Kathak but not having the right opportunities?
I would want to iterate and reiterate as many times as it takes that there are no shortcuts to perfection or success. Perspiration, sincerity, dedication, and hard work make your mission beautiful. That is where pure ‘Ananda’ is. Going into depth about whatever you are chasing, adds a different flavour and aura to your persona. Your real focus therefore should be on the inner joy
Q. What changed after getting Padma Shri Award in 1992? Who do you give credit to?
Getting an award is not an accomplishment. I am grateful that my dedication to art got recognized. The journey does not end here. The quest for excellence is an ongoing process. Even if I am born a thousand times, my quest remains unclenched. The inner fire, the Agni is what keeps an artist going. My Gurus gave me the technical training and the aesthetics but I, as an artist, kept myself always hungry. I am grateful to my mother who made me understand ethos, atma and sahitya. Every question coming from my students and every critical remark helps me grow. ‘Samudra bahut gehra hai’. Art is an ocean you can never fathom. Better not!
Q. What would you like to say to your Guru Pandit Birju Maharaj ji?
He taught me the aesthetics of the human body, the wrist movements, the ‘nazar’, the aesthetics of the stage, of expressions- in short everything that was needed to be absorbed and made your second skin.
Q. What is the highest attraction of your popular video “Dance of Temples”?
The entire construction and the architecture of Khajuraho temples represent the four ashrams of life- brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa and the related paraphernalia of each. This is indescribably beautiful. That is the journey I depicted through the temple dance.
Q. What is the secret behind your fitness and never dying energy as a stage artist?
My reservoirs of energy lie in the fact that I love doing what I am doing. I opted for the dual career when it was not the done thing. I was viewed more critically than others because I was playing this dual role. Believe me, I never was stressed because I loved every moment of what I did. Both my careers; civil service and dance gave me joy. Marrying an ambassador of a country, people assumed I would quit dancing for good. He was himself and I was myself. We grew together in the relationship letting each other be. When you exude positivity, you catch the same positive vibrations from your surroundings and that becomes the energy you are!
Q. What message would you like to convey to women on International Women’s Day?
I shall convey the message by sharing my journey as a woman. There is a message for every woman out there in the following lines. I do not choose to celebrate myself just for one day. Every moment, every day is mine. I must be true to myself. My actions, my thoughts, my deeds, and my inner strength make me who I am. We all have our demons to fight. I have fought mine courageously. I lost my father in the prime of my youth. I gave him Agni and after a couple of days, I performed at the Mathura Festival. Society did not help. Society judged me for giving Agni to my father as a daughter. The physical ailments happened. Biting sarcasm from people happened. Shunning of gazes happened. While all that threatened to break me, did make me – Afresh.
