Gurus and shishyas present legacy and love in power-packed Kathak

 

Guru Sanjukta Sinha and Krutika Ghanekar 

On 3 January, Arijeet Mukherji of the Artists Association of India (AAI) organized the annual AAI Arts Festival of dance at IHC. The event was well-curated and featured four pairs of young Kathak gurus with one disciple each. The theme of the performances was ‘guru-shishya parampara’. There was an art exhibit by Anubhuti Sinha and Sadhna Shrivastava presented the programme in her very affable manner, though she sounded slightly unwell. 

Guru Sanjukta Sinha and Krutika Ghanekar 

Guru Sanjukta Sinha

The first pair to take the stage was Ahmedabad’s Guru Sanjukta Sinha and her disciple Krutika Ghanekar. They started in an informal manner, which Sanjukta said happens before the performance or backstage. 

Guru Sanjukta Sinha

The duo checked their mics and foot mics, clapping, tapping and listening to the sound of the ghunghroos. They conversed till they were ready to take the stage. That was their attempt to present their relationship on stage. They wore billowing black costumes for the performance. 

Krutika Ghanekar 

They began with nritta, performing thaat, gat, parans and tukde to the pakhawaj bols. The hastas were expansive. Krutika covered the stage taking chakkars on her knees. They would cut across the stage diagonally with their gentle moves. The footwork was very strong. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guru Sanjukta Sinha and Krutika Ghanekar 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Krutika Ghanekar 

The composition ‘Shyam bina meri ankhiya dookhe’ was gently and subtly portrayed. Love and longing were portrayed very aesthetically. The duo clearly had perfect coordination and understanding between them.

Guru Ruchi Balooni and Aditi Bhardwaj 

Guru Ruchi Balooni and Aditi Bhardwaj 

Next were Guru Ruchi Balooni and her discipline Aditi Bhardwaj. The emphasis was on the guru shishya bond being sacred. The composition was in taal basant, 16 beats, drut laya. 

Guru Ruchi Balooni

Their costuming was in the typical Kathak style, in mustard and red colours. The shlokas in praise of the guru were sung by Samiullah Khan: ‘Dhyan moolam guru murti’. Arijeet had said that it was the relationship between Ruchi and Aditi that had prompted the guru shishya theme for the festival. 

Guru Ruchi Balooni and Aditi Bhardwaj 

They enacted ‘guru gyan ka deepak jalaya’ and ‘guru kino aap saman’. They performed a paran like tukda with jumps and footwork, ending the piece with Ruchi blessing Aditi as she bows to her. 

Guru Ruchi Balooni and Aditi Bhardwaj 

The duo are well-known for their body of work and their performance, with well-defined apt nritya and nritta. Together, they wove a story of being dedicated to each other. 

Guru Dheerendra Tiwari and Baapi Dey 

Guru Dheerendra Tiwari and Baapi Dey 

Delhi’s Dheerendra Tiwari and his shishya Baapi Dey were the next duo to take the stage. As Dhirendra later said, he would not want to be called Baapi’s guru, but rather be known as his prashishak. Gurus, he said, were sitting in the audience and were those who had dedicated a lifetime to the arts. 

Guru Dheerendra Tiwari

The two wore off-white and black for their kurta and lower. Dheerendra, as the teacher, holds Baapi’s hand when he is about to fall, during chakkars. They presented parampara, a journey of legacy that has been carried across generations. The gurumukhi tradition, in which the guru and disciple bridge the tradition of carrying the cultural and moral values, stands the test of time. 

Baapi Dey 

Dheerendra considered himself a link in this chain. The composition used was ‘Prabhuji sun lo pukar’. Kathak is shown to represent the link for the transmission of sanskriti and sanskar. Dheerendra began with his forte, footwork. He held Baapi’s hand to take him forth on his path as he falters. The nritta featured tihai, tode, tukde, rotating on knees, paran aamad, natwari, chakkars, gat with alternating rhythms. They took turns reciting padhant for each other’s footwork. He said the gods come to earth to seek gurus – that is the position of a guru in the tradition of guru-shishya parampara . 

Baapi Dey 

The duo finished with complex footwork patterns, covering the entire stage, coming down to softer notes in the end. Their entire performance was marked by dynamism. Their forte is their footwork and their crisp hastas, chakkars and the speed and agility that goes into it, covering the entire stage effortlessly.

 
Guru Abhimanyu Lal and Varsha Dasgupta 

Guru Abhimanyu Lal and Varsha Dasgupta 

Guru Abhimanyu Lal and his disciple Varsha Dasgupta took on the stage next. They began with ‘Prati Chhaya’, which is a blend of two works, ‘Pratibimb’ and ‘Chhaya’. The disciple follows her guru, embodying the sacred bond, absorbing knowledge from her guru, so that she becomes his chhaya or shadow. 

Guru Abhimanyu Lal and Varsha Dasgupta 

‘Guru pratibimb, shishya hi chhaya’, was written and composed by Abhimanyu Lal, assisted by Varsha. Among the accompanying artists was Abhimanyu Lal’s son Aryan Lal on tabla. They wore a costume which was aesthetically designed in white and gold. 

Guru Abhimanyu Lal

As a beacon, he tears apart the darkness of ignorance. Abhimanyu started with footwork and Varsha followed. They presented thaat, gat, tihai, aamad. Varsha’s forte is nritta. She took chakkars with a leap. Together, they did a paran and chakkars. Abhimanyu said that when he saw what a guru stands for, he thought that he was fit to be a shishya and not a guru. 

Guru Abhimanyu Lal and Varsha Dasgupta 

They performed an upaj in teen taal. They together did footwork with clapping and a duet in footwork. Abhimanyu and Varsha showed equality in their relation as a guru and a shishya and showed the strength of their hold on nritta.

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After the evening had ended, I got to thinking about another piece I had watched quite a while ago. It was last year that I had evaluated dance films by young dancers for a competition. One of the films was ‘Grey Matters’ by accomplished Manipuri dancer Ivana Sarkar. It talked about the relationship between a very young dancer and her ageing guru. She portrayed how the guru feels while watching the younger dancer, which includes envy and insecurity, but which finally settles down to the feeling that what her disciple is doing is a reflection of herself and that she must dance hereafter in the form of her disciple. It was a very well-made movie with excellent camera work and choreography. But to relate to the theme was a little difficult for me at the time. 

The relationship between a guru and a shishya is as pure as that between a mother and a child. A mother bears you when she is ready to bear you and a guru takes a shishya when she or he is ready to see you through. A mother protects, nurtures and sometimes even berates you, and the same is with a guru. She is generous, but a good guru is also very stern. Their duty is to carry forth the knowledge or legacy of the gurus who have come before them. Sanjukta showed the harmonious relationship that she has with Krutika, where love becomes the ultimate teacher; Ruchi and Aditi showed they shared a sacred bond; Dheerendra and Baapi had an interesting take when Dheerendra said that he better be known as a prashikshak rather than a guru, since he is just serving as a link in the parampara. And finally, Varsha appears to be the shadow of her guru as she supports him. She said that the thought behind the song was that the guru becomes the pratibimb of tradition and the disciple his chhaya. These various relationships and the inevitable but dignified passing on of the torch to the shishya made me think of Ivana’s dance film, with greater insight this time. The entire festival was well-curated and it was a gala of fine Kathak dancing.

Pics: Anoop Arora