My sister Anjali, an occasional commenter here, attended the “Kathak at the Crossroads” conference that was held last weekend in San Francisco. She passes on these thoughts.
I have just returned from an international kathak festival and symposium, organized by the Chitresh Das Dance Company in San Francisco. I’m having trouble refocusing on the mundane trivialities of day-to-day life. This was a rare gathering of a majority of the names and legends of kathak, with close to fifty artists, both dancers and musicians, attending from around the world. Some, like Birju Maharaj and Krishna Mohan Mishra, are descendants of long lines of dancers whose forefathers performed in the Moghul courts. Kumudini Lakhia is a dancer who broke the mold and, in the 1950s, injected “Western” notions of choreography into kathak, beginning a long discussion as to what is and is not traditional. Madhuri Devi Singh is one of the last living baijis (courtesans) of Benares, whose difficult life, etched in lines along her face, nonetheless produced a dancer of almost divine grace and tangible kindness. Other masters and grandes dames of kathak included Tirath Ram Azad, Chitresh Das, Sunayana Hazarilal and the sisters Saswati Sen and Vaswati Mishra. And then there were dancers of a younger generation (and by “younger” I mean close to or in their 40s) such as Rajendra Gangani, Aditi Mangaldas and the members of the Chitresh Das Dance Company.
There were presentations and panels. There was talk of fusion and confusion, of traditional versus contemporary, of authenticity, of accessibility. And there were performances. For a student of dance, this was a treat beyond treats. With three or four hours of performances every evening and additional showcase events during the days, I felt like a child with a bucket of my favorite candy and someone standing over me telling me I had to finish it all at once. It was almost too much. I wanted more time to savor each performance before being swept into another one. I watched in amazement the fastest and most precise footwork I have ever seen, the most deep-seated perfection of rhythm and timing, and the total devotion to an art form that one rarely encounters today.I traveled to the conference with eight other kathak students from Boston, including a fifteen-year old. Throughout the performances, I stole glances at her, and smiled to see her keeping count of the musical cycle on her fingers, leaning forward in her seat in complete absorption with the dance. At the end of every show, her eyes shone with an enthusiasm, wonder and delight that I suspect few teenagers feel, much less exhibit in the course of their adolescence. And I thought about how lucky she was to have had this opportunity, to see these dancers who have lived and breathed this art form for decades, who very soon will no longer be dancing, and who too soon after that will no longer be among us at all. The girlÂ’s friends all think it is weird that she studies kathak. Why not bhangra, they ask? To her, it is obvious why she chose kathak.
I thought, too, about the Nike ad that was the subject of discussion here a little while back. (In fact, I brought this up at one of the panel discussions, and in fact ran into a mutineer who identified himself as such after the session.) Should we be glad for the popularity of things sub-continental, even if they are gross distortions and dilutions of what some consider “the real thing” because at least they spark an interest in that culture? And what is “the real thing?” Bhangra is its own real thing. I looked around at the depth and richness of of the little world that enveloped me for three days and wondered about how to share it with more people. Jason Samuel Smith, Emmy award-winning tap dancer (of Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk fame) shared the stage with Chitresh Das for a dazzling collaboration (but NOT fusion) called India Jazz Suites and announced to the audience that the only thing that made him sad about being acquainted with kathak was that he had not known about it earlier. He went on to say that kathak should be taught in all schools. OK, so perhaps that’s an exaggeration, and he’s got his own proclivity for percussive dance. Anyone deeply involved in an art form believes that form should be taught in schools. But the underlying point is so true: that all kids should somehow be exposed to something so deep and so rich and so satisfying. How many kids born today (and by the way, congratulations to Amardeep and family!) will have that opportunity? To come into close contact with people who have given their lives to, and thus contributed tremendously to, music, dance, visual arts, literature? To have their hearts affected by art?
I returned home determined to practice more, and to bring my two-year old daughter, who already is in love with dance, to watch class now and then. Kathak is too rich, too beautiful, too historic, too meditative for me not to share it with her. I only hope that if kathak does not touch her soul, something else will.
– Anjali
You can contact Anjali here. Those in the Boston area can check out the kathak program she is involved with, Chhandika. Also, Birju Maharaj performs this Friday in New York City and Sunday in Boston.
Related article.
Much more to say, but no time to post now. Quickly though: Anjali, thanks for this report. I actually think/hope/am very optimistic that lots of children born today will have the opportunity to “come into close contact with people who have given their lives to, and thus contributed tremendously to, music, dance, visual arts, literature” and “to have their hearts affected by art.”
Great post Anjali. I related completely to the passage I’ve quoted above, except in a different context. In my case, you would replace “dancer” with “musician,” “kathak” with “jazz,” and “bhangra” for “rock.” Yes, I realize that jazz is not necessarily a desi art form, though Vijay Iyer, Trilok Gurtu, and Rudresh Mahanthappa would beg to differ, but I wanted to underscore your description of the 15 year old’s reaction. It’s the very same one I had when I saw my first jazz concert at age 15 (Michel Camilo playing with Anthony Jackson and Dave Weckl at Blues Alley in DC). I cherish the fact that I found something that gave me such joy when I was so young. I can’t even say that my love of playing music got me through hard times because, as a result of this love, there weren’t any hard times. It’s so important for young people to explore the arts, whichever one you want, because they give you the emotional fulfillment that Anjali has so eloquently described. So, to all you first geners out there, if you have a kid that gets a B instead of an A in math by spending to much time practicing, but at the same time has a love of the arts, I guarantee that kid will turn out just fine.
that kid was me. any i turned out ok….
Sriram, that’s so spooky. I had just started listening to a Michel Camilo CD (Spain Again with Tomatito) when I read your comment.
Anjali didi, nice to see you blogging!
Hear that, first geners? Hear that?
7 · mertis Errr Rajni…SPAM alert!!
Paris Hilton got a record deal after more casual sex. Nice theory though.
Sriram,
Why did you single out first geners to give this advice?
Siddharta,
Thank you so much for this! I can’t begin to tell you why…I didn’t even know Birju Maharaj is still with us.
Amanda,
Well, I was being semi-facetious and the comment was just based on my personal experience with my parents.
Preach it, Anjali!
Even weirder- I just heard my first michel camillo CD yesterday. He would have turned my world upside down when I was 15!
For me it was seeing Yusef Lateef (saxophone) that hooked me at that age, when all my friends were into house music. For Indian classical music, an old cassette of Bismillah Khan with Vilayat Khan. Complete new worlds to escape to.
Great post Anjali, brilliantly described. The ‘too many chocolates’ feeling, love it.
Very much so! I had the privilege of interviewing him a couple of days ago; here’s the article.
Nice article Siddhartha, and thanks for the shout-out to Chhandika!
Fabulous article, Siddhartha. I had the opportunity to study with Pandit Birju Maharaj, Sashwati Sen, and a few of their senior students at a similar 3-day workshop (outside of New York City). For those of us who go to class several times a week and/or practice at home, close contact with such master artists–even for a few days–can be inspirational and transformational.
Sriram,
semi-facetious!
I was enthusiastically reading the article and your comments (since I like you music) when I came across this sentence.
This is a very condescending. It is no different from the scenario where say you are at a party to celebrate the wedding of an interracial, say black and white, american couple and someone suddenly announces “To all you people of Indian origin out here, if your kid marries someone from a different caste, their marriage will still turn out OK”
This is no different from the constant discrimination I face in my daily life because of my brown skin and my accent. Everyone already knows upon looking at my skin color and hearing one sentence from me that I am a submissive wife who must be married already to a sexist south-asian male. You generalize your experience with your parents to everyone from south-asia across time and space – and you say you are being semi-facetious!
My first instinct was to point out that your parents are a different generation than many of the first genners on this board. Heck, my sister who is just 8 years younger than me grew up in a totally different India than I did! But then this reminded me of the time right after 9/11/2001 when people wearing turbans were being attacked. Instead of condemning such unwarranted attacks, the Sikh groups in the US were trying to tell people that they are different from the Muslims – like it was okay for people to attack the muslim people of this country for no reason.
All second (and more) genners have such a superior attitude toward first genners – I do not know for what reason? It is not like the view you have expressed here is that radical – this is the kind of stuff that I have heard all through my life growing up in India and later in the US – the “all-rounders”, the people who get great grades or promotions and also do “extra-curricular” activities are the Cool ones. We, the geeks who love math and do engineering are uncool! If anything, my advice to parents (any human parents) would be – please leave your kids alone already – let them live their own life.
There is a great book called “Hand me down dreams” by Mary Jacobsen which talks about how parents influence their children’s career. This is a well known problem in the west as well. Currently, being good at multiple things is considered desirable, so all parents will be lugging their kids to this class and that all the time thinking that they are giving their kids opportunities, while what they are actually doing is imposing their unfulfilled dream of being a cool multi-talented person onto their children!
This statement of yours is very insulting, Sriram. I come to this forum because I feel it will be easier for me to interact with people without having to constantly say – no I am not like this or that just because I grew up in India. The thoughtless insults never stop – this makes me sad.
Amanda,
I apologize that you find my statement so offensive, it was certainly not my attention. Perhaps I should have specified that the comment was directed at people of my parent’s generation, to which my comment is readily applicable. I don’t feel the need to defend myself any further because my previous statements illustrate that I have nothing but respect for first geners. Beyond that, you’re free to believe that I’m insensitive and ignorant. I know that is not the case. Finally, I think it is in very poor taste for you to compare my statement with post-9/11 attacks on Muslims and Sikhs.
Oops, I meant “intention” in the first sentence of my last comment.
Siddhartha and Anjali, so on with the ek-do wonder sibling kathak wordsmith duet! I am missing my ghungroo and left heel callous more than ever thanks to your odes…
Good post! I spent years studying kathak and for me it use to be a chore, my mum forced me to learn. Its only now in my late 20’s that I appreciate its beauty. The question is weather I am going to ‘force’ my future children to learn the beauty of this art form? I was immensely pleased to learn that there is a dance school in Virginia (www.indiaschool.org), what I would do with the info is another questionÂ…
ItÂ’s not an issue about first genners and all that nonsense, I have not had a relative born in India in over a 100 years, this has had no effect on me being ‘Indian’. If you look at South Asians that are born and raised in foreign countries over many generations (about 3 or 4) you will notice that some generations have a lull in cultural aspects, almost a death of it, and then the next generation brings on a revival. This is what is going to happen here, either to our kids or our grandkids. I hope this made sense. My point is that South Asian culture has been around for a long time, its going to take more than and “American Invasion” (no insult meant!!! So down american pittbulls!)to dillute/eradicate it. Anjali I hope your daughter does find the beauty in kathak or in any art form, because it took me years to learn that it does indeed complete me.
Sriram you have no reason to apologise, your comment was perfectly fine. If others can’t relate to it (I could) then too bad, in my opinion.
What does this have to do with Sriram’s comment?
Amanda,
I actually like the concept of exposing your children to everything and letting them pick what they love. In fact I’m so glad that parents are finally starting to see this as a need rather than concentrating on any one thing.
I have a girlfriend with 2 kids under 7 and she’s always driving them from band to ballet to baseball to painting to gymnastics to piano and I used to think she was being insane but you know what the kids really enjoy it, they drive the desire to do it and when they get sick of it they move on but they are so well rounded and enjoy anything and everything and aren’t fixated on any one thing which to me is actually a positive.
I’m the progeny of “scattered” parents who while being an Engineer & Doctor still made me do lots of different things, some of it forced sure. But as a result of it I find myself drawn to things my parents exposed me to before I was 10. I was one of the few kids that used to go to Museums and Art galleries in Mumbai and I’m so so so so grateful to my parents for exposing me to the arts. And I certainly intend to pass it onto my kids whether they like it or not 🙂 Committing to different forms of outlet also instills a sense of accomplishment and discipline in a person and these are good foundations to have.
Children have an immense capacity to absorb everything around them and everything they are exposed to. It’s OK to overload them a bit and expose them to different things. Once people get older they become more rigid and set in their ways and close their hearts to new experiences.
HOLY SHIT I just realized I’ve turned into my parents…I’m regurgitating everything they’ve ever said to me!
Sriram,
I am not asking for apologies. I am not saying that you are insensitive on an average either – just pointing out that this statement is just another of the generalizations that are applied to me daily by many.
I am also Not comparing your statement with the post 9/11 attacks.
What I was saying is – my first reaction was to say that I am from a different generation from your parents. So please do not say in an offhanded way that I too must be like them. Then I checked myself…. there are many people who I know from your and my parents generation that have put a lot of effort into trying and understanding their children and their childrens motivations etc and have encouraged their children to follow their own paths. And I realized that if I only pointed out that I am not the same generation as your parents, that would mean that it is okay to apply this generalization to those others in your parents generation who put a lot of effort into not being like that – that too is not fair and so I checked myself in time.
That is why, while I do believe that averages are different in the two generations, I do not think it is appropriate to say such things to all people of your parents generation as well.
I was mentioning the sikh-muslim thing because , if I remember right, when the attatcks happened Sikh groups pointed out to everyone that they are not muslim, even though they still condemned the attacks against muslims. It seemed to me that these statements implied that “You should not attatck muslims, but even if you do keep in mind that we are not muslims”… here I was putting myself in the role of these sikh groups, and felt like saying “you should not make such blanket statements about your parents generation, but even if you do, I and other first-geners here are not from your parents generation. I see now that this statement is extraneous to the point I was trying to make and is distracting from what I was trying to say.
Amanda,
That’s actually a misinterpretation of why the Sikh groups were reacting in that way, but this topic has already been argued many times before on SM so I’m not going to belabor the point here.
Perhaps we should all get back to discussing the beautiful art of Kathak now 😉
This year’s Indian entrant to the Miss World contest did a kathak routine in the “talent round”, by the way. I believe she also gave a demonstration in public when the contestants were out and about in Warsaw, which is where the contest was held this year.
Sriram, I do not mean to single you out or say you are insensitive. It does not matter what I think of you or what you think of me – this is, after all, an anonymous forum.
I wrote the post in detail because I wanted to bring it to the attention to people who might say or endorse these kinds of statements that they are hurtful generalizations. Unfortunately, I distracted from the post by drawing the sikh-muslim anology. I request that people who think there is nothing wrong with such generalizations read my post without the sikh-muslim part and see what they think.
I think many () can relate to what Sriram felt. Can you relate to what Amanda felt?
Sounds like a good idea….
Following JOAT’s footsteps, I am considering forcing my children to learn kathak while they are really young, whether they like it or not 🙂
Fair enough (waving white flag).
Reading Amanda’s post minus the needless inclusion of Sikhs and 9/11 makes it less inflammatory but it still comes across as a shrill over-reaction to Sriram’s innocuous statement. In my view.
It made sense to me. I’m going to give my kids beautiful, unpronouncable Sanskrit names and force them into Indian arts, emphasis on (what’s left of) Bihari aesthetics, whether they like it or not. They probably won’t, until they’re older. But I know they’ll thank me for it later, like I thank my family now. At least they won’t be able to say that I didn’t give them something from their heritage to hold on to.
Although, I have to admit, I’m still not the prodigal child I want to be. When he retired, my grandfather established a kathak foundation in Chicago in honor of my departed grandmother, an elite dancer in her days . For years my grandmother tried to get me into it, but I wasted my formative years trying to assimilate, and now I feel far too behind to start anew. I might be in a class with 5 year olds! It doesn’t make it any easier that my family is steeped in classical Indian dance and music culture. There would just be too much pressure, considering all the big names and elite dancers from all over (not just desi, mind you) that show up all the time (including Birju Maharaj, who is a chief patron and performs at least once a year for the foundation). I don’t want to be “Doctor Sahib’s incompetent token granddaughter” 🙁
sigh
Anyway, excellent letter, Anjali. You and your bro are such a cute team on this lovely duet 🙂 Inspired me to introduce kathak to all the people I know who, um, don’t have a mental block about it.
Shruti, that’s interesting about your grandfather. Is the foundation the Anila Sinha Foundation? They organized a conference two years ago. I would have gone but my daughter was only two months old, so it was too complicated.
As for exposing one’s kids to things, I do try to do that a lot with my daughter. As a result, at the age of two, she mimics her dad doing karate forms, asks for “ta thei ta thei” dance, wants to listen to Mad Cobra, and snacks on edamame. Perhaps she’ll lose interest in her parents activities and tastes, and that will be sad to us, but I’m sure it will help her develop her own tastes. I grew up in Europe, and I remember one year my parents schlepped me to every church (or so it felt) in Venice. Instead of hating church-visiting, I ended up finding the Sainte Chapelle to be one of the most magical indoor places in Paris. The dim, contemplative quiet, the soaring, gem-colored stained glass windows. I’m not saying there’s a causal relationship there, but at least I was not put off of churches as monuments for the rest of my life!
Anyway, thanks for the comments, everyone. I was a feeling a bit shy about posting here…
Waving white flag here too 🙂
Yes, the Anila Sinha Foundation. They organize the conference every summer, so I wouldn’t worry too much about missing it two years ago. It’s run by my crazy family and our equally crazy family friends, and we also have little brats running around all over the place, so if you ever decide to attend and you need special accommodations for your daughter, just let them know. But I warn you, we organize Bihari style (shockingly, we’re not as bad as the actual dancers and musicians) and if you don’t know what that means, good luck navagating the whole thing 😉
I meant navigating. Stupid spelling OCD…
Pl. let us know details about up comming Kathak Dance Festival 09 . Thanks .