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| Saturday, November 16, 2002 |
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"HATRED spreads more easily than love, particularly when the state and certain sections of the media incite people," laments noted kathak dancer Kumudini Lakhia, director of the Kadamb Centre for Dance, Ahmedabad. She added that artistes of Ahmedabad and the rest of Gujarat were united in fighting the communal menace. The sympathy shown to the victims of the 2001 earthquake in the state was absent this time. "The earthquake was a natural calamity and relief planes were landing every 10 minutes," she points out. "But with these riots you could see that communal poison had sunk in deep." "Institutions like Kadamb have always welcomed the minorities," says Kumudini, while adding, "How can they be driven out?" In their efforts to
bring back normalcy, artistes in the city organised a cultural event,
Satit, on October 2, which was attended by more than 4,000 people. A
series of lectures on the works of Muslim writers on Lord Krishna and
other Hindu gods is also being planned. "The series will stress
on religious tolerance," she says. |
Kumudini was highly critical of the role of the media in Gujarat. "Almost every day, on the front page you had hate-filled views of some of our leaders," she complained. On the issue of fine arts, Kumudini felt that popular appreciation for classical dances had not declined. "In fact, there is more appreciation, particularly from the younger generation, for the new techniques which I had introduced in kathak". "Kathak is a form of dance which has not been well presented before. But I have tried to put it in a more complete frame," she explains. While retaining the grace, rhythm and poetry, the form should also move with the times and accept innovation. Kumudini points out that several of her disciples like Daksha Sheth and Aditi Mangaldas have excelled in introducing new forms of dance. She often told her students, "Find your own form, space and create more inner space within you." Kadamb, now more than 30 years old, has 150 students. As for the cultural
climate in Ahmedabad, Kumudini remarks that it is easy to work in the
city. "People do not interfere with what you are doing and are
helpful. The middle class has taken to dance forms in a big way."
In the past, classical dances were popular among the elite, while the
lower classes enjoyed folk dances, leaving the middle class nowhere.
"Today, all that has changed. The middle class is asserting itself
and flocking to dance schools," she said. Kumudini asserts that
good dancers always emerge from private institutions and not from the
universities which receive huge government grants. "This is strange
but true," she maintains. |
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