Most college students have grand tales to tell — of long lecture hours, bunking classes, busy exam schedules or visits to the dean’s office. But if you asked me, I would tell you about the new dance choreography that blew my mind, the song that one of my professors sang so melodiously one autumn day, of how after a rigorous dance session everyone falls asleep in the theory class, or of the times a dog or a bird entered the class and either disrupted a practice session or simply sat watching.
College life for me is different. I am pursuing a Bharatanatyam diploma course at Kalakshetra (Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts). We train to be performers and teachers of classical art. But first, we are taught the traditional Indian way of life.
That is what our founder Rukmini Devi had envisioned. Hence, you will find our campus homely and green, students in sarees and kurtas, vegetarian South Indian meals in the mess and cultural programmes hosted in our theatre (arangam). We get so close to nature that we recognise the dogs and the nests and the difference that trees can make to the surroundings.
Rigorous routineA course in dance isn’t as merry as it sounds. A typical day starts with chanting early in the morning in the dining hall. College begins after a universal prayer under the banyan tree. In the morning hours, we have dance or vocal (carnatic) classes. We stretch, exercise and dance through the summer heat, the monsoons and the margazhi. We practise a single choreography for months together so we get each movement and expression right.
We learn the theoretical aspects of it too — the literal and philosophical inferences of the text we dance to. We are taught Sanskrit, Tamizh and Telugu to be able to understand the music compositions. Since Bharatanatyam came from the temples, we learn about their architecture, history and mythology.
Kalaripayattu and pottery are taught too. Sometimes, bhajans or cultural programmes are held late in the evening on Fridays in the Rukmini arangam. But no matter what the climate or the schedule is like, practice is a must.
Our college strength isn’t large — roughly 200 students. This makes it like a big family of sorts.
When we go out and meet an ex-kalakshetraite, we instantly connect because we would have gone through the same intense training in dance or music, under the same faculty.
Classical art is so vast that four years of the course just marks the beginning of our learning. Once you learn it, it will remain ingrained in you. Whenever I face a mirror, I find myself correcting my posture or executing a “kitataka tarikita tom”.
If I hear a song, my mind instantly tries to place the raga.
At a time when the significance of the Indian classical arts seems to be fading among the younger generation, we train not just to excel but to keep it alive.
