The darkness and tempest caused by the Delhi monsoons was replaced by a glowing evening of traditional Indian music and dance forms, put together by TYAAG, The Yoga And Art Group, an association of artistes from various genres. The evening titled “Srotovaha”, which took place at the picturesque Karthiayani auditorium in Mayur Vihar Phase-I, was designed to showcase the senior students of TYAAG, a charitable trust whose stated objective is to help its students find meaning in life through the performing arts.
Nisha Mahajan, founder and managing trustee, is of the firm belief that artistes need to be moulded in such a way as to be able to protect their inner beings, no matter what challenge may come their way. This is a principle she imbibed from her yoga guru, late Pandit Shambhunath, an architect and theatre practitioner who made a deep study of yoga as a holistic way of life and essential to a balanced and healthy life. Students and members of TYAAG approach the performing arts like Kathak, tabla and Hindustani vocal music through an integrated approach that includes various aspects of yoga and avoids dividing the various forms into airtight compartments.
After a short vocal presentation by the nine-year-old Nirbhay, who is learning Hindustani music from his guru Rakesh Pathak, the evening took an exciting turn with a tabla duet by Shubhankar Chatterjee and Saurabh Seshan, both training in the tabla under Arunava Chanda The evening was taken to a new level altogether by the guest artiste of the evening, Aditi Joshi. The girl with the musical genes captivated the audience with her soothing voice as she sung Sufi music of Punjab.
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The last performance added more colour to the evening as the stage was taken over by the Kathak students training under Nisha Mahajan. The dance performance started with “Krishna Vandana”, conceptualised by Guru Rohini Bhate and Shruti, Harpreet, Damini, and Devanshi. This was followed by a splendid performance by Sohina, Sana, Devanshi and Shruti who impressed the audience as they performed footwork in Teen tala. The last presentation was named “Mayur”, inspired by the peacock and the way it rejoices in the rain. The use of lights to depict dark clouds and lightning added to the overall impact of the choreography, which was performed beautifully by the students.
Kamalini Dutt, Director, Archives, Doordarshan, who spoke after the show, appreciated not only the performers but also their parents and gurus for allowing them to pursue their passion in one of the only non-competitive spheres left in society today. Stressing on how art education helped in the overall development of children, she said, “These children are not being prepared for some reality shows, but for a larger reality, that is life.”
Guru Munna Shukla, Kathak doyen, put the whole thing into nutshell, saying, if “
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