Dancing To her Tune

It had been a while since I attended a classical dance recital, so I wondered what kind of an audience it would attract. A wide range, it appeared. Among the twenty-odd people seated were three couples – the women in starched silk sarees and kohled eyes and a few older folk. I was surprised to see a smattering of men who appear to be in their late twenties or early thirties and looked like they spend the week behind computer screens in the corporate offices in the BKC area.

...

As I walked towards the exit, stray notes of Tagore’s rain song Mon Mor Megher Songi float through my mind accompanied by the image of Vijayalakshmi’s eyes and hand gestures creating rain, thunder and lightning. Yes, it had been an enjoyable performance, but it had been so much more. Her stories before each sequence and the trivia she had shared had made it a masterclass of sorts on Mohiniyattam and in the space of 75 minutes, I had come away enriched about a topic I knew nothing about. 

How a 70 minute performance acquainted me with a new dance form and made me reflect on the imbalance in my consumption of the arts?

...published by THE AIDEM ON 30 December 2025.

Somewhere in the Northeast

A few weeks ago Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (https://csss-isla.com/) got in touch with me 

'Would I copy edit their fact-finding report on the Manipur violence?'

I agreed immediately. A couple of years ago I had copy edited another report for them and have been an admirer of their purpose ever since.

I knew I would come away better educated. And affected. What I had not anticipated was the degree of effect. 

As the situation elucidated in the report sunk in, a feeling of helplessness hung overhead like a dark cloud. 

And then the realisation of my ignorance. And apathy, if I was to be cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die-honest.

A conversation with founder and editor-in-chief of theaidem.com Venkitesh Ramakrishnan led me to probe further and put it into words. 

My story on how little I know of Manipur and why that's a problem.

...published by The AIDEM on 18 September, 2024.