Shamatai@75!

Shama Naik – like many a youngster – was introduced to Kathak because families in post-Independent India were slowly getting away from the stigma of nautch, a word the colonial British rulers had coined to describe our highly-stylised temple traditions of offering service to deities through song and dance.

She wore thick glasses because she was fond of reading books (there was no TV those days and no Facebook!). Shama Naik cycled quite a distance to learn Kathak. That this form was to engulf her life and consume it totally, only time would tell.

At 75, on October 6, 2025, time stood still. The hall, full of over 500 rasikas, stood still when a grander than grand show by her 108 students ended, as a homage to Shama Naik nee Bhate, guru otherwise. It was like all devis and devtas of not only the art world but nether world had come down to earth to see, savour and bless the occasion. Her life partner Sannat Bhate stood solid like many a Merchant Navy ship, he had been on, in an illustrious career of 40 years. When their little granddaughter – all of two – straddled on the stage full of dignitaries, in her starry white dress, it was like the pole star too had descended on earth. Pune, Ganesh Krida Mandir to be precise.

Guru Shama Bhate has come this far in field not because of politics, one upmanship or smart moves but because of sheer hard work, complete dedication and single-minded pursuit of art. Her goodness is her greatness and her greatness is good because it is made of genuine affection of elders and respect of peers plus love of youngsters and students alike.

This would not be possible if she were merely teaching dance. Many shops in India do that now. Factories, in fact. This has been made possible because she teaches art of life in dance. She does not teach mere vocabulary but alphabets of dedication, mixed with quest for excellence, cemented by the mortar of commitment. She teaches values not merely valuable items. She gives direction in life through dance.

She is an academic. That’s why she reads and writes. Not just books, but lessons of propriety, poise and perfection in art. Her lessons are life-making and life-changing. The many hundreds she has taught were there to watch the Amritosav with parents, and some even with grandparents. That, seven-year-old to the 70 were there showed art has no age and needs only a stage.

What a stage! Gawd, panoramic, full of colours of lights and LED; costumes and complimenting aharya; comperes Swati Bhide and Harshad Rajpathak and music score that filled the heart and the stadium like hall.

NEVER before the 75th birthday of a dancer has been celebrated so, in the history of Indian dance, especially Kathak. Yes, there were in past assorted gurus whose enthu students would’ve organised a party, a havan followed by eggless cake even! But to have a full-scale four-hour, action-packed feast of a grand birthday celebration, NO never.

That too in an under six million population town. Metro cities with triple the population haven’t done than what of Swaraj is my birthday, oops, birth right town! Tilak the leader himself joined the voice that desired – nay demanded – the Padma award for Shama tai @ 75! but appealed to the Minister present that the Maharashtra government do so. Yours truly led the brigade but that’s because having invoked the most powerful goddess, Saraswati, there was no stopping.

Stop Shamatai never did. In a career spanning 50 years, through personal and proprietal ups and down, she danced on.

And boy, her shishyas danced yesterday, the October 6, as if there was no tomorrow! Tad too long, especially when the grand show started late, waiting for a few VIPs, no one really minded it as the palpable energy was very much in the air. And one item after the other unfolded the ouvre of Shama Bhate, the choreographer. In giving her the Uday Shankar attenDance Award for Choreography (www.attendance-india.com) there was method to our madness. I propose but my co-publisher and trustee and host Elisabeth Hall Khokar, my best half, has the right to dispose our choice. She has the veto rights and when she readily agrees to our short-listed choices, then the attenDance award is sealed, a done deal. No canvassing, no “bribing” helps; it disqualifies. The month our award was announced, next month the SNA awards were announced and Shamatai had won the coveted SNA award too! The power of positive manifestation, eh? Or just the goodness of universe at work. Work, she had done for two lifetimes. Over 25 thematic productions and countless experimental works. She has created a large body of work and yet never shows off, talks big or brags. Only empty vessels make noise. This lady doesn’t have to. Her immense work speaks good itself.

The award also was for her genius in NO TWO WORKS LOOKING THE SAME.

For most established or successful dancers-turned-choreographers, after a few years, their productions start looking the same. The signature becomes a rubber stamp. It happened to Chandralekha in BN; Kumudini Lakhia in Kathak. Only Daksha Sheth, Daksha Mashruwala, and Shama Bhate escape that limitation. That’s the genius.

She has also collaborated with many other forms and styles and each led to a cohesive whole. She has nurtured many a musician and Pune being a garrhd (epic centre) of high-class Hindustani music (what A? It is THE centre) she has availed the expertise and inputs of many. That the icon on music composition Pt Hridyanath Mangeshkar (son of Pt Deenanath Mangeshkar) was there to bless, with her own taal, guru tabla maestro Suresh Talwalkar, with Kathak veteran guru Puru Dadheech on stage showed the genuine affection she has won of her seniors. He also announced an award Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Puraskar on the occasion.

Others of significance who were there were the Manipuri veteran Darshana Jhaveri; Bharatnatyam queen of Pune guru Sucheta Chapekar; Kathak queen Maneesha Sathe, adding to the sheen. From Kolkata came Malabika Mitra; from Delhi Geeta Chandran and Arshiya Sethi; Bangalore beauty Vyjayanti Kashi and Chennai express yours truly! Kathakaar Nandkishore Kapote; BN prince Deepak Majmudar (not Mazumdar) and from Aurangabad dancer academician Parwati Dutta, whose birthday too was on the sixth of October… So many more, too many to list here. Taare nahin apitu saare zamin par.

Add Music by Vinay Ramadasan; Nitin Joshi – Sound Design; Prashant Urunkar – Sound Equipment; Harshavardhan Pathak – Lights; Ashok Shelar -Video; Ashok Sonawne – Stage; Kaustubh Atre – Photography: Kapil Jagtap – Photo; Kundan Ruikar –  Artwork; Tushar Josh – Publicity; Apurv Sathe – Video Editing & Script; Rucha Joshi – Costumes Designing; Sagarika Palsule – Costumes; Ishan Davasthali – Mixing and Mastering; Chaitanya Joshi – Illustration; Chaitanya Govande – Caricature; Hardik Vaghele – Editing; Nihal Makani – Animation; Aparna Kulkarni – Watercolour; Meera Kulkarni – Animation; Milind Kulkarni – Compering; Harshad Rajpathak – VO and Compering; Shilpa Bhide – VO and Compering; Chaitanya Joshi & Meera Kulkarni – Sketches.

Last item was titled Meditation, danced to the track Lotus Feet by the legendary ‘Shakti’ band.

Rest all of the music was specially composed for Nad-Roop by Shamatai with different composers – mainly Late Shri Narendra Bhide, Shri Kedar Pandit and Vinay Ramadasan. Few new pieces were designed just for this occasion (like the one where we incorporated sketch animations), music by Vinay Ramadasan.

Script: Shilpa Bhide (English), Apurv Sathe (Marathi)

Vinod Kasbe, Vishwas Bodare – Help! The list shows what team work it was. Helmed by the most affable, smiling karta dharta of Naadroop, Rajendra Joshi, tabla devotee, IT honcho who has been with Shamatai since he was 14!

No point giving item-wise description here; one can soon see on Nadroop YouTube channel. What’s important was the grace, the dignity and the depth with which the entire function was planned by ace shishyas Ameera Patankar, Avni Garden, Manasi Deshpande, Swati Bhide and Sheetal Kolwalkar. It was an army of dancers that showcased how Kathak today is a synthesis of tradition and modernity. How tradition is never static. How in hands and feet of a good guru and able shishyas it can transform to a near spiritual journey. In the end, I wanted to dance but did not want to spoil the splendid dance party! Need more be, said?

Saraswati has blessed Ashish Khokar totally for he has written 51 books, 5k articles in print media in the last 45 years (for the Times of India, The Hindu, First City, Life Positive, the India Magazine and India Today). He created 85 modules for the UGC e-pathshala MA Course. A pioneer in arts administration, he served the Delhi State Akademi, INTACH in the 1980s and worked internationally in France, Sweden, Germany and China in the 1990s. He is a visiting expert/professor to many universities abroad (Italy, Germany, USA, Malaysia and Mauritius). He is teaching special modules at MSU-Baroda, Flame in Pune, Punjab University Chandigarh, Bangalore and Mangalore universities. He has been bringing out India’s only yearbook on dance for the last 25 years – called attendance which is endorsed by UNESCO-CID as a model dance journal. He gives attendance awards to youngsters and seniors. Till date 40+ attenDance awards have been given. A list of 51 books and 40+ awardees can be seen on www.attendance-india.com. He is also the longest serving columnist for narthaki.com and India Today – contributing articles for 25 years now. Currently, he is the Chairman of NEEMRANA Dance Initiative and Curator of the Mohan Khokar Dance Collection & Archives@ IGNCA, Delhi. The India HABITAT centre and the IIC avail his expertise for special events and the world over, and he is treated as an authority on Indian dance. More details on www.attendance-india.com