Vive la 2025!

​The year end is always a time for a recky. Earlier, those of us who had regular columns in the print media (I had in the Times of India for almost 20 years; the Hindu for five and continue contributing to India Today occasionally when the topic is pan Indian), used to write THE YEAR THAT WAS! Highlights, low tides; who did what and what stood out. Rights and fights even!

Today, in this age of nanoseconds​ updates, one year is like an eon. Gawd! Who even remembers what we ate last night? The nature of social media is now increasingly anti-social: Stress-causers, giver of ill-health and ulcers, young ones are glued to their cells. We were glued to our parents, friends, cousins or causes!

Cause-celebre this year in arts were far and few: NATIONALLY, in arts, it started with the grand Republic Day parade where, in addition to the usual retro tablueaux – looking like from the 1960s – shown state wise; the toy-looking Defence equipment on tractors; the usual parade was enhanced by SNA under an active Sandhya Purecha team putting together a grand spectacle of our rich folk forms together in a spiffy seven minutes feat. For details read my column and coverage in India Today (link).

The three events that stood out for academic or artistic content were: Pune’s guru Shama Bhate’s 75th bash with 108 dancers paying homage; Mumbai’s Daksha Mashruwala’s Kaishiki’s academic content seminar following a first-rate dance festival in the open, featuring current flavour of the dance scene in various forms (link) and the Bangalore NADAM festival where the Nair sisters created a benchmark work in Mohiniyattam.

For me, it was also a year of closure and fulfilment. The Mohan Khokar Centenary function in Delhi was the father of all functions done during 2024-25 under the dynamic leadership of IGNCA head Dr Sachchidand Joshi. Ten cities – starting with Chennai@ Kalakshetra his alma mater, then Mumbai@Shanumukhananda; Baroda @MSU; Chandigarh University, Patiala Punjab University, Majha House at Amritsar; Bhubaneswar@ ORC and finally Delhi @IGNCA was the cherry on cake. All India paid homage to not just my father but father-figure of Indian dance history and heritage. Read narthaki for details.

Attendance was high. One could meet the 9-90-year-old in each city. Speaking of 90 years old, Guru Kalyan Sundaram Pillai in Mumbai remains epitome of good grace and culture. His family legacy, the Raja Rajeswari School, celebrated its 80th anniversary and anyone who was someone in the dance field turned up there. Small town India danced and big town India made others dance and sing.

So as the year closes, it is with satisfaction that one reports that five worthies in the dance field, got celebrated in Bangalore at AttenDance Annual awards. AttenDance is India’s only yearbook on dance celebrating its Silver jubilee year in 2025. For the past 15 years, it has been choosing worthy awardees and the jury is unknown and no canvassing allowed. Unlike many other awards in the country, the AttenDance Awards are curated (even the shawl is not the usual cheap-looking shiny stuff but a designer scarf! With attenDance logo in a corner) and carefully selected. Often there are total surprises. Careers of the young have been made by this award, often many winning more prestigious awards like the SNA junior or senior, even a Padma. The awards carry no purse but practical help: internship abroad or three assured shows in India for the young ones. Veterans are remembered and given RESPECT.

The youngest awardee this year on 19 December function was 90-year-old Leela Venkatraman – the Delhi-based dance writer for the Mohan Khokar Dance Writing Award; next youngest being 80-year-old Rathna Papa Kumar of Houston was all smiles and substance on receiving the Maya Rao Lifetime Achievement Award. Her Kuchipudi at NADAM Festival was a reference point; guru Jigyasa Giri next, the most cultured Kathak talent in south today who has given Chennai a whole form Kathak and a new identity start from ONLY BN tag; Vandana, an elegant lady from an island in the Indian Ocean the size of Mylapore or Anna Nagar in Chennai or Indira Nagar in Bangalore or Lajpat Nagar in Delhi or Dadar- Matunga in Mumbai called Mauritius- Putanjani Purgus Mungar – got a Special Mention for her work as an educator par excellence, as did Montpellier-based Sonya Wynne Singh, whose guest editing of 2025 issue of Indian dance in France ( which earlier had got a grand launch in Delhi and later in Paris) and North India’s ace printer Bhupinder Sachdeva of Printways are this year’s recipients. Rama Vaidyanathan, who today is a benchmark in Bharatanatyam, shared in her Acceptance Speech that when the call came announcing the Rukmini Devi Award to her, she couldn’t believe it because she didn’t HAVE TO ask, apply, give gifts or self-nominate. Each of the younger ones spoke from the heart. Jigyasa Giri felt humbled to get in Bangalore because she learnt Kathak from the great guru Maya Rao here. Putanjani Purgus felt that coming from Chhota Bharat and getting reconciliation from parent country India, was an ultimate dream come true. On stage they looked like the Panchakanyas!

HCG family launched attenDance 2025

Doing the honours, HCG Cancer Hospitals chain owner and arts lover Dr Ajai and Bhagya Kumar welcomed all to his daughter Aagnika’s weighty presentation of Ardhanariswara. The awards function was dedicated to the memory of his son Adarsh, who took leave of planet Earth on 4th September, a day before Teacher’s Day: In life, he taught us resilience, fortitude, humour and more. Kamla Laxman, the paambu BN dancer in films of the fifties, was also remembered.

What do arts and artists teach us? Tyaag and tapasya. Forget their failings of being self-absorbed, often egoistic folks! Or out of shape in India. Foreigners find it very odd that the body being a tool in dance, how Indian dancers are careless, even blase about it. And mouth SPIRIT OVER BODY/ divinity in dance/ body shaming jargon.

But that’s true too. No one looked at Bala’s tall, jadda body but all saw her artistry mostly. No one saw the bald gurus but the beauty of their art. But the rider is: they must be excellent and exceptional in their art. Everyone can use that as a fig leaf!

Conversely, look at what artists give to society for free – a minute of joy, meaning and often gratitude for being born in India that’s Bharat. A painting. A film. A song. Dance. Literature. Poetry. How rich are we, even if our cities, especially metro India now, are UNLIVABLE! Our chief guest, the former finance, culture and additional chief secretary Chiranjiv Singh – chairman of attenDance awards – couldn’t reach the hall for two hours a10 km distance. That’s Bangalore for you. Delhi, Mumbai, are no better, unless one lives centrally. Madras still is by far the best run and administered metro. Hyderabad, hardly counts in the art world now but more in commerce.

Commerce in culture. Has anyone tabulated the culture economy of India? Weddings. What all it generates. The textile, flowers, food, band and gifts. Think WHAT all a film generates? How many people get employment? And one sportsman Messi comes to create a bigger mess of crowds. His bill: 85 crores! For his India visit he was paid 85 crores according to a report in the Times of India!

Dance defines, music mesmerises. Think of an old song when you were young and loved or a film. Or a special function. Watching my favs Helen and Zeenat Aman on Sony TV show on music, took me back in time. Helen was my first choice for a PhD ! Her dance reached millions, no other dance in India could ever reach. But Mumbai University balked at the topic! At 86, she looks as energetic as at 50. Zeenat Aman looks grand in her senior incarnation and still can dam maro dam.

Do young India/ artists have staying power? Will they be relevant in just five to ten years in the coming times? Does instant access and gratification and outreach in social media lead to any tangible result in the long run? Valli is still remembered for her last show, is anyone today from last week? Yes, Praveen Kumar, whose solo dance after the attenDance Awards was so good that this size double zero body was forgotten, only his art stayed. His body filled the whole stage! It was the most memorable performance of the year. And what a way to end a year. Merry Christmas (the colours of this column) and a Happy New year to all.

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, 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