Parents as pillars of strength

Bikram Ghosh and his troupe Rhythmscape set the tone for the tribute to parenthood. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Every child is born with a dream, but not everybody is blessed with parents who have the courage to support their kids in their creative — often bizarre and unconventional — pursuits.

Addressing this core issue is Ipscan (Indian Parenting Services on Care and Nurturing) which focuses on “popularising the strength and value of good parenting”. The fledgling organisation, this weekend, set out to honour three parents who have displayed the spirit and the fortitude to allow their children to explore their non-conventional talents and make careers out of them. The award ceremony, Nritya Sringar: Taaley-Taaley, turned out to be as much a tribute to parenthood as a celebration of the rhythm of life.

Tabla player Bikram Ghosh and his group Rhythmscape set the tone by stringing together genres of music as diverse as Rajasthani and western classical. Bikram says the turning point of his life was when his father left California and returned to Calcutta to enable his son’s musical instinct to develop.

While father Shankar Ghosh, a renowned tabla player himself, was instrumental in nurturing Bikram’s musical instincts, mother Sanjukta was the reason behind his post-graduate degree in literature. “The freedom to do what you want,” believes Bikram, was the greatest gift of his parents.

The Rhythmscape pace was picked up by Ronnie Shambik Ghosh, a graduate from the Hong Kong Academy in performing arts, who claims to be Calcutta’s “only qualified tap dancer”. Showcasing his repertoire of western classical dance, Ronnie says that he owes his unique career solely to his mother, Prativa Ghosh.

Despite being a single parent, her courage and sacrifice to allow her son to take the road less travelled has given Ronnie the strength to “never compromise” with his art.

Tanusree Shankar spent her growing years in an army surrounding, but that did not prevent her parents from allowing her to pursue her creative drive. Tanusree also believes that the freedom to follow one’s passion and “being there as pillars of strength when you are trying to learn” have been the greatest contributions of her parents. In a fitting finale, she and her troupe performed Uddharan, portraying the universal mother’s efforts to bring out the best in her children, to shield them from negative forces, to influence them with the power of goodness and to, ultimately, emerge victorious.