A moment from the Rudratandava recital at Laban Hrad Mancha

A Bharatanatyam soiree was presented by students of Media Technical Institute at Laban Hrad Mancha in BD Block recently. The group, which has branches all over the city, has two centres in New Town at Eastern High, next to Nazrul Tirtha, and at Uniworld City, ahead of Rabindra Tirtha.

About 50 students performed that day, some of whom were as young as two years of age. The show started with Ganesha Kautham (verses dedicated to lord Ganesha) — an opening dance by Swarnali Shastri — and then some recitals showcasing the basic steps of the dance form, called adavu.

Some dances were set to bols (mnemonic syllables correlated to tabla strokes) like Jyotiswaram and others to poems, like Krishna Kautham and Natesha Kautham. Many pieces were woven into plays too. The highlight of the show was Rudratandava, culminating in Lord Shiva’s dance in a fit of rage. “The dance narrates Shiva’s story without using any words,” said the group’s secretary Shakti Shastri. “We are now looking forward to presenting more plays through Bharatanatyam.”

Soubhik Chakrabarti

 

Music & verse

FE Block-based art and music school Sudarshana held its annual cultural programme at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan on June 5.

The school that opened in 1991 teaches Rabindrasangeet, Hindustani classical music, elocution and drawing and the performers on stage that day ranged in age from five years to the 60-plus.

The event started with a song by new students. It was the first time that the young ones took stage and they sang three Tagore songs and three classical songs.

This was followed by five students reciting poems of Sukumar Roy, Sailendra Prasad Mukherjee, Satyendra Nath Dutta, Saral Dey and Kazi Nazrul Islam. Some of the chosen poems were Ilshe guri by Satyendra Nath Dutta, Bhoy Peyona from Sukumar Roy’s Abol Tabol, Rajar Hasi by Saral Dey and Khuki Kathberali by Kazi Nazrul Islam. Each child recited with confidence and poise.

Next up was an item where Tagore songs were interwoven into a script. Senior students performed songs like Tomar sur shunaye, Tahare arati korey chandra tapan and Dui hatey kaler mondira je. Babi Kesh, a senior student, sang Tumi kemon kore gaan koro and Je ratey mor duarguli in the first half of the programme.

“These programmes build confidence in students and help them overcome stage fright,” said Rakhi Sarkar, founder of Sudarshana.

 

Tribute to elders

Ten senior citizens of the township were recently felicitated by the EC Block-based NGO Nakshatra Welfare Society. MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and MLA Sujit Bose were also present.

“Being a woman, I have always given but never received any recognition. It feels great to get felicitated for the first time in my life,” said 72 -year-old Meenakshi Mitra of BC Block, at the ceremony in DD Block’s Dishari Bhavan.

Mihir Kumar Chatterjee, a 93-year-old of EC Block, was also feted. “Chatterjee takes great interest in the activities of the block association and is an avid carrom player. We all want to enjoy life like he does,” said Ghosh Dastidar.

After the felicitation, well-known singer Sreeradha Bandopadhyay, who stays in CE Block, performed bhajans and Rabindrasangeet. “Every year we pay our respect to the elderly in Salt Lake as we feel it is they who guide us in the right direction,” said president of the society Ratna Bhaumik.

 

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