Delhiites had a touch of Bangladesh at the recent Puja celebrations. The city came alive as a troupe of Bangladeshi artistes arrived in the capital to stage performances at several Puja mandaps. Well known cultural organisation Shadhona was in the thick of the festivities as it coordinated the various performances with the Dhriti group.
Finally the curtains came down with exclusive Shadhona events spread over two days — at the residence of the Bangladesh High Commissioner and the cultural hub, India International Centre respectively. For Manipuri dancer Warda Rihab, head of the Dhriti delegation, the performances at the mandaps were an eye opener. To quote her, “I was told that nothing much happens at Puja in Delhi. Quite the contrary, our performances received a tremendous response. Some people in the audience even cried because many had their roots in Bangladesh and our shows revived old memories.”
Bangladeshi artistes stage performances at Puja mandap
Meanwhile the performance, entitled “ Season of Festivities,” at the residence of the Bangladesh High Commissioner, too effectively showcased the magic of Bangladeshi dance and music. “The programme, with about 16 performers, was a fusion of different styles. There was music, dance, singing — folk, Nazrul and Rabindra Sangeet. It was a fusion in the sense of featuring different styles of classical dance and our own folk dances. The theme was the six seasons, of course,” said Dr. Naila Khan, trustee, Shadhona.
The curtains came down the following day with a Shadhona-IIC programme, “A recital of Indian Classical Dances by Bangladeshi Dancers”. Beginning with two superb solo Manipuri dances by Warda Rihab and Samina Hussain respectively, the programme also encased a Bharatnatyam performance (by Arpita Shom and Amit Chowdhury) and ended with a Kathak recital by Tahmina Anwar Anika.
A brief rundown of the star performers of the evening: Warda Rihab and Samina Hossain are both disciples of Smt Kalavati Devi, the foremost disciple and wife of the late Guru Bipin Singh, who is acknowledged to have brought Manipuri dance from the ritualistic mandapa to the proscenium. Both have also studied and performed extensively under the well-known Sharmila Banerjee, a leading exponent of dance in Bangladesh, at Chhayanaut. While both are recipients of various awards, Warda is an Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholar, and Samina has trained at the ICCR Dance Academy in Dhaka.
The other dancers too have impeccable credentials. Arpita was awarded an ICCR scholarship and completed her graduation and post-graduation in Bharatnatyam at the Rabindra Bharati University of Kolkata under the guidance of Guru Khogendra and Guru Rajdeep Bannerjee. Amit Chowdhury has trained under several leading Bharatnatyam exponents. Currently he is undergoing a special training on Creative Dance and Tagorean Dance from Rabindra Bharati University.
Kathak danseuse Tahmina Anwar, a disciple of Munmun Ahmed (student of Pandit Birju Maharaj), is presently training under Pandit Krishan Mohan Misra of Delhi. To Tahmina goes the credit of receiving several awards, both as a child prodigy and now as an upcoming dancer. Tahmina has trained at the ICCR Dance Academy in Dhaka. What made these dancers’ Delhi recitals the more remarkable was that they are all young and upcoming artistes. They may have a long way to go in the dance firmament but they certainly reveal the makings of artistes to watch out for in the future.