Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Sea the sound

Music composer and artiste Aparna Deodhar strums up a tune on the sitar at Marine Drive

The ‘Iron Lady' of mohiniattam

Before every performance, the words of her guru, Dr Kanak Rele, echo in mohiniattam dancer Dr Sunanda Nair's ears: "You're not a true artiste, till you move from within." It's her mantra, an emotional Nair shared with this diarist, adding that her master was nothing less than the "Rani of Jhansi, the Iron Lady" in her life. Like Nair, thousands of students and members of the dance community remembered Dr Rele as a force to reckon with. Dr Rele, 85, passed away in Mumbai yesterday.

A young Dr Kanak Rele and Mandakini Trivedi

The mohiniattam exponent was the founder-director of Nalanda Dance Research Centre and the founder-principal of the Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya. A Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award-winner, she was credited with revolutionising the path of the dance form from Kerala. Ramachandran K, artistic director and project coordinator of the cultural organisation Keli, remembers his friend for the grammar, academic rigour and methodology that she imbued the dance form with.

Uma Dogra and Sunanda Nair

"She weaved in indigenous rhythms and folk lore elements into the classical form. She took mohiniattam to every corner of the world," he told us. A visionary, Dr Rele elevated classical dance to the realm of academics, recalled kathak danseuse Uma Dogra. "She touched countless lives. When I came to Mumbai 50 years ago, she was extremely welcoming; she recommended my name to the NCPA. When she made the documentary [Nritya Bharati]; she put faith in me for the section on kathak," Dogra revealed.

Dr Rele at Nalanda centre. Pic/Shadab Khan (right) Ramachandran K

Mohiniattam dancer Mandakini Trivedi recalled enrolling for classes and meeting Dr Rele. "She gave mohiniattam the respect and status of an independent classical dance style. Earlier, it would be performed at the end of a bharatanatyam recital," she explained. As the dance world grieved the loss of the guru, Nair summed up her legacy. "She will be there in every step, in every student, in the parampara she has left behind for us."

Good talk

From the division of labour to body shaming, students of Mumbai University found a safe space to speak their mind at a youth festival called Y Talks, organised by the NGO Akshara Centre at Sree Narayana Guru College of Commerce in Chembur yesterday. Ameesha Adatia from the centre said the idea was to create a platform for young minds to discuss various issues. Fashion creator Masoom Minawala Mehta (in pic) and Agents of Ishq were among the experts who interacted with students. Minawala led a workshop, sharing her personal experience with style and body image. "Style is a way to express who you are without having to speak and body positivity is the confidence to celebrate who you are. Together, they create a powerful statement that inspires self-love," she said, adding that she was grateful to be able to highlight important issues among the youth.

Legend of the Pandavas in Awas

The Pandvadevi temple in Awas

Alibaug resident, farmer and lawyer Siddharaj Thale's recent social media post caught the eye of this diarist for its interesting take on Awas, the small village that's now a hive for luxury villas. Thale recounted the Mahabharata legend associated with the Pandvadevi temple that is located between the Ketaki-Kevada shrubs at today's Awas beach. "The oral stories narrated by the priest state that the five Pandavas came riding in this stone boat by the sea, where the goddess asked them to build a temple of herself," he noted in his post. Another legend has it that the sculpture was found in the sea by Saint Nageshwar of Awas. Thale shared that he loves collecting stories from village elders. "The stories told by the elders around us are always interesting and worth exploring," he added.

Winging it to the Capital

PIC COURTESY/Vidyasagar Hariharan

The flight of Mumbai's famed flamingos keeps going northwards. City photographer Vidyasagar Hariharan's documentation of the migratory birds will be part of 15 artists exhibiting at the Pulse-Vibration of life showcase in Delhi from March 5 to 10. "I've been covering the flamingo migration for over seven years, but this is the first time I am part of a commercial exhibition," he told this diarist.

The birds have a Delhi connect as well, with Sultanpur mudflats hosting Greater flamingos every year, he said. With six photographs on canvas prints, the works capture the Maximum's City's pink visitors. "No other city plays host to such a large number of flamingos. People tend to visit Kenya and Tanzania for the same sights that we can get here for free," remarked Hariharan,
who will also deliver a talk on flamingos and the wetlands.