Chandigarh, September 14
Kathak maestro Shovana Narayan, a Padma Shri recipient, and former civil services officer Geetika Kalha got together for a riveting session of their latest book, “Kathak Lok – Temple, Tradition and History”, at Punjab Kala Bhawan here yesterday.
A book that started from a simple question, took the duo on a journey of thousands of miles, traversing centuries to unravel the “kathak lok” — villages and a temple dance tradition that still exits.
Joining them were eminent historian BN Goswamy, renowned theatre personality Neelam Mansingh and kathak maestro Shobha Koser. About five years of research led the two authors to new findings and interesting coincidences. Of the 20 villages, called kathak villages, they could find, not many are inhabited today. But they did find practitioners of “Kathak Lok”.
The first instance of Narayan knowing about a kathak village was at a performance in Bodh Gaya. No one in her circles has heard of such villages either. It was years on that she set out on a journey, which she values for rich experiences it led to. “We were learning while seeking and enriching ourselves,” she said.
Kalha discussed what kathak stands for, “Ka” is God and ‘thak’ is to establish in someone’s heart and mind. Most surprising was to find the references of Natya Shastra in their journey. “Our culture is not monolithic and that’s the beauty of it,” shared Dr Goswamy, who called the book an honest research.
