TIO Dehradun
18 October 2022- The tenth day of Virasat Art and Heritage Festival 2022 began with ‘Virasat Sadhana’. During this, Shri Vijay Dutt Sridhar spoke about on the nation, culture and heritage. Vijay Dutt quoted Benjamin Franklin’s thought that, ‘A man should either write something worthwhile which should be read a lot or something worthwhile should be done about which a lot is written’. With this quote from Benjamin Franklin, he attracted everyone present and further explained the difference between science and art, he gave examples of how science and art differ. He explained art, including and culture with short stories and how our young people can do the job of saving the information they have inherited. They say that if one wants to learn from taking care of heritage, then one should learn from Gaura Devi. He referred to the Chipko movement of Chamoli and on how the women of hills work to preserve their heritage, heritage and this wonderful wealth of nature.
Mr. Vijay Dutt Sridhar is an Indian journalist, author and founder of the Madhav Sapre Museum of Newspapers and Research Institute. He was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award, by the Government of India in 2012. He is the former director of the Department of Journalism and Communication of Makhanlal Chaturvedi University and has worked as the editor of Navbharat Times. He has also been a member of the Press Gallery Committee of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly for almost 20 years. Shri Sridhar established the Madhavrao Sapre Museum of Newspapers and Research Institute (Madhavrao Sapre Museum of Newspapers and Research Institute) in Bhopal in 1984. A total of 73 newspapers and magazines donated by his teacher Rameshwar Guru are now housed in 11,000 square feet, with 17,000 mounds. Since then, it has been approved by several universities as a research center for journalism-related studies and is funded by the state and central governments. Shri Vijay Dutt Shridhar is also involved in social work and has also written many books.
The cultural evening started with lighting of the lamp and Kathak and Mohiniyattam dances were presented by Richa Sharma and Sujatha Nair. In which they started their performance together with the worship of Shri Ram Chandra (Raag Charukeshi), post which, Sujatha Nair gave her solo performance in Mallari (Raag Gambhir Natya) and Ganga Tarangam (Raag Revathi) in Bharatanatyam. Follwed by Ruchi Sharma’s Kathak performance in Teen Taal Mein That Bandish. Sujata then acted on a Meera Bhajan and Drapati Cheer Haran in (Raag Vakula Bharanam).
Ruchi enacted a ghazal whose lyrics were “Tumhari Anjuman Se Uthkar Deewane Kahan Jayenge”. She concluded with a jugalbandi of Tilana and Tarana, showcasing the beauty of Bharatanatyam and Kathak. He was accompanied by Pandit V Narahari (Tabla), Dhvanit Joshi and Shri Sujesh Manon (Vocal), Jayashree Nair (Nattuangam), Nikhil Prasad Nair (Mridangam) in his Sangat.
Ruchi Sharma is a well-known Kathak dancer from India. She has enriched her dance from all the classical aspects with sophisticated and strong techniques. Apart from assimilating the traditional intricacies of Lucknow, Jaipur and Banaras schools of Kathak dance, Ruchi combined her knowledge with scientific and spiritual approach by understanding the real scripture under Guru Shishya Parampara under Guru Shishya Parampara for more than three decades.
Sujatha Nair is the daughter and disciple of Mrs. Jayshree Nair. And she is also the founding director of Upasana Academy of Fine Arts, Mumbai. Sujatha Nair has been learning Bharatnatyam and Mohiniyattam from her mother for more than three decades. She is an expert Bharatanatyam dancer and has had the privilege of being trained and guided by the best gurus. Sujatha has also received training from her gurus at Mohiniyattam. Sujata has been giving her performances at prestigious events in India and abroad in festivals like Ananya Mahotsav, Bandra Festival.
Sujatha also learned Kathakali for a few years under Kalamandalam Gopalakrishnan and has performed on a few stages. Sujata is a recipient of National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Government of India. She is an A grade artist of Doordarshan from India, and is the recipient of titles like “Ranga Shree”, “Nritya Shivli”, “Shri Sudarshan Natya Peravi” etc. Sujatha has been teaching Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam at her parent institution of Upasana for more than 25 years.
In other presentations of the cultural program, presentations of sarod playing were given by Prateek Srivastava. He has enjoyed his journey as a musician as there was no pressure from his family to be in music and he had the time to enjoy his own experimentations of life but according to him his core is hindustani classical. He started with Raag Rageshri in Vilambit teen taal and followed with Raag Malkauns.
Prateek Srivastava was initiated into the art of playing the sarod from the age of six by his grandfather, Pandit Rabi Chakraborty, himself a noted sarod player of the Maihar Gharana. Prateek began his journey as a sarod instrumentalist at the young age of 12, and eventually made his mark as a soloist in the field of Hindustani classical music at various national and international concerts and festivals. Prateek’s unique and contemporary approach towards his music has given him the opportunity to collaborate with eminent musicians from different parts of the world in various cross-cultural and experimental music projects.
Born into a family of musicians, it was quite natural for Prateek to take an interest in Indian classical music traditions. He was trained and brought up by his uncle Dr. Rajeev Chakraborty in the art of Sarod. He is presently under the guidance of Pt Ajay Chakraborty and Pt Tejendra Narayan Majumdar. Prateek started his career as a performer at the famous Salt Lake Music Conference in Kolkata and has been performing at prestigious festivals in India and abroad.
