

A stage for all — Music, accessibility and inclusion
T.M. Krishna performing with Jogappas in Bengaluru in 2016. | Photo Credit: BHAGYA PRAKASH K Picturise a village, not far from the sea, full of lush green fields with clusters of coconut palms swaying in the wind. A group, led by a woman accompanying her young daughter and friends, walks slowly to Thirukkannapuram. Hoping to make the long journey less tiring, the group breaks into a song — thoNdIr! uyyum vagai kaNdEn thuLangkA arakkar thuLangka mun thiNthOL nimirach silai
Jan 266 min read


How Kamala set the Bharatanatyam stage for the future
The dancer blazed a trail in Bharatanatyam | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Bharatanatyam as a dance form in the post-revival years was popularised greatly by someone so famous that many parents named their daughters after her. She inspired girls from middle-class families to take up the dance form at a time when women from non-hereditary caste locations were discouraged to do so. Described as the ‘Queen of Dance’ by none other than Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Kumari Kamala
Jan 265 min read


Shyamala Mohanraj: Her Art & Values
When I first read the great T.Balasaraswati's biography by her son-in-law Douglas Knight in the year of its release (2010-11, if my memory serves me right), I found that she had a student named Shyamala Mohanraj from Jaffna, Sri Lanka. As I was reading the book, I simultaneously watched several videos of dancers following the Bala Bani to visually experience what I was reading. That is when I chanced upon Shyamala Amma's videos. I was stunned at her dedication and steadfastne
Nov 12, 202522 min read



