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| Knowledgeable
reporters!
- Rukmini Vijayakumar, Bangalore e-mail: raadhakalpa@gmail.com March 26, 2010 |
| We recently performed
at the Natyanjali festivals, and I sent an article to narthaki.com about
our experience in the performances and how wonderful it was. We were equally
thrilled to have our pictures in the paper the next day. In the Indian
Express supplement, a large picture of Parshwanath and myself came in the
front page as well as smaller images in the inside pages. I commend the
knowledge that the newspaper reporters have to actually be able to recognize
the form of dance performed!! It said, "Kathak exponents steal day one
at Tanjavur," when we actually performed Bharatanatyam. Even the pictures
will easily tell you that we performed Bharatanatyam, but somehow the news
reporter has failed to notice that we performed Bharatanatyam, and has
called us Kathak exponents.
I was going to write to the newspaper, but decided against it, since most critics in papers as well as new reporters nowadays hardly watch the dance. Even when they do, they seldom view it with lenient perspective and they are so filled with their own personal biases that the reports are a bit of a skewed view of what was presented. I do not know whether to laugh or cry at the lack of cultural knowledge from even a cultural reporter!! |
