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 Felicitation of Dr. Tushar Guha - Chandra Anand e-mail: chandra6267@yahoo.co.in Photos: S. Rajan (FAS) August 18, 2024 On 26th July 2024, the Fine Arts Society, Chembur, Mumbai, arranged a Guru Poornima celebration in the Sivaswamy auditorium. In this event, they felicitated Guru Dr. Tushar Guha - a dance stalwart and research scholar whose reach is not only towards art but also towards the area of social services. He is presently the Founder-Chairman of the Nrityanjali group - the institute of performing arts, education, personality development, social and management services. Dr. Tushar Guha is a multi-faceted personality. He has devoted more than 70 years in the field of performing arts as a dancer, singer, lyricist, music composer, writer, choreographer and actor. His vast repertoire as a dancer and choreographer includes expertise in Kathak, folk dances, dance dramas, Rabindra Nritya, creative dance and western dance. Dr. Guha has received training in Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Manipuri and Kathakali at Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir at Kolkata, under Guru Niren Sen and Guru Gopal Pillai. He got opportunity to get training in dramatics and music under Guru Anima Roy and in creative dance by Guru Uday Shankar. He was fortunate to receive further training in Kathak from Guru Lacchu Maharaj. He has performed in 3500 shows and has innumerable productions to his credit like "Geet Ramayan", "Chaitanya Mahaprabhu", "Nritya Shakti", "Kalo Megh", "Kuhakini","Sagar", "Budham Sharanam Gachhami", "Atank", "Neta-Abhineta"; His programs have been presented at prestigious occasions. Dr. Tushar Guha is a renowned orator, corporate trainer, educationist and psychologist. He is the first person in the world to receive Doctorate in Personality Development from USA with thesis titled "Utilising the elements of performing Arts in day-to-day life to make a complete personality." He established Nrityanjali in 1963 when he was only 15 years of age. This foundation specializes in performing arts, education and personality development, social and management services and celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 2022 - 2023. He is an author and published 15 books and is the expert faculty with Government of India and Government of Maharashtra for "Sarva Shikshan Abhiyaan" and all the educational Boards. Dr. Guha is a committed social worker and that is why Nrityanjali is completely involved in service of society, free of charges, with activities like Swachha Bharat Abhiyaan, grooming inmates of prisons and rehabilitation centres, training nurses, women drivers and under privileged girls, entertaining inmates of old homes, patients in hospitals and providing benches and uniforms to schools. On the occasion of Guru Poornima celebration at the FAS, Dr. Tushar Guha was felicitated with a citation in recognition of his sincere and dedicated contribution during his lifetime to the field of Indian classical dance. R. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Board of Trustees of the FAS, said that Guru Shishya Parampara is a hallowed tradition in India, which the Fine Arts Society has been respecting and propagating through the Guru Poornima celebration. This year, the Fine Arts Society, Mumbai, feels proud and privileged to felicitate Guru Tushar Guha, as a great teacher and contributor in the field of fine arts, on behalf of the entire performing arts fraternity on the occasion of Guru Poornima 2024. Honouring him with a citation, R. Radhakrishnan said that he must pick up tips from Dr.Guha as to how he has managed to sustain Nrityanjali foundation so well since so many years.  Radhika Ananthkumar, Dr.Tushar Guha, R. Radhakrishnan Radhika Ananthkumar, President, Managing Committee of the Fine Arts Society, said that this prestigious Sivaswamy auditorium of the Fine Arts Society has had the priviledge and honour of felicitating stalwarts of Kathak - the legend Guru Birju Maharaj and the Kathak Queen Sitara Devi and some of the great classical musicians of India. And she mentioned that in the same line of personalities, how Dr. Guha's artistry is all encompassing going beyond dance reaching out to social services too. Tushar Guha in his response speech said, soul is Atma and Atma is God; salutes one and all alike. He took this opportunity to speak about his parents and gurus who taught him and trained him in all arts. He also paid his respects to all those who gave him experiences that helped him grow into a man with a judicious attitude. He averred that the most important thing in life is to be a good human being whatever one's achievement or vocation be. And, he emphasized that he understood this truth from his experience in dance. He said he and his troupe have performed several times in FAS programs and was truly honoured to be felicitated by the organisation. Since his students got him recognition, this honour belongs to them. Finally he expressed gratitude to his wife who had stood by him through ups and downs and her sacrifices have a part in his receiving this honour. After this felicitation ceremony that left one and all touched and humbled, a Kathak recital titled 'Hridayvishranti - State of calm' was performed by his senior disciples, Dr. Anonna Guha (daughter) and Girish Dalvi, Chitra Thakar and other artistes. "For the traditional Indian artiste, artistic creation was the supreme means of realising the Universal Being. Art was a discipline (sadhana), a yoga and a sacrifice (Yajna). Any form of Sadhana is a means of achieving a state of complete harmony and therefore a 'total release' from the 'so much ness' of life. It leads to a recognition of one's truer self. Artistic creation begins when the artiste attains, in his/her own intuitive mind, the state of calm - termed as Hridayvishranti. Having conquered all personal suffering and pain and having attained this state of complete detached emotion, the artiste presents the spectrum of life for the audience / spectator, a state in which the latter can experience, however transitory, the pure bliss (Ananda) of art". The first item Anant Naad (Taal Dhamaar in 14 matras/beats) was performed by Anonna Guha to the song "Aaj Nataraj damru kar dhare". A divine occurrence, where Gods and Goddesses of dance and music, together produced a celestial ensemble creating an ethereal aura. It was a piece of visual beauty and ode to the dancing Gods.  Girish Dalvi and Anonna Guha A presentation of pure dance in Taal Pancham Sawari - 15 matras - was performed by Anonna Guha along with Girish Dalvi. Here they presented thaat, aamad, tode, paran, chakradar paran, kavitt, tihai and baant. The padhant was recited by disciple Chitra Thakar. Next followed a melodious Sargam Geet in teentaal (16 beats) performed gracefully by disciples Sanika Gaikwad, Swananda Bharadkar, Parnika Talekar and Arnika Sakpal. Both Pancham Sawari and Sargam Geet were performed to live music. Another nritta piece was in teentaal (16 matras /beats). Tihais and ginti ki tihai in teentaal were presented to live music with rhythmic patterns being woven. All along the nritta parts the artistes interacted with audience and this involvement raised the energy of the overall ambience. The last performance of the evening was the story of 'Princess Meera' known for her bhakti to Lord Krishna. The story was enacted in a simple, sweet and brief manner. The performance depicted child Meera's excitement on watching a marriage procession and solemnly asking for her own groom. She is given an idol of Lord Krishna as her groom to pacify her and from then on Meera identifies Lord Krishna as her husband. Princess Meera epitomizes strength and courage as she charted her own way through her marriage and bhakti to the lord with patience and perseverance and achieved "Hridayvishranti - State of calm". The song "Hari tum haro jan ki peer" brought to fore the stories of Draupadi Cheer haran, Gajendra Moksham and Bhakt Prahlad to reflect on Krishna as a benefactor to his devotees. Then to the bhajan "Govinda Gopala Radhe Radhe" the playing of raas was shown. Finally this piece of presentation ended with pooja and aarti to the idol. Thus, this abhinaya item, bringing forth many emotions of the navarasas and kinds of the navavida bhakti, held the total attention of the audience. 'Princess Meera' was performed by Dr. Anonna Guha, Girish Dalvi, Sangita Sawant, Sanika Gaikwad, Swananda Bharadkar, Parnika Talekar, Arnika Sakpal, Aditri Dutta, Dhruvi Palekar and Swara Deshpande. The performances were conceptualized and choreographed by Anonna Guha under the direction of Guru Tushar Guha. The live ensemble featured Chitra Thakar for padhant (recitation of the bols), on the tabla was Atul Godse, on harmonium and vocals was Shrirang Tembe, on sitar Amruta Lokhande-Morey and on flute Satej Karandikar. Their anchor was Harsha Andan. On the lights was Ganpath and make-up by Anand Parmar and team. The whole event brought to the fore the essence of Guru Poornima as the day on which to pay obeisance to the preceptor who helps us to learn, imbibe and put their teachings into practise in life in a benign manner.  Chandra Anand is a Bharatanatyam artiste and teacher. She has an MA in Bharatanatyam from Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, and her series on 'Education in spiritual values through Bharatanatyam' is featured in narthaki.com. |
