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 The Flame Eternal and Vasai Fine Arts Festival - Vijay Shanker e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com February 24, 2025 Nehru Centre and Kalapi Centre for Performing Arts presented the dance drama 'The Eternal Flame' on the final day of the three days Ballet Festival at their auditorium in Worli on 23rd January. Portraying the profound philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, the dance drama combined the primary elements of the performing art - information, entertainment and enlightenment with fine usage of music, dances, visuals and the drama that featured the significant life of the great saint, creating a lasting impact on the audience. After the lapse of 160 years, Swami Vivekananda, who left this physical world at the young age of 39, it is relevant to mention here that his profound philosophy pertaining to the varied aspects of life and wellbeing, still relates intensely to the contemporary society of the world. All religions lead to the same goal, Every soul is potentially divine, Arise awake and stop not till the goal is reached, summarises the core of his profound philosophy pertaining to religion, life and the youth.  Sandip Pawar and Arindam Dey The son of Biswanath and Bhubaneshwari Dutta, the young child Narendranath, fondly called Narendra, was mischievous, courageous and dared to do anything which children of his age would be hesitant to. But he had a spiritual inclination and was quite fascinated by the varied aspects of nature and used to ponder over the mysterious aspect of life. His life changed when he became the disciple of Swami Ramakrishna that led to his spiritual awakening and enlightenment. He travelled extensively and his thought provoking speech at Parliament of World Religions in Chicago was one of the best speeches spoken by any saint. He said that Hinduism was the mother of all religions with the idea of tolerance, of universal acceptance with the equilibrium of the mind, body and spirit and that every soul is potentially divine.  Keka Sinha Choreographed and directed by the renowned Kathak exponent and mentor, Guru Keka Sinha, music by Pradipto Sengupta, The Eternal Flame succeeded in establishing the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda that covers the complete spectrum of his life with the usage of Kathak, folk dances and creative movements, according to the requirement of the scenes. Keka rendered a solo in the expressional number "Mujhevari banwari saiya jano ko de" and in another number "Prabhu mere avgun chit na daro", Keka was supported by her senior disciple Somangka Bhattacharya who danced extremely well along with her disciples. Ankur Ballal was seen in different scenes and performed well. The role of Swami Ramakrishna was enacted by Sandip Pawar and role of Swami Vivekananda was enacted by Arindam Dey. The powerful speech of Swami Vivekananda was rendered by Kallol Bannerjee. Commendable singers were Shurjo Bhattacharya and Vaibhav Mankad. With better synchronisation and some editing, The Eternal Flame will definitely have a greater impact. The compere for the evening was Abira Sinha. Vasai Fine Arts Festival Trivandrum based acclaimed Carnatic music vocalist, Dr N.J. Nandini, regaled the audience with some select renderings on the finale of the Vasai Fine Arts Festival at the Prarthana Mandapam, Sabirigiri Ayyappa Temple, Vasai west on 9th February. The two days festival attracted the attention of some well-known performers of classical music and dance and also the presence of distinguished personalities from the media, literature, business and other social activists that graced the annual festival. Cultural personalities were felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award too. Known as a commendable singer, Dr Nandini impressed the listeners with the renditions of Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Irayimman Thampi in praise of Lord Ayyappa, another composition of Lalithambika, a thillana and finally the salutations to the Almighty. Her intensity while singing, covering a wide spectrum with effortless ease, was the highlight of her performance, She was ably assisted by Gokul A on violin, Bombay Ganesh on mridangam, Krishna Kumar on ghatam and Vishnu Kamath on ganjira. The Guru Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Bharatanatyam dancer Dr Lata Surendra, singer Prasanna Warrier, musicians Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and Kalakendram Ajayan Nair for their invaluable and outstanding contribution in the field of Indian classical music and dance.  Lata Surendra receives award After the felicitation, an interaction was organised in order to discuss the relevance of classical performing arts in the contemporary society. The participants were Dr Lata Surendra, Dr N.J. Nandini, Keli Ramachandran, Iype Vallikadan, PR Sanjay and others. They commented that the classical arts should be like the flowing river, moving ahead with the time, evolving and enriching everybody in a larger spectrum. Secretary of Vasai Fine Arts, Girish Nair, thanked everyone for their continued support, hence the festival has been functioning for the last nine years. But it has become more and more challenging to organise a festival of such a magnitude, So the consistent support of the corporate sector is important to organise the festival on a bigger scale and the blessings of well-wishers are really necessary.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
