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 Vikasana- Debolina Ghoshe-mail: debolina.2009@rediffmail.com Photos: Prashant Arora August 13, 2026 A river cascading from its source brings so many things that makes her banks verdant and fertile. Similarly, a guru whatever he/she attains, creates and realizes passes down to his/her disciple with great affection. This is the reason Guru is our Brahma who gives us vision, Guru is our Vishnu who guides our journey and guru is our Maheswara who dispels all imperfections and negativity in our journey of learning. On 4th of August at Gyan Manch, Kolkata, Sayani Chakraborty presented two of her disciples in Vikasana, a duet Bharatanatyam recital. Mayuri Shom from Kolkata and Medhini Shyam from USA collaborated together to transport Kolkata rasikas to a world of aesthetic bliss. A bouquet was designed serially with Alarippu, Meera bhajan, Padam, Ram bhajan based on Tulsidas composition and a Thillana.  Medhini Shyam and Mayuri Shom Mayuri and Medhini presented Alarippu dedicated to Devi Matangi. Devi Matangi is the 9th Vidya of Dasha Mahavidya of Hindu Mythology. As Raj Matangi, she holds a veena which symbolizes art and knowledge. In the other form, she is aghora, roams in the cremation ground, holds a skull in her hand. She is offered leftover food and dirty clothes. The benevolence and grace of Devi Matangi as well as the fierceness of Uchhista Chandalini was brilliantly depicted by Medhini. This Matangi Alarippu is composed by Ashwin Subramaniam. Profound resonance of veena was by Sri Vats. The mellifluous voice was of Dr. Durba Singha Roychoudhury and it was choreographed by Sayani Chakraborty. Medhini Shyam, a 12-year-old girl from USA connects with her roots through Bharatanatyam. Her perfect posture and poised movement tell a lot about her dedication. She presented Meera Bhajan in a Varnam format. The Pallavi prepares our mind to see something exquisitely beautiful, Krishna going to invigorate the world with his flute. Rain bearing grey cloud makes Meera enchanted, pining with love for Krishna.  Medhini Shyam In the anupallavi, she distanced herself from the mundaneness of worldly wealth and dedicated herself to Krishna. Dadur, papiha played the role of positive catalyst to the process of Meera's union with Krishna. Her passionate waiting was reflected in the melody of "Kab ayoge maharaj". Medhini showed the rain bearing cloud and peacock movement with perfection. And her orange costume suited nicely for the saint poetess Meerabai. In the Uttaranga finally she gets drenched not in rain but in Krishna's love. The composition was based on Ragamalika and adi talam. Mayuri paid homage to Ponnaiya Pillai of the Tanjore Quartet in Varnam format, a nrityanjali for lord Thyagaraja who is the presiding deity of Thiruvarur. In the pallavi, the nayika expresses her love with pure devotion. In anupallavi, the yearning nayika complains that her lord is very indifferent to her. The streets of Thiruvarur chant the name of Thyagaraja. The ajapa natanam blends with her very consciousness. She is love-sick and the wound caused by Manmatha's arrow aches terribly. And it can't be soothed by cool breeze or enchanting moonlight. She prays to the lord fervently to unite with her physically and spiritually and help her to shred off all the earthly agonies. The jathis were composed by Karaikudi Shivakumar and choreographed by Guru Rama Vaidyanathan. Mayuri is a B grade artiste of Doordarshan and secured second position in the Bharatanatyam division at West Bengal State Music Academy (2025). The maturity she has attained through her sincerity and dedication to her art form was marvellously revealed in her performance. Medhini then presented Tulsidas Bhajan, "Thumaka chalata Ramachandra..." She herself is a young girl, maybe this is a reason she could depict innocence of a little child as well as a depth of a mother's love nicely. She has outstanding skill of abhinaya and at the same time she grasped the mood and meaning of the text perfectly. The bhajan was based on raag Jaijaivanti and adi talam. And the choreography was meticulously done by Sayani Chakraborty.  Mayuri Shom In the next item Mayuri presented a Nazrulgeeti (songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam) reimagined and represented through a Padam. It was shown as a conversation between a sculptor and his work of art. Unable to create what he wanted, he decided to let the work speak what he wants it to become. Then the sculpture gave him solace that all artistes go through the same process and he is not alone. At first, he should think of what is his purpose of making a sculpture. Then the sculpture also told him to ideate to create such thing through which both of them can become one together. The song was "Amaro noyone noyon rakhi..." based on Ragamalika and taal mishra chapu, choreography by Sayani Chakraborty. The evening concluded with a vibrant Lalgudi Jayaraman thillana performed by Mayuri and Medhini based on Yamunakalyani raga and mishra chapu talam. A sincere observation of the performances makes the dance lover see that how a typical style is flowering through generations of disciples by dint of Guru Shishya Parampara. A dance program is always incomplete without some helpful friends. They were: Saheb on lighting, Bablu on sound, Sujoy on videography, Rittik, Prashant Arora and Soumoshree on photography, Ragini and Soumoshree for poster design. Heartfelt gratitude to Suman Sarawgi of Sparsh Studio for Performing Arts for inviting eminent artistes to Kolkata from different corners of the globe. And obviously Mayuri and Medhini spark the light of optimism that in this age of reels and short videos they have reverence towards their guru's patience to learn a classical artform and keep practising for perfection.  Debolina Ghosh is an MPhil scholar, Department of Sociology, University of Burdwan, West Bengal. |
