What a great day!! This wasn’t the great one per se but it proved to be one when all the students of Layashala got an opportunity to welcome not only one or two guests but three of ‘em! Of course, all the credit of this event goes to our beloved Guru Astha Tai Karlekar for inviting such nice personalities for a meet. Let us see about them one by one:

Vrushali Varjrinkar Ma’am – She is a beautiful poetess ‘हाडाची कवयत्री ’ is the only marathi phrase I could find to describe her as she hasn’t taken any lessons of poetry. She also inspired many students in our class as she started doing her journalism in her 40’s. Wow! This is what we call as ‘balance of life’. Looking after the house, learning a total new thing and maintaining a hobby is really a hard task for an Indian Woman to do. The students came to know about the meaning of friendship when she mentioned the ‘ककस्सा’s ’ of her and Astha Tai. ‘Simplicity personified’ can be a perfect phrase to define Vrushali Ma’am.

Leena Juvekar Ma’am –  Many of us think that when a person reaches at the top of their career, they develop certain attitude. We understand that this is so not true when we meet Leena Ma’am. She interacted with the students so friendly and taught the importance of ‘selflessness’. ‘Life can always surprise you’ was the main point of her interaction. She has a B.A. degree wise but works in aviation industry. She has served her duty for Hon. APJ Abdul Kalam and many Bollywood actors for events ad TV shows. The experiences she shared were informative as well as funny. We, the students of Layashala, mostly in teenage are confused about our careers but learnt a lesson that ‘Talent is not described by degrees’.

Girish Murudkar Sir –  Girish Sir proves to be an exception to the well-known proverb – ‘Jack of all, master of none’ as he is the ‘Jack of all, master of ONE’. He proves to be a “Jack” in sculptural art, drawing, writing, short film directions and many more, and ‘master’ in designing in
‘पगडी’s’ and ‘फेटा’. Head being the most important part of human body is made even beautiful when it is honoured by a पगडी. This prideful creation is done by him! He has also added his own creativity of designs to the traditional पुणेरी पगडी which taught the learning artists like us to make efforts and some additions by oneself in the art we learn to make it even beautiful & presentable. He has designed पगडी for Hon. Prime Minister and many Bollywood films too.

Meeting them all together proved to be ‘An excellent treat for the students!’

On Thursday, 2nd January 2020, Layshala Lalit Kala Samiti, Pune branch organized a dance meet with two other dance institutions under the guidance of Mrs. Astha Godbole Karlekar. This event was a part of the monthly ‘Meet the Artist’ Activity, recently started one of it’s kind ideas of Astha Didi for the students to know about other artists and their art…

The event started with the introduction and felicitation of Bharatnatyam dancer and teacher, Ms. Maitreyee Bapat followed by a question-answer session with her, where kathak students got to know many things about Bharatnatyam, a well-known south Indian classical dance form. Like “What is the difference between kathak and Bharatnatyam?”, “How is the footwork done in Bharatnatyam?”, “How much and what kind of practice(riyaaz) is done by a Bharatnatyam dancer?” and so on. The students of Ms. Bapat performed a beautiful composition called ‘Tillana’ which was a unique blend of powerful footwork and graceful movements. Sound of their foot-bells filled the hall with a positive energy while their coordinated, synchronized and elaborate hand movements reflected intense practice and unity! 

The event saw next group dance performance by students of Ms Archana which was technical dancing in Kathak. It was marked with distinct aesthetic poses, high speed footwork and balanced spins. Their presentation ended with a ‘chaumukhi chakradar paran’, an amazing composition consisting of continuous spins, where the dancers faced in one of the four directions after each spin was just unforgettable!

Finally, the students of Mrs Godbole Karlekar presented a Kathak devi bhajan ‘Devi daya karo das par’ in praise of the powerful goddess. The poses and expressions of the dancers threw light on the fierce form of a goddess who kills the devil and establishes peace. Those watching could really visualize the goddess during the performance! The group also performed some fast paced short compositions called ‘tukdas’ in which they covered whole area through spins and rhythmic movements of the dance form.

This memorable event was a treat for the eyes of the viewers and a lot to learn from for the students. It indeed left the students but inspired!

On 24th December 2019, Kathak dancer and teacher Mr. Afsar Khan Ji visited Layshala Pune, as part of the monthly event ‘Meet the Artist’ initiated by the head of Layshala Pune, Mrs. Astha Godbole Karlekar. Astha Didi’s idea behind the event is to introduce students to great personalities from different fields of art so as to provide her students an all-round exposure!

It started with the arrival of Afsar Ji in the class. Astha Didi greeted him with a flower bouquet and soon started the event. All students of the class performed their dance routine beginning with aamad. Some basic todas and tukdas were presented. After that, senior students presented more complex tukdas in teentaal and ended nicely with a tihai. Thus, it seemed as if the class welcomed Afsar Ji with their dance! Afsar Ji looked happy and was highlighting the ‘Sam’ in every tukda. His involvement too motivated the students dancing!

The actual meet started after the performance. It  began with introduction of Mr. Afsar Khan, who has been learning dance since childhood from his Father as his first Guru, in Pune. Later, Afsar Ji went to Delhi for higher studies in Kathak. He has performed in various countries throughout the world and is currently teaching Kathak in Singapore. Students were truly amazed to hear all the achievements he has made.

Afsar Ji now spoke to students telling his journey of kathak. He described how it was like learning dance from his Father as teacher and so narrated some interesting incidents. He told that he used to do riyaaz (dance practice) for 9 hours at a stretch, which left the listeners astonished! His achievements are indeed a result of his relentless efforts and hardwork. He gave a message to students that ‘Practice makes a man perfect’ and that one can’t achieve things without practice and perseverance. He also threw light on the importance of Guru-shishya parampara and told how changing teachers affects growth of a student. 

It was an interactive session and students asked questions like differences between different gharanas. He explained saying that basics are all the same and there are certain characteristic additions which uniquely beautifies each Gharana. We must preserve those and appreciate as well. He being a practitioner of Banaras Gharana also explained it’s features. On request of students and Astha Didi, he narrated and enacted a long, beautiful kavitta(A poetic composition used for dance in kathak). It unfolded a story of lord Krishna, being naughty and steeling butter, known as ‘makhan chori’. It was known from the volume of their claps itself that the students enjoyed the kavitta a lot!
A meet with such a knowledgeable person and an inspiring personality was truly a beneficial experience for overall growth of the students!

Introduction: A senior kathak Dancer and Guru Shri. Subhashchandra Bhattacharya gave a visit to our class. He was welcomed by President of Layshala Lalit Kala Samiti and our beloved Guru Mrs. Astha Tai Karlekar by giving a rose & gift as a token of love and respect for him. Senior students of Astha tai presented few compositions which they have learned so far, including the Tukdas and Gat s . This was followed by an interactive session with students where questions / doubts were asked to Hon.Subhash Ji.

Interactive Session: During the session, one of the question asked by a student was thatbeing a man, it is easy to perform a role of Krishna in u, but generally the role of ‘Radha’ is performed even when the dancer himself is a man, why is it so? This question was answered by Subhash Ji very gracefully. The answer he gave was – “To perform any art, you need expressions, you need to express yourself when you are performing an art, specifically dance. In every u of Lord Krishna & Radha has to express more. There is a scope to express yourself in this character. So Radha is performed.” Amazing !! This answer proved to be very guiding to all the students. He shared various interesting stories & experiences of his journey till now.
Students understood from the conversation that the original dance form is becoming rare day by day…and they are lucky to be a part of it. He mentioned that various Western dance styles are influencing the Indian classical form which is not a very good result. He also mentioned that the capacity of this generation of grasping the dance form is less compared to the previous ones. Further he told that it not a fault of the generation but the lifestyle nowadays. Due to the increasing influence of Western style on Indian one, it is necessary today to spread awareness about the classical form and the authentic “Guru – shishya” tradition.

Performance: The most memorable part was when he performed ‘u’ on a poetry written by Hon. Pandit Lacchu Maharaj ji, ‘Baji’. It is a wordplay of using same word in different meaning. In the poetry the word ‘Baji’ represents ‘Friend’, ‘Elder sister’ and playing tune or the sound produced by an instrument.

 Au revoir: This session proved to be a “torch in the dark” for students. This session could be summarized in one line – “Wise guidance never violates a man’s free will” And the session ended with a contended response of students towards him.