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!