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The spotlight this time is on veteran artist Prof. A. Janardhanan who celebrated his 80th birthday this April. Deeply loyal to his alma mater, he has spent his lifetime serving in Kalakshetra as a student, academician, guru and a performer par excellence. Sruti is privileged to have published a cover story on this unassuming artist a few years ago. On the occasion of this recent milestone, we join in the felicitations and share with you his insights on ‘dance matters’.
Mannarkoil Balaji is another artist, who without much fanfare, has made a mark in the field of percussion as a versatile senior mridangist and a well versed teacher and writer. In an interesting interview he provides insights into his life-rhythm.
This year Guru Poornima falls on 13 July 2022 – it is a day for disciples to pay respect to their gurus. The ‘Gu-ru’ is much
more than a teacher, he/she is one who leads the disciple from darkness to light, from ignorance to awakening and towards the light of true knowledge.
In the stories about Mysore Vasudevachar and natyacharya V.S. Muthuswamy Pillai you can peep into the past, and get an interesting glimpse into the guru-sishya relationship in the gurukulams of yore.
Sruti mourns the passing away of veteran Bharatanatyam exponent and teacher M.K. Saroja. She, her late husband Mohan Khokar and son Ashish Khokar have all along been well wishers of Sruti. Our condolences to the bereaved family.
There is no doubt that art is entertaining, but whenever possible, art should also play the role of a catalyst in society—like Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore did through his numerous poems, songs and dance-dramas (read in the News & Notes section). Art can be an effective vehicle to sensitise the audience against evils and to uphold values. Art that is elevating is what lingers on – and it is the responsibility of the artists to play their chosen roles to perfection.
S. JANAKI