A very happy and joyful Deepavali with prosperity always a part of your life – that’s all of us at Drishti cheerfully greeting each one of you! Now that we have started off on a bright and cheerful note, we are hoping none of you will ask us why we’ve been out of sight for some time – we do hope we have not gone out of your minds though. 🙂
What’s cooking on the cultural front in the next few months?
The grandest fare of them all could be Suvarna Karnataka – a year-long cultural extravaganza commemorating fifty years of the formation of the state of Karnataka. Being organized by the Department of Kannada and Culture, with festivals and events being planned all over the state, we can expect a rich menu of classical and folk music and dances, exhibitions of paintings and books, dramas, seminars and so on.
There will be music and dance everywhere starting November – it is the traditional season for music and dance events, with cultural organizations vying with one another to get the best of the artists to whet the appetites of art lovers. A rich choice awaits you.
One of the most looked-forward-to events is going to be the 2nd Drishti Dance Festival, slated to be held at Chowdiah Memorial Hall on 12 Jan 2007. The outstanding success of the first Drishti Dance Festival, held on 12 Jan 2006, has raised the bar not only for other similar events but also for us – Drishti will strive to not only measure up to your expectations but also try to exceed them!
Ustad Bismillah Khan, Vidwan H. P. Ramachar, Guru H. R. Keshava Murthy and Sheni Gopalkrishna Bhat have joined the ranks of those who remain with us only in spirit and in our memories – the passing away of such veterans is a loss that cannot be measured but we are sure their lives and work will continue to inspire us and also the future generations.
What’s the cultural fare laid out for you in this issue? Sneha Nandagopal tells you what Kamsale is all about in her series ‘Folk Forms of Karnataka’. We continue with ‘The Notation System in Indian Music’ from the book Euphony and excerpts from Pratima-Kosha, Leela Ramanathan writes about Orissi/Odissi.
The tete-a-tete is between Anuradha Vikranth and veteran guru Lalitha Srinivasan, one of the few today actively promoting the Mysore school of Bharatanatyam. May her tribe increase!
From this issue onwards, we’ll be carrying a new feature Drishti Sadas a forum for discussions and views on issues related to dance and music.
‘Legends of our Land’ as readers are aware carried Prof. S. K. Ramachandra Rao’s pen-portraits of India’s legendary musicians. We deeply regret his demise – most of you may already be aware of the sad event. As a tribute to him, this issue’s ‘Legends of our Land’ features Prof. S. K. Ramachandra Rao himself – an intellectual giant and outstanding scholar, undoubtedly he is another Legend of our Land.
T. M. Vikranth & N. Narayan