She – a Portrait through Kathak

International Women’s Day is a day for unison of all women all over the world to celebrate their struggle against inequality, injustice & oppression. It is a day to reinforce the everlasting conflict between women & the veiled prejudices of the society.

On this special day, students of”Kathanauki School of Dance” and I will embark upon a journey that aims to honour women through the ever fascinating & ever charismatic art of Kathak dance. It is impossible to effectively applaud woman & all the commendable roles they play throughout their life in a small program like ours. Crimes against women are on the rise & the morals of the society on a downward spiral. The need of the hour is to cleanse people of such deviltries & remind them of the importance of women on the Earth. This is my humble attempt to felicitate them with my modest abilities & knowledge that I have gathered from another distinguished woman, my guru Nritya Siromoni Guru Bandana Sen. I hope you all enjoy this composition & also give some thought about the global movement for the liberalisation of woman.

Kathak as a dance form is rich in expression & has a unique way of narrating a story. As such it is highly appropriate as the language for glorification of women. Hence, I have chosen it to share my view about women. I aspire to spread awareness among the residents of Cincinnati about the multitudinal roles that women play in their life every day, their self-less sacrifices & their constant struggle against discrimination alongside spreading love for the art. Kathak is not only an art form it is a way of living. It teaches us key lessons of life such as respect, love & self-restraint. I would like to inculcate theses values among my students so that they are able to follow the path of truth & self-belief. I want them to indulge into Kathak not only for their love for Kathak, but also to use it to cleanse the society of its various dehumanizing elements. I hope this small attempt of mine creates ripples of awareness among my beloved students & spreads as waves in the huge ocean, known as mankind.

-Rossana Bandyopadhyay