Kathak: A divine attachment to God

When I was a child, I loved to just spin around my leg and tap my foot in a specific rhythm. I used to just dance randomly at any music without letting anyone know, that I like to dance. In 2 nd Standard, when I was 7, my mother shifted me into a different school. My mother also took up a job there as a high-school part-time computer teacher. The middle school and high school students used to have an extra half hour of school than us, primary students. So, I just used to stroll around in the large ground, chatting with friends who waited for their vans and parents. One day, I found myself all alone, waiting for my mother, looking at a basketball match being played by the senior students. That was when I heard the faint sound of ghungroos. I was a kid then, and my first reaction was fear. I remembered the film “Bhulbhullaiya” and the ghost of Monjolika. I didn’t quite understand the film then, but for me it was a horror film as it had the word “bhoot” in it. I gathered up courag...

          The original roots of Kathak can be traced in 500 BC North India. The word ‘Kathak’ traces its roots from the Sanskrit word ‘Katha ’, meaning story .   In ancient India, storytellers or Kathakars used footwork, hand movements and gestures to tell stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in temples to the common masses. It gradually became a distinct dance style, Kathak. This was enhanced and filled with devotion to God or ‘Bhakti Rasa’. It was the most divine and pure form of Kathak. When foreign invaders attacked India, they destroyed the temples and looted their wealth. This left the Kathak dancers unemployed, as the dancers used to earn their living from donations , people used to offer in the temples as dakshina . Therefore, the dancers sought refuge with the Nobles and Kings, both Hindu and Muslim. Thus, two Gharanas were born: the Jaipur Gharana and the Lucknow Gharana.             ...