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Rajkumari Tankha■ rtankha@hindustantimes.com

She lost her parents at an earlyage, and was brought up by herpaternal uncle in a large jointfamily. The various experiencesquite early in life are reflected inthe bronze sculptures of Premlata,a resident of Sector 50, Noida.

“Sculpture is a means ofexpressing my feelings. Therhythm of music and innocenceof children move me to shapethe forms I create,” says Premlata,62, sitting amidst her art pieces.

She doesn’t hold any degree,diploma or certificate in art. Itis only her passion for art thathas brought her this far.

Though she used to sketcheven when she was in school,making a career of it was some-thing she never thought about.This was only expected sincethere was no one to guide her,advise her, judge her and no oneto motivate her either. But thisdidn’t sadden her.

“I got married immediatelyafter Class 11 and got busy withdomestic life. I completelyenjoyed married life, workingfor my husband and children,”she says. And finding a voca-tion of her own was somethingthat never occurred to her.

It was only in 1995, after herdaughter was married that shethought of doing something.“With all the three children set-tled, I had ample time, whileearlier, I didn’t have any freetime” she says.

So on her daughter’s insis-tence, Premlata joined TriveniKala Sangam, just to kill time.

This gave her some mission inlife. She looked forward to hersculpture classes in Triveni.Slowly she was drawn towardsthe art. So much so that shestarted visiting Triveni five daysa week.

The first sculpture she made,Dharaatal, was selected by theNational Gallery of Modern Artas a permanent exhibit. Thisboosted her morale and shestarted making more piecesin bronze. “I love this medium.The different colours this metalgets at different temperaturesis simply awesome. You can’tget these shades with any kindof colour mixing,” she says.

“I owe a lot to Triveni. Mylife got a direction there. My

art blossomed here. And it isat Triveni that I have madefriends with other womenartists. I enjoy having discourseswith them on art and other sub-jects,” she says.

She has had five solo showsso far and participated in a num-ber of group shows. Most of herexhibitions have been at the AllIndia Fine Arts and Crafts Societyor at Triveni Kala Sangam andLalit Kala Akademi. Her latestshow, Akaar Prakaar, was heldat Triveni last month.

Her works are included inmany private collections in USA,Germany, Canada and England.“I have had the privilege ofexhibiting abroad since my sonsare there and they motivate meto hold shows there,” she says.

Other than sculpting, sheenjoys travelling and has beenalmost all over India and abroadtoo. “My husband worked withthe Indian Railways, which gaveus ample opportunity to trav-el. And now both my sons aresettled abroad so we keep vis-iting them,” she says.

Rajkumari Tankha■ rtankha@hindustantimes.com

Though there are many ardentadmirers of dance and musicin his family, he is the only onewho has made it his profession.“Even today, a male classicaldancer evokes curious glances.We have evolved so much buthaven’t understood that clas-sical dance and music is ourheritage, our tradition whichwe must not forget,” says Kathakexponent Sadanand Biswas, 32.

He is just back from TamilNadu where he presented RudraRagaa Red at the NatyanjaliFestival and is already busywith his next performance, RainStorm and Autumn Leaf to beheld in Chennai later this month.Rain Storm and Autumn Leafis based on the works of Tagoreand Shelley and will be chore-ographed by SharmishthaMukherjee.

“Kathak is a part of me, with-out it I am meaningless. I havethis constant need to perform,”he says.

A resident of Laxmi Nagar,Biswas was born and broughtup in Durgapur, where his fatherwas working at the steel plant.Since both his parents were artlovers, Biswas began learningKathak at the age of three fromNirmal Nag. Later he also learntthe creative dance style ofRabindra Nath Tagore(Rabindra Nritya) from KartikSaha. He was five when he gavehis first public performance.The loud claps left a deep impact

on his young mind. So, after completing his Class

12, Biswas expressed his incli-nation towards studying danceand music and making a careerof it. His parents, BirendraBiswas and Anita Devi, weretoo happy on hearing this asnone of their other children hadspoken about pursuing danceand music as a vocation.

Biswas was then enrolled atthe Nikhil Bharat Sangeet Samitifrom where he did his SangeetVisharad in 1997. The next year,his parents packed him off toDelhi, where he joined theNational Institute of Kathak(Kathak Kendra) and trainedunder Pandit Rajendra KumarGangani. Simultaneously, healso joined Prayag SangeetSamiti, Allahabad, and com-pleted Nritya Visharad in 2002.

“At Kathak Kendra I got anopportunity to learn from vari-ous gurus like Irin Roychoudhary(vocal classical), Pandit RamKishore Das (pakhavaj) and NishaMahajan and Shankar Apte fromwhom I learnt yoga. All this helpedme master my dance movementsand abhinaya,” he says.

Seeing him perform at KathakKendra, noted danseuseShovana Narayan was soimpressed that she picked himup for her troupe. For eightyears, Biswas performed withNarayan in her troupe. He alsoworked on some productionswith Uma Sharma and SonalMansingh.

“These are all big names inthe field, and I am happy to have

got a chance to work with them.And I learnt immensely fromeach of them,” he says.

“From Shovana Narayan Ilearnt how to tackle difficultsituations and how to give pleas-ure to the audience, from UmaSharma I learnt that first andforemost one has to be goodhuman being while the sense

of discipline and punctuality Iimbibed from Sonal Mansingh,”he adds.

Five years back, Biswasformed his own troupe, KathakDharohar, with seven otherdancers. The troupe has so farperformed more than 50 showsall over the country. Most of hisproductions are based on social

and religious issues, climatechange, effect of sun and theplanets on life, etc.

“I want every child to learnsome form of classical musicor dance. It is our tradition, ourculture. We have our roots inthis. I want the government tomake learning this compulso-ry,” he says.

Aparna Singh Gupta■ aparna@hindustantimes.com

Dr Murugan Pillai, 48,hardly looks his ageas he leaves youspeechless with a swiftsword show. Meet theguru as he practisesKalarippayatu, the mar-tial art form of Kerala. Anart form he has been prac-tising for the past 27 yearsand has dedicated his life to.

It all started when as a young-ster in Thiruvananthapuram,he was mesmerised by karate.However, as he belonged to afamily of businessmen and physi-cians, these art forms werelooked down upon as a meansof living.

“These combative art formssimply fascinated me. Over theyears I realised that Kalarip-payatu just had no parallel. Morethan anything else it taught self-healing. So I just wanted to learnit,” he says.

Once he made up his mind,there was no stopping him. “Itold my father that I wantedto take up another career andfor that I wanted to join a typ-ing institute. I did that becausethere was a Kalari institutenearby. So I finished my 45-minute class as early as possi-ble to practise the Kalari artform. By doing odd jobs as atypist I paid my fee of Rs 25every month,” says Pillai.

After eight years of practice,the turning point came whenhe was selected by his instituteto perform at the Taj Mahal.The show was organised by theUttar Pradesh tourism depart-ment.

“My performances at theAgra Fort and the Taj Mahalhad the audience spell bound.At that time, as a 21-year-old Irealised that the sword andspear show and the raw ener-gy of a stick fight were unpar-alleled. The sheer energy thisart form infused even amongthe viewers was the only thingthat gave me happiness,” headds.

But as luck would have it,

Pillai shifted to Delhi in1993 because of familypressure to take up ajob. Living on rent inMayur Vihar phase 3,he decided to earnsome money byteaching Kalari to

some eager children.“I was inspired as the num-

ber of children grew once I start-ed classes in the local parks.Finally, I opened an institute inthe area to teach Kalari,” hesays.

Pillai had got his first formalshow at the Travancore House.Today he conducts workshopsall over India and abroad. Healso has regular presentationsin schools in Delhi, Faridabad,Noida and Ghaziabad. The num-ber of his students has alsogrown from six to 70.

Since 1997, along with his stu-dents, Pillai has been present-ing the martial arts shows forIndia Trade PromotionOrganisation.

His institute NithyaChaithanya Kalari is empan-elled with the Indian Councilfor Cultural Relations and affil-iated to Nehru Yuva Kendra(under the Union Ministry ofYouth Affairs & Sports) and isalso recognised by the SahityaKala Parishad and IndianNational Trust for Art andCultural Heritage.

“It has been a dream cometrue for me. I love my work andI am very happy that I believedin it when no one else did,” hesays as he gears up for his per-formance at the ongoing bookfair.

Sculpting experiencesFor Premlata,sculptures are ameans toexpress herfeelings

So much so that Sadanand Biswashas this constant need to perform

■ Premlata’s first sculpture has been selected by the National Gallery ofModern Art as a permanent exhibit. SUNIL GHOSH / HT PHOTO

barefacts

DIAGNOSTICFACILITIESThe Delhi Governmentwill implement the public-private partnership model toensure affordable, timelyand advanced diagnosticfacilities in its 20hospitals.

3 clusters of hospitals basedon their location and

requirements ■ The first cluster with Dr. BabaSaheb Ambedkar and BhagwanMahavir Hospitals as lead hospitals will cover six hospitalsin northwest Delhi. The secondcluster with Deen DayalUpadhyay Hospital as lead hospital will also cover six hospitals in west and southwestDelhi. The third cluster with DrHedgewar Arogya Sansthan willcover eight hospitals in north-east and east Delhi.

8number of CT scanmachines

5MRI machines

5dexa scan machines

6mammography machines

R75 cr initial outlay

R70 cr annualoperating

expenses

dr ak walia, D E L H I H E A LT H M I N I S T E R

The proposed pricing ispegged to the CGHS rate,which will be further dis-counted through competi-tion in a bidding process.

A dreamcome true......Is how Dr MuruganPillai explainshis rise in thefield ofKalarippayatuin NCR

■ Presently Dr MuruganPillai and his studentsare busy preparing fortheir performance atthe ongoing book fair.WASEEM GASHROO / HT PHOTO

PREMLATA IS ALWAYSWORKING, IF NOT ATTRIVENI THEN HERBALCONY THAT SHE HASCONVERTED INTO ASTUDIO.

Over the years I have realised thatKalarippayatu just had no parallel. More than

anything else it teaches self-healing.D R M U R U G A N P I L L A I

Ardent dancer

■ Sadanand Biswas is busy with his next performance that will be held in Chennai later this month.WASEEM GASHROO / HT PHOTO

I want every childto learn some form of

classical music or dance.It is our tradition, ourculture. We have our

roots in this.S A D A N A N D B I S WA S