Programme Highlights

“Aao Naachein Gaayein”

May 3 to 6, 2008 at Chinmaya Vibhooti, Kolwan

There was a lot of excitement in the air at Chinmaya Vibhooti on the afternoon of 3rd May 2008, as 16 children, all from Mumbai, alighted from 4 cars to attend a unique, first-ever Dance & Music Workshop held by Chinmaya Naada Bindu, the proposed residential school of Indian Music & Dance, which will be situated in Chinmaya Vibhooti.

Accompanying the children were 3 faculty members, Smt. Jyoti N Iyer - a formal and experienced dance trainer, slated to be part of the core team, Shri K N Venkitesh - a professional percussionist, and Kum. Ujwala Acharya - a member of the core team and a graceful dancer, and a parent of one of the children. Co-operative endeavour was the keyword, as benevolent Mission members from Mumbai lent their cars to transport the participants to and fro, while others helped with generous donations. Shri Kiran Parlikar, a music scholar, joined the group from Talegaon.

The curriculum included sessions on introduction to music, dance and rhythm. In the music sessions, Parlikarji (Kiran Uncle to the children) taught the participants to look at musical notes statistically, and they were amazed at the number of permutations and combinations that could be made. He specially composed a song for the camp, which they sang on the last day. Besides, he taught them a ‘bandish’ in Raag Bhoop, and even made them sing a slightly difficult song in Raag Bhatiyar. He was pleasantly surprised to see the melodious results.

In the dance sessions, Jyothi and Ujwala (Akka and Didi to the children) taught the participants 3 folk dances, which they put up for presentation on the last day. The sessions were full of energy, with the faculty constantly setting bigger targets for the campers to achieve. These dances included the ‘Karagaattam’ (pot dance of Tamil Nadu), the Bamboo dance of the North-Eastern Hilly Regions of India, and a Goan dance. The children created their own head-gears, managed to collect the required accessories and costumes, and put up a colourful show on the last day. Besides folk dancing, Jyothi also explained the various Classical Dance forms of India through a powerpoint presentation.

Mridangam player, Shri K N Venkiteswaran, called Venkatesh bhaiyya by the kids, made them clap to his beats, therein showing the various jaatis and taalas in simple terms. He even made a few of them walk to his beats, which was interesting.

The most important and spiritual touch to the camp was given by Br. Shailesh Chaitanya, with stories from Kathopanishad (persistence of Nachiketas), Kenopanishad (how the pride of Agni, Vayu, Indra, etc. was ended by the Lord), a story on how an endless ocean of milk could not satisfy the greed of a milkman, and other stories, which the children lapped up.

The mornings began at 5 O’clock, with the first class at 6 O’clock on Yoga, morning prayers and music meditation by Pramodini Rao. As one elder was put up in all the rooms along with the children, they mixed well with the children, who felt ‘safe’ as if in a family. With Kiranji doing his riyaaz (practicing music) in the morning, the children got to hear more music than was taught in the classes.

The next MUSIC camp is being planned to be held in October 2008, at Chinmaya Vibhooti during the Diwali holidays. Students / elders who have completed at least 2 years of training in music can enrol. Those interested may contact Smt. Pramodini Rao (Director, Chinmaya Naada Bindu) for more details through email at : pramodinirao@gmail.com.

- Sumedha Kulkarni, Yuvaveer