It had always been a deep desire of mine to start a radio channel dedicated to Literary and arts events. It was my concern, while attending various talk events, that so many people would benefit if these were broadcast. And when Swarnamalya launched her Rangamandira Radio as a platform for talks on art, history, etc., i was very excited and jumped up to her, saying i would like to come on board. Over a casual meeting outside Akram Khan's Show, i introduced myself and expressed my ideas for the Radio. She invited me for a discussion later.
During the course of this discussion it was interesting to see the Scholar in Swarnamalya reveal itself, and it was a truly inspiring revelation, as i had known the person only as an actor, dancer and a TV show compere. Even though i had attended a lecture by her on the 'araiyar sevai and other traditions of Srirangam Temple' ( as a part of pechu katcheri held by Tamil heritage trust) and visited her exhibits of her work titled 'from the attic', i had always looked at her as an inspired artist.
But as we were talking, i could see her diverse interests, her strained search pursuing these interests, her impassioned deep research into many of these interests, her definite and solid opinions on many related things, her deep knowledge, wide readership all put together created a fresh and an inspiring image of the artist. it is this image of the artist that i wish to share with my readers.
Radio Rangamandira was started to inspire artists and educate and engage artists and others in the fields of History, social sciences etc. Because for art to be contemporaneous it has to be able to have a dialogue with the social sciences. The Radio's self professed mission- vision statement is- 'Ranga Mandira is committed to the ideology of forging the practice of arts to that of history and identity. We believe in embracing technology to give voice to forgotten histories and enrich our lives through arts and its higher purpose. Radio Ranga Mandira brings special programs on the arts, history, religion, communities, folklore, women and much more both as curated broadcasts as well as exciting live broadcasts.'
Swarnamalya has a big grudge against our education system, that never encourages us to question. As a result u have only two polarities in our society- either you are with the mainstream or you are not. There is never any scope for that middle ground, where i could be with you and yet disagree with you. Either you are branded for dravidianism or for brahminism, there is never that middle ground.
In this context, the first part of lecture 'on Varna system' by Historian S Ramachandran in conversation with Swarnamalya had been out by then and she was getting varied feedbacks. Most of them were of the nature, 'why this topic', why not stick to the arts, etc. people always want you to play safe and fear treading those unexplored areas.
She had plans for three different series of talks at that point. The first is the Historian series mentioned above and the next was an interesting and exciting series on sub-altern studies. When prompted, she delved a little deep into explaining what sub altern was. Sub-altern studies put together those historical narratives sidelined or shadowed by the towering mainstream narrative. it is a process of digging history out of the Hagoigraphy and Hero worship that the main stream in our culture tends to be colored with. One has to make an effort to rid oneself of these tendencies and look at History with a new perspective to discover the sub-altern.
She cited the example of the Chauri-Chaura incident, which in the main strem is used just as an instant to personify Gandhi"s resolve and principled commitment to the freedom struggle. But studies from a different perspective reveal interesting dimensions, she revealed. She encourages her students here and in California, where she is a visiting faculty, to think differently.
She acknowledges and recognizes that if not for Dravidianism , Tamilnadu could have sunk into deep pandemonium and chaos. What she abhors in our culture is the Hero worship, that nudges out any little space for dissent. It is in this context that she has planned a series on Sub altern narratives.
So, how does all this help the artist? She claims that art operating in isolation could only produce obsolete and stylised works. art needs to be sensitive to and inspire the society around it.She is apprehensive about students taking to arts as a way of life and worried about them when they are not open to these social undercurrents.
A third series Radio Rangamandira would feature is the 'fun' part, which would feature readings and appreciations from poetry and literary works. She is all smiles and joyous as she looks forward to this part as it reflects her long and strong engagement with literature and appreciation.
When i suggested that the Radio could cover various art and literary talks happening around the city, she sounded excited and further had a point to drive, that it was more important to elicit a discussion and encourage more view points than just host the grind of the lecture. There goes the mark of a scholar, ever hungry for discussions and ideas.
as we were talking, a few students who were leaving a music class conducted in the Rangamandira school and had performed the other day celebrating the institution's 10 th anniversary, were treated to her love and feedback. It was quite a spectacle to see these young trots interact with their master in a loving way. it was all giggles and shy nuggets of self criticism from the students and a feedback packed as a friendly pat and hug from the master.
Her blog fromtheattic.in describes in detail her journey over the past 10 years researching into the unexplored areas of dance. It serves as an indispensable companion to understand her as a person and her journey as scholar .
During the course of this discussion it was interesting to see the Scholar in Swarnamalya reveal itself, and it was a truly inspiring revelation, as i had known the person only as an actor, dancer and a TV show compere. Even though i had attended a lecture by her on the 'araiyar sevai and other traditions of Srirangam Temple' ( as a part of pechu katcheri held by Tamil heritage trust) and visited her exhibits of her work titled 'from the attic', i had always looked at her as an inspired artist.
But as we were talking, i could see her diverse interests, her strained search pursuing these interests, her impassioned deep research into many of these interests, her definite and solid opinions on many related things, her deep knowledge, wide readership all put together created a fresh and an inspiring image of the artist. it is this image of the artist that i wish to share with my readers.
Radio Rangamandira was started to inspire artists and educate and engage artists and others in the fields of History, social sciences etc. Because for art to be contemporaneous it has to be able to have a dialogue with the social sciences. The Radio's self professed mission- vision statement is- 'Ranga Mandira is committed to the ideology of forging the practice of arts to that of history and identity. We believe in embracing technology to give voice to forgotten histories and enrich our lives through arts and its higher purpose. Radio Ranga Mandira brings special programs on the arts, history, religion, communities, folklore, women and much more both as curated broadcasts as well as exciting live broadcasts.'
Swarnamalya has a big grudge against our education system, that never encourages us to question. As a result u have only two polarities in our society- either you are with the mainstream or you are not. There is never any scope for that middle ground, where i could be with you and yet disagree with you. Either you are branded for dravidianism or for brahminism, there is never that middle ground.
In this context, the first part of lecture 'on Varna system' by Historian S Ramachandran in conversation with Swarnamalya had been out by then and she was getting varied feedbacks. Most of them were of the nature, 'why this topic', why not stick to the arts, etc. people always want you to play safe and fear treading those unexplored areas.
She had plans for three different series of talks at that point. The first is the Historian series mentioned above and the next was an interesting and exciting series on sub-altern studies. When prompted, she delved a little deep into explaining what sub altern was. Sub-altern studies put together those historical narratives sidelined or shadowed by the towering mainstream narrative. it is a process of digging history out of the Hagoigraphy and Hero worship that the main stream in our culture tends to be colored with. One has to make an effort to rid oneself of these tendencies and look at History with a new perspective to discover the sub-altern.
She cited the example of the Chauri-Chaura incident, which in the main strem is used just as an instant to personify Gandhi"s resolve and principled commitment to the freedom struggle. But studies from a different perspective reveal interesting dimensions, she revealed. She encourages her students here and in California, where she is a visiting faculty, to think differently.
She acknowledges and recognizes that if not for Dravidianism , Tamilnadu could have sunk into deep pandemonium and chaos. What she abhors in our culture is the Hero worship, that nudges out any little space for dissent. It is in this context that she has planned a series on Sub altern narratives.
So, how does all this help the artist? She claims that art operating in isolation could only produce obsolete and stylised works. art needs to be sensitive to and inspire the society around it.She is apprehensive about students taking to arts as a way of life and worried about them when they are not open to these social undercurrents.
A third series Radio Rangamandira would feature is the 'fun' part, which would feature readings and appreciations from poetry and literary works. She is all smiles and joyous as she looks forward to this part as it reflects her long and strong engagement with literature and appreciation.
When i suggested that the Radio could cover various art and literary talks happening around the city, she sounded excited and further had a point to drive, that it was more important to elicit a discussion and encourage more view points than just host the grind of the lecture. There goes the mark of a scholar, ever hungry for discussions and ideas.
as we were talking, a few students who were leaving a music class conducted in the Rangamandira school and had performed the other day celebrating the institution's 10 th anniversary, were treated to her love and feedback. It was quite a spectacle to see these young trots interact with their master in a loving way. it was all giggles and shy nuggets of self criticism from the students and a feedback packed as a friendly pat and hug from the master.
Her blog fromtheattic.in describes in detail her journey over the past 10 years researching into the unexplored areas of dance. It serves as an indispensable companion to understand her as a person and her journey as scholar .
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