Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Sea the soundMusic composer and artiste Aparna Deodhar strums up a tune on the sitar at Marine DriveThe lsquoIron Ladyrsquo of mohiniattamBefore every performance the words of her guru Dr Kanak Rele echo in mohiniattam dancer Dr Sunanda Nairrsquos ears ldquoYoursquore not a true artiste till you move from withinrdquo Itrsquos her mantra an emotional Nair shared with this diarist adding that her master was nothing less than the ldquoRani of Jhansi the Iron Ladyrdquo in her life Like Nair thousands of students and members of the dance community remembered Dr Rele as a force to reckon with Dr Rele 85 passed away in Mumbai yesterdayA young Dr Kanak Rele and Mandakini TrivediThe mohiniattam exponent was the founderdirector of Nalanda Dance Research Centre and the founderprincipal of the Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya A Padma Shri Padma Bhushan and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardwinner she was credited with revolutionising the path of the dance form from Kerala Ramachandran K artistic director and project coordinator of the cultural organisation Keli remembers his friend for the grammar academic rigour and methodology that she imbued the dance form withUma Dogra and Sunanda NairldquoShe weaved in indigenous rhythms and folk lore elements into the classical form She took mohiniattam to every corner of the worldrdquo he told us A visionary Dr Rele elevated classical dance to the realm of academics recalled kathak danseuse Uma Dogra ldquoShe touched countless lives When I came to Mumbai 50 years ago she was extremely welcoming she recommended my name to the NCPA When she made the documentary Nritya Bharati she put faith in me for the section on kathakrdquo Dogra revealedDr Rele at Nalanda centre PicShadab Khan right Ramachandran KMohiniattam dancer Mandakini Trivedi recalled enrolling for classes and meeting Dr Rele ldquoShe gave mohiniattam the respect and status of an independent classical dance style Earlier it would be performed at the end of a bharatanatyam recitalrdquo she explained As the dance world grieved the loss of the guru Nair summed up her legacy ldquoShe will be there in every step in every student in the parampara she has left behind for usrdquoGood talkFrom the division of labour to body shaming students of Mumbai University found a safe space to speak their mind at a youth festival called Y Talks organised by the NGO Akshara Centre at Sree Narayana Guru College of Commerce in Chembur yesterday Ameesha Adatia from the centre said the idea was to create a platform for young minds to discuss various issues Fashion creator Masoom Minawala Mehta in pic and Agents of Ishq were among the experts who interacted with students Minawala led a workshop sharing her personal experience with style and body image ldquoStyle is a way to express who you are without having to speak and body positivity is the confidence to celebrate who you are Together they create a powerful statement that inspires selfloverdquo she said adding that she was grateful to be able to highlight important issues among the youthLegend of the Pandavas in AwasThe Pandvadevi temple in AwasAlibaug resident farmer and lawyer Siddharaj Thalersquos recent social media post caught the eye of this diarist for its interesting take on Awas the small village thatrsquos now a hive for luxury villas Thale recounted the Mahabharata legend associated with the Pandvadevi temple that is located between the KetakiKevada shrubs at todayrsquos Awas beach ldquoThe oral stories narrated by the priest state that the five Pandavas came riding in this stone boat by the sea where the goddess asked them to build a temple of herselfrdquo he noted in his post Another legend has it that the sculpture was found in the sea by Saint Nageshwar of Awas Thale shared that he loves collecting stories from village elders ldquoThe stories told by the elders around us are always interesting and worth exploringrdquo he addedWinging it to the CapitalPIC COURTESYVidyasagar HariharanThe flight of Mumbairsquos famed flamingos keeps going northwards City photographer Vidyasagar Hariharanrsquos documentation of the migratory birds will be part of 15 artists exhibiting at the PulseVibration of life showcase in Delhi from March 5 to 10 ldquoIrsquove been covering the flamingo migration for over seven years but this is the first time I am part of a commercial exhibitionrdquo he told this diaristThe birds have a Delhi connect as well with Sultanpur mudflats hosting Greater flamingos every year he said With six photographs on canvas prints the works capture the Maximumrsquos Cityrsquos pink visitors ldquoNo other city plays host to such a large number of flamingos People tend to visit Kenya and Tanzania for the same sights that we can get here for freerdquo remarked Hariharanwho will also deliver a talk on flamingos and the wetlands