Vasantahabba 2003

Place: Nrityagram, Bangalore
Dates: February 1st 2003
Event: Vasantahabba

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Vasantahabba

Nrityagram, a dance school started in 1990 by Protima Gauri (Bedi), used to host the Vasantahabba or the spring festival. Vasantahabba was a very unique concept; beginning at dusk of the first Saturday of February, continued till dawn of the following day. About 12-14 hours of Indian classical music and dance. It is shameful that this celebration has discontinued due to the financial crunch faced by Nrityagram and lack of sponsorship for an event that attracted 40,000 people in 2003 !!!!

Summer of 2003, my Mother came over and stayed with me for a month. She and I boarded a bus and then another bus and then an auto rickshaw and then a bus again to reach Hesaraghatta, about 35 km from Bangalore. We reached there at 2:30 pm even though the performances were not supposed to start till about 6:30 in the evening. The reason was simple, seats. Vasantahabba did not have any entry fee or ticket and had no reservations, no passes, no VIPs, nothing. Pooja Bedi, Protima Bedi's daughter, had to show up at 3:00pm keep places for herself and her father, Kabir Bedi. Now, I have to confess, I am the biggest fan of Kabir Bedi's voice, hmm.... If Bollywood ever decides to remake Troy, Kabir Bedi must play Hectar....sigh! Okay, back to Vasantahabba. The performance was in an amphitheatre and sheets, mattresses and pillows are provided ( not that there is ever any space to lie down, but it makes sitting for 14 hours a little more comfortable).

The six hours of classical dance saw performances by Belliappa and party, an ensemble by the villagers, another ensemble by the students of Nrityagram, Kuchipuddi by Guru Jayaram and Vanshree Rao, a contemporary piece by Stem Group and Mohiniattam by Mandakini Trivedi. The music section was opened by hindustani vocal performance by Malini Rajurkar, followed by Shashank's flute (amazing , amazing amazing). Pandit Vishnu Mohan Bhatt played the Mohan Veena, along with his son. Then came the Warsi Brothers, Naseer and Nazeer Warsi. They had the crowd up and going berserk at 4:00 am in the morning !!! The night was brought to a fitting end by Taufiq Quereshi and his friends....

The most memorable moment for me lasted for a split second....during one of the dance performances, I turned around to look around me....Partly cloudy sky...full Moon...chilly air....light breeze... people in complete silence, on the mattresses, on the grass, on the tree branches, fence pillars, walls...sitting, standing, necks sticking out, butts precariously places,...eyes.... glued to the stage...

...the experience...unparalleled...


Did I say this before....It is shameful that this celebration has discontinued due to the financial crunch faced by Nrityagram and lack of sponsorship for an event that attracted 40,000 people in 2003 !!!!