This festival in Mumbai will celebrate Indian women who have carved a unique path in classical traditions

Dr Neena Prasad performs a Mohiniyattam routine during a showcase

Three decades is a long time in any industry, let alone one as ephemeral as music. Since 1992, The Keli Cultural Festival has become a staple of the city's December tradition. "When we began, the Classical tradition was limited to the institutions of its practice," shares Ramachandran K, artistic director and project coordinator. Over the years, it has witnessed names such as the late Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, late Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Peruvanam Kuttan Marar among others encourage the idea. This weekend, the 33rd edition of the cultural organisation will witness the Pranathi Women's Music & Dance Festival take stage in Navi Mumbai.

The biennial event was begun as part of an ongoing effort to highlight the work of female artistes. "This year, we have opted to focus on the two senior and acclaimed practitioners of Rudraveena and Mohiniyattam, who have used the form to further conversation on social contexts." Over two days, the festival will see performances by Mohiniyattam scholar Dr Neena Prasad, and rudraveena exponent, Vidushi Jyoti Hegde, accompanied by other performers.

Ramachandran K

Dr Neena Prasad has been one of the foremost practitioners of these ideas. To be presented with the Pranathi Pratibha Puraskar this year, the scholar and danseuse shares, "I believe that any traditional form, known for its classical values, will only speak to its society when it has relevance in its modern times. If we do not move forward with the times, our classicism will b reduced to being a showpiece."

The founder of the Bharathanjali School of Dances explains that her effort has been to ‘break the form, and extend its expression.' The choice of embracing feminist literature, works by Pratibha Ray, performances that explored the dilemmas of Sita, stories of Kuriyedath Thathri allow for that. The other dimension was her focus on erasing gender divisions within the form - at the heart of her PhD thesis on the Lasya and Tandava traditions in the classical dances of South India. "As a feminine form [Mohiniyattam], there was emphasis on grace. I felt that it was limiting the expression. Every individual has both feminine and masculine attributes, and working towards a gender equal society, an art form has to take this into account," she states.


Vidushi Jyoti Hegde performs on the rudraveena

The other honoree of the festival, Vidushi Jyoti Hegde, is familiar with the inequity, although she does not let it impede her art. To be presented the Pranathi Acharya Puraskar, Hegde is the first Indian woman who took up the rudra veena in her teenage years. Having learnt the sitar under Dr Bindu Madhav Pathak, she was drawn to the veena and rudra veena, and later learnt under the late Ustad Asad Ali Khan. "I was told immediately that women do not play the rudraveena. It is difficult, and particularly challenging," she admits.

However, the 62-year-old emphasises that her choices were artistic, rather than revolutionary. "I was not aware that it was a revolutionary act. For me, it was the sound of the rudraveena that drew me to it," she says, adding, "Like any other instrument, it needs two hands, an ear for music and discipline. That does not change, be it a man or a woman."

However, unknowingly, she has set a path for many female musicians now learning the instrument. "I keep telling them [students], even today, do not choose an instrument or art because you think it is challenging or to make a name. Choose it because you have a deep calling. Everything else comes from it," she concludes.

ON December 13 and 14; 6.30 pm onwards
AT Terna Auditorium, sector 22, near Nerul Railway Station, Nerul, Navi Mumbai.