AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DHANANJAYANS

The Music and Dance season in Chennai has become a scene of  competition between Sabhas. A futile exercise of showing each other’s muscle power. The season serves no purpose either for art or the artists. It has become  an occasion to rejoice and  meet acquaintances.  The supply is more than the demand. The performances are substandard, the venues are unaesthetic. 

These days, no one wants to  take advice. They know what they want to do, and they do it to the extent of underselling their art.  The youngsters of today, want to get to the platform by hook or crook. I would advice youngsters to resist the temptation of  performing on Sabha platforms with empty chairs watching them.  Let your art project you. Do not use art as a means to project you. This will not work. I  have seen people fading into oblivion.  Push, pull and money may help you perform initially, but ultimately only  hard work, sincerity, discipline, devotion and dedication  will help you survive.

In this competitive  world, even a professional artiste, needs to market himself. This does not mean he is commercialising himself. My sincere advice is, if you do not want to be a professional,  do not compete on  the stage with  professionals. Be satisfied with acquiring the knowledge  of the art form.  Evaluate yourself, and ascertain whether you are qualified to be on the stage. Take criticism  in the right spirit, learn to analyse criticism. Performing on a stage is not the ultimate, you can use the art in many other useful ways and get a sense of satisfaction 

Nowadays, my spare time is spent mostly on planning the future of Bhaaskara.  Otherwise, I read art and politics related  articles. Or, browse through TV channels.

A nice morning or evening walk, in the Theosophical Society campus. Or a classical dance performance, in the beautiful ambience of  the Kalakshetra auditorium  ( in spite of the mosquito menace, at Kalakshetra!)

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