Joy of Giving

Dr. Anantani at a lec-dem in Ahmedabad

Until Oct. 26.2113 , ‘Joy of Giving’  held limited  meaning for most of us—to get satisfied by donating charity like food , clothes, books, school fees, etc. to  socially and economically deprived and underprivileged  individuals and wait till next call comes.

Shivangee Vikram, Rasadhwani’s  director, lead dancer and academic counselor made all us experience a different kind of joy through ‘Joy of Giving’ Week, which is organized every year from the 1^st to 6^th Oct. During this week and weeks beyond, she trained eight underprivileged urban youth in classical dance movements and prepared them to perform in front of a very sensitive and cultured audience on 26^th Oct. at the CEE Auditorium, Ahmedabad. They performed on a recorded piece from Pandit Ravishankar’s ‘Chants of India’ album. They shared the evening stage with other 30-35 dancers who have been training as classical dancers since years.

These energetic and hard working youth of urban slums had a unique experience. The exposure to stage and to an appreciative full house was totally new and exciting experience for them.

Thinking of this again and again I sometimes feel, aren’t we all culturally deprived lot too?

- Dr. Uma Anantani