Universe of kathak !

Few days back I took Esther’s Social Studies Notebook – “Universe” was the chapter . First question – Mention 3 difference between Rotation and Revolution.

Oh my god , I thought .. do I know the answer – and then I checked the answer – Rotation is movement of earth around its axis and revolution is movement of earth around the sun …. And other 2 differences also .. I asked the question to Esther – What is the difference between Rotation and Revolution ?
She could not answer .. I told her to study and I will ask same question again later … Next day I asked her if she is ready to answer .. she said yes , and she answered … I asked her do you understand what is Rotation and Revolution… she gave a yes no sort of answer … So I took a small “Zandu Balm” bottle and spinned for rotation , I tried showing the revolution also using the same bottle but was not sure if it was clear …What next could I possibly show her … and then I realized Whenever I think of Rotation, circles – somehow I think of the dance “Kathak” dance which I had learned for couple of years long time back … So I thought let me try showing Rotation and revolution through dance – I was trying this after god knows how many years …. So I stood there and I said watch me and tell what is it .. I balancing my weight on one feet I rotated my body couple of times – She exclaimed “That’s Rotation !” I smiled . The I did the same thing moving around the room “Thats Revolution “! Smiled and she laughed :) I was sure that I looked like a fool trying to dance – but then I was happy that Esther could understand :)

I was always fascinated by “Kathak” – I always felt one need lot of stamina , control and lots of imagination to dance , dance Kathak … Love the foot movement , the long Goongroos, the Chakkars, the Bhavas, and the stories … I stopped learning when I think I was in class 6 … did not continue kathak ….. by the time I realized that I love Kathak I had moved down to Kerala and did not know if could learn it here , also daily running around while at college and later after college , hardly had time to think about it … 2 years back happened to see Birju Maharaj’s performance in Trivandrum and it was mesmerizing - he was accompanied by 2 of his shishyas .. … the best part of the performance was where Birju ji was depicting day to day activities in his dance and not the traditional stories … and then he did something through his dance which I have not seen before - he said he had gone to the beach the previous evening and sound of wave , breeze, fascinated him and he wanted to dance like the waves and move like the wind and next 10-15 minutes he danced like wave, breeze, rain – the sound of Goongroo were just like that of wave ,wind or rain … had to accept there can be only one Birju Maharaj and had to accept that you can express anything through dance … .. Blessed are those people who have the talent to dance and express …. And I hope one day my kids will show interest in learning this art and I will also learn from them :) .. So next time you feel like dancing – dance as if nobody is around :D