BOMBAY-ADDA
Why the future of various art forms is in danger
Take a stroll through a typical school in the city. You’ll find a bunch of students in classrooms; one lot in the playgrounds or one lot doing some other activity like yoga or aerobics. Have a look at their timetable and you’ll find the absence of something like a theater class, a local dance form class or experimental art class. If we do not get kids interested in all this at a young age, how can we expect them to follow these later in their lives?
We live in a society where there is a massive load on the students to perform well and have shining colors on their mark sheets. We live in a society where admission to almost every institution is given primarily on the basis of grades attained. Well, I’m not saying that kids should not be taught the importance of studying, after all, they are the future of this country and we most definitely want bright minds leading us into an unknown future; but what if we are breeding a generation that does not realize the importance of these activities? Or probably even the role they’ve played in history?
Well, I’ll give you this. Some schools do have dramas. They put up musicals for their annual days. Some might have an inter-school competition between the houses (students are usually split into four or more groups and work together to win the best house prize). Some of them even take part in drama competitions. But you won’t have all the students involved in that, only a select few. Students could take up dance classes in their personal time but, how many do?
What I’m saying is that in today’s world where most of our knowledge comes from the internet and movies, we need to teach children how the portrayal of the Ramayana as a play helped unify so many people in the fight against the British by instilling a respect for the beauty and rich heritage of our motherland. We need for children to be in touch with the state and country they live in by knowing the native forms of art like the local dance form. In a diverse country like India, we cannot expect everybody to perform every dance form, but they must at least be aware about it.
What we need, is a regular class at schools teaching students these. We do have arts and crafts class at most places but that only teaches us how to draw and basic origami. We need to give children an experience beyond books. We need for them to understand the difference between theater and cinema and how theater is infinitely tougher on most fronts. We need for them to know how to do the Lavni in Maharashtra, the Bhangra in Punjab, Bharatnatyam in Tamil Nadu; at least the basics. We need for them to learn to appreciate Carnatic Music. Well, it’s not everybody’s cup of tea or liking but somewhere, they need sufficient exposure to these before they form opinions.
-Sarvesh Bijumani