'Malhaar': celebrating the spirit of Monsoon

New Delhi, Aug 7 (UNI) As rains lashed the national capital and almost all of India, 'Malhaar', a festival to celebrate the spirit of Monsoon was inaugurated here by Ms Gursharan Kaur.

The three-day festival by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) which began yesterday captured the emotions and feelings aroused by the Monsoons and the beauty of nature abound.

The first part of the festival titled 'Varsha Mangal' was a Kathak performance choreographed by Sharmistha Mukherjee, an accomplished Kathak dancer. It brought together the moods and imageries of the Monsoon.

Dancers dressed in typical colourful Kathak costumes flocked the stage and the 'taal' and 'jhankar' of ghungroos reverberated in the arena.

The performance skillfully explored a striking contrast between the serenity and fury of nature during the season. It depicted the beauty of rain-bathed nature and the deluge.

The dancers personified the raindrops and narrated their journey in nature from water bodies to clouds and then back to earth through subtle movements. The melodious music of 'ghungroos' filled the arena while at the same time there was a lot of experimentation with the sound, space and music, outreaching the traditional boundaries of Kathak.

It was the interplay of lightning and thundering of clouds, the thundershowers and the drizzle, the trickling of raindrops and the floods.

Real-time visuals of monsoon and its various affects on human life and nature were shown in the backdrop, accompanied by the performances.

Ms Kaur and ICCR chairman Karan Singh facilitated the artists at the end of the show.

UNI