Divya Srivastava

Divya Srivastava, the heart and soul of Geet-Rung and its director, had spent six months of preparations and rigorous rehearsals in producing this annual event highlighting the values of Indian epic ‘Ramayan’. Thematically, the Ramayana explores human values and the concept of dharma. The Ramayana is not just a story, it presents the teachings of ancient Hindu sages (Vedas) in narrative allegory, interspersing philosophical and devotional elements. The characters Rama, Sita, Lakshman, Bharata, Hanuman, and Ravana are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India, Nepal, and many south-east Asian countries such as Thailand and Indonesia. According to Hindu tradition, the Ramayana takes place during a period of time known as Treta Yuga. Ram is referred to within Hinduism as Maryada Purushottama, literally the Perfect Man or Lord of Virtue. This 55-minute splendid Kathak ballet was presented as the first item of the evening and involved over 85 participants ages 5-35. The performers depicted these fascinating episodes through fast-paced captivating dances replete with Kathak artistry in colorful costumes. The execution was flawless, with precision footwork and jingling ghunghroos, spins, and varying formations performed to live singing.
 

Divya’s journey of Lord Ram’s life in Kathak was presented in six beautiful scenes – Narration before each scene by Sunny Sachdeva, aptly described the content of it that helped audience better understand the following scene. One of the scenes presented the ‘Swayamwar’ of Sita with Ram after he successfully lifted and broke the Bow. The changing slides backdrops beautifully coordinated with the performances going on the stage. Music was outstanding and embellished dancer’s rhythmic elements, footwork and expressions. The ballet ended with a ‘Diya’ dance, marking the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya after his 14 yrs of exile. The stage was full of students holding diyas in their hands that culminated in the shape of one large beautiful ‘Diya’ twinkling in the dark, brilliantly choreographed by Divya. The music was composed by well known artists in India based on the script that Divya writes and details the nuance of each scene. The play inspired some of the classes inclined towards the Bollywood dances only to learn Kathak as they wished to learn this classical dance style and be a part of such plays in future recitals at Geet-Rung.
After the ‘Deepawali’ ballet, more dances by various groups were presented by the students that lasted for another hour. They were kesariya hai roop maaro, nimbooda, ghaghra, raghupati raghav, tum tak, Kashmir tu and nagda sang dhol to name few. A couple of peppy numbers were also presented by few classes.

Pankaj charmed the audience with his heart-warming song ‘Geet gata hoon main, gungunata hoon main’ in his patented Kishore Kumar style. He was then joined by Vandana Upadhyaya in a classical soulful duet ‘ni sa ga ma’ that left the audience yearning for more for the mesmerizing voices of two. The last song of the segment was sung solo by Vandana again ‘wo chup rahen to’ (film ‘Jahan Ara’) accompanied by Divya for a beautiful dance. As said by the Emcee Sunny Sachdeva that the song was more like a ‘gazal’ full of subtleness and delicacy and Divya justified it beautifully by her kathak ‘adakari’ and grace.
‘Mohe panghat pe’ (film Mughal-e-Azam) was a special dance performed by a student group of Mothers - Anar Sharma, Nidhi Tanak, Suchita Sood, Sudipta Roy and Varsha Aryakula and was a fitting tribute to the Mother’s Day clebration. The diverse age student groups successfully captured the cheerfulness and exuberance of the Indian culture through the kaleidoscope of hit Bollywood dances. They danced with their heart, encapsulated in subtle nuances, needed to reflect the gamut of moods, grace and finesse. The grand finale ‘satrangi re’ was much applauded by the audience. As in the past, in the finale, each group of students, one by one, danced in their colorful costumes until all the students and other participants filled the entire stage and then Divya was invited on the stage by the Emcee Aqsa Farroqui. The program was interestingly and creatively put together by the Emcees of the evening Aqsa Farroqui and Sunny Sachdeva.

Geet-Rung has also been associated with another non profit organization ‘Ekal Vidyalaya’ that supports the education of underprivileged children in the rural and tribal regions of India. In the past Geet-Rung has sponsored ‘Ekal’ schools through a fundraiser and this year announced to sponsor two more schools from this event. A slide presentation explaining the mission and work of ‘Ekal’ was presented by the Ekal representative Rachna Gupta. According to Divya Srivastava ‘I want all my students to be aware of the importance of the charity work and how each of them can use their talent to help others in need. This not only teaches them community service but gives them self confidence, motivation and leadership skills’.



In between the program Geet-Rung also shows their audience the glimpses of the Piano Recital and performances that they do outside the school. That way students and parents are aware of all the activities/performances done by school round the year.
The testimonial included by the 18 yrs old Khyati Sehgal, as she joins a theatre college in Boston from next year was all praise to her teacher Ms. Divya for giving a recommendation letter to her that helped her get in the college. According to Deepa Nallur, a student’s parent the kathak ballet was very captivating and educational and it reminded that we all come from such a rich culture. ‘My daughter is so sincere and keen for her dance classes, she loves to do it… and all the credit goes to you for generating that interest in her’ says another parent.

Divya extended her thanks to all her students, their parents and countless volunteers who had put in hard work behind stage to make the program a huge success. She also thanked all students for raising funds for St. Jude and understanding the important role they play in helping the children suffering with various diseases, with their talents. She said that with each year’s recital the student’s caliber is pushed to next level and the parents can see it in their performances. She also wished happy Mother’s Day to all the women. Trophies were awarded to all the students, participants and Volunteers. Student of the year medals were awarded to Sonum Agarwal, Avnee Naik, Shreya Raj and Akshita Sharma for highest scores earned in the Kathak exam years. She also acknowledged the staff at Geet-Rung. Shweta Dubey, the dance teacher, Nida Shariff, the Manager. Light and sound control by Navin Tyagi. Backstage management by Nida Shariff, Kritika Subramaniam, Aisha Shariff, videography by Girish Modi, Photography and Backdrops were done by Lavanya Palaparthy.
The entire show was a breathtaking riot of color, artistry, music and choreography that pushed the artistic boundaries. The whole program lasted for 3 hours and the audience enjoyed every moment of it. With every successive annual show, Geet-Rung is raising the bar and gaining in popularity and acclaim.