Cultural siesta

However,the title may soon be disputed as the city’s art and cultural life is sneaking in a siesta. May,June and now July are seeing a lull in its activities,a lull that not many are able to explain.

Though some attribute this dull scene to the monsoons,others are concerned about the terror that the swine flu epidemic had caused around this time last year. Abhijeet Choudhary,director,Swatantra Theatre,stresses that though putting up good performances is important,getting the correct audience for the performance is equally essential. He says,”I think the lull could be due to a lot of reasons – college students are not available during these months as colleges begin only by the end of June. Also,some may consider this season to be very risky,especially after the chaos caused by swine flu. I think people are still a little wary about getting together during the monsoons. Moreover,the movies released in these months were of big banners and people had been eagerly awaiting them. Thus,all these factors have contributed towards art events being hit.”

It is true that collegians form majority of the theatre-loving audience. Says Ashish Mehta,Aasakta Kalamanch,”I think the art community has always seen these phases of highs and lows. We did have our last event in May,but I think the main reason why there aren’t too many shows happening is because college students have gone back to their hometowns.”

Artiste Shrinivas Joshi doesn’t think of this lull as something out of the ordinary. He expresses,“It’s more to do with the environment; not many are ready to invest in big programmes in the monsoon. In fact,during this period,a lot of talent is exported. People from Pune go abroad to perform.”

Danseuse Yogini Gandhi too is of the opinion that this phase is typical to this season. This Kathak and Oddisi exponent believes that early winter is the prime time for the performing arts. “I think May and June lean towards workshops and activities for children and though we are still doing our jobs by performing at corporate events,it’s the months after the monsoon that really pick up.”