With raising economy and governments modern ‘public-friendly’ budgets, Bengaluru was looked upon as the land of “achievers” with the early influx of Technology companies Bengaluru slowly made its mark on the world map and then there was no looking back for the city, one after other companies made their grand entry into “Namma” Bengaluru” and with that began the raise of Support and service companies. From Hostels to PG’s educational institutions to private coaching centres, canteens to hotels Bengaluru slowly began to grow. People realised that the city had enough money to be exploited, with more number of inhabitants Bengaluru’s tourism department rose to glory. Private transports were now more, auto rickshaws were the only king on the roads; communication, be it public or private increased, cell phones slowly became a part of every one’ life et all. It was a new wave and Bengaluru was not too slow to catch this wave, Bengaluru had something in store for every one.

With increasing number of workaholics Bengaluru’s attention slowly shifted towards entertainment industry, Pubs, week end bars, disco’s night clubs made their way in-between the hectic schedule of Bengaluru, week ends were more glorified and Saturday night fever was spread all over. Alcohol was easily available and Dj’s were introduced to get that extra kick. Bengaluru wore a modern outfit and the hand of Law was too short to control or cut down on any un-wanted activities. 24/7 restaurants were introduced, the menu card now had more than our ‘Masala dosa’s’, ‘idli’s’ burgers were the need of the hour and pizza was the staple food. Bengaluru was a new platform for all restaurants and food chains to make their mark in business, people of Bengaluru with diverse backgrounds welcomed any food of any kind of any rate.

Bengaluru even acted as a host to many other artistic fields like theatre, painting, and music. With hectic schedules and boring week ends always at pubs people now wanted something different, something artistic and thus the “Art life of Bengaluru” was started. Theatre made its early mark with some major theatre groups camping permanently in Bengaluru, music was part and parcel of every Bengalurian, the city gave innumerable opportunities to young talents to showcase their creativity and grow to new heights. Bengaluru accepted every play with warm heart, every painting with caring eyes and every music with encouraging ears, Bengaluru also became a destination for artistic people and very aptly called “the arts paradise”

Call it a boon or bane, Bengaluru has given every body its piece of success, people have walked in made merry and walked out but the city as such has been kind enough to accommodate any one of any kind anytime. Life at Bengaluru never stops; the city never sleeps and success is always in store for you in Bengaluru.

“No child is entitled as an employee until he/she reaches 14” was the law and accordingly all over the world people stopped recruiting children below and bingo! The government got its share of vote bank and public support but think again? There are loads of children in every traffic signal begging for a single pie the moment you stop your vehicle!! Considering mendicancy as one of biggest profession, these children are forced into without any choice and why not?? The law never defines that “children below 14 should not beg”. Sputtering in all weathers these children try to impress every motorist with their self made tricks and performance be it a singing, dancing or even walking on a rope. Every signal is a piece of bread for these young hearts and every vehicle is their future. Life at 10 for these children is a living inferno; painting themselves, the characters from greatest epics such as “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata” these children try to spread a new “dharma” among the people.

“Dreams unlimited” and their vision determined, these children are totally inconspicuous from the long hands of ‘law’ and the advantage goes to their poor helpless nurtures. When I dared to question one of the children about his future, his reply was simple “I know what I am doing and I am doing it for my family”; believe me; he still hopes of a day where he sees himself uniformed and sitting in a school.

“Every child is special” and so is there future and carrier. Every child’s future is any countries’ developing step, even though many voluntary organizations have taken up a step in picking up street children and educating them, there are loads of them in every signal and on every road.

What sounds more ridiculous is when these kids sell goods of MNC companies, just turn round that packet and you see the MNC granting some part of money to some voluntary organization in support of street children.

Well it’s time for us to realize the thin line between employment and beggary and in both cases it is just the children at the age of 10 being used?

What is the solution for this?

How can stress be reduced in the IT world?

The answer, may be surprising, but is very simple:

Creative dance Education

Dance, as a balanced social, physical, emotional and spiritual activity, touches every part of us.

The study of creative dance deepens our understanding of movement expression as a basic human need.

Through dance we can connect to our inner selves as well as to others transcending barriers of language, race and gender, with the potential to overcome negative attitudes due to different economical, social, religious and cultural backgrounds. At the same time we maintain our own particular identity. Creative educational dance uses our natural abilities to encourage potential and inspire confidence while the movement vocabulary of the participants continuously develops.

Dance as a stress reliever

“There is a dancing bone in every body” said a prolific philosopher. Dancing is known to have a number of beneficial effects. After a good bout of dance, the release of endorphins is immense. The reasoning behind this is simple – if you are dancing to tune that you enjoy, you tend to grin and smile a lot more than you ordinarily would.

Dance and its forms reduce the occurrence of wrinkles to almost 63 per cent.
Dance therapy is recognized world over as a methodology to bring down the stress. Commonly known as DMT, Dance Movement Therapy is the psychotherapeutic use of movement (and dance) for emotional, cognitive, social, behavioural and physical conditions. It is a form of expressive therapy.

Dance therapy is founded on the premise that the body and mind are an interrelated continuum (refer body-mind), that the state of the body may affect mental and emotional wellbeing in manifold ways. In contrast to artistic dance, which is usually concerned with the aesthetic appearance of movement, dance therapy explores the nature of all movement. Through observing and altering the kinaesthetic movements of a client, dance movement therapists diagnose and help solve various psychological problems. As any conscious person can move on some level, this therapy can work with any population.

I guess the answer is “YES”, theatre now has become “theatre for all” theatre now has become a strong force which drives any human to think, act and imagine. In technically terms, one can say theatre has now become “OPEN SOURCE”

As per the history theatre has evolved from ages and has been a strong force in every war and revolution. Indian theatre’s biggest evolution was its journey from Entertainment to a platform or a force. Bal Gangadhar Thilak started the trend of moving people against the British early in 1900’s through theatre. Thilak’s visions of broadcasting his views in the form of dramas were the early signs of “theatre for all” in India. As time emerged itself, technological revolution took its turn to bury theatre completely; the advent of television to Indian houses was devastating to theatre eventually leading people to forget stage, lights and the struggle behind the stage. It was all “Lights, Camera and Action!!!”

As they say, every thing has a turn and so is, for theatre; Theatre regained its charm and lost glory but what could be the reason for this fulminant downfall and raise of theatre?

The answer is very simple, Availability and opportunities. Unfortunately the post freedom period of Indian history did not offer much opportunity for people who craved to act, majority of theatre was dominated by huge names and for common man it was like a diamond. Theatre suddenly became untouchable.

Late 2000’s showed a drastic change with theatre groups emerging with equal support from the public, the result was very simple “theatre for all…” Theatre was made public, any one interested was allowed to act, passion counted more than experience, desire weighed more than money and for those who were not involved creatively theatre again became a medium of entertainment.

The main reason for this transformation goes to some of the theatre houses who have opened the doors for all and made theatre available for any normal, common man. Anyone who desired to see themselves on stage or sing on stage or even watch a play; for them it is just a catwalk. With one click people can get to know what is happening in theatre, with one phone call people can now join a theatre group and with one thing called “passion” people can relive their dreams. As we evolve from the ages of pigeons to E-mails, theatre soon will become yet again a driving force, a reason, a platform, a desire and lastly a hope to achieve something new, to tell something new and finally to showcase something new.

“INTERNET RELATIONSHIPS”, probably the most newfangled trend in today’s world where people wrap themselves in anonymity, share all their feelings for hours together behind a simple LCD monitor, least they know that the person on the other side is a genuine or not. As we all see the technology is rising to its peaks and so are the relationships, from the days of pigeons to letters; today’s world deals with E-mails and Bluetooth. CYBER LOVE, CBER SEX, CYBER MARRIGES, the world today is submerged in CYBER. If we go deep into statistics and try to analyze, 6 out of every 10 teenagers are addicted to the new type of so called “cyber drugs”. The question “WHY?” remains unanswerable; it could be due to loneliness or depression or a combination of numerous other reasons.

Studies reveal that these new age relationships help in better understanding of each other; but the question is, is it really true? Judging a person through a keyboard sounds ridiculous, but do we stop? I guess, NO. Masking one’s emotions, feelings through words proves that we are all so dependent on technology, more than we would want to.

As life evolves from metal age to electronic age, so do the relationships; from multi media messages to short messaging services, all these inventions have become a threat to the human society. So, has the time arrived where our inventions are acting as our own curse or has the age arrived where machines are, in a subtle fashion, taking over the human world?

Questions always remain as questions or probably could go down the history lane as “the world’s unanswerable questions” but ‘what is the ultimatum?’ remains another question.

With more than 1000 vehicles plying on these roads at any time, leading to all kinds of misery for the people driving, the road has now become a graveyard for street dogs. Approximately 20 dogs are crashed under the magnanimous wheels of heavy vehicles. The very sight of dead dog bodies with their body parts shattered all over the road makes anyone un-comfortable, and the very smell of it induces many dangerous diseases but the real point is, “are we doing justice by murdering these harmless and innocent animals? Do they deserve such kind of punishment?” As we move ahead with 60 years of independence, with technology rising; has the country’s law failed to protect and shelter these animals?

Recently an Indian film actor was convicted for 5 years for killing endangered species which leaves us with one important fact that there are laws to protect animals, but is these laws confined only to endangered species or is it only a celebrity weightage that adds on these laws?

Bangalore recently witnessed a mass obliterating of dogs for which the local authorities framed a reason but do we have a reason for this kind of killing? PETA, the authorized animal activist organization is completely blind about this; the local authorities are least to be concerned about this. All this leaves us with more and more questions with no answers in sight; what is the reason for such indifference to this slaughter? Who is responsible? The truck drivers who ram their vehicles during midnight or the local authorities who haven’t provided sufficient lighting for the country’s busiest roads or PETA who are so ignorant about this entire issue that they have not even tried to rescue these innocent dogs.

The blame game starts and keeps circling around with no results. ‘INDIA POISED’ is a popular phrase, but are we really there to poise ourselves. The country today has thousands of voluntary organizations which fight for animal protection and especially endangered animals, the very fact that ridicules anyone is, if we protect our existing animals in a right way, then the question of “ENDANGERED SPECIES” automatically fades away.

Time is running out and with that an entire breed of animals, it’s high time for local authorities to look into the matter or at least bring such incidents into limelight so that any NGO can pick up the task of rehabilitating these animals elsewhere, the solution is simple and it only requires dedicated work.

The answer is NO. Theatre is considered as a struggle by a common man against society’s iniquity, theatre is a way of expression to the eternal world; theatre is the only medium which speaks about integrity. History books take us back to a very interesting story which speaks about the origin of theatre during the Greek period.
There were three types of drama composed in the city of Athens; Tragedy, Comedy and Satire. The origins of Athenian tragedy and comedy are far from clear, but they began as (and continued to be) a part of the celebrations of the god Dionysus, which were held once a year. Every year three authors were chosen to write three dramas. All the plays were played in the Dionysos theatre in Athens, and the best author for both tragedy and comedy was chosen.

As time evolved, the dramas of medieval period concentrated more on vernacular languages of Europe from religious enactments of the liturgy. Mystery plays were presented on the porch of the cathedrals or by strolling players on Feast days, which evolved into tragic and comic forms, depending on the theme. The first truly secular plays in Europe were historical plays, celebrating the lives of historical or legendary kings; these combined the functions of entertainment and propaganda.

These brief facts leave us with a small hint that Theatre/ Drama was started purely for entertainment purposes, but as we advance into the medieval period, theatre was considered as an outlet to express feelings. Love, lust, anger, jealousy, madness, laughter and struggle, with so many expressions hidden and suppressed, common man wanted a vent though which he could pump out all his expressions. He used theatre to do it.

As we turn the pages of history and come towards the closing of 18th century, theatre had slowly evolved into a platform for revolution, legendary warriors, freedom fighters and revolutionaries who used theatre as a means of public platform to propagate their views, ideas and vision.

Theatre today has a unique ability, allowing us to witness and experience another person’s feelings or to sense a situation that we would not normally encounter such as, being a General in a war. This is what makes drama a useful way of teaching, learning and growing as a person. Drama has a holistic way of teaching people. Whether it be in a play or by partaking in a virtual situation, participants learn through interactions with others — this allows participants to not only learn facts as they would from a book or in a classroom, but to enter the world of another person, to be allowed to explore how they feel about this situation or person. Every interaction with another character or situation gives a greater understanding of what is happening around us.

Theatre brings a whole new meaning to our lives, a brand new imagination and thinking; it allows us to enter that virtual world that no other medium dares to venture. Drama is a living, breathing art form. Actors are placed on stage, so that they can breathe life into the characters that have been created by the playwrights; this is what no other entertainment medium offers.

Very evidently, in today’s world, Drama Therapy is often considered an effective treatment for people who have had severe emotional and psychological problems.
From being an entertainment factor to today’s drama therapy, theatre has been part and parcel of every one’s life. As William Shakespeare quoted “Life is a stage and people are mere actors”, theatre has evolved itself from an entertainment platform to a passion.

Today theatre is practiced to bring the lost culture into light, to lift it up amidst the waves of technology, to bring in a new revolution, to create a new platform where people can showcase their hidden talents. Theatre today is set to bring back its lost glory, to induce the power of theatre in people. Theatre is believed to be a “humble man’s struggle” against increasing injustice, poverty and illiteracy.

Fundamentally, it’s in our own hands to bring back our lost tool, our lost platform and passion instead of merely asking the question, “What’s the point?”

Let’s analyze the country India, with more than 25 states and population of over a billion, India is now widely open to western trade and culture. With IT hubs like Bangalore and Pune becoming more significant on the world map, India is slowly emerging as 21st century’s most influential country but what’s going on inside the country is staggering. Recently the commercial capital of India, Mumbai was tattered into pieces when one of their leaders raised voice against increasing number of people from the neighbouring states thus slenderizing the space for native residents. Cities like Bangalore have increasing number of outside population with only 30% of original inhabitants according to the latest census. Riots erupted across India over the issue of increasing population of north Indians in the state of Maharastra. Is this a political game to gain mileage or a frustration of locals; the reason is still unknown.

When asked; the locals say that they need more space in their own territory where as on the other side the immigrants claim that they relocate just to earn their daily bread. Countries like United States of America who were more open to accept people from all over the world are now slowly turning towards the alarming level of immigration.

A survey of New York City households taken by the US Census Bureau in 1999 has revealed that 40 percent of the city’s 7.4 million people are now foreign-born. This figure quantifies and confirms what is apparent on the city’s streets, subways and in other public places. Roughly 100,000 immigrants have been arriving and making New York City their home each year for the past decade. One million have come since 1990. This has meant an almost incredible jump in the percentage of foreign-born New Yorkers, from 28 to 40 percent, in less than ten years. Immigration has of course been a widespread phenomenon in the past 50 years. Canada and Australia, with major metropolises such as Toronto and Sydney, have been greatly changed by this process.

Most major cities in the US have also seen their share of immigration. It all boils to one question finally; that between this race of “SPACE” and “BREAD” who should be protected by the government? The locals want more space, the immigrants want more money, is it a crime to relocate? Or is it a crime not to adapt to that particular region?

“Who’s city is it anyway?” does it belong to the native residents or the occupants who work day in and day out and in that process making the city more prosperous.

There are many questions unanswered and the only sufferer is yet again the common man.

The origin of theatre in ancient India or rather folk theatre and dramatics can be traced to the religious ritualism of the Vedic Aryans. This folk theatre of the misty past was mixed with dance, food, ritualism, plus a depiction of events from daily life. It was the last element which made it the origin of the classical theatre of later times. Many historians, notably D. D. Kosambi, Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, Adya Rangacharaya, etc. have referred to the prevalence of ritualism amongst Indo-Aryan tribes in which some members of the tribe acted as if they were wild animals and some others were the hunters. Those who acted as mammals like goats, buffaloes, reindeer, monkeys, etc. were chased by those playing the role of hunters.

In such a simple and crude manner did the theatre originate in India about 3500 years back in the Indo-Aryan states of Rig Vedic times. There also must have existed a theatrical tradition in the Harappan cities (civilizations).

Natya Shastra

Indian history about theatre cannot be explained without taking the name of Bharat Muni . Bharata Muni (2nd century BC) was an ancient Indian writer best known for writing the Natya Sastra of Bharatha, a theoretical treatise on Indian performing arts, including Theatre, dance, acting, and music, which has been compared to Aristotle’s poetics.

Bharata is often known as the father of Indian theatrical arts. His Natya Shastra seems to be the first attempt to develop the technique or rather art, of drama in a systematic manner. The Natya Shastra tells us not only what is to be portrayed in a drama, but how the portrayal is to be done. Drama, as Bharata Muni says, is the imitation of men and their doings (loka-vritti). As men and their doings have to be respected on the stage, so drama in Sanskrit is also known by the term roopaka which means portrayal.

The Natya Shastra is incredibly wide in its scope. It consists of minutely detailed precepts for both playwrights and actors. Bharata describes ten types of drama ranging from one to ten acts. In addition, he lays down principles for stage design, makeup ,costume , dance (various movements and gestures), a theory of Aesthetics (rasas and Bhavas),Acting , Directing and Music each in individual chapters.

Bharata sets out a detailed theory of drama comparable to the poetics of Aristotle. He refers to bhavas(feelings), the imitations of emotions that the actors perform, and the rasas (emotional responses) that they inspire in the audience. He argues that there are eight principal rasas: love, pity, anger, disgust, heroism, awe, terror and comedy, and that plays should mix different
rasas but be dominated by one.

According to the Natya Shastra, all the modes of expression employed by an individual through his speech, gestures, movements and intonation must be used. The representation of these expressions can have different modes, according to the predominance and emphasis on one mode or another. Bharatamuni recognises four main modes: speech and poetry (bharati vritti), dance and music (kaishiki vritti), action (arabhatti vritti) and emotions (sattvatti vritti).

Classical Indian Theatre

The Ramayana and Mahabaratha can be considered as the first recognized plays that originated in India. These epics provided the inspiration to the earliest Indian dramatists and they do even today. Indian dramatists such as Bhasa (c.2nd century BC) wrote plays that were heavily inspired by the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Kalidasa (1st century BC) is arguably considered to be ancient India’s greatest Sanskrit poet and dramatist. Three famous romantic plays written by Kalidasa are the MALAVIKAGNIMITRAM and ABHIGNANA SHAKUNTALAM (The Recognition of Shakuntala), it was the first to be translated into English and German.