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When Sangeeta won accolades for Kathak in Beijing

T HE Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) decided to send a performing unit from Himachal Pradesh to Korea and China under the cultural exchange programme in 1986.

When Sangeeta won accolades for Kathak in Beijing


Shriniwas Joshi

T HE Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) decided to send a performing unit from Himachal Pradesh to Korea and China under the cultural exchange programme in 1986. I was appointed the head of this delegation. We were also to perform on the opening of Seoul Asiad.

The state government decided to send a troupe from Chamba. Talented girls and boys from Chamba were selected but there were two exceptions, Lalita from Bilaspur and Sangeeta from Mandi. Lalita had been living in Chamba for quite sometime and she had jelled well with the Chamba troupe in the past few years.

Sangeeta Sharma was selected because she was an able Kathak dancer who picked up the Chamba folk dance steps with ease. She was the only one in the unit who could dance both classical as well as folk and was one of the brilliant students of legendary Ila Pande, ace Kathak dancer and teacher in the state.

The entire music of the 90-minute performance was live but for the classical dance which was to be performed on a pre-recorded 15-minute strip composed and sung by Ila Pande. Sangeeta danced on it.The ICCR authorities had forewarned me that Indian Ambassador to China KPS Menon was a keen observer and if he did not like a performance befitting the culture of the nation, he could ask the troupe to pack up and go back.

The performance of various troupes was gauged by an expert committee in Korea on the evening prior to the opening of Seoul Asiad. The committee approved our folk dance performance. But in the arena, it looked dwarf amid the magnanimity of Asiad.

I cannot forget the words of my Korean interpreter who would come to me every morning to tell me the medal tally in the Asiad of his country and my country: "Korea so many; India zero". It, unfortunately, remained zero for us till we bade good bye to his country.

China brought us the good news, 'Payyoli Express PT Usha brought us the first gold and the second, the third and then the fourth and cherry on the cake was placed by wrestler Kartar Singh. Five golds. How much I missed the Korean interpreter! The forewarning of the ICCR officer was on my mind and so, in China, I polished various dance items of the troupe and also asked them to copy the tune and words of the most popular Chinese song. Our Chinese interpreters were great help in it.

On the performance at Beijing, KPS Menon was there in the first row of the audience. After the scheduled items, when our boys and girls sang the Chinese song, the entire hall joined them and KPS Menon from the audience gestured 'thumbs up'. He writes from the Embassy of India, 1 Ritan Donglu, Beijing, on October 13, 1986, "The Himachal Pradesh Folk Dance Troupe has won large audiences in Beijing, and, I hear, elsewhere. Its members have functioned as a well-knit, disciplined group and they have gained goodwill as much by their personality as the quality of their dances."

It was victory for our boys and girls and in this victory there was a big hand of Sangeeta Sharma whose Kathak (see photo) made such an impact on the audience that they would storm the stage after the show to congratulate her on her superb performance.The Chinese youth would ask Sangeeta to teach them the steps of Kathak (see photo). She would tell them that it required long 'sadhna' but would shake her leg to keep their heart.

Born to the radio-artistes Jwala Prasad Sharma and Shashi Sharma, known for their melodious voices all over Himachal Pradesh, Sangeeta, a very talented daughter of talented parents, met with a fatal accident at Sundernagar at 22 years and left us forever on the January 18, 1992. Exactly 25 years have passed and often she comes before me decked up to do Kathak. The consolation, if any, for the bereaved parents comes from their house that they have dedicated to Sangeeta by naming it Sangeetanjali.

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