We departed Vijayawada in the afternoon, quite happily. There were too many mozzies, Guy had a bad cough the whole time we occupied the minuscule hotel room, and the workers in the hotel were so pushy, always begging for tips. When we left the hotel one waiter, and then two staff helped us get the suitcases into the car, and suddenly there was 6 persons we had never seen before from the hotel asking for their tips as well!

Puri Traffic Lights

We were travelling with Sandeep’s student Harshid’s family, who are very lovely, and have been hosting us at their family home for quite a few amazing meals while we were in Vijayawada. Sandeep and Harshid’s father took the cars back to their relative’s place, to store them while we travelled the 850 km by overnight train to Cuttuck. We are now quite familiar with the whole train deal, and Freya really loves sleeping on board. Harshid’s family brought a delicious simple tamarind rice dish for us all to eat for dinner on the train, which still tastes really great at room temperature. I was pretty wiped, and coming down with a cold, as was Caspar and Sandeep. We all crept into our bunk with fresh linen and pillows supplied, and all sweated away all night to kill the bug. Freya woke me up around midnight with a stomach ache, and I was worried that this was the start of something bad. She could only just bear to sit on the toilet in the train which smelt really bad, so I waited outside most of the time with my cough, and thankfully after about 15 minutes she came out feeling just fine and went happily back to sleep!

We arrived at 9 in the morning, and all got into cycle rickshaws to take us the short distance back to Bombay Hotel (a bit misleading perhaps as it is nowhere near Mumbai), where we stayed at the beginning of January. The staff here are very nice, and do not ring the bell at 7am to deliver the newspaper (that we had not ordered), nor do they knock on our door at 10.30 pm to demand another advance on our hotel bill, as they would do in Vijayawada. It is cooler here at night, as we are further north, and it feels comparatively pleasant and light.

Today, January 14 in the festival day, and as Freya’s performance programme starts tomorrow, today was our only chance to visit the famous city of Puri on the seaside. I have been starting to hanker after a swim in the sea, so despite my ticklish cough I very eagerly jumped in the nice Jeep Sandeep had hired for us all. We fitted in both families (just), and headed for Puri, 80 kilometers from where we are staying. It felt great to be driving through the country, but once we arrived in Puri itself it was another matter. There is a very famous temple there dedicated to Shri Jagannath, which is a form of Lord Krishna sitting with his sister and brother. There is no other temple like it in India. They wanted to show it to us, but as we neared it the congestion was incredible, as it was the main holiday festival day. We had to park a mile from the temple, and walked a fair way in the heat, avoiding the cows and their dung, and the hands of lepers constantly poking their stumps out to ask us for money. It was really getting too much for us, as we also very much had the idea of the ocean swim on our minds. From past experiences the idea of queuing up at a temple for hours on end with thousands of other pilgrims did not appeal.

Can you spot Guy, Freya & Caspar?

So Sandeep took Harshid’s family to the temple, while we searched the road until we found the car and driver, and headed a little further on, until we reached the beach. We almost ran to the water, jumped straight in, and Freya who had said she was not planning to get her hair wet, was soon bodysurfing the waves, and having a general ball, much to the curiosity of the locals, who had never seen a little girl tackling the waves quite so enthusiastically.

The cows also love the cool of the beach

The water had the most perfect temperature, not soupy and hot, but warm enough to stay in for a long time. Guy said “This is the cleanest I have felt since I got to India”. It was really heavenly, not just to swim but to know we had escaped from the maddening crowds! I was trying to get used to swimming in a punjabi suit, which was not easy as the waves kept pulling at my clothes. But I would not have been seen dead here in a swimsuit that is for sure. It was bad enough trying to get changed back into dry clothes under a towel, with some mad person trying to photograph me with his mobile phone! Lots of other more friendly people came up and asked us where we were from.

After our swim, while Guy ate some chaat (snacks) on the beach with Sandeep & the others who had finally found us on the very long beach, I went across the road to a craft exhibition, where they sold all sorts of lovely craft things from the state of Orissa. They make the most stunning silver filigree work here, and Freya bought some delicate and very cheap silver earrings. I went for a set of peach pearl bangles for an overpriced foreigners rate of $4. Sandeep is always trying to find out what we want to buy, then get us to disappear, and then haggle with the shopkeeper for the best price and pay for us. But sometimes I just have to give him a break as our perpetual tour guide, even if it means I pay a few dollars more. Freya bought a most lovely stone carved statue – they have the most amazing stone carvings here – the big ones start at several hundred dollars, but are very difficult to transport home. Luckily their famous applique textiles are soft and relatively easy to transport. As we drove home their famous cloth applique lamps hung off large trees and had light bulbs inside – it looked wonderful, and cheered us up on our 2 hour 80km ride back to the hotel, where we are all in need of an early night tonight. I am still sitting here covered in the salt form the sea, and I think I might leave it that way, as there in only hot water in the morning, and it also reminds me of our beautiful afternoon at the Bay of Bengal.

Freya and I headed off to the outskirts if this rather sleepy city of Vijayawada, with Sandeep, in order for him to give a lesson to the 2 students from his Hyderabad school, Harshid and Puja. They have a large balcony where there is room to dance – you can’t swing a cat in our hotel room. Guy and Caspar stayed behind to go to the internet cafe and hopefully take it easy. So Freya danced with the others and got in a bit more practise, before Sandeep went back to pick up the boys, as Harshid’s family insisted on feeding us lunch. They cook extremely well at their house, so it is also very hard to say no. We had a lovely lunch with an excellent prawn curry – we are getting a bit sick of idly and dhosa, so we really enjoyed it. Sandeep also bought a beautiful moist butterscotch cake for us all.

We then set out in 2 cars, with Harshid’s family guiding us along a shortcut, which would take us to a village called Kuchipudi! We had in the front seat of our car a great legend of Kuchipudi, Vedantam Radheshyam, who had now nearly finished teaching Freya the entrance scene from Bhama Kalapam. He said lets finish the piece in kuchipudi village. We were playing him dance music as we drove, and he was tapping along to it vigorously. It was great to get out of the city. We were travelling along a very narrow road which was raised substantially off the surrounding fields. The scenery was very beautiful here. In the distance on our left we could see the Krishna River, which runs across India from West to east, and on the other side of our road was a canal, to supply water to the fields.

There were coconut palms everywhere, as well as plantations of lush banana palms and sugar cane. This was exactly what I had imagined South India to look like. We were travelling towards the coast following the main river itself through its delta. The roads were so narrow in places, and only 25% tarred in some stretches, and it felt pretty hairy sitting right on the side of the small car, buy Sandeep is a very good driver. Occasionally we came to complete halts waiting for huge herds of goats to pass.

It is a journey of about 50km to Kuchipudi, but with this route we expected that it would take some time indeed. Our guide in the other car was feeling increasingly bad that he had taken us on this long winded route, but we told him we were really thankful to have caught a glimpse of this really rural Indian setting. As we neared our destination we passed through a very ancient town, which was once a major capital of a king of Andhra, and there is a famous Krishna temple in this town…This while area is in fact steeped in the mythology (if i can call it that) of Shri Krishna, the flute playing god who loves song and dance. So as Radheshyam explained to us, it is no accident that dance developed to intensely in this district known as the Krishna District. His own name actually refers to Radha (Shri Krishna’s wife) and Shyam is one of many names for Krishna. Apparently everyone has Krishna names here.

So at around 4.30pm we finally arrived in the actual town of Kuchipudi. Freya did not realise that were were actually there, as this place looked much like any small town in India. Sandeep said “when I get the money, I want to build a memorial arch here to mark the art of dance”, and as he looked up from where we had parked, Radheshyam pointed out an arch being built by one of the great legends of Kuchipudi Vempatti Chinna Sathyam. Vempatti is no doubt the most famous of all the dance families of kuchipudi, and is the only one of these dance families who has really taken the art form to western audiences. He set up a dance academy in Chennai, which churns out many kuchipudi dancers, both Indian and from many overseas countries. He has choreographed many dance dramas in his lifetime. He is old now, and his sons have virtually taken over the running of the academy. It would of course seem a great attraction for Freya to go there, but we have heard of young ladies going there to learn, who have found the whole experience in Chennai very trying. We really wanted to explore the true place of origin of the artform. Radheshyam told us he is one of five brothers who were all Kuchipudi dancers. His eldest brother was actually a much greater dancer than Vempatti, and was heading for great fame, when he tragically died in a car accident at the age of 26. How tragic indeed. Vempatti’s crew from Chennai are actually taking charge of the organising of the up-coming festival of Kuchipudi dance at the end of March. It was here that we realized that there is a lot of politics going on between all these families, and a lot of them, although they are blood related, don’t see eye to eye at all.

We stopped for a delicious dhosa-like snack at a tiny eating house in the main street. This place had many memories for Sandeep, as this is where his father used to drop him off to leave him with his dance master Radheshyam. In those days there was no hostel for the dance students to stay in, so Sandeep just hung out with his guru, helping him with all sorts of work, and then getting lessons whenever it pleased the teacher. He is very thankful for this now, as it is much harder to get really close to the teachers these days. After drinking a really strong cup of chai, we headed through the archway building site, to the street that houses the homes of all the great legends, as well as the Kuchipudi dance university. The village atmosphere was complete here, with its dirt roads, a village pond and a temple. This temple is where Sandeep danced for his graduation, a temple of Shiva with many of his dance poses on the walls. This is where, over the many years, the dance festivals take place on the simple stage in a dusty square. We dropped Radheshyam off at his home and went a couple of houses further along the track to the home of his uncle, the world renowned Guru of female impersonation Padmasri Vedantam Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma.

He was sitting on his verandah in the beautiful golden late afternoon light. He is Sandeep’s final guru, who spotted him dancing in Kuchipudi, and actually asked him to come and learn from him, which is pretty unheard of. So thanks to this amazing rapport Sandeep has with him, he had agree to meet Freya. He is in his late seventies and cannot really teach anymore. Sandeep was hoping he might teach Freya a little in his famous art of expression, but as he said he gets exhausted very quickly. Vedantam Satyanarayana as he is commonly referred to, stated not long ago that you have everything you need in a teacher in Sandeep, and you really don’t need anybody else, which is an incredible compliment to Sandeep, coming from one of the very greatest! And this does echo our feelings very much – it is really clear to see that Sandeep has soaked up this pure tradition in its undiluted form.

Freya & Sandeep offering gifts to Padmasri Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma

So as specially invited guests, we were seated with him on the verandah, and Freya handed him a box of sweets and a dhoti, the traditional Brahmin wraparound skirt, which is a respectful gift for assist. He showed us his photo albums, of some of his many performances, and he ordered a most handsome young man to get us soft drinks. This young man had a stunning face and physique, and it was pretty clear that he was a dancer. You could just imagine him in female get-up. He was very humble and gracious and spoke English, but the guru himself did not. He chatted with Sandeep for a while, and said to him in Telugu that Caspar has a beautiful face, and would make a great Kuchipudi dancer. We laughed, because this was exactly what Radheshyam has also said – that Caspar was more beautiful than Freya and would make a great dancer. Thankfully Freya missed this part of the conversation!

Vedantam Sathyam then took us on a personal guided tour of the village. First stop was the newly built Siddhendra Yogi temple. Siddhendra Yogi was the man, who in the 13th century wrote down the Natya Shastras, which means the treaties on the dance form, the formalized sacred texts on Kuchipudi. Before he wrote them down, the dances were purely an oral tradition. The temple housed his statue, but most interesting was a 13th century statue of Lord Krishna on one side of the room, which was the very stone statue that Siddhendra Yogi had meditated on and prayed to while he wrote the treaties. It seemed to us most special. A small monkey entered the temple and seemed to take interest in Freya and was going after her – Vedantam Satyanarayana worked hard to chase it away.

We wandered on to his personal dance hall, which was inaugurated in 1996, but had been there since the 18th century. Inside all the walls were completely covered in amazing photos, mementoes, and huge awards. Every award any India artist could ever dream of, was on those walls, including many from past presidents of India, including Padmasri, one of the highest achievable recognition. Vedantam sat in his chair with Sandeep next to him, and asked for Freya to dance. We quickly whipped out the iPod and speakers, which have been so fantastic on this trip. Soon she was in full swing, and obviously giving it her very best. This man must have seen only the top dancers over his long career, so it was indeed an honour for Freya to get this time with him. He started playing the Nattuvangam, the flat discs with which the dance masters support the rhythm for the performer. It was indeed very special to have the accompaniment of this great living legend, and it something we will always treasure. Freya danced for around 20 minutes, and worked very hard. The grand master of course did not say anything, but the young beautiful student of his was shocked, expecting a Foreigner to deliver a mediocre effort. He was amazed that she could actually dance proper Kuchipudi and offered his best wishes to Freya. Padmasri Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma then gave Sandeep a pat on the back, saying to him that the Neelamegha item was really good, and in this way complimenting Sandeep on his teaching efforts! This does not happen very often.

He then took us to the Kuchipudi University, which again is just around the corner. It is a large two story building with large classrooms, and cool marble floors. In classroom number 2 there was large photos of all the dance legends all around the walls, and Vedantam Satyanarayana show us all of them. Noticeably a photo of Radheshyam was missing…We have to ask Sandeep why that is. There were huge life size photos of Vedantam Satyanarayana on the podium, and Vedantam the showman he is, posed next to them for photos.

We then returned to his house, but Freya stopped off at Radheshyam’s house to take her dance lesson, and learn the last stanza of her item. He had waved her down from his balcony, and as he and his uncle don’t talk, Freya discreetly slipped away to his small dance hall with a cracking concrete floor. We bade our farewells to Vedantam Satyanarayana, who looked tired after the guided tour. It was dark now, and we followed the sound of dance to Radheshyam’s dance hall.

Inside a group of about 8 young children were dancing in the tiny space. Together with a very talented young girl, Freya danced the last of her piece. This young girl then proceeded to dance a piece on the goddess Parvati. She was just amazing; she was the same height and size as Freya, but as is always the case, Freya with her western size looks older than her years. The Indian kids are generally so much smaller. This young girl had so much animation and expression, and it was clear she was a big talent. From what I could gather Radhesyam was teaching these kids for free, and has choreographed a whole dance drama for them. At this point the power went off. It was pitch black. The kids fetched some candles and the young girl completed her most excellent performance in this dim but soft light. Sandeep wanted to give her some encouragement in the form of money, but realized that he had taken his wallet out of his pocket. He then reached into his back pocket hoping to find anything, and amazingly he found a 500 rupee note there…this was a lot of money for this village girl, and she initially said no. But Sandeep said to her that she had no bangles on her arms and that she need to bangles for dance. She came around and touched all our feet seeking our blessings. It was really magic – like being transported to the old times in the village, where there was no politics, but just simplicity and a great passion for dance. I was very grateful for this truly humble grand finale to a most amazing day.

We “did our business” in true Indian style on the side of the road at Kuchipudi village (our final good-bye) in the dark, boys one side girls the other, before we headed back home along the much faster main road.

After Sandeep came back from school at the start of the one week Sankranthi break, we spent Saturday night at Hyderabad Central, a huge shopping mall with trendsetting overseas brands, a great supermarket, but best of all a department stores worth of stunning Indian clothing with all its colour and intricate detail. It was difficult to get Freya and I out of there. Sandeep and Freya ate at Pizza Hut, while Caspar, Guy and I opted for a noodle bar with fairly authentic Chinese and Thai dishes. We finished up with Baskin Robbins ice cream, and Australian Cookie Man cookies. As usual we were completely stuffed when we got back home. Sandeep had 2 devoted dance students waiting for him when he returned, and so he gave them a lesson long into the night, while we all went to bed, in order to get up at 5am to start our car journey for Vijayawada.

Vijayawada lies on the east coast of India, 270 km due East of Hyderabad, on the Krishna river, 50km from Kuchipudi village, and is home to one of Sandeep’s great teachers Vedantam Radheshyam. Radheshyam is from an ancient lineage of Kuchipudi dancers, and at 52 he and his family are all among the greatest living proponents of the legendary dance drama know as Bhamakalapam. Much more about that later.

So as we headed out of the city on a cool and very foggy winter morning, it felt like a real pilgrimage had started. We stopped to buy some beautiful naturally chilled grapes temptingly piled up huge in the street vendors stall, and Sandeep was taking delight in the very cool air, which is such a rarity in the South. The sun was like a soft pinkish dish through the fog and haze, and looked very beautiful. After around 100km we were famished, and Sandeep was on the lookout for a decent road house, where we could safely eat breakfast. He found us the best one (as usual), and we ate Idlis and Dhosas, typical South India breakfast food, and here the dhosas were deliciously crisp. After Guy and I had 2 cups of chai each, we were finally fully awake.

It took us about 5 hours to reach Vijayawada. Guy drove the last 80 kilometres, while Sandeep took a much needed nap. The road became more passable towards the end, where the highway went from 2 potholed lanes to four well surfaced lanes. Approaching the city we saw an absolutely enormous statue of Shri Hanuman, the monkey god, standing I would guess at least 25 metres tall. The city has a temple of Shri Durga (the goddess riding the lion who destroys all negativity), on the top of a prominent hill, and is a popular tourist/pilgrim site. The Krishna river is incredibly wide here, and this river stretches all the way across India from the West coast. Seems like there is much to see and do here, but first on the agenda is always dance.

Sandeep took us straight to his dance teachers house – he has since he started teaching Freya dreamt that she would one day learn from the greats of Kuchipudi village itself. So there we were at the door to the small 3 roomed house belonging to one of the great legends of the dance form, Vedantam Radheshyam. All the Vedantam families stem from Kuchipudi village itself, and his wife is also from a lineage of dancers. He is a professor at the university in Kuchipudi, where he lectures during the week, and then comes to the city on week-ends, where his sons, brilliant dancers as well, are taking their higher education. It was beautiful to see the respect and love Sandeep has for his teacher. And it was immediately clear on Radheshyam’s face that he was an artist. I recognized him from the pages of our book on dance at home. At 52 he had a refined, intelligent, and quite youthful bright look about him. We were invited to sit on a mat and have water and tea, while Sandeep and Radheshyam talked in Telugu, the language of this state, which is in its purest form here. Not many speak English. They arranged for us to come the same evening for Freya’s first lesson.

We went back a short way to town, and checked out the main hotel, which was fairly expensive really for what it was. The staff also did not seem too friendly, and Guy and Sandeep soon found a newly built hotel with fresh and clean rooms, and although small had everything we required, for 1/3 of the price of them other one. It was late afternoon by the time we finally had got settled and found a place to eat (lunch menus had practically finished by them), and we had the most wonderful fried noodles with crispy veges without too many sauces and flavors added – it was heavenly in its simplicity. By 6pm we headed to the dance teachers house, and he greeted us very kindly and started Freya’s lesson. He had himself nominated for her to learn a piece from Bhamakalapam – probably the most renowned Kuchipudi solo piece. Freya had seen the dance before, and is luckily familiar with the music. Satyabhama is the consort of Lord Krishna, and the piece is about her pride in having a divine and most handsome husband. She is kind of demonstrative and showy, as well as overjoyed and very proud. So for Freya it will take some time to develop the feelings in this dance. Of course at her age it is not expected that she will fully explore these emotions, but hopefully show some of them.

Vedantam Radheshyam due to his age, normally only lectures and demonstrates hand movements and facial expressions these days, but for Freya, I guess largely due to his lack of English, as well as a lot of luck from our side, he demonstrated every step to her. His face was in a constant state of joy and smiles as soon as he started the steps, because this is the emotion of the dancer in this piece. It was so catchy, and really quite incredible to watch him. At the end of the lesson he just could not stop himself from dancing the fast rhythmic section which is very dynamic and intricate, called as jati. It was just fantastic. We felt very privileged indeed.

Freya did alright, but was of course unfamiliar with her new teacher. She tried her very best to take it all in, and learnt the first section of the piece, before we bade our farewells. As we left a phone call came to Sandeep. It was the family of one of his students from the school at Hyderabad. They had travelled to Vijayawada, essentially to be near Sandeep so that he can coach their son and daughter in some dance pieces for our next trip to Cuttck in 4 days time. So Sandeep will now be extra busy giving them 2 lessons a day, on top of the 2 lessons he takes Freya to. He will never cease to be a very popular and busy man. The family of his students very kindly invited us for dinner at their family’s home, and we had a lovely home cooked, non-veg meal. By this stage Guy had developed a roaring sore throat, and really just needed to get to bed. But as with all things in India they take time, and you can never make just a quick visit!

The next morning after our being slaughtered by mosquitoes, Sandeep again went off to teach his other 2 students, while we worked hard getting the kids out of bed. When he came back, we headed again to his teachers house, where Freya had her second lesson. She was much more relaxed, and Radheshyam himself seemed to be again enjoying teaching. On the last day of our stay here, we will drive to Kuchipudhi village to meet Radheshyam’s uncle, the legendary dancer Vedantam Santyanarayana Sharma. He is most known for his incredible portrayals of females, his most famous roles being from Bhamakalapam. Sandeep says his facial expressions are something to be experienced. Many authorities on Kuchipudi dance say the same. Hopefully Freya will get to spend a little time learning from him – if she is really lucky.

Kuchipudi village itself is really just a sleepy hamlet, and many people don’t even know that the dance art stems from this place. So we are not expecting to be transported to some heavenly world of dance. Of course all the homes of the legendary dancers are there including Radheshyam’s, but it will be interesting to see what else, if anything, we will find there. In this area where our hotel is located, there are around 30 cinemas showing purely Telugu movies, so my theory is that perhaps the tradition of the early dance dramas have rubbed off onto the general population in this way – in their love for movies. It is certainly all very interesting.

We are now on the train back to Hyderabad, after some very eventful days. We were actually invited by the minister of Tourism of Orissa to stay in Cuttack for a few more days, in order for Freya to perform at a famous historic place on the 6th. But Sandeep felt it was more important to get back to Hyderabad, so we can continue on to Kuchipudi village and get maximum time there. Anyway, we will return to Cuttack for the next festival on the 15th. Before leaving the hotel, thanks to the very alert boys from the school, we caught a major news report on Freya’s dance performance on Orissan television. There were longish snippets of her dance as well as an interview with her and Sandeep. Freya was pretty matter-of-fact about it, but her sweet friends watching with her were all exited.

Freya performing Alarripu, on the second night at the theatre festival. (file updated with sound this time!)

Our party reached the train station by 5 cycle rickshaws, which are still found here – (incidentally I was just reading in the paper that the hand-pulled rickshaws have now been banned in Kolkata). It was quite fun, and much quieter than an auto rickshaw, but I did feel empathy for the operator, who had to stand up and peddle very hard with Caspar and I as well as our bag in the back. Sandeep was scouring the station for The Hindu paper of yesterday, as there were reports on the festival in it. He did not find one copy, but as I checked the magazine rack in our berth on this train, what did I find but the Orissa edition of yesterdays paper! It stated:

‘Frezi Zafri, a 10 year old girl from Sydney, Australia arrived with her family members in the city on Monday and she would be performing Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam during the festival, said her guru Sandeep Bodhanker.’

Yesterday we spent most of the day at the auditorium, as the school kids were doing their solo and group performances. Sandeep also talked Freya into doing one more small dance in the evening, as he wants to give her as much exposure to the stage as possible. She did indeed feel much more relaxed during this performance, and I am sure when she returns to this stage on the 16th, she will be very familiar and relaxed about the whole thing – which is all in Sandeep’s master plan.

The day program started with a group of women from Assam singing a beautiful rhythmic song in praise of Lord Krishna. It had a trance like quality that was quite transporting. After this were some wonderful traditional dancers also from Assam.

What we did not expect during that day was the incredible cultural extravaganza of many varied plays from regions of India such as Assam, Manupir and even Bangladesh. These professionally staged plays from renowned playwrights of many regions of India were really something.

After lunch we again prepared the kids for their group performance in the evening. Thanks to a bunch of large safety pins Guy had found in the market, her costume also managed to stay up and looked great on the stage. The kids did their items, a mixture of folk and modern dance, and they did extremely well in their group performance, which Sandeep had choreographed so well – a piece in praise of all he god and goddesses, not just just the Hindu classics, but even Christ featured. it was very well received. We had gone to a fairly way off place to get all the 8 kids make-up done.

The theatrical hire and make-up place was at the end of a dark lane, behind the main road of Cuttack, which looks much like the cities used to look 18 years ago when we first visited India. In this low ceilinged warehouse like structure the kids were speedily processed. Sandeep and I were busy applying the traditional red ink to their hands and feet – quite a big exercise to get a group of performers ready.

The costumes were amazing – the lead role in the play from Manipur looked much like a Japanese warrior. These actors had a very far Eastern appearance, and it makes one realise the vastness and variety of India culture. Guy and I were imagining sending an Aussie troupe for the next January festival – it would really be such an experience for the troupes as well as the audiences in Cuttack. We spoke to Professor Rath at the end of the evening, whom of course was very keen, and so we are hoping to encourage many to go for this cultural experience.

My favorite memory of the day though, was a really beautiful young female dancer of Assam. She was dressed in the very traditional red patterned sari on a cream background, and danced with several wooden implements in the bun of her hair. The music was a tribal sounding drumming, to which she spun around coming to a perfect halt at intervals. Often and the end of a pause, she break into song then again into the dance with increased vigour. She would do most of her steps in a stooped position, which surprisingly was incredibly graceful. The spinning would get fast as the music intensified, and her hands would twist rapidly at the wrists. She would then take out one of the implements in her hair, and play it with her hand & her tongue.

A skill which when done incorrectly can have dire consequences. As she came off the stage I asked for a photo with her, which was unusual…..as almost all the performers had asked to have photos with us! Throughout the whole day we were asked to come and present certificates to all participants, and got very good at smiling and giving official handshakes. By the end I had sort of had enough of it; thankfully 2 Austrian tourists who had stumbled upon the festival then became the newest guests of honour. So they were called to the stage looking shy and slightly confused, and us ‘old hands’ knew exactly what they were in for. Caspar was really impressed with the Hip Hop performances – the cool young ‘jet set’ of Assam performed their items very seriously and with great skill.

One guy in particular was really really impressive, and even I got exited about his incredible control, and ability to turn his body into a thing that moved like a machine. I’ll finish with a photo of Caspar with the gang after they had taught him how to do the Yo thing properly.

Sandeep dedicated the whole day to getting Freya prepared for the evenings performance, where she had got a prime spot on the events list. We made sure she had a huge lunch, and the hot potato chips were great and saved the day. (The dhosas are fabulous here, but Freya has had enough of them for now). After lunch she also had a big rest, by watching Bridget Jones’ Diary on the movie channel. Guy was off seeking internet connections in various cafes and did not quite finish sending important artwork, before he had to head back to prepare for the evenings performance. The kids from Jain International school were so sweet and accepted that all attention should go to Freya, and entertained themselves all day. They even went to the nearby temple to pray for a good performance for Freya! They are little gems and complete dynamos – so independent.

At 5.30pm we headed for the auditorium. In the dungeons under the stage we met with the make-up artist, who Sandeep had booked for her. He started by making Freya’s face almost bright orange, but he completely knew what he was doing, and what worked under the stage lights! In the end she had the best Kuchipudhi make-up ever. In this dance tradition the dancer usually draws curly locks on the side of the face to give character to their role. The make-up artist suggested instead to use Freya own hair, and curled it up on the sides and gently stuck it to her cheek- it looked so fabulous. As I was putting the finishing touches to her costume a news crew arrived, and they wanted some photos of her, as well as bio-details. Soon we were ready to go. Freya was worried as this was the first time she had done 4 dance items in a row. Guy was on the side of the stage armed with the iPod, which amazingly hooked up beautifully with the PA system. Caspar was standing by with the video camera, as I introduced Freya and Sandeep described the dance pieces.

In the first item Freya looked slightly aloof, but got into the swing. The second piece was wonderful – Freya had got over the nerves, and was starting to enjoy herself. She smiled and was constantly coaxed to do so by Sandeep, who was playing the Nattuvangam on the side (the bells which keeps the rhythm for the performer). She was really impressing the audience when a slight disaster struck – her pleated skirt in the from of the costume was coming undone…the costume had been too long for her and so we had hooked it up slightly so she would not tread on the hem when dancing. I had not brought nearly enough safety pins, and a sweet boy lent me a big pin from his costume to fix Freya up with when she came out before the next item. As she proceeded to dance on the brass plate she got a huge applause. As Sandeep has now explained to me, the reason the audience does not clap is that they don’t like the performance. So when Freya got a roaring applause at the end, it was clear, as Sandeep had predicted, that it was a great success.

After the performance Freya was honored with a big plaque, and what was most moving of all, the leader of the Bangladesh troupe presented the Bangladesh flag to Freya on the stage. A very special gesture. Even Guy and I got presented with certificates, which was an acknowledgement of our encouragement for Freya’s interest in Indian art. An American/Indian dancer had performed Odissi dance very well before Freya came on, and was perhaps a little put out that Freya had sort of stolen her “novelty” factor, but she said some very complimentary things to Freya.

After all this, the media “scrum” awaited. There were many pictures taken, and then interviews with 2 television channels. Everyone was very interested to know why an Aussie girl was so interested in traditional Indian dance, while most young Indians are taking to western style modern dance. Freya said a few short and sweet things I think (I was busy answering questions as well), while Sandeep was telling the interviewer how he had taught so many “foreigners” who had great interest in Indian art and culture. We were very relieved and happy when we finally got away from the photographers, and I from an overly keen young fashion student, who was trying to get me to come and talk at his fashion college. (Sandeep had let slip that I was a fashion designer, forgetting to mention that I had now gone into “retirement’). It was a colourful scene. We headed back to the hotel – had a collective dinner served on the floor of the girls room, before we all slept like logs.

2.01.07

After a great night sleep we have just had our room-service breakfast. No item on the menu costs more than around 80 cents, and Guy has enjoyed a special Dhosa, myself an Alu Paratha (a potato stuffed bread), and Caspar cornflakes with milk. Freya is busy practising, and will eat with the kids when she is finished. Sandeep has already done the PR rounds over the phone, and reports that news of Freya is already in the papers. I guess Freya’s mere presence here is enough to excite everyone, but I hope she will actually dance well tonight. If the audience is good, it usually makes for a much better atmosphere, and here I am sure there will be a lot of love floating around the auditorium. Caspar is having so much fun checking out the many television channels, and loves being settled in one place where he can be comfortable and chill-out with his games and interesting entertainment. We have been invited to go and watch some Kuchipudi performances today, which are sure to inspire Freya.

The picture above is from the Green Room in the Kala Vikas Kendra Theatre at Cuttack, Orissa. Lene is preparing Freya’s hair attachment and getting her ready for the make-up artist. The performance went well, with Freya relaxing into it after the first item. She perfomed four items, Pushpanjali, Bramanajali, Neela Megha & Jai Shankaram. (Guy)

1.01.07

2007 is looking beautiful so far! As we travel the Eastern Coast of India on our way to Bhubaneshwar, the landscape through the train window is filled with palm trees, rice paddy fields, scattered villages, small white temples, villagers going about their day and people doing their “business” on the sides of the train line- much like I would have imagined it. Occasionally we see a small hill with red earth visible under the scrub, and also a few eucalyptus trees- and it is easy to imagine that this part of India was once joined to the Australian Bight. Where there is water there is also quite a lot of bird life; this part of India seems less crowded, and the vegetation less depleted.

So “Happy New Year” to everyone! I was sleeping in my bunk when Freya and a few of the school girls travelling with our party came around at midnight to say “Happy New Year” to everyone. We are a group of 12 altogether: Sandeep, Geeta the music teacher from Jain International, Surrender (Sandeep’s wonderful assistant), our family of 4 and 5 gorgeous students who Sandeep has taught, and who are also performing at the festival in Cuttuck from tomorrow.

It has been surprisingly pleasant travelling on this train. It is air conditioned, and we have 3 tiers of bunk beds, fully supplied with clean white bed-sheets, pillows and blankets. So we have slept very well overnight, and Freya has been permanently frolicking in the very top bunk, where she hangs out with the other girls. They have been playing games, making up quizzes and singing songs. The directors of the school sent a huge parcel of dinner for everyone consisting of puri breads, rice, chutney and a delicious rich tomato relish/curry, which is amazingly red, and when mixed with the rice makes a very colorful and tasty mix.

Last night after boarding we read the Hyderabad papers reporting on the talent competition in the NTR Gardens, and found Freya’s picture in it, as well as a nice write up (all in Telegu script). It also mentioned that Freya’s mother was wearing traditional Indian dress, which they apparently were most impressed about. So I’d better keep up the sari wearing for special occasions…Also we saw a lovely photo of the Harbour Bridge alight with its fireworks, which are obviously renowned throughout the lands, so we feel we have got a glimpse of celebrations at home!

Guy also bumped into an Indian from the USA on this train, who actually slept right next to him at the seminar we were atin Pune would you believe it! He was travelling to his family’s place in Orissa and is in the very same carriage as us! We have also met a lovely young army man who has just got married and who was very keen on talking about cricket, and a vivacious young bio-chemist who lectures at a local university. Sandeep tells me that a famous movie director is in the next carriage. It seems everyone who is anyone is on this happy train journey.

Caspar has taken another nap, and Freya who never runs out of steam, is busy enjoying clapping rhyming games under the roof in the top bunk.

Sellers of chai, lassi, puris, chips, soft drinks, and some very strong smelling local specialties keep coming though the compartments. Also the kids are constantly offering us sweets and biscuits, and so as usual we are never hungry. We have now entered the state of Orissa, but the Hyderabadi food spirit is still intact! And what would this blog be without its food reports…although I have promised Seetaram to tone it down a little, as he is tortured by the idea of all the lovely food he longs for. Sandeep is teasing Guy by trying to catch his attention with a conversation about food. He just throws a few key-words like “Byriani” and Shadab Hotel” in Guy’s direction hoping Guy’s ears will perk up. He is so full of fun.

Signing off from the train to Cuttuck – Maybe I’ll take another short nap, munch on a beautiful cashew barfi sweet, or go to the next compartment for a few more laughs before we arrive in a few hours. With best wishes to everyone for a beautiful 2007!!!

1.01.07

What an amazing night it was at the old auditorium in Cuttuck, the ancient capital of India. When we arrived there after freshening up at Hotel Bombay we did not know what to expect. It was like entering a time warp or a movie set of some far off time when theatre and drama in India was at a peak. We were warmly greeted by one of the organizers. the legendary Professor Khartik Rath, a very characterful tobacco chewing man wearing huge flared pants, each leg the size of a woman’s flared skirt, covering his legs which suffered from severe elephantitis. Sandeep had told us to photograph everything, especially when meeting ministers and the like, but somehow we had managed to leave our photo camera at the hotel. There was great commotion all around, as we were guided inside to sit by the main stage. The special guests were invited to the stage, and you could tell that all these characterful dignitaries were lovers of dance and drama, and passionate supporters of the arts. The tourism minister of Orissa was actually quite underdressed just wearing a casual cardigan- it was like a family gathering of great legends in the field of Dance and drama. But you could tell this event meant so much to all of them. The performers come from as far away as Bangladesh, and Assam, and are of very high standard. As all the evenings performers gathered on the stage you really got the sense that all the individual artists of every age had something very special to contribute.

The festival is called “The International Theatre Olympiad” – the only International theatre festival organised anywhere in India. Sandeep and Freya were soon invited to sit on the main stage with the dignitaries, and were given a rosette and flowers. They were then asked to say a few words. Freya looked frozen and very serious, and Sandeep guided her and told her quietly what to say. I wish she had a few public speaking skills. We have seen many little girls younger than Freya speaking so confidently in front of a crowd- it seems so natural to them. Anyway, it was all a bit too much at once and quite unexpected all of it.

The organiser spoke very passionately about how the world’s peoples are all one, and that the arts is a powerful way to break down boundaries between nations. Indians are, as I have observed, very passionate about their rich culture and heritage, and holds its importance very high, but not just for theirs; they know the value of culture and what richness it brings to any society. But as is also typical with an Indian audience when important messages are being conveyed, people chat throughout proceedings, and also give a pretty lame applause to most things- I think I was clapping louder than anyone. Being the only white female, and wearing a sari, I got my share of attention, so I felt it was important to set a good example, and hoped my clapping would rub off onto others.

After all this hullabaloo, Sandeep whisked us off to the tiny low ceilinged rooms under the stage where the performers were getting ready. As we turned a corner we were met by 10 young ladies dressed in the most amazing costumes, all with huge cardboard snake cut outs on their heads, and the most amazing theatrical make-up. I just wished so much we had our camera. They looked absolutely incredible, and were all so enthusiastic and exited about meeting us. Sandeep and Freya then disappeared off to meet the press – this fair Aussie girl is just too much of an attraction. Guy and I became quite worried with all this fuss being made, and we can just hope that Freya pulls it off and does her teacher proud. We feel she is quite underdone with her practise, but Sandeep seems to have every confidence in her – much more than we have. He is so full of love and enthusiasm for her- and is quite unstoppable. He told us that the tourism minster would like to invite us all to stay an extra day, in order for Freya to perform at a “beautiful historic place”. This all depends on whether we can get our train tickets transferred to new dates- it is in the hands of the gods. We don’t want it all to become a stress for Freya or Sandeep…We just hope Freya will wow everyone tomorrow evening and certainly it will be a fascinating experience.

First of all wishing all our dear friends and family a very happy Christmas! Hope you all got through the festive season enjoying good food and beautiful times with loved ones! Thank you for the lovely comments you have sent us- it is very encouraging, as I sometimes wonder if this blog is boring. So it is great to know that my musings are occasionally being read! We had an amazing Christmas, which was indeed very memorable. We have been incommunicado for most of the Christmas period, as we were stationed 30 kilometers out of the city of Pune along a single lane dirt road, (near Mumbai) at a meditation seminar with 25 000 people sharing 2 phone booths! Even Sandeep had resorted to sending us a message via this blog page (as you can read) – as he could not even get in contact with us! So many beautiful experiences have passed that is would take days to report in detail – so here are some highlights:

23.12.06

After a beautiful Rajasthani breakfast given to us by our hosts here in the Jain School office, their driver very kindly dropped us at the airport. We had a pleasant flight on Air Deccan (One of India’s budget airlines) – We had a great laugh when the security officer directed Madam Caspar through the ladies security booth – Guy laughed out loud as the officer took a closer look at Caspar and realised his mistake!

We were picked up in Mumbai by a very sweet Sikh driver, whom our Aussie friend in New Mumbai had organised for us.

It was humid and much hotter in Mumbai and the traffic was pretty bad as Sonia Gandhi was holding a huge political rally in the city – and Indians love their politics! So as we finally got to the outskirts of this mega city Rajeev, who is married to Fiona (heralding of Sydney’s North Shore) called us, and invited us for tea. We have always stayed with Fiona and Rajeev when coming to India, and no visit seems complete without a visit to their beautiful home in New Mumbai, the new part of the city on the other side of the water, where the air in considerably cooler and fresher! Fiona makes the best Chai, and we felt much refreshed after a short break and a catch up with them. We also met a very new member of their family, little Shivam, their 18 month old adopted son. Shivam came to their home only a few months back, and you really cannot imagine that he has been with them for only a short time. He gave me a big smile – (I guess I look a bit like Fiona), and after one week away from the orphanage where he was everyone’s favorite he was completely attached to his new parents. I was very moving seeing this beautiful newly formed family together.

When Sandeep picked us up from the airport late on the 27th evening, he very excitedly handed Caspar a set of movie tickets for “Casino Royale”. Caspar has been hanging out to experience the movies in India, and Sandeep as the gem he is, is always busy trying to make our stay so pleasing for all of us! So while Guy, Caspar and I had a day of rest, Sandeep and Freya took the bus to school at 7am, so that Freya could get in lots of dance practise. We were amazed at how fresh they were when they returned at 4pm, and they also had a bit of a relax before we headed to “Prasads”, the huge 4 storey cinema complex on the lake a short drive from home.

There we headed for the food court, which was fantastic! The most expensive meal deal was around $4.50, which was a Chinese feast with at least 5 dishes and 3 side dishes on the tray – Caspar went for this, and could not finish it all. We had chicken lollypop – delicious red chicken legs with a fabulous dipping sauce, Kachori a Rajasthani chickpea curry which was accompanied by a puri bread the size of a large dinner plate standing 10cm tall, Bhav Bhaji a tasty vegatable and tomato curry mash accompanied with bread (and the best we have had anywhere in India), a rich pasta with great tomato and chilly served with soup and garlic bread, which Sandeep shared with Freya. Freya had an icy cold slurpie, we settled for the sweetest watermelon juice, and coke. We were so stuffed when we finally relented, and Caspar was almost uncomfortable from his eating ordeal.

The movie started at 10.45pm, and we were so glad to sit down in the nicely air-conditioned, tiered theatre, where the sound in true Indian fashion was loud and clear. After some time the chattering died down, and we thoroughly enjoyed James Bond in this setting, even if they did out stop the film for a break half way through. It was then we realized what Sandeep had meant by saying that the film was good because it only had two reels! It was a long movie; Sandeep and Freya nodded off from time to time and Guy drove us back at 1.30am, as there was hardly a car on the road at that time. Freya and Caspar have today slept until lunchtime, but Sandeep left us a note in the door at 5am when he left for work, and we just don’t know how he does it!