giving shape to imagination
DESCRIPTION
Creativity needs to be explored and experimented with. It enables one to think about things that seem impossible in the world. K U M U D G R O V E RTRANSCRIPT
Garima Vohra■ [email protected]
Though she always had a cre-ative bent of mind, making sculp-tures happened by chance forKumud Grover. Her latest exhi-bition was held at the TriveniKala Sangam. But the day whenshe made her first sculpture isstill etched in her memory. Thatwas in 1999, when Grover attend-ed a month-long workshop onceramics organised by theNational Small IndustriesCorporation.
Recalls the Gulmohar Parkresident in neighbouring Delhi,“One day, we were being taughtto make sculptures. Each one ofus was given some clay and spaceto mould the sculpture of ourown choice. I made a motherwith a child wrapped in her saree.The teacher, who was super-vising the work, saw my piece
and was surprised. She advisedme to take classes in sculpturemaking as she thought it wasmy forte.”
The very next day, Groverenrolled in a sculpture courseat Triveni Kala Sangam.
“My first exhibition was heldin 2004 at Shridharani Gallery.My sculptures talked about thethree stages of life. I was appre-hensive but my first experiencedid not let me down. Instead, itpushed me to make more sculp-tures,” says Grover.
Being a nature lover, most of
her pieces revolve around natureand reality. The things that sheobserves might include the ges-tures people make when theyare talking, the flying birds thatshe observes while sitting in herlawn. “Over the years, I haveexperimented with the five ele-ments. For me, space defines theaspiration towards infinity, airis essential for movement, earthdenotes life, water is the originof life and fire means destruc-tion, purification and rejuve-nation,” says Grover.
Her work talks about reality
that reflects truth that one imag-ines. And she loves this processof giving shape to her imagina-tion in the form of sculptures.
Many of Grover’s pieces havebeen selected by AIFACS, SahityaKala Parishad and Lalit KalaAkademi. She clearly remem-bers her sculpture called RisingAbove that was in bronze andhad human figures climbingtowards their own goal. It wasselected by AIFACS in 2005. In2006, AIFACS again selectedone of her pieces called Unnatithat had the form of a fish.
“Introspection was anotherpiece selected by Sahitya KalaParishad. I had made a bird onone side that was thinking andintrospecting while the otherside looked like a dolphin in itsplayfulness and ready to takethe plunge. I have worked a lotwith fishes and birds,” saysGrover.
She adds, “For me, creativi-ty needs to be explored and exper-imented with. It enables one tothink about things or situationsthat seem to be impossible in
the real world. It is likeflying high in a world ofone’s own and reachingthere too.”
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Giving shape to imagination
■ Grover has experimented with the elements. WASEEM GASHROO / HT PHOTO
Creativity needs tobe explored and
experimented with. Itenables one to think about
things that seemimpossible in the world.
K U M U D G R O V E R
Vinod Rajput■ [email protected]
Sector 39, Gurgaon residentNikki Anand, 45, known for herabstract and figurative style ofpaintings is excited about herlatest works that will be exhib-ited at India Habitat Centre,Delhi, from March 2 to 4. Theseries has 24 paintings thatinclude landscapes, figurativeand abstract artworks. “My workdepicts the different layers ofthe soul and how positive ener-gy enriches us,” said Anand,who started painting at the ageof 5.
“My principal encouraged mewhen I painted for the first timein kindergarten,” said she. Bornin Sonipat (Haryana), Anandwas brought up in Delhi. “I stud-ied fashion designing at theSouth Delhi Polytechnic forWomen in Lajpat Nagar becausemy parents wanted me to pur-sue a professional course,” saidshe. “While I was pursuing thecourse, I tried my hand at paint-ing and discovered that I could
do it pretty well. I felt like paint-ing more and more. I decidedto take it up seriously. So, aftermy course in fashion designing,I did a five-year course in finearts from the JamshedpurCollege of Art. I have been paint-ing every day for the last twodecades,” said she.
Anand has had four solos andparticipated in 15 group showsin Delhi, Chandigarh and abroad.Painting is like a therapy for her.“Painting heals me and cleans-es my soul. It calms me down.Painting is not a job for me. I donot paint like a factory that man-ufactures something. I enjoy theprocess thoroughly,” said she.Anand also likes to listen to Sufimusic and do yoga regularly.
“Painting is to me what a poemis to a poet,” said she. Her busi-nessman husband, Rohit Anand,is her inspiration. “My husbandappreciates my work and encour-ages me to do better. That issomething which motivates meto be more creative," she adds.She uses acrylic, oil and char-coal in her works.
Painting to cleanse the soul
■ Nikki Anand uses acrylic, oil and charcoal. MANOJ KUMAR / HT PHOTO
Garima Vohra■ [email protected]
While growing up in Dah, a smalltown near Pathankot, SunandaSharma would spend her timelistening to stories of music mae-stros and places like Kashi andHaridwar from her grandpar-ents. “My grandparents wouldrecite stories while my father,Pandit Sudarshan Sharma, whoused to play the violin and wasmy first guru, would ask me toaccompany him to various con-certs being organised inPathankot,” recalls Sharma, aresident of Tara Apartments.
She adds, “My father wouldtake me to the HariballabhSangeet Sammelan in Jalandharevery year. He would questionme about the performers afterevery performance.” Sharmastill remembers her first ban-dish in Raag Yaman that she hadlearnt as a five-year-old. “I sangDhenu charawat, Bal Kanhaiyaand my family was thrilled. I stillsing it and it takes me downthe memory lane,” says Sharma.
Sharma has many perform-ances to her credit and solo mu-sic albums like Dharohar, SwarSanchay and the most recent,Hari Meera Bai Ke Bhajan.
Rajan and Sajan Mishra areher father’s friends and sincethey are from Kashi, she is fondof them as she could relate tothe stories of Kashi told by hergrandparents. The turning pointcame in 1990 when she was doingher masters in music from PunjabUniversity. “Since I had won agold in vocals that year, the uni-versity had sent me to theHariballabh Sangeet Sammelanin Jalandhar. There were tearsin my eyes as I was going to par-ticipate in the same festival whereI used to go with my father,” saysSharma.
She adds, “Throughout myjourney to Jalandhar, I was pray-ing to the almighty to give me aguru as renowned musiciansfrom all over the country hadcome to perform there.” Herprayers did come true when shewas asked to perform withVidushi Girija Devi who had lis-
tened to her singing a day before.“That was my first performancewith Girija Devi and I accom-panied her on the tanpura. Afterthe performance, she walked upto my father and told him thatshe wants to take me to Varanasito train me. My father wasspeechless. He just nodded. In1991, after completing my mas-ters, I went to stay with GirijaDevi in Varanasi,” says Sharma.
She trained under Girija Devi,whom she fondly calls Appaji,
for nine years and learnt thebasics of the Benaras Gharana.She was not allowed to performanywhere for the first three years.She had to only concentrate onriyaaz.
“Some girls who used to learnfrom Appaji as a hobby wouldsometimes ask me to join themfor a movie show or go out forshopping. Once I asked Appajiif I could go, she looked at meand said, ‘your wish’. Thoughshe had agreed, I noticed theunwillingness on her face. I didnot go and realised that she didnot want me to get distractedso soon,” reminisces Sharma.
After the first three years oflearning, the first time Sharmawas allowed to perform was inthe Tansen Music Festival at
Gwalior. “It was an invitationthat I was not prepared for. Appajiinsisted as she thought that thiswas the right time for me to comeout and sing. I sang Raag Todi,”says Sharma.
She adds with a smile, “Oftenwhen I would travel to Punjabfor a concert, Appaji would say,‘Benaras ki Ganga Punjab ki orbahayi hai’.”
Though she follows theBenaras Gharana, Sharma couldnot take Punjab out of her comp-letely. “After training in Hin-dus-tani classical, I wanted to exper-iment with Punjabi folk. I start-ed listening to a lot of people andfor me it was like freedom with-in discipline. The style of theBenaras Gharana is always closeto my heart because it has a lotof genres starting from dhru-pad, tappa, holi, jhula, dadra andthumri. Hence, there is morescope for experimentation,” saysSharma.
Sharma strongly believes thateverything happens for a rea-son. “May be I got involved inmusic because I had to learnfrom maestros, I had to performwith them and also find my hus-band through music,” chucklesSharma. Her husband,Jaishankar is a trained doctorand also a tabla player. “We hadmet during a Spic-Macay tourthree years back and gave oneperformance together. After Icame back to Delhi, he called upand proposed to me. I spoke toAppaji and my family and theysaid yes. I shuttle betweenNorway, where my husband lives,and Delhi,” says Sharma. Theirdaughter Kidara, who is namedafter a raag, is an audience athome when Sharma is doingriyaaz.
MusicallyendowedSunanda Sharma was introduced to the world of music by her violinistfather at a very early age
ACHIEVEMENTS■ Visiting classical vocalteacher at Kala Ashram, theinstitute of Pandit BirjuMaharaj, 2006 and 2007 ■ Visiting faculty at the Schoolof Oriental and AfricanStudies (SOAS), University ofLondon, and the RoyalAcademy of Music, London,2001 to 2010■ Talented Young LadiesAward, International Women’sDay, Bharat Nirman, 2004 ■ Indian Junior Chamber’sOutstanding Young PersonsAward, Chandigarh, 2005
May be I got involved in music because I hadto learn from maestros, perform with them
and also find my husband through music.S U N A N D A S H A R M A
■ Sharma says she cannot leave Delhi because of her music.SUNIL SAXENA / HT PHOTO
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