Indian Dancers of the 20th Century

By Srinidhi Murthy

Classical dancing is a joyful and celebratory act that represents an integral part of Indian culture. Many trained and professional classical dancers have brought creativity and innovation to this centuries-old art and that has resulted in international recognition. Read more to know about some of such talented and legendary dancers. 

Uday Shankar
Illustration: Onkarnath Bhattacharya

Born on 9 December, 1900, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Uday Shankar was known for a fusion style of Indian classical dance forms. He adapted European theatrical techniques to Indian dance forms, with elements of Indian folk, classical and tribal dance. Though Shankar did not have any formal training in any of the Indian classical forms, his dance showed creativity. He had been exposed to the techniques of Indian classical dance and folk dance as well as to ballet during his stay in London in 1920, when he joined the Royal Art College. Hence, Shankar decided to bring the elements of these styles together to create a new dance, named ‘Hi-dance’. He established the ‘Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre’ at Simtola, Uttarakhand, in 1938. Shankar was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1962 and was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, the nation’s second-highest civilian award by the Government of India in 1971. He died on 26 September, 1977, at the age of 76.  

Rukmini Devi Arundale
Illustration: Onkarnath Bhattacharya

Born on 29 February, 1904, in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Rukmini Devi Arundale was a Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer. She was known for advocating the renaissance of the Bharatanatyam dance form and founding the Kalakshetra Foundation in Madras (present-day Chennai), in 1936. Arundale was also credited with modifying the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam and bringing the dance form to global attention. In April 1952, Rukmini Devi was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha and became the first Indian woman to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Arundale was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest Indian civilian honour, in 1957 by the Government of India and awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1967. She breathed her last at the age of 81 on 24 February, 1986.  

Mrinalini Sarabhai
Illustration: Onkarnath Bhattacharya

Mrinalini Sarabhai was born on 11 May, 1918, in Kerala. She trained in Bharatanatyam under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, and in Kathakali under the legendary dancer, Thakazhi Kunchu Kurup. Mrinalini married Indian physicist Vikram Sarabhai in 1942. The couple had a son, Kartikeya, and a daughter, Mallika, who also became an Indian classical dancer. In 1948, Mrinalini founded Darpana, a school for performing arts, in Ahmedabad. With their international performances, Mrinalini and her troupe gave classical Indian dance forms a new level of recognition all over the world. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1965, and the Padma Bhushan in 1992, for her contribution to the art. She was also the recipient of the prestigious Nishagandhi Puraskaram, an annual award from the Government of Kerala. Sarabhai breathed her last at the age of 97, on 21 January, 2016.  

Vempati Chinna Satyam – Kuchipudi
Illustration: Onkarnath Bhattacharya

A renowned Kuchipudi Guru, Vempati Chinna Satyam was born on 15 October, 1929, in Kuchipudi village, Andhra Pradesh. He was trained in Kuchipudi initially by Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastry and then refined his art by training under Sri Tadepally Perrayya Sastry. His elder brother, Sri Vempati Pedda Satyam, also taught him. As he learned the nuances of Kuchipudi, he began to propagate the dance form all over the world. Chinna Satyam was credited for refining and introducing new elements in Kuchipudi. In 1963, he established the Kuchipudi Art Academy in Madras (present-day Chennai). He has choreographed more than 150 solo performances and 15 dance dramas for the academy and these performances have been staged not only in India but also in many countries abroad. He was awarded prestigious titles such as ‘Kalidas Puraskar by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and ‘Kalaimamani’ by the Government of Tamil Nadu. He was also honoured with the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1998. Satyam died at the age of 83 on 29 July, 2012. 

Pandit Birju Maharaj – Kathak 
Illustration: Onkarnath Bhattacharya

Pandit Birju Maharaj was born on 4 February, 1938, in Handia, Allahabad, in British India. Birju Maharaj was trained in Kathak by his father, Jagannath Maharaj who was a Kathak exponent in Raigarh, and by his two uncles, Lachhu Maharaj and Shambhu Maharaj. After the death of his father, Maharaj started teaching the dance form at the age of thirteen, first at the Sangeet Bharti in New Delhi and then at the Bharatiya Kala Kendra, in Delhi. Birju Maharaj received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, at the age of 28 and became one of the youngest recipients. Over the years, Birju Maharaj came to be known for his perfect rhythm and abhinaya (gesture languages) and for innovatively using the dance form to highlight mythological stories and various social issues. He also helped to popularize dance-dramas and opened his dance school, named Kalashram in New Delhi. He was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, in 1986, by the Government of India. Birju Maharaj died at the age of 83, on 16 January, 2022. 

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Sethu Lakshmi Bayi

By Sinchana Shetty

Seldom do stories start with “Once upon a time there was a queen…” as kings seem to have taken precedence over the queens in history. However, this story about Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi starts with the triumphant tune of “Once, there lived a queen…”

The Travancore Dynasty

The Travancore dynasty ruled from 1729, over most of the south of Kerala and the southernmost part of modern-day Tamil Nadu. The Travancore family was matrilineal, where succession passed through the female lines. This meant that the throne did not go from father to son but rather, to a sister’s son. Since at the time the royal family came to consist solely of Maharajah Moolam Thirunal, Senior Rani Lakshmi Bayi and her two nephews; the Senior Maharani decided to adopt the daughter of her nieces. As such, Pooradam Thirunal Sethu Lakshmi, the granddaughter of artist Raja Ravi Varma was adopted into the Kingdom of Travancore. 

Since King Moolam Thirunal died and his heir to the throne was only 12 years old at the time, a regency became necessary until the minor King Chithira Thirunal came of age. So, in September 1924, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi became the Maharani of the Kingdom of Travancore. Though a regent, she ruled as a monarch due to the matrilineal system which gave women equal power and right to reign.

Putting an End to Archaic Traditions

During her rule, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi abolished the Devadasi system. This was a practice where women would dedicate themselves to the worship of a deity. This was harmful because the devadasis had no legal right to marry and were obligated to dedicate themselves to the deity for the rest of their lives. She also put a stop to the sacrifice of animals.

Sethu Lakshmi Bayi’s reign began with the Vaikom Satyagraha. At the time, people of lower castes were not allowed to enter the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple. Therefore, a satyagraha which was launched on 30 March, 1924, aimed at allowing temple entry for worship of god, irrespective of caste, creed or community. After her meeting with Mahatma Gandhi regarding the same, she opened the doors of the temple to all castes. Gandhi called this initiative by the queen a “bedrock of freedom” in a magazine.

Illustration: Prakash Sivan
Creating Educational Opportunities

In 1927, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi elevated the Trivandrum Women’s College, which offered non-professional, ‘ladylike’ courses, by offering courses in history, natural science, languages and mathematics. She did this by securing an affiliation with the University of Madras. Soon, over 9,500 women were enrolled in English-speaking schools in Travancore and 232 women were attending college.

The Maharani allowed female students to study law despite criticism imploring otherwise. Soon after, the state produced Miss Anna Chandy, who became the first woman judicial officer not only in Travancore but also of India.

Empowering Women in the Kingdom

The Maharani was devoted to the cause of women’s empowerment. While feminism would not have been a word relevant at the time, to call her a feminist icon would not be a mistake. She aimed to further women’s participation in the political sphere of the country.

In line with her aims, the Maharani promoted Dr Mary Poonen Lukose, the first woman to receive a medical degree from Travancore and a graduate of London University, from Surgeon-In-Charge of the Women and Children’s Hospital, to Head of the Medical Department of Travancore. Dr Mary was also the first woman to be elected to the Legislative Council after being nominated by the Maharani for the position. It was the first time a woman was named the head of a significant department in India, as well as the first time a “Lady Legislator” had been appointed from Travancore.

In 1928, the Maharani nominated another female legislator, Mrs Elizabeth Kuruvilla. Mrs Kuruvilla pushed for equal opportunity for men and women to hold public office. This allowed for many more women to follow their aspirations to pursue a career and seek independence.

Since this was a culture reset when many were used to women being those who toiled at home, the Maharani was subject to a lot of criticism. There was constant resistance to her progressive ideals. 

By the end of 1931, the decision that Sree Chithira Thirunal would become king after his 19th birthday was made. As a result, after seven long years of rule, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi’s regency ended in November 1931. 

A revolutionary in her own right, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, was set in her ways, tirelessly aiming for her goals. Her success, often foreshadowed by her successor, must be brought to light. Therefore, to read about Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi’s achievements becomes necessary to understand the powerful women in India’s history. 

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Dollu Kunitha: The Folk Dance of the Kuruba Community

By Meghana L 

Dollu Kunitha is a folk dance that originated from the Kuruba community in Karnataka. The Kuruba community is traditionally an agrarian and herding community. They live in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Dollu and Kunitha mean drum and dance respectively, and are the best descriptions of the art form. Dollu Kunitha is usually performed by 12-16 performers, with one of the members acting as the leader and conducting the rest of the group. The group dances around the performance area in a semi-circle to the beat of the drums and other instruments. Performances often end with a grand finale of a human chain. There are many variations across Dollu Kunitha performances, such as performances involving use of smaller drums, so there is no definite way to describe a performance.  

Illustration: Prakash Sivan

There are several legends about the origin of the dance form. The most well-known talks of a demon named Dollu, a devotee of Shiva, who performed penance to please him. Shiva was pleased with his penance and offered to grant him a boon. Dollu asked Shiva to grant him immortality. When Shiva told Dollu that granting him immortality was impossible, he gave the god an alternative and asked him to allow Dollu to swallow him. Reluctantly, Shiva allowed the demon to ingest him, but decided to punish Dollu. So when he was inside his stomach, he kept increasing in size, causing great pain to him. Dollu then pleaded with Shiva to stop, and so Shiva tore through Dollu’s body and got out. He then used the dead demon’s skin to make a drum and gave it to his followers, who used it to dance in praise of him. 

The drums used in the performances are made out of neem or palm trees. Artisans use the bark of these trees to create large hollow drums; the left opening of the drum is covered with goat hide and the right is covered with sheep hide. This large drum is tied to the waist of the performers. Performers use a large stick and their hands to beat the drum in alternate motions. Other instruments used are the thala, jagate, and flute. There are no strict rules about the costumes of the performers. The most commonly seen costumes are tiger-patterned drapes from the upper body to the knees paired with a black dhoti. Women who perform Dollu Kunitha typically wear sarees. The performers also wear anklets to create rhythms while performing.   

Although the dance began as part of the religious ceremonies of the Kuruba community, it has evolved to become an important cultural art form that men and women across communities in Karnataka perform.

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Harvest Festivals of India

By Kayva Gokhale 

What are harvest festivals?

Historically an agrarian country, India is also a land full of vibrant festivals. Since farming and agriculture have always been an integral part of our country’s culture and economy, harvest festivals are ubiquitous events, occurring throughout the year in different parts of the nation. A harvest festival is generally a festival containing religious and folk traditions, which is meant to celebrate a successful harvest, signalling a time of prosperity and plenty. These festivals are highly variable, with celebrations changing across regions. However, most of them also include certain common themes such as thanksgiving, community bonding, and celebration of prosperity.  

Illustration: Ritoparna Hazra
Harvest festivals of India

According to the various cycles of harvest, these festivals are celebrated during different times in the year. Festivals like Makar Sankranti in Maharashtra, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, and Lohri in Punjab, usually take place in January. On the other hand, festivals like Bohag Bihu in Assam, Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, Baisakhi or Vaisakhi in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, and Vishu in Kerala usually take place in April. Interestingly, other festivals like Onam in Kerala, and Wangala in Meghalaya, take place in August or September.  

Harvest festivals are typically full of joy, with lots of singing and dancing. People usually clean and decorate their homes, dress up, prepare tasty delicacies and visit friends and relatives to increase community bonding. They also contain spiritual and religious aspects such as worship of certain deities and offerings dedicated to them. The joyful and celebratory nature of harvest festivals make them a favourite for all! 

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Sohrai: The Thanksgiving Festival of the Santhal Tribe

By Komal Narwani 

The Santhal tribe of India celebrates the five-day-long Sohrai festival every winter. The villagers express gratitude to the Bongas, or the good spirits of the families of the village, for bestowing them with necessary food and requirements throughout the year.  

The word ‘Sohrai’ comes from ‘Sarhao’, which means thanksgiving.  

The five-day festival is celebrated with very interesting rituals, dance, music and food.  

Day 1: Um Hilok – The day of cleaning 

The villagers clean their houses and get ready for the grand celebration. Women decorate the walls of their houses with Sohrai art. A place of worship is built in the field outside the village where offerings are made and a ceremonial prayer is performed.  

Illustration: Ritoparna Hazra

 

Day 2: Bongan Hilok – The day of devotion 

The families spend their day at home remembering departed souls. The head of the family observes a day-long fast. The whole family then worships good spirits by offering delicacies.  

Day 3: Khuntao – The day dedicated to domestic animals 

In the morning, agricultural tools are cleaned and oiled. The cattle are given a good bath, oiled and decorated. The villagers express gratitude to their livestock by worshipping and offering garlands and food.  

Illustration: Ritoparna Hazra
Day 4: Jaley – The day for strengthening relationships 

The Santhal visit each other on the fourth day of Sohrai. They dance and sing and make merry. They greet their neighbours with rice beer and delicious food all through the day, strengthening their bonds and letting go of discord from the past.  

Day 5: Sakrat – The day of departure of the spirits 

The last day is reserved to send the Bongas back to their place of rest. The villagers also perform certain ceremonies to ward off evil spirits that, they believe, must have made their way into the village along with the Bongas. Children display their artistic and acrobatic skills at night and the festival ends with great fun and food.  

Read more about the tribes of India in Amar Chitra Katha’s Legend of Lohasura on the ACK Comics app! 

Pulijudam: The Game of Goats and Tigers

By Komal Narwani

Illustration: Bhavani Nadgonde

Pulijudam, or the game of Goats and Tigers, is an ancient strategic board game. It is popular in the southern states of India. Played by two players or teams, this is an asymmetric game. One player handles three tigers and the other possesses up to fifteen lambs or goats. This game of chase and hunt is designed to boost children’s memory power and enhance observation skills. Interestingly, this game finds a likeness to the Korean game of Yut!  It has many names including Aadu Puli Attam in Tamil, Meka Puli Aata in Telugu and Aadu Huli Aata in Kannada. 

Dadaria: An Art Form of the Baiga Tribe

By Komal Narwani 

A Dravidian tribe, the ethnic Baiga group, is specifically found in the central states of India such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Minimalistic living and a deep bond with nature are the most prominent characteristics of this tribe. Their intimate connection with forests makes them skilled healers. Baiga originates from the word Vaidya, meaning the healer. 

Illustration: Ritoparna Hazra

The Baiga tribe has a fascinating art form called Dadaria. The art is a delightful blend of dance, poetry and emotions. People of the tribe use the art form to express their thoughts and feelings. They have written and continue to create short lyrical poems, which could be classified as quatrains or couplets. They sing it and also perform a dance accompanying it. These dance poems depict their feelings and their lifestyle. Interestingly, the Dadaria dance, unlike other Baiga folk dances, is designed on the Dadaria song. All the other folk songs of the Baigas are created to match the folk dances. 

The Dadaria song is sung to express love for a beloved, complain about work and life, narrate or summarise a fable, or even invoke the forest gods. The Baigas do not need a special occasion to practice the Dadaria. They perform it while doing their daily chores such as collecting firewood, grazing animals or gathering forest produce. However, the Dadaria dance and song are a crucial part of various special occasions and celebrations. 

Here are some examples of the Dadaria poems, translated to English: 

‘A lamp burns if its wick is oiled. Heart of a youth craves, 

even if he is asleep!’ 

Illustration: Ritoparna Hazra

‘As you said that you wanted mangoes, I got the sweetest 

and largest of them all. 

You said that you would come and eat these, I waited, 

days and nights, but you never came!’ 

 

Read more about the tribal communities of India in Amar Chitra Katha’s title The Legend of Lohasura, available in the nearest bookstore or on the ACK Comics app!

 

The Story of Himachal Pradesh

By Srinidhi Murthy

Known as ‘Dev Bhoomi’ or ‘Land of Gods’, Himachal Pradesh was formed as the eighteenth Indian state on 25th January, 1971. It shares borders with the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the north, Punjab to the west, Haryana to the southwest, and Uttarakhand to the southeast. Read more to know some interesting facts about the region! 

Image: Wikimedia Commons
Early and Medieval times  

The region has been inhabited by humans since the beginning of civilisation. In the Vedas, the people of the region were called Nishadas, Dasas, and Dasyus. According to the Mahabharata, present-day Himachal Pradesh was made up of small republics known as Janpadas. Before the Aryans came to India, the area was occupied by the Kol tribe and later by Mongoloid people known as Bhotas and Kiratas. The Kiratas were not only great traders but also skilled in archery and warfare. A long war between them and the Aryans was waged for forty years; but at the end, the Kiratas were defeated and the Aryans successfully conquered the region. Later, Chandragupta Maurya subdued most of this land. His grandson, Ashoka, extended his boundaries to the Himalayan region and introduced Buddhism to its people. 

Rajput and Mughal Rule 

After the decline of the Gupta empire, Emperor Harshavardana conquered most of the area. But decades after his death, Rajputs moved to the hills in the region and established small states provinces such as Kangra, Nurpur, Suket, Mandi, Kutlehar and Baghal, among others. The hill kingdoms enjoyed their independence until the Mughals invaded, looting wealth from the temples of North India. Muhammad of Ghazni conquered Kangra at the beginning of the 10th century, while Timur and Sikander Lodi captured several forts in the lower hills.  

Anglo-Gorkha War 

In 1768, a martial tribe called the Gorkhas came to power in Nepal and began expanding their territory. They managed to annex the Sirmour and Shimla but, despite a long siege, could not capture Kangra fort. When they tried to conquer the South, it posed a conflict with the East India Company, resulting in the Anglo-Gorkha War. The British expelled the Gorkha tribe from the provinces of Sutlej and established their supremacy in the region, annexing the areas of Shimla.  

Freedom Struggle 

The people of present-day Himachal Pradesh, along with the rest of the country, actively participated in the non-cooperation movement. Prominent freedom fighters from the region were Dr Y.S. Parmar, Padam Dev, Daulat Ram, Purnanand, Thakur Hazara Singh, and more. The farmers of Sirmour started the Pajhota revolt, a call for agrarian reforms, to support the Quit India Movement in 1942.  

Illustration: ACK art and desgin team
Post-Independence 

After Indian independence in 1947, Himachal Pradesh went through many changes. It was organised into the Chief Commissioner’s province of Himachal Pradesh on 15 April, 1948. Eight years later, it became a union territory. In 1966, its borders were expanded to include Kangra and hilly areas of Punjab. Finally, on 26 January, 1971, full statehood was granted to Himachal Pradesh. Its first Prime Minister was Dr Y.S. Parmar, one of the state’s biggest freedom fighters. 

The four legs of Himachal Pradesh’s economy are horticulture, agriculture, tourism and hydropower. In 2016, it was declared India’s second open-defecation-free state. According to a survey by the Centre for Media Studies in 2017, it was also found to be the least corrupt state in India. Some of its popular tourist destinations are Manali, Shimla, Dalhousie and more. 

Nobel Laureates with Indian Origins – Part I

By Srinidhi Murthy

Alfred Bernhard Nobel, though renowned for his invention of dynamite, was a man of many hats. He was an inventor with a special inclination towards chemicals and machines. He was also an entrepreneur and philanthropist. With a desire to appreciate and acknowledge those who dedicate their lives to the greatest benefit of mankind, he left a large fortune for the establishment of the ‘Nobel Prizes’, in his last will of 1895. The Nobel Prizes are five separate prizes awarded in the fields of Literature, Peace, Physics, Chemistry, and Medicine or Physiology. His legacy lives on to date. Since its inception, only a few Indians have won these prestigious prizes for their immense contribution to society. Let’s look at some of them and learn a little about their contributions. 

Rabindranath Tagore
Illustration: Souren Roy

Born on 7 May, 1861, in Calcutta, Rabindranath Tagore was a polymath, who excelled as a poet, playwright, composer, painter and philosopher. Tagore began to write verses from an early age. In 1878, he enrolled in a public school in Brighton, England, as his father Debendranath Tagore wanted him to be a barrister. But, Tagore soon returned to India in 1880 and started publishing several books of poetry, novels and short stories. In 1901, he founded a school in Shantiniketan, where he aimed to blend the best of both Indian and Western traditions. Tagore published Gitanjali, a collection of poems in Bengali, in 1910. Later, he translated Gitanjali’s poems into English, during an illness that delayed his trip to England in 1912. He shared the translated poems with his admirers, including Irish poet William Butler Yeats and Ezra Pound, an American poet and critic, during his stay in London. Soon, London’s India Society published the translated poems of Gitanjali in a limited edition. The American magazine, Poetry, also published a selection from Gitanjali. In 1913, Tagore became the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. He was also knighted by King George V in 1915, a title he renounced after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919.

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman 
Illustration: Bhavani Nadgonde

Born on 7 November, 1888, in Tiruchirapalli, Madras Presidency in British India (present-day Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu), Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (C.V. Raman), was an Indian physicist, known for his work on the scattering of light and the discovery of ‘The Raman effect’ or ‘The Raman scattering’. He graduated at the age of 16, from the Presidency College at the University of Madras in 1904, with a gold medal in physics. He then obtained his M.A. degree, with the highest distinctions in 1907. Raman carried out his earliest research in the fields of optics and acoustics while he was still a student. In 1917, he joined the University of Calcutta as the first Palit Chair of Physics, a physics professorship named after Sir Taraknath Palit. In 1926, Raman founded the Indian Journal of Physics, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.. On February 28, 1928, he discovered the radiation effect which bears his name. The day is celebrated annually as National Science Day by the Government of India. His work on the Raman Effect was first published in the Indian Journal of Physics in 1928. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery in 1930 and was also knighted in the same year. Raman was the first Asian to receive the Nobel Prize in any branch of science. In 1954, he became one of the first recipients of the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, along with Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.  

Mother Teresa
Illustration: Atula Siriwardane

Born on August 26, 1910, as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, in Skopje, Macedonia, Mother Teresa left her home in Skopje at the age of eighteen and joined the Sisters of Loreto, a Roman Catholic religious congregation. After her training in Dublin, she was sent to India on 24 May 1931, where she took her vows as a nun. Teresa taught children at St. Mary’s High School in Calcutta from 1931 to 1948. However, the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made her leave the school. She decided to devote herself to working for the welfare of underprivileged people in the slums of Calcutta. She adopted Indian citizenship and began her missionary work in 1948. In 1950, she founded Missionaries of Charity, whose primary aim was to love and care for those who needed help and support. By the 1990s, there were over one million co-workers who worked for the Missionaries of Charity, in more than 40 countries. Mother Teresa received numerous honours and awards during her lifetime, including the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize in 1962 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1972, for her work towards humanity. She was also the recipient of Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of the Republic of India in 1962, and Bharat Ratna, the highest Indian civilian award in 1980.

Amartya Sen
Illustration: Bhavani Nadgonde

Amartya Sen, an Indian economist, was born on 3 November 1933, in Shantiniketan, Bengal Presidency, in British India (present-day Birbhum, West Bengal, India). He was given the name, ‘Amartya’, meaning immortal, by Rabindranath Tagore, who was a close associate of Sen’s maternal grandfather, Kshitimohan Sen. Sen began his formal education in Mandalay in Burma, where his father, Ashutosh Sen, was a visiting professor at Dhaka University. Later, he moved back to Shantiniketan to complete his school education. In 1951, he joined Presidency College, Calcutta, where he was diagnosed with oral cancer at the age of 18. Fortunately, he survived cancer with radiation treatment. He then moved to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1953, where he earned his second B.A. in Economics, in 1955. While Sen was still a PhD student at Cambridge, he was offered the position of first Professor and first-Head of the Economics Department at the newly created Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Sen was only twenty-three old at that time. In 1987, he joined Harvard as the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor of Economics. Sen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in welfare economics and for his research in advancing the understanding of social-choice theory, poverty, and the measurement of welfare, in 1998.  He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1999, by the Government of India, for his contribution to the field of economics.

Kailash Satyarthi
Illustration: Bhavani Nadgonde

Born on 11 January 1954, in Vidisha, a small town in Madhya Pradesh, Kailash Satyarthi is an Indian social reformer. He campaigned against child labour in India and saved more than 86,000 children from child labour, trafficking, and slavery. Kailash completed his school education at the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Vidisha. He earned his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Samrat Ashok Technological Institute in Vidisha and completed his post-graduation in High-voltage Engineering. In 1980, Kailash gave up his engineering career and changed his surname from Sharma to Satyarthi, which means ‘seeker of truth’. He founded multiple social activist organizations including Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement), Global March Against Child Labour, Bal Ashram Trust, and Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation. In 1998, Satyarthi led an 80,000 km long global march, which included children and youth across 103 countries, against the worst forms of child labour. The march became one of the largest social movements of the time. The same year, the demands of this protest were also reflected in the draft of the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. In the following year, ILO adopted a convention protecting children against exploitation and hazardous work. In 2014, Satyarthi was the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, along with teenage Pakistani education advocate, Malala Yousafzai, for his efforts against child labour and exploitation.

Mudiyettu: The Folk Dance from Kerala

Illustration: Aakanksha Patil

Mudiyettu is a ritual theatre and folk dance drama from Kerala. The dance, which depicts the battle between the goddess Kali and the demon Darika, is performed in Bhadrakali temples during the harvest season between February and May. According to the myth, Darika received a boon from Brahma which made him invincible to any man from the fourteen worlds of Hindu mythology. When he started wreaking havoc, Kali fought and defeated him since the boon did not protect him from women.