Alia Bhatt breaks silence amid India-Pakistan conflict; divided netizens claim ‘image building for Cannes'
HT City Delhi Junction offers diverse events: Vicky Roy's photo exhibition at Vadehra Art Gallery, Kuchipudi recital at Stein Auditorium, media heritage talk, comedy show at Happy High, and London Market artisan event across Delhi-NCR, mostly free entry.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
3 days ago
- Hans India
Promoting and preserving Kuchipudi with passion
Vijayawada: In the heart of Vijayawada, where tradition and modernity blend seamlessly, the Gonugunta family stands out as a beacon of classical excellence. Gonugunta Saila Sree and her daughters, Satyanandini and Ramya Sahithi, are not just preserving the art of Kuchipudi, but passionately promoting it through performance, pedagogy, and innovation. 'The Hans India' interacted with this family. Gonugunta Saila Sree, the guiding force of the family, born in 1975 to K Nageswara Rao and Varalakshmi Sujatha. She devoted her life to Kuchipudi. Trained under legendary gurus like Lanka Annapurna, Dhanalakshmi, Josyula Sitarama Sastry, and Vedantam Radheshyam, she embodies tradition and excellence. She was a double diploma holder in dance. Saila Sree is widely respected as a performer, choreographer, and guru. In 1998, she founded Sri Nrutya Kala Nilayam, a Kuchipudi dance academy that has since become a cradle for nurturing young talent. Under her guidance, the institution has trained scores of students, many of whom have received HRD and CCRT scholarships, and have excelled in national-level competitions. Her dance troupe has performed across India, from Assam to Kerala, Mumbai to Odisha, and in temples and cultural festivals throughout the country. Her choreographed productions, such as 'Goda Kalyanam' and 'Girija Kalyanam', have earned her accolades like Nrutya Ratna, Natya Kala Tapaswi, and Natya Priya. Her students regularly grace esteemed stages, including the Prapancha Telugu Mahasabhalu, Assam Cultural Federation (Silchar), Bharata Muni Dance Festivals, and Margazhi Festivals of Tamil Nadu. Gonugunta Satyanandini, the scholar-performer, following in her mother's footsteps with her own distinct voice was born in 1999. A natural dancer from childhood, her journey began under her mother's watchful eye and later continued with advanced training under Vedantam Radhesyam and Vempati Ravi Shankar. Despite holding a degree in Mechanical Engineering and working in the corporate sector, her commitment to Kuchipudi remains unwavering. Satyanandini holds a diploma in Yakshaganam from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University and is currently preparing to pursue a PhD in dance. With over two decades of performance experience, she dazzled audiences at prominent venues such as the Mumbai Telugu Mahasabha, CCRT (New Delhi), and the Bharatamuni Dance Festival. As a choreographer, she crafted compelling ballets like 'Nauka Charitam' and 'Stree'. Her artistry has been recognised through titles like Nritya Koumudi, Nritya Priya, and Natya Virinchi, along with a gold medal from prestigious competitions in Hyderabad. She has also been honoured by Drushya Vedika for her contributions to the arts. Beyond dance, Satyanandini harbours a deep interest in theatre, having acted in plays such as 'Kanakapushya Ragam' and 'Danta Vedantam', reflecting her versatile artistic spirit. Gonugunta Ramya Sahithi, the emerging torchbearer, the youngest in the family, born in 2001, is an accomplished performer and a promising scholar. She is currently pursuing her Master of Performing Arts (MPA) at the Central University of Hyderabad. Beginning her training under her mother and later continuing with Guru Vedantam Radheshyam, Ramya's dedication was recognised early with the CCRT Scholarship in 2016. A graded artiste of Doordarshan Hyderabad, Ramya has already performed in over 700 solo and group shows across the country. Her consistent presence in national festivals and her mature stage presence mark her as one of the rising stars in the classical dance circuit. As the conversation with this extraordinary family came to a close, their shared dream became clear: to establish a new dance institution rooted in systematic, high-quality training, blending tradition with contemporary pedagogy. Both Satyanandini and Ramya Sahithi expressed a strong desire to promote not only dance but also theatre, continuing their family's artistic legacy while paving new paths for future generations. The Gonugunta family's journey is a testament to what passion, discipline, and generational dedication can achieve. In a world that's constantly changing, their art stands timeless.
The Hindu
27-05-2025
- The Hindu
Of dreams and childhood josh in Vicky Roy's b/w frames at Delhi exhibition Bachpan
What does it mean to grow up with nothing and still find joy? Vadehra Art Gallery invites viewers to ponder over it through a photo series titled Bachpan (childhood) by Vicky Roy. The photographs, filled with laughter, are a fleeting magic of play of moods and emotions. They display the resilience of childhood shaped not by material comfort, but by imagination, community and survival. Vicky's lens captures children who find delight in the simplest things, even as they live in the shadow of poverty and displacement. His work is inspired by his own humble beginnings. Originally from Purulia, West Bengal, he left home at the age of 11 and began working as a rag picker at the New Delhi Railway Station. His life took a pivotal turn when he was taken in by the Salaam Baalak Trust, a Delhi-based NGO supporting street children. Reflecting on the time he spent playing with his friends in his village, the photographer says, 'We didn't need electronic gadgets. A ball made out of plastic was enough for us to play and have fun.' It is a sentiment that runs through much of his work: the idea that joy does not have to be bought but can be built from what is available. Bachpan, developed over 16 years, documents children in both rural and urban parts of India, including Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The photographs show children creating games with discarded materials and forming a strong sense of community and deriving joy from what little they have. Bachpan evokes a sense of nostalgia for a simpler time and an awareness of childhoods that are prematurely cut short. Vicky has also showcased photographs under series Janwaar, which were taken between 2015 and 2018. These shift the focus to a rural community in Panna district of Madhya Pradesh. Designed by his friend, Ulrike Reinhard, the series captures the transformation of a village after the creation of a skatepark, built to uplift children from the Adivasi and Yadav communities. With no formal training, the children taught themselves to skate by falling, getting up, and trying again. 'The motivation behind developing such a park in a rural area was that these children have the resilience to get up after a fall and continue to push their boundaries,' Vicky says. Today, some of the children travel internationally, representing India in skating competitions across Europe and China. Bachpan and Janwaar do not assert themselves loudly. There is no heavy-handed messaging in the 45 black-and-white frames. Vicky's photography resists spectacle. They stay close to the everyday acts of balancing on a skateboard, a pause in the middle of a game, a shared glance between friends. The strength of Bachpan and Janwaar lies in their quiet specificity. By placing the two projects side by side, it becomes evident how environments—rural or urban, improvised or designed—shape the way children move, play and grow. There's no singular narrative of hardship here. Instead, Vicky offers parallel photographs of energy, resourcefulness and change. By the time one exits the gallery, the question is not just about what these children lack, but about what they have made, how they have moved forward, and what new futures are already in motion. Rhea Kapoor and Akhya Shriti At Vadehra Art Gallery, D-53 Defence Colony; Till May 30; 10am to 6pm
The Hindu
26-05-2025
- The Hindu
10th international convention of SPIC MACAY inaugurated at IIT Hyderabad
The 10th International Convention of SPIC MACAY (Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth) was inaugurated by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma at IIT Hyderabad on Monday (May 26, 2025). The week-long exploration of India's classical and spiritual traditions saw over 1,500 students and volunteers from across India and abroad. The convention opened with a screening of film 'Gandhi', followed by an orientation led by SPIC MACAY founder Kiran Seth. He urged students to treat the convention as an inner journey—akin to a stay in an ashram—with simplicity, discipline, and reflection. The opening day saw Nadaswaram recital by Vidwan Sheikh Mahboob Subhani and Vidwan Kaleeshabi Mahaboob, and the evening concluded with Kuchipudi by Raja and Radha Reddy with excerpts from Bhama Kalapam, and Hindustani violin concert by N. Rajam, who brought out the emotive essence of the ragas, and offered a tranquil end to the first day proceedings.
