‘Sunil bhai was an extraordinary man’

DR SUNIL KOTHARI’S legendary passion and commitment to Indian dance and the allied arts are an inspiration.

Artistic isolation with sporadic bubbles of creativity have been the general prescriptive norm for Indian performing artists. Into this world of boxed living, communicator extraordinaire Sunil bhai introduced a labyrinth of connections – criss-crossing timelines, cultures, and continents between dancers, debutants, gurus and rasikas.

We first met in Delhi in the 1960s when I was a young dancer aspiring to develop a solo Mohiniattam performance repertoire. Sunil bhai, who was already a noted dance critic and writer by then, offered me great advice and support.

It was in London in the 1970s that I really came to know, respect and be amazed by this extraordinary man who sped you along with his generosity of spirit. I was by then adviser for dance at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and on my way to setting up the National Academy of Indian Dance (now the Akademi) in London.

Sunil bhai and I presented lecture demonstrations and performances across the UK, which crucially helped to increase the interest of Western and Indian rasikas.

We continued our connection into the next three decades in Australia. On my invitation he came to Melbourne and presented his popular and well-researched lectures at prestigious universities and cultural centres.

Still ringing in my years are his laugh and friendly banter during intense discussions and exchange of ideas about dance. We will seriously miss him and his regular, widely read, and admired columns and articles on dance.

Goodbye my friend, you will be remembered with respect, affection and gratitude by so many. May your soul rest in peace at the feet of the lord of dance.

Tara Rajkumar, director of the Natya Sudha Dance Company and School that she established in 1986 in Melbourne, Australia, is a performer, choreographer, artistic director and a teacher of the Indian classical dance forms of of Mohiniattam and Kathakali.