The audience at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan was transported to the meadows of Vrindavan as students of the kathak school Nrityam presented the early life of Krishna through dance.

Little girls like Sohini Maiti and Navya Mukherjee danced to thumris and taranas with Aayati Roy of Class II, who played the child Krishna. High school students like Rishika Saha and Ankita Rana danced to Bindadin Maharaj’s thumri Bani thani aayi, describing how the gopis dress up and await Krishna, the youth, played by Shirin Anwar. The chhed-chhad of Radha and Krishna was depicted by Aryama Sen and Shirin too.

“The two dancers who played Krishna were beautiful. The elder one (Shirin) was graceful in her moves and the little one (Aayati) sprightly,” said a spectator from CE Block, Gouri Das.

“I was very happy to be dancing,” is all little Aayati said while her mother Binita Palit added that the girl wants to practise first thing upon waking up every morning. “It takes us 40 minutes to come to the DA Block school from New Town’s Mallika Malancha but it’s worth it,” said Palit.

Dancers Nayanika Das, Vahista Roy and sisters Archisha and Arundhati Basu collaborated with underprivileged youths of the NGO Nandankanan, who recited Tagore while the girls danced. “But the NGO is based in Dakshineswar and our dance school is in Salt Lake so they had never had a rehearsal together!” confessed Puloma Sen, the founder of the school. “The orators sent us their recitation over WhatsApp and we choreographed the dance accordingly.”

Senior students like Shinjita Roy and Ahana Mukherjee danced to Purnendu Pattrea’s poetry and Sen herself concluded the show with a display of bols, taals, kajri (monsoon song) and sawal-jawab with tabla player Dinanath Mishra.