V R Devika:
Story telling has always been popular
- Lalitha
Venkat
December 3,
2008
 Passionate
about working with children, Devika came to Chennai as a young woman from
her native city of Mysore to pursue higher education, but was asked to
join a position as a Kindergarten school teacher. She loved it so much
that she forgot all about doing a Masters (she did pursue a Masters in
Gandhian Thought later). Devika also started learning Bharatanatyam from
the Dhananjayans. She started to compere for dance shows, gave lectures
on dance and became a dance critic in The Indian Express and later The
Hindu and The Week magazine.
Acknowledged
for her innovations in linking art and education, Devika was invited to
become the director of education and culture at INTACH and the Madras Craft
Foundation. Drawing on her years of experience in the field of art and
education, Devika gained the confidence and support to launch the Aseema
Trust. Her extensive international travel has exposed her to various cultures
and forms of educations that also continuously enhance Aseema Trust projects.
She is doing PhD on Gandhi and Communication at the University of Madras.
Do you think
the story telling tradition is still as strong as even a few years ago
when you were a child, listening to grandma's stories?
Surely. It
has taken on different dimensions. Don't we all sit and gossip? Talk about
events etc? These are the story telling sessions of today. I had no grandparents
telling me stories as a child. I always talked about events and other matters
to others in a story telling way. But I learnt the Mahabharatha and Ramayana
only through reading but also talked about them with friends and others.
With most
parents working, where have the story times gone? Some organizations hold
story telling sessions during weekends for kids. How popular is that?
Another entertainment
event. Why not? We have different ways of knowing. It is getting very popular.
I was called the story miss during my school teaching years. I did my teaching
with a lot of story telling. Story telling has always been popular and
will always be. But it takes different forms in different times.
Do you think
Ramayana, or for that matter, other epics, still hold attraction for children?
Is enough being done to popularize our epics with the young generation?
I think many
children know these stories better than the previous generation as the
medium in which these are available are increasing. The NRI crowd has made
sure the stories are listened to there. But it is when the stories take
on political tones and become linear and people say their version is the
authentic one and refuse to look deeper into the story that the danger
happens. I always told my students, look at the epics as great stories.
Don't do value judgements from today's point of view or political points
of view.
You work
a lot with children. Can we make children more interested in our arts and
heritage?
Yes, of course,
when one opens minds and not force it down their throats. It is in the
way one celebrates it. We are small specks in the vast cosmos. Let us celebrate
the diversity and look at our culture and its manifestation in art and
heritage as something to be celebrated, not fiercely battled over.
The role
of performing arts in education...
Never emphasised
enough. Teachers have always told me that the arts come after lessons.
But is not literature art too? Knowledge is got after skill. Art is skill.
Knowledge can easily be got if one knows how to get information. Any expressive
medium only helps the child understand better. I have proven it again and
again in my teaching time. My theory students were never asked to by heart
but were given stories for each word. Even after years, each one can recite
the entire Abhinaya Darpana without prompting. They were never asked to
recite back to test if they had learnt it. You can ask Sangeeta Isvaran.
Can you
tell us about your project 'Using traditional performing arts as an empowering
tool for vulnerable young girls'?
The title
was given by Dr. David Kahler, Vice President World Education, who observed
some of the sessions that were done earlier in a project called 'Using
traditional performing arts in education' because I was always looking
at harnessing the power and dramatic elements in our performing arts as
something to look at our body, our control on our situations, our refusing
to be humiliated. I believe success is being happy in whatever situation
one is and not just bettering one's lot with more money. It is how one
is treated in the surrounding environment that is the success of one's
life. This is what I keep talking to girls about. Bharatanatyam and its
form, Koothu, Devarattam, Oyilattam, etc are to not only connect to our
traditional expression forms but also to look at rural India's strengths.
Dr. Kahler talked me into agreeing for my Aseema Trust to take a three
year grant from World Education to do this project with the girls of Avvai
Home and Navbharath Matriculation School. I am also deeply involved in
bringing Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of spinning and thus looking at the value
of living by the sweat of one’s brow, cleanliness of public toilets, simplicity
in living and respect for diversity. I call this project 'Spin a Yarn -
Self and Society' and The Aseema Trust had a year's grant from Sir Dorabji
Tata Trust to do this project in 10 schools of the city with class 7 and
8 students. You won't believe it, but children were hungering for something
like this. They want to be taken seriously and will take part in sharing
their thoughts with stories leading the way.
Your comment
on the Chennai season.
The season
is the season. Cooler climes, mood for music and dance. Opportunity to
see some great performances. It is getting more and more difficult, so
no hopping around like earlier. One has to choose a venue and stick to
it. I like the frenzy of the season and the discussions that go on over
coffee and bonda in the canteen. Love meeting old friends and changing
the evening program depending on the mood of the moment.
Contact:
e-mail: vrdevika@gmail.com |
