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Keeping Indian tradition alive in Western homes

Firdaus Ali in Toronto

When she's not striking a pose, she's busy putting her ingenious stamp on textile designs. That's Vrinda Bhagwat, ace dancer and textile wholesaler, whose creative urges take her to the most alluring of places.

It could be a chance meeting with an upcoming music or dance artiste. Or off to the shanty huts of Kutch, western India, where she sits with artisans for hours on end, sharing their creativity and lending them her professional expertise.

Bhagwat -- owner of Art Mosaic Inc, a home furnishing store in Toronto's busy Yonge Street -- is a woman of many dimensions. She satiates her creative urge for dance by teaching at the Disha Dance Academy that she has founded. And rakes in the moolah from her classy store, a wholesale outlet for home furnishings.

"I came to Canada from India and managed to complete my Bachelor of Arts from the University of Ottawa. After which it was a brief job stint with the Bank of Montreal."

But Bhagwat, who learnt Bharata Natyam in India from Vasanthy Srinivasan of the Raj Rajashree gharana and did her arangetram [first solo stage performance] in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, still nurtured a fierce passion for dance and wanted to teach and promote the art form to the West. "I had trained under Guru Pratap Pawar, who was a disciple of the great Birju Maharaj. Yet, when I wanted to pursue a career in dance my father warned me that I would starve should I take to dance as a profession," she remembers.

Not one to give in easily, Bhagwat pursued her passion by founding the Disha Dance Academy, which has trained many a dance lover, introducing them to the magic of Bharata Natyam. The academy also teaches music and singing and has 40 students training under its banner.

While she knew early in life that dancing would not pay her bills, Bhagwat took to purchasing antiques from India and displaying them for elite clients at her Yonge Street outlet. Here, amidst a cacophony of horns and busy street chimes sits her shop, adorned with statuettes, figurines and other artifacts from India.

"But I am no longer in the antiques business. I switched to home furnishings some time back," the lady informs you.

Naturally, then, her shop is a display bag of various forms of materials, be they embroidered fabric for curtains, cushion covers, border materials, tassels in Benaras, organza tissue, khadi silk or Moroccan material. Rich materials, in a classy array, are displayed in her shop, enticing wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers alike.

"There is no cloth like Indian fabric -- rich in colours and strong in texture," says Bhagwat, who goes to the interiors of Gujarat and Rajasthan to meet local artisans while importing material for her store and distributors. One of her largest clients is the famous ABC chain of stores in the US.

The wholesale business of textile designing keeps her busy meeting buyers and manufacturers from nine to five, five days a week. But evenings and weekends are dedicated to dance.

"I teach dance and am a staunch believer of the guru-shishya parampara. I don't need the extra money to work weekends, but teaching dance is like worshipping God. It gives me pleasure and I do not do it for money but to keep the tradition and Bharata Natyam dance form alive in Western homes," she explains.

Her love for music and dance has found her promoting artistes from India and introducing them to the West. Performers like Raj Kumar Rizvi, Puran Maharaj and Rita Ganguly have discovered fame and glory in the US and North America, thanks to the efforts of Bhagwat, who has put together several concerts and shows.

Bhagwat has also produced a few music CD albums. Ahsaas, Khushboo and Lehren are all unique, musical treats. She feels sad that fusion music and dance are becoming ever so popular and the authentic classical form is taking a backseat. "But the compensation lies in the fact that there are still some people left who value true tradition. They are the ones who will keep Indian culture alive," she avers.

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