The Hindu : Danseuse to take her case to PM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 23, 2003

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Danseuse to take her case to PM

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MARCH 23. Dancing is no child's play. And though neither the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) nor the Delhi High Court agreed with danseuse Komala Varadan's side of the ``age'' debate, the artiste is not giving up yet.

The High Court may have dismissed her writ petition that challenged the procedure followed by the ICCR in selecting artistes for foreign tours, but the seasoned danseuse seems determined to fight for her place, even if it means taking the matter to the Prime Minister.

``The Prime Minister is a poet and will understand the concerns of an artiste. I want Parliament to look into the working of the ICCR,'' she said at a press conference here.

Coming down heavily on the ICCR and art critics who called her too old to be seen on stage, Ms. Varadhan asked the ICCR whether Birju Maharaj, Raja Radha Reddy, Madhavi Mudgal and Singhajit Singh ``were below 45 years'', the age limit that she does not fall under.

Contending that it had taken her seven years of correspondence and seven years of litigation to find out information about her case and the category that the ICCR had put her under, she also criticised sections of the media for concentrating on an artiste's age and not talent.

``So what about age? Do we push all the people above the age of 45 into the Indian Ocean?

Dancing is not a childhood activity. It mellows with age. And in any case I was not above the old limit of the ICCR 14 years ago.''

Ms. Varadhan did not rule out the possibility of dealing with the matter the legal way. ``I haven't decided yet, but I am in touch with my lawyers.''

Complaining that the ICCR decision to put her under the ``lecture-demonstration'' category and not the ``performance'' category had led to her missing out some important opportunities, the dancer said: ``Although I have been performing all over the country and in several countries abroad including the United Nations in response to private invitations for several years, the pride of representing the country under government auspices has been denied to me unjustly.''

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