Kapila Vatsyayan

I was very touched when dear Shobha Deepak Singh asked me to write something on the occasion of the publication of her book on photographs of dance. I wondered ‘why me?’ I did not ask her that question because there was no question of asking her this question. Why? My mind went back to Shobha’s childhood or even babyhood and also to her grandfather late Sir Shri Ram. Many memories of the Curzon Road(number 12) bungalow came rushing to my mind, the residents respected Sir Lala Shri Ram as also Shankar Lal. Apart from my father’s relationship with Sir Shri Ram, this house was an open house to many great eminent artists, be it Uday Shankar or Ravi Shankar, Prabhat Ganguly, Shanta Rao and many, many others.
I remember these memorable occasions even prior to the holding of the festivals such as ‘Jhankar’ and Shri Sankarlal music festival, and Ustad Allauddin Khan in the Constitution Club. Sumitra ji, her mother, was one who was deeply interested in the arts. Her association with Uday Shankar in Almorah is well-known. We all remember the Uday Shankar Almorah Centre and the role that the late Shri Dharmvir, brother of Sumitra Charat Ram and uncle of Shobha Deepak Singh, played – a very important role in promoting and fostering this unique centre. My memory travelled back to the seminal role of dear and respected Sumitra ji in establishing the Bharatiya Kala Kendra and of course the annual event of the Ramleela performances to which we all look forward.

Shobha sitting in front of me requesting me to write something put me in a dilemma. What do I write about one who carries the legacy of two generations of promoting and nurturing arts but also in the establishment of many institutions in the field of education, too many to be listed here. Shobha no doubt has imbibed the love of the arts, not just formally, but almost as a family inheritance. Equally, naturally, she combined her love of the arts with a pursuit of formal studies at college level. She graduated in Economics (Hons.) from DelhiUniversity and was a very competent administrator in the DCM.Here she met and marriedDeepak Singh who proved a backbone right through her career. He not only encouraged her in her artistic pursuits, but supported her wholehearted in her photography.At a time when imported cameras were not available in Delhi, he would look at the ‘for sale columns’-by foreigners in weekend newspapers. After months; he bought her the best camera at that time. This was in 1969. It was with this camera that Shobha began her journey of photography in performing arts.

However, her first love of performance nurtured and supported by respected Sumitra ji came to fruition when she took over as Manager of Bharatiya Kala Kendra. Over four decades she has displayed an extraordinary innovativeness in designing costumes. She has an uncanny knack of designing costumes both for the stage and maintains a unique boutique of antique textiles. Coupled with this talent, she has undertaken the challenging task of Director and choreographer and working with masters like late Guru Krishna Naik in Chhau. For all these she has been recognized and awarded. She carries forward the legacy of her mother by holding regular annual performances of Ram Leela and Krishna Leela. Also she has an extended scope in regard to choreography on other subjects.

Given her versatility, it was natural that she should also seek training as a theatre director under the tutelage of no less a person than E. Alkazi. This experience of theatre direction perhaps gave her a mastery of using the photographic camera lens to capture movements on the stage and to freeze action by the click. The responses to her black and white photographic shows – held in Triveni and in London at the Nehru Centre – from a wide spectrum of artists, connoisseurs and renowned photographers like Avinash Pasricha, Ram Rahman, art critics like Geeta Kapur, theatre directors like Amal Allana and Nissar Allana, musicians like Amjad Ali Khan, cartoonists like Sudhir Dhar, and artists like Jatin Das are clear proof of her competency and achievement as photographer of black and white, not an easy task.

But, finally, she has turned to movements of dance. This book includes photographs by Shobha on dance and dancers. It covers a wide canvas of genres. She has focused her lens on the movement in many different styles of classical dance such as Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Chhau, experimental and folk. She has then extended the gauge of her camera lens capturing the sensitivity of abhinaya in the performance of the great guru like Kelucharan Mahopatra. Sometime her photographs are not just akin to figurative painting but become abstract paintings in themselves. I have seen very many photographs taken by Shobha. She has captured the artist in their most telling momentas is the rare gift of a committed artist. As renowned theatre artist Shekhar Sen says ‘She has captured moments beautifully for posterity to cherish. Saw your wonderful paintings! I cannot call them photographs it shows how gifted talent like you fill beautiful colours in our world’.

The photographs capture some very poignant moments of the art form, the characters portrayed and the mood. Technically also there is a magical interplay of light, colour and contours. Shobha’s photographs capture that invisible theatrical moment which lies between the word and the image – which constitues the ‘magic’ of the performance. Shobha captures the essence and decisive movement of the dance in her photos.

She captures not only the artist but the spirit of the art and thereby gradually has built a rare and vibrant collection and documentation of dance images. To capture an ineffable emotion; to freeze a fleeting emotion; to still a moment of remembered emotion-Shobha’s photos manage to do all this.

The spectrum is wide and extensive and it is not necessary to list the names of all eminent artists featured in this book. All my blessings for this creative work and achievement of Shobha in such a variety of fields. All I can say is wherever her grand parents and her parents are they are undoubtedly blessing her.

About Shobha

Shobha Deepak Singh was born in October 1943; had her schooling at Modern School and graduated from Delhi University in 1963 (Eco Hons).

She joined DCM as a Management Trainee in 1964 and was involved in marketing and advertising of the company’s leading product lines .She was married in 1967.

She joined Bhartiya Kala Kendra in 1968 and was the first Manager of Kamani Auditorium. Shobha went on to specialise in designing of costumes and ornaments- a field in which she become a trailblazer. Later on, she took over the task of script writing and directing of the Kendra’s ballets. During the past four decades she has for over thirty ballets/dance dramas of the Kendra.

During this period, in 1977, she also completed her degree in “Bachelor of Performing Arts”. She received her diploma in theatre direction in 1996.

In 1992, she joined the Direction Course of Living Theatre under the tutelage of Mar. E. Alkazi During this tenure, she was responsible for the music of several plays. She was Assistant Director to Mr Alkazi, for four of his eight lays.

Shobha has a natural flair for photography and has actually been shooting for four decades.

She has had several solo photography shows.
Her Photographs have been used extensively in leading newspapers and magazines.
Many a time , her images have been used to make a book.
Analogue photography is her forte.
She is self taught, never used a flash and has a bank of 300000 negatives.
Her mentor is E Alkazi and she believes that she would like to capture movement in dance and emotion in theatre.

Endorsment

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