Gurukul | Junoon

THE JUNOON GURUKUL

If great importance is attached to the search for knowledge in India, there ought to be a system that duly honours this give and take, this exchange of it and in doing so, facilitates it.

This is a Gurukul.
A system of education that is an immersive and wholesome learning experience for the students that choose to attend such an establishment and inhabit this ecosystem.

The students are versatile yet focused.
Their education: painstakingly thorough yet profoundly fulfilling.
Their futures: Full of promise, whatever way they choose to go.

The path to knowledge of any subject is crucial - the journey significantly more important than the destination - in all the wisdom amassed along the way.

A Gurukul is that path. Its emphasis on the performing arts takes every shishya through a vital process of transformation and instils a deep-rooted sense of self, spirit and responsibility. A practitioner is accountable to her Art - in practice and perpetuation.

In the realm of performing arts, this search for knowledge, is better described as a quest for beauty. For the purpose of all Art is to add more beauty into the world.

A Gurukul is a place where beauty is allowed to breathe and burgeon.

This search to know more and give more is a journey of faith, hope, tolerance, humility, acceptance, discipline, obeisance, surrender and patience. In the presence of these, the relationship between teacher and student - Guru and Shishya - two individuals of unequal knowledge, is established, strengthened and possible. This bond proves vital in keeping both centred through life. For the Art, in its passage from generation to generation, will always be larger than the artiste.

It takes great sensitivity to learn and teach, to give and gather knowledge. A Gurukul is the home of the curious, hardworking, perceptive and humble - the truest servants of a subject of learning, the purest practitioners of an Art, the most passionate beings on earth.

JUNOON.

As the mysteries of the Arts unfold,
Literature, movement and metaphor;
Poetry, rhythm and cadence;
Sculpture, poise and posture;
Painting, strokes and colour;
Music, melody, grace and movement;
Expression, written, verbal and facial;
Theatre, technique, spontaneity and emotion
And ultimately, the Dance,
Is better understood, better executed, more open than it ever was.
And open to any and all.

Here, at,
THE JUNOON GURUKUL.

THE JUNOON GURUKUL
at AVASARA

VISION

To provide our girls with an Arts education centred on Classical Dance that is immersive, holistic, promising and fulfilling.

PROGRAM CONTENT

TECHNIQUE

The students are trained primarily in the Classical Dance forms of Ballet and BharataNatyam for an understanding of both Western and Indian Classical Dance. Derivative dance forms such as Lyrical, Contemporary and Jazz will also be incorporated as a diversion.

THEORY

They will garner a general literary appreciation, be introduced to Art appreciation and criticism as well as understand and formulate their own opinions on how Art can be an instrument for social change.

FITNESS

Since artists who practice Classical Dance are athletes in their own right, our girls will also be put on an intense fitness regimen that incorporates Yoga, Athletics, Calisthenics, Pilates and Other Stretching, Strengthening and Flexibility Drills.

HOW THIS ADDS TO THE
AVASARA EXPERIENCE

A training in The Junoon Gurukul instils an instant awareness of Classical Dance and art and culture that has existed and been passed down for centuries. The students therefore feel responsible to carry it to more people thereby enabling a diffusion and promulgation of the very heritage they have received. How they choose to extend the privilege – professionally or otherwise – is something they will be able to make an informed choice about since they have participated in an immersive artistic learning experience outside of a general academic curriculum. The objective is to allow history and culture to build their artistic identities and then, give them the freedom to contemporize this knowledge so they may hold their own in an ever-changing world.

DEEP WITHIN THE GURUKUL

A feature from The SHOUT! Network

Our ideal of a Gurukul, formulated by ancient Art beheld in paintings, murals and other canvases, resides in our imaginations as differently positioned Banyan trees, thatched huts and roofs, sage-like Gurus mentoring keen Shishyas rapt in attention and wild and designed arenas where different arts, interests and subjects are striven for.

That ideal is beautiful, dreamy, transporting and traditional. And some traditions just don’t need updating. For a start, what it does deserve is a sincere appreciation of the ideals it stood for and furthered, the very evolved process of teaching and learning it engendered, the austere but versatile pathway of study and exploration it established and the thorough education it therefore made possible and accessible to its disciples.

Aeons ago, the learned met young learners and reared them in faraway, raw yet functional surroundings that allowed the latter space from the material comforts of home and therefore, the focus to master multiple disciplines.

An invaluable, unsaid and unfathomable bond developed between Guru and Shishya, Sage and Disciple, Teacher and Student. This eternal bond was characterized by an exchange of respect for deference. The Guru knows, shows the way, tells you what to look for but never what to see. The Shishya listens, follows and then, discovers for herself. Somewhere in the process of the Guru giving and the disciple receiving, a thread of trust, faith, loyalty, love, devotion and surrender is woven. The Guru gives, wholeheartedly, rightfully, respectfully. And the Shishya receives with passion and vigilance, fully submitting to the direction, wisdom and keener sense of the Guru. And even in this equation of unequal knowledge, age and experience, there exists mutual respect and enormous consideration, care and concern for one another.

Gurus gave unreservedly of themselves from the many different realms they had inhabited and imbibed –
The Arts – Classical, Martial, Performing, Fine, Sports, The Sciences – Life and Social, Philosophy, Mathematics, Yoga and other physical and spiritual practices and of course, Academia – ancient texts, treatises, rituals, studies and the literature we know today as "Classical".

Classes were conversations. They were often tests of tolerance, endurance and capabilities, on either side. Talents were unveiled, encouraged and refined. Discipline was ingrained, second to no organ of body or mind. Confidence was built, shaken, rebuilt and secured, once and for all. Shishyas competed healthily, outdid one another, constantly raising the bar, but more importantly, outdoing themselves. An emotional intelligence was further cultivated in those whom it was perceived and every attempt was made in making every Shishya perceptive, receptive and sensitive. Paired with their dexterity in plentiful pursuits, a Shishya of a Gurukul was quite simply beyond compare. Gifted, enormously grateful and very aware of their identity, purpose and what they’d like to give back to the world, these Shishyas were dynamic, necessary and ever-evolving additions to the world.

As the shishya journeyed along this path laid down by the Guru – embedded in the very establishment that is a Gurukul, she had an immersive learning experience across the spectrum; in seemingly unrelated areas even, if she chose to. She could be an athlete, an artiste, an academician, all rolled into one. She could see the physics of dance or the emotion in the natural sciences or intrigued by the history and theories of mathematics or the geometry in painting and sculpture or the rhythmic patterns and melodic structures of music and definitely, the beauty, artistry and versatility of all things in nature.

A Shishya’s definition of beauty was broad, all-encompassing, inclusive and most significantly, subjective. This flexibility allowed her to be rational, compassionate and keen, all at once. To know more, to be more, to see more, to feel more and to do more.

She found happiness and inspiration in a cooling breeze, in fresh fruit often stolen from swaying or still trees, in the gallop of a horse and the gait of a gazelle, in dreaming of the dances of Sati and Shiva, in believing that every raga she heard came straight from the Gandharvas, in a mama beast putting her cub to sleep, in swimming in open waters and the marine life encountered, in the colours of an evening sky, in the sound of rain and the delight of sunshine.

There was something in the air back then: A likely medley of curiosity, respect, joy in the little things (that we know, ultimately, amount to the big things) and an innocence that drove one to wonder and wander. When coupled with the aroma and smoke of incense, the Guru’s exhale of wisdom and a Shishya’s inhale of knowledge, seated across from one another in a grove with an oak or an elm or a willow for a backdrop, the setting was not only conducive to the give and take of a strong and sublime education that instilled a sense of responsibility but a paradise that enabled growth, empathy, mastery, clarity, courage, ambition and agency.

When the smoke clears, it brings us back to today. And yet, in our most heightened state of pragmatism, nothing above seems unattainable.
The Gurukul – as a concept, an institution and an ideology – was built to stay.
Will we go deep within? Or will we keep ourselves from the most evolved system of education that kept us rooted and gave us wings to fly.

We just have to journey back.
The path is laid.
To the beginning. To the progressive.
And then, forward, forward, forward.

LETTER EXCHANGES within
THE JUNOON GURUKUL

Read what we write to and receive from our girls.

Tuesday, September 6th, 2022

September 9th, 2022

September 13th, 2022

THE SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2022 SET

September 20th, 2022

THE SEPTEMBER 21ST, 2022 SET

September 25th, 2022

LETTER EXCHANGES within THE JUNOON GURUKUL

September 25th, 2022

Hello my little artists-in-the-making,

Your messages and your wishes were so warm and encouraging that I'm pretty sure they were the very reason why the opening night of our play, THE GOOD DOCTOR, absolutely rocked!

Being on stage, to deliver any performance of any sort - Dance, Music, Theatre or simply a speech even, can be pretty nerve wracking! There's only ONE take to give it your all!

But, when, after repeated rehearsals - ones that push you beyond what you thought were your limits - emotional, physical and psychological - you're able to put on display all of what you can possibly give, the experience is fulfilling and quite like no other and the result, pretty brilliant.

This play was tough particularly because it is a comedy. And making an audience of varied sensibilities laugh is actually one of the toughest acts one ever has to throw on and see through.

But thank god and through the coordinated efforts of the cast and crew - everyone involved in production, direction and technicalities - we pulled it off and our performance was very well received.

Theatre is the real act, as they say. A recreation of the real world, in a more focused setting. And I felt that. The fact that we were simply reproducing stories from real life, in a more entertaining or noticeable format; drawing attention to details that are often ignored or taken for granted.

What I learnt along the way was that acting was really about putting all my joys, sorrows and craziness out there, into creating a story - any story!

You too will learn and experience live Art and you too will come to learn, as you perform it or behold it, that it is larger than life, although inspired from life, and it is every bit worth preserving, furthering and appreciating.

The part I am most grateful for is being able to go back to working with the person - our director - who put me on stage when I was 9 years old. A man who recognized the potential in me back then and hasn't stopped fleshing it and more out of me ever since. I think that's what the best teachers can do - make you get out of yourself - larger, beyond your own wildest imaginations.
And even after all these years, make me feel like the little girl I was when I began - just as nervous and just as excited.

Performance Art or the practice of any Art for that matter is a constant upgradation exercise. One is constantly learning, bettering, fine tuning and correcting. You're basically a Work-in-Progress and that's what keeps you grounded and striving and makes you better each time.

It helps to know that the sky is the limit.

That's it for now. And I will sleep peacefully, knowing and believing that you are practicing and doing your best; dreaming of bringing some of that lived, theatrical experience to you very soon.

Love,
Myth

THE SEPTEMBER 25th, 2022 SET

October 5th, 2022

LETTER EXCHANGES within THE JUNOON GURUKUL

October 5th, 2022

Hello Gurukul-ers!

I want to tell you straight up how thrilled I was to read some very keen bits in the writings and takeaways of those of you who chose to send across your reflections on our Literature-centric class this past weekend. Thank you. They will help us and you persist with effective communication as we learn and teach!

Your reflections have been edited and compiled and will soon be live for you to hear under the "Sound Bites" section on The Junoon Gurukul page.

I am currently in the village of Dhasa in Gujarat with the girls who have come a long way since we first began working with them over a year ago.

Navaratri is an exhilarating time to be in Gujarat, as you would imagine. And given that Folk Dance is an integral part of any Junoon Program, we have been having a ball dancing Garba and balancing it with our training in Classical Dance.

The October heat certainly doesn't help. Not in this part of the world anyway. It's remote, it's extreme but to me, it's also the place I return to to feel the warmth and perseverance and grit of my girls who work so hard, amid hardship, with a smile.

I'm constantly learning from my students. Perhaps, the biggest lesson is the gratitude reflecting off their faces and demeanour when they are in class to dance, to train or outside even.

We're playing a gamble on our bodies, with some passionate, fun-filled Garba dancing through the night and practicing some more through daytime classes. But the joy of dancing with the villagefolk, the women and men and children (a lot of whom are training with me currently) is unparalleled, especially because this is after all the heartland of the Folk Dance of Garba - its birthplace and breeding ground.

This, aside from the fact that Garba is my favourite dance form in the whole wide world, outside of pure Classical Dance.

I know, when I'm there this weekend, I'll have some more to tell.

Until then, practice! It's the only way we can be better and dance our hearts out, with the grace we already have hidden away in our bodies and hearts.

Love to you all!
Myth 🙂

October 11th, 2022

LETTER EXCHANGES within THE JUNOON GURUKUL

October 11th, 2022

Hi Girls,

Writing to you after a pretty solid practice session myself, that has come after a while. I usually have to squeeze in time to practice basis Junoon's and other commitments, but today was different, like I was in training, all by myself, all over again.

And all through, I couldn't help but think how grateful I am to you all for this past weekend's session.

The sensitivity, empathy and perceptivity you displayed in response to the depressingly dark story of a bright, talented, capable 14 year old village girl in Dhasa being engaged to be married, made me feel supported, strong and above all, certain that our Junoon is a collective movement and the soul of a burgeoning girl gang, poised to change the world through our Art, one step at a time.

I was deeply touched by your words, in discussion as well as on paper. Thank you for teaching me, in your words, that "Art can be a weapon as well as a bridge". More than anything, it needs to be a weapon you wield responsibly, tactically, sensitively and sensibly for the overall good and progress of humanity, just as well preserving traditions that help us move forward. It's a critical "balance". But surely dance can and will teach you that! ;)

Thank you, above all, for sharing our shock, grief and beginning to tend the fire within you to make change happen, in mindsets, through Art. Yours, being a Performing Art, is a particularly powerful form of expression that can very effectively transmit thought, feeling and action to an observer.

As emerging Classical Dancers, continue to read, to write, to think, to feel and to believe you can change the world with compassion and purpose. Your practice of Dance will teach you structure, discipline and how to portray and channelize your emotions effectively.

I await all 21 letters, within the format, with the feeling and the plan of action we hoped to put into them.

I hope this week apart will make us look forward to next week's session more!

Love always,
Strength and Junoon to you,

Myth :)

THE OCTOBER 12th, 2022 SET

October 28th, 2022

THE NOVEMBER 2, 2022 SET

November 10th, 2022

November 30th, 2022

December 6th, 2022

LETTER EXCHANGES within THE JUNOON GURUKUL

December 6th, 2022

Hello Girls,

I imagine you are all well into preparations for forthcoming exams and eagerly looking forward to Christmas.

There's something about December that just makes the overall feeling celebratory - the end of the year, the weather in our part of the world, the fact that something ends and a new thing begins and that we have so much to look forward to, change and begin anew.

December, to me, is a month for reflection (always has been). How did I do this past year? What can I do better? Can I invest more meaning into the things I do? Could I have done some things, handled them differently?

The answers are a mix of encouraging and disappointing albeit ones that teach you how to be better, kinder, more considerate, focused as well as balanced.

The Art you put into the world is often a reflection of oneself - the thought, effort and tremendous heart and soul you put into it. If I had one resolution to make, I would tell myself to be more intentional about my Art, when I practice, when I perform or when I study for it.

Intention is a much more powerful concept than motivation even. It requires an honesty, a resolve, a discipline to respect your choices and be earnest with them despite how pumped or sure you feel of them.

When you do things with purpose, you suddenly feel yourself performing them better. Perhaps this can trickle into every aspect of your life (over and above the Classical Art you have so openly accepted and chosen to practice).

December is also a month for reconnection with those you may not have been able to see through the year. It's like we're all trying to compete with time to see everyone we can before the year runs out!

And this December, is a special one for sport. For those of us that love Football and the intensity of feeling that it (like any other team sport) generates, we are in the midst of our biggest spectacle in four years - The Men's World Cup. It comes not many months after the English Women's Team took home the crown in the Women's World Cup.

We dance, we play and so we know the ups and downs and sheer capacity it takes to pull off and pull through a game like Football.

As with dance, your endurance, grace and talent are all put to the test.

My heart races as the teams take on one another every night and somewhere, it breaks for the dark horses that have gotten this far and have to exit despite putting their best "foot" forward.

And yet, it fills me up to watch the most unassuming teams clinch the most unprecedented victories in the history of this sport; to watch everyone finally play in a Cup that has been the most even and equal thus far - in terms of team combinations, quality of play and the potential of players.

Artists are no different from athletes. The feelings of defeats and wins are so similarly felt and the reasons, as is the case with the Cup this time round, are so tiny and more to do with how each team or artist plays to the situation, there in that moment, how intuitively we respond and how much intention there is in that response.

This is the truest test of creativity, adaptability and spirit! And I wish this for you all, as artists, athletes, working together for the brightest future.

I will be playing a lot of highlights from the games for my girls in the village next week, as they enter into more advanced levels of Athleticism and artistry on this stint of Junoon's Rural Outreach. And all along, I will be highlighting just how hard and with just how much honesty every team has fought to ultimately treat us to some amazing football.

It is always about The Sport. It is always about The Art. Over and above us small vehicles who choose to take to it and thereby, propel it forward.

Enjoy the month, enjoy the games, enjoy the exams and prep hard to play hard, anywhere you go, anything you do! Dancing, included.

Love and action!

Myth :)

January 4th, 2023

LETTER EXCHANGES within THE JUNOON GURUKUL

January 4th, 2023

My Dearest Girls in Grey,
Tonight, I had the rare privilege of watching "The Nutcracker" at The Royal Opera House, here in London, with my mentor. It was a gift, a treat - magical, dreamy and enlightening to say the least.

There isn't a known experience in the world like the stage - lofty, moving and humbling. And there is no learning like seeing. I could see just how much Ballet needs, how much it has to give and how efficiently it can express. I could see lines and length my body is yet to find, I could see curves and precision and technique I am yet to discover, I could see how much my arms and toes and chin have yet to reach for and above all, I could see the emotion every performer puts into every movement - raw, true and natural. I could see a respect for and redemption of every rhythm, I could see the thrill and joy of dancing on every face that graced that stage. Like they were born and belonged to it.

It is intimidating, a reality check. And yet, as my coach says, a necessary step to learning - knowing just how far there is to go. Hence, with every class with her, as John Neumeier put it, I "learn how to walk again".

How I wish for this experience for every little girl, every lady, every artiste who has ever aspired to unmatched artistry, elegance, grace and energy. How I wish every girl that aspires to it, witnesses, strives and eventually performs this magic.

Here is an Art form that can only be done right. This is Classical Dance - theatrical, technical and (with stars in my eyes and fear in my heart) a miracle. I can't thank her enough for hand holding me through this most unparalleled, nerve racking, backbreaking, encouraging, discouraging but always bettering journey. It gives me goosebumps, brings me to tears, makes me want to stop and strike and sulk and then, from all that stubborn hope in my very human heart, it also makes me break into a smile, believe and give it another try.

Happy New Year my little beauties. I wish you joy, success, health and movement - in mind, body and soul. With every hope that the New Year will give us a chance to be enchanted by Ballet again,

Yours always,
Myth.

January 16th, 2023

January 21st, 2023

LETTER EXCHANGES within THE JUNOON GURUKUL

January 21st, 2023

My Dearest Girls in Grey,

I was smiling ear to ear for many hours after I spoke with a beautiful pair from the Gurukul lot earlier this week. I wish it was all of you on camera but I did tell the two I chatted to to pass on fat and long hugs and loads of love.

In keeping with the tradition to keep you informed of the goings on at my end - dance, head and heart-wise. Here goes:

Junoon will be kicking off an additional Outreach Program in Pondicherry in the coming week. We begin working with Sharana, a social and developmental organization that provides shelter, relief, education and guidance to women and children who are victims of abuse or sadly, come from violent backgrounds.

I have worked with women in distress in the past but this is going to be a first for me in taking Classical Dance in a therapeutic sense to children. It is going to be key to work, in tandem, with their caretakers and guardians and create a zone of comfort so they will be able to move with me, freely and gradually.

We all know that movement is medicine. But making Classical Dance a means for release, catharsis and expression for this very unfortunately distressed, underprivileged and disturbed demographic is going to be a very new challenge for me; for us all at Junoon.

I think and know that the experience is going to teach me plenty and sensitize me further to the realities and insufficiencies in society as well as make me feel purposeful and driven to make change and help, in every small way we can, to even out the imbalances.

Outside of the shelter in the city, the women are also based in a village named Angalakuppam which borders Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. So, I will be carrying our dance therapy to where they are. I'm told they may be a little more reticent than the children but we'll see how soon we can break the ice.

I'm also preparing for a performance in an Art Gallery in Pondicherry for the Arts society there so it will be deeply rewarding to perform Bharata Natyam, in a somewhat Contemporary sense, given that I will have to work and experiment with the space. My performance is a tribute to Guru, God and the Sun and I'm looking forward to exploring those themes, in performance!

I will most definitely write to you once it has all passed to keep you up to speed and share my reflections.

I hope you are all in the best of health. And, fingers and toes crossed, I will see you in Gurukul soon!

Love,
Myth.

January 31st, 2023

LETTER EXCHANGES within THE JUNOON GURUKUL

January 31st, 2023

My Dearest Girls in Grey,

Riding to the airport from a very jubilant, copious and fortunate performing spell in and around Pondicherry. One performance snowballed into Five and Junoon began its first Outreach for Release with Sharana - a social and developmental organization that shelters, supports, educates and empowers victims of abuse. As it happens, they also come from less privilege.

I was meant to perform "The Sunlit Staircase" - an ode to Guru, God and Sun at Aurodhan - an Art Space that doubles up as an Art Gallery - once. When, after the first performance, I was asked by curators to perform the same or a similar set for varied audiences. This was also a result of the degree of responsiveness to its first showing. Sometimes, things just happen. Hence, the multiplication from one to five.

Sharana mainly runs two large operations - One, a Community Centre in the village of Angalakuppam, bordering Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu, where women and young girls who come from distressed backgrounds are encouraged through social entrepreneurship into having and making a livelihood in addition to giving them medical, mental and moral support. And Two, a Social Centre in Pondicherry itself, that caters to the needs of children from similar circumstances.

Junoon took Classical Dance to them in a therapeutic sense where we hoped movement would move them in many other ways. Both the women and young girls and children in both places were so incredibly receptive and palpably moved. We saw release and relief and most importantly joy and satisfaction all over them. To our surprise, they even picked up the initial sequences of fundamentals in Bharata Natyam most spiritedly and readily. These are typically a challenge for most but they took to it so fluidly!

As a surprise for them at the end of all sessions, I even performed for them. Watching, after all, is the easiest means to aspire or learn. Just so much can be understood by observation. I do think they were delighted to have their one and only access to the Classical Dance that is often performed in elite constructs that are inaccessible by and unavailable to them. Junoon is humbled to have begun something that has been a continued conversation with Sharana for years and therefore, in planning and preparation for a while.

It was also our first time working with children by carrying Dance Movement Therapy to them. And we are so grateful that we all came through like we did. This will be a continued association. And a constant impetus for us to actively conduct this Outreach for Release.

As far as the performances go, I was most grateful to have the opportunity to perform for young dancers, a general audience and significantly, some very evolved and influential people in the world of Art and Culture whose appreciation, valued feedback and constructive criticism gives me so much to think about and take home with me.

The high of performing is obviously counter-balanced with my own assessment of what I can do better, more efficiently and make crisper and I know and hope I will soon be re-energized and ready to go right back into Riyaaz!

Lots of love to you my lovelies,
And see you sooner now!

Myth ;)

February 7th, 2023

March 5th, 2023

March 14th, 2023

SOUND BITES from
THE JUNOON GURUKUL

These are some valuable exchanges when we're in session, worth saving and sharing!

THE JUNOON GURUKUL