inspiration

Mira Brahmachari (1942-2010)

, an artist-dancer from Calcutta, has been an inspiration to many, including to her daughter, Jhuma Basak who herself is an artist-dancer and psychoanalyst of the city. It is in tribute to the memory of her mother that was conceived by Jhuma. She continues to work in the filed of mental health, arts, and education keeping the flame of her mother’s inspiration burning.

was born into a family of artistic vision, political ideology and educational values. An integrated perspective of the political and the artistic identity was natural for her. The resonating sound of the ‘internationale’ (the ‘anthem’ of the communist party) and the sound of her ‘ghungroo’, all blended harmoniously in her life’s vision. Her creative explorations were engraved in her political beliefs which led her much later to join the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA).

’s joie de vivre is even clearer when one delves into her trajectory as an artist-dancer. In the performing history of Bengal, the woman’s dancing body had its own chronicle of struggle for its claim for a respectable profession. In Bengal pioneers like Rabindranath Tagore and Uday Shankar inspired many women to step out of their middle-class homes and embrace dance as a profession.

herself came from a family of twelve siblings, including domineering elder brothers. Nevertheless, she found her way to pursue her passion for dance by joining the Rabindra Bharati University in Calcutta. Decades later she joined the Bharatiya Kala Kendra in New Delhi and was part
of its repertoire of Ramayana in the role of Kaikeyi. In 1957 and 1959 she travelled as an Indian delegate to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Kabul and Russia under the choreographic leadership of Yogendra Sundar Desai. In these tours, she not only performed as a dancer in classical and folk forms, but also often sang for the national radio of the countries that she was touring at that time. Later in the 1960s till ‘80s she continued to explore her artistic pursuits in Calcutta through various dance productions of Tagore’s works.

Simultaneously she was working at ‘Dakshinee’, a leading musical school of Calcutta, as a Bharatnatyam dance teacher. All this led to explore rich artistic collaborations with renowned artists like Manjusri Chaki-Sircar, Debabrata Biswas, Arghya Sen, Suchitra Mitra, Sumitra Sen. As a matter of fact, was a founding member of ‘The Collective Dance-Theatre Group’ by Manjusri Chaki-Sircar before the foundation of ‘Dancers’ Guild’ where ’s daughter, Jhuma, was also a founding member.

was a dynamic artist who in her mature years explored new avenues of choreography for many stage-theatre productions directed by Utpal Dutt, like Titumir, Tiner Talowar, Kallol, Barricade, and the film ‘Jhar’ in 1979. with her warmth inspired many common souls to pursue their passion for the arts against all odds of life and society.