THE WEEK Heritage Awards evening unfolded as a tapestry of music, dance, storytelling, and reflection, where practitioners, policy thinkers, and cultural custodians came together to explore what heritage truly means in contemporary India and how it can be passed on to the next generation.
The session opened with a reminder that heritage is not a relic of the past but a lived practice. Veteran classical dancer Bhari Shivaji recalled her personal journey from Tanjore, where she trained in Bharatanatyam, to creating her own distinct style of Mohiniyattam. “It was not possible for me to travel to Kerala to learn Mohiniyattam,” she said, “so I invented my own style. It gained acceptance, and I was privileged to perform at Rashtrapati Bhavan.” Her daughter, initially a Bharatanatyam dancer, also embraced Mohiniyattam—proof, Shivaji said, that heritage flows naturally across generations when nurtured with devotion.
The panel, themed 'Heritage for the Next Generation', featured Dr Chandrima Roy, renowned sarod player, Dr Kamalika Banerjee, a science policy professional with a PhD from IIT Delhi, Shreyasi Gopinath, Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher and Pragya, a heritage walks expert. The discussion was moderated by Shubhangi Shah, Senior Correspondent, THE WEEK, who framed the debate with a provocative question: “In schools, emphasis is put more on sciences compared to humanities, and performing arts is rendered to extra-curriculars. Where does this mindset stem from, and why haven’t we moved past it?”
Culture as DNA, art as vocation
For Dr Chandrima Roy, the answer was rooted in upbringing. “In a Bengali family, culture and music are our DNA,” she said. Choosing to learn the sarod at the age of 13 was a natural extension of this legacy. But her words also carried a sharp edge: “Music is a very unpaid profession. I come from a middle-class family, and I know the struggles. Why can’t an IIT campus have a permanent residential guru teaching any form of art? Why not a yoga teacher, or even an ayurvedic doctor? Heritage should not be treated as ornamental—it must be integral to daily life.”
Shreyasi Gopinath echoed the call to normalise the arts in everyday settings. “Government is making efforts for promoting dance, but this must start at the preschool level,” she argued. “It has to be fun, cool, and experiential. Teachers and artists need to work doubly hard to make dance accessible. You cannot just learn it—you have to live it.”
Bridging science and humanities
Dr Kamalika Banerjee drew attention to the structural barriers that separate science from culture. “There is a clear demarcation between humanities and science in our education system,” she said. “But we must rethink that divide. IIT Mandi and IIT Kanpur are already studying the effects of ragas on student mental health. This shows that heritage is not just about nostalgia, it can actively contribute to wellbeing.” She also called for broader outreach initiatives, such as SPIC MACAY’s work in taking Indian classical arts to young audiences worldwide. “Why can’t we launch a ‘one district, many arts’ programme to ensure diversity in cultural promotion?”
Pragya, who conducts heritage walks, brought the conversation back to the experiential. “Heritage was introduced to me at an early age by my family,” she said. “But beyond passive learning, we need experimental and immersive methods. Children must walk through monuments, listen to stories, meet artists; it is only then that heritage becomes a lived memory rather than a chapter in a textbook.”
Reimagining daily life
The panellists collectively challenged the tendency to reduce heritage to spectacle. Dr Chandrima Roy offered a striking example: “Why call a DJ to a wedding when you can call a shehnai player? Why can’t school children start the day with prayers in a raga? Heritage must not be confined to festivals or awards functions; it should seep into the rhythms of our daily lives.”
Shreyasi added that the perception of dance and art as optional careers has to change. “Yes, avenues have grown, but there is still a mindset problem. You have to slog in any profession, be it engineering or dance. It is about how society values the effort.”
A tapestry of performances
If the panel gave words to the idea of heritage, the evening’s performances gave it sound and soul. The event opened with a sitar–tabla jugalbandi by Megha Rawoot and Kapil Sharma. Megha, a disciple of maestro Purbayan Chatterjee, began her journey at the age of 10 with vocal music before discovering her calling in the sitar. Having performed across the USA, Russia, China, and India, she brought a global resonance to the stage. She was accompanied by Kapil Sharma, a distinguished tabla artist trained under Pandit Sri Kishan and Pandit Shailendra Mishra of the Banaras and Farukhabad gharanas. Their duet was both meditative and energetic, a reminder of the timeless dialogue between melody and rhythm.
The evening also featured the evocative art of Dastangoi, presented by Usman Siddique and Rajesh Kumar of the Dastangoi Collective. Their performance of Dastan-e-Choubali, based on the works of Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha, transported the audience to a world where oral storytelling still holds sway. Siddique, a documentary filmmaker, uses creative expression for social causes, while Kumar, a seasoned theatre actor with roles in Parzania and Halla Bol, brought his dramatic flair to the narrative. The performance underlined that heritage is not limited to temples and palaces but also thrives in the spoken word, in voices that carry folklore from one generation to the next.
As the session concluded, what emerged was a collective conviction—heritage is not an isolated pursuit for artists, but a shared responsibility. From classrooms to campuses, from families to festivals, India’s cultural inheritance must be reimagined as a lived reality rather than a ceremonial occasion.
“Heritage is our way of life,” as Dr Chandrima Roy put it, “and it cannot be separated from us.”