The South Asian Arts & Cultural Council proudly presented its South Asian Speakers Series in collaboration with the Boston Public Library on Saturday, October 1, 2016 afternoon from 2:00 to 3:00pm at the Boston Public Library, Boston, MA, with enlightening talks and Bharatanatyam performance by Devdutt Pattanaik and Mesma Belsare, respectively. Hundreds of audiences from Greater Boston area came to listen and converse with the guests and enhance their horizon of understanding.

In the first part, Amit Dixit, Founder and Executive Director, South Asian Arts Council, welcomed and thanked the audience to the event and introduced both the speaker and the dance performer on the mythological topic to the audience. He said that Devdutt Pattanaik is a well-known author, illustrator, storyteller, mythologist, culture consultant, and leadership coach. Often called as India’s Joseph Campbell and Dan Brown, he has written over 30 books and 700 articles on the relevance of stories, symbols and ritual both sacred and secular in our modern life. Devdutt’s books with publisher Westland Ltd., namely 7 Secrets of Hindu Calendar Art, 7 Secrets of Shiva, 7 Secrets of Vishnu and 7 Secrets of the Goddess are designed to help readers explore and understand a remarkable worldview that emerged in the Indian subcontinent thousands of years ago. This Fall, Westland Ltd., has organized a series of talks for him across eight cities in the US to converse how mythology has colored our worldview and nurtures the ideas of coexistence and harmony across cultures.

Devdutt Pattanaik said that Hinduism is full of fascinating gods, goddesses and amazing stories around them. However, very little is known about the deeper significance, symbology and life lessons that these stories offer. Devdutt thrown light on the profound meaning of Hindu mythology and its relevance in modern times. He also stated that these mythological stories helps us understand why India has been a relatively tolerant culture despite being home to over 6,000 distinct and diverse communities. These stories also provide unique ideas that could enrich our mind to get the best out of our relationships with other communities in the global village. Devdutt’s talks offered a deep understanding of how myths and mythologies have shaped our cultures and the world around us. His speech was followed by a brief Q&A session where audience asked questions and got very insightful answers from Devdutt. Amit Dixit moderated this session very systematically.

In the second part, Amit Dixit introduced Mesma Belsare, an elegant Bharatanatyam dancer of Boston to the audience. He said that she is a dancer, choreographer, actor, visual artist and educator. Recipient of international awards and scholarships, she is a dancer who has created a position in the area of classical Indian arts, while expanding her development in the contemporary expression.  Mesma presented ‘Entwined’, a dance inspired by the concept of Ardhanariswara (the half man/half woman form of the Hindu God Shiva). She said that the concept of Ardhanariswara often misinterpreted as a form representing dual-sex, but a deeper exploration reveals that the image is born out of profound artistic intelligence and imagination in an attempt to express duality in nature as we perceive it: day and night, life and death, matter and energy and so on that follow another and they co-exist in our lives. Her presentation, ‘Entwined’ incorporated three languages: a contemporary English translation of Sanskrit verses composed in 1st century A.D., Sanskrit and Tamil.

Amit Dixit thanked all the audience for coming and showing interest in understanding the rich the South Asian Arts and Culture. He also thanked Devdutt Pattanaik and Mesma Belsare for their time and wonderful presentations.  "We really enjoyed the talk by Devdutt who is very logical in his interpretations of mythological stories and symbols and their significance in life. We also loved the rhythmic dance performance by charming Mesma. She is very graceful and energetic in her actions” said one of the audience.

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