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By Lavina Melwani
Lavina Melwani is a freelance writer.

January 22, 2004

"One of the primary goals of the Baruch Performing Arts Center when it was created was to infuse art into the curriculum," said Kathleen Eads, general manager of the center. "The advantage of having art in your life is that it really helps in creative thinking and decision making."

The performance center is presenting "Mela: A South Asian Festival," a production with the Manhattan-based Indo-American Arts Council. Mela, which means carnival or festival in Hindi, celebrates South Asian performing arts with a variety of entertainment.

"Given the diversity of Baruch - Baruch is the most diverse campus in the United States and we have a large South Asian population - mela seemed to fit very well," Eads said. "Servicing the needs and interests of the students is the bottom line."

The mela starts today and runs through Feb. 15 with a lineup including "Kalighat," a new drama by Paul Knox that takes place at Kalighat, the late Mother Teresa's home for the dying in Calcutta, India. In his play, Knox, who worked as a volunteer at the home, attempts to distill the essence of the place and the people.

"The play explores the notion of the duality of [the goddess] Kali - of life and death, of destruction and creation, of good and bad existing simultaneously," he said.

Also on the mela program is a dance performance by "Nayikas," a classical Indian Odissi dance theater company that creates contemporary dance pieces. In "Samita," choreographer and dancer Myna Mukherjee explores feminine divinity and sexuality.

"A lot of the time South Asians tend to see classical dance as boring or as heritage," Mukherjee said. "What we are trying to do is infuse it with contemporary stories and to draw parallels with our own stories, the stories which, as women of today, we could identify with while using classical Indian dance grammar."

The festival also showcases "classical Indian music" with ragas (melodic compositions), bhajans (devotional music) and ghazals (lyrical poetry) by Marina Alam, a disciple of India's noted vocalist, Pandit Jasraj. Two young South Asian performers merge "Indian fusion and jazz," with music by Isheeta Ganguly, Athul Prashar, Neil Dave and Ravi Sukhnandan.

What would a celebration of South Asia be without cinema? Here one gets to see the work of famed filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

For humor, there's "Laff-O-Rama: A Night of South Asian Stand-up Comedy." Shazia Mirza, the United Kingdom's only known female Muslim professional comic, manages to wring out humor from off-limits topics such as religion and terrorism, while Vidur Kapur and Vijai Nathan, both New Yorkers, explore the funny side of being South Asian in America.

Baruch College has many South Asian students from Queens, especially Jackson Heights and Flushing. Ragini Jain, a Maspeth resident, is a Baruch senior who is secretary of Club India, a student organization that is co-sponsoring the mela.

"A lot of the students are very excited to know that a South Asian festival is going on because you usually don't have that in a college," she said. "They can't wait to be going to these shows, and they want to bring their friends and family, too."

Mela Performances

All events are at Baruch Performing Arts Center at Baruch College, Manhattan, today through Feb. 15. Theater addresses are below. For tickets, see www.smarttix.com, call 212-868-4444 or go to the box office. For general information, call 646-312-4085.

Theater: Khaligat - Tuesdays-Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. for these dates: Jan. 22-25, Jan. 30-Feb. 6; Feb. 10-15. No performance Feb. 12. Tickets: General admission, $19; students/seniors, $15; Baruch ID holders, $12. Nagelberg Theatre, Lexington Avenue and 25th Street.

Dance: Nayikas - 8 p.m. Jan. 27-29 and Feb. 7-9. Tickets: general admission, $25; students / seniors $18; Baruch ID holders, $15. Nagelberg Theatre, Lexington Avenue and 25th Street.

Music: Indian Classical Music Event, 8 p.m. Jan. 26; Indian Fusion and Jazz Night, 8 p.m. Feb. 2. Tickets: general, $15; student/seniors, $10; Baruch ID holders, $8. Engelman Recital Hall, Lexington Avenue and 25th Street.

Film: The films of Satyajit Ray - Feb. 6: documentary on Satyajit Ray at 7 p.m., panel discussion on Ray at 8 p.m.; Feb. 7: The Apu Trilogy - "Pathar Panchali" at noon, "Aparajito" at 3:30 p.m., lecture presentation "Cinema of Satyajit Ray" at 6:30 p.m., "Apur Sansar" at 8 p.m.; Feb. 8: "Charulata" at 1 p.m., "Abhijan" at 4:30 p.m., "Kanchenjungha" at 8 p.m. Tickets: $10. Panel discussion and lecture are free. Mason Hall, 17 Lexington Ave. at 23rd Street.

Comedy: Laff-O-Rama: A Night of South Asian Stand-up Comedy - 8:30 p.m. Feb. 5. Tickets: general, $10; Baruch ID holders, $7. Mason Hall, 17 Lexington Ave. at 23rd Street.

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