StorieswithKritika

Over the past few years I’ve realised that culture- exploring and learning about it, studying it, peeping into the different forms of it and its relationship with the world, resonates within me at a frequency that I find extremely hard to pen down most times. Often, I wonder, why this itch to understand and study culture exists within me and then it came to me so simply- I’ve been surrounded by culture at all moments all my life, I simply hadn’t recognised it overtly.

As a very young girl, at the tender age of 4 years, my mother discovered that I could recite poems beautifully, she believed whole heartedly that singing would come naturally to me. And so, began my first step into the rich culture of Hindustani Classical Music. It’s still something of an amusing anecdote at home, that when the music teacher at that time asked me if I would like to learn light music or Indian classical music, I was adamant that it would be the latter. Apparently, this was somewhat of a shock to the rest of the class, as generally younger kids there were staunch in their refusal of even listening to Indian Classical Music.

A pivotal moment of my relationship with culture was when I was accepted into the Gurukul Anubhav Scheme conducted by Spicmacay during my teen years. There, I trained under the tutelage of the Dagars and Dhrupad Gayaki brought forward a dimension of gravitas to culture that I hadn’t ever experienced before.

Since then, my life seems to have been shaped through the ripples of culture- From studying history to reading mythology, learning paintings and various art activities as a kid and a grown up! to attending all manners of festivals and conversations with older generations. It is not just our rich celebrations throughout the seasons but also the numerous music & dance performances, the annual Virasat event of Dehradun, the Lit fests all over the country and visiting bookshops and antique markets, that have also contributed to my growing interest.

Today, I am a lawyer who searches for a way to combine her passion for culture and the arts with her study of law. One, who realised that law itself is an amalgamation of our history, our trials and our dreams- it is culture. In both my LLB and LLM, I experienced a study of laws that connected with culture seamlessly, from studying law through artworks, antiquities, indigenous people rights. Reading about repatriation of culture identities between nations or studying the current laws through perspectives such as gender theory, race and post-colonial patterns now fuels within me the need to understand the world of culture multidimensionally.

That’s why this blog is just for those simple stories that feel like culture to me. Moments that interacted with me and their impressions that I wish to pen down somewhere. Just some celebrations of culture or a few thought provoking posts I find myself captivated by.

So, welcome anyone and everyone, for this journey with me!