Aflot of Lotus Leaf: Kapila Vatsyayan: A Cognitive Biography

Jyoti Sabharwal

ISBN 10: 9382035001 / ISBN 13: 9789382035008

Published by Stellar, 2015

About this Item

A life beyond categories! Perhaps, that s the quintessence of Dr Kapila Vatsyayan s trajectory, both as a sensitive artist and profound scholar. She has not only questioned, but also defied the mindsets that create those categories, with her multidisciplinary approach. Given her proximity to the stalwarts of the intellectual and cultural arena, i.e. Aruna Asaf Ali, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Rukmini Devi Arundale, Dr Grace Louise McCann Morley, and many more, she imbibed the finer nuances of feminine discourse of these strident pioneers, who crossed the social barriers and altered the gender perceptions. In blissful formative years, Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore made her recite poetry, and legendary Nandalal Bose taught her to hold the painting brush at Santiniketan. She belongs to the generation that nurtured the ideals of a free India, to rediscover its cultural roots and reconstruct the broken tradition. And she devoted her boundless energy towards that lofty goal working closely with Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Dr S Radhakrishnan. The original cultural czarina of India, she laid the foundation of soft diplomacy in the post-Independence era, signing numerous cultural treaties across the world and formulating bilateral exchange programmes. Building institutions, she delineated education and cultural policies with her gifted tenacity, exemplary erudition, and critical faculty. Arguably, a great living authority on the arts of India, and a key administrator in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, archives, museums, et al, her multifaceted expertise has facilitated several bridges of communication, especially between the Indian and the Western arts.

Seller Inventory # 116366

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Aflot of Lotus Leaf: Kapila Vatsyayan: A Cognitive Biography
• Publisher: Stellar
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9382035001
• ISBN 13: 9789382035008
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

A life beyond categories! Perhaps, that’s the quintessence of Dr Kapila Vatsyayan’s trajectory, both as a sensitive artist and profound scholar. She has not only questioned, but also defi¬ed the mindsets that create those categories, with her multi-disciplinary approach. Given her proximity to the stalwarts of the intellectual and cultural arena, she stridently crossed the social barriers and altered the gender perceptions.

In blissful formative years, Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore made her recite poetry, and legendary Nandlal Bose taught her to hold the painting brush at Santiniketan. She belongs to the generation that nurtured the ideals of a free India, to rediscover its cultural roots and reconstruct the broken tradition. And she devoted her boundless energy towards that lofty goal working closely with Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Dr S Radhakrishnan.
The original cultural czarina of India, she laid the foundation of ‘soft diplomacy’ in the post-Independence era, signing numerous cultural treaties across the world and formulating bilateral exchange programmes. Building institutions, she delineated education and cultural policies with her exemplary erudition and critical faculty. A key administrator in the ¬fields of archaeology, anthropology, archives, museums, et al, her multifaceted expertise has facilitated several bridges of communication, especially between the Indian and the Western arts.
Dr Vatsyayan has both witnessed and participated in the agony and ecstasy of the cultural history of India. It’s been a journey worth emulating. More so, for the young aspirants of a post-modern India, this tome is a ‘must read’.