Chithravathi Magazine

Kerala girl Ann Mariya Biju, who won first prize in the ‘artistic handwriting’ category at the World Handwriting Contest in 2021, talks about calligraphy and the importance of good handwriting, on the occasion of the Handwriting Day She has a dream! To be a medical doctor and make sure everybody is able to read her prescription! When Kerala girl Ann Mariya Biju, who won first prize in the ‘artistic handwriting’ category at the World Handwriting Contest in 2021, shares her dream, she is sharing her career ambition as well. As usual, it was the boredom of sitting alone in home, depending on the online classes in the wake of Covid-19, which prompted her to chisel her talent in calligraphy. “I used to write beautifully even as a primary school student and my teachers would appreciate me,” she says. As she grew up, she got attracted to calligraphy though she did not have any professional trainer. “I started improving myself and learned the art of calligraphy by watching various online chann...

Pandit Birju Maharaj Pandit Birju Maharaj, who passed away on January 17, was a globally renowned exponent of Kathak, a major dance form originated in north India. Whenever we talk about Kathak, the first name that enters our mind is that of Birju Maharaj, who belonged to the Kalka-Bindadin gharana of Lucknow. He was born in 1937 to a family of Kathak performers, as the only son of Achhan Maharaj (Jagannath Maharaj), a well-known proponent of Kathak performance, and Ammaji Maharaj, at Handia in Allahabad district. His original name was Brijmohan Mishra, and he learned the dance from his father only.   In the beginning, as a kid, he used to watch his father doing choreography and learn it. “I would go excitedly to my mom and show off whatever I had self-learned. She would then hum a tune, and I would echo it…She thought I was a good singer,” he said in an interview. He had his first performance at the age of seven. Vidushi Girija Devi and Pandit Birju Maharaj in a concert Mahara...